Category Archives: Fun

Friday’s Feast # 3

 

Appetizer
How are you today?

Tired and full of heavy sighs as I recover from staying up late last night waiting to hear about my son’s status after going to the ER for a first time ever episode with Aphasia.

(Son was released that night, is doing well, and is having follow-up appointment with specialist and a couple more tests in the next week or so to try to determine what caused it)

Soup
Name 3 television shows you watch on a regular basis.

Survivor, CSI, Top Chef

Salad
What’s the scariest weather situation you’ve experienced?

Heavy rains that caused our area to be declared a National disastor area because of flooding which caused a huge landslide behind our 1st home in Washington. We heard a huge crash and watched a huge fir tree go dancing down the hill like something from Fantasia!

Main Course
If you could wake up tomorrow morning in another country, where would you want to be?

Oh this one is easy. Great Britain for sure….

Dessert
What do you usually wear (oops I didn’t copy the last two words) to sleep.

Jeans and a t-shirt. (my first answer) I really don’t wear jeans and a t-shirt to sleep 🙂

I wear one of those cotton t-shirt nighties…one size fits all sort of thing. Very romantic….

To see more feasts go here.

Ventura…Where it all Began, the Bayles/Spiro Friendship and First Hike…

On Sunday Dear and I drove North for a great breakfast at Allison’s Country Cafe in Ventura before we headed to the Ventura Fair Grounds Flea Market. The Flea market was row upon row of stuff,  Antiques, Shabby Chic, New, Old, Furniture, Chotchkies, Jewelery, Treasures and Junk…

The weather was lovely but we got toasted because we forgot our sunblock. Silly Washingtonians in California!

 

But the real fun treat was to see Two Trees. This was the site of our very first Bayles/Spiro Hike way back in early 1985. We know it was before Katie (Katherine) was born so Jamie was a wee babe…

 

I stood at this intersection to take the photo of Two Trees. That was quite the infamous hike with Dave, Jody (who we think had her arm in a cast), Lucy, Bridget, Jamie (a baby then), Dear, Ellen, Josh and Dan. Of course the first thing our boys wanted to do was to climb those two trees. We were never exposed to being outdoor type people till we started our friendship with the Spiro’s. We credit them with dragging us along on their outdoor adventures and teaching us the love of being able to tell the story of survival after the fact… God Bless them dearly!

Click to read more about Two Trees.

Any photos missing from my posts are the result of Photobucket blacking out all my photos that I stored on their site since 2006.

Wedding Customs ~ A Look Back to the late 60’s…

These Photos were taken November 22, 1969. This was the day of my sister Vera’s marriage to Nick. I wanted to show y’all what we used to do to all the cars in the wedding party. We’d make these huge crepe paper flowers and string them together and decorate the cars. We’d use the colors that were going to be used in the wedding. The kids in these photos are my 4 younger brothers and sisters. Tim, Steve, Lana G! and her twin Leonard.

 

Lana G! has curlers in her hair. She and Leonard were the flower girl and ring bearer in the wedding…

One other interesting note was that it was very difficult to get our favorite florist to arrange and deliver flowers on this day because they were USC Alumni and huge fans and this was the day of cross town rival games so USC was playing UCLA.

Big mistake in my photo album experience is using these magnetic layered page albums that were so popular in the 60’s and 70’s that make your pictures impossible to take out and scan today….

 Any photos missing from my posts are the result of Photobucket blacking out all my photos that I stored on their site since 2006.

Show and Tell Friday ~ Lavender Bathroom

Today I’m showing you my little dark lavender and green master bathroom in Washington. We have a Gambrel roof so the ceiling is slanted and cuts into our wall space. This gives us limited room for cabinets, etc.

This is a view to show you the slanted ceilings

We added this little cabinet above the toilet to give us some storage space.

I decided to use lavender accessories in the cabinet and most of these items are gifts I have received.

