Category Archives: Beauty

Sycamore Canyon Hike ~ Walking Club Totals

So Dear and I decided we’d stray from our usual beach walk at Emma Wood and we headed to the Santa Monica Mountains. We decided on Big Sycamore Canyon starting at Point Mugu State Park. Here are some of our breathtaking views!

 

We picked the Scenic Trail to the Overlook Fire Road. Besides the gorgeous views of the Pacific Ocean and the Santa Monica Mountains we were very excited to spot one of these…

 

This is a Chocolate Lily (Fritillaria biflora Lindl.) Lily Family. LILIACEAE

Chocolate Lily is local on clay slopes, often under shrubs and blooms from February to April. This has been called the Cleopatra of the Fritillaries – darkest and the loveliest. It is our only species, although there are 16 California natives in this genus. We were first introduced to a Fritillaria in Oxford, England on Addison’s Walk. We were there in April and there was a field of blooming Fritillaries.

We did enjoy our hike and we will return again. I’ll show more photos of our hike later in the week and add another wildflower post for Wildflowers in Winter.

But now to my step totals for 6 days this week for Lovella’s Walking Club. My average was good again at 11,283.

We’re headed off to Orange County now for  my older sister’s Leap Year Birthday Celebration with the family. Have a great weekend and keep on walking…

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage. I’m working on updating my blog posts very slowly.

The Ultimate Blog Party ~ March 7th – 14th

 

Ultimate Blog Party 2008

 

Welcome to my Blog Party. You have arrived at The Happy Wonderer.  I’m ellen b and I’m so happy to welcome you here. I’ve made a cake for the occassion and I’m sharing the recipe with you. My birthday is March 14th so this is a great week for a party around here. I would like to give you a taste of what my blog is like. I’m posting some regular kind of things you’ll see if you come back to visit. So relax and enjoy as you scroll on down…

Applesauce Spice Cake

1 pkg. yellow cake mix
1 pkg. 4 serving size jello instant vanilla pudding
4 eggs
1 cup applesauce
1/2 C. water
1/4 C. oil
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. all-spice (optional)
1/2 raisins finely chopped (optional)

Combine all ingredients in large mixing bowl of electric mixer and blend then beat at medium for 4 minutes. Pour into well greased and floured 10 inch tube or fluted tube pan. (I’ve used a bundt cake pan and angel food cake pan). Bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. DO NOT UNDERBAKE. Cool in pan for 15 min. remove and cool on rack. When the cake has cooled and before I serve it I give it a dusting of powdered sugar.

This goes really well with whipped cream or a good vanilla ice cream, too. This has become a favorite in my house and is requested for birthday cakes very often.

I like to share my recipes and I really enjoy inviting table settings like these…

 

Special times with family and friends are shared on my blog as well.

I enjoy walking and I share photos from these walks and I’m part of a Bloggy Walking Club. The bloggers who participate keep track of their average steps for a 5-6 day period each week and share their totals. My husband who I call “Dear” on this blog and I walk most every Saturday at Emma Wood State Beach in Ventura, California.

 

I’m also a Brown Plate Special participant which is a sensible challenge for some of us older bloggers to eat smaller quantities and add more activity in our lives and be accountable to each other.

I participate in a few weekly blog carnivals like ABC Wednesday, Word Filled Wednesday, Wordless Wednesday, Thankful Thursday, Sky Watch Fridays and Photo Hunters. I post a Hymn or Worship song on Sunday. Sometimes during the week I’ll share a devotional or a quote from a book I’m reading.

A fun experience I’ve had since I started blogging is meeting a fellow blogger who lives in the same city as me. After meeting we decided to walk together. We try to walk every weekday which has been great. Here’s a photo from the day we met at a local Coffee shop in town.

 

This is Willow from Willow’s Cottage. I’m the brunette (I think brunette sounds so much better than I’m the old lady on the right with brown hair)

I will also share photos from travels here in the states and abroad.

 

 

My sister Lana and I started blogging about the same time. We talk most everyday (mostly about our blogs). It’s fun to have a bosom bloggy buddy who doesn’t get tired of “blog talk”. We laugh all the time. Her blog is called Above the Clouds because she travels weekly by air.

I post a lot,  at least one post a day sometimes 2 to 3 posts a day on bloggy carnival days.

I choose for my blog be an encouraging blog and to honor the Lord so you generally will not hear me ranting and you will not find bad language and things that I find objectionable to my heart and mind here.

