Author Archives: Ellen

Saturday ~ Beach Gatherings…

So not as early as usual Dear and I headed to Emma Wood State Beach for our Saturday morning stroll. Today we were blessed with seeing an over abundance of Pelicans just hanging out on the sand. There were plenty flying over the water, too!

 

Later in the day we headed south to Long Beach for a mini-reunion with my high school class of 1968! We met at a restaurant on the water and tried to remember names and faces. It was fun to see good ole friends.

 

Our class of ’68 really was a great group of people. We were commenting on what a rich melting pot we were. We had a large Jewish, Armenian, Russian, Mexican, and Japanese population at our school. This varied population really added to our rich high school experience. 1968 was a very emotionally charged period in the history of our country. A couple major historical tragedies that occurred just before we graduated were the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Bobby Kennedy.

And 41 years later it was great to re-connect and have conversations with these friends!

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.

A Song of Spring Once More We Sing ~ Hymn

A Song Of Spring Once More We Sing

A song of spring once more we sing
As winter flies away,
And changeful hours bring sun and showers
To weave a crown for May;
With heart and voice we all rejoice,
On this returning day.

For once again the promise-strain
Floats down from days of yore,
That fruits of earth shall wake to birth,
To bless the toiler’s store;
Each annual round with bounties crowned,
Till time shall be no more.

Thee, Lord, we praise for springtide days,
And life’s yet fairer spring;
These golden hours, these opening powers,
We in glad service bring,
Thine own to be, from sin set free,
Our Father, Savior, King

William H. Groser (1834-1925)

Words: Will­iam H. Gros­er, in the Sun­day School Hymn­a­ry, 1905.

ht: Cyberhymnal

Round Robin Photo Challenge ~ See the Music!

Welcome to the Round Robin Photo Challenge. This Saturday the theme is “See the Music”

You can be literal with this one, with photos of sheet music, musical instruments, stereo equipment etc., or more abstract, showing something that reminds you of a particular song. Illustrate a Rolling Stones lyric, or photograph your favorite local band, or catch your kid practicing the guitar or clarinet! If it’s suggestive of some kind of music, it counts!

The photos I’m posting are from a trip to Santa Barbara, California and Dallas, Texas…

This sculpture was just off State Street. See the store in the background called Mozart Trio?

 

This was taken at the Dallas Arboretum.

To see more Round Robin Photo Challenges on this subject visit the Round Robin 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.

May

It’s branches are arrayed in gold
It’s boughs the sight in winter greet.
With hues as bright, with leaves as green
As summer scatters on the scene.

*   *    *    *    *    *

An angel mid the woods of May
Embroidered it with radiance gay-
That gossamer with gold bedight-
Those fires of God – those gems of light.

~from the Welsh of Dafydd ap Gwillym

Friday’s Fave Five ~ Food again???

Happy May Everyone!

Well I was going to be in Cancun today and not able to participate in our Fave Five but circumstances beyond anyone’s control changed our plans. So I’m still at my nice little condo in Southern California…blogging. Susanne at Living to Tell the Story is our hostess for this great weekly event. Visit her to join in or see other favorites.

 

So what is it about me and food? Food is topping much of my list this week but to cut me a break it’s not just the food but the other people around me while I’m eating good food that I enjoy.

1. I really like to eat breakfast out with Dear! Before we helped my niece and her husband move last Saturday we stopped at the Egg Plantation in Newbury Park. They have over a 100 Omelets on their menu including other things! I had Chiliquiles…yum. We really needed this great breakfast to keep us going while we packed up and unpacked the truck for the move.

2. After our trip to Cancun was cancelled I decided to “get away” to Main street in Ventura to do a little Thrift store shopping. Such a fun thing for me to do. While in Ventura I stopped at 71 Palm a French Country Restaurant for a little lunch. I had a wonderful soup with asparagus and spinach and a fresh beet, goat cheese and walnut salad.

3. I made semi-homemade chili for dinner last night and baked some corn bread to go with it. Dear was in the mood for chili earlier in the week and I decided to make it for him! I love my chili with fresh tomato, cilantro, green onions and cheese thrown on top! Last night we added some avocado, too.

4. Willow and I have seen some fun sights this week on our walks. We are seeing some great colorful evidences of Spring.

5. Also from our walk we saw this Quail sitting on top of this flimsy tree. It was really kind of peculiar. He sat there long enough to take several shots…

For more Friday Faves click on over to Susanne’s!

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.

Foodie Friday ~ Cinco de Mayo

Our theme for this Friday’s Foodie is Cinco de Mayo! Odale! Gollum at Designs by Gollum is our trusty hostess for this event. I’m sharing a collage of a Mexican table and food we made when my SIL and brother were visiting us in Washington over Thanksgiving.

 

Letty made the Mexican Rice and she uses whole pinto beans and then mashes them herself and reheats them to make the refried beans. I really enjoy them better than getting the already refried in a can. For our soft tacos we used the slow cooked pork with garnish of cilantro, green onions, cheese, and salsa. The Salsa was homemade by Letty, too.

Today I made Tex-Mex chili for dinner.

I cooked the chunky ground beef with onion and some seasoning. I added the packets from the ready made chili spice mix some chopped tomatoes, a can of pinto beans with jalapeno added, and a can of kidney beans.

 

When I serve it I have shredded cheese, fresh tomato chunks, cilantro, avocado, and green onion to add as desired. I usually also bake some corn bread to go along with!

Happy early Cinco de Mayo to all you Foodies!

To see more Foodie posts 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.

Tablescape Thursday ~ Mad Hatter Tea

For Tablescape Thursday hosted by Susan at Between Naps on the Porch I wanted to share photos I took of a Mad Hatter Bridal Tea Party I attended last year. The hosts for this party did such an amazing job of decorating and planning this lovely event. It was given in honor of my nephew’s bride to be.

 

 

It was strongly requested that we wear hats to the event, after all it was a mad hatter tea…

This is my SIL and me in our hats :0)

For more tables set for viewing please visit Susan here.

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 ~ Getty Villa

The Teach…Mary started this new great meme last week called Window Views. Click over to her new blog called Window Views to see the rules to participate. Easy rules, easy participation…

Last Spring I went to The Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades with two new bloggy friends. I was intrigued by the view of this beautiful sculpture of this woman in a gallery opposite the room I was in. I zoomed in to get a closer view through the window…

Then when I finally made my way to the room she was housed in, photos weren’t allowed. Oops!

For more Window Views visit Mary here.

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.