Friday’s Fave Five ~

1. The very best part of this last week was spending lots of time with my kids in Washington. Josh, our DIL Laura, Dan and Katie. We ate together and went to church together and worked together. Fun times.

2. While in Washington I got to go to my favorite shopping place with my sister Lana G. and I found 8 of those great tea cups and saucers you see in the top left of the collage. They are Churchill and made in England.

3. Again in Washington I got to see some beautiful fall color in Woodinville and on my 6 mile walk on the Burke Gilman Trail with my walking buddies, Jan and Jody.

4. Working in my yard in Washington. Mowing the grass and trimming some overgrown shrubs. Strange but true I enjoy mowing. It’s probably because of the before and after transformation that is so wonderful to see. That bush that has turned that shade of rusty red is my Blueberry Bush.

5. Getting back to my more quiet life in California and starting up the daily walking schedule with my bloggy friend Willow. We’ve been seeing the same 3 Mule deer on almost all of our walks. If you squint you can see one of the deer with those huge ears in the collage.

To see more Fave Five click over to Susanne’s at Living to Tell the Story.

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage on their site. All my photos that I stored and uploaded from that site are now big ugly black and grey boxes with a message to pay big bucks to get them restored to my blog. It will take me a long time to restore thousands of posts.

Sky Watch #12 ~ Washington

All of these photos were taken last Saturday at Ste Michelle Winery and Columbia Winery in Woodinville, Washington. These great wineries are located across the road from each other. The Fall skies were beautiful during our extended weekend visit.

For more Sky Watch click here.

ABC’s of the Word ~ Knock

Matthew 7: 7, 8 ~ Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

For more ABC’s of the Word visit Pam at Grey like Snuffie.

Vintage Thingies Thursdays

These are more of our Vintage goodies from my Mil Verna. My husband and his brother both wanted the cowboy bookends so we split them up. We have 8 matching glasses to go with the pitcher. I should have filled them with something for the photo :0)

For more Vintage Thingies visit Confessions of an Apron Queen.

October’s Bright Blue Weather ~

October’s Bright Blue Weather

O suns and skies and clouds of June,
And flowers of June together,
Ye cannot rival for one hour
October’s bright blue weather.

When loud the bumblebee makes haste,
Belated, thriftless vagrant,
And Golden Rod is dying fast,
And lanes with grapes are fragrant;

When Gentians roll their fringes tight,
To save them for the morning,
And Chestnuts fall from satin burrs
Without a sound of warning;

When on the ground red apples lie
In piles like jewels shining,
And redder still on old stone walls
Are leaves of woodbine twining;

When all the lovely wayside things
Their white-winged seeds are sowing,
And in the fields, still green and fair,
Late aftermaths are growing;

When springs run low, and on the brooks,
In idle golden freighting,
Bright leaves sink noiseless in the hush
Of woods, for winter waiting;

When comrades seek sweet country haunts,
By twos and twos together,
And count like misers, hour by hour,
October’s bright blue weather.

O suns and skies and flowers of June,
Count all your boasts together,
Love loveth best of all the year
October’s bright blue weather.

~Helen Hunt Jackson

WFW ~ Psalm 143:8

Psalm 143:8 (NIV) ~ Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.

Psalm 143:8 (ESV) ~ Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.

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

Anthony’s Lingonberry Slump

Dear and I split this wonderful Washington Lingonberry Slump at the Anthony’s at Seatac Airport on Monday night. So you can probably guess now why I went up a jean size :0)

Here’s a recipe I found online for a berry slump in case you want to try it from RecipeZaar.

If I Only Had a Brain…

(Scarecrow)
I could wile away the hours
Conferrin’ with the flowers
Consultin’ with the rain
And my head I’d be scratchin’
While my thoughts were busy hatchin’
If I only had a brain

I’d unravel any riddle
For any individ’le
In trouble or in pain

(Dorothy)
With the thoughts you’d be thinkin’
You could be another Lincoln
If you only had a brain

(Scarecrow)
Oh, I would tell you why
The ocean’s near the shore
I could think of things I never thunk before
And then I’d sit and think some more

I would not be just a nuffin’
My head all full of stuffin’
My heart all full of pain
I would dance and be merry
Life would be a ding-a-derry
If I only had a brain

This pretty much covers how I’m feeling today! We got in at 11:00 last night after a day of working our buns off and getting everything wrapped up in Washington. It will take me a little bit to get back to “me old self”. Have a wonderful last day of September everyone. May Fall truly be felt here in Southern California!

Ruby Tuesday ~ Washington State

My Ruby Tuesday Collage is from the State of Washington. I’m flying home from Seattle in a couple hours and decided to post something from my weekend here.

For more Ruby Tuesday visit Maryt at Work of the Poet.

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I posted on my blog from 2007-2015 hostage and replaced them with big black and grey boxes with threats. So discouraging…as I’m slowly trying to clean up thousands of posts!

Fun in Seattle!

Our short time in Seattle has been filled to the brim with activity, work, and just plain fun. On Friday night after a day of working in the basement and around the house we went out to our favorite Mexican Restaurant with all of our kids except for Dan. (He was in Colorado Elk hunting). It’s fun to go to a restaurant where the staff knows us and comes over and wants to know how long we’ll be in town this time. :0)

On Saturday Lana G. and I went to our favorite shopping place…the Goodwill! We have a tradition that whoever spends the most on these shopping trips has to treat for lunch. We had some very good finds at Goodwill and Lana managed to spend the most so lunch was on her. (Oh I’ll be showing my goodies later this week) We have always been intrigued with Burgermaster but never stopped in before. Saturday was the day and it was a load of fun. It’s a drive in and dine in your car place. The staff comes up to your car window to take the order and they deliver it there, too. Lana and I had a great time. Our server was very happy to have his photo taken! After dropping our goodies off at home we zipped over to Ste Michelle and Columbia wineries to pick up some wine and to take some photos of fall color.

We came home and our kids made dinner for us to celebrate Dear’s belated birthday. Dan made it home from Colorado just in time for dinner and it was so nice to all be together for this meal. In the collage Columbia Winery is in the top right photo and Ste Michelle Winery is in the bottom left. They are across the road from each other. Lana G., her husband Steve, and Katie’s boyfriend Ben joined us for dinner. Oh and that is Lana donning the pirate garb!

Yikes we fly back to L.A. on Monday evening and we still have a mile long list of things we want to do before we leave. I’ll be back to visiting my bloggy friends on Tuesday. Have a great week everyone…

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage