Friday’s Fave Five ~ PNW

Here are some favorites from the Pacific Northwest!

 

1. On Saturday I attended a bridal shower for my DIL’s good friend. Spending some time with my DIL and her mother was lovely.

2. Taking a roadtrip with my daughter to Canada was so much fun.

3. Stanley Park in Vancouver is a beautiful destination. It was great that it was cool enough to enjoy hot tea in the afternoon!

4. The Vancouver Aquarium was amazing. The incredible variety in God’s creation struck me over and over again as we walked from tank to tank.

5. Fall color washed with rain has been fabulous to see!

Finding dead rats in our attic was not a favorite!! Sorry I just had to add that since I can’t get it out of my head. Ugh! Double Ugh!! Maybe triple ugh!!!

Please visit the lovely Susanne at Living to Tell the Story to join on in with your favorites from this past week!

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Eating Our Way Through Two Countries!!

 

My daughter Katie and I set out on a rainy adventure through the top left corner of the U.S.A. to Canada on Tuesday. Just before we got to the border of the U.S.A. and Canada we stopped at the Blackberry House Cafe in Blaine. Friends of ours own the cafe and we wanted to check it out since we were in the neighborhood. What a great spot for some good eats and good coffee. We had a little visit and bought some fresh bread to take home. Make sure you stop by sometime at H street and 3rd!

 

Here are the owners and our yummy breakfast. Aaron is a pastry chef. Sorry the photo is a little blurry…

They let us across the border after a few questions as to our purpose for visiting the fine country of Canada. We told them we were visiting to go to lunch. They wanted to know where we planned to eat. We said “Stanley Park”. They wanted us to be more specific so we said, “The Teahouse Restaurant in Stanley Park”. That was the right answer so they let us proceed!

 

I think our food choices at the Teahouse Restaurant look like something you’d get served on Top Chef. Don’t let the name of this restaurant fool you. It’s not about the Tea here but it is about some very good food.

After lunch we spent some time at the Aquarium in Stanley Park and then enjoyed seeing some beautiful views under dry skies before we headed back to the Border.

When we got to the border we were asked some more questions to see if we were worthy to re-enter our country. They were concerned about agricultural products. They wanted to know where we ate, too. I’m wondering if the Border Patrol are compiling a book on most frequented eateries in Canada…

 

After all those questions about food we got hungry again and stopped at Taco Lobo in Bellingham. Lovella had given this spot a good review and she was right. We got there at 4:45 and ordered our food and as our food arrived the place filled up to overflowing.

If nothing else you can rest assured if you ever travel with us you won’t be hungry!!

And just for the curious if you have a smooth border crossing you can make it from my house to Vancouver in 2-1/2 to 3 hours.

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We Made it Through the Storm!!

Our trip to Vancouver B.C. was a great contrast in light and dark, wet and dry, stormy clouds and blue skies. When we hit downtown Vancouver and turned onto Georgia St. the rains came down in buckets and I’m not exaggerating. Rivers formed within minutes on the downtown streets.

We got to Stanley Park and found the right road to get to the Teahouse Restaurant and it was fun to hear the big plops of rainwater hitting our car off the huge trees. We got out of the car to run into the restaurant and it was like someone was standing over us pouring water out of a pitcher onto our heads. We ate lunch in the conservatory type room and enjoyed seeing the rain all around us.

 

After lunch we decided the best option for this day would be to go to the Aquarium.

After our time at the Aquarium we were treated to some beautiful dry skies.

I’ll be posting photos from lunch, the aquarium, and more from Stanley Park as the week goes on.

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Oh Canada!

Tomorrow is my daughter’s last day off before her last quarter of University starts so since I’m in town we decided to head up to Vancouver B.C.  Sure the forecast says that it will be the coldest rainiest day this week but hey we are adventurers. We’ll don our gortex and sensible shoes and see what we can see through the rain and wind. We’re headed for the Teahouse at Stanley Park for lunch. It’s not your traditional Teahouse so we won’t be having high tea but we will enjoy some good eats.

I apologize for not getting around these days. My time here is short and there seems to be so much more to do here then at the little condo in Southern California. Hope you all are enjoying the first full week of Fall. I’m enjoying being cold! Blessings…

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.

Mosaic Monday ~ Fall

 

I’m in the Seattle area for about 10 days and I was so pleased to find some fall color in my yard. There is not a lot of fall color around the area yet but I appreciate any and all I see. My blueberry bush and our Chinese Flame Tree are contributing nicely to the season. The photo in the center of the collage is from an antique store in Camarillo, Ca.

Mary at Little Red House is our hostess for Mosaic Monday. She is a wonderful photographer so head on over and see more Mosaics or to link up with your very own mosaic…

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.

Today’s Thrifty Treasures ~ Rose Bowl +

Rhoda at Southern Hospitality is hosting Today’s Thrifty Treasures again this week. Things are winding down for this weekly meme. It’s always fun to see the great bargains that blog thrifty shoppers find! Check it out by clicking over to Southern Hospitality.