This Abalone shell and other shells are from a collection Dear’s parents had.  The whole Master Bedroom Suite has a nice cozy retreat feel because of the slanted ceilings. They are the only rooms on the top level of our home in Washington so it’s a very private retreat. Thank you for visiting my site today. May God bless you with His peace and joy. Have a wonderful weekend. Oh and thank you for your comments. I do read every one and appreciate your kind words and the time it takes to post them…

For more show and tell head over to There’s No Place Like Home.

Friday’s Feast ~My 2nd ~ September 21st, 2007

Appetizer
What is your favorite type of art?

I enjoy the Impressionists like Monet…

Soup
When was the last time you got a free lunch (or breakfast or dinner)? Who paid for it?

My family was celebrating my niece’s birthday Saturday Sept. 15th at a wondeful restaurant in San Marino, California and my sister Lana picked up the tab for all of us.

Salad
On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how emotional are you?

I am probably a 6 in the world of emotions. I’ve become more comfortable showing my emotions as I’ve grown older. I’ll take a hanky with me especially at church because it seems this is where my tears flow easier. Oh and after I’ve had a glass of wine I cry easier, too. 🙂

Main Course
Approximately how long do you spend each day responding to emails?

Probably only about 15 minutes top…

Dessert
To what temperature do you usually set your home’s thermostat?

We like to keep the house on the cooler side especially at night. In California we like it at 72 degrees for air conditioning and 68 degrees for heat but we turn off the heat at night…

To see more Friday Feasts go here

Carpenteria ~ Sunday Drive

After church on Sunday Dear and I took a drive up the coast to the little beach side town of Carpenteria. After we got there we got a great tip on a Mom and Pop run restaurant where we had a wonderful breakfast with thick bacon and bisquits and gravy. If you are ever in Carpenteria we recommend The Worker Bee Cafe. The wife is the waitress and the husband is the cook who we saw come out of the kitchen to make sure he got someone’s order right. We walked along Linden Ave. and browsed through Magpie Antiques, Homestead Antiques, Hollyhock Cottage, and a candy shop called Robitaille’s Fine Candy. We saw some great old houses and the Historic Methodist Church (now Capinteria Valley Baptist) which was built in 1888.

A LOL side note: In order to post these collages with my minimal space on this blog presentation I have to narrow down the photo. When people are in the photos like myself above you get contorted and narrowed also. So my disclaimer is that I’m not that tall, do not have those longer legs, and am not that thin at present 🙂

Carpenteria is home to the largest known Torrey Pine in existence. Torrey Pines naturally occur in just two locations: Santa Rosa Island in the Santa Barbara Channel, and along the coast near La Jolla in San Diego County. Collected in 1888 as a seedling on Santa Rosa Island, Judge Ward planted it on the grounds of his home (Wardholme). This Torrey Pine thrived and reached beyond its 40 to 60ft. height. In 1988 it measured 128 feet tall, 121 feet wide at the crown, and 20 feet in circumference at four feet off the ground. It was an amazing tree to see. We drove over to the Carpenteria Cemetary where majestic towering oaks remain from the ancient oak forest which originally blanketed the Valley. We drove over to the Carpenteria Cemetary before we headed home and saw some great headstones and majestic Oak trees.

This was one of the most interesting headstones we saw. Dr. Samuel Austin Moffett and Mrs. Lucia Fish Moffett were buried on this site. They were moved to the campus of the Presbyterian College and Theological Seminary in Seoul, Korea on April 20, 2006. Dr. Moffett was a pioneer missionary to Korea. He founded and served as the first President of the Seminary from 1903 to 1924.

Thanks for coming along with us to Carpenteria not to be confused with Carpeteria…

Any photos missing from my posts are the result of Photobucket blacking out all my photos that I stored on their site since 2006.

Welcome to My Neighborhood! ~

Welcome to My Neighborhood!

Kathleen Marie thought it would be nice to see where everyone is from, where they live, learn more about her blogging neighbors, her friends and acquaintances.

So, since she can’t jump in her car, hop on a train or plane and visit you all, although she would sure like to, she thought it was time for a “bloggy” visit to your neighborhood! Let’s have a chat along the yard fence, have coffee or tea at your local hangout, visit your park or favorite attraction. The skies the limit!

