Look who came for a visit! It’s Willow’s grandson New Boy. Doesn’t he have the sweetest expressions? Well he wants Grandma Willow and Mommy to know that ellen b. is OK but he loves them the best and was happy that they didn’t leave him too long with that fluffy lady.
Happy 8 months to you New Boy!
Shiver me timbers! I almost forgot it’s talk like a pirate day Mateys! Here are a few of my favorite pirates and the words to that Yo Ho Song on that ride at Disneyland, Pirates of the Caribbean…
Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate’s life for me.
We pillage plunder, we rifle and loot.
Drink up me ‘earties, yo ho.
We kidnap and ravage and don’t give a hoot.
Drink up me ‘earties, yo ho.
Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate’s life for me.
We extort and pilfer, we filch and sack.
Drink up me ‘earties, yo ho.
Maraud and embezzle and even highjack.
Drink up me ‘earties, yo ho.
Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate’s life for me.
We kindle and char and in flame and ignite.
Drink up me ‘earties, yo ho.
We burn up the city, we’re really a fright.
Drink up me ‘earties, yo ho.
We’re rascals and scoundrels, we’re villians and knaves.
Drink up me ‘earties, yo ho.
We’re devils and black sheep, we’re really bad eggs.
Drink up me ‘earties, yo ho.
We’re beggars and blighters and ne’er do-well cads,
Drink up me ‘earties, yo ho.
Aye, but we’re loved by our mommies and dads,
Drink up me ‘earties, yo ho.
Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate’s life for me.
Ha! Sounds kind of like a politician’s life to me…
And here is what my daughter carries her lunch to work in…
Now I should go Scrub the Deck!
I saw this over at Susanne’s and decided to play along…
Susanne’s was a meme for a busy day. Mine is a meme for a laid up day. I’m still in bed with back pain and so between memorizing, blogging and reading, I’m calling on God so I don’t lose heart. 2 Corinthians 4:16-17 “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal”
A view from my jail room while I’m recovering…
Lousy photo yes, but it was fun taking a picture. I’m suffering a bit from picture taking withdrawal.
So now to the temporary things of this earth that I’ve seen and done…
Have you ever:
-Gone on a blind date no
-Skipped school yes
-Watched someone die yes
-Been to Canada yes to British Columbia, and to Ontario from Detroit.
-Been to Mexico Yes, but not to a resort. Tijuana and Tecate to buy tile…
-Been to Florida No
-Been on a plane Yes
– Been lost yes but not for long
-Been on the opposite side of the country yes
-Been to the capital of your country yes
-Swam in the ocean or waded Yes, in the Pacific and the Atlantic
-Cried yourself to sleep yes
– Played cops and robber Yes, and cowboys and Indians.
-Recently colored with crayons Not recently
– Sang Karaoke Yes
– Paid for a meal with coins only? probably
– Done something you told yourself you wouldn’t? Yes
– Made prank phone calls Yes, so very embarrassing…
– Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose unfortunately yes
– Caught a snowflake on your tongue Yes after we moved to Washington state.
– Danced in the rain Yes, in Washington probably after a goal or a touchdown. 🙂
– Written a letter to Santa Claus no, not that I can recall.
– Been kissed under the mistletoe yes
-Watched the sunrise with someone you care about Yes
– Blown bubbles Absolutely
– Gone ice-skating Yes, but not successfully
– Been skinny dipping outdoors Yes in the dark in a hot tub with nobody looking (I hope)
-Been out of North America Yes, Great Britain.
-Been in detention Yes, room 208 at Montebello Junior High.
-Regreted something you blogged probably…
I won’t tag anyone but if you do it let me know so that I can come and read!
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!
Robin at Pensieve has chosen this theme for today’s Fun Monday.
Quotable quotes and words that inspire.
Here are a couple of quotes for you. One from a Russian and one for an admired American.
“How easy it is for me to live with you, Lord!
How easy it is for me to believe in you!
When my mind is distraught and my reason fails,
When the cleverest people do not see further than this
evening what must be done tomorrow
You grant me the clear confidence
that you exist, and that you will take care
that not all the ways of goodness are stopped.
At the height of earthly fame I gaze with wonder at
that path through hopelessness-
to this point from which even I have been able
to convey to men some reflection of the Light
which comes from you.”
-Alexander Solshenitsyn
Solshenitsyn: A Pictorial Record, 1974
“All the masterpieces of art contain both light and shadow. A happy life is not one filled only with sunshine, but one which uses both light and shadow to produce beauty.”
Billy Graham
Day by Day with Billy Graham, 1976
To read more Fun Monday Quotes click over to Robin’s.
Swampy is hosting Fun Monday and this is a short version of her assignment for us.
Choose a topic/theme and make an alphabetical list of words, phrases, photos…however you want to share your topic/theme.
For Spring I assembled this flower collage with an ode to it below using the letters of the alphabet in consecutive order. Not Shakespeare by any means just my zaney attempt at being clever. Enjoy…
A beautiful collage delights. Every fragrance gentle, heavy, intense, journeys kindly lingering midst new odes poetically quipped resting still tantalized under vines with Xanadu yearnings zealous and zaney!
And because yesterday was Easter here are some ABC words I associate with it…
Angel ~ Blessed ~ Christ ~ Delivered ~ Empty tomb ~ Freed ~ Grace ~ Hope ~ Infinate ~ Joy ~ King ~ Lord ~ Mercy ~ Nails ~ Omnipotent ~ Praise ~ Quench ~ Resurrected ~ Savior ~ Throne ~ Unblemished ~ Victorious ~ Wounded ~ eXalted ~ Yield ~ Zion
For more fun Monday click over to Swampy’s.
Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage. I’m working on updating my blog posts very slowly.
Our Easter preparations are on their way.
