Happy Hours While We May…

Dear and I are enjoying many happy hours of different types while Katie is still under our roof.

On Friday we went to a restaurant Happy Hour at a new place for us in Kirkland, Washington at Carillon Point. Le Grand Bistro Americain served up some good eats for us.

The views were lovely filled with boats, water and dramatic sky.

I’m linking up with Mary at Little Red House since she has her power back now for Mosaic Monday. Glad you are out of the dark Mary!

Another busy week ahead for me. Tomorrow I have to go to the dentist for my first crown experience…ugh! I will not be pleased if it interferes with my joy of eating experience! We are in count down mode here…22 days till Katie moves to North Carolina. This Saturday there’s a Northwest bridal shower for her at my sister Lana’s house. Looking forward to having a time of celebration with friends who have touched Katie’s life. We’re choosing joy each day and being thankful for all we have.

O Thou, Whose Bounty Fills My Cup ~ Hymn

O Thou, Whose Bounty Fills My Cup

O Thou, whose bounty fills my cup
With every blessing meet!
I give Thee thanks for every drop—
The bitter and the sweet.

I praise Thee for the desert road,
And for the riverside;
For all Thy goodness hath bestowed,
And all Thy grace denied.

I thank Thee for both smile and frown,
And for the gain and loss;
I praise Thee for the future crown,
And for the present cross.

I thank Thee for the wing of love,
Which stirred my worldly nest;
And for the stormy clouds which drove
The flutterer to Thy breast.

I bless Thee for the glad increase,
And for the waning joy;
And for this strange, this settled peace,
Which nothing can destroy.

Words: Jane F. Crewdson, Lays of the Re­for­ma­tion, 1860.

I hope you set your clocks back 1 hour or else you were very early for church this morning!!

Saturday Fun…

Nothing deep to share just these beautiful roses we picked up at Trader Joe’s yesterday for $4.99. Why walk away without buying them? And…

…have you ever seen a Brussels sprouts Stalk? It was $2.99 at Trader Joe’s. I just had to buy it. Of course Dear and I enjoy Brussels sprouts more than most people do. It’s another one of those tastes I’ve acquired in my adult years. So I think these are on the menu for today along with some Lamb Shanks and mashed potatoes.

FFF ~ November Already…

Here we are in November and our thoughts more than usual turn to thankfulness. On Fridays we join Susanne with Friday’s Fave Five recalling our favorite things from the week.

1. Lana, Laura, Katie and I had a crafting party of sorts last Saturday. Although our production was real slow and we yielded only 6 little Matryoshka dolls we enjoyed loads of laughter. The making tears fall kind of laughter.

2. Our Pastor finished up the series on Spiritual Warfare on Sunday. One of the great things we were reminded of is that the battle has been won and we respond from a position of victory. We also were shown a great photo of the Shield of Faith and how shields were used in battle forming a solid wall of protection. This was accomplished with others beside you and behind you. We need each other.

3. I’m so thankful for my new faucet and my husband who installed it.

4. I really had a fun night opening the door for our Trick or Treaters! We had a lot and my daughter’s face makeup only scared away one little girl. I had to run after her to give her a candy!

5. I mowed the lawn one day this week and because of all the leaves it was a longer than usual workout. I was beat and when Dear came home from work he knew he was taking me out for dinner. Dear, Katie and I shared some great appetizers and we split a Kobe burger 3 ways. A good meal with no clean up is priceless after a hard workout!

I’ve noticed some bloggers who are posting a thankful post every day in November. It’s been great to read them. We have so much to be thankful for…

I’m looking forward to a weekend with nothing scheduled except for church on Sunday morning. Woohoo! How’s your weekend shaping up?

A is for Appetizers…

 

I really enjoy appetizers. It’s nice to have a variety of taste bites when dining. When we go out to dinner we sometimes eat appetizers instead of a big plate of food. If we are out during Happy Hour it’s tempting to eat too many appetizers when they are half priced. We like to find restaurants with Happy Hour foods that are not all fried food. We have found many good spots with great options. Do you eat appetizers instead of main dishes when you go out?

Teacher Jenny is starting up Alphabe-Thursday this week again and we are at the beginning with the letter A. This would be a good time for you to join in if you want. Thank you Teacher Jenny!

Back to Sacramento…

When I was in Sacramento a few weeks ago I stopped by the Capitol. I was born and raised in Southern California but had never visited the State Capitol. Funny that it took moving out of the state to finally stop by for a visit…

There was a beautiful rose garden next to the Vietnam Memorial.

The young service man sitting at the entrance really hit me hard.

All Gave Some. Some Gave All.

I’ll be sharing my photos of the Capitol building soon.

November!

Can you believe it’s November already?

Lately when I sit at the computer I see this lovely burst of color on this bush in my neighbor’s yard. I had to zoom way in to get this shot because it’s across a drive and on the far side of her yard. That’s why the bush right outside my window is blurry.

