Friday’s Fave Five ~ Changes…

It’s Partay time at Susanne’s because this is the 52nd Fave Five! Visit her at Living to Tell the Story to link up with your favorites. Thank you Susanne!!

 

Changes are afoot in our family. If and when I can share specifics I will. Our middle son is embarking on a new adventure in his life. He is leaving that jackhammer and concrete work behind him. Because of this change things have been buzzing here in Southern California and at our home in the state of Washington. Lots of fun calls, lots of plans, lots of prayers, lots of excitement. So here are my favorites. First three to do with the new adventure and the last three from my week here in So.Cal.

1. A fulfilling achievement for our son.

2. Friends and siblings around him that have been spending all the time they can with him before he leaves on his new journey.

3. Older brother stepping in to take care of what we can’t from miles away.

4. Walking early morning most days with Willow and seeing some fun sights. It really has made a difference to get back into this regular routine. It’s also good because as we huff and puff we share and support each other.

5. Having a day with Dear without any “have tos” except for stopping at a donut shop and feeling like we’re kids again eating a really good donut!

6. Oh yes and my extra fave is very “sweet” indeed. Our Seattle Sounders F.C. won their first trophy by beating D.C. United in the U.S. Open Cup Final on Wednesday night. I watched the game on the soccer channel and was a screaming fan in my condo with my Sounders t-shirt on!

For all of you who live in the U.S. Happy Labor Day weekend to you. Enjoy your extra day off. For everyone else have a great weekend.

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BooMama’s DipTacular!

Just in time for Football and Soccer BooMama is having a Blog Carnival for us to share dip recipes. Just click on the button to see more dips or to join in the fun. This carnival starts tomorrow, Friday. I’m going to repost this recipe that is yummilicious for y’all to try!

I was standing in the bank waiting my turn and on the television they had Giada from the Food Network making some great looking bruschetta. I got the ingredients I needed and decided to try it. Hopefully I get it right because I didn’t write anything down.

 

The ingredients she used were whole milk ricotta cheese, tomatoes seeded and chopped, fresh mint chopped, salt and pepper. I don’t remember if she used garlic so I went ahead and used a clove of garlic, also. She mixed these ingredients all together and put it into a nice serving bowl. She used Ciabatta bread that she drizzled with olive oil and grilled. After it was grilled she squeezed some fresh lemon on the slices. Your company can spread as much of the topping that they want on the slices of bread and enjoy…

If you need more specific amounts here’s what I used. About 8oz. of ricotta, 1 beefsteak tomato chopped, 10 mint leaves chopped, 1 clove garlic, minced, salt and pepper to taste. I bought a small loaf of Artisan Sea Salt Filone bread from Von’s/Safeway. This bread worked out good because it filled in the extra salt the dip needed. I will be making this again because it was duhlicious! Michelle found the link for the original recipe  and you can find it here.

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Tablescape Thursday ~ Roosters…

Time again to visit Susan at Between Naps on the Porch to be inspired to set your table by seeing the creativity of Bloggers around the world.

Well I should have posted this last week when we were having our Rooster Party over at Barb’s but here it is a week late and a few dollars short. Just a few because like usual I bought most of this stuff on clearance or thrifting.

 

 

 

I’m happy to say we had a meal at this table way back in mid July! My brother and his wife came over for the afternoon and we went out for lunch and then barbecued Salmon for dinner. My SIL made her fabulous Mexican rice to go with the coleslaw and Salmon. Dear barbecued the Salmon so I just sat on my duff! This dinner plan worked out good because my back decided to freeze up on me after helping some young folks at our church scrape their popcorn ceilings in the morning before Tim and Letty arrived. I was also happy I had the table all set the day before so I could take the photos for Tablescape Thursday which made it easy for everyone to wait on me for dinner on Saturday.

 

You can see I was able to get up off the couch to snap some shots of our guests at the table and sit down again to enjoy the meal!

Just to clarify this table and dinner was way back mid July. My back is just fine today!!

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Outdoor Wednesday ~

Please visit Susan at A Southern Daydreamer to see the great outdoors around Bloggy World.

 

On my way home from my morning walk with Willow I spotted this Egret in the most peculiar spot.

 

This is a patch of dirt just below the 101 Freeway in Camarillo that eventually runs into some farmland north of here.

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.

Welcome September!

 

I finished the 6th book in the Anne of Green Gables Novels last night and wanted to share this quote for the beginning of September.

“Well, that was life. Gladness and pain…hope and fear…and change. Always change! You could not help it. You had to let go of the old go and take the new to your heart…learn to love it and then let it go in turn. Spring, lovely as it was, must yield to summer and summer lose itself to autumn. The birth…the bridal…the death…”

~Anne of Ingleside, L.M. Montgomery.

After typing this quote my mind went straight to the great truth in this hymn and the verses in Philippians that follow…

Great is Thy Faithfulness

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be.

Refrain

Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Refrain

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

Refrain

Philippians 3:12-16 (The Message)

“I’m not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back.

So let’s keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us. If any of you have something else in mind, something less than total commitment, God will clear your blurred vision—you’ll see it yet! Now that we’re on the right track, let’s stay on it.”

Things change, God doesn’t

We press on without fear.

We’ll make it to the end.

What a wonderful future we have in Christ.


San Pedro Cactus Flower!

After some googling I found out this is a San Pedro Cactus. Aren’t the blooms pretty?

Since I’ve come back to Southern California it’s been nice walking in the mornings with my Bloggy friend Willow. We walk in her neighborhood that butts up to the northwestern edge of the Santa Monica Mountain Range. It was fun to see this beautiful cactus flower popping out of the side of this San Pedro Cactus.

The days since this walk have gotten hotter and hotter here. We had to skip our morning walk last Friday because the heat was so oppressive.

We walked this morning earlier then usual to try to beat the heat. We saw a lot of deer out early, too.

 

With the fires burning in Southern California the air quality has also been unhealthy. We are praying for cooler temperatures around here and for stamina for our Fire Fighters who are risking their lives. Our hearts go out to the families of the 2 Los Angeles firefighters that have died in the line of duty.

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Blue Monday ~ Beach House

It’s time to visit Smiling Sally and see a lot of blue in the wonderful world of blogs!

While Dear and I were looking for Yard Sales he saw this great house with a very interesting hand built wall. He stopped so I could take some photos. He is really a great blog enabler.

 

 

Have a wonderful week everyone.

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.

Bless This Hour of Prayer ~ Hymn

 

Bless This Hour of Prayer

Come in our midst, O gracious Lord,
Unveil Thy smiling face,
Distil in every waiting heart,
The dew of heavenly grace;
From earthly scenes we turn aside,
On Thee we cast our care;
We worship in Thy holy Name;
O! bless this hour of prayer.

Come in our midst, O gracious Lord,
Thy promise we believe,
That bids us seek and we shall find,
Ask and we shall receive;
We gather at Thy mercy seat,
Our only hope is there,
We plead the merits of Thy blood;
O! bless this hour of prayer.

Come in our midst, O gracious Lord,
Eternal King of kings,
And fold the children of the law
Beneath Thy mighty wings;
Support the weak, the mourner cheer,
Help all their cross to bear;
Thou Spring of joy, Thou Source of life,
O! bless this hour of prayer.

Words by Fanny Crosby

Hot Thrifty Buys!

Sunday we link up over at Rhoda’s Southern Hospitality with our Thrifty buys that we’ve found at Garage/Yard Sales or Thrift Shops. Thanks Rhoda!

I’m a consistent Thrift store shopper. Once in a while Dear and I will stop at a Garage Sale. This Saturday was really hot in Southern California…in the 100’s in a lot of spots. We stopped at a few sales but the heat just got us down. We were happy to stop our searches because at our very first spot we bought this beauty!

 

The vinyl is in such good shape. The metal can use some work, though.

This is a nostalgia piece for me. Do I have a spot for it?….no. Do I have a red kitchen?…no. But for $10.00 I wasn’t leaving it behind.

On our way to Oxnard to see if we could find garage sales by the ocean where it might be cooler we spotted a Spud Nuts Donut Shop! The car automatically drove into the parking lot and this lovely got eaten up by moi! A very light raised iced donut! I felt like I was 5 again.

 

We didn’t have any luck in Oxnard so we headed to Ventura. After stopping at a few more sales braving the beating hot sun we saw this hole in the wall spot that a lot of middle-aged and older people were stopping at. We knew it was probably a great spot for good Mexican food. Johnny’s Mexican Food on Ventura Ave. in Ventura.

Cars kept driving up and we asked people who had been coming here for 30 years what they were going to order. We took some recommendations and were not disappointed. We were still hot and now very thirsty so we headed down Main St. in Ventura for one of these…

A Pierpont IPA at Anacapa Brewing Company. Very refreshing on a hot summer day. We headed home via a produce stand and bought  fresh white corn to bbq for dinner along with lamb chops. But wait this is suppose to be about thrifty treasures not food even though the white corn was 5 ears for a $1.00!

Last Saturday when it was way cooler out we stopped at a church bazaar and I bought this pair of candlesticks for $2 and this wooden sign for $1.00

 

On Friday my bloggy friend Willow and I went  thrift store shopping in Oxnard, Ca. All my buys were linens.

 

The bright Veggie label design tablecloth was $1.95. The doilies were $1.95 for all 4. The sets of napkins were 1.95 for 6 of the blue bordered ones, 95 cents for the 4 off white with little green triangles and $2.00 for the 8 red ones.

 

I really liked this Americana table runner and it cost 95 cents.

I’m so happy my computer has been working ok for a day that I’m posting this way early and I hope my computer continues to behave and I’ll be able to get around to see everyones treasures. Have a great week everyone…

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Turning Poor Planning into an Opportunity…

This was a guest post on 4 Reluctant Entertainers earlier in August. I’m having computer issues which I hope won’t be on going or fatal and since this post was ready to go with a good recipe to link to I decided to re-post it on my blog now.

I was thrilled to be a guest poster for Sandy at 4 Reluctant Entertainers a week or so ago. I think I started reading Sandy’s blog before I even had a blog. I was raised by a mom who modeled hospitality. The fresh ideas I learn from 4 Reluctant Entertainers blog are an inspiration to me. Sandy and I live in neighboring states when I’m in California at the condo or in Washington at my home. Someday I’m hoping to meet Sandy face to face if not on this earth then in our mansion in heaven.

I have a Blueberry Bush at my home in Washington and I picked some fresh blueberries and decided to make muffins. I got all the dry ingredients together, then I got the wet ingredients ready only to realize we were all out of eggs. The oven was preheated the trays were ready so what to do? I trekked over to my neighbors in my slippers and comfies and asked to please borrow an egg. She was very gracious and invited me in and gave me an egg. I got to meet her 16 month old granddaughter who she was caring for, also.

After the muffins were baked and out of the oven. I picked out two and trekked over to my neighbors again and offered her the 2 muffins. She was delighted and said I could borrow an egg anytime. I was happy to receive from my neighbor and bless her in return. My poor planning turned into an opportunity to keep connected with my neighbor.

The recipe I used for these Blueberry Muffins can be found here.

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.