Category Archives: Mosaic Monday

Our Second Adventure…

…on Katie’s birthday was a trip to the Seattle Center where the Space Needle happens to be and other attractions as well.

Katie's Day 068Our reason for braving the holiday crowds was to see Chihuly Garden and Glass. It was worth weaving about “all the humanity” to enjoy this extraordinary exhibit.

Katie's Day 020We first saw this wall of blankets that gave Chihuly inspiration for some of his creations.

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Katie's Day 022 This amazing piece was in the Sea inspired room.

Katie's Day 025It was impossible for me to get the full ceiling but I enjoyed capturing some sections of the ceiling.

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2013-12-27 Katie's Day7This was a great room. “Chihuly has said that memories of his mother’s garden serve as inspiration for these “gardens of glass.” Of course I thought of our bloggy friend Pat at Mille Fiori.

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I would like to come back on a day when it’s not raining to get some clearer shots of the needle above this beautiful glass flower conservatory.

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Katie's Day 062We decided to go out to the glass outdoor garden in the rain. I was happy to get several shots without getting my lens wet.

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Katie's Day 081We enjoyed our time here and we hurried in the rain to the parking garage to drive to our third adventure which was a stop at Massage Envy to get our hour relaxation massage along with a sugar foot scrub. Bliss!

I’m joining in with Mary for her Mosaic Monday Meme. If you click over you will see some beautiful images in Mosaic form.

Tick, tick, tick …2013 is winding down. What are your New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day plans? I’ll admit we don’t have any. Maybe I’ll come up with some inspiration on Monday…

She Scores…

My trips to my favorite Goodwill store in the area have been very infrequent the last couple of years. Lately I need to have something specific that I’m looking for to hit the thrifts or be right in the neighborhood doing something else. This last week I was looking for a book by a certain author and saw this in the collectibles section.

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This is Lomonosov Golden Garden china made in Russia.

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Lomanosov2I bought these pieces for $29.95. When I looked online for prices just the cup and saucer was going for $75.00.

I need another tea set like a hole in the head but since this was a Russian set I wanted it.  I am going to release one of my other sets for this one. I figure that’s a good trade off.

We had a productive weekend at this old house. I’m looking forward to a week where I’ll not be confused on what day it is. Holidays in the middle of the week throw my day compass off.

I’m joining in with Mary at Little Red House for her weekly meme, Mosaic Monday.

Almost Fully Bloomed…

Our hydrangea is finally showing us it’s color. Soon it will be fully bloomed.

I made 2 trips to Canada this past week. My first trip was full with a reunion of the girls from Mennonite Girls Can Cook. It is rare that the 10 of us can all be together but we were able to pull it off on Wednesday of last week. We enjoyed a full day together with great food and fellowship. Tuesday and Thursday sandwiched all 10 of us together on Wednesday with smaller gatherings. Hearty slices of time with a wonderful filling in between!

Fun little gifts kept coming out at our different gatherings. Here are the gifts I brought home across the line…

Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul. Proverbs 16:24

Friends are the flowers in the garden of life…

This description for this gift made me smile!

A fun basket of treats on my bed from my hostess Marg. Marg brought all of us a special treat from St. Petersburg, beautifully woven napkins. My gift to the girls was not confiscated at the Border…

Bags filled with lavender. I’ll be staying in the U.S.A. this week but am looking forward to a soccer game with the English Premier team Chelsea vs. the Seattle Sounders on Wednesday.

I’m linking up with Mary for Mosaic Monday.

Raindrops Keep Fallin…

In between the raindrops here in the greater Seattle area I decided to take some shots of what’s growing in our yard.

Raindrops keep fallin’ on my head
And just like the guy whose feet are too big for his bed
Nothin’ seems to fit
Those raindrops are fallin’ on my head, they keep fallin’

So I just did me some talkin’ to the sun
And I said I didn’t like the way he got things done
Sleepin’ on the job
Those raindrops are fallin’ on my head, they keep fallin’

But there’s one thing I know
The blues they send to meet me won’t defeat me
It won’t be long till happiness steps up to greet me

Raindrops keep fallin’ on my head
But that doesn’t mean my eyes will soon be turnin’ red
Cryin’s not for me
‘Cause I’m never gonna stop the rain by complainin’
Because I’m free
Nothin’s worryin’ me

So we do have apples, pears, and blueberries growing. My hydrangea is going to have more than one bloom this year and that makes me happy. That rose bush blooms like crazy and my lavender is blooming but not as lush as years past.

The birds are enjoying my new bird feeder and have almost emptied it of seed.

I finally planted the new rhododendron plant we bought at the end of April.

And here’s my last shot of part of the yard on July 1st…just keeping it real folks. Hopefully I’ll have a dry enough spell to mow these weeds before our 4th of July barbecue!

Our lawn definitely is not the envy of the block and is mostly weeds and moss!

I’m linking up with Mary at Little Red House for Mosaic Monday.

A Time to Remember…

Memorial Day is a time to remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice of their lives in service to insure our freedom. Dear’s father Rex served in the army during WWII. He was not among the countless number who lost their lives during service but we are very grateful to all who gave the ultimate sacrifice.  Our son in law Andrew is serving as a Marine and our appreciation grows daily for the all of the men and women who serve our country in the military. As we speak Andrew is involved in Fleet Week in New York. We hope our military are treated well on the streets of New York. I’m adding this link from Pat at Mille Fiori that she posted from Fleet Week and she captured two great shots of the ship our son-in-law Andrew is on, the U.S.S. Wasp. Semper Fi! And for the record from what we’ve heard from Andrew, New York has been very welcoming to our boys!

