B is for Birthday Blessings!

Two of our sons and our new daughter-in-law have birthdays in January (15, 16, 19) along with a nephew, brother and niece (16, 22, 25). On Friday night last we had an early birthday dinner celebration for our oldest, Josh.

Since we were having a couple Russian dishes for the main meal the table was set in a Russian theme.

We had Loppsha (Russian Noodle Soup) for our starter.

Our main dish was Golubstzi (phonetic spelling of the Russian pronunciation) for cabbage rolls. This photo is from another time we had this dish. I forgot to take a new photo on Friday night.

Our son and daughter in law were celebrated in Northeastern Washington, too. We couldn’t be there but they sent us this photo from their celebration with their Birthday Cookie!

For our boys, our dil and the rest of our family who have birthdays in January we pray this special blessing from the Lord…

The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Numbers 6:24-26 (ESV)

I’m linking up to ABC Wednesday started by Mrs. Nesbitt and administrated by Roger and a team of volunteers. Thank you!

Aunt Anna and the Amiable Guinea Pig

Have you guessed yet that we are at the beginning of the alphabet again for ABC Wednesday #18 (Rolling On) a meme created by Mrs. Nesbitt and now administered by Roger and the ABC team. I was in my archives and saw my very first post for this meme was for the letter D posted February 12, 2008!

Today I’ll be combining two memes with my letter A post. A new meme is starting today hosted by Tom the Backroads Traveler called Tuesdays Treasures where you can share all things old, old and lovely or old and junky!

My Aunt Anna and Pop and my Amiable Guinea Pig are old treasures that are old and lovely. I’ll save junky for another week!

When I first visited Jolly Old England in 1973 and 1974 I started a collection of Beatrix Potter figurines. This is the Amiable Guinea Pig!

He is featured in Appley Dapply’s Nursery Rhymes book by Beatrix Potter originally published in 1917.

There once was an amiable guinea pig,
He brushed back his hair like a periwig-
He wore a sweet tie,
As blue as the sky-
And his whiskers and buttons were very big.

Now for real treasures…

…my Aunt Anna and my dear old Pop. Aunt Anna will be 91 in April and my Pop will be 93 in May! Aren’t they cute? They are having lunch at a favorite Armenian Restaurant in Montebello, California. A town I grew up in. I graduated from Montebello High School in 1968! Armenians cook their lamb the way my Russian family enjoys it. I didn’t take the photo since I’m way up here in Washington state but I’m glad my niece thought to take it and share it on Facebook.

Aunt Anna and my pop are the only surviving siblings in their family. My paternal grandparents died several years ago and my father’s other brothers and their spouses are all deceased. My Aunt Anna survived her husband and all three of her children and a granddaughter, too. She has had a rough life on this earth. Aunt Anna is in a care facility and she still has one granddaughter that stays in close contact with her. Three years ago the doctor gave my aunt a few months to live…guess she showed him!

My Pop lives with my oldest sister’s family and they are close to the care facility where Aunt Anna is cared for. I’m glad my sister thought to invite my Aunt Anna and pick her up to join them for lunch at Golden Skewers! A thoughtful daughter and niece and sister, too!

Looking forward to seeing what A’s and Old Treasures you all came up with.

Z is for…

…Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah.

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

Between Christmas and the New Year we had a wonderful day with plenty of sunshine in downtown Seattle. Our plan was to go to the Seattle Art Museum to see their visiting Impressionism exhibit.

There was a sign that caught my eye and made me happy. It said “please take photos”! Just as long as you didn’t use your flash photo taking was allowed.

We left the Impressionist exhibit as the crowds began to arrive and we enjoyed some other areas of the museum.

This painting above is a Monet that was new to me. The painting below is by Renoir.

Peaches on a Plate…The names of a lot of the paintings made me chuckle.

On our way to the museum we had more beautiful sunshine blue skies.

It was a beautiful day to look up at the skyscrapers!

When we go downtown we enjoy lunch at “The Met” The Metropolitan Grill, a favorite Seattle Steak house.

There were still some nice Christmas scenes we enjoyed on our walk back to the parking garage. Speaking of the parking garage we scored big time only paying $6.00 for 3 hours!

…My, oh, My what a wonderful day!

I’m linking up to ABC Wednesday started by Mrs. Nesbitt and carried on by Roger and other team members! Looks like we made it to the end of the alphabet already!

Y is for Yeoman

These photos were taken in Stratford Upon Avon in September of 2013.

I’m linking up to ABC Wednesday started by Mrs. Nesbitt and administered by Roger and company!

X is for Xmas

How timely that for ABC Wednesday we are on the letter X. The history of the letter X as used in Xmas is fascinating and does not take away from Christ in Christmas.

PM1909

It was first used in the mid 1500s. X is the Greek letter “chi,” the initial letter in the word Χριστός. And here’s the kicker: Χριστός means “Christ.” X has been an acceptable representation of the word “Christ” for hundreds of years. This device is known as a Christogram. The mas in Xmas is the Old English word for “mass.” (The thought-provoking etymology of “mass” can be found here.) In the same vein, the dignified terms Xpian and Xtian have been used in place of the word “Christian.” Source.

At this old house Christmas is all about Jesus Christ and his arrival on this earth with His mission to bring the Truth (He is the truth) and to ultimately die on the cross for our sins. I’m not getting my knickers in a knot over the use of X instead of Christ for Christmas. Some of these over 100 year old postcards from Dear’s Great Great Aunt have both Xmas and Merry Christmas on them.

More explanation from R.C. Sproul with Ligonier Ministries, “First of all, you have to understand that it is not the letter X that is put into Christmas. We see the English letter X there, but actually what it involves is the first letter of the Greek name for Christ. Christos is the New Testament Greek for Christ. The first letter of the Greek word Christos is transliterated into our alphabet as an X. That X has come through church history to be a shorthand symbol for the name of Christ.”

These postcards were mailed in December of 1909!

A very Merry Christmas and A Merry Xmas to all my ABC Wednesday friends!

Thanks to Mrs. Nesbitt for starting ABC Wednesday and for Roger and the team for administrating the weekly meme!

So are you prepared for Christmas? We are getting soaked here in the Pacific Northwest! Lots of snow in the mountains, too. How are things in your part of the world?

I Wonder…

I wonder as I wander out under the sky,
How Jesus, the Savior, did come for to die.
For poor, ornery people like you and like I
I wonder as I wander
Out under the sky.

Christmas is a time of wonder and joy.

This old house has been decked for this most wonderful time of year.

Our Christmas goodies are a combination of old and new. These mugs are from the late 80’s.

The kissing Santa and Mrs. Santa are from my MIL’s stash and are probably from the 50’s, made in Japan.

The Christmas angels and little girl bell are more old Christmas treasures from Dear’s mother.

Our humble entry, inside and out.

The living room with our fireplace. We are still talking about adding a mantle in the future.

This wooden nativity was purchased at Disneyland and is a set that I bought that could be handled and enjoyed by our kids when they were toddlers.

This rocker rocked all three of our children when they were babes.

The nativity is a more recent acquisition but the angel trio are from my MIL’s Christmas collection.

We have a new daughter in law this year so I decided to buy new stockings for our family of eight.

Waiting for some wonderful times of sipping away with friends and family.

Hoping for a most wonderful Christmas for all my friends in bloggy world.

Next post will reveal our sparsely decorated Charlie Brown Free Range Christmas tree.

I’m linking up to ABC Wednesday for W is for Wonder, Wonderful, Wooden, Waiting, and World.

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage on their site. All my photos that I stored and uploaded from that site are now big ugly black and grey boxes with a message to pay big bucks to get them restored to my blog. It will take me a long time to restore thousands of posts.

Verily, verily…

Jesus is the way the truth and the life, Emmanuel…God with us.

ver·i·ly

(vĕr′ə-lē)

adv.

1. In truth; in fact.

2. With confidence; assuredly.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. John 5:24

John 5:24 in other versions of the Bible…

²⁴“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.

²⁴Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

We are looking forward to Christmas Day and enjoying all the preparations leading up it.

Linking up with ABC Wednesday with thanks to Mrs. Nesbitt and the ABC team for V is for Verily.

U is for Umbrella!

It’s time for the letter U and here in the Great Northwest a good choice for U is Umbrella.

We attended a wedding of the son of some dear friends of ours in Oregon and it just poured. The venue offered white umbrellas to all the guests. This photo above if of my cousin and his wife and the photo below is of my cousin and her husband. I think they pulled out their own black umbrella to use instead of using the venues white ones.

Our daughter again a couple years ago with a parasol. Close enough for jazz.

Thank you to Denise Nesbitt for starting ABC Wednesday and to Roger and the team, too!

Welcome December! Today our Thanksgiving company flies home and I will dive into the Christmas preparations. Have you started decorating yet?

T is for Thanksgiving

Give thanks to the Lord for he is good; his love endures forever.

Here are some of my Thanksgiving Tables over the last few years.

2010

Thanks to God for my Redeemer,
Thanks for all Thou dost provide!
Thanks for times now but a memory,
Thanks for Jesus by my side!

2011

Thanks for pleasant, balmy springtime,
Thanks for dark and stormy fall!
Thanks for tears by now forgotten,
Thanks for peace within my soul!

2012

Thanks for prayers that Thou hast answered,
Thanks for what Thou dost deny!
Thanks for storms that I have weathered,
Thanks for all Thou dost supply!

2013

Thanks for pain, and thanks for pleasure,
Thanks for comfort in despair!
Thanks for grace that none can measure,
Thanks for love beyond compare!

Thanks for roses by the wayside,
Thanks for thorns their stems contain!
Thanks for home and thanks for fireside,
Thanks for hope, that sweet refrain!

2014

Thanks for joy and thanks for sorrow,
Thanks for heav’nly peace with Thee!
Thanks for hope in the tomorrow,
Thanks through all eternity!

Words: August L. Storm, 1891

I’m linking up for ABC Wednesday started by Mrs. Nesbitt and now carried on with the help of Roger and a team of volunteers. T is for Thanksgiving, Thanks, Thankfulness, Tables.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends in the United States!

Unique Signs…

While on our drive to Sandals Church in Riverside/Moreno Valley California for our brother in law’s funeral we saw this sign that peaked our interest.

When I first saw the sign I read it as burrito crossing…maybe I was hungry.

Glad to see the warning sign meant business. When we rolled down the window to take this shot this wild burro came right up to the window hoping for a little treat!

Linking up to ABC Wednesday for S is for signs and with Signs, signs with Lesley later this week!

We have a big storm pushing through our region with high winds. I hope we don’t lose power before I can visit some blogs…

Update: The winds whipped and howled and our power was out for a full 24 hours. Boy do you appreciate your electricity when it finally comes back on! We played a game of Scrabble with candlelight and found our battery operated radio to get the news about the storm. It was so dark…

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage

Category Archives: ABC Wednesday