Friday’s Fave Five! It’s all about Pismo…

All my favorites this week are from Dear and my getaway to Pismo Beach from Sunday to Monday. Very short time filled with lots of wonderful sights, sounds, and food!

1. We got to see the Monarch Butterfly Grove with thousands of butterflies in residence. What an exciting experience it was. It’s been a goal of mine to visit one of these groves in California. I’m so glad we did. I’ll be posting all about them on Tuesday.

2. Beautiful beaches and beach walks and pier walks were another favorite.

3. We took a side trip to Arroyo Grande and did some fun antique shopping. Boy we only went to two antique shops but they were big and filled from corner to corner with so much interesting stuff. We came away with just one purchase. Such self control!

4. Food glorious food! I love food. I love to find unique spots with wonderful food. I like to fellowship over food. I like to cook good food. So there’s the insight into why I’m always trying to take off some extra pounds!! We ate well those 2 days! Wait, was I just talking about self control, “pride goeth before the fall”!?? The clam chowder pictured was oh so chunky and rich and good! Pismo Beach is known for their clams. We ate a wonderful meal with an ocean view. I had lamb shank with risotto, brussel sprouts, and a double chocolate martini for dessert. Dear had a Rib-eye steak, salad, and potatoes. Needless to say, I did not step on the scale when we got back!

5. The last of my favorites was having our own personal hot tub on the private deck where we sat and enjoyed watching the star filled sky while listening to the waves crashing on shore! Glorious! We even started singing “In the stars His handiwork I see, on the wind He speaks with majesty, though He ruleth over land and sea, what is that to me…” Are any of you old enough to remember that one??

I have a post with lots of photos from the Pismo Beach area here.

To see more Favorites or to join in the fun visit Susanne at Living to Tell the Story!

California Central Coast Getaway!

After viewing all the photos I took on Dear and my getaway last Sunday and Monday, it’s hard to believe we saw so much in such a short time! This is your only warning…I’m posting a lot of photos here! I will be sharing my photos from the Butterfly Grove next Tuesday.

After we spent some time at the Butterfly Grove we zipped over to the sleepy little town of Arroyo Grande which is inland from Pismo Beach. We wanted to do a little antiquing. Since it was Sunday some shops were closed but we got an eye full in two filled to the brim antique stores. There’s a suspension bridge over the river that was fun to cross. Brought out the kid in us!

These guys were making quite a racket and decided they needed to peck at our tennies! The red head decided to peck at Dear’s leg, too.

Pismo Beach is known for their clams and the clam symbol is used freely all over town. It was one of our goals to have a bowl of clam chowder at Splash Cafe before we left town! When we saw the line at Splash on Sunday we settled for good barbecue at Mo’s instead and hoped to get into Splash on Monday! Mo does not do Clam Chowda!

The Pismo Clam

The Pismo Clam is one of the largest types of clams found along the California Coast. The clams can grow up to seven inches, if not interfered with by hungry clammers and sea otters. Legal size is 4 1/2 inches in diameter; and the proper place to clam is south of Grand Avenue (south of Pismo Beach). Clams take approximately five years to reach legal size; growing about 3/4 of an inch each year. As clams approach ten years of age, they seldom grow more than 1/8 of an inch per year. The largest living Pismo Clam on record is 7 3/8 inches, however the clam shell on display in the Pismo Beach Chamber of Commerce is 8 inches in diameter.

See the line going out the door and around the corner? No worries…on Monday we headed back to Splash and had a bowl of very good chowder for brunch before the crowds arrived!

Our room would not be ready for us till 3:30 so we headed up the coast a bit to Shell beach and boy what a treat it was!

Beauty overload at it’s best!

We headed back to Pismo to check in but before we did we took a walk on the pier…

These two pelicans made my day while they posed for me and my camera! Actually they were hoping to steal the fish that a fisherman had just caught from the pier. It was funny to watch! We checked in, had a wonderful Swedish massage, (after standing and walking all day it felt so good) and then we had a great meal at the hotel restaurant with views of the beach.

On Monday morning after our picnic breakfast that was delivered to our room we headed north to Avila beach for an early morning walk.

Besides walking out on the pier, we found this biking/walking trail along the river and golf course that we explored.

We really enjoyed our getaway and would highly recommend this part of the California coast to anyone. If you are wine lovers there are also several wineries that do tastings in this area.

ht: photo of Pismo Clam R.Perry/UCLA Globe

Photobucket is holding all my photos I stored with them from 2007-2015 hostage unless I pay them a lot of money. I’m slowly cleaning up many posts from this time period and deleting their ugly grey and black boxes with a ransom request. Such a time consuming bother.

Sky Watch ~ Pismo Beach & Camarillo

Pismo Beach is on the Central Coast of California. Dear and I had an overnight escape here this last Sunday night. The skies were clear and bright.

This photo I took at dawn on Monday in Pismo Beach reminds me more of a painting than a photograph.

