Left Coast Cloudy…

…from Seatac to LAX!

There was a pretty solid cloud cover from Seattle to Los Angeles on my flight this morning. I arrived safe and sound to Camarillo. The condo is in good shape and I’ve checked into my hotel. I’ll return to the condo later to clean out the refrigerator. The packers arrive tomorrow morning.

Willow and I are meeting at All Things Tea at 3:30. It will be good to catch up over a pot of Earl Grey!

Before I left home I put up this bird feeder on my apple tree so I could see it from my kitchen window. This is my first ever bird feeder. I was so pleased that I received some cute little visitors already!

I had to zoom pretty far to capture them so the clarity isn’t that great.

Reflecting…

…on the rest of the week.

~Considering what to pack for my 5 day trip to Southern California. The primary reason for the trip is to supervise the packers and movers at the Condo. All of our stuff will finally move north to Washington. Where we will put all that stuff is yet to be determined!

~Wondering if the packers will be cursing me under their breath when they see all those dishes!

~Looking forward to seeing my SoCal walking buddy Willow. We won’t be doing any walking but I’m sure we’ll fit in a cup of tea together so we can catch up on what’s been happening in our lives.

~Wondering what my daughter and I will be doing with our extended family after she arrives for the weekend down South.

~Wondering when the condo might be sold. Sooner then later I hope…

~Continually thankful for being back in my house in Washington. Last night I could hear the frogs croaking. When I look out windows I see huge trees. Windows! I have way more then 3 windows here and I like the view out of every one of them.

~Talked to my middle son yesterday and was thanking God again for His mercy and grace and protection on Dan’s life.

~Making sure I don’t forget I have jury duty bright and early the morning after I get back from California.

~Wondering if I’ll be posting anything the rest of the week. Knowing me…I’ll probably find something to post.

~Hoping the stuff from California doesn’t arrive during my Jury Duty obligation.

~Are you bored yet?

~Hoping I won’t feel too all alone or bored back in Camarillo by myself…

Have a wonderful week everyone and if you don’t see me on your blogs you’ll know why.

She’s Our Energizer Bunny!

Our niece Debbee ran in the Boston Marathon this morning!

15487 Titov, Debbee 33 F Orange CA USA
Checkpoints 5k 10k 15k 20k Half 25k 30k 35k 40k
0:25:13 0:50:17 1:15:23 1:40:37 1:46:10 2:06:02 2:32:02 2:58:31 3:26:12
Finish Start Time Offset Pace Projected Time Official Time Overall Gender Division
00:01:34 0:08:21 3:38:42 9682 2461 1811
Those are some impressive numbers. This was her first time at the Boston Marathon! We are all so proud of her perseverance in her training! We think you are amazing Debbee.

The photo is from another marathon she ran in not the Boston Marathon. When I was watching the coverage this morning I was so excited to spot her in the crowd of runners at her start time. Whoohoo!

Seattle Blue Mosaic Monday!

If it’s almost Monday it is time for some Blue and some Mosaic fun. Visit Mary at The Little Red House for Mosaic Monday and Sally at Smiling Sally for Blue Monday.

On Friday I took a walk at Juanita Bay Park and at St. Edwards State Park and the Robins were very active. Some were busy gathering nest material.

Seattle Blue is very well represented by our Seattle Sounders F.C. team(Soccer!) Bottom right photo…our wonderful son Josh, an amazing photographer and friend Jeremy Leffel, Our friend and computer programmer extraordinaire Beau, and our favorite family doctor Dave. Beau, Josh and I have a total of 5 season ticket seats together. Fun times. We were so happy we beat the Kansas City Wizards 1-0 in the 2nd to the last minute of the game. Sheesh. Keep us on the edge of our seats!

If and when my daughter gets married her wedding date will depend on whether Jeremy is available to take photos!! Yes, he’s that good!

Do you notice anything missing in the photo on the right in this mosaic? While my son and I were at the soccer game Dear and Katie chopped down that pine tree. Dear tied the tree securely to Katie’s trailer pull, made a precision cut angled just right and Katie pulled it down with her car. I was so sorry to be gone while this took place. I would have loved to have gotten photos of it coming down…

And before any tree huggers come after me, we had to take it down because it was damaging our roof and allowing rats free access to the garage!!

Dwell In Me, O Blessed Spirit ~ Hymn

 

Dwell In Me, O Blessed Spirit

Dwell in me, O blessèd Spirit,
How I need Thy help divine!
In the way of life eternal,
Keep, oh, keep this heart of mine.

Refrain

Dwell in me, oh, dwell in me;
Hear and grant my prayer to Thee;
Spirit, now from Heav’n descending,
Come, oh, come and dwell in me.

Let me feel Thy sacred presence;
Then my faith will ne’er decline;
Comfort Thou and help me onward,
Fill with love this heart of mine.

Refrain

Round the cross where Thou hast led me,
Let my purest feelings twine;
With the blood from sin that cleansed me,
Seal anew this heart of mine.

Refrain

Dwell in me, O blessèd Spirit,
Gracious Teacher, Friend divine,
For the home of bliss that waits me
O prepare this heart of mine.

Refrain

Words: Fanny Crosby (1820-1915)

There and Back Again…

Friday was a beautiful day in the Seattle Area. I set out for one adventure and ended up having two. First I went to Juanita Bay Park which is a Wetland Preserve. The Robins were the easiest bird to capture with the lens today and then the Herons.

Then I traveled a few miles back toward home and stopped at St. Edwards State Park. I picked the North Trail to hike down. At the trail head at the top it said North Trail .6 miles. I trekked down and then when I got to the bottom I saw this sign…

LOL…it might have been nice to say that at the top before you are totally committed!

I made it back to the car huffing and puffing.

I’ll show more photos later of both of these great destinations…

We’re throwing steaks on the barbie and are going to continue to enjoy the weather. The retaining wall is complete and I’ll show more photos soon.

Have a great weekend everyone. I’m headed to another Sounders soccer game on Saturday…

Friday’s Fave Five ~ Outside & In…

It’s that time of the week again to travel to snowy Springy Alberta to visit Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and join in with your favorites from this past week.

Here’s Dear surveying his new wall… It should be finished today with a few more levels of block…

Here’s what added to my joy this week…

1. Getting the dreaded boxes from the attic project done. Whoohoo it feels great!

2. Having work done on our yard. Grading and a retaining wall. Work should be done today.

3. Enjoying pretty fancy tulips that only cost me $2.50.

4. Bringing some of the Apple Blossoms inside to enjoy.

5. Having a good meal fresh off the stove.

Psalm 63: 3-5

Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,
My lips will praise You.
So I will bless You as long as I live;
I will lift up my hands in Your name.
My soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness,
And my mouth offers praises with joyful lips.

Have a great day and weekend everyone!

Progress and Coyotes…

It’s Thursday morning and the sun is shining right now but we have a small system moving through later. I wanted to show you some photos of our attic now that I have everything back up there.

Lots of stuff but we still have half the floor space up there vacant…she pats herself on the back.

On to our outdoor progress…

These are before and after looks at the side yard.

Yesterday the gravel and the concrete blocks arrived. After the gravel was delivered I headed out for a walk.

I took a new route today heading straight down a very busy street so I could photograph some unusual yard art that I’ll show next Thursday. After photographing I headed back up the hill and spotted something I wasn’t thrilled about…

This coyote was across the street looking at me. Yikes! Thankfully the traffic was very busy and he couldn’t make it across the street until I was well past him.

Looking back he’s still waiting for a good opportunity to cross…

I’ve got to say that this is my preferred sighting on any given day! A pretty Robin doesn’t make me nervous.

Back at the homestead the big boulders have been moved and set in their new home. We’ll clean up around them later.

The block arrived and the wall is going in at a good pace. We should see a lot of progress today.

Hope your Thursday goes well for you!