A Secret Garden...for real!

I have heard about this secret garden , but I never visited it until last week when my granddaughter was here. It was a perfect time for us to check it out and am I ever glad that we did! It is located inside a coffee shop and you would never know it was there if someone did not tell you {or if you read about it in the paper a few years ago like I did. lol.}

We walked inside the shop and asked to see the secret garden. The lady opened a door and led me down a long cement hallway and opened another door into this glorious beauty!! My mouth just dropped open!! It is just like stepping into another land!! From a stark cement hallway to this!! SO GORGEOUS!! I always heard you could see the huge wisteria roots in here that grow outside on the building, but I didn't realize that they had really made it into a beautiful garden.

Look at the size of this Wisteria trunk and branches. AMAZING! 

I truly was in awe and took several pictures, but there was so much light coming in that they aren't the greatest. I still wanted to share them with you anyway though. 

Love this piece that hangs on the brick wall. 

This is my granddaughter. I wanted you to see her in the picture for scale. This gal is around 5 foot 8 inches tall so you get the idea just how high the walls of this garden are. 

Okay, do you remember my Wisteria posts a few years back that showed the outside of these windows with the Wisteria hanging down? If you didn't see them you can click here , here or even here to see the actual Wisteria when it is in bloom on the outside of the building.

I would still be sitting here in this garden if I actually could get away with it. To have a place like this to get away from the world and all it's noise would be so wonderful, wouldn't it? I think so! 

A pretty little water feature makes a perfect addition to the beautiful garden.

Look at these Wisteria roots?? Wowza! Those are some BIG roots. 

Tons of light shines in from above and I am certainly not a professional photographer, but you get the idea. 

Now seriously, looking at the front of this coffee house would you have ever dreamed that there was a secret garden inside??  I wouldn't have!!  Even looking at the side of the building where the Wisteria grows, I would have never dreamed of a secret space for a perfect retreat. However, now I will think of it every time I pass by this place and truthfully will probably stop more often and have a latte...just to visit the secret garden.

 Happy Sunday!

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood!

Hubby was out working on his RC truck this afternoon and I coaxed him into taking a drive up north a bit
to the Hillsdale College Slayton Arboretum. I have shared pictures of this place with you in the past , but
never this early! Before it was in the month of May to get the same trees budding. yikes. I am dreading
what this early Spring may do to the flowers and flowering trees.

Is this a gorgeous place or what?? I just can't get enough of it and I try to visit it at least once
 a year in the Spring to see everything in flower.  Looks like I almost missed it seeing all the
 petals on the ground, but they are still so beautiful!

I also love the stone building that sits very close to this gorgeous magnolia tree.

Someone there today asked if I was a professional photographer...LOL!! I said no just amateur.
She said she was as well. Hubby was carrying my camera bag so maybe she thought that was
like a caddy carrying a golfers bag?? hee hee Too funny.

I took over 250 pictures! While that sounds like a lot you can snap that many pictures so fast
it isn't even funny!! I will share more with you later, but just had to put a few on today for
you to enjoy. This photo above was not in the arboretum like the rest are, but on the
college campus.

Beautiful close up flowers. I want one of these trees so bad. I would even love my yard to be
filled with them. :)

I hope you enjoyed your little tour of the arboretum today. I sure enjoyed walking it
and taking pictures again this year. Happy Spring!!

{freeze warning here for tomorrow night...I will probably run around and cover my
small lilac bushes that are loaded with buds!}

More wisteria and a nest WINNER!

Remember a few posts back when I showed you this place

and the wisteria had not bloomed yet? I drove back up

there on Monday hoping that I had not missed it this year.

I was a little disappointed because there was not more

blooms, but thankful that there were a few. I don't know

if I am late or early since we haven't had much sun so

I hope to check again soon.

I just love this building with all the vines and wisteria.

Reminds me of France.

Makes me want to move upstairs in one of the

apartments...if they are apartments. :)

Wouldn't this be a neat door to walk through every day? Love it!

And now for the winner of a beautiful nest. This morning I put all the names in a bowl and the first name to hop right out of the bowl was: Danielle from A Blessed Serendipity Life!

Congratulations Danielle!! I will be contacting you to get your info. In the next week or so I will be doing a larger giveaway and another nest just might be included so stay tuned!

Happy Thursday everyone!

Architectural Beauty

The earth is the LORD's, and the fulness thereof;

the world, and they that dwell therein.

Psalms 24:1

I am constantly amazed at all the beauty around me.

When I see beautiful old buildings I always wonder how

long it took to build them and I also wonder about the

people involved...their families etc.

Doesn't this gorgeous photo remind you of somewhere

in France?

I was out and about taking a few photos in a local town

this past week and could not wait to share them

with you.

{hope no one was inside watching me. lol.}

Wisteria vines that I hope will be laden with blossoms

soon because I will be checking back in a few weeks.

I hope you enjoy your Sunday and all the beauty that

the Lord has surrounded us with.

Blessings~

Small town America and a big blunder!

Remember a few days ago we had no power? What better thing to do than to roam around

Hillsdale, Michigan once again and take pictures

so that is exactly what I did!

Isn't this flower shop gorgeous!!

The downtown streets of Hillsdale are lined with these

lights and the garden club donates beautiful hanging

baskets every year.

This is Jilly Beans coffee house. It used to be

called "the gathering". I didn't even know

it had changed hands.

My hubby is in love with this shop. They just did a huge makoever...inside and out

and it is gorgeous! He just bought steaks,

tri-tip and ground chuck last week. The steaks are

huge!! He got two that I know are the size of

dinner plates and very thick. He is in *heaven*.lol.

The courthouse spire...

I love the detail...

It's beauty just takes my breath away.

This is a very beautiful upscale home decor store. I couldn't get the front of the glass because of

too many vehicles sitting along the street.

A shot of one of Hillsdale streets...if I had to live

in town...I would give this a good look.

It is a beautiful small town!

Speaking of Hillsdale...we went to a car show there

today with my youngest son and his family. However, before we got there we had pulled into a

gas station (following our son). When I went

to pull out ,the nose of my car was a

little too far out into the road and cars were

still coming. I put the car in reverse to back up a little,

but the man in the truck behind me would not budge.

SO...guess what happened???

I forgot that I had the car in reverse and when there

was finally an opening and hubby said, MASH IT ... I did!!

Right into the truck behind me!

Oh dear...not a good thing to do!! Long story short,

the man was not nice , but there was no damage so

all is well that ends well!!

Happy weekend!!

Blessings~