Category Archives: ABC Wednesday

ABC Wednesday ~ W is for…

W is for Weather-vanes

 

 

When we are both in town and available Willow, from Willow’s Cottage, and I try to walk each day for an hour. We trade off walking in my neighborhood and hers. All of these weather-vane photos are from our walks in her neighborhood, except for this last one.

 

For more ABC Wednesday click on over to Mrs. Nesbitt’s.

Photobucket is holding all my photos I stored with them from 2007-2015 hostage. They have blacked out all those photos on my blog posts. OH BOTHER! I’m slowly cleaning up my posts.

ABC Wednesday ~ V is for…

V is for Ventura, California

 

On Father’s Day (June 15th) Dear and I took an early morning walk in Ventura, California. We walked along San Buenaventura State Beach to the Ventura Pier and back again. We are having the typical June morning marine layer along the coast in Southern California so the pictures are a bit gloomy.

 

We saw some fun creatures on our walk. A ground squirrel, A Pyrenees Mountain Dog, A Seal, and A Godwit.

 

We also saw some interesting vegetation.

 

This big bush with these interesting flowers caught our eye. The petals look crepe like. I just did a google search and found out this is a Crinkled White Peony…

For more ABC Wednesday posts click over to Mrs. Nesbitt’s.

Photobucket is holding all my photos I stored with them from 2007-2015 hostage. They have blacked out all those photos on my blog posts. OH BOTHER! I’m slowly cleaning up my posts.

ABC Wednesday ~ U is for

U is for Underwood Family Farms, U-pick Blueberries, Uitility Poles, and the U.S. Post Office

I sure wish there was someone with me when I was taking this shot so I could have a face to go with one of these animals.

The Underwood Farms sell fresh fruit, produce and flowers at this roadside stand. They are also known for their U-pick Blueberries.

 

While at the Underwood Stand I looked down the road and noticed all these Utility Poles.

On the way home I passed this U.S. Post Office. All they seem to want to send me these days is lots of USELESS mail and very few meaningful pieces of mail.

For more ABC’s head over to Mrs. Nesbitt.

Photobucket is holding all my photos I stored with them from 2007-2015 hostage. They have blacked out all those photos on my blog posts. OH BOTHER! I’m slowly cleaning up my posts.

ABC Wednesday ~ T is for

T is for Tea Rooms and Tea

 

The Queen Mary Tea Room in Seattle, Washington.

 

This last weekend my husband and I took a quick trip to our home in Washington. On Sunday my sister Lana (Above the Clouds) and my daughters had reservations for Tea at the Queen Mary Tea Room in Seattle, Washington. So of course my T is for Tea!

The table settings were beautiful with a different tea cup and saucer for each of us to enjoy.

 

All the lovely Tea accessories and amazing assortment of Teas. Each of us had our own pot of tea. I had Lavender Earl Grey, Lana had Jack Fruit (a staff favorite), Katie had a Mango blend, and Laura had a Chai blend.

 

Our Tea food was delicious and plentiful. We started with 3 flavors of sorbet with a butterfly lavender shortbread cookie, Scones, Crumpets, Quiche, Sandwiches, lemon bread, and a variety of sweets. Of course we had clotted cream and jams to go with.

Laura my DIL, Katie my daughter, and my sister Lana G!

 

On the way home from our tea party we stopped at the Seattle Arboretum and visited the Japanese Gardens so we could see this Japanese Tea house where my daughter Katie is studying the Art of Japanese Tea for one of her University classes.

 

This is Katie all dressed up for her Art of Japanese Tea Ceremony Class.

The girls had a very lovely afternoon in beautiful Seattle.

For more posts on the letter T visit Mrs. Nesbitt.

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage and they have blacked them all out. I’m slowly working at restoring my posts without their help. Such a tiresome bother!

 

ABC Wednesday ~ S is for…

S is for Santa Barbara, California.

Some people call Santa Barbara “The American Riviera”. This beautiful city on the Pacific Ocean has so much style and charm.  Along State St. you have many eating and shopping options. You get a very international feel when you catch several different languages being spoken. Santa Barbara is about 300 miles South of San Francisco and 90 miles North of Los Angeles. Just 40 miles North from my home.

State Street and the whole downtown area is very pedestrian friendly. There are many wonderful open air arcades for shopping and people watching.

 

Here are just a few of the Arcades.

 

Some of the Arcades have Sculptures to enjoy.

 

The Santa Barbara Art Museum is also located on State Street and of course you can view some great old relics and Statues or a Monet.

 

 

You’ll also find the Mission Santa Barbara up against the mountains. Some call this mission the “Queen” of the California historic Missions.

If you ever travel to California make sure and put Santa Barbara on your “must see” list but be aware that it can be very pricey to stay here.

S is also for

 

Seagulls at the Seashore

 

Sand at the Seashore

Shells from this same Seashore.

Now back to my hometown. Horses and ranches have great histiorical significance in Camarillo. Camarillo is named after Adolfo Camarillo. He was a rancher and is known for his famous White Horse which now is called the Camarillo White Horse. You’ll see these famous horses ridden in the Rose Parade. These are some of the Silver saddles from the Camarillo Ranch House Estate…

S is for a Silver Saddles

 

And S is for Spinning Wheel.

The Silver Saddles and the Spinning wheel are in the Historic Camarillo Ranch House.

For more ABC Wednesday posts please visit Mrs. Nesbitt’s.

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage and they have blacked them all out. I’m slowly working at restoring my posts without their help. Such a tiresome bother!

