Category Archives: Spring

Rosebud Azaleas

I wanted to show you my sweet Rosebud Azaleas and give you an update about what’s going on around this old house. If you are here for the giveaway you will need to scroll down a few posts.

This variety of Azalea is my very favorite.

I finally cleaned out this area of the front planter that rounds the corner of the house and planted a hydrangea in the space. Time will tell if the blooms will stay purple.

My cement block plantings are mostly doing real well. The wild rabbits that roam around here have eaten all the pansy blooms, though.

Things are going well with my extraction recovery. I never really experienced any pain to speak of which is nice. I’ll be getting the stitches out on Wednesday if they haven’t dissolved on their own. I’m still on a relatively soft diet so I don’t hurt the area that is healing. Although I still have a few days of antibiotics left I am off the Ibuprofen. Thank you for your kind thoughts. My de-fluffing progress was hindered by being on medication and being off my regular meal regiment but I’m happy to report things are still going well.

Happy Victoria Day weekend to our friends in Canada!

Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree

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“Don’t Sit Under The Apple Tree”

Don’t sit under the apple tree
With anyone else but me
Anyone else but me
Anyone else but me
No no no

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Don’t sit under the apple tree
With anyone else but me
’til I come marching home
Don’t go walking down lovers lane
With anyone else but me
Anyone else but me
Anyone else but me
No no no

Its lyrics are the words of two young lovers who pledge their fidelity while one of them is away serving in the war. Made popular by Glen Miller and the Andrew’s Sisters during World War II. Just yesterday as I walked under our apple tree and commented on the beauty of the blossoms, Dear called out “Don’t sit under the apple tree with anyone else but me”.

Seems somewhat appropriate that I post this song and my apple blossom photos as our daughter Katie and I think about packing the car to head to Camp Lejeune for her to be reunited with her beloved who has been serving with the Marines in Afghanistan since September.

No, don’t go walking down lovers’ lane
No, walking down lovers’ lane till you see
When you see me marching home
Then we’ll go arm in arm and
Sit down under the apple tree
Baby, just you and me
When I come marching home

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Happy Friday to you all. Today Katie and I have hair appointments and Dear and I have eye appointments. Am I packed? No. I do have some piles going. Katie has made some good progress. We both have 1 P.M. events tomorrow and then tomorrow evening we’ll pack up the car.

What’s going on in your part of the world?

April Note Cards

It’s time for Vee’s Note Card party.

Thank you Vee for hosting this monthly party!

Wild Ginger3Sunset over Lake Washington in Kirkland, Washington.

2014-04-07 Tulips1Rows of spent daffodils in Mount Vernon, Washington during the Tulip Festival.

tulips-easterApple blossoms on our apple tree taken this past Saturday.

2014-03-027Russian sweet cheese spread served with Russian Easter Bread (Kulich/Paska).

Христос Воскрес!

Воистину воскрес!

Wild Ginger4Here we are in the middle of April and we’ll finally be celebrating Easter this coming weekend. I’m looking forward to our Good Friday service and Easter service. After services on Sunday some of our family will be coming over to celebrate an Easter meal here. We are having rack of lamb, rice, asparagus, salad and Italian Easter bread (Colomba) with strawberries for dessert. Our annual Kulich/Paska baking day is not happening this year so I was happy to find a source for the Colomba. It tastes and smells very similar to Kulich/Paska.

How are you celebrating Easter this year?

Welcome April!

We aren’t big on April Fool’s Jokes around this old house and I’m happy about that. We have friends that have enjoyed quite elaborate jokes on this day.

Here’s how March went out like a lamb in my neck of the woods.

On Sunday Josh and Laura took us out to dinner at The Wild Ginger in Bellevue. We enjoyed a view of the city from our table.

 

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After dinner we stopped by Whole Foods to check out their bakery to choose some sweets to enjoy at home together. On the way home we traveled along the northeast shore of Lake Washington and stopped to take a photo of the sun setting.

P1040985I love the gifts Josh and Laura gave me.

P1040989Framed photos of some of the highlights of our trip to England in September of 2013 and these great Cd’s from Wells Cathedral. We had a real good chuckle over the title on the Christmas Cd, Jingle Wells. I might not wait till Christmas to listen to it. We really had a memorable time at Wells Cathedral so these Cd’s are very appreciated.

 

On Monday, the last day of March, it was warm enough to go out in the yard and complete a project I started last Monday. I planted two Rose bud Azaleas in the spot where I pulled out another plant I wasn’t enjoying. I purchased the two Azaleas with a gift card my friends gave me to purchase a plant in honor of my mom, she died last September 13th. My mom loved soft pink flowers and I thought these two Azaleas would be perfect.

