Tablescape Tuesday ~ Pewter

Time for another Tablescape Tuesday. You can visit Susan at Between Naps on the Porch to see more.

My camera angles and lighting made my tablecloth look like two different ones. The color is more true to the first collage. This table was inspired by the Rooster I got at Target clearance last week for $4.95. The twig pumpkin was clearanced for $1.95. I bought the napkins that are originally from Pier 1 at a thrift store this last week for $1.25 for 4 of them. The Pewter flatware and bowls are from Goodwill. The pear napkin rings are from Goodwill and the basket weave chargers are from Goodwill, too. The plates were from Marshalls. It’s a lot of fun to put a table together with thrift store treasures that I’ve accumulated over time…

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage and demanding a ransom for me to access them. I’m slowly cleaning up many of my posts where PB have added ugly black and grey boxes where my photos used to be. So frustrating!

Ruby Tuesday ~ Thanksgiving Postcards

 

 

These postcards are all from the early 1900’s. They were all sent to Dear’s Great, great Aunt Emma. She really enjoyed getting postcards and her friends and family made sure to send her one on any special occassion.

For more Ruby Tuesday Posts visit Mary at The Work of the Poet.

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage and demanding a ransom for me to access them. I’m slowly cleaning up many of my posts where PB have added ugly black and grey boxes where my photos used to be. So frustrating!

Blue Monday ~ Hooray for Firemen!!

 

I took this photo of this fire engine on our way to dinner last Wednesday with no idea how important these trucks and firemen would become on Thursday and through the weekend here in Southern California. We have had fire after fire here and our men in blue have come to the aid of anyone in the path of these fires. Our hearts are full of gratitude and our prayers continue for their safety and their courage and their strength as the daunting task of fighting some fires goes on. Things have improved but there are still fires to fight. Thank you to all the firemen and policemen who are serving the Public. God bless you everyone…

For more Blue Monday Posts please visit Smiling Sally here.

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage and demanding a ransom for me to access them. I’m slowly cleaning up many of my posts where PB have added ugly black and grey boxes where my photos used to be. So frustrating!

Today’s Flowers ~ #15

This was another flower I saw on one of my walks last week. I think it’s a variety of hibiscus. After I uploaded these photos I noticed that little ant in the top photo. :0)

For more Flowers from around the world visit Today’s Flowers.

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage and demanding a ransom for me to access them. I’m slowly cleaning up many of my posts where PB have added ugly black and grey boxes where my photos used to be. So frustrating!

He Giveth More Grace ~ Hymn

He giveth more grace as our burdens grow greater,
He sendeth more strength as our labors increase;
To added afflictions He addeth His mercy,
To multiplied trials he multiplies peace.

When we have exhausted our store of endurance,
When our strength has failed ere the day is half done,
When we reach the end of our hoarded resources
Our Father’s full giving is only begun.

His love has no limits, His grace has no measure,
His power no boundary known unto men;
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus
He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again.

words: Annie J. Flint (1866-1932)

We are just wrapping up a study on grace in my Friday morning Bible study and this song really reinforces what we’ve been re-learning about God’s amazing grace.

Out of the Pan Into the Fire…Sylmar Firestorms

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR PINK SATURDAY!

Sheesh! I hate to be the bearer of bad tidings but Southern California is experiencing yet another State of Emergency with a fire in Sylmar. This photo is not from the Sylmar fire but just a visual to give you an idea of the type of area they are dealing with today. Right now every freeway in the North San Fernando Area is shut down so the fire department can have easy access to the fires. The fire jumped the I-5 fwy and the 210 freeway.  So Interstate 5, 405, Highway 14, the 210 fwy, are all shut down in the North San Fernando Valley. The 118 fwy in the San Fernando area is shut down, too. The only north/south freeway that is open right now is the 101 fwy. The 101 fwy runs along the coast and then heads southeast through the southern part of the San Fernando Valley, through Hollywood, into East L.A.