Katie colors the eggs each year.
I decorate the show piece of our food celebration, the Kulich (Russian Easter Bread). I did say decorate. I didn’t say I baked it. That is still on my list to do before I die.
We will celebrate all day tomorrow with friends, family, food, hallelujahs and hosannas to our Resurrected King.
Blessings on all your preparations and celebrations…
Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage. I’m working on updating my blog posts very slowly.
When I arrived in Washington on Saturday Afternoon this bouquet of Lily’s was waiting for me from Dear for my birthday. Thank you Dear!
I was anxious to look around my yard Sunday morning and see if any of my plants had survived and bloomed since I’ve been gone. I was so excited to see some pretty blooms.
My friend Beth gave me this Lenten Rose for my birthday a couple years ago and look at how beautiful it has bloomed. Thanks again Beth for this beautiful plant that blooms during the season of Lent and thank you for my beautiful hanky that you sent this year. I use hankies these days to catch my tears of joy especially at church, weddings, baptisms, etc. I’ll make sure to bring it to Jamie’s wedding in August!
How sweet it was to spot these perfect waxy looking blue blooms with the yellow centers and the yellow with orange. Are these primroses? My clematis that my friend Jody gave me has survived too and is full of blooms. This is the first year that it is blooming so profusely. (I left it in it’s container too long before planting it in my planter and I was afraid I killed it but it revived, probably because it was from Jody’s hands to me)
What a fun stroll it was and boy do I need to do some weeding!
Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage. I’m working on updating my blog posts very slowly.
Today is my birthday and I decided to go down memory lane and post some older photos and show you a little of my history.
First I’ll surround myself with things I enjoy. I do know how to pamper me 🙂
I think this is my seventh birthday because of the candles on the cake which would make this 1958.
This is our dining room at 4635 Oak Street in Montebello Gardens. We lived here till I was in 5th grade. My brother Fred, sister Vera, me, my cousin Jim and my sister Kathy who got cut off when I posted this (sorry Kathy)
This birthday was either 1960 or 1961 because there’s my little brother Steve in the high chair and he was born in December of 1959. This is the kitchen and my cousins around me are Tanya, Valia, Vera, Johnny, and you can barely see Walter. These next 4 photos were taken just last Sunday when we ended up driving through Montebello to go to a family function in Whittier.
While we lived on Oak Street in Montebello Gardens (Pico Rivera) my 3 older siblings and I would walk to the Montebello library to check out books. We’d head to Whittier Blvd. and have to cross this bridge over the Rio Hondo River to get to the library. It was approximately 2 miles each way.
The library was located at Montebello Park. This is the building the library was housed in where I spent many happy hours looking at all those books and trying to choose just 4. Now it’s a senior center.
We moved from Montebello Gardens across the river to Montebello when I was in 5th grade. This is our house at 305 Los Angeles Ave. When we lived here there wasn’t a second story and there wasn’t a chain link fence. Although a chain link fence would have come in handy after the twins (escape artists) were born…
This was my high school. Montebello High home of the Montebello Oilers. It’s totally fenced in now so they can have Lock-downs. How sad is that?! That’s a reality of our times. No fences in the 60’s!
The football field that I spent most Friday nights at during football season in high school. It’s under renovation.
In my junior and senior year I was a Song-leader and part of the cheer squad. I’m in the bottom row on the right. Judy, my best friend from junior high and high school is next to me. Debbie next to her. The top row left to right is Kathy, Bet (yes we called her Bet), and Judy. You can see those same stands behind us. This photo was taken in fall of 1967. We’re seniors here and will all graduated in June of 1968.
These are the photos I had access to while I’m here at the condo in California. Tomorrow I fly to Seattle to see my kids and celebrate Easter with them. I’ll be there for a couple of weeks. I haven’t seen them face to face since January 1st so I’m really looking forward to my time with them.
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.
So I contemplated how we should celebrate the anniversary of that day.
Should I serve one of my Russian favorites that my mom bakes, Roolyet? Make sure you roll your tongue on the roo part of the word.
Or maybe I could serve this dessert I’ve made that is so simple and I’ll include the directions below.
But in the great Hobbit Birthday Tradition I decided I would give away a gift to celebrate. The winning of this gift is open to all my regular bloggy friends and bloggers who participate in the same weekly memes I do. All you have to do is to leave a comment and make sure you include a good email address so I can contact you if you win. If you’re a guy I’m sorry that this is so feminine but if you win maybe you could give it to your wife, mother, sister, or friend.
I thought this was appropriate for the hope of Spring and new life it brings.
So thanks for stopping by my party and take time to comment and enter the drawing. It’s been a fun year for me getting to know all about blogging. I appreciate the friendships I’ve developed and am grateful for y’all.
Blessings..
ellen b.
Easy directions for individual trifle like desserts…
Cook one larger package of Vanilla pudding (not instant) according to package directions then put plastic wrap right on the surface of the pudding and let it cool in the refrigerator. While the pudding is cooling wash and cut 1 large carton of fresh strawberries into bite size pieces. Put them into a bowl and sprinkle sugar on top of them to make them juicier and sweeter. After the pudding has gotten cold whip up 2 cups heavy whipping cream (I add 1/4 -1/2 tsp. pure almond extract to the cream). Save some of the whipping cream to top the desserts and fold in the rest of the whipped cream into the cold pudding. Now all you have to do is assemble the individual trifles. Put some of the strawberries in the bottom of a fun glass or glass bowl, then add some store bought pound cake torn into pieces or angel food cake torn into pieces, next put some of the pudding mixture then keep layering in this same order. Top with a dollop of whip cream and a strawberry. Simple and refreshing and yummy. (You could also make the layers in a Large Trifle bowl)
Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage. I’m working on updating my blog posts very slowly.
The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b. 