P1040992My mom’s birthday was April 8th and I was glad I could plant these before that day arrived this year. I have been successful with the other Azaleas in our yard so I felt these would be a good choice. I wouldn’t want to choose something that might not thrive.

April is a very eventful month at this old house. This Saturday I’m hosting a table at a Friendship tea, Easter is coming, and then Katie and I have to be packed up and ready for a road trip across the U.S.A. We leave on Sunday April 27th. I hope your April arrived nicely and that no one made a fool out of you!

Welcoming Spring…

…with some Spring flashbacks!

 

img475Laguna Beach in the early 70’s. My sister Kathy, Babushka Vera, and my mom.

img474Laguna Beach, California

img498Dear at his home in Santa Monica, California in the early 70’s

img497Forest Lawn Glendale

img861Dan and Josh in Ventura, California 1985

img939Trip to Descanso Gardens March of 1988

SIL Kelly, MIL Verna, Me, sis Kathy, my mom

nephew Timothy, niece Michelle, Katie, niece Melissa

img940Michelle, Katie, Tim, and Melissa

A Prayer in Spring

by Robert Frost

Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers to-day;
And give us not to think so far away
As the uncertain harvest; keep us here
All simply in the springing of the year.

Oh, give us pleasure in the orchard white,
Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night;
And make us happy in the happy bees,
The swarm dilating round the perfect trees.

And make us happy in the darting bird
That suddenly above the bees is heard,
The meteor that thrusts in with needle bill,
And off a blossom in mid air stands still.

For this is love and nothing else is love,
The which it is reserved for God above
To sanctify to what far ends He will,
But which it only needs that we fulfil.

I hope Spring weather will arrive and Spring flowers bloom in your neck of the woods!

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.

Favorites Into May!

Attending a wedding of forever friends is special but it’s a double , triple, quadruple blessing when you get to celebrate it with family and more friends, new friends, friends that are yours for eternity.  The fairy tale wedding of Lucy and Kris tops my favorites for this past week.

1. We traveled to Whidbey Island on Saturday, checked into our Inn, had a light lunch in Langley and headed to the wedding at a garden destination minutes from our Inn.

2. The weather held for the bride’s dream of being able to have the wedding outdoors. Our son and daughter in law were in the wedding. Our son is like a brother to the bride who is one of 3 girls in her family. We met the bride and her family in 1984 in Ventura, California and have been good friends since that time. Our boys and daughter and the 3 girls in this family have always gotten along brilliantly.  The bride’s sister was our daughter’s maid of honor a month ago in her wedding.

3. Our son Josh gave a wedding toast to the Bride and Groom at the reception. We were so pleased with his encouraging affirming thoughts and wishes for the new couple. We love to hear a toast that honors instead of demeans or makes fun of the couple.

4. It was so nice to have a short drive to our Inn after the reception looking forward to one more day on the island. We had a restful sleep, a nice early morning walk where we got to observe an Eagle and a whale, a tasty breakfast and a nice drive to some beautiful garden settings. Oops…we had 2nd breakfast, too.

Crab Cake Eggs Benedict!

5. Its always good to come home to all the familiar comforts. My last favorite for the week was a fun evening at Century Link field watching the Seattle Sounders gain a victory over the Los Angeles Galaxy. The weather was good for the game and the drive to the game with my son and daughter in law gave us time to get caught up with life.

So what were your favorites this week? You can link up with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story to share…

Let’s Dish ~ Earth Day

For Kathleen’s Good Earth Theme for Let’s Dish this week I’m revisiting my earthy apple blossom setting. The blossoms just started blooming again this past week.

I used some old depression glass to feature the blossoms.

It’s fun to bring the outdoors in to add some color and depth to a table setting.

Here are some photos of my apple blossoms so far this year. They should be fully bloomed soon.

“Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad, let the sea resound, and all that is in it; let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy; they will sing before the Lord.” (Psalm 96:11-13)

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.

Spring has Sprung…

 

A Prayer in Spring

by Robert Frost

Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers to-day;
And give us not to think so far away
As the uncertain harvest; keep us here
All simply in the springing of the year.

Oh, give us pleasure in the orchard white,
Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night;
And make us happy in the happy bees,
The swarm dilating round the perfect trees.

And make us happy in the darting bird
That suddenly above the bees is heard,
The meteor that thrusts in with needle bill,
And off a blossom in mid air stands still.

For this is love and nothing else is love,
The which it is reserved for God above
To sanctify to what far ends He will,
But which it only needs that we fulfil.

Hope you have a wonderful Spring weekend everyone!