Author Archives: Ellen

Friday’s Fave Five ~ It’s June?

If it’s Friday it’s time for Favorites! Thanks to Susanne at Living to Tell the Story for hosting this weekly event.

My Five this week are all about some of my favorite things about the area I am living in here in Southern California.

Let’s get the food taken care of right off the bat!

#1. I love the amazing taste of strawberries fresh from the fields that I can buy at a local strawberry stand. So much more flavor then the grocery store strawberries.

#2. In nearby Somis there is a family owned Nuthouse where we buy our nuts. They really have an amazing variety. Dear is always happy to “drive me to the nuthouse”.

 

#3. The Camarillo Library has the best Friends of the Library bookstore I have ever been in. Here’s what I bought this week. The magazines were all 25 cents each. The 3 books on cd were $10.00 each. Pricey for me but well worth it for our upcoming road trip to Seattle the end of June. Books on cd make the hours on the road go by faster and help to keep me awake when it’s my turn to drive. I’ve never read P.D. James so I hope his Death of An Expert Witness will keep my interest. I’m looking forward to hearing The Prisoner of Azkaban instead of reading it again. Dear is a fan of most Robin Cook books so Foreign Body is for his listening pleasure.  The TeaTime book just looks like a fun read. I was happy to lay down the cash for all these to support the local library.

 

#4. Thrift Store Shopping. I really enjoy treasure hunting in thrift stores. I’m seasoned enough that I can walk away from great deals if I don’t really need them. Who am I kidding? Most things I buy at Thrift stores I do not need. That said… this week I found these dessert plates from Germany for 69 cents each. The napkin rings that cleaned up OK were $1.75 for all 7 of them.

 

#5. How very blessed I am. I can drive a short distance from my condo up or down the coast and discover new beaches. This is my latest discovery, El Matador State Beach. This beach is south of us in the northern part of Malibu. I’ll be sharing more photos from this great beach next week…

Looking forward to blog hopping to see your favorites.

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.

Making Having Out of Town Guests Easier…

Summer is coming and for some of us that means an increase in overnight guest traffic. When Dear and I moved to Washington away from both of our families we were introduced to holiday visitors. You can stress out if you want or plan to make it less stressful. Learn from our good and bad experiences.

At first we thought we had to be there for every little experience sacrificing our sanity. Then we learned to give our guests some freedom. We also learned to give them some responsibility. If someone was great at making pies, we picked blackberries for them. If someone was celebrating a birthday we made reservations at a restaurant to celebrate. Our guests have helped with car repairs and home improvement projects.

Over the years we have had very mellow go with the flow guests and some more pamper me guests whose eating patterns changed from year to year. (No fat, some fat, no sugar, only Diet Coke, no meat, only chicken, no carbs,  etc. etc.) Here’s what we ended up doing. Before they ever arrived in Washington we asked them to research and decide what they’d really like to experience and what they were comfortable leaving up to us. Then we asked what their favorite breakfast cereal was and their favorite beverages. When they arrived they were shown the notes on the refrigerator.

#1 ~You are welcome to anything in my refrigerator and cupboards. Please check and see if I have the items you need to be happy. If you do not see the things here that will make you happy we will make a trip to the grocery store so you can purchase the items that will make you comfortable during your stay here.

#2 ~ I do not ask you over the course of the day if there is anything you need. You are very welcome to get whatever you need and want at any point during the day without my permission. I and my family will get a snack without asking you if you want one. If you want a snack please know that we want you to treat this like your home. Get up and get that snack you want without asking permission! If there is something you need please feel free to ask and we will hunt it down for you!

#3 ~ You can use the dishwasher, the stove, the oven, the microwave,the washing machine, the shower anytime during the day.

#4 ~ We encourage our company to participate in making at least one meal while they stay with us. While they are making the meal the rest of us will set the table and have fun creating an atmosphere to go with their menu. With my sister-in-law Letty who happens to be Hispanic we really go all out with the Mexican theme while she makes the Mexican rice, beans, salsa and Carnitas for all of us to enjoy!!

This may sound harsh to some of you but you need to know that we do make several meals and drive our company all around town to see the sights and we do enjoy all of these activities. It’s just good to have the comfort of knowing they don’t have to be cared for every minute of the day. That’s why we give them the freedom to get up and get whatever they need whenever they need it without our direction.

