The Fun Just Never Stops!

Katie’s Bridal shower was such a wonderful evening with friends and family. I have not had time to put anything together for a post yet. I’m sharing our one nutty photo from the shower. These are my mom, sisters, sister-in-laws, nieces, and daughters. A few people are missing because of family emergencies and Bar exams.

Katie and I are staying with my nephew and his sweet wife. They were so gracious to let us move in even though they just moved into a new house and haven’t had a lot of time to get things organized. We love their new home and are grateful for their hospitality. The best part is that it is close to most of our Bag-o-Rama Jamboree activities.  Here are a few photos of our home away from home…

This is a Ginko Biloba Tree.

The home is in an Equestrian Community and they will be able to board their horse on their property when they build the proper shelter for it.

Sometime soon I’ll share the photos from the shower, and our breakfast outing, and the wonderful Flag Ceremony at Orange Circle where Katie was recognized and hugged…a lot. Thursday we will be at the Happiest Place on Earth. Is anyone else just tired from reading this. I am very tired but content and grateful for the time we get to spend with family and friends. Missing my Dear and glad he has next week off and we can spend lots of time together.

Fun Times in the City of Orange…

Sunday morning we started the day with a trip through Starbucks on our way to Old Towne Orange. We browsed through a couple antique malls and the Army-Navy Store. We later drove to my sisters in Whittier for a family meal with my parents, siblings, and nieces.

It’s always good to see my mom and pop. Mom is having lots of pain in her back and hips and walking is getting more and more difficult for her.

After lunch and lots of lively reminiscing Katie and I headed back to the city of Orange where we are staying. We decided to stop at Orange Hill Restaurant for some refreshment before we settled in for the night.

They take their name seriously here and the fact that they are in the city of Orange. Have you ever seen an orange baby grand piano?

We enjoyed ourselves so much in these orange surroundings we decided to go on Monday night with my nieces who also live in Orange.

It was sunny enough that we had to wear our shades inside for a while until the sun went down some.

Tomorrow our DIL Laura arrives and we are having a bridal shower for Katie. We are looking forward to Katie’s first shower and seeing dear friends and relatives we haven’t seen for a while.

I heard our summer decided to hide again for a few days in the Northwest. I hope it reappears soon…

Casa de la Playa

Katie and I are in Southern California enjoying family get-togethers. One of our favorite places to gather is at my sister Vera’s house in Huntington Beach. She and my BIL Nick are always willing and able to host and cook wonderful meals for our large family gatherings. We call their place “Casa de la Playa” because they live in Huntington Beach within walking distance to the Pacific Ocean.

We were there on Saturday for brunch, the beach, and then for dinner!

Besides Katie and I flying in, Miss Hope flew in with her parents from Texas. She loves Uncle Nick and she loves the beach! Vera made a delicious Chile Relleno casserole. Miss Hope was checking Katie and me out. After brunch and a nap we headed down the street to the beach.

Miss Hope loves the beach.

Hi Mommy! Look at me!

Daddy took the first shift with Hope in the water until her teeth started chattering and they came in to get warmed up.

Katie decided to brave the cold water.

Hope’s cousins took the next shift helping Miss Hope hop over the waves and avoid being toppled by them.

Time to pack everything up and head back to Casa de la Playa to shower before dinner.

Tim, Letty, Len and Kathy joined the rest of us for dinner. Nick barbecued ribs, tri-tip, chicken, mushrooms and zucchini and Vera made mashed potatoes, wild rice and salad. We were introduced to Pinkberry’s frozen yogurt for dessert. The salted caramel and the watermelon frozen yogurt was delicious! Thanks Nick and Vera for treating us so well and thank you Mandy for the frozen yogurt.

Thanks to my cousin Jim in Clovis we are calling our week of festivities the Bag-o-rama Jamboree!  More fun to come.

I have not watched T.V. since we flew into L.A. but I’ve seen some stories on line about the horrible massacre in Norway. My heart and prayers go out to people of  Norway and all the families there who have lost loved ones in such a senseless act of violence.

I’ll Count My Blessings ~ Hymn

I’ll Count My Blessings

I lift my heart today in praise
To Him who loves me so,
Whose mercy crowneth all my days,
And makes my cup o’erflow.
O have I loved Him as I should
For all His blessings free?
Praise God who giveth naught but good,
For He is good to me!

Refrain

I’ll count my blessings—
Count them o’er and o’er—
I’ll tell my Father’s goodness—
I will love Him more,
I’ll count my blessings, bountiful and free—
Yet I can never count them all—
So good is God to me!