Dear’s father Rex’s service in 1985 was under a pavilion at the Riverside National Cemetery and we had never had a chance to visit his actual graveside. When we were at our nephew’s wedding last weekend we had a chance to visit the cemetery and find Rex’s graveside. We do not have a family tradition to spend time at gravesides as we hope in the fact that our loved ones are not here but with the Lord. It was still a good experience to finally see Rex’s gravestone.

The cemetery has a kiosk where you type in your loved ones name and they print out a site map on where you can find the graveside. We were impressed with how easy it was to find Rex’s buriel site. Here is a link to a post on the moving memorials featured at the Riverside National Cemetery.

Even though we know our loved one who is identified with Christ is not in this grave, it’s still gratifying to see what a peaceful setting his gravestone is situated in.

The whole time we were at the cemetery we kept looking up because there was an airshow at March Air Force Base which donated land for the Riverside National Cemetery and is adjacent to the cemetery.

After a hike and some good scouting by Dear and our daughter Katie we found Rex’s gravestone.

It really was good to finally see where Rex was buried. I was 7+ months pregnant with Katie for Rex’s funeral and a lot of this time was sketchy for me.

This was a very nice family time for us all in between all the fun celebration time with our extended family for our nephew’s/cousin’s wedding. While we were at the cemetery we had the wonderful experience to enjoy some amazing aerial views from an airshow at March Air Force Base.

From the cemetery we met up with extended family for lunch at BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse in Moreno Valley. What a great weekend it was to connect with family and get a special weekend time with Katie from North Carolina.

I’m joining in with Mary at Little Red House for Mosaic Monday. Hope all of you in the U.S.A. have had a moment to stop and consider and appreciate the memory of those who have laid down their lives for us…

A very meaningful Memorial Day to all of you!

Finding Spring

We are finally getting a little warm up in our weather and some sunshine. It will be good to have some dry days to be able to get the planter beds weeded.

I’m sure that many of you have been strolling around your local garden shops to see if there is something new to add to you gardens. We bought a new Rhododendron while we were at Meerkerk Rhododendron Garden that we are finding a spot for.

I am not a gardener. I mow the lawn happily but I always have a little skepticism on whether something new that I plant will survive. I am very thankful when our plants revive themselves in the Spring and Summer. I am conscious of the Master Gardener and the beauty He has created for us to enjoy.  Just walking in a beautiful garden causes me to thank God for his creation. Sometimes it even makes me sing… out loud. Gifted earthly gardeners are very much appreciated by me, too.

I’m linking up with Mary at Little Red House for Mosaic Monday. I hope to get around to see your mosaics. I’ll be on the road tomorrow so I might be late in visiting.

Passion Week

This is such a meaningful week that we are beginning. The Easter season is my favorite. Our pastor prepared a devotional guide for Passion week that I’m looking forward to spending time with this week. Today we celebrated Palm Sunday.

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your king is coming to you;
He is just and endowed with salvation,
Humble, and mounted on a donkey,
Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

~ Zechariah 9:9

I think it’s fitting that this very humble plant is called the Lenten Rose.

May your week be filled with reflection on how much God loves you and may you be filled with his peace.

I’m linking up with Mary at Little Red House for Mosaic Monday.

Spotting Spring in Seattle…

We had a glorious sunny weekend in the Seattle area. On Friday my son, DIL, and I stopped at Kerry Park on the way to the Sounders Soccer game to enjoy the views of Seattle with Flat Stanley. Have you had Flat Stanley visit you? Flat Stanley was very happy that the Sounders beat Houston 2-0!

On Friday morning I walked with a friend on the Sammamish River Trail for the first time this Spring.

We saw some lovely signs of Spring.

On Saturday I drove North to Blaine which is on the U.S/Canadian Border for a Mennonite Girl Can Cook event at the Blaine Library. After our time at the library we enjoyed a nice lunch at the Blackberry Cafe in Blaine. I was thankful for a nice sunny day for the drive.

Since the sun was shining again on Sunday I mowed the lawn for the first time since November. It was a great workout. Are you enjoying any signs of Spring in your neck of the woods?

I’m linking up with Mary at Little Red House for Mosaic Monday.

In Just 24 Hours…

Katie and I flew South at 8:00 A.M. on Saturday and flew back North at 8:00 A.M. Sunday. We were able to attend 2 very special events within a 12 hour stretch of Saturday. We are back home recuperating from this Jet setter schedule. I’m not too proud to say that I am wiped out! I’ll share more details during the week. In the meantime here is a mosaic of many of the loved ones we were able to see and to hug. Good hugs, not polite hugs!

If I have the energy I’ll link up with Mosaic Monday with Mary at Little Red House.

The countdown continues….14 days till the wedding!

Mosaic Monday ~ Signs of Spring…

Oh how I love my Lenten Rose (thank you Beth). Look at those buds springing up!

I’m having to re-fill the bird feeder a lot these days because of all my little and sometimes big visitors!

We’ve had a nice relaxing weekend just messing about the house. We washed some screens. Dear did some patching and some painting. We moved some wall art around. I finished a project I started a while back which involved re-purposing and organizing.

Today we met up with Josh and Laura and had lunch at a new spot which I’ll blog about later. Good times just being together. Hope you had a nice weekend.

Linking up for Mosaic Monday with Mary at Little Red House. If you haven’t visited her you are missing out on some very nice photography…