Category Archives: Fun

Come to Seattle ~ A Little Tour

Dear arrived last night to Seattle for two whole weeks of vacation so we have a lot of relational, family, friend, and fellowship time in store for us. My and Lana G.‘s brother Leonard and his wife Mandy arrive Sunday night to visit us all for the week. My brother Leonard is Lana’s twin and my baby brother. He’s younger than Lana by 7 minutes and me by 12 years.

If my blogging is sporadic next week you’ll know why. We are off seeing the sights, eating out, and laughing our heads off. With your head off it’s hard to post anything of importance. I wanted to show you some fun sights that we might visit. I’m sure later I’ll have some actual shots of what we did. Blessings on your week with the 4th stuck right in the middle! Oh and to my Canadian friends Happy Canada Day tomorrow!

These are the beautiful grounds of Chateau Ste Michelle, a winery very close to our home.

They offer wine tours on the hour and are a great tourist destination. There is another winery across the road called Columbia. Then next door to the Columbia Winery is the Redhook Brewery that offers tours and has a restaurant and outdoor movies in the summer. Next door to the Redhook brewery is the renowned Herbfarm Restaurant and the Willows Lodge. The restaurant serves a several course meal (different each night) paired with wines and you will probably dish out $400 per couple for the evening. Dear and I won’t be going there in this lifetime. Redhook’s a lot cheaper with sandwiches and salads, etc. 🙂

Meanwhile, back at the Chateau, you’ll see ponds and flowers and peacocks.

This is the doorway to the main entrance. If you don’t drink wine but are interested in the tour they also offer grape juice at the end of the tour of the winery.

But now let’s go to the fun neighborhood of Fremont. Close to downtown Seattle and just across the Fremont bridge from Seattle Pacific University.

This is our famous troll that lives under the Aurora bridge. It’s huge. That’s an actual VW bug that it has it’s hand over. These are 3 of my nephews posing…

Why on earth does Fremont have the largest statue in the U.S. of the worst Russian leader of all time?!

 

This is  Kerry Park where you can see this famous view of Seattle and Elliot Bay. This was taken in the Fall. If we’d step to the left about 4 feet you could see more of downtown!

This is the Edmond’s Ferry Dock (I stole this photo from my son’s blog). We have several ferry routes around the area that  you can take to the Olympic Peninsula or many of the Washington Islands. Being surrounded by water, islands, and mountains makes Seattle unique and a great adventure. So make sure you put Seattle on your list of destinations to visit before you die. Come in July or August if you want more sunshine!

Photobucket is holding all the photos of mine from this post hostage as of July 2017.

Works For Me ~ Goodwill

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a bargain hunter. Goodwill in Washington (not California!) has been a very good shopping friend of mine. I have found countless treasures there. Today I’m sharing one of my daughters prom dresses that I purchased at Goodwill for $7.  She’s the one in the metallic grey dress. Now some kids probably wouldn’t do this but she bragged about the cost and where the dress came from to all her friends. The necklace and earrings that she purchased cost more than the dress! When I wanted to give up shopping at Goodwill for lent Katie exclaimed, “Now what good would that do?” So y’all shopping at Goodwill works for me, it might work for you, too.

 

Just yesterday my daughter and I went to Goodwill and I found all 7 of the Chronicles of Narnia books for $1.49 each. They are the Full-Color Collector’s Edition. So Goodwill works for me for clothes, books, housewares, purses, etc. etc.

Now go on over to Rocks in My Dryer to see more handy dandy tips!

Fellowship ~ Food ~ Family ~ Friends ~ Fun

Father’s Day weekend was filled with time enjoying family and friends. On Saturday Ken and Heidi traveled North from Orange county and Jim and Jeanie traveled South from Central California to enjoy the day with us.

Heidi, Ken, Dear, Jim and Jeanie.

Heidi is an friend of mine from the Russian Baptist Church. We have had many traveling adventures together. She was living with Greg and me in Huntington Beach when she met Ken. I was the matron of honor in their wedding in 1978.