I thank Him for unclouded skies—
For love beyond my ken—
That when my path in shadow lies,
The sunshine comes again.
I thank Him for the hopes fulfilled—
For every answered plea,
That though life was not all I willed,
My God is good to me!

Refrain

I go to meet another year,
With faith no doubt can dim,
God reigneth, and I will not fear,
But trust my way with Him.
Then if that way be bright or dark,
Let peace unshaken be!
And let me, like the soaring lark,
Sing God is good to me!

Refrain

Words: Carrie E. Breck, 1901.

Port Williams Lavender

Many photos few words. I’m in Southern California spending time at the beach with family, eating meals with family, attending a bridal shower for Katie with family. Flag ceremony with my sister-in-law and Katie. Breakfast at Julienne with sisters, sister in laws, nieces, and daughters. Birthday party at the beach for my youngest brother and sister (twins). Don’t tell them I told you they are turning 48. How does that happen? My baby brother and sister are 48! That means I’m getting old. Disneyland with family. Sheesh…I’m going to need a vacation when I get back home.

Now I’ll just breathe in all this beautiful lavender and relax a bit…

On our way to our next lavender farm we stopped at a U-Pick Berry Farm. I couldn’t resist taking a photo of this little girl in the berry patches…

Port Williams Lavender

Our next stop will be Purple Haze Lavender Farm. Hope you are all having a nice weekend.

Jardin du Soleil Lavender and Olympic Lavender Farm

Since I still had 4 Lavender Farms to share with you I decided to combine these two farms. Would you believe we missed several farms, too? Sequim really is the Lavender Capitol of North America.

Olympic Lavender Farm

Most of the farms we visited had live music being performed. There was a great variety from Country to a Harp Soloist.

By this time we were so intoxicated with the lovely lavender that Katie would agree to all my photo shoot ideas! “Go sit amongst the bees” “Don’t worry they won’t sting you.”

Jardin du Soleil Lavender

This is a wonderful piece of property with a great Victorian home and garden and it’s for sale.

There was a maze on the property and Katie set out to conquer it…

Mission accomplished successfully. Another maze under her belt!

Time to sit a spell and enjoy my surroundings.

I had to get a shot of Jill with her camera documenting what stood out to her photographic eye.

We ventured onto the garden paths that surrounded the front end of the Victorian residence.

Onward and Eastward we headed to Port Williams Lavender via a U-Pick Berry farm. More adventures to come.

Tomorrow Katie and I leave very early on a flight to California to visit with family who are converging on Orange County. I don’t know if and when you’ll hear from me this next week but I’ll have another lavender farm posted tomorrow. Hope you all have a nice weekend.

N is for Nests and Nature~

It’s time for the letter N with Jenny at Alphabe-Thursday! Thank you Jenny for hosting!

This past weekend I had a bloggy guest spend a few days and we were out and about in the Great Northwest. On the way and during a trip to the Sequim Lavender Farm Faire we were given the opportunity to photograph something neither of us had ever seen before, a baby Seagull. My daughter Katie spotted it off the car deck of the ferry. Later in the morning above the Dungeness Spit on Marine Drive Jill spotted an eagle. Eagle photographs have eluded me until now and then a local stopped while we were photographing the Eagle to tell us about a spot where we could see 2 young eagles still in their nest. Let’s just say that it was a glorious start to a glorious day of enjoying God’s creation and making note of that creation with our cameras.

Here’s the baby seagull that Katie spotted from the ferry dock. Mama seagull was standing over it keeping an eye on us while we clicked away.

The Eagle

He clasps the crag with crooked hands;
Close to the sun in lonely lands,
Ring’d with the azure world, he stands.

The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;
He watches from his mountain walls,
And like a thunderbolt he falls.

© Alfred Tennyson

Nests – The shape of the eagle nest or aerie is determined mainly by the branch point where it’s built. Sticks placed in tree forks result in cylindrical or conical shaped nests. Disk Shaped nests are built on the ground or a tree branch which is nearly level. Bowl Shaped Nests occur where the tree trunk branches off into smaller upright branches.
   Bald eagles build their nests in large trees near rivers or coasts. A typical nest is around 5 feet in diameter. Eagles often use the same nest year after year.

We assumed this is one of the parents of the eaglets since it was perched just above the nest.

Beyond the Dungeness Spit is the Strait of Juan De Fuca which separates this part of the Olympic Peninsula from Vancouver Island, B.C.