ABC Wednesday ~ R is for…

R is for Rocks

We’ve had three interesting and different walks on the same stretch of beach in the last 2 weeks. We had low enough tide on these days that we were able to walk among the rocks.

 

We start early (6:00 AM) so everything is pretty gray when we begin our walk.

 

 

The pools around the rocks are fun to explore.

 

A look back away from the water line.

 

Looking back a week before at a different spot. This week all the green was gone.

Here’s my friend Rocky. Can you see his eyes and nose?

 

Hubby walking among the rocks.

 

The sun is beginning to rise above the hills and shine on the water.

 

You can see the color change in my shots as the sun rises higher.

 

Now I’m off to see what others chose to share for R.

For more posts on the letter R take a trip to Mrs. Nesbitt’s.

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage and they have blacked them all out. I’m slowly working at restoring my posts without their help. Such a tiresome bother!

ABC Wednesday ~ Q is for…

Q is for a Quote by Queen Victoria

 

“Give my People plenty of Beer, good beer and cheap beer, and you will have no Revolution among them” ~ Queen Victoria

 

Q is for Quail, the California State Bird ~

Q is for Quilts. The State Quilt with State Flowers and Birds was made by my MIL Verna.

 

I can’t imagine the work that went into this. Sorry for the lousy photos of the quilts. I took them last year before I figured out better ways to photograph things…

The next two Quilts were handed down to us. The pastel one is from Dear’s grandmother Nettie and red patterned one is from Dear’s mother Verna.

For more posts on the letter Q visit Mrs. Nesbitt.

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage and they have blacked them all out. I’m slowly working at restoring my posts without their help. Such a tiresome bother!

ABC Wednesday ~ P is for…

P is for Pioneers

 

My husband and I were in Texas this last weekend and we were able to stroll through the Dallas Arboretum (more photos from the Arboretum tomorrow) This is a replica of a Texas Pioneer Village at the Dallas Arboretum. Pioneers settled in Texas because of the availability of land. As the poplulation increased they’d add a general store, church, school, etc. to the village.

P is also for Palm Trees…

 

These were all taken in Southern California in my neighborhood or close by.

For more ABC Wednesday click over to Mrs. Nesbitt’s.

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage and they have blacked them all out. I’m slowly working at restoring my posts without their help. Such a tiresome bother!

ABC Wednesday ~ O is for…

O is for Oban, Scotland ~

Oban is the gateway to the Isles.

 

Oban is on the west coast of Scotland.

Oban is the frontier between the West Highlands and the Islands; the meeting place between land and sea. A perfect, sheltered harbour makes it the principal seaport for the Isles and the capital of the West Highlands. It has a mild, temperate climate, warmed by the Gulf Stream and washed (too often, some might say) by the soft rain that often falls hereabouts. This misty, briny character, with a background of heather and peat, is perfectly echoed in the malt whisky produced at Oban.

 

We travelled to Oban in May of 2006 and enjoyed a couple nights here. Our favorite part of this stay was our day trip to the Isle of Iona via the Isle of Mull. Our tour of the Oban Distillery was an extra treat for Dear…

For more O posts visit Mrs. Nesbitt

ht: Dave for Oban photos…

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage and they have blacked them all out. I’m slowly working at restoring my posts without their help. Such a tiresome bother!

ABC Wednesday ~ N is for…

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage and they have blacked them all out. I’m slowly working at restoring my posts without their help. Such a tiresome bother!

N is for Nests

The Great Blue Herons and their Nests in Kenmore, Washington.

 

A colony of nesting great blue herons is known as a “heronry”. When I was in Washington State over Easter I was able to get some photos of this “heronry” in Kenmore, behind the Kenmore Park n Ride.

 

When my friend Jody and I were walking on the Burke-Gilman trail one day we were approached by some bird-watchers who were looking for this heronry. I was able to direct them to where it was. It re-sparked my interest and I made it a point to take some photos the next day. When I used to pick up Dear from the Kenmore Park in Ride years ago I remembered being in such awe over this nesting area and the acitivity from these great big birds. It was wonderful to watch them fly around the nests and light onto one. This would be a great field-trip and lesson for any homeschoolers in the area.

The Great Blue Heron belongs to a large family that includes herons, egrets, and bitterns. This world-wide family has about 60 species. The Great White Heron of Florida is a local color variation of the Great Blue and belongs to the same species.

The Great Blue Heron’s long legs allow it to hunt in deeper water than most other herons and egrets.

this photo is from Seattle.gov

Herons have special patches of powder down feathers, which they rake with a foot, causing the powder to fall on fish it has caught. The powder causes the fish slime and oil to clump up so that the herons then can simply brush it off with a foot. Herons also rub the powder especially on the underside of their bodies to repel swamp slime and oils.

The Great Blue Heron can swallow a fish many times wider than its narrow neck.

Herons look for food anytime there is enough light. Studies suggest that cloudy weather is ideal for the birds to look for fish. Herons don’t just eat fish, however. They eat a wide variety of prey, including frogs, salamanders, turtles, snakes, insects, rodents, and small birds.

In catching fish, the Great Blue Heron grabs smaller fish between the two mandibles of its bill; with a quick strike it stabs the larger fish.

In the Pacific Northwest, eelgrass beds are important foraging sites for the Great Blue Heron.

Herons nest in colonies. One of the largest colonies in Washington is located in Renton; last year there were approximately 135 active nests there.

For more ABC Wednesday posts head over to Mrs. Nesbitt’s