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…
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!
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!
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)
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.
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.
It’s Monday morning weigh-in time. After my .3 gain last week I’m down .1 this week. I’m still clinging to the hope and the encouragement that this is an activity level and eating plan I can stick to for the long haul and I’ll decide after 6 months if it’s working well. I’m not doing anything drastic in a diet plan, just eating less and not eating after meals, etc. With this effort I think the numbers are going to change gradually and not drastically. So as they say “time will tell”. In the meantime I am always happy not to have put on an extra 5 pounds…
I have some photos from a hike I took yesterday with someone I met at church last week. She invited me to go on a hike with her and another gal and I said yes. I generally walk on mostly flat surfaces but this was a feel new muscles hike for sure. Here are some sites I saw during my 9394 steps…
This hike was in the Santa Monica Mountains whose north western boundary ends in my own front yard. We went on the Satwiwa short hike up to some falls.
The Santa Monica Mountains are 10 miles across at their widest spot and 50 miles long from Griffith Park to Point Mugu. We really have some amazing places to walk and hike during our stay here in Southern California. We are more and more thankful for the area we live in. Poison oak grows well here, too, so it’s good to be aware of the danger it poses. Some people (like our oldest son) react quite violently when they come in contact with it. I decided to take a photo to make sure I recognize it.
Because of all our rains and snow in Southern California this year there is more water in the creeks and streams. It is refreshing to come upon this site on a hot uphill hike.
This is what you are treated to at the end of this trail.
The view on the way back to the trail head.
Have a wonderful Monday and week. Keep on walking…
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.
Sayre has this assignment for us…
Every day as I go to work, I see things around me that make me laugh. Usually these are in the forms of signs. So take your camera with you as you go about your business and take a picture of the things that make you laugh along the way (but it doesn’t necessarily HAVE to be a sign).
I don’t go to work everyday but when I’m out and about and when I am walking I see lots of things that make me smile. Here are a few things I saw last Wednesday.
I stopped at Costco and came upon this Rat who was loudly picketing the store. I think he was protesting the sale of Rat Poison.
Then on my walk with Willow we came upon this Bunny Topiary (that’s Willow in the blue, she tried to get away before my camera snapped). And then there’s me all shocked and scared because of this sign.
This kind of sign doesn’t make me feel real comfortable. But I got a tip about walking and hiking where there are rattlesnakes. Don’t walk along the edge of a path. Walk in the middle. If you are walking with two other people, let them flank you, one on either side. 🙂 Reminds me of the hiking tip for the mountains in Washington and the possibility of coming upon a bear. Make sure there is at least one person in your party who runs slower than you. You can’t out run a bear but at least you can out run the slowest person in your party.
Now I thought this post was done but I went to a different Costco on Thursday and this is what I saw on the way and while I was there…
I passed this Semi headed for my exit and I so wished I wasn’t driving so I could snap a photo but then he got off at my same exit so I was able to snap this not so clear photo. “Jesus Christ is Lord, not a swear word” was on each side and the back of the semi. I got a big kick out of this and it made me smile. And it’s so true.
Then I was in Costco making a cd of all my bloggy photos so I could empty my memory card so I could take more bloggy photos and look at these 2 sweet nuns I saw. I took this photo with my back to them so they wouldn’t know what I was doing and come over and smack me with a ruler (no I didn’t go to Catholic school, I just heard stories from my friends). I couldn’t tell you the last time I’ve seen nuns in a Habit out and about…
For more Fun Monday click here.
On Valentine’s Day night we met our dear friends from Washington State at a Mexican Restaurant in Venice (California) for dinner. They were visiting Disneyland with their daughter Deena, her husband Jeremy and their grandkids Talia and Martin. We decided to meet at La Cabana which was about halfway for both of us to drive.
They still make their own tortillas at this restaurant.
Jan and Bob…Jan is one of my walking buddies in the Seattle area. Bob was our former pastor and is our good friend. We have been on several adventures with Bob and Jan and our other good buddies Dave and Jody. Bicycle trips in the wine country, bicycle trips in the San Juan’s, bicycle trips in Victoria, B.C., and Leavenworth. Our most recent wonderful adventure was a walking trip in Great Britain. I for one am happy to have retired my bicycle after quite a nose dive and “knock out” experience in Leavenworth.
Dear and me.
What’s wonderful about good friends is that you can catch up in 3 seconds and feel as if you haven’t been apart.
Week 5 – February 13 – 19. Stitching up wildflowers – creations made with textiles (fabric, yarn, thread etc.) and featuring wildflowers in some form, made by you or someone else.
I didn’t realize how many embroidered or stitched items I had to share in this category! After ironing and taking photos and making collages, I’m finally ready with my post for this week.
The first collages I’m going to share are very special to me because they are of 2 Tablecloths and a set of napkins that my dear little Babushka Vera embroidered for me. My little grandma (we called her little because she was only about 4’11” tall) embroidered this first one as a wedding gift for us.
I went shopping with her and picked out the size of tablecloth and the napkins. Then we chose the embroidery threads together, too. Sweet memories. Did I mention that my Babushka only had one hand. One of her arms was amputated from the elbow down when she was a young girl. That never slowed her down.
The flowers on this cloth look similar to this one.
This cloth that my Babushka also embroidered was given to me probably when I graduated from High school. These two Tablecloths are my favorite of all my stitched items because of the love and time it took for my dear Babushka to make them for me.
This photograph of our Babushka was taken in 1969 at my sister Vera’s wedding. Isn’t she the cutest little thing?! She’s looking up at my sister Vera here. She went home to be with her Lord in March of 1980.
To see more stitched Wildflower goodies click on over to Elizabeth Joy’s at Wilflower Morning.
The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b. 