River Walk Reflections and Rhoddies

While in San Antonio, Texas a large tourist draw is the River Walk in the downtown area. They say it is the number one Tourist attraction in the state of Texas. I’m happy to have seen this area but it was not my favorite from my San Antonio experience.

Most of my photos were taken in the early morning hours when the walkways were clear of the hoards of people you’ll find here later in the day and evening. I’m not a fan of Disneyland like crowds so the walk wouldn’t be my first choice for a meal even though you’ll find a very large selection of restaurants all along the downtown part of the walk. I preferred heading up and out of this area to find a place to eat. Despite my feelings this is a treasured area in San Antonio.

Some treasures from Washington State in my very own yard are these rhododendron bushes. Four of the bushes were here and well established when we moved into this old house in the fall of 1998. The small yellow bush is a recent addition from 4 years ago.

Rhododendrons are the Washington State Flower.

Our youngest rhoddie.

And my last photo are of some of my favorite human treasures in front of our rhoddy bushes!

I’ll be linking up to Tuesday’s Treasures with Tom The Backroads Traveler and

ABC Wednesday started by Mrs. Nesbitt and administered by Roger and Team for R is for River Walk and Rhoddies.

I’m headed to Canada (British Columbia) early Tuesday morning and will be gone all day so I’ll be late in visiting participants in these two memes. We are promised beautiful weather for most of the week in the 70’s! Hope your week is starting well.

The Alamo ~ A Texas Treasure

Erected in grateful recognition of the supreme acct of heroism of the thirty two men from Gonzales who gave their lives in the Alamo in response to the appeal of Travis.

San Antonio and the Alamo played a critical role in the Texas Revolution. In December 1835, Texians and Tejano volunteers battled Mexican troops quartered in the city, forcing General Martin Perfecto de Cos to surrender. The victorious volunteers then occupied the Alamo and strengthened its defenses.

On February 23, 1836, the arrival of General Antonio Lopez Santa Anna nearly caught them by surprise. Undaunted, the Texians and Tejanos prepared to defend the Alamo. William B. Travis, the commander of the Alamo, sent out couriers carrying pleas for help.

On the eight day of the siege, a band of 32 volunteers from Gonzales arrived, bringing the number of defenders to nearly two hundred. Even though outnumbered ten-to-one, Travis’ men believed the Alamo was the key to the defense of Texas, and they were willing to defend the post to the last man. Among the Alamo’s garrison were James Bowie, renowned knife fighter, and David Crockett, famed frontiersman and former Tennessee congressman.

The final assault came before daybreak on the morning of March 6, 1836, the thirteenth day of the siege. Cannon and small arms fire from inside the Alamo beat back several Mexican attacks. Regrouping, Santa Ana’s soldiers scaled the walls and rushed into the compound. The desperate struggle continued until the defenders were overwhelmed. By sunrise, the battle had ended and the garrison slain.

While the facts surrounding the siege of the Alamo continue to be debated, there is no doubt what the battle has come to symbolize. People worldwide continue to remember the Alamo as a heroic struggle against overwhelming odds- a place where men made the ultimate sacrifice for freedom. For this reason the Alamo remains hallowed ground and the shrine of Texas Liberty.

ht: THEALAMO.ORG

I’m linking up for Tuesday’s Treasures hosted by Tom The Backroads Traveler.

I was pleased that the Alamo was walking distance from our hotel during our short stay in San Antonio. No photos were allowed inside the Alamo and proper respect was required. I also visited the cathedral where some of the remains of the Alamo heroes are entombed. I’ll share more photos of the San Fernando Cathedral soon.

I’ll also be linking up to signs, signs with Lesley on Wednesday.

I was melting yesterday in the unseasonable heat we had here in the Seattle area. Our poor Spring plants don’t know what to make of it! I am thankful that we didn’t have the sauna like humidity that we experienced in San Antonio, though.

Tuesday’s Treasures…

This is a treasured work of art we have that a friend painted. Here is a link to her website. The work was inspired by a small nook in the crypt of the National Cathedral in Washington D.C.

This is a collage of the actual nook on the left and our painting on the right. We owned this painting before we visited the Cathedral and it was like a treasure hunt for us to find the nook.

If you ever find yourself in Washington D.C., the National Cathedral is a must see. It’s on one of the hop on hop off trolley lines.

I’m linking up with Tom the Backroads Traveler for Tuesday’s Treasures.

We are having a Spring heat wave here in the Seattle area. We are breaking heat records for April with highs in the 80’s! We barbecued tonight and we’ve had to do a lot of watering that we don’t usually do in April. Thinking of those of you who live in the Houston area and I do hope you are above water.

Labor of Love…

I love Easter and all that it holds and all that it means. I like the idea of new Life, a resurrected Life. The greatest Love that was demonstrated on Good Friday and the Life that was resurrected on Easter Sunday.

Here are photos of our Easter weekend labors of love and celebrations.

This was the end result of our labors on Easter Saturday. Top left an Russian Easter sweet cheese spread called Seernaya Paska. The X and the B stand for Christ is Risen. On the right is the finished and frosted Russian Easter Bread called Kulich or Paska surrounded by Russian shrink wrapped eggs. The sign in Russian on the bottom left says Christ is Risen so you see where the X and B comes from. Now I’ll show you some of the process of getting here.

First you gather your labor force. This is my sister Lana who arrived early so that we could get the Russian Easter Bread (Kulich/Paska) started.

The rest of the laborers arrived and were donned with their aprons and head scarves.

At one point in the process of mixing the dough I thought I made a big boo boo so we prayed over the dough and Lana and I laid hands on the KitchenAid. I didn’t want to start over again. All turned out well…

Lana showing how her slippers match her apron. I am behind in giving a shout out to My Mother’s Apron Strings after I won this Christmas apron giveaway without knowing I even entered the contest. My sister is wearing it on the reverse side since this is Easter and not Christmas. Thank you Susan for sending the apron to me.

The other photos in the collage are of kneading the dough and shrink wrapping the boiled eggs. While the dough was rising we enjoyed lunch together. Home made tamales and beans with guacamole, chips, and Dan and Jamie’s home made salsa.

After lunch it was time to prepare the cans and to punch down the dough after it’s first rise. The Peter Rabbit bunting was completed by Katie and hung by Laura and Katie. Josh and Laura gifted me the bunting kit for my birthday last week.

After the second rise we punched again and prepared the dough by hand for the cans pinching off enough or almost enough for each can we picked for this time around. Short, medium and tall.

The guys were busy outside in the sunshine solving several world problems.

The finished eggs and kulich on Easter day. I’ll show more from our Easter table in another post.

When the baking was done and the cheese mold was in the refrigerator setting up for our Easter Sunday meal the kids went out to dinner with their aunt and uncle. Dear and I stayed at home and crashed…

All of our kids together enjoying each other and extended family fills us with joy and not having to make dinner for them after a full day in the kitchen was a bonus!

We love and treasure these traditions and hope to carry them on through the years and pass them on to the next generation.

I’m linking up with Tuesday’s Treasures hosted by Tom the Backroads Traveler and ABC Wednesday started by Mrs. Nesbitt and carried on by Roger and the ABC team for L is for Labors of Love. I noticed several L’s in this post like Life, Love, Lana, Laura, Lunch, and Labor force.

Hope you all had a good Easter Weekend and some of you got the bonus of Easter Monday holiday which is brilliant!

I’m also linking up to Thoughts of Home #8 with Laura at Decor to Adore.

E is for…

Early posts on the letter E! This post was from February of 2008 with some additions.

E is for…

This is a sitting room in a Model Home in our temporary neighborhood in Camarillo when Dear was working in Thousand Oaks from 2006-2010. I was tempted to nab the pillow with my initial on it but I controlled myself and resisted my Evil side…

Ellen b. and one of our favorite Saturday walks at Emma Wood State Beach in Ventura, California during our sojourn in Camarillo.

E is for the Ebb of the tide

E is for Edinburgh

Dear and Ellen B. in Edinburgh in 2006. Ten years younger and 20 pounds lighter!

The elephant house in Edinburgh of author J.K. Rowling Harry Potter fame.

An Epitaph for J.R.R. Tolkien and his wife in Oxford, England. This was during a trip with our daughter in 2004. This was part of a literary tour that we put together as a graduation gift for our daughter. It was excellent!

I’m adding an early photo of ellen b. from 1958 where I would soon be seven years old.

I’m on the rug in front of my sister Vera, sister Kathy holding our new baby brother Tim and our brother Fred with the accordion. Love my goofy expression! Our family grew from 4 kids to 8 kids from 1958 to 1963. Number seven and eight were twins, a boy and a girl!

Don’t want to forget to acknowledge that today is Shrove Tuesday, also called Pancake Day and the day before Lent begins. Here in the states it’s Mardi Gras. I think I’ll make some pancakes for breakfast!

I’m linking up to ABC Wednesday started by Mrs. Nesbitt and carried on with the help of Roger and others.

I’m also linking up to Tuesday’s Treasures with Tom the Backroads Traveller with these treasured memories and destinations.

Tuesday’s Treasures

These treasures are from the late seventies and early eighties. Christmas Craft shows became real popular in these years and after our Josh was born I saw this sweet pillow covering that a crafter made. I ordered one for Joshua. When Daniel was born 2 years later I wanted one for him, too. Thankfully the same crafter was at a sale I went to. Sadly when Katie was born I didn’t find anything like these to have made for her. She got plenty of her own treasures and she knows Jesus Loves her, too, so I’m good with the fact that she doesn’t have one of these pillows! If you don’t have a pillow like this rest assured that Jesus loves you, too!!

I pulled these two pillows out at Christmas to add them to the beds set for each of our boys and their wives for their overnight stays. I’m sharing these this week since both our boys celebrated birthdays the last 3 days! They are both in the second half of thirty this year!

I’m linking up with Tom The Backroads Traveler for his Tuesday’s Treasures.

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage

Category Archives: Tuesdays Treasures

River Walk Reflections and Rhoddies

The Alamo ~ A Texas Treasure

Tuesday’s Treasures…

Labor of Love…

E is for…

E is for…

Ellen b. and one of our favorite Saturday walks at Emma Wood State Beach in Ventura, California during our sojourn in Camarillo.

E is for the Ebb of the tide

E is for Edinburgh

Dear and Ellen B. in Edinburgh in 2006. Ten years younger and 20 pounds lighter!

An Epitaph for J.R.R. Tolkien and his wife in Oxford, England. This was during a trip with our daughter in 2004. This was part of a literary tour that we put together as a graduation gift for our daughter. It was excellent!

Tuesday’s Treasures