La Conner

In 1869 John S. Conner purchased the trading post on the Swinomish Channel and named the area in honor of his wife Louisa Ann Conner and that’s how La Conner got its name.

After we mucked about in the fields of daffodils my sisters and I drove a few minutes away to La Conner for lunch and a little shopping.

We chose Nell Thorn on the channel with good food and nice views.

Lana, Kathy the youngest and oldest and me and Vera in the middle.

We each chose something different for our lunch and everyone enjoyed their choices.

Whew! Happy my sisters were here last weekend instead of this weekend as we had quite a wild Sunday. Our power was out for 13 hours and we were happy to wake up to electricity again. Schools in our area are cancelled today as 85,000 are still without power. Trees were down and some of the trees brought down power lines, too. Here’s our light sources from last evening…

Hope you all have power today and are enjoying the light!

A Host of Golden Daffodils!

Oh what a glorious Saturday my sisters and I enjoyed on a 10 hour outing north to Mount Vernon and La Conner and then beyond to Whidbey Island over Deception Pass and south the whole length of the island. In this post I’m showing the fields of daffodils we enjoyed. But…first things first, when visiting tulip or daffodils fields it is good to don your mud boots!

I was happy to be able to come up with 3 pairs of good mucking boots/shoes and borrowed the fourth pair from our DIL.

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

William Wordsworth

From Mt. Vernon we traveled a short distance to La Conner for lunch and shopping. I’ll share some photos of our time there next. It was great to have leisurely time together to share about the challenges my oldest sister faces in caring for our dear old pop and the life changes my sister Vera faces in widowhood and moving out of the home she shared with her husband Nick. It’s good to let the tears roll freely and also to be able to laugh heartily with each other. Just for the record…we sisters have four brothers, too.

The Walls of York…

After we spent time in Derbyshire we traveled northeast to the city of York and dropped off our rental car for the remaining days of our literary tour. For York we had a walking guidebook that Katie was in charge of and we saw many things we would have missed otherwise.

We weren’t looking for any of our literary favorites here but just enjoying the walls and history surrounding this city.

We attended our first evensong at Yorkminster and were so blessed by that hour of singing and readings. Katie and Dear also climbed to the top of the minster and Dear took this great photo above.

We went to a history museum and donned these heavy helmets for a photo op.

And…of course we had to take a photo of the Pharmacist in front of the Apothecary.

From York we boarded a train to Edinburgh where we would enjoy the city and take a bus to Stirling for some fun with Monty Python. Two more posts to go to wrap up our 2004 Literary Tour of Great Britain.

Back to the present…I’ve been very busy with my sisters the last few days. On Monday my sister Kathy flew home and on Tuesday my sister Vera will be flying home. I’ll share our Saturday road trip when I have some time to create the post.

Blenheim in April, 2004

Before we left Oxfordshire on our daughter’s literary graduation gift tour in April of 2004 we stopped by Blenheim Palace.

Blenheim Palace is home to the 12th Duke and Duchess of Marlborough and birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill. I’m sharing a few photos with quotes from Churchill and one from the Bible.

Winston Churchill was born here in 1874. “At Blenheim I took two very important decisions; to be born and to marry. I am content with the decision I made on both occasions…”

“Never was so much owed by so many to so few…”

We were really taken aback by the grandeur of these Cedars of Lebanon that were planted on the grounds. We had Katie stand beside it to give some perspective…

The Lebanon cedar (Cedrus libani) is a conifer that originates from, as its name might suggest, Lebanon and surrounding areas in the Middle East. Original old growth groves of this tree, that is mentioned in the Bible, are now very rare. This tree can live for thousands of years and became a popular exotic specimen tree in European landscape gardens in the 18th, 19th century.

Psalm 92: 12-15 (ESV)

¹²The righteous flourish like the palm tree
    and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
¹³They are planted in the house of the Lord;
    they flourish in the courts of our God.
¹⁴They still bear fruit in old age;
    they are ever full of sap and green,
¹⁵to declare that the Lord is upright;
    he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.