Head over to The Open Window to join the fun.

The day set for this this neighborly visit around Bloggityville is Monday September 17th. On that day everyone will share their favorite things about their neighborhood. This should give us all plenty of time to get those photos, stories and/or slide shows ready. Just sign the linky at her site so we know who’s participating.

~~~

If you are participating I’ll be by on Monday September 17th to see your neighborhoods!

Today I have 3 collages to share with photos from my newest neighborhood in Southern California and my favorite neighborhood and the place I call home in the Seattle area. Please come along and welcome to my neighborhoods!

 

Our condo in Camarillo is a one bedroom. Even though it’s small we still can entertain a crowd. Living in the Southern California area affords us the opportunity to see extended family and close friends from our early married years. The Complex we are in is brand new and has a lot of nice extras.

 

Palm trees are the norm around here and dusty trails. We are at the northern base of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. We are 8 miles from the Pacific Ocean. (Pt. Mugu) We are in a highly agricultural area where we can find fresh produce stands at nearby farms. The Hispanic culture is prevalent in this area with Mexican Restaurants galore. (kind of like Starbuck’s in Seattle!) Speaking of food In-N-Out is just an exit up the freeway from us. California Grill is one of our favorite local restaurants. (bottom middle photo). The new library in town is the top right photo.

 

Here, have an In-N-Out Burger on me…

Now I’ll show you a little bit of my favorite place to live, the Seattle area…

 

The things I miss when I’m living in Southern California are my house, the space I have inside and outside, Fred Meyer Food and Department store, the distinct four seasons, the big fluffy sky, the huge trees everywhere, the downtown area on the water, my library and most of all my children and my best friends. I am thankful that I get to take trips back and spend holidays and other special occasions there.

I thank God for His goodness to us in blessing us with beautiful places to live where we can enjoy His creation and people we can have fellowship with wherever we find ourselves.  Have a wonderful week!

Thank you for coming to my neighborhoods today. To see more neighborhoods around the USA and beyond click on over to The Open Window.

Any photos missing from my posts are the result of Photobucket blacking out all my photos that I stored on their site since 2006.

Another Happy Birthday at Julienne

Michelle of A Simple Sweet Life is having a birthday today.

 Happy Birthday Michelle!

Michelle, ma belle
These are words that go together well
My Michelle

Michelle, ma belle
Sont des mots qui vont tres bien ensemble
tres bien ensemble

(sorry couldn’t help myself)

Ryan and my niece Michelle

Jackson my Grand Nephew

Nieces Debbee and Melissa

Sister Lana G! and her husband Steve

 Sister Kathy and Ryan

Ellen, SIL Kelly, niece Debbee

Dear was with us too but my photo didn’t turn out but Michelle’s did so you can see Dear and me over there.

We drive, we eat, we laugh, we celebrate, Lana pays!!

We are blessed indeed. Thank you Lord!

ht: Michelle lyrics by the Beatles

Any photos missing from my posts are the result of Photobucket blacking out all my photos that I stored on their site since 2006.

Friday’s Feast ~ One Hundred Sixty

 

Appetizer
When was the last time you visited a hospital?

The last time I visited a hospital was earlier this year to take my sister to the ER after she tried to cut her finger off. We were there for hours and all she needed was a few stitches.

Soup
On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being highest, how ambitious are you?

Probably about a 5. I’m very selectively ambitious…

Salad
Make a sentence using the letters of a body part. (Example: (mouth) My other ukelele tings healthily.)

(eye) Ellen yells excitedly!

Main Course
If you were to start a club, what would the subject matter be, and what would you name it?

The subject would be food, cooking, planning, staging, eating, enjoying.  The name would be “Create, Eat, and be Merry”

Dessert
What color is the carpet/flooring in your home?

 

A picture is worth a thousand words….the flooring in my condo.

For more Friday’s Feast go here.

Any photos missing from my posts are the result of Photobucket blacking out all my photos that I stored on their site since 2006.