Y is for Yum!

With all of our celebrations and visitors this time of year I decided I’d feature the yummy food that has been placed before us recently.

I’m linking to ABC Wednesday with thanks to Denise Nesbitt and the pithy team that keeps us going.

Yum, Yum, Yummy food glorious food!

Queen Mary Tea Room ~ Seattle, Washington

WESTMINSTER

Phyllo dough crust surrounds layers of ham, spinach, egg, onion, tomato, plus layers of assorted white cheeses. Served with a side of fresh fruit and a green salad

Breakfast with family from California at the Portage Bay Cafe ~ South Lake Union, Seattle

Dinner at the Canlis Lounge, Seattle, Washington, with our son and DIL for a late Mother’s Day/Father’s Day celebration.

Dinner at Red Star Tavern in Portland, Oregon, with my cousins during our time in town for a wedding.

Yes and Yippy, I even did some cooking. I’ll be posting my Huevos Rancheros with Gluten Free Ranchero Sauce later this month on the Mennonite Girls Can Cook Blog.

Last to make you smile is the wedding cake doughnuts we enjoyed this last Saturday at the wedding we attended outside of Portland, Oregon. It was a morning wedding with Brunch served after the ceremony.

The doughnuts were ordered from Voodoo Doughnuts in Portland, Oregon.

Hope you weren’t hungry while you visited my contribution for the letter Y! I might be absent for Z and A since a trip across the pond is in my near future.

X is for…

So here we are at good ole X in the alphabet. This is a letter for ABC Wednesday that takes a little creativity. Thank you to the ABC team for managing this meme and to Denise Nesbitt the founder.

Did you know that X stands for Christ and Cross and other stuff, too?

At Easter I make a Russian sweet cheese spread called Seernaya Paska that we spread on Russian Easter Bread that is called Paska by a lot of people and Kulich by my Russian relatives. In the Russian alphabet X is the first letter in Christ. We decorate the sweet cheese spread with an X and a B. X for Christ and B for arose/risen. Christ is Risen.

If you are a regular on my blog you know I like to wander around very old cemeteries. There are always a great variety of crosses to photograph. Here are a couple.

Windmills have a natural X visible from the formation of their rotor blades.

This windmill is located at the Mennonite Heritage Village in Steinbach, Manitoba, Canada.

This Windmill is located at Roozengaarde Tulip Garden in Mount Vernon Washington State.

That’s it for my offerings on the letter X. I’ll be curious to come around and see what you found for this challenging letter.

Summer has arrived in the Northern Hemisphere. I’m still watching all the World Cup Soccer I can fit in. Our bathroom renovation is progressing. Never a dull moment at this old house. Someone mentioned and I’m in agreement that we don’t seem to have ordinary weeks or days anymore. I’ll have to cling to the verse in the Bible that says…

“This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118:24

V is for Vegetable Whimsy

The annual Spring Tea at our church had so many lovely decorated tables and one of the tables had some unique decorations using fruits and vegetables.

Hope this post made you smile!

Thank you to Denise Nesbitt and the ABC Wednesday Team for keeping this meme going.

U is for Unusual

…not habitually or commonly occurring or done.

It’s time for ABC Wednesday and the letter U!

When our daughter Katie and I visited Airlie Gardens in Wilmington, North Carolina we came upon this unusual structure in their sculpture garden.

This Bottle Chapel was created as a three-dimensional representation of Minnie’s paintings.

I’m adding a link that shows some of Minnie Evans’ actual art pieces.

Thank you to the ABC Wednesday Team for 7 years of ABC fun and to Roger who tackled the letter U this week!

T is for Trees!

It’s time for ABC Wednesday hosted by some brilliant bloggers here and across the sea.

While I was in North Carolina helping our daughter get ready for her husband’s homecoming we took a day away from the frenzy to enjoy Airlie Garden in Wilmington. Look at these majestic trees filled with Spanish Moss in the garden.

Since we are on the letter T here are the turtles we saw this day, too.

I’m back home in Washington State now catching up with yard work and house work. It is so good to be home.

S is for Swans

Time for ABC Wednesday and the letter S.

Do some of you wonder why ABC Wednesday seems to start on Tuesday? There are so many countries represented that Wednesday comes earlier in those countries than the U.S.A. Does that make sense? Anyhoo Katie and I saw some beautiful swans and a little fluffy baby swan at Airlie Gardens in Wilmington, North Carolina that I thought would be perfect for the letter S. I’ll post our whole experience at the gardens in the future.

And this is my Swan Song for my time on the East Coast of the U.S.A. I’m headed back to the West Coast and my own bed after 25 days away!

O is for Olympics

This is a flashback post to 1984 when the Olympics were in the Los Angeles area. In 1984 we we had just moved to Ventura, California. Dear’s company purchased a leg of the Olympic Torch running event and they had a trial run and contest to determine who from the company would be selected to run. Much to our delight Dear won the draw and we had many fun events that we attended because of this honor.

Each Olympic Torch Bearer ran one kilometer and then lit the next person’s torch. Conrock, Dear’s company at the time, purchased the torch and they still have it on display at their offices. Conrock changed their name to CalMat shortly after. Dear’s allotted kilometer was in the city of Ontario, California.

We got to keep the torch for a short time before Dear gave it back to his company.

During these summer Olympics we were able to get tickets to see rowing events that were close to our home in Ventura. We gathered up a group of family and friends and enjoyed the races together.

Dear’s company had a professional photographer take some photos.

Joining ABC Wednesday started by Denise Nesbitt and facilitated now by the ABC team. Thank you!

Ticking down the days to Katie and my roadtrip! What’s on your agenda this week?

N is for Nails…

We are on the letter N for ABC Wednesday.

Thank you to our ABC team with Mrs. Nesbitt for keeping us going through the alphabet!

These photos are of the furniture nails/tacks on our dining chairs after we had them re-upholstered.

Well that about nails it!

M is for Mt. Vernon…

“Mount Vernon sits at the center of Skagit County, a true slice of Pacific Northwest heaven located halfway between Seattle and Vancouver, BC. About 25 miles wide and 95 miles long, some of Washington’s most scenic and pristine landscape is found in the Upper Skagit’s North Cascades National Park. From there the land flows like the Skagit River through nutrient-rich farmland to the shores of the Salish Sea.”

In April people from around the world descend on Mount Vernon and the Skagit Valley for it’s annual Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. Here are some photos to show you why. My daughter Katie and I headed north form our house to see the blooms on Monday. We enjoyed a wonderful 70 degree day and got a little sunburned as we tiptoed through the tulips!