The Dungeness Lighthouse. Built in 1857. Manned and maintained by US Lighthouse Society, New Dungeness Chapter. Six mile walk to the lighthouse. Open year round.

This is also the Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge.

We saw other animals, too. Besides needing some serious orthodontia work, aren’t they cute? We stayed far enough away so they couldn’t spit on us.

Another first for me on this day was being able to photograph this peacock with it’s feathers fanned. Too bad he was behind the wired fence.

Hope you enjoyed my nature shots. I’ll be around soon to see what other N’s will be represented this week.

Creekside Lavender Farm ~ Our Military Favorite!

Katie spotted this farm and the sign for a free bundle of lavender for those with a Military I.D.  so she made her mental navigating note for us to return after the farms opened to visitors.

Katie wanted a bouquet with a few of all the different varieties of lavender. The hardest part of gathering the lavender was dodging the bees who were enjoying the lavender. Katie has always had a fear of buzzing insects that can bite!

We really enjoyed the owners of this farm. They were so friendly and ready to go out of their way to explain lavender to their guests. Jill got a good explanation of culinary lavender compared to lavender with a strong camphor odor and slightly bitter. If you want culinary lavender buy the augustfolia which has a light sweet smell.

This farm had some rows of pink lavender, too.

When we went into the lavender store at Creekside to show Katie’s military I.D. the lady of the farm made us cry by tearing up and thanking Katie when my daughter told her that Andrew was serving in Afghanistan. Thankfully she had a box of tissue handy…

Katie’s bouquet that she got for free with her military I.D.

Wednesday is a big soccer day in Seattle. The English Premier League’s Manchester United is visiting and having a friendly match against our own Seattle Sounders. Season Ticket holders for the Sounders got a ticket for this game. I’m meeting up with my son and daughter in law to attend the game. I hope to get some photos of Wayne Rooney, Chicharito and others!

Hope your week is going well!

Sequim Lavender Farm Tour…

Because Moisi is my father we made it to the Lavender Festival over an hour early. Most farms weren’t open to visitors until 10:00 A.M. so we got our bearings with my favorite navigator in the back seat. Last year I journeyed to the festival all by my lonesome. It’s a lot more fun with my navigator and a bloggy friend who understands that we take photos of everything! Jill and her camera are great companions for me. You’ll need to check out her beautiful perspective of our days, too.

Here’s my navigator, Katie. We had time to stop and look out at the Dungeness Spit and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. We gave a shout out to our Canadian friends across the Strait. Hello Pondside and to the east of Vancouver Island, hello Girls from MGCC!

We picked the roads on the perimeter to travel and were happy to spot this away from downtown spot for breakfast. A great start to our farm tour. We all chose the 1-1-1 for breakfast. One egg, one piece of sausage or bacon, and one pancake or piece of french toast.

Jill was served her coffee in a lavender mug. While we were waiting for our breakfast the owner of the restaurant brought us a bouquet of flowers for the table. He showed us the bush the mock orange blooms came from that were in the bouquet.

When breakfast was done we were ready to head to our first farm of the day…

I’m going to have to break down my posts by farm so that my posts will be manageable. Oliver’s was a nice start with just a few other people around. Each of the farms had nice gift shops to shop in and some of the farms had several vendors on sight with their tents ready to lure you in to buy their wares…

Packed Into Three Days…

Mosaics today with more details to follow during the week.

Jill arrived at SeaTac Airport on Thursday morning and we headed straight to Pike Place Market in downtown Seattle.

Kerry Park on Queen Anne Hill has a wonderful view of Seattle and if you continue down Highland you’ll find this sweet little park.

On Friday morning, bright and early, we headed out to catch the Edmonds/Kitsap Ferry which took us across the Puget Sound to the Kitsap Peninsula. We traveled a few miles to the Hood Canal Bridge which took us to the Olympic Peninsula and then to our destination of Sequim.

We were blessed with more than beautiful views of lavender in Sequim.

Full grown eagles and a couple young eagles still in their nest were a wonderful surprise for us to view. The Dungeness Spit and Lighthouse are the background for this mosaic with the eagles who were nesting above this area. At 5.5 miles in length, the Dungeness Spit is the world’s longest naturally occurring sandspit and home to the Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge. Dungeness Crab comes from this area.

I have many photos to share from our lavender tour and eagles which I’ll share later during the week.

I’m linking my Mosaics over at Mary’s Little Red House.

Hope to visit you soon…