“You have enemies? Good. It means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.”

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal, it is the courage to continue that counts.”

We enjoyed our time at Blenheim and toured the grand home with all the amazing artwork and furniture and walked about a small part of the 2100 acres landscaped by Capability Brown!

Now…back to the present. We are thinking about quarantines at this old house as Dear’s ick seems to be spreading to the rest of us here. Oye and Ugh! Hope you are sore throat free and living in a non-coughing zone!!

In Search of Jane Austen…

Besides the Tolkien and C.S. Lewis part of our graduation tour of Great Britain in 2004 in Oxford and the Cotswolds we went in search of Jane Austen haunts. We first traveled South to Bath from our B & B in Cheltenham.

While in Bath we visited Bath Abbey and the Roman Baths. You can see Dear and Katie to the left of the statue on the right. If you look straight down from where they are standing you would see the Roman Baths. The Roman Baths are one of the finest historical sites in Northern Europe.

In the middle of the photo across the bath you can see Dear and Katie again.

There is a Jane Austen Centre in Bath where the tour guides dress in period clothing.

“Give a girl an education and introduce her properly into the world, and ten to one but she has the means of settling well, without further expense to anybody. ”

Katie and dear under the Milsom Street Sign in Bath.

Anne and Admiral Croft parted ways. The very next time Anne Elliot walks through Bath, she goes to Molland’s, a pastry cook’s and confectioner’s shop on Milsom street. Jane Austen wrote that the marzipan was delicious.

Another Jane Austen site where we stopped for a photo op was No. 1 Royal Crescent.

No.1 Royal Crescent is a Georgian town house that creates a wonderfully vital picture of life in Georgian Bath.

From Northanger Abbey ~ ‘They arrived in Bath. Catherine was all eager delight; – her eyes were here, there, everywhere, as they approached its fine and striking environs, and afterwards drove through those streets which conducted them to the hotel. She was come to be happy, and she felt happy already’.

After our trip to Bath we left our first B & B and headed to our second location in Sheffield, England. Not my best choice and since this trip I’ve learned a lot about choosing places to stay. We still managed well on our trips out from the B & B to see some nice sites.

The other part of our trip that was in honor of Jane Austen was Chatsworth House and Bakewell in Derbyshire.

These two photos have Chatsworth House in the distance. Jane Austen based Darcy’s family home, Pemberley, after this house. The new Pride and Prejudice movie actually filmed segments here. We were here in 2004 before the new film. The estate was quite breathtaking. The small village of Bakewell close by was very reminiscent of Lambton where Jane and her Aunt and Uncle stayed in Derbyshire.

“Every disposition of the ground was good; and Elizabeth looked on the whole scene — the river, the trees scattered on its banks, and the winding of the valley, as far as she could trace it — with delight.”

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”

We loved seeing the daffodils blooming at Chatsworth House.

After we enjoyed the grounds and a tour of Chatsworth house we drove to the village of Bakewell (Lambton) across this bridge. We had to buy a famous Bakewell Tart!

The Chatsworth Estate Farm Shop was an amazing bonus to our time at Chatsworth House. We walked around and wanted to fill a cart with goodies but being travelers we just bought what we could eat then and there. If I was there in this new age of digital I would have taken lots of photos.

“I must learn to be content with being happier than I deserve.” Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

There is so much more to see and do in following the footsteps of Jane Austen and her books. We had to move on in our adventure and we traveled to York where we turned in our rental car and began the railway, bus, walking and tube part of our trip starting in York, then North to Edinburgh and south all the way to London. Those posts are coming soon.

Today is Sunday and we’ve been to church and the grocery store where we bought all the fixins for a slow cooker roast. I’m getting so ready to eat that meal since the aroma is filling the house. Oye. It won’t be done for a couple hours yet! After our beautiful sunny and cold day yesterday we are colder yet today and have rain again. We are promised some nice sunny days this upcoming week. Hope your week goes well!

