Brunch at Mom & Pops

My mother went all out for us again. Katie and I were in the greater L.A. area on Saturday and Sunday and told my mom we’d pop in for breakfast. We weren’t surprised to be greeted with a morning feast. I’ve said before that my Mother’s Love Language is preparing food for people. I missed photographing the cantaloupe and strawberry plate that looked like a flower. She made Vareniki stuffed with potato this time and served them with asparagus with zest of orange and topped with grapefruit. My sister Vera and nephew Tim and his wife Jessica joined us. It was nice to enjoy a smaller group for a change.

Katie, Jessica and Tim

Katie with my mom and dad

From brunch Katie and I traveled north to the La Canada/Flintridge area of Los Angeles to meet up with other family members at Descanso Gardens. I’ll be sharing those photos soon. We packed so much into two days my head is still spinning.

Ruby Tuesday ~ Descanso Gardens

On Saturday my daughter and I were in the Los Angeles area and we met some family members at Descanso Gardens. What a beautiful garden to stroll through. The roses were beginning to open up nicely…

To see more Ruby Tuesday please visit Mary at Work of the Poet.

I decided to add this photo so you could get an idea of what part of the Rose Garden at Descanso looks like…

Mosaic Monday ~ Lilacs!

I’ll be linking up late with Mary at The Little Red House with my mosaic this week. I’ve been in Southern California and am flying home on Sunday evening. On Saturday my daughter Katie and I joined some family members for a stroll around Descanso Gardens in the La Canada/Flintridge area of Los Angeles. It was a beautiful day for the gardens.

Early Monday I’m headed for my Jury Duty. Hope to get around later in the day. Have a wonderful Monday everone!

O Blessed Home Where Man and Wife ~ Hymn

O Blessed Home Where Man and Wife

O blessèd home where man and wife
Together lead a godly life
By deeds their faith confessing!
There many a happy day is spent,
There Jesus gladly will consent
To tarry with His blessing.

If they have given Him their heart,
The place of honor set apart
For Him each night and morrow,
Then He the storms of life will calm,
Will bring for every wound a balm,
And change to joy their sorrow.

And if their home be dark and drear,
The cruse be empty, hunger near,
All hope within them dying,
Let them despair not in distress;
Lo, Christ is there the bread to bless,
The fragments multiplying.

O Lord, we come before Thy face;
In every home bestow Thy grace
On children, father, mother,
Relieve their wants, their burdens ease,
Let them together dwell in peace
And love to one another.

Words: Magnus B. Landstad, 1861; translated from Norwegian to English by Ole T. Arneson, 1908

Boxes, Boxes, Everywhere…

…I’m glad I had a place of retreat away from the Box Chaos…

And of course besides a nice retreat, good food with good company is comforting…

The condo was all emptied out by noon. Willow arrived with a hairdryer so I could speed dry the toothpaste I used to fill some holes. We went to the Panini Place in Camarillo for lunch then said our goodbyes. sniff sniff…

I headed to the Home Depot to pick up some super duper glue (clear) to fix some flooring issues and got a throw away paint brush to dab a little touch up here and there. I swept and cleaned up all I could without a vacuum. Before I left I lifted my hands in a prayer of gratitude to my great God who blessed me and Dear so richly during our stay in Camarillo. I didn’t lower those hands without asking that God would bring us a buyer for our condo soon.

I’m now in Fullerton at another hotel waiting till 9:30 to drive to LAX to pick up Katie. Tomorrow at 9:30 we’re headed to my mom and pop’s  for breakfast… Vareniki…yum. My Mennonite friends will know what those are! :0) After breakfast we’re meeting up with more family members to take a little trip to Descanso Gardens. The rest of the day we will play by ear.

Hope you all are having a great weekend wherever you are.

Goodbye Camarillo…

Today I supervise the movers loading the moving van. I’ll be meeting up with Willow for lunch and then I’m off to Orange County to spend the rest of the weekend with my family. I’ll be picking up my daughter Katie tonight from the airport so she can join in the family fun. We’ll have breakfast with my mom and dad on Saturday and then head to Descanso Gardens with some of my extended family. Fun times. We fly home Sunday night.

Have a great weekend everyone!

The Earth is the Lord’s ~ Happy Earth Day!

Psalm 24: 1, 2, 10

The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.
The world and all its people belong to him.

For he laid the earth’s foundation on the seas
and built it on the ocean depths.

Who is the King of glory?
The Lord of Heaven’s Armies—
he is the King of glory.

Seems to me since it belongs to the King of Glory we should do our part in taking care of it. Not worshiping it mind you but taking care. The Lord gives us all good things to enjoy.

So on this Earth Day 2010 I spent 6 hours at the condo watching 3 packers pack our belongings. They were a great crew and we were able to joke and laugh about all my dishes!!

Tomorrow the Moving truck comes to load everything up and ship it out.

It really is tiring sitting around watching other people work!!

I have a little work left to do at the condo to clean up and patch up. Tonight I’m headed to one of our favorite spots in Camarillo for Happy Hour and dinner. Last night Willow and I had dinner at an Italian restaurant in town and it was really good. We got some good conversation in. Good times.

Hope everyone is doing well. I hope to get some computer time in later this evening. I won’t have any connection tomorrow…

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.