 

We were going to be driving south today to a birthday party in Whittier but we are now staying put even though the freeway closest to us is the 101, the open freeway. We figure everyone else who tries to go south or north today will try to get to our freeway and what a nightmare it might be trying to travel. We in the Southern California area are also being asked to really conserve electricity because two major electricity converters/transformers were damaged in this fire and they are concerned about electricity suppy. We are expecting the temperatures today, because of our Santana wind conditions, to be in the 90’s! We are hoping that the winds die down soon so firefighters can get a handle on this devastating fire. One whole mobile home park has been totally destroyed (600 mobile homes). We’re praying for the comfort of everyone who suffers loss and for the fire fighters to have extraordinary strength to keep fighting…

Yikes! Now there is a fire in Yorba Linda and people are evacuating to Esperanza High School. The School where my niece teaches…

Anaheim Hills is now sitting on pins and needles. My BIL and his wife live there. They have a reservoir behind their home and I just got off the phone with them listening to the helicopters overhead gathering whatever water they can from that very low reservoir. They are not in danger unless the fire jumps the 91 fwy. Boy oh boy, things are scary for a lot of people in Southern California right now…

Whoa! Now the evacuations in Brea are getting close to my parents. They haven’t been told to evacuate yet but the evacuation area is about 2 miles from their senior apartments. They are getting their documents together and leaving to go to my sisters house in Whittier.

Photos from my niece Annie driving home to Anaheim Hills and then a photo of the helicopters coming to the reservoir behind their home retrieving water…

 

The 91 fwy. at Imperial in Anaheim Hills/Yorba Linda

 

The reservoir behind their home in Anaheim Hills…

The Corona Fire which jumped to the Yorba Linda Fire and then jumped to the Anaheim Hills Fire and moved on to the Brea and Chino Hills Fire is now threatening parts of Diamond Bar. The 57 freeway remains closed. The Sylmar fire is looking good. The winds seem to be cooperating better today although there are still gusts.

As far as the Tea Fire goes here is an update from this morning.

By and large, last night was quiet and today, the fourth day of the Tea Fire, should see further recovery efforts by firefighters. So far, 1,940 acres have burned and 210 homes have been lost — 130 in the City of Santa Barbara and 80 in the County of Santa Barbara. Damage assessment is continuing.

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage and demanding a ransom for me to access them. I’m slowly cleaning up many of my posts where PB have added ugly black and grey boxes where my photos used to be. So frustrating!

Pink Saturday ~ My Babushka Vera

This is my Maternal Grandmother at my sister Vera’s wedding in 1969. She looks so sweet in pink! I really loved my grandmother. She only had one hand. One of her arms was amputated from her elbow down when she was young. She immigrated to the U.S.A. alone without my grandfather who was murdered in Iran in the late 40’s. She did more with her one hand than a lot of people do with two. Her embroidery was amazing. My Babushka Vera died in March of 1980. She was a Godly woman who prayed for all her grandchildren and for all her grandchildren’s future spouses. I am so looking forward to seeing her in heaven.

The tablecloth above was the cloth she embroidered for our sister Vera as a wedding gift.

This is a tablecloth and napkins my babushka embroidered for us as a wedding gift. In keeping with the Pink Saturday theme here’s another tablecloth I have that she embroidered.

 

For more Pinkness visit Beverly at How Sweet the Sound.

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage and demanding a ransom for me to access them. I’m slowly cleaning up many of my posts where PB have added ugly black and grey boxes where my photos used to be. So frustrating!

The God of All Comfort

 

2 Corinthians 1:3,4 ~ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the Westmont Community, the faculty who lost their homes, the kids whose dorm rooms were destroyed and the whole Montecito Community who have suffered loss in the Tea Fire. Praying that the God of all comfort will comfort you.

Thanks to everyone who left comments and prayed and are praying…

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage and demanding a ransom for me to access them. I’m slowly cleaning up many of my posts where PB have added ugly black and grey boxes where my photos used to be. So frustrating!

Montecito Fire ~ Prayer Request!

Update: November 17th! Sounds like classes will resume at Westmont College Monday December 1st…

Update on Tea Fire as of 10:30 Nov. 16th!

By and large, last night was quiet and today, the fourth day of the Tea Fire, should see further recovery efforts by firefighters. So far, 1,940 acres have burned and 210 homes have been lost — 130 in the City of Santa Barbara and 80 in the County of Santa Barbara. Damage assessment is continuing

Looks like my nephew Caleb’s room was spared fire damage. Still need to assess the smoke damage.

Here’s a link to photos from Westmont from the fire. Just click here.

Update: Saturday 9/15 ~  I just received this email from my SIL whose 2 sons attend Westmont. They are preparing for taking in some of the students displaced because of the fires at Westmont. I’m sure there are more people who live in the Southern California area that will have extra students staying at their homes this weekend.

Hi,

Everyone is fine, or as fine as can be.  I’m expecting several carloads of kids to start arriving shortly.  Everyone has been moved off campus until next Wednesday as  they assess damages and decide where to move people around.  There have been broken gas lines etc. so there is no way to keep kids there and to feed them.  Caleb wanted to stay closer to campus yesterday in case he could get up to his dorm.  His section is one of the ones that burned, but he’s on the bottom floor and there is a chance some of his stuff survived.  We’ll see.  They hope to resume classes late next week, some of that will depend on facuilty…since so many lost homes.  The President is making an announcement Monday night…I guess then we will learn how long we will have houseguests for:)

We are praising God that no one was hurt.  With the speed it whipped through those neighborhoods it’s amazing everyone got to safety.  Caleb said they were expecting an earthquake drill that day so people didn’t automatically respond to the fire alarms.  He heard people calling that it was a fire, so he walked out of his room…saw the flames on the hill…went in his room to get his laptop…and by the time he got out there were already flames at the edge of campus.  He’s at the farthest end from the gym and said people were hurrying by then and when they got to the gym they already had embers landing on them and the trees around them.  Once everyone was accounted for they sealed up the gym and let the fire run through…they could watch it through the glass doors at the front of the gym.  After about 5 hours or so, the worst had passed and they let people out to get provisions from the DC of water and muffins etc.  By about 1:00 they started letting people with cars at the gym leave campus so Levi left with his girlfriend who had been there for a PE class, but Caleb opted to stay with his suitemates.  Yesterday they were figuring out who was from out of state and didn’t have anywhere to go and were dividing them up…

It was also College Preview Days, so there were extra high school students on campus…I’m sure that was pretty scary for them.  Luckily many of the homes that burned are second homes and people weren’t there.  There just aren’t very many roads out of the mountain so it’s hard to move quickly…that’s why Westmont built the firesafe gym, without a fair amount of lead time they would never have gotten all the cars off the mountain.  The worst losses were the faculty homes, some of them friends of ours.  So sad.  Several of the other buildings that burned were slated for demolition anyway, as the school is int he midst of a building program.  Caleb said most of the trees and gardens survived, and it didn’t look as bad as the news made it sound.  (Isn’t that always the way)

Thanks for all of your prayers.

Scroll down for updates…

Local

Breaking News Update -TEA FIRE

9:00 P.M. 300 + ACRES HAVE BURNED

MANDATORY EVACUATIONS:
Above Hwy 192 (East Valley Rd/Sycamore Cyn Rd.) between Cold Springs Rd and Hot Springs Rd.
Evacuation Center will be located at San Marcus High School
Tune to AM1680 and your local cable news for more information

WESTMONT COLLEGE
STUDENTS BEING EVACUATED INTO THE GYM THEY ARE SHELTERING IN PLACE.
THERE ARE REPORTS OF SPOT FIRES ON CAMPUS, STUDENTS ARE NOT THREATENED

I have 2 nephews that are students at Westmont College. They and all the students have been evacuated to the Gym which they say is fireproof. Please pray that all the students will be safe and that Westmont College is spared any further damage and that the resident halls do not burn. Please pray for all the residents of Montecito!!
Here’s an update from my SIL whose 2 sons are on campus.
Roy sent me an email…he’s on the board of directors so has been kept updated.  Evidently the gym was built as a ‘safe’ building evacuation area for this sort of thing because it is so hard to get that many people out of that area.

Here is what Roy said…

The latest I’ve heard is the following….

Students, staff and faculty who were on campus will evacuate “onsite” in the gym.  This is a safe building approved by experts and will not burn.

Noozhawk.com reports that two cars in the Page parking lot burned, and that trees by the baseball field are ablaze.  But the latest is that there is no structural damage to the campus.  Firefighters are on campus.

Keep praying!


Also you can watch live coverage at this website.http://cbs2.com/firewatch

WILD FIRE NEAR WESTMONT

At 9 p.m., an update was given to everyone sheltered in place in the gymnasium. There is no threat to the gym and air quality is improving there. Those sheltered in place seem to be doing well under the circumstances, and are now watching a movie. To our knowledge, no one has been injured on campus.

The fire has damaged several minor buildings.