Dear and I went to the Rose Bowl Flea Market a couple Sundays ago and I came away with 2 small purchases. I bought a glass bell dome/cloche for $10.00 and a wired something or another for $5.00. When I got the cloche home I was trying to figure out what to display under it and Dear put it over my Gin and Tonic. Hmmm. He thought he was pretty funny. As you can see I came up with something different to put under it. It will be changing again soon with something for Fall. This Saturday we stopped at a garage sale and I picked up this heavy cast iron candlesticks for $4.00.

Thanks Rhoda and happy hunting everyone!

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I’d Rather Have Jesus ~ Hymn

I’d Rather Have Jesus

I’d rather have Jesus then silver or gold;
I’d rather be His then have riches untold;
I’d rather have Jesus then houses or lands;
I’d rather be lead by His nail pierced hands;

Than to be a king of a vast domain
Or be held in sin’s dread sway,
I’d rather have Jesus than anything
This world affords today.

I’d rather have Jesus than men’s applause;
I’d rather be faithful to His dear cause;
I’d rather have Jesus than world-wide fame,
I’d rather be true to His holy name.

He’s fairer than lilies of rarest bloom;
He’s sweeter than honey from out of the comb;
He’s all that my hungering spirit needs,
I’d rather have Jesus and let Him lead.

I just heard the history behind this old favorite hymn of mine and I wanted to share it with you. I sang this song for my final in an elementary voice class I took in college.

I’d Rather Have Jesus is a song written by Rhea F. Miller with the tune written by George Beverly Shea. This poem, written in 1922, was left on a piano in the Shea home by Bev Shea who wanted her son to find it and change the course of his life.

The words, I’d rather have Jesus, moved George so much and spoke to him about his own aims and ambitions in life. He sat down at the piano and began singing them with a tune that seemed to fit the words. Shea’s mom heard him singing it and asked him to sing it at church the next day.

George’s life direction did change. He was offered a popular music career with NBC, but a few years later chose to become associated with evangelist Billy Graham and sang this hymn around the world.

ht: All About God



Seattle!

We were very happy to make our flight at LAX for Seattle yesterday. We were the latest we’ve ever been for a flight and just made the 40 minute cut-off for checking a bag. Sheesh.

It’s good to be home but I made the mistake of walking into our son’s empty room this morning and I lost it. Even though he’s a 28 year old adult the realization that he’s left the nest hits this mom’s heart. The old world Russian upbringing I had never condoned kicking your kids out of the house at 18! They in fact would be pretty upset if a son or daughter left their house before they were married! :0)

We really couldn’t be happier that he has found a great vocation for himself and that he is being trained for it many miles away from home. When his training is complete he will be living about 6 hours away from us.

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.

Friday’s Fave Five!

Time to look back over this last week and recall your favorites. Visit Susanne at Living to Tell the Story to join in.

 

1. Fall is one of my favorite seasons and one of the “signs” of the season I enjoy are dew dripping spider webs. On an early morning walk at the beginning of the week Willow and I saw a lot of these webs. The weather here in Southern California has been very hot and we are also experiencing smoke and ash from a nearby fire. So it may be a while before we see any other signs of Fall around here. They are promising a cool down next Tuesday.

2. On Saturday our Washington Huskies Football team who were not rated because of their miserable season last year beat the #3 rated U.S.C. Trojans! What fun that was to watch. Boy was that a very good shocker!! Dear is a University of Washington alumni and our daughter is finishing her last quarter there this Fall.

3. On Monday I got to meet my newest little Grand Niece. I got to hold her, change her and rock her to sleep. Fun times…

4. It’s always a great treat to talk to my kids on the phone. Our daughter called this past week after she changed her first tire! (she’s 23) She also started the lawn mower and mowed the lawn for the first time in her life! We were very proud of her. I’m so grateful that my kids call regularly and let us know what’s going on in their lives.

5. As the heat seems to linger on and on here I am so grateful for our airconditioning. I thought our bill would be really high last month and it was only $14.57. They had given us several credits that we weren’t expecting and really don’t understand :0). There are advantages to owning a really small condo.

Later today Dear and I are flying to Seattle. We will be at our home there until Sunday October 4th. We are excited to see our kids and get caught up with some business there. As usual I won’t know how much I’ll be able to blog. My connections there are really slow and it takes so long to upload photos, etc.  If you don’t hear from me you will know why. I’m looking forward  to seeing some of this color and some of these people while I’m there. It might be a little early yet for the color but I’ll keep my eyes open…

 

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend…

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.

Tablescape Thursday ~ Yellow!

Susan at Between Naps on the Porch is the mastermind behind Tablescape Thursday. I really enjoy seeing how bloggers put tables together. Click over to see more tables set for your pleasure.

 

This past Saturday my brother and SIL came over for the day and dinner. I had recently purchased this bright busy tablecloth and wanted to set a table around it. Since it was the last weekend of summer I thought the yellow and green accents would be fun.

 

Dear barbecued steaks, zucchini, and corn on the cob. We had lemon bites for dessert from good ole Costco.

 

 

 

Here’s a closeup view of some of the seed packets on the tablecloth.

 

Hope your first week of Autumn is going well…

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.