Cotswold Five…

It’s time for Five on Friday hosted by Amy and Friday’s Fave Five hosted by Susanne. Today I’m continuing my reminiscing of our time in Great Britain with our daughter Katie in April of 2004. After our day in Oxford we took a day to drive through the Cotswolds.

This was a literary tour for our daughter to see her favorite authors haunts or inspirations for the books they wrote. We were hoping to see a Hobbit in the Cotswolds. Our first stop was for a snack of treacle close to the Cotswold way. I fantasized about walking the whole of this trail once…

The closest we came on this tour of seeing Hobbit land was just seeing the countryside and coming upon this little village of Buckland which I’m counting as stop number two. Buckland has a lot of history we weren’t aware of when we stumbled upon it. Isn’t that the way it goes when you blog? You come home and look up a stop you made to research for a blog post and find out everything you missed! I wasn’t blogging in 2004 so I’m letting myself off the hook for this trip!

Our third stop in the Cotswolds was Hailes Abbey. Built in the 13th century by the Duke of Cornwall, the beautiful ruins of Hailes Abbey are set amid delightful Cotswold countryside. There was a small church with this graveside next to the Abbey.

Stop number four was Hidcote Gardens. This was early in April and the blooms were still not at their prime except to our delight the daffodils!

All these photos were taken with film not digital. The manicured hedges are always a treat to see.

Lambs were in plenty.

One more stop halfway on the Cotswolds Way was St. Mary’s Church in Painswick. The church of St Mary (originally Norman) was extended around 1480 in the English perpendicular style. The churchyard with 99 yew trees (legend has it that the 100th won’t grow) also has unusual tabletop tombs.

This past week afforded me the time and effort to scan our film photos from our trip to Great Britain in 2004. It’s nice to look back and remember the good things that God has allowed in our lives. This trip was a good experience for Dear, Katie and me. I still have the Jane Austen portion of our trip to share and the Monty Python portion, too. I’ve already shared the C.S. Lewis and Tolkien portion in Oxford.

These five stops could be way out of order but I don’t think that matters now. Hidcote Manor Gardens and Hailes Abbey are part of the Heritage Pass that you can purchase for your touring pleasure…

Dear got home from Austin Thursday night so all is back to normal around this old house. I made it to the accountant in the big blue truck and he was helpful as usual. I have a few more things to dig up for him so we can get a few more deductions. I was able to get out and walk in between rain showers by myself while Dear was in Austin which was a great accomplishment for me.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

This is a long post already but today on Mennonite Girls Can Cook I’ve reposted my Chicken Quesadilla recipe with a new twist. Click over to check it out. Also on some of your blogs my comment link takes you to the Mennonite Girls Can Cook blog instead of to my home blog (The Happy Wonderer). That happens when the pull down choices for comments don’t include the Name/URL option or the double choice blogger and open ID. On those that give you 5 choices with open ID it won’t let me switch from my blogger ID to my WordPress Blog. TMI? It’s just one of those weird things. Sheesh…I better just let you go now and enjoy your day!

Good Fences

These photos were taken in San Diego along Harbor Drive. We call pigeons rats with wings.

It’s time for Good Fences #100 with TexWisGirl. Click over to see fences/gates from around the world.

Today is my day to go see the tax man. I always like to be on the other side of this appointment. I get to drive Dear’s big truck to the appointment since he took my car to the airport. Hopefully I can find the right keys for the truck. I always like to get money back instead of paying more money in. Do you do your own taxes or do you use an accountant?

Signs at the Harbor

Happy Trails to you until we meet again… Did you watch Roy Rogers and Dale Evans in the 50’s?

The Roy Rogers Show (“Happy Trails”)

Some trails are happy ones,
Others are blue.
It’s the way you ride the trail that counts,
Here’s a happy one for you.