Being pro-active in spelling out things and squashing any unreasonable expectations will make it easier on everyone and make you welcome overnight guests over and over again…

We always look forward to out of town guests since we’ve set up guidelines for ourselves and them. There are always those who don’t need any guidelines, those who just fit in with the everyday flow.

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.

Tablescape Thursday ~ Aqua & Red

Welcome to another Tablescape Thursday. Susan at Between Naps on the Porch is the hostess for this weekly event. Click on over to see lots of pretty tables around Bloggyworld.

Since most of my tables are very thrifty I’m adding this post to Thrifty Thursday with Leigh at Tales from Bloggeritaville.

I had my new thrift store aqua blue tablecloth on the table for my scape last week I decided to change it up and throw in some red.

 

The old roosters are from Dear’s mother. The red martini glasses are from Target clearance. I enjoy a martini from time to time but I also like to use these glasses for serving dessert. The red patterned plates are from tj maxx and the top salad/dessert plates (Warren Kimble) are from Goodwill as is the candle holder with red dangling crystals.

 

 

 

The napkins are from a thrift store on Main St. in Ventura and the napkin rings are, too. The napkin rings are pear shaped.

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.

Window Views ~ Camarillo Ranch House

These windows are all from the Camarillo Ranch House. It’s a beautiful old Victorian Home built by the family who Camarillo is named after. It’s fun to take a tour of the home when they decorate it for Christmas. The house and grounds are rented out for weddings and other events.

Lastly I’m leaving you this view out my car windshield today. We in Southern California have just finished a week of May Grey and we’ve moved on to June Gloom!

 

To see more Window Views visit Mary at the Window Views Blog.

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.

Outdoor Wednesday ~ The Path That Leads to Nowhere

The Path That Leads to Nowhere

There’s a Path that leads to Nowhere
In a meadow that I know,
Where an inland river rises
And the stream is still and slow;
There it wanders under willows
And beneath the silver green
Of the birches’ silent shadows
Where the early violets lean.

Other pathways lead to Somewhere,
But the one I love so well
Had no end and no beginning-
Just the beauty of the dell,
Just the wildflowers and the lilies
Yellow striped as adder’s tongue
Seem to satisfy my pathway
As it winds their sweets among.

There I go to meet the Springtime,
When the meadow is aglow,
Marigolds amid the marshes,
And the stream is still and slow;
There I find my fair oasis,
And with carefree feet I tread
For the pathway leads to Nowhere,
And the blue is overhead.

All the ways that lead to Somewhere
Echo with the hurrying feet
Of the Struggling and the Striving,
But the way I find so sweet
Bids me dream and bids me linger-
Joy and Beauty are its goal;
On the path that leads to Nowhere
I have sometimes found my soul.

~ Corinne Roosevelt Robinson

For more Outdoor Posts be sure and visit our great hostess Susan at A Southern Day Dreamer later today or tomorrow. Yep I’m up early and no it really isn’t Wednesday yet  I’m just trying to confuse you :0)

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.

2nd Time Around Tuesday

 

When I was at home in Washington over the Memorial Weekend I made sure to visit some of my favorite thrift stores. I found The Story of Mary Jones and Her Bible at Hidden Treasures Thrift store in Kenmore. It’s a 1932 publication from London. If you’ve never read this sweet story I highly recommend it.  This is the story of a Welsh girl from the late 1700’s whose great desire to own a Bible helped to form the British and Foreign Bible Society, an organization that has published over 4 million Bibles in 291 languages.

The sweet Welcome and Laugh Often message pillows were from Goodwill in Lynwood.

To see more 2nd Time Around treasures visit Diane our hostess at A Picture is Worth a 1,000 Words.

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.

Blue Monday ~ My Bible Study Table

Friday was our last day of Bible Study till Fall and table leaders were asked to decorate their tables in a Summer Theme. Since there is a lot of blue in my table I decided to share it for Blue Monday. To see more Blue Monday posts visit Smiling Sally who’s busy packing up her house for her move!!

 

Here’s a collage of some of the other summer tables from Friday. Wow can you believe this Monday is June 1st!!

 

Happy Blue and Happy June 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.

Mosaic Monday ~ Dogwood

 

My mosaic photos are from a Dogwood tree I saw at Juanita Bay Park in Washington state.

Mary at Little Red House is the hostess for Mosaic Monday so to join in the fun click on over to her place. She really has a eye for creating a beautiful mosaic…

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.