Author Archives: Ellen

FFF ~ Yes…It All Happened This Week!

 

Glory! Where do I begin…

Ground Hog Day was monumental in our lives… Why?

1. Dear put in for his retirement from his company and has 21 days left there…

2. We put our condo on the market.

3. My condo has never been cleaner ….ever…

Then on Wednesday…

4. We flew to Seattle to see our kids, especially to see Dan. Dear hadn’t seen him for 5-1/2 months, Katie and Laura  hadn’t seen him for 5 months and the last time Josh and I saw him was in November. We had a belated traditional Christmas Eve dinner Thursday night. Prime Rib, Yorkshire Pudding, Mashed potatoes and Creamed Corn. Good times together before Dan heads off again for several months. Friday night we’re having an Open House Party for friends and family to come and see Dan before he takes off on Saturday.

5. It’s good being home and knowing I’ll be a one home woman again soon. Praise God from whom all blessings flow! Now to just figure out where to put 2 households worth of dishes!! Thankfully Dan will be setting up living quarters in Eastern Washington soon and he’ll be able to use lots of our condo goods!

There are people and things I’ll miss in Southern California and I’ve already had many a good cry in the shower over leaving certain people behind…more on that later.

6. Bonus! I’ll be posting soon about having one of my stories of my pop’s conversion published in a tribute to Billy Graham and his ministry…

Please visit Susanne at Living to Tell the Story to see more favorites or to join in… I probably will be late getting around to everyone because I’m cooking up a storm for an open house tonight.

The photo was taken at dawn on Thursday from my deck in Washington…

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.

She’s Hitting the Floor Running…

Back at the homestead in Washington and I’m getting my lists going. We’ve seen one of our kids. We know another one is here sleeping so we’ll see him soon. It’s always funny to see what is still in the refrigerator left over from Christmas when I was here last. So I’ve dumped the Egg Nog and a few other things! Deciding on what’s for dinner and what we’ll serve at the party tomorrow night. The sunrise this morning was beautiful. The water tastes great and cold straight out of the tap. Just enjoying the little things that make “home” wonderful. Oh did I mention I love my king-size mattress.

Have a wonderful day!

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.

She’s Flying the Coop!

Flying north to spend some time with my mijas and mijos! I’ll be here, there, and everywhere so I don’t know how much time I’ll have to be on the computer. We’re having an Open House/Party for our son Dan on Friday night that I’ll be spending time preparing for. Dan departs on Saturday and then we’re having an out of town guest arrive on Saturday for a few days. We might have a Superbowl party at our house on Sunday. I’m looking forward to seeing that controversial commercial. Just be assured I haven’t disappeared off the face of the blogisphere. I’ll be back soon with lots of news to share.

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.

Ruby Tuesday ~ Antique Postcards

For Ruby Tuesday I’d like to share these antique Valentine Day Post Cards that Dear’s Great, great Aunt Emma received from 1909 to 1915. They all have 1 cent stamps on them.

 

 

To see more Ruby’s visit Mary at the Work of the Poet. Happy February Everyone!

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.

Wolf Moon Grand Opening!

For my combination of Mosaic Monday and Blue Monday I have photos of the Grand Opening of the Sports Complex behind our Neighborhood.

 

It’s hard to make out the wolf moon from the sports field lights in the center picture. The fields were full of activity into the night after the Grand Opening began at 4:00 P.M.

“Full Moon names date back to Native Americans, of what is now the northern and eastern United States. The tribes kept track of the seasons by giving distinctive names to each recurring full Moon. Their names were applied to the entire month in which each occurred. There was some variation in the Moon names, but in general, the same ones were current throughout the Algonquin tribes from New England to Lake Superior. European settlers followed that custom and created some of their own names. Since the lunar month is only 29 days long on the average, the full Moon dates shift from year to year. Here is the Farmers Almanac’s list of the full Moon names.

• Full Wolf Moon – January Amid the cold and deep snows of midwinter, the wolf packs howled hungrily outside Indian villages. Thus, the name for January’s full Moon. Sometimes it was also referred to as the Old Moon, or the Moon After Yule. Some called it the Full Snow Moon, but most tribes applied that name to the next Moon.”

After getting some photos we decided to return during the daylight hours on Sunday.

 

I took this shot through the Baseball backstop. There are no baseball teams practicing here till Spring. Right now it’s all Soccer. There are 3 baseball diamonds and more soccer fields then we could count. At least 12 and probably more portable soccer fields of play.

 

Lots of blue teams and blue accessories for Blue Monday!

 

Here’s what the field looked like before the Sports Complex was started. And this next photo was taken today…

 

 

We are so pleased they protected and showcased this great old California Oak Tree. This next shot was taken back in January of 2008.

 

A beautiful winter day in Southern California…

Thank you Mary for hosting Mosaic Monday and thank you Sally for hosting Blue Monday!

ht: Wolf Moon info ~ Farmer’s Almanac

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.

Redeemed, Restored, Forgiven ~ Hymn

Redeemed, Restored, Forgiven

Redeemed, restored, forgiven,
Through Jesus’ precious blood,
Heirs of His home in heaven,
Oh, praise our pardoning God!
Praise Him in tuneful measures
Who gave His Son to die;
Praise Him Whose sev’nfold treasures
Enrich and sanctify.

Once on the dreary mountain
We wandered far and wide,
Far from the cleansing fountain,
Far from the piercèd side;
But Jesus sought and found us
And washed our guilt away;
With cords of love He bound us
To be His own for aye.

Dear Master, Thine the glory
Of each recovered soul,
Ah! who can tell the story
Of love that made us whole?
Not ours, not ours, the merit;
Be Thine alone the praise
And ours a thankful spirit
To serve Thee all our days.

Now keep us, holy Savior,
In Thy true love and fear
And grant us of Thy favor
The grace to persevere
Till, in Thy new creation,
Earth’s time-long travail o’er,
We find our full salvation
And praise Thee evermore.

Words: Henry W. Baker, writ­ten at Kil­lar­ney in Sep­tem­ber 1876, pub­lished in the Monk­land Par­ish Mag­a­zine, No­vem­ber 1876.

Round Robin Challenge ~ Water!

Our challenge for January 30th is water. Just so happens I took about 200 or so photos of the wild California surf after our recent storms. I am narrowing it down to one photo.

 

If you like wild surf click here to see more of my wild waves!

Visit the Round Robin Photo Challenge Blog to see other entries. This is a twice a month challenge that I’ve enjoyed participating in. You might like to join in, also. We’ll hear what the new challenge is on Sunday or Monday for next time…

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.

FFF ~ Lots of Good News!

Susanne at Living to Tell the Story is the hostess of this great weekly carnival that encourages us to look back over the last week and list our 5 favorites.

 

There was lots of good news coming to us this week via the telephone and email.

1. Our dear little niece, Miss Hope, turned 2 on Monday. She called me (well her dad actually called me) on Monday to thank me for our present and card and to fill me in on the highlights of her party. She said “Expedition”, “cake”, “thank you” , “love you”. She and all her little guests got to go on an expedition to search for stickers with little flashlights. She had a Winnie the Pooh/Heffalump Party.

2. We heard of the engagement of my cousin Jim’s son Ben to Kristin. The photo of Jim and Jeanie was taken at their son Jeff’s wedding this last June. Hopefully we’ll be able to attend Ben’s wedding, too.

3. We got a phone call from our son Dan with the good news that he passed his Spanish course and will be headed to Seattle to spend a week at home in Washington before he’s gone for 10 months. Dear and I are flying home next Wednesday so we can spend some time with him. We are so looking forward to having the whole family all together for a meal or two.

4. We also got the news on Thursday that Dan’s best friend Jamie and his wife Sarly had a sweet baby girl at 8:00 P.M.  Jamie is in the picture with Laura, Josh, and Dan. It is really great that Dan will be home at just the right time to be able to see her. We have so appreciated God bringing Jamie’s family and our family together when Dan and Jamie became friends in 2nd grade. Congratulations to Jamie and Sarly and to the grandparents Beth and Dave!! We love you guys!

5. Dear and I had lunch at my mom and dad’s last Sunday along with my brother Tim and his wife Letty. We are so blessed to have parents that are faithful to God, to each other, and to all their children. My parents are 86 and 85. My father said that he has no regrets and is ready to die whenever God chooses to take them. Every time we talked about their funeral that afternoon my Father made it singular. I know this is probably weird for some of you to read but we’ve always been able to talk about death and funerals, etc. in my family. Anyway, I’ve always pictured my parents “going home” together. I think my Father does, too. They have been married for 66 years. He and my mother took care of their parents before they died and have cared for many widows and spinsters over the years who had no one to care for them. They have extended hospitality far and wide. They were missionaries to Russia in their old age. They have “run the race well”.

 

Psalm 40:5 (English Standard Version)

You have multiplied, O LORD my God,
your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us;
none can compare with you!
I will proclaim and tell of them,
yet they are more than can be told.

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.

Finding Beauty ~ Fresh Flowers…

Time to visit Claudia at Dipity Road to join in on Finding Beauty on Friday.

Just click on the badge above!

I love fresh flowers. They always stand out and brighten a room. They don’t have to be expensive, either. I’ve been eyeing the daffodils that are showing up at Trader Joe’s and other grocery stores this week. I will put off getting a bunch until I arrive in Seattle for a 10 day visit next week. I dare you not to smile when you see a bunch of daffodils!

 

Daffodils

by William Wordsworth

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.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretch’d in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced, but they
Outdid the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
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.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.

TT ~ Ottoman Scape…

Time for setting the table again for Tablescape Thursday. My table this week is an Ottoman! Please visit our lovely hostess Susan at Between Naps on the Porch who always has a wonderful table set for you to see.

 

I bought a couple new to me blue and white plates this past weekend and decided to set the Ottoman for one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have a great end of January everyone!

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.