Category Archives: Nature

Santa Monica Mountains Wildflowers

To be able to call the plants by name
makes them a hundredfold more sweet and intimate.
Naming things is one of the oldest and
simplest of human pastimes.

Henry Van Dyke in Little Rivers

 

Giant Coreopsis, Sea Dahlia                   Indian Paintbrush ~ Figwort Family
Sunflower Family

 

Wild Hyacinth ~ Amaryllis Family             Chocolate Lily ~ Lily Family

California Encelia ~ Bush Sunflower,  Sunflower Family

Wishbone Bush ~ Four O’Clock Family

Rattlesnake Weed ~ Spurge Family

Here comes Peter Cottontail!

Here comes Peter Cottontail
Hoppin’ down the bunny trail,
Hippity hoppity,
Easter’s on its way

And In the wonderful words of Swinburne –

Winter’s rains and ruins are over
—————–
And time remembered is grief forgotten,
And frosts are slain and flowers begotten
And in green underwood and cover
Blossom by blossom the Spring begins

~

The paths lead them in pleasant places who walk among the wild flowers.

March 1952  ~ John Kieran

Psalm 104: 24-25 ~

“O LORD, how manifold are your works!
In wisdom have you made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures
innumerable,
living things both small and great.”

For more Wildflowers in Winter click here.

ht: quotes from  An Introduction to Wild Flowers by John Kieran

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage. I’m working on updating my blog posts very slowly.

Sycamore Canyon Hike ~ Walking Club Totals

So Dear and I decided we’d stray from our usual beach walk at Emma Wood and we headed to the Santa Monica Mountains. We decided on Big Sycamore Canyon starting at Point Mugu State Park. Here are some of our breathtaking views!

 

We picked the Scenic Trail to the Overlook Fire Road. Besides the gorgeous views of the Pacific Ocean and the Santa Monica Mountains we were very excited to spot one of these…

 

This is a Chocolate Lily (Fritillaria biflora Lindl.) Lily Family. LILIACEAE

Chocolate Lily is local on clay slopes, often under shrubs and blooms from February to April. This has been called the Cleopatra of the Fritillaries – darkest and the loveliest. It is our only species, although there are 16 California natives in this genus. We were first introduced to a Fritillaria in Oxford, England on Addison’s Walk. We were there in April and there was a field of blooming Fritillaries.

We did enjoy our hike and we will return again. I’ll show more photos of our hike later in the week and add another wildflower post for Wildflowers in Winter.

But now to my step totals for 6 days this week for Lovella’s Walking Club. My average was good again at 11,283.

We’re headed off to Orange County now for  my older sister’s Leap Year Birthday Celebration with the family. Have a great weekend and keep on walking…

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage. I’m working on updating my blog posts very slowly.

The Ultimate Blog Party ~ March 7th – 14th

 

Ultimate Blog Party 2008

 

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.

WFW ~ Mathew 6: 25-27

 

wfw_blue1.jpg

Mathew 6: 25-27 ~
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more imortant than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?”

For more Word Filled Wednesday head over to The 160 Acre Woods

Wildflowers in Winter ~ Week 8

Week 8 – March 5 – 12. The First Wildflower of Spring photo challenge.

Be searching for wildflowers in your area. Try to find the first one blooming and post a photo of it on your blog.

On our walks along the coast the most abundant wildflower we see is the Sea Fig. They come from the Carpetweed family. The yellow one is a Hottentot Fig and I think the more purple colored one is just called Sea Fig.

I’m hoping to get the names correct for this collage of flowers. I searched my Coastal Flowering Plants book but some were hard to identify. Here’s what I came up with from left to right. Purple Nightshade, Sea Rocket, more Sea Rocket, California Encelia (Bush Sunflower), Not sure maybe Wild Morning Glory?, more Bush Sunflower, Again not sure but think it’s Wild Morning Glory, Our Lord’s Candle (Yucca whipplei) Agave Family, Turkey Mullein Dove Weed.

An extra note on Our Lord’s Candle, the flower stalk is 4 to 8 feet tall. There is a basal rosette of spine-tipped, sword-like leaves 1 to 3 feet long. The white flowers sometimes purple-tinged, appear in a terminal compound cluster up to 4 feet long. They are very fragrant and even have a pleasant taste when nibbed. The fruit is a capsule.

Now since I am in California I really need to include some photos of our state wildflower the California Poppy!

These are all blooming at the same time here along the coast in Southern California so I included them all.

For more First Spring blooms head over to Elizabeth Joy’s.

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage. I’m working on updating my blog posts very slowly.

Lovella’s Walking Club Tally ~ Oh the Steps I Stepped!

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.

Willow and her husband. Willow is enjoying one of Dear’s famous Kensington Dreams. Here’s the recipe for you, Willow. In a shaker over ice cubes, combine juice of half a lemon, 1 oz. Brandy, 1 oz. Amaretto, 2 oz. Creme de Cassis, shake and strain into water goblet then add 4oz. of Champagne. Don’t drive after you drink one. 🙂

 

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.

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage. I’m working on updating my blog posts very slowly.

Ventura Harbor ~ High Surf Advisory

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.

Monday I drove up to the Ventura Harbor to see the high surf that was promised because of storms in the area. The day was clear and warm for a North-westerner. The power of the waves was amazing. I wish I could have made a video with the loud crashing sound. The power of the waves produced airy foam that floated up on the shore.

 

 

I was amazed that this boat decided to head out in this surf.

 

 

 

The awesome power of God’s creation is breathtaking…

Rejoice, the Lord is King ~ Hymn ~ Wesley

Rejoice, the Lord is King

Rejoice, the Lord is King! Your Lord and King adore;
Mortals give thanks and sing, and triumph evermore;
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice;
Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!

Jesus, the Savior, reigns, the God of truth and love;
When He had purged our stains He took His seat above;
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice;
Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!

His kingdom cannot fail, He rules o’er earth and Heav’n,
The keys of death and hell are to our Jesus giv’n;
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice;
Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!

He sits at God’s right hand till all His foes submit,
And bow to His command, and fall beneath His feet:
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice;
Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!

He all His foes shall quell, shall all our sins destroy,
And every bosom swell with pure seraphic joy;
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice,
Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!

Rejoice in glorious hope! Jesus the Judge shall come,
And take His servants up to their eternal home.
We soon shall hear th’archangel’s voice;
The trump of God shall sound, rejoice!