Foodie Friday ~ Cinco de Mayo

Our theme for this Friday’s Foodie is Cinco de Mayo! Odale! Gollum at Designs by Gollum is our trusty hostess for this event. I’m sharing a collage of a Mexican table and food we made when my SIL and brother were visiting us in Washington over Thanksgiving.

 

Letty made the Mexican Rice and she uses whole pinto beans and then mashes them herself and reheats them to make the refried beans. I really enjoy them better than getting the already refried in a can. For our soft tacos we used the slow cooked pork with garnish of cilantro, green onions, cheese, and salsa. The Salsa was homemade by Letty, too.

Today I made Tex-Mex chili for dinner.

I cooked the chunky ground beef with onion and some seasoning. I added the packets from the ready made chili spice mix some chopped tomatoes, a can of pinto beans with jalapeno added, and a can of kidney beans.

When I serve it I have shredded cheese, fresh tomato chunks, cilantro, avocado, and green onion to add as desired. I usually also bake some corn bread to go along with!

Happy early Cinco de Mayo to all you Foodies!

To see more Foodie posts visit Gollum at Designs by Gollum!

Tablescape Thursday ~ Mad Hatter Tea

For Tablescape Thursday hosted by Susan at Between Naps on the Porch I wanted to share photos I took of a Mad Hatter Bridal Tea Party I attended last year. The hosts for this party did such an amazing job of decorating and planning this lovely event. It was given in honor of my nephew’s bride to be.

It was strongly requested that we wear hats to the event, after all it was a mad hatter tea…

This is my SIL and me in our hats :0)

For more tables set for viewing please visit Susan here.

Window Views ~ Getty Villa

The Teach…Mary started this new great meme last week called Window Views. Click over to her new blog called Window Views to see the rules to participate. Easy rules, easy participation…

Last Spring I went to The Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades with two new bloggy friends. I was intrigued by the view of this beautiful sculpture of this woman in a gallery opposite the room I was in. I zoomed in to get a closer view through the window…

Then when I finally made my way to the room she was housed in, photos weren’t allowed. Oops!

For more Window Views visit Mary here.

 

Outdoor Wednesday ~ Walk with Willow…

It’s almost time to join in on Outdoor Wednesday. Susan at A Southern DayDreamer is our hostess for this weekly event. My outdoor photos were taken on a walk with my bloggy friend Willow in her neighborhood. These were taken on Monday of this week in Southern California.

 

This was a day that we spotted deer again. After uploading this photo I was surprised at how Fall like the colors were.

Same hour different scenery with more Spring like colors.

Don’t forget to look up. I love this view of the tree against the blue sky!

For more Outdoor Wednesday please visit Susan here.

I Won’t be Needing my Passport…

The wedding in Cancun has been cancelled. The young couple decided they wouldn’t be able to live with themselves if even one guest got sick. They are seeing if they can put together a ceremony in New York this weekend…

The airlines are being generous with changing tickets. We’ll see how the resort handles their and our losses. So far we will only have to forfeit one night of our deposit. It would be nice to get a full refund….

Our hearts go out to not only our Jenna and Justin but to the country of Mexico and