Photos from Westmont College

If you have students at Westmont be encouraged that there are fire fighters on campus and that not only have they evacuated students to the gymnasium but local residents have been evacuated to the gymnasium because of it’s fire safety!!  They are in the safest building in Montecito right now…

update:

A residence hall and several classrooms were destroyed at Westmont College, a private Christian university, and about 800 students were evacuated to the school’s fireproof gymnasium, where they were out of harm’s way.

I will confirm with my brother and SIL but it sounds like Clark hall has fire damage. That is probably the residence hall being referred to above…

Late night update

November 14th, 2008

1:14am

Students who are on campus who wish to leave and have means to do so are allowed off-campus. Those leaving campus will not be allowed to return for at least 24 hours.

All faculty and staff who are currently off campus should not come to the campus unless specifically requested to do so by their supervisor.

There have been more than a dozen houses at Las Barrancas (faculty housing) destroyed in addition to the structures already mentioned.

Those wishing to extend temporary housing to those displaced by the fire should send their name, phone contact information, e-mail address, house address, and the number of individuals they can accommodate to: westmonthousinghelp@gmail.com.

WILD FIRE AT WESTMONT

November 13th, 2008

Update: 11:44 . A natural gas line has broken, forcing the fire department to shut off natural gas to the college. This has brought down our generators. We have between 1/2 hour and 4 hours of UPS left, so may not be able to post further updates through the web site.

Update: 11:36 p.m.
After consulting the Fire Department and the Red Cross, the decision has been made to continue sheltering in place at the gymnasium tonight.

The Red cross is brining 60 cots and 200 blankets to the gym.

Additional cots and blankets on campus are being brought to the gym.

There will be no classes on Friday.

….

previous messages…

Conditions on campus improved to the point where staff were able to get food from the Dining Commons and bring it to the gym, where the community is sheltered in place.

Conditions in the area may make it possible now to leave the campus for a Red Cross shelter, but that option is still being explored.
Firefighters are currently attempting to put out several fires at Clark Hall. Structures lost to or significantly damaged by fire include the Physics Building, the ‘old Math” building, Bauder Hall and the Quonset Huts.

Again, we are grateful that no one has been hurt on campus, and everyone is safely in the gymnasium and in good spirits.

Thank you for your prayers.
The emergency hotline number at 1-888-565-7911 has current information..

My nephew Caleb’s dorm sounds like it’s the dorm that has been damaged by the fire. From the photos we’ve seen looks like his room is a goner…

Here’s the latest update from the Westmont College Site:

8:00 a.m.
There are no active fires on campus, no injuries, and everyone is safe.7:21 a.m.
All students and employees are fine. We are assessing damage this morning. Updates will be posted shortly.

Wesmont has 326 students remaining in the Gym; those students with transportation have been released from campus because it is safe for them to travel on area roads.

Westmont has lost eight structures, four buildings in Clark halls (F,G,M,S), the physics building, the old math building and the two quonset huts. The later three structures were scheduled for demolition soon.

Fourteen faculty homes in Las Barrancas have burned; there is damage to trees, and wooded areas on campus, but much of the formal gardens remains intact.
Fires out. Assessing damage.

No fires remain active on or in the campus area.

Fridays Fave 5

It’s time for Fridays Fave 5 where we think about the last week and what some of our favorite things were. You can join in anytime by visiting Susanne at Living to Tell the Story.

 

1. Last Saturday we hosted an Open House at our condo for family and friends. A time to eat, drink and be merry. It was a fun encouraging time being with these wonderful people…

2. On Sunday we had the most wonderful church service. It was encouraging and Jesus was lifted high and given the praise and honor He alone deserves.

3. Willow had a day off because of Veteran’s Day/(Remembrance Day in Canada) so we had a morning walk and chose a new route. It was fun to see new things. There were poinsettias growing on the side of the road and we saw lions and tigers and bears oh my! Oops! I mean horses and pigs and sheep oh my! We also saw deer again on another walk this week…

4. I always enjoy going to our regular spots to eat here in town. It was fun going to El Tecolote with Dear and just sitting and relaxing and debriefing with him.

5. I’ve enjoyed thinking and planning Thanksgiving weekend. It’s been a while since I’ve been at my home in Washington and I’m looking forward to spending some time there with my kids. This just might be in my fave fives next week too! :0)

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage and demanding a ransom for me to access them. I’m slowly cleaning up many of my posts where PB have added ugly black and grey boxes where my photos used to be. So frustrating!