Brentwood 2012 Part 1, Gorgeous Gardens and Cozy Corners

Recently, our cross stitch group (The Four from Forest) went on our annual cross stitch retreat with the Stitching Sisters to Brentwood on the Beach.  It's a beautiful bed and breakfast located right on the shores of Lake Huron in South Western Ontario.  [my dream... to own it one day]  Check out the link to Brentwood, enjoy a weekend at Brentwood and then I'll see you back there as a regular when I am the new owner.  (smile) 

Brentwood hosts many different weekend retreats, but the cross stitch retreat is by far our favourite and we literally countdown the days until blastoff.  With our cars fully loaded (and I mean fully) it takes the 4 of us about half an hour to unload them once we get there.  Why I didn't take pictures of the loaded cars is beyond me, because we just kill ourselves laughing about it every year.  We literally only have half an hour to drive to your destination and we are only gone for 4 days, but you would think we were going to be gone for 4 weeks.  Significant others don't get it, but we are well assured we haven't lost our minds when we watch the other 'retreaters'  pull up with their fully loaded vehicles.

Upon arriving, we took all our luggage to the bedrooms, we set up all our cross stitch paraphernalia in the sitting room over looking the lake and then we headed down to the kitchen to unload all the 'goodies'. 

As we were unpacking the food I said, "Guess what I had for breakfast?" 

'What?' 

"My two fruit servings of the day; orange juice and peach schnapps!" (Laughter)  It was like the confession floodgates opened because Tracey replied "Well I had Shreddies and homemade Skor bars"  (Laughter)  Anita piped up to say "I had mini-wheats and the rest of the Reeces Peanut Butter cups that wouldn't fit into the container I brought" (Laughter)  to which Jody replied, "I had cold left over asparagus" (more laughter)... and this was only within the first half hour of arriving - and while we always know we are going to have a great weekend, this was a most hilarious start. 

Enough talking Bonnie - on with the photos..... starting with the garden tour.....

Each year, we are excited to see if the poppies are in bloom.
Day 1 - Answer = no.

By day 4 - gorgeous.
Last week, Jody gifted us all with pink poppies;
I'm so excited to see them in bloom next year (I am a pink lover)

I love the cascading frills of an Iris.
 This is my favourite colour in the Iris family.

There is a large area of garden covered with Forget-Me-Nots.
Not to worry Brentwood - we could never forget you.

I tried many times to get a shot of this bumble bee from the front.
It appears he is too busy for a proper photo shoot.

A stroll through the gardens and along the little brook
that leads to the waterfall.

There are many gardens to show, but lets take a look now at the grounds.   Every where you go, there is a nook or cranny somewhere to settle down and cozy into.  

Care to lay back on one of the lounge chairs and look out over the water?

... or snuggle side by side and soak up the sunshine.
This view also overlooks the lake.

Sitting at the top of the hill you can listen to the babbling brook and waterfall while overlooking the new BBQ area that also overlooks the lake. 

 

Pull up a chair and have dinner while the sun sets.

Off to a corner in a quiet little area you can cozy up....

...to the sounds of the bubbling rock.

There's even an area right on the beach to sit and relax.
Perhaps even a nap on the hammock with the sound of the waves to lull you to sleep.

I hope you enjoyed the first part of our retreat at Brentwood. Stay tuned, more to follow. 
Bonnie