A Grand Hodgepodge…

1. What do/did you call your grandparents? If it’s something unusual tell us the story behind the name. If you’re a grandparent what do your grands call you? Who chose your moniker?

I called my grandparents babushka and dzedushka growing up. My parents both were born in Russia. Their families escaped separately into Iran and my mom and dad met in a village outside of Tehran and were married there and then immigrated to the U.S. after WWII. Most of their family members immigrated after them. My maternal grandfather/dzedushka died in Iran. The top photo is of me with my maternal grandmother, babushka Vera, on my wedding day. The next photo is of my paternal grandparents, dzedushka Timofei and babushka Marfunia Bogdanoff. We were a lot closer to my maternal grandmother than my paternal grandparents.

2. Ever taken a road trip along the California Coast? If so what was the highlight of your trek? If not, any desire to do so? If you were to take a trip along the California Coast what’s one attraction you’d have on your must-see list?

Dear and I were born and raised in Southern California. Greg was raised a stones throw from Santa Monica and Venice Beach. Why yes we have taken some road trips along the coast of California. On the first night of our honeymoon we stopped in Ventura and then traveled north making stops in Solvang, Carmel, Monterey and San Francisco.

In 1985 we took a bicycle trip with 2 other couples starting in wine country and to the coast at Mendocino and south to Russian river. This is all north of San Francisco.

Since then we have made trips from Camarillo to the Central Coast of California staying in Pismo Beach.

We lived close to the coast in Huntington Beach (1975-1984), Ventura (1984-1988) and Camarillo (2006-2010) during our married life. The photo below of Josh and Dan at the beach is in Ventura 1986.

I would have to break up the coast of California in sections and pick a favorite in each section. The coast of California is very long and varied. North of San Francisco I’d say Mendocino, but inland of course you have wine country Napa and Sonoma. So maybe a combo trip that takes in Napa/Sonoma/Mendocino. San Francisco is a stand alone city to visit. South of San Francisco I’d say Monterey, Pismo Beach or San Luis Obispo, this is also an area with lots of wineries inland from the coast. Farther south Santa Barbara is a stand alone destination. South of Santa Barbara is Malibu and Santa Monica. I’d skip the next several miles south until you get to Huntington Beach. Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, Corona Del Mar and Laguna Beach are all doable together. Lastly I’d do La Jolla and San Diego together. Besides beaches and wineries there are several California Missions along the coastal areas of California.

In January our whole family was in California for a wedding on the coast north of Santa Barbara. I stayed on in California after my family traveled back home and enjoyed a couple days on the beach in Huntington and Crystal Cove.

I’d like to add a northern coastal trip in California some day. From Mendocino up to Oregon.

3. What are three things you don’t know how to do?

Fly, Scuba Dive and Figure Skate.

4. Tom Peters is quoted as saying, ‘Celebrate what you want to see more of.‘ If that’s true what will you celebrate and more importantly, how will you celebrate?

Right now we are celebrating getting past 10,000 steps with our fitbit keeping us informed and motivated being connected with family members on fitbit, too. I want to see more of this kind of movement in my life and I want to achieve those steps out in nature as much as possible.

5. Thursday (February 16) is National Almond Day. Do you like almonds? Which would you prefer-an Almond Joy or a macaron? What’s something you make that calls for almonds?

Almond Joy! My famous cheesecake recipe calls for almond extract.

6. What does Saturday morning look like at your house?

These days Saturday morning looks like any morning since Dear has been unemployed for 8 months. Last Saturday morning we went for a walk at a local bay park. Hopefully a morning walk will be a habit on Saturday mornings before we have a doughnut!

7. Share with us a favorite book you’ve read this winter.

The Great Reckoning by Louise Penny. The latest Chief Inspector Gamache novel.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

We are in count down mode for the arrival of our first grandchild a little girl who is already named, Addyson, Addy. We are going to be traveling to northeast Washington for an open house/baby shower for our kids next week. We are hoping for a good travel day across the Cascade mountain range there and back again. While at Dan and Jamie’s, Dear will be painting Addy’s nursery and a dresser they will be using for Addy’s things. Dear’s first job was painting with his father. He’s very good. As soon as we hear that Jamie is in labor later in March we will hit the road again and travel east to catch a very early glimpse of our first grandchild. Not sure what we want to be called. Maybe I’ll stick to my roots and have her call me baba/babushka. Maybe Dear will be called Papa. Time will tell.

Linking up to Wednesday Hodgepodge with Joyce From This Side of the Pond. Thanks for the questions Joyce.

Happy Valentine’s Day

We invited Josh and Laura over for an early Valentine’s Day meal. (We also invited Katie and Andrew but they were booked solid for Sunday and Tuesday) This happened on Sunday late afternoon. At first I set the table with these plates but then decided the main course would be served better in a bowl.

Dear and I tackled Julia Child’s Boeuf Bourguignon buying all the ingredients on Saturday and starting some of the steps then and finishing it on Sunday.

This one is a bit blurry, so here’s another one.

This meal deserves lots of photos since the process was more complicated than it needed to be. I love Julia but her editors could have made the instructions easier and more precise. The final product was delicious and we’ll make it again with just a few adjustments.

One of the steps was preparing these lovely pearl onions and then adding mushrooms cooking them to their delicious state and then adding them to the beef that had cooked for a few hours.

On Saturday we picked up several meaty soup bones and per Jacque and Julia’s instructions (a little vague) we made our own beef stock after roasting these bones topped with these vegetables. The steps after the roasting were the really vague part but we used our own skills to pull it off and the stock was delicious and ready for our Sunday Boeuf Bourguignon creation which is simpler to just call beef stew. Everything came together nicely even though we laughed and scratched our heads about some of the instructions, reading them out loud to each other several times. Besides Julia’s 2 classic cookbooks we have a cookbook called Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home (Jacques Pepin). This cookbook also has the stew recipe in it so we were flipping back and forth between the two books.

It was a fun thing to do together. I got the idea for cooking a Valentines meal with your love instead of going out from a blog post and I forget who is the one who suggested this. If it was you, please let me know. The suggestion was to pick something you had never tried cooking before. There were only a couple times we stepped on each other’s toes.

When we got the text saying Josh and Laura could join us on Sunday I realized I was so wrapped up with Julia I forgot about dessert so before church we stopped by the store to buy a chocolate cake mix and raspberries. It was my plan to make these small heart shaped cakes but there was enough batter left to make this medium heart shaped cake, too.

This medium sized cake with pink pearls went home with Josh and Laura so that Laura could take it to work and share it with her co-workers. It was devoured and enjoyed.

I served the little heart shaped cakes on a bed of raspberry coulis (sauce) for the four of us.

I forgot to take a photo of the four of us while we enjoyed our meal so I’ll add this photo of Josh and Laura taken another time and in another place.

And in the “spirit” of selfies I’ll add this one of Dear and me taken yesterday with our shades on, too.

Our evening together was so enjoyable and it was good to get caught up on some current details of our lives. After dinner and dessert we watched a couple episodes of Hunted together. It was new to all of us but Josh and we all enjoyed it. I may or may not have watched a few more episodes after Josh and Laura headed home. It’s a little disconcerting learning how much of all of our lives can be found out if someone with skills wants to find out. Big brother really is watching us.

I’ll leave you with a couple sentiments and a solid truth for this and every day, not just Valentine’s Day!

The upper sign was a gift from Josh and Laura for our anniversary one year. The heart has part of the solid truth you can depend on. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16 (KJV)

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone. Hug your loved ones and tell them you love them!

Snoqualmie Falls

Dear, my sister Vera and I drove to Snoqualmie Falls on Saturday January 28th. The falls weren’t at their fullest on this trip.

On this day we decided to hike down to the bottom of the falls. Our first time to do this.

It was nice to have a different view.

The river was fast and furious and frothy!

After our hike down the trail and the harder hike up again we decided a nice cold brew and good meal were the next thing to enjoy.

Linking up with ABC Wednesday, F is for Snoqualmie Falls. Thank you Mrs. Nesbitt, Roger and the friendly ABC team.

Flashing back to Sunday evening and our early Valentine’s day celebration with our kids Josh and Laura. I’ll share more tomorrow. Happy Valentine’s Day ABCers!

Saturdays Past

It’s already been 3 weeks ago that I was on the beach at Crystal Cove having brunch with my sister. I still need to share the photos of the lovely beach and the history of the state park where this restaurant is located…right on the beach. The food was very good!

I took this photo just out front of the restaurant. After you are shuttled across the highway (for $1.50) from the parking lot to the beach side of PCH (Pacific Coast Hiway) which costs $15.00 to park, you can put your name in at the restaurant and they give you a buzzer to let you know when they can seat you. This is a very popular place to enjoy a meal so the wait can be long. In the meantime you can explore the beach and walk along the sand until you are buzzed. If you eat at the restaurant you can show your paid receipt and your parking is free for up to 3 hours. There is a tunnel that goes under PCH if you’d like to walk to the beach side of PCH and get to the beach and restaurant on foot instead of the shuttle. On this day we took the shuttle across because the tunnel was closed due to the heavy rains and runoff that was flooding the tunnel. When we were done with brunch and exploring and ready to go back to the parking lot the tunnel was open with cautions of some running water. We chose to walk the tunnel back. Crystal Cove is a California State Park.

The tunnel was decorated with several murals that were painted by boy scout troops and others. There are hiking trails where you can come across these plants pictured in the mural above.

These two were my favorites. “Protect what you see and what you Don’t see” and the lower one that showed Splash Zone, High Tide, Mid Tide, Low Tide and Sub Tidal.

Linking up to Mosaic Monday with Maggie at Normandy Life.

Also linking up to Monday Mural with Oakland Daily Photo.

Now to the present…Dear and I did some walking on Friday and Saturday morning. We walked a river trail and then at a nearby park on a bay. We hope to make it a habit to walk more. Sunday evening we are having Josh and Laura over for an early Valentine’s Day meal. Dear and I have been cooking for a couple days now trying to recreate Julia Child’s Boeuf Bourguignon. I hope I remember to take some photos of the finished product. Hope you all had a nice weekend. The sun is shining nicely here right now!

Lord, Whom Winds and Waves Obey ~ Hymn

Lord, Whom Winds and Waves Obey

Lord, whom winds and waves obey,
Guide us through the watery way;
In the hollow of Thy hand
Hide, and bring us safe to land.

Jesus, let our faithful mind
Rest, on Thee alone reclined;
Every anxious thought repress,
Keep our souls in perfect peace.

Keep the souls whom now we leave,
Bid them to each other cleave;
Bid them walk on life’s rough sea;
Bid them come by faith to Thee.

Save, till all these tempests end,
All who on Thy love depend;
Waft our happy spirits o’er;
Land us on the heavenly shore.

Words: Charles Wesley, 1782.

Fleeting Five…

Fleeting: Lasting for a very short time. We had a snow event in the Seattle area that lasted a couple days. It arrived on Monday and by Thursday morning was all washed away by steady rain. Thursday morning all three passes across the Cascade mountain range were closed to traffic due to ice storms. Our friends in the Frasier Valley in British Columbia are still covered in snow and now ice and snow.

Many of you deal with harsh winters. For us in the Seattle area harsh winters are not a given. Some years we don’t get any snow. Wind storms can cause a lot of damage with downed trees on power lines or on roofs. We have big trees in the Pacific Northwest. We also might get flooding because of the quick melt off of snow that make our rivers rise.

If during one of our rare storms we manage to keep power it’s more like a party. We usually don’t experience cabin fever because of snow and not being able to go out and about. If the snow turns to ice it’s very hard to get around the Seattle area because of all of our hills. It is very scary driving down a hill with no control because of ice. There have been those years in our past where it was freezing and we had no power for up to 5 days. Those times we put our refrigerator contents out on our deck to keep it cold. During these times we do suffer from cabin fever.

Our kids in northeastern Washington are very tired of the snow and especially since they have to plow themselves out off their hill to the road below them.

1. In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,
earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;
snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,
in the bleak midwinter, long ago.

2. Our God, heaven cannot hold him, nor earth sustain;
heaven and earth shall flee away when he comes to reign.
In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed
the Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.

(Christina G. Rossetti)

Thankful for fleeting things and the everlasting: 1. Our brief interlude of snow. 2. Bare roads again after the snow. 3. Digital cameras that can capture some of the beauty. 4. Power, light, heat and running water. 5. Our God of heaven who came down to earth to a stable so that we could be saved from death in our sins to life in Him because of his sacrifice on the cross and His gift of righteousness to us.

Linking up with Amy for Five on Friday and with Susanne for Friday’s Fave Five

Super Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. What’s the last thing you did that someone else thought was super?

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Dear and I drove some important papers that needed to be north about 80 miles from us on Tuesday morning. The roads were fine on the interstate but when we arrived in Bellingham the side streets were compact snow and ice. A little tricky to drive on. We were happy to make it there and back again in record time and safely. Our son thought we were super to do this for him and his firm.

2. The last thing you ate that tasted superb?

While in California we had many superb meals with family and friends. One day my sister and I picked up our dear old pop and took him to his favorite Armenian restaurant in Montebello, Golden Skewers. The food is superb and we all enjoyed our choices.

3. Supersensitive, superstitious, superwoman, superambitious, supercilious, supervisor, superficial…pick a super word from the list and tell us how it relates to your life in some way recently or currently.

When I am in a large group of people I’m superficial. I find it hard to engage with anyone in particular and I buzz about without landing anywhere for any meaningful exchanges.

4. Do you love easily? If you’re comfortable doing so, explain why you think that is.

I think I’m cautious when it comes to love. Once I love you I’ll love you forever. I might not like you at times but my love will continue.

5. Valentine’s Day lands on a Tuesday this year. Will you mark the day in some way? If you’re celebrating with a dinner out somewhere will it be on Tuesday or will you celebrate over the weekend?

This day is hit and miss at this old house. Some years we celebrate big and I pull out the Valentine bin and decorate and some years we do not. Nothing is planned for Tuesday except typically on Tuesdays we go to our local Mexican restaurant for lunch or dinner. We call it Tequila Tuesday.

6. What’s something you are loving right now?

The anticipation of the arrival of our first granddaughter who will be our very first grandchild. Today we got a message from our DIL with a photo attached of her in the womb and she’s hanging on to her foot with her hand. They say she’s chubby and hairy!

7. Write a three word (or less) phrase you’d like to see on a Valentine candy heart.

I’m For You

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Linking up with From This Side of the Pond for Wednesday Hodgepodge.

E is for Ellen’s Winter Wonderland…

We don’t get snow every year and this was an exciting surprise for us when we woke up early on Monday morning.

It won’t last long but the exhilaration causes an excessive amount of photos every couple of minutes on social media. I like how this old house looks in the snow.

Dear and ellen b. went for a walk in the snow. Dear is home because he is not employed and hasn’t been employed since June of last year. We are still not sure if this is unemployment or retirement.

Our pear tree that we just finished pruning last week.

Our privacy fence that encloses our deck from eavesdropping neighbors.

An enchanting view on our walk east of our home. There were ducks in that pond.

On our early morning walk we encountered neighborhood children enjoying this steep hill sledding.

We ended our snowy walk with a selfie of Dear and ellen b. Our house is behind Dear’s head.

Linking up with ABC Wednesday which was going to end but has been revived with a new leader.

Morning Surprise…

Whiter than snow, yes, whiter than snow.
Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

The blessing by faith, I receive from above;
O glory! my soul is made perfect in love;
My prayer has prevailed, and this moment I know,
The blood is applied, I am whiter than snow.

Whiter than snow, yes, whiter than snow.
Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Snow is always a surprise in the Puget Sound area of Washington state. We only had about 4 inches, other areas got more. Some trees are down, some power is out and there are delays at the airport. Many schools are closed today. Our kids in Northeastern Washington got a foot of snow overnight. Our son is busy plowing his drive which is a long one to the main road below their home. We are not a region that is guaranteed snow and we are not good drivers in snow. One of the really scary things is that our area is very hilly with many steep roadways. Consider San Francisco if it got snow and you get the scary picture.

Headed out for a walk about the neighborhood. Happy Monday everyone.

Super Sunday Mosaics

Today Sunday the 5th of February is Super Bowl Sunday and our church joins in the fun of the day with a different kind of Sunday. We arrive for tailgating with grilled sausages and other treats as we walk into church. There are photo ops inside. Do I look like a natural with that football?

Things are flashier than usual and noisier, too. Two of our pastors represent each team that is playing in the Super Bowl. They go back and forth with sermon points. If they communicate it well they get a touchdown. Pastor Wolfgang covered Free Agent vs. Team Player, and Karma vs. Grace. Pastor Alexander covered Worry vs. Trust, and Death vs. Life. There are penalties and challenges. The game was tied at the end of 4 quarters so the two pastors had a memory verse challenge in overtime for extra points. The truth and the gospel is communicated. Pastor Alexander won on a challenge that is still being disputed after the game. Does that sound familiar?

We came home from church ready to tackle these creations in our kitchen in honor of the two Super Bowl Football teams. I do love a theme for cooking and setting tables. No table set this year since it’s just Dear and me today. Truth be told we aren’t big football fans but we join in the fun for Super Bowl Sunday. We always hope to see a good new commercial. It was a treat to see our 41st President George H.W. Bush and his wife Barbara on the field while President Bush tossed the coin. The President hasn’t been home from the hospital long after a struggle with pneumonia. He is the oldest living president in the U.S.A. currently. God bless him.

I’m publishing this before we know who wins but if it goes like church did this morning the Atlanta Falcons will win but New England are the come back kings so…

I’m linking up with Maggie from Normandy Life for Mosaic Monday.

Our friends to the north are experiencing more snow than usual and so much so that many church services were cancelled because of treacherous roads. They are predicting snow for us, too, later today and tomorrow. Hope whatever the weather you are comfy cozy in your corner of the world.

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage