Not many words.... lots of pictures!

Another week has flown by & we really enjoyed it! We have been inspecting apartments, finding new ones and trying to fix the ones in bad shape. We both feel like we are back in "corporate" mode and are driving ourselves pretty hard ...BUT... we took time for a P-day (preparation day or off-day) yesterday. Nobody stops us from taking a day off, but sometimes we feel better if we take a drive and deliver much-needed supplies instead of taking a day off. BUT.. yesterday we took time for a beautiful drive to a place called Lakeview that is one of the loveliest garden walks I've ever seen. It's like the goal was to capture all of the most gorgeous plants in the Philippines & gather them into one area with walks, little thatched-roof places to get out of the sun and we were mesmerized. Our office secretary has been telling us we need to do this since we got here, and we love her even more now! She works so hard volunteering her time and doesn't get to leave the office very often because she keeps EVERYTHING running. Needless to say - we brought her with us & then enjoyed a lovely lunch after this little excursion. It was exactly what I needed to "refill my bucket" for the next week. OK... shutting up now!

These two pictures are shots of the pathways all over the garden. They were painstakingly built by hand & the craftsmanship was really cool! Many started with a shell in the center & Roy and I just couldn't get over the work that must have gone into them!

This was just one of the many, many resting places and little seats/benches to enjoy the view. This one took snail shells and then mixed them with mosaic tile work & made a long bench where an entire family could rest & enjoy the surroundings. My grandchildren better gear up for when we come home because they are going to smash up tiles they are going to help us do something similar in our garden/pond area!

Here is one of the loveliest views in the garden... acres of tropical plant and flowers that I can only grow inside my home in New Mexico. There were even outdoor poinsettias! It is hard to capture the color as well as the true beauty, but this is a place that I will return to it as often as possible to "fix" myself!

I just lucked on to this lovely butterfly. I don't know why there aren't hummingbirds in the Philippines because they would LOVE it here BUT.... there sure are some pretty butterflies. This was the point where the high 90's & the sun started getting to us but we perservered!

This gorgeous flower looked like a tropical Dahlia to me.

I LOVED this fun, balloon looking thing and it was softer than it appears.

A somewhat typical tropical flower but it was so gorgeous!

One of the crazy, exotic looking flower/plants things! Look closely at those tiny orchid-type flowers growing out of the cups! I expected fairies or Tinkerbell to jump out! More to come .... I wish I could have had some of you wonderful gardener, green-thumb types with me!

I couldn't believe this one when I saw it... at first, I actually thought it might be birds.... it was SOO cool!

I REALLY loved these too.... and look at that background. The pictures don't do justice to the gorgeous mountain area we were in! In some ways, the building reminded me of Bisbee, AZ and the plant life as well as the potted plants that people decorate their two-foot yards; right on the road, never ceased to amaze me! I'll send pictures of that another time.

Another gorgeous view of the garden.

You can see one of the hand-thatched sanctuaries in the background.

Here is a quick picture of Sister Garner our Office Secretary-Goddess! She is so fun, and we've really grown to appreciate and love her! She has a great story & it's been fun to get to know her. She goes home next spring & I can already say that whoever takes her place has some BIG shoes to fill!

This is my FAVORITE picture in this group! I SHOULD have asked his permission to take a picture AND post it but didn't want to wake up this gardener from a Well-earned nap!

See you all next week!!