I’m thankful for my view. I like to see neighbors coming and going, birds flying in and flying away, leaves falling, and the mail being delivered.

Boy did we have a steady stream of Trick or Treaters last night. We only have a few candies left and I bought a lot.  My sister called and said they ran out of candy and had to turn the light out. It was one of those years where the weather was great and more people decided to venture out. I loved hearing the stories from the little ones. “I get to have one or maybe 2 candies when I get home”

“November comes
And November goes,
With the last red berries
And the first white snows.

With night coming early,
And dawn coming late,
And ice in the bucket
And frost by the gate.

The fires burn
And the kettles sing,
And earth sinks to rest
Until next spring.”
–  Elizabeth Coatsworth

Have a great Tuesday everyone.

As if…

…I needed it confirmed yet again, my name is Ellen and I’m horrible at crafting! I am real good at recognizing wonderful craft projects and appreciating wonderful craft projects. Not so fond of the mess and time it takes to create a craft especially when this is how my efforts turn out…

Please, go ahead and laugh because the 4 of us around the crafting table were rolling in laughter at my angry Matryoshka!

My sister Lana, Katie, Laura, and I had a great time laughing through our creating endeavors. We really had high hopes of making many of these little dolls but those hopes were dashed after 3 hours with only these to show for our efforts.

Even though we knew it would be easier and faster to create more after we worked through the process once,  we looked at each other and decided it just wasn’t worth it.

Just so you know that I can learn from my mistakes here is how my 2nd one turned out…she’s not as angry as my first one!

You might also find it cool that I did not pass on my crafting genes to our daughter Katie as you’ll see in the next photo of her Matryoshka.

Our time together was fabulous. We all needed that good kind of laughter that brings tears to your eyes. Yummy savory blintzes, pumpkin cookies, Monk’s brewed tea, and background music added a lot to our good time.

Earlier in the morning I took off for a 5.5 mile walk with a couple good friends of mine. When I returned home I was greeted with a new faucet in my sink that Dear installed.

His handy man skills are never in question! I’m looking forward to enjoying my new faucet especially since it doesn’t show spots like my old one did.

Hope you had a nice weekend. I’m thinking about my bloggy friends that might have lost power in that surprise snow storm back East. Hope you are all sitting in front of a cozy fire and drinking something hot!

I’m linking up with Mary at Little Red House for Mosaic Monday . I think Mary might be one of the many people who have lost power. Hope you get power back soon Mary! Stay warm…

From the Cross to the Crown ~ Hymn

From the Cross to the Crown

Be strong and courageous whate’er may befall,
We know our Redeemer will answer our call;
Tho’ sorrow and trials are weighing us down,
Yet hope looks away from the cross to the crown.

Refrain

From the cross to the crown let us follow our Lord,
From the cross to the crown let us cling to His Word;
Tho’ sorrow and trials are weighing us down,
Yet faith leads us on from the cross to the crown!

His cup of affliction was filled to the brim,
And are we not willing to suffer for Him?
The robe of His glory for us He laid down,
To show us the path from the cross to the crown.

Refrain

This life is a conflict, a battle with sin,
Yet trusting in Jesus thro’ grace we shall win;
The world may oppose us, the tempter may frown,
Yet faith leadeth on from the cross to the crown.

Refrain

Tho’ friends that are dearest have gone from our sight,
’Tis only to enter the mansions of light;
Their warfare is over, their burdens laid down,
How short was their path from the cross to the crown!

Refrain

Words by Fanny Crosby

Wedding Creativity…

I know I’ve said this before but if you are new on my blog it bears repeating. Our daughter Katie got married to her Marine fiance last March at the Magistrate’s office in North Carolina before he was deployed to Afghanistan. She’s been living with us during his deployment. We are planning a wedding ceremony with our friends and family and Andrew’s family as witnesses this coming March on their one year anniversary in Seattle. We have a lot of the wedding plans taken care of. Katie’s dress had a huge train on it that she wanted cut off so she used some of the fabric from the train to make a flower girl basket and a ring bearer pillow…

Katie and I will be flying to North Carolina on November 28th to accept her and Andrew’s military housing and to set up their home as much as we can before Andrew returns from Afghanistan. Dear will be joining us on December 3rd. We’ll save any heavy lifting for when he arrives.

Katie and Andrew’s wedding will be in Seattle so she will fly back from North Carolina 3 weeks before the ceremony date and Andrew will arrive the weekend of the ceremony…

Katie’s had time on her hands for wedding creativity and besides the pillow and basket she is painting her cake toppers!

The Marine figure isn’t finished yet since we have to wait and see if Andrew gets any embellishments on his uniform post deployment!

Happy Saturday to you! Today we are having a craft get together to make these for Katie’s wedding shower in November. Thankfully some more crafty people than me are joining us for this endeavor. We are also sampling some shower recipes to see if they are worthy for our guests…