Sky Watch ~ Seattle Area

We were in the Seattle area over Christmas and these photos are from our time there. This first shot is taken at our friend’s home on Christmas Day. They live across from Puget Sound. I didn’t realize when I took it that the sky was reflected in their pool! That garden next to the pool is amazing to experience in the Spring and Summer!

The next shot is taken from my yard early in the morning with some storm clouds brewing…

For more Sky Watch photos from around the world visit the SkyWatch Blog.

Outdoor Wednesday

Susan at A Southern Day Dreamer is starting a new photography meme on Wednesdays called Outdoor Wednesday. All you have to do is post something you took a picture of out of doors. My first photos are both taken at night over the last couple weeks just outside my condo.

This first one was taken on a foggy evening. Kind of eerie…

Then this last Saturday night the moon was full and seemed so close…

To see more outdoor shots visit Susan at A Southern Day Dreamer…

ABC Wednesday ~ The Los Angeles Zoo

Welcome to ABC Wednesday. We are on the letter Z. Yikes, the end of the Alphabet.

What fun I had meeting my brother, his wife, little Hope, my niece Michelle and her son, Jackson at the Los Angeles Zoo the week of Christmas!

My brother was here with his family from Dallas to celebrate Christmas with all of us. Hope will be 1 in January. What a joy to spend time with them all.

My niece Michelle and her son Jackson live in the L.A. area and they joined us for the fun.

It was a nice cool day at the Zoo and the animals were out and about. We saw a Kookabura. We were singing the Kookabura song for quite a while. But since we are on the letter Z, this song would be more appropriate…

Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah

Zip a dee doo-dah, zip a dee ay
My, oh my, what a wonderful day.
Plenty of sunshine headed my way.
Zip a dee doo-dah, zip a dee ay

Mister bluebird on my shoulder
It’s the truth, it’s actual.
Everything is satisfactual.

Zip a dee doo-dah, zip a dee ay
Wonderful feelin’.
Wonderful day.

Lyrics by Ray Gilbert and Allie Wrubel.

 

Since we are on the letter Z, I couldn’t ignore the Zebras!

This photo is of my brother Leonard and me pushing the strollers at the zoo.

For more ABC Wednesday posts on the Letter Z visit the ABC Blog.

 

Tablescape Tuesday ~ Silver & Black that Sparkles!

Welcome to another Tablescape Tuesday hosted by Susan at Between Naps on the Porch. This week I’m sharing a silver and black table with lots of sparkles. There are snowflakes and mirrors and sliver mirror garland that adds to all the sparkle.

This was a fun table to put together. I was cleaning out cupboards when I was home in Seattle and found a bag full of silver accessories that were left over from a January Dessert I helped decorate for our church several years ago. I got out a small folding table and set this table for 4 in our guest room with stuff from the bag and added goodies from my entertaining stash.

 

My table confession for this week is that I didn’t have any black or silver cloth napkins so I used a white cloth napkin that was a bit too white by itself for the look of the table so I added a black paper cocktail napkin to soften it up. :0)

The Snowflake candle is sitting on a small raised serving piece with silver garland underneath.

The little plates with a Stratford on Avon scene are on top of a cut glass plate with a silver doilie below it. The tablerunner is a silver shimmery piece of fabric.

The Sterling is from Dear’s mother Verna that got passed along to us. The Pewter goblets were a purchase Dear and I made in England the summer before we were married (1974). The etched glass goblets were a find at Goodwill. The cut glass plates with a fleur de liss pattern on them were a clearance purchase at a specialty grocery store we used to have in the Seattle area called Larry’s. The sterling candle holders are also from Verna. The napkin rings are silver ribbon with a sparkly embelishment hot glued on them.

To see more Tablescapes visit Susan at Between Naps on a Porch.

High Tide at Emma Wood State Beach!

Dear and I returned to our favorite Saturday walk last weekend and we were in for a fun surprise. The Tide was so high that there was no sand to be seen. The waves were so powerful we heard the large rocks and bolders moving and hitting each other when the waves receded. We had to watch our steps so that we didn’t get sprayed by the waves that hit the beach walls and rocks.

We were experiencing Santana winds again over the weekend so the wind really whipped out and caused some spray off the waves.

Then when a wave would recede and hit the next wave coming in we got a big treat with an explosion of spray!

It was difficult to snap at the right time to make sure I captured the great spray.

Yippee I got this one without getting soaked!

The birds were patiently waiting for the tide to go out so they could dig for their food in the sand…

Psalm 89: 8, 9 ~ “O Lord God Almighty, who is like you? You are mighty, O Lord, and your faithfulness surrounds you. You rule over the surging sea; when its waves mount up, you still them.”

Blue Monday ~ Gifts From My Sons…

Welcome to Blue Monday hosted by Smiling Sally from Florida. Each Monday we’re invited to post something blue to share. Click over to Sally’s to see more blue or to join in with something blue on your blog.

Both of my sons gave me blue gifts this Christmas. My 2nd born son Dan gave me that soft Adidas warm up jacket that I’ve enjoyed wearing already. The Soccer jersey from my firstborn Josh and his wife Laura is an away jersey for our very own Seattle Sounders FC. This year is the first year Seattle has a MLS Soccer team. Josh bought season tickets. My boys know their mom learned to love soccer after years of driving them to and watching them play at school and in special leagues. Soccer became my favorite sport to watch. You’ll catch me watching English league soccer during the week on cable. When World Cup Soccer comes around I try to catch every single game televised even if they are on at 4:00 a.m.  One sport I’m sure to watch during the Olympics is Soccer.

Thanks for visiting my Blue today and I hope you all have a great week.