Whew! My posts are not this long generally unless it’s all photos (Did I say I’m visual and love photos!?)

Thanks so much for visiting and I hope you come again. Blessings on you…

You can see more blogs that are participating in the party at 5 minutes for Mom. I’ll add the link when they have it up later tonight. Well as soon as 5MFM fixes their site you can click and get there we all crashed it I think. For now you can google Ultimate Blog Party and find some sites!

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage. I’m working on updating my blog posts very slowly.

Thankful Thursday ~ Hope

I am so thankful to God for this time of year. This time before Spring arrives. The anticipation for Easter and then the culmination with a great celebration of the Resurrection. I think this even trumps Christmas for me. I love Christmas, too, but the New life and new birth and flowers and strawberries that come with Spring just overwhelm me! Thank you God for these simple pleasures and your amazing sacrifice and miracle of your Resurrection that make this season so beautiful!

Hebrews 6: 19, 20 ~ “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us has entered on our behalf. ”

For more Thankful Thursday click here.

Wildflowers in Winter ~ Week 8

Week 8 – March 5 – 12. The First Wildflower of Spring photo challenge.

Be searching for wildflowers in your area. Try to find the first one blooming and post a photo of it on your blog.

On our walks along the coast the most abundant wildflower we see is the Sea Fig. They come from the Carpetweed family. The yellow one is a Hottentot Fig and I think the more purple colored one is just called Sea Fig.

I’m hoping to get the names correct for this collage of flowers. I searched my Coastal Flowering Plants book but some were hard to identify. Here’s what I came up with from left to right. Purple Nightshade, Sea Rocket, more Sea Rocket, California Encelia (Bush Sunflower), Not sure maybe Wild Morning Glory?, more Bush Sunflower, Again not sure but think it’s Wild Morning Glory, Our Lord’s Candle (Yucca whipplei) Agave Family, Turkey Mullein Dove Weed.

An extra note on Our Lord’s Candle, the flower stalk is 4 to 8 feet tall. There is a basal rosette of spine-tipped, sword-like leaves 1 to 3 feet long. The white flowers sometimes purple-tinged, appear in a terminal compound cluster up to 4 feet long. They are very fragrant and even have a pleasant taste when nibbed. The fruit is a capsule.

Now since I am in California I really need to include some photos of our state wildflower the California Poppy!

These are all blooming at the same time here along the coast in Southern California so I included them all.

For more First Spring blooms head over to Elizabeth Joy’s.

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage. I’m working on updating my blog posts very slowly.

Lovella’s Walking Club Tally ~ Oh the Steps I Stepped!

My new Bloggy Walking Buddy Willow and I walked everyday this week. After our regular walk on Friday afternoon Dear and I had Willow and her husband over for dinner. When I took my pedometer off for bed it registered 14,176 steps. I had a busy Friday before our afternoon walk and the steps just added up. My average steps for the week were 12,089!

Here are some dinner photos and our Saturday Beach walk collage…

 

We had a nice evening. It’s always fun to find out all the things you have in common with people you’ve just met.

Willow and her husband. Willow is enjoying one of Dear’s famous Kensington Dreams. Here’s the recipe for you, Willow. In a shaker over ice cubes, combine juice of half a lemon, 1 oz. Brandy, 1 oz. Amaretto, 2 oz. Creme de Cassis, shake and strain into water goblet then add 4oz. of Champagne. Don’t drive after you drink one. 🙂

 

Our beach walk on Saturday morning. A misty moisty morning. We saw some new wonders today. Because of the high rough surf this week there were lots of piles of driftwood and boulders thrown up onto our path. There was a lot of seaweed washed up, too. We even got down onto the sand this Saturday to explore.

 

The birds above are Marbled godwits. They use their beaks to probe the sand. They migrate to California and Mexico in flocks in Autumn from Canada.

Have a wonderful Saturday everyone and keep on walking and enjoying God’s wonders.

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage. I’m working on updating my blog posts very slowly.

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.

Ventura Harbor ~ High Surf Advisory

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.

Monday I drove up to the Ventura Harbor to see the high surf that was promised because of storms in the area. The day was clear and warm for a North-westerner. The power of the waves was amazing. I wish I could have made a video with the loud crashing sound. The power of the waves produced airy foam that floated up on the shore.

 

 

I was amazed that this boat decided to head out in this surf.

 

 

 

The awesome power of God’s creation is breathtaking…