A Sentiment

God knew what He was doing when He sent a gentle breeze and brought a lovely butterfly to set my heart at ease. The happiness of your friendship and the gentleness of your words have touched my life in special ways and now I feel assured. Thank you for your loyalty and for reading everyday. I only hope you find things to make a happy day.

Monday, May 25, 2009

Japanese Garden ...family time

The Memorial Day visit to the Anderson Japanese Gardens was wonderful. We started out at the Japanese restaurant for brunch. Here is my daughter checking out her camera. She traveled from her #1 home in DC to her #2 home in Wisconsin this week..picking up my grandson,Tyler,on the way. Sunday was to be a belated Mother's Day outing for me. Get ready, get set, go...and we're off. This place is a very relaxing spot. The weather was beautiful and perfect for our tour. It is a 9 acres garden of waterfalls, ponds, quiet corners a 16th-century-style tea house and my kids favorites... koi fish. LuAnn bought some koi food and Tyler had a great time feeding those huge fish.

It is a walking tour, but relaxing. Benches and chairs all along the way to rest. There is some climbing involved...stepping on smooth stones and boulders to get to different places. You don't, however,have to do any climbing....you can stay on the white gravel path and see just about everything.

The "kids" did have some fun being silly. They were singing, "My bucket has a hole in it." Just plain fun for an Aunt and Nephew. Entertaining for Grandma. Lots of laughs yesterday.


I love the Japanese fountains. They are everywhere...so simple. Always set in a beautiful spot.




Here's another that caught my eye. The garden is so quiet...you can hear these little tinkling fountains and water falls before you come to them.




Here they are feeding the koi. There are some huge fish in these waters.







I loved the little mini gardens on a rock. Hostas, iris, moss...so pretty. Probably my favorite part of these beautiful gardens are these small plantings.




This garden is not full of flowers. Just mostly flowering shrubs and a few simple plantings of iris right now.










Here we are Mom and Daughter. We are resting...almost the end of the day and we are getting tired.





The garden is full of different trees, and shrubs. Rhododendrons and Azaleas are everywhere. So pretty at this time of the year. We missed the Redbuds...maybe next year.







After leaving we were wanting some ice cream. So on to Rockford and the dairy queen. Banana split for the boy, hot fudge sundae for Grandma, and a diet coke for my slender daughter. We had a great time and the day will make for a wonderful memory for us.
Balisha





















9 comments:

2 Dogs said...

What a lovely place and I like the resting part at the end as well.

I've been painting then cleaning my car inside and out. Now I need to rest a bit.

Hugs

OhioMom said...

Thanks for sharing your day with us Balisha .. the gardens are lovely, what a great way to spend an afternoon. Love the pics!

Lynn said...

It sounds like you had a great day, I wish we had someplace close to go like that. I would have to drive 2 hrs for somewhere cool... I did lots of work in the yard this weekend. 2 truck loads of mulch. I think that is finally it... Worked on the garden lady a little and now it is time to rest. Big day tomorrow, Pittsburgh Zoo field trip... FUN

2 Dogs said...

Our door is etched glass with only wood around the edge so we will paint it red too. John wanted to paint the columns red and the porch red and the bench red and I told him STOP and go paint his tools and leave everything else alone. Lord only knows what I may come home to this week.

Balisha said...

Hi Patti,
Can't wait to see the results on your house painting. It always is fun to change.
Hi Ohiomom and Lynn,
The garden was very tranquil. Even the visitors were hushed...so beautiful. Have fun at the zoo, Lynn. I used to take the school kids on field trips and really enjoyed them as much as the kids.

Amy said...

What a great outing! I live about an hour from Rockford and I think that would be worth the trip!

Chicago Garden said...

I like the fountain with the natural looking stone. Very cool tour.

MrBrownThumb @ Chicago Garden

coolwaterworks said...

Hi Balisha...

Japanese gardens are always refreshing. To me they are so minimalist, but they are also exquisite.

Good that you enjoy the time out...

Someday, when i have my own place, I want to have a japanese garden myself... :)

Balisha said...

Hello,
The garden was serene. I loved the water features too. They are so simple and calming. The crushed white stone pathways are raked each morning and evening. It's what they do in a Zen Garden.The paths seem to twist around the ponds...maybe to slow us down.I have said here before that I like more simple flowers and plants...so this style really appeals to me. Thanks for reading.