Category Archives: Architecture

ABC Wednesday ~ Mary Magdalen Church, Camarillo

M is for St. Mary Magdalen Church in Camarillo, California

In my Sky Watch #10 Post I mentioned that I was trying to get inside St. Mary Magdalen Church in Camarillo to see their historic stained glass windows. A few Sundays ago we went to the church grounds to buy some home made Mexican food at a fiesta they were putting on as a fund raiser. While there I was thrilled to see the church doors open and I went inside and was able to finally see and take pictures of these amazing works of art.

Here is an excerpt written in a historical site about the windows.

“The most notable chapel fixtures were its magnificent 13 stained glass windows.  These azure, crimson, green, and gold windows tell a double story — one of the life of Christ, the other of a world at war.

While on a trip to Europe, Juan Camarillo selected the windows in Munich, Germany. The year was 1913 and the early rumbles of the continent gathering its strength for conflict were growing with each passing day. Somewhere between the studios of glass-blower F. X. Zettler of Munich and the church on a hilltop in faraway Camarillo, the stained glass windows were lost. Zettler’s name can be seen at the bottom of the windows depicting the Holy Family (east side) and Christ with the children (west side). Despite the best efforts of the Camarillo family through consuls and ambassadors, the windows appeared lost forever. Mrs. Carmen Camarillo Jones recalled that her uncle Juan feared they were at the bottom of the sea. One day a letter arrived from a German official. This official in Munich had been noticing several large crates staked outside a building with Juan’s name on them. He had written Juan several letters and finally one got through at the end of Word War 1. Much to the joy and relief of everyone, the lost windows had been found. However, it was a painfully slow and long trek to Los Angeles, and then on to Camarillo, before they were finally installed in the thick brick and plastered chapel walls in 1919.”

After I had been in the church for about 5 minutes the caretaker came in and closed the doors behind me I figured my time inside was over.

To see more of the outside of this historical church click here.

For more ABC posts on the letter M visit the ABC Blog.

WFW ~ Hebrews 10: 19-23

 

“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.”

For more Word Filled Wednesday click here.

Olivas Adobe ~ Ventura, California

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.

Since I have 13 photos in my collages on this post I decided to make this  my 23rd Thursday Thirteen entry.

The restored 1847 Adobe home of Raymundo Olivas stands as a monument to the rancho period of California’s history.

Born in 1809 in Los Angeles, Raymundo was the seventh child of a poor family. He joined the Mexican Army in California at the age of 16 and was assigned to the Presidio (fort) of Santa Barbara as a Lancer (cavalryman). He met his wife in Santa Barbara was married in 1832 and had 21 children -8 girls and 13 boys!

In return for his service to the State, Raymundo Olivas and his friend, Felipe Lorenzana, were granted 4,670 acres by the Mexican Governor Juan B. Alvarado. Raymundo began ranching his land in 1847. He started building this adobe home in 1847 with Chumash Indians providing the labor. The main house for the Rancho San Miguel was one of the few two story haciendas in Southern California and one of the most impressive homes in the Santa Clara River Valley.

 

For many years the Rancho prospered but droughts in the 1860’s and the death of Raymundo in 1879 was the beginning of the end for the Olivos fortune. The house was sold in 1899. After passing through many hands the Adobe was purchased by yeast king Major “Max” Fleischmann who restored the building in 1927 and built the distinctive bell archway. Upon Fleischmann’s death, the adobe was given to the city of Ventura and it opened as a museum in July, 1972

 

I’m going to go back and visit the grounds later in the Spring to visit the 100 year old fuchsias in the front yard and the 140-year old grapevine that can trace its roots to the days of Fray Junipero Serra and the missions.

I got the history information from the Historical Park brochure. They have a web site here.

For more Thursday Thirteen posts click here.

TT #22 ~ Mission San Buenaventura 1782

   On President’s Day I drove up to Ventura to do some thrift store shopping and I took a side trip to the Mission by the Sea. Here are 13 or more Photos from the mission. There are 21 California Missions and this Mission was the 9th Mission founded.

The founding of San Buenaventura Mission was foreshadowed well over two centuries ago on the Spanish isle of Mallorca, when a devout Franciscan priest, who was a brilliant scholar and professor of theology, earnestly prayed that he might be permitted to forsake his comfortable circumstances to take up the Lord’s work among the aborigines in the New World. The hoped-for answer to his prayers came on Palm Sunday, March 30, 1749.

Thirty-three years and one day later the zealous priest, Fray Junipero Serra- who had been subjected to painful sufferings and several brushes with death during his missionary ministry – raised the Cross at “la playa de la canal de Santa Barbara” (the beach of the Santa Barbara Channel) on Easter Morning, March 31, 1782. Assisted by Padre Pedro Benito Cambon, he celebrated a High Mass, preached on the Resurrection, and dedicated a Mission to San Buenaventura (St. Bonaventure). It had been planned as the third in the chain of twenty-one Missions founded by Padre Serra but was destined to be the ninth and last founded during his lifetime, and one of six he personally dedicated.

 

The Department of the Interior certified this Mission as a Historic Building and gave it permanent reference in the Library of Congress.

 

The front door to the Mission Chapel and Fray Junipero Serra

 

An antique confessional and other artifacts in the mission museum

 

The mission grounds and side door to the chapel

 

Inside the chapel

 

More photos from the grounds…

 

 

For more Thursday Thirteen click here.

ht: Information from Mission Brochure

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.

Lovella’s Walking Club Tally ~ 11,083 Steps

Time again for our early morning Saturday walk at Emma Wood. We took a new trail this week and took a closer look at the Flora and Fauna along the way.

