My Day Out

David took care of the boys all day yesterday, and sent me to Longwood Gardens (just a half hour away) for some much-needed relaxation & renewal. Hooray for my thoughtful husband!

Happy Me

Isn't this so green!!?

I sat on a comfortable bench above these falls and let all the weariness fall away with the water. It lightened my heart and put a spring in my step.

The words of William Wordsworth came to mind as I explored:

I WANDER'D lonely as a cloud That floats on high o'er vales and hills, When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. . . . 

I gazed -- and gazed -- but little thought What wealth the show to me had brought: For oft, when on my couch I lie In vacant or in pensive mood, They flash upon that inward eye Which is the bliss of solitude; And then my heart with pleasure fills, And dances with the daffodils.

No daffodils were in bloom yesterday, but I saw a host of other things!

There were outside gardens arranged by color. (I'm partial to blue!)

Fountains,

including an italian fountain garden.

So lovely.

This reminds me of at least one garden I saw in England.

An apiary (shrub sculptures) to the left, and I love the green way lined w/ flowering trees. (It was beautiful, when it was dark, to see the fireflies along that walkway.)

A spacious indoor conservatory with countless rooms . . . 

. . . including a ballroom with a pipe organ! (I got to hear it played!)

Here is one of the rooms in the evening. Grass indoors!! So cool.

Hanging plants

Beautiful colors!

"Lollipop, Lollipop . . ."

These banana trees reminded me of my parents, now in Panama, and my brother Jeff's stories of his mission in Nicaragua.

This was my favorite in the orchid room.

In the very center of the conservatory was an open-air patio with water lily pools.

My little boys would have loved these little chairs in the outdoor children's garden.

Beautiful woods and meadows to explore!

It was heavenly.