Dawn in Camarillo one morning this week.

Late yesterday afternoon on our walk in the neighborhood. Rain has been promised in the morning hours.

As I’m posting these on Thursday morning the predicted rain is falling steadily and freshening things up in Southern California.

For more SkyWatch photos from around the world visit the official SkyWatch blog.

ABC’s of the Word ~ John 14:1-4

Because we are on the letter X this week we were given the go ahead to post one of our favorite verses, or passages. When I was in the 4th grade I memorized John 14: 1-3 and it has always stuck with me and been an encouragement to me. Because I memorized this in the King James Version all those 50 years ago, I’m sharing it in that version here today and adding verse 4! Now just so you know I did find a lot of verses in the Book of Esther with King Xerxes in them so there are X verses :0)

John 14:1-4 (King James Version)

Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.

For more ABC’s visit Pam at Grey like Snuffie…

Three or More Thursday!

Three or More Thursday is hosted by Tam at the Gypsy’s Corner.

My three or more are all about Seabirds this week. Dear and I spent a lot of time at 4 different beaches on the South and Central coast of California this past weekend. These pelican and Godwit photos are from our early morning walk at Emma Wood State Beach in Ventura, California on Saturday morning.

To see more posts of Three or More visit Tam at the Gypsy’s Corner.

WFW ~ Philippians 4:6,7 ~ Requests

For more Word Filled Wednesday visit Amydeanne at the 160 Acre Woods!

The Beach at Dawn

Welcome to the 2nd Outdoor Wednesday hosted by Susan at A Southern Daydreamer. This past weekend Dear and I spent a lot of time on several different beaches in California. These dawn photos are taken at Emma Wood State Beach in Ventura, California on Saturday morning.

Being walkers with the dawn and morning,

Walkers with the sun and morning,

We are not afraid of night,

Nor days of gloom,

Nor darkness–

Being walkers with the sun and morning.

– Langston Hughes

Visit Susan at A Southern Daydreamer to view more Outdoor Wednesday posts.

An Overnight Getaway!

Dear and my escape to Pismo Beach Sunday and Monday was wonderful. It’s going to take me a few days to get my act together and figure out what day of the week it is, though. Monday holidays always throw me off. I have a lot to share from this part of California and will be doing so over the next week or so. Here are some photos of where we stayed. This first photo is of the Sea Venture Resort.

Our room was nice with views of the beach and a private hot tub on the deck. We both had a massage in the late afternoon and then enjoyed dinner at the hotel restaurant.

The view from the restaurant was beautiful and we could hear the waves crashing. We ate well and really enjoyed the whole weekend.

It was amazing to sit in the hot tub and look up at the sky full of stars. What wonderful God we have that created such beauty for us to enjoy.

I hope to get around and see what’s been happening while I was gone. Hope your week is going well…

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007 to 2015 hostage and has replaced them all with ugly black and grey boxes asking for a ransom to have them re-published. Such a frustrating bother as I go through each post to delete the ugly boxes.

Tablescape Tuesday ~ Bar Scapes for Two

Time flies when you are having fun! It’s almost Tuesday again and time for some more Tablescaping fun. Today I’m showing two variations on table settings at our bar in our little condo. Susan at Between Naps on the Porch is the hostess for this fun event. Click on over and see the variety of fun, romantic, elegant, practical table settings that have been created.

I’ve been away from the computer for a couple days so I’ll be playing catch-up on Metamorphosis Monday and Blue Monday.

The chargers are from TJ Maxx clearance. I used my everyday white dinner plates and then added the salad plate that I found at Marshall’s on clearance. I love plates with country scenes on them. The martini glasses, that I use for pretty desserts, too, were from target a couple years ago.

I changed up the tablesetting at the bar with these square grey chargers and square white plates and a small decorative plates that are “White Russian” plates. I love the little cocktail glasses I found with the Russian Cossack dancers on them. The napkin rings were a gift from my DIL and Son last Christmas.

My true confession for this week is that we did not eat at these settings. Don’t judge me too harshly, though.

Now head on over to Susan’s for more Tablescape inspiration.

Happy Birthday Josh!

Our first born son Josh turns the big 3-0 today! Happy birthday to you, Josh. We are so thankful to God that he has blessed you with the perfect wife in Laura. Your love for people has always been such a blessing in our family’s life. God is good to you and we thank Him for that. We are amazed that 30 years have flown by so quickly. May God continue to richly bless you and Laura all the days of your life.

Okay, since I did a delivery story for Dan I’ll add one for you, too. You were a little late in deciding to enter the world so you put on a few pounds. In the delivery room while I pushed the nurse had to push down just below my diaphram to help you exit into the world. Considering your size it was amazing that it only took 30 minutes of pushing to have you out and breathing air! When they weighed you and announced you were 10 pounds we were all amazed. What joy we had and what a spiritual moment it was when we experienced the miracle of birth for the first time.

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage