~ Wonder-land ~

Hello Friends & Folk!

and a ch-ch-chilly Good Thursday morning to you all ~

oh the woodstoves will be piping today...keeping them going is a job in and of itself!

but we 'wood' not have it any other way ~ I love the coziness of our woodstove, the tangy smell of the smoke and how it curls gently from our rooftops.

It will be a good day to do some final decorating & cleaning ~

then I will settle in for an afternoon and evening of stitching!

Each year, our little family visits the

Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden in Richmond, VA

{  https://www.lewisginter.org }

Being that our daughter Hannah was born on December 20th,

~ it is a perfect way to celebrate! 

 

although it was only 28*, we enjoyed the brisk-ness of our annual visit...

 Each year the Garden decorates in a 'theme' with this year 2019 being "Things that Fly" ~

there were fairies, flying pigs and hot air balloons...kites and aeroplanes and flying monkeys too!

here are a few snaps of the beautiful lights...

{{ it was so cold that I hated to take off my gloves to work my iPhone }

entering the Garden Walk from the Gift Shop

a view of the 'Tree-house'

Hannah's friend Sarah, Hannah & Peter all bundled up

my Space-Cowboy lol

a fabulous view of the greenhouse, from the 'treehouse' {and Peter photo-bombing}

another view of the greenhouse...

walkway to the greenhouse...bricks engraved with names of philanthropists who support the Garden...

HUGE lighted peacock in front of the greenhouse ~

our beautiful Hannah & her sweet beau Tevin ❤

...and here we are, my hubby & me ~ in front of the towering tree in the conservatory!

 After our walk, we made our way in to the gift shop

to choose our yearly ornament ~ 

Hannah & I have been collecting one each time we visit ~

...here are a few from year's past:

 

this year, I found this sweet little Bee!

 I wish I would have taken more photos, 

but as I mentioned it was hard to remove my gloves to take a photo!

and once we got into the greenhouse, we warmed up and enjoyed the most-beautiful

room of orchids and giant hanging baskets above our heads ~ and I simply forgot to take photos!

if you're ever in the area, the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden is a must-see ~

any time of the year, but especially magical at Christmastime...

you won't be disappointed!!

 

Blessings from the Farm

 ~ Lori