 

Sitting already.  The waves were crashing and giving off wonderful spray again today.

 

I found this wonderful book at the Friends of The Library in Camarillo for $3.00 and it shows among other areas the flowering plants of the coastel region. Here’s some of what we found today.

 

Sea Fig and Hottentot Fig

 

We’re still working on identifying these two.

 

We saw this pod on a Eucalyptus tree and then this bloom that we guess comes from it.

 

After our walk we walked some more along Main Street in Ventura. We went to some used bookstores and some thrift stores and I’ll show you our “finds” at the end of the post. But first we decided to refresh ourselves at Anacapa Brewing Co.

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

 

We decided on the brewed on premises IPA and lo and behold we aren’t joining any revolutions today!

We split a pulled pork sandwich, coleslaw and some North Jetty Fries (fries with fresh garlic, rosemary, and Parmesan cheese) We’ll be tasting garlic and rosemary for the rest of the day!

 

After lunch we walked uphill to see the Statue of Father Junipero Serra at the Ventura City Hall. He founded 9 missions in California, including his last and most cherished, Mission San Buenaventura in 1782. He died in 1784. One of these days we’ll take a side trip to the Mission down the street.

The first elementary school that Josh and Dan (our sons) went to was Junipero Serra in Ventura.

Now to the bargains we found today. I bought this cute cake plate at the Mission Thrift Store for $4.95.

The hardbound Jane Eyre for $2 at a Span thrift store and my most exciting find the Elizabeth Goudge book The Child From The Sea for $3.25 at Abednego Bookstore.

We also bought this breakfast in bed or computer in a chair table for $2.95. It folds up flat and the tray also tilts up to set a book on at a reading angle. I like the magazine or book holders on the side.

 

So with all of our walking today my average steps went up nicely to 11,083.  Woohoo! Look what was in the mailbox when we got home, my new pedometer. Now I hope to get more accurate step counts.

Have a wonderful President’s Day Weekend for those of you in the states and a lovely regular weekend elsewhere.

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 ~ D is for…

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.

My first ABC Wednesday and the letter is D today.

So many choices, I think I’ll share daffodils, dogwood and doors.

 

This photo was taken in England in April 2004.

 

This Dogwood tree is in a garden on Queen Anne Hill in Seattle, Washington, just uphill from Kerry Park. The photo was taken in July of 2007.

 

The photos in this collage were taken in Oxford~England, York, Edinburgh ~ Scotland, South Kensington and the bottom middle one if taken at Ste Michelle Winery in Woodinville, Washington.

To view more ABC Wednesday participants click here.

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.

Fun Monday ~ The Story of Your Home and Road…

We live in a neighborhood in Washington State northeast of the city of Seattle. We are surrounded by new homes. Our home is the original home that was here by itself surrounded by trees and fields. It was part of  a nursery. The owners of this home finally sold all the property around it to a developer who built many homes on small parcels. There used to be a dirt road access to our home from the main busy road. New roads were built when the neighborhood was developed and access to our home is more convoluted. We moved into this house in 1998.

 

These 4 photos are the road that comes to the back side of our house and then the drive you have to come up to get to the front side of our home.  You could say we are the “sticks out like a sore thumb” house in the neighborhood. One of the major attractions we had to this old house was the detached garage/shop/barn. We have lots of  extra junk and cars (projects and hobbies) that fit in this extra space nicely. Our chain link fence is another thing that is different than all the new wooden fences in the neighborhood!

 

We’ve made several improvements to this old house but are now reconsidering what we want to do. We have put new siding on 1/3 of the home so the front and one side of the home are different than the back of the house.

 

This is the front of our house that you can’t see from the street. You can see the new siding we’ve added here. We are now seriously considering the idea of demolishing the house and rebuilding on this property. We have some heating challenges because of how old the house is and the way things were added on over the years. We also have very uneven floors and some flooding issues when we get big storms. We can only make a wild guess as to when the original part of the house was built. We tend to think it was in the ’60’s. But it wouldn’t surprise us if the original little section of the house that’s been added on to over the years is a lot older than that. The last addition that there are county records on shows the ’70’s.

 

I decided to add this photo taken from the inside of my house looking out my stairwell window. A pretty view of my neighbor’s Maple tree in the late fall (all her leaves land in my yard!) 🙂

Head over to Kitten’s homeschool on Monday to see more Fun Monday participants.

Photobucket has blacked out all my photos I was storing on their site and they are holding them hostage. I am working on updating my more than 4000 posts.

Thursday Thirteen #13 ~ Handel’s Messiah

The Messiah, Handel’s most successful and best known oratorio, was composed in the 1741 in 24 days. It was first performed at a concert given at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, Ireland, on April 13th, 1742, Handel conducting in person. For more history of this first performance click here.

Here are thirteen lines from this amazing work…

1. “And the Glory of the Lord shall be revealed”

2. “For He is like a refiner’s fire”

3. “and shall call his name Emmanuel: God with us”

4. “arise, shine, for thy light is come”

5. “For unto us a child is born unto us a son is given”

6. “and His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.”

7.  “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.”

8. “He is the righteous Saviour and he shall speak peace unto the heathen”

9. “He shall feed His flock like a shepherd, and He shall gather the Lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom”

10. “Behold the Lamb of God, behold the lamb of God, That taketh away the sins of the world.”

11. “He was despised and rejected of men: a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.”

12. “Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is the King of glory? The Lord of Hosts, He is the King of glory.”

13. “Hallelujah! for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.”

I’ve only seen the Messiah performed twice in person. If you never have you should put it on your list of things to do. It was an amazing experience. I hope to be able to enjoy a live performance again…

For more TT click here.