Timeless Favorites…

On Friday it’s time to look back and think about the good things in our lives. I’m joining in for Friday’s Fave Five with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story.

My Timeless favorites are all wrapped around Family, Food, Friends, Flowers and Fellowship!

Last Saturday Dear and I had to change our yard/house work plans because the roofers were still here. We headed to Snohomish to do some antique shopping eating a good breakfast on the way. On Sunday Josh and Laura came over and we barbecued a meal to have together and got caught up on our lives. The weather was beautiful in the Seattle area on Saturday and Sunday. It brought out the best in people!

On Wednesday a few of the girls from MGCC were on a tour of Seattle so I popped downtown and met them for the morning. Don’t be surprised with all the photos of the food I’ll be showing you that we indulged in. Warning: If you haven’t eaten you might want to step away and come back later. Food, fun and fellowship galore around the table!

Breakfast at the Edgewater Inn where the girls were staying. After breakfast they grabbed their umbrellas and I grabbed my rain coat and we headed to Pike Place Market.

First stop was the original Starbucks. We were already on coffee overload from our breakfast so we just stopped long enough for a photo.

Marg seemed to know someone at every stop we made. Before we headed into the Market proper we went downstairs so I could show them the famous gum wall below the market.

It was refreshing to see all the beautiful flowers in the main thoroughfare of the market after the disgusting interesting gum wall. Flowers at the market are one of the best things in my opinion. Because it’s April and tulip season in Washington the majority of the flowers were tulips.

The Market was easy to navigate because we did not have the summer or weekend crowds to contend with. This walkway in the market can be wall to wall people.

Marg and Judy

After the Market and before the girls had to be back at the bus to continue their tour we stopped a Macrina Bakery. We were just going to have some coffee and a pastry but in order to sit at a table we had to order lunch so…what’s a girl gonna do? We ordered a cup of soup which was delicious along with wonderful baked fresh bread.

Remember that pastry we were just going to have? Instead we ordered their pie of the day with lemon infused cream. We split it three ways cuz that’s what friends do to help each other…

We walked back to the hotel and the girls got their spots on the bus and I jumped into my car and headed home. On the way I got a little peek of the Space Needle that has returned to it’s original Galaxy Gold color in honor of the anniversary of the 1962 World’s Fair.

I hope to get a photo from a better angle before the World Fair Anniversary events are over. Hope you are focusing on good things to be thankful for this week, too. Blessings…

Little White Church

There’s a little white church in the valley
That stands in my memory each day
And it seems I can hear the bells now ringing
Though I am many miles away

And many times in church on Sunday morning
That whole countryside would gather there
They would all kneel down by the altar
As they lifted up their voice in prayer

   Oh the church in the valley that little white church
Is the place I love so well
Now I’m sad and lonely yes I’m sad and lonely
For that little white church in the dell

They would sing the old song Rock of Ages
Oh Christ let me hide myself in thee
And I know some of them are now waiting
Just o’er the dark and stormy sea

I know that troubles all are ended
And happy forever they will be
They are waiting and watching up yonder
For the coming home of you and me

I’m linking up with Teacher Jenny for Alphabe-Thursday. We are on the Letter W.

Because You Asked…

Here’s what I bought while avoiding the noise at home from the roofers!

The lavender goblets and small green goblets were purchased at an Antique mall in Edmonds. I paid $40.00 for the lavender goblets and $7.50 for the little green ones. I paid more than I usually am willing to pay for goblets but I found that it’s not that easy to find this color out there.

The small green bowls and the purple dessert plates are from Crate and Barrel. The napkin rings are from my stash.

The dinner plates 4 of each kind were purchased at Goodwill.

These napkins are April Cornell and they were purchased at Goodwill.

These dessert plates were purchased at an Antique mall in Snohomish.

I was on a specific search to find lavender and green but I couldn’t pass up some other good buys…

As soon as my schedule permits I’ll be working on a table setting using my latest finds and mixing them with things I have on hand.

I’m linking up with Kathleen at Cuisine Kathleen for Let’s Dish. This event starts on Wednesday evenings at 7:00 P.M. (Eastern Time)

Apple Blossoms

Apple Blossoms are so lovely and are around for such a short time. They’ve really opened up this weekend and with the sun shining it was fun to snap away. We are having some warm sunny weather in the Seattle area. Everyone is out and about and there are smiles on faces everywhere. We barbecued on the weekend to add to the celebration of warmth and sunshine.