Happy trails to you,
Until we meet again.
Happy trails to you,
Keep smilin’ until then.

Who cares about the clouds when we’re together?
Just sing a song, and bring the sunny weather.

Happy trails to you,
Til we meet again.

Do you think there might be a very large sapphire on board?

These were all taken in San Diego a few years back in February of the year. Can you tell I’m a little landlocked right now?

I’m ready for a nice string of dry days here in the Pacific Northwest. Dear is on an overnight business trip to Austin, Texas and the forecast there is 79 and 80 degrees. That will be different for him. What’s happening in your neck of the woods?

I’m linking up with Lesley for signs, signs.

I’m running out the door now to try to get my walk in and I’ll “sing a song, and bring the sunny weather” while the rain is taking a pause…

Sunlit and InSPIREd

When Dear and I arrived in San Francisco January 20th we checked into our hotel and then braved the walk uphill to the Mark Hopkins hotel on Nob Hill. On the way we passed Grace Cathedral. Grace Cathedral is a beautiful church that I’ve posted about before when I did a more thorough visit in 2008. I’ll leave a link to my full posts at the end of this one. We continued on to the “Top of the Mark” for some small bites and a drink. This next photo shows a view of Grace Cathedral from above.

On our way back to our hotel (all downhill this time) we stopped in at the Cathedral for a quick view of the inside and then I took some photos from the outside during sunset.

To see more from the inside and outside and to read some history of Grace Cathedral click here and here.

Later today I’ll link up with Sunlit Sunday hosted by Karen at My Little Home and Garden and InSPIREd Sunday hosted by Beth and Sally.

I’m having a carefree Saturday with just a little shopping excursion planned to pick up a few last minute items for our Lunar/Chinese New Year Super Bowl party tomorrow. Dear vacuumed for me yesterday and I dusted and sorted out a lot of junk piles so our house looks crisp, neat and ready for fun. While I prepare this post I’m enjoying some Barclay’s Premier League Soccer on the telly. Yes, I’m a fan of soccer. Dear and our son-in-law are off to our near son’s home to do some hard labor with a jackhammer! I suppose I better have a hardy meal ready for dinner for the workers! Hope you have a good weekend.

The Golden Gate Bridge

I was so pleased to be able to get many views of this historical bridge that has been photographed by millions. This first photo and next photo collage images were taken on Thursday from the Presidio and from China Beach.

The name of the bridge has nothing to do with the color but with the fact that the waterway that the bridge spans has been considered a gateway. The Golden Gate Strait is the entrance to the San Francisco Bay from the Pacific Ocean. The strait is approximately three-miles long by one-mile wide with currents ranging from 4.5 to 7.5 knots. It is generally accepted that the strait was named “Chrysopylae”, or Golden Gate, by John C. Fremont, Captain, topographical Engineers of the U.S. Army circa 1846. It reminded him of a harbor in Istanbul named Chrysoceras or Golden Horn.

On Friday I took a hop on hop off bust tour of San Francisco and it was a very grey and rainy day. These are the shots I got from the tour bus.

This photo was taken from the Top of the Mark on our first day in San Francisco. We walked to the hotel to have a drink and small bites in their top floor restaurant with 360 degree views of the town.

Don’t forget to look up when you are on the tour bus. I’m glad I didn’t drown or soak my camera lens!

Now for a treasure of a photo from 1959! This is my sister Vera, our lifelong friend Milla with our friends from San Francisco, the Hamzieffs. We must have been strolling across the Golden Gate Bridge.

Hope you all have a great Friday and weekend. An update on me going grey, my hairdresser decided a gentle approach with foils would be the best way to go. A little silver at a time till my hair catches up. She’ll leave whatever grows out naturally uncovered and add streaking to the ends of the new growth. I don’t know if I explained that right but the grey/white will be subtle. Now today I’ve got to get my cleaning skills out of the closet and get moving!

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage

Category Archives: Travel