Jim is my cousin. His father and my father are brothers. I met Jeanie in college and we became good friends. I introduced her to Jim. They were married in 1974, eight months before us. For a few years all three of us couples lived in Huntington Beach and attended the same church.

Ellen and Dear

We have always enjoyed each others company and can laugh and cry together. This is the “front row” inside joke that got us chuckling. Jim, it’s true by the way…(call me)

The guys enjoyed talking about new digital camera capabilities, stereo high and low sounds, contractor woes, and the importance of accountability.

Still friends after all these years…

More family made their way to Camarillo yesterday and we christened the Condo pool! My sister Kathy, niece Michelle and her son Jackson came for lunch and a swim.

Jackson giving me the smile!

Enjoying the pool in Mommy’s arms.

Yippee!

Nana sitting close by…

until she’s needed!

Chicken nuggets at Great Aunties.

A lovely steamed pear and date dessert for the ladies made by niece Michelle.

My company left and I was off to pick up Dear from work.

Straight to California Grill in Camarillo to use the Father’s Day gift card from our children to their dad. Thanks Josh, Laura, Dan and Katie. Dinner was wonderful and we still have money left on the card!

Today I head North to the Seattle area for the next three weeks. We’ll be having a grand celebration over the 4th with Dear home for 2 weeks and family flying in. I’ll be posting from the North. Blessings on the rest of your weekend!

Photobucket blacked out all my photos and is holding all my photos hostage as of July 2017.

Espresso Mini ~ You’re Not In Seattle Anymore

 

It’s time for Show and Tell Friday and I’d like to take you on a trip to England.

 

Being from Seattle you are bombarded by Espresso Stands everywhere. These stands exist and survive even though we also have a Starbucks, or Tullys, or Seattle Best Coffee, or other coffee companies on every other corner. We love our strong coffee in Seattle. Costco in the Seattle area even has coffee roasting in some of their warehouses with their own label . Coffee beans sold fresh from the roaster. We are serious about our coffee.

I was so excited to see this cute little espresso car just outside the village of Bakewell when we were in England. I’ve never seen a cute little espresso van in Seattle! Even though I don’t drink coffee past nine in the morning, I had to support this venture in England. I bet there’s someone in Seattle that could really make a go of it with a vehicle like this…

F.Y.I. ~ Bakewell is suppose to be the village of Lambton in Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. This is where Lizzy stays at the Inn close to Pemberley (Chatsworth House) and runs into Darcy. This site has more actual places from the novel. Since we’re in Great Britain, here are a few more sites for you to enjoy…Cotswolds, Oxford, Wales, Oban, Lake District, London, York.

For more fun with show and tell head on over to There’s No Place Like Home…

Photobucket blacked out all my photos and is holding all my photos hostage as of July 2017.

Bed in Summer ~ Robert Louis Stevenson

Bed in Summer

Robert Louis Stevenson (1885)


#1
Page Number:  14.  Illustrator:  Ruth M. Hallock
Publisher:  Rand McNally & Co.  Date:  1919

 

     In Winter I get up at night
And dress by yellow candle light.
In Summer, quite the other way,
I have to go to bed by day.

I have to go to bed and see
The birds still hopping on the tree,
Or hear the grown-up people’s feet
Still going past me in the street.

And does it not seem hard to you,
When all the sky is clear and blue,
And I should like so much to play,
To have to go to bed by day?

In Washington our summer evenings stay light as late as 10 PM. Fourth of July fireworks shows start late in Seattle. This poem reminds me of my husband and I trying to go to sleep at our normal 9-10 pm time with it being light outside.

www.zoppa.com/Nod/nodbook.html

Spring Reading Challenge Wrap Up

 

  • What was the best book you read this spring? Fiction: Clouds of Witness by Dorothy L. Sayers , Non-Fiction: Seeing and Savoring Christ by John Piper
  • What book could you have done without? I didn’t have a long enough book list to have to have an answer to this one. They were all worth reading.
  • Did you try out a new author this spring? If so, which one, and will you be reading that author again? Yes, the new author I tried was Dorothy L. Sayers and I will definitely read her again.
  • If there were books you didn’t finish, tell us why. Did you run out of time? Realize those books weren’t worth it? I never got around to Harry Potter #6. I’ve read it before and wanted to read it before #7 came out…
  • Did you come across a book or two on other participants’ lists that you’re planning to add to your own to-be-read pile? Which ones?  Yes, Stepping Heavenward by Prentiss. I bought it and am reading it.
  • What did you learn — about anything — through this challenge? Maybe you learned something about yourself or your reading style, maybe you learned not to pick so many nonfiction books for a challenge, maybe you learned something from a book you read. Whatever it is, share! I learned that I can read a lot more than I have in the past. There is time to read. I’m a multi-book reader (more than one at a time). I’ve learned I’ll enjoy and digest non-fiction more if I only read a chapter at a time. I have a stack of 4-6 books on my nightstand and I try to read a little out of each in the evening instead of watching TV.
  • What was the best part of the Spring Reading Thing? Meeting other readers and seeing the hundreds of books I’ve never read.
  • Any other thoughts, impressions, or comments. I like to take reading a step further by recording any sections of the book that stand out to me.
  • I will definitely participate in a fall reading challenge!
  • I’ll be posting a review of  When People Are Big and God is Small soon. 🙂

Thanks so much to Katrina at Callapidder days for hosting this event so magnificently and unselfishly…

Is Watermelon a Solid Food?

 

 

Watermelon might be art but it is not a solid food. Watermelon is considered a liquid and the FDA agrees.

So if you know someone who is on a liquid diet, that diet can include watermelon. Interesting trivia that Dear learned at work today…

As with everything check with your doctor before you drastically change your diet. 🙂

Show and Tell Friday ~ Old Tin

“Show and Tell Friday”

This is a great old tin that is from Carrs of Carlisle LTD ~ England. I especially love the sentiments written on it. My father gave this to me just last week. He decided I should have it because it was filled with writing paper and envelopes and he knows I send letters and cards to people more regularly than some…

Bless This House

Be To Her Virtues Very Kind ~ Be To Her Faults A Little Blind

And I Oft Have Heard Defended ~ Little Said Is Soonest Mended

Smooth Runs The Water Where The Brook Is Deep

The Noblest Mind The Best Contentment Has

And as my late Uncle Paul used to say “No complain, No explain.”

Go on over to There’s No Place Like Home to see more show and tell.

Photobucket blacked out all my photos and is holding all my photos hostage as of July 2017.

June Recipe Round-Up ~ Desserts ~ Praline Brie

 Praline Brie ~ serves six

Ingredients:
1 – 8 inch wheel of brie cheese
2 – tablespoons butter
4 – tablespoons brown sugar
1 – cup pecans, chopped (walnuts would work well also)

crackers
fresh fruit

Preheat oven to 275 degrees.

Place brie on a baking sheet. Bake until soft, 15 to 20 minutes. Melt butter in a small saucepan. Add brown sugar and stir until dissolved. Stir in pecans. Place brie on a serving tray and pour pecan mixture over, letting it dribble over sides. Serve surrounded by crackers and fresh fruit such as sliced apples and pears, strawberries and grapes.

This recipe comes from one of my favorite cookbooks, Simply Classic ~ The Junior League of Seattle. I have had success with every recipe I’ve attempted from this book.

 

Neighborhood Evening Walk

 Psalm 16:11 ~ You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

 

Proverbs 11:28 ~ Whoever trusts in his riches will fall but the righteous will flourish like a green leaf.

 

Ephesians 5: 1-2 ~ Therefore be imitators of God as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ has loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

 

I wish you could smell the wonderful fragrance of this Night Blooming Jasmine. The development that we live in has planted these flowering shrubs in all the common beds. Makes for a wonderful fragrant evening walk…

 

Isaiah 40:8 ~ The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God will stand forever.

 

Isaiah 44:22 ~ I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud and your sins like mist; return to me, for I have redeemed you.

Our marine layer mist comes from the Pacific over the Santa Monica Mountains to envelope our mornings…

Photobucket blacked out all my photos and is holding all my photos hostage as of July 2017.