The roofers are still here and the whole job will probably be wrapped up on Thursday once the rain gutters are installed.

I’m debating about attending a book signing event close by to see the Pioneer Woman tonight. Time will tell if I’m up to fighting the crowds. How’s your week going?

Tulips!

The Skagit Tulip Festival

“The Skagit Valley Tulip Festival is one of the destination events for the Pacific Northwest, held each year from April 1-30. Every spring hundreds of thousands of people come to enjoy the celebration of spring as millions of tulips burst into bloom. As with all things governed by Mother Nature, the tulips bloom according to their own schedule sometime during the festival. The tulips allow us to share our corner of the world and help us to showcase Skagit Valley agriculture.

Mary Brown Stewart started growing tulips in 1906 with bulbs from Holland, but tulips were “only a small part of the crop and the whole operation was of modest size” (Barrett). In 1926 her son Sam Stewart started the Tulip Grange Bulb Farm near LaConner. Marinus Lefeber, a friend of Sam Stewart, moved their Whatcom County operation down to a farm along Memorial Highway near Mount Vernon. The farm was in business until 2002. Other bulb growers joined them after 1945. By 1997, 700 acres were used for bulb farming, with a value of $42 million.”

I never get tired of visiting the tulip fields. Besides the fields there are gardens to visit, too.

Blessed Cross of Jesus ~ Hymn

Blessed Cross of Jesus

Wand’rer, come, there’s room for thee,
At the cross of Jesus;
Come and taste salvation free
At the cross of Jesus.

Refrain

Blessèd cross! precious cross!
There my hopes are twining;
There I see a Father’s love
Through a Savior shining.

Come and bring thy burden now
To the cross of Jesus;
Lay thy burning, throbbing brow
At the cross of Jesus.

Refrain

O what comfort thou wilt find
At the cross of Jesus;
Love thy broken heart will bind
At the cross of Jesus.

Refrain

See the crimson waters flow
At the cross of Jesus;
Come and tell thy every woe
At the cross of Jesus.

Refrain

Words: Fanny Crosby, 1877.

Saturday Smiles…

This sign is on the stairwell at my hairdressers salon/home. It made me smile and I hope you smile, too.

Before the tulips bloom fully here in Washington the daffodils make us smile.

Sometimes a different color tulip gets in the mix and the daffodils try to share the glory with the tulips…

Hope your weekend is off to a good start. If the weather cooperates I’ll be mowing the lawn and Dear will be doing some painting. What are your plans?

FFF ~ Fresno, Food, Fields

I was in Fresno last Friday with 3 of the Mennonite Girls so I didn’t participate in Friday’s Fave Five but I’m joining with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story this week with my favorites.

1. Traveling to my first MCC Relief Sale and spending time with generous people who donate their time, services, and goods for others.

2. When Dear picked me up at the airport on Sunday morning we decided to head up north for lunch in La Conner at a favorite restaurant of ours called Nell Thorn. The food was delicious and the drive gave us the opportunity to get caught up with news about each of our days apart.

3. After lunch we headed to the tulip fields and enjoyed a tiptoe through the tulips walk about the tulip fields. We don’t take for granted this amazing opportunity to visit these fields of wonder just an hour up the road. I’ll be sharing lots of tulip photos this next week.

4. We are getting a new roof  and rain gutters installed this week. It’s good to know we’ll be set for many years when the job is done.

5. To get away from the pounding noise I went out on a shopping adventure to find green and lavender dishes and accessories. It was a successful trip. I found plates and napkins at Goodwill and more plates and small cups at Crate and Barrel. It’s been a long time since I’ve spent time on a shopping trip like this. Having a chicken in the crock pot made the adventure quite relaxing since I didn’t have to be home early to make dinner.

I’ll leave you with another tulip photo. I hope to get around soon and see what y’all have been up to.

Distractions…

I have a lot of photos from the tulip fields to share with you but right now I’ve been thrown into a world of clamor.

Big trucks, scraping and hammering and danger all around. Well…the danger part is mostly me and how I feel about men walking around on steep roofs or climbing up tall ladders.

When things are removed, new things are revealed. Here’s Dear painting the fascia underneath the old gutters that we realized were just bare wood and never painted. I got to hold the ladder, except for when I was taking a photo. Now when the new gutters go up the wood will be more protected.

We’re real thankful that the roofers have gotten some periods of dryness so that things aren’t as slippery as they could be.

Soon the mayhem will be over, my checkbook will be drained, and I’ll post more tulip photos.

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)