Author Archives: Ellen

Foodie Friday ~ Cherry Platz

It’s time to get your cooking on for Foodie Friday. Gollum at Designs by Gollum is our trusty hostess for this event. Oh I forgot the theme this week is cakes but this can qualify as a big sheet cake or we’ll call it coffee cake!

 

I decided to try Betty R.’s recipe for Cookie Sheet Cherry Platz for my treat for our Women’s Bible Study this Friday. To see the whole recipe and Betty’s pretty Platz click on over to the Mennonite Girls Can Cook Blog. Here are my collages from my prep and the results…

 

I should have followed Betty’s lead and used a can and a half of the filling. I felt mine was a little short.

 

This recipe makes a nice large cookie sheet of Platz to cut up and serve a crowd. I hope the ladies like it. It sure looks good enough to eat!

For more Foodies visit Gollum at Designs by Gollum.

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.

National Day of Prayer ~ 2009

 

From 12:00 to 1:00 today several churches in the Conejo Valley got together to pray with one another on this National Day of Prayer. Our gathering was at the Thousand Oaks Civic Center Lawn. It was great to pray with people from other churches in the valley that I had never met before but who were united in one purpose. After a time of singing the crowd broke off into small groups around the grounds with an area pastor to pray for our nation, leaders, community, churches and families. I broke off with the group that met in a shady spot! Praise God He encourages us to pray and listens to the prayers of His people! We ended our time together singing God Bless America!

ABC’s of the Word ~ Mustard Seed

 

The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches. Matthew 13:31-32 (ESV)

To see more ABC’s of the Word for the letter M visit Pam at Grey Like Snuffie!

Tablescape Thursday ~ Simply Meat & Potatoes!

It’s time for Tablescapes from Bloggy world. Susan is the brain child for this weekly event and it really is fun to see the creativity out there. My confession this week (I haven’t confessed in a while) is that I’ve had to give myself the restriction of only buying a bargain plate that I find at my thrift stores if it is made in England! My condo cannot accommodate many more plates people!!

 

When I was home in Washington in March I set this simple table for a dinner I made for my kids. This was the first time I tried fanning the napkins and I like how that looked. We had lamb loin chops, baked potatoes, salad with Persian dressing, and then an apple strudel for dessert that I purchased from a local bakery…

 

To see more Tablescapes visit Susan at Between Naps on the Porch…

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

Well Mary the Professor has come up with another fun weekly photo challenge meme. Here’s what she says…

“I’ve always been fascinated by all kinds of windows. And photographing them from the outside or the inside has been fun for me. Will you join me?”

You can post:

house windows,
castle windows,
stained glass windows,
old windows,
new windows,
animals or people looking out of windows,
views through windows
Here are the rules:

Post your own photographs
Describe your photographs and the circumstances of taking your pictures if you want to
You may post as early as Wednesday at 4 o’clock EST (that’s when I will post)

Have fun!

These shots were taken in Ventura, California. This used to be a church and then it was a Wedding Chapel and then a Bed and Breakfast. It was for sale when I took these photos.

For more Window Views visit Mary at her 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.

WFW ~ Luke 12: 23-26

 

For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens; they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Oh how much more value are you than the birds! And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest?

To see more verses from the Word of God illustrated visit Amydeanne at the 160 Acre Woods.

Outdoor Wednesday ~ May

For my outdoor photos this week I took a little trip to Pt. Mugu to practice with my new camera. I was hoping for some good crashing wave action to test out my quick clicking feature. (that’s not the technical term but I’m just not savvy enough to know what that function is really called)

 

The beach was lovely as usual. I walked above a rock outcrop to see how the waves were crashing…

 

It really was fun to be able to click away with no pauses in between!

 

This was the best splash during my time here.

 

While waiting for more crashing waves I captured these pelicans coasting by…

 

In my neck of the woods and all along the road to get to Pt. Mugu there are farmlands. On my way home I stopped at the side of the road to get a shot of this pretty sight. I also passed rows of Strawberries and Artichokes.

Later in the day when Willow and I were walking we saw these lizards enjoying the sunshine. “Here lizard, lizard, lizard”… (does anyone remember that taco bell commercial with the talking chihuahua??)

Happy Outdoor Wednesday everyone and thank you Susan for being such a great hostess. Click over to A Southern DayDreamer to see more of the outdoors around the world…

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.

Three or More ~ Pelicans

My three or more this week are photos I took of Pelicans we saw this last Saturday at Emma Wood State Beach in Ventura.

For more Three or More visit Tam at The Gypsy’s Corner.

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 ~ 2nd Time Around Tuesday…

Every Monday Smiling Sally is our hostess for Blue Monday. Do you have something blue to share? Click over to Sally’s and join in on the fun. On Tuesdays Diane at A Picture is Worth a 1,000 Words is the hostess of 2nd Time Around. This post qualifies for both this week!

 

For Blue Monday I wanted to show you one of my favorite Goodwill stores in the state of Washington. This is where I have found so many of my blue goodies over the years. Every time I’m back at my home in Washington I make sure to take a shopping trip here. This is only a very small sampling of the rows of goodies they have. I’m not showing you the clothing sections, book section, furniture section, shoe section, and linen section!! Here are just a few of the thrifty blue items I’ve purchased to be used the 2nd Time Around…

 

Have a great Monday enjoying blue everyone…

And an early Happy Tuesday to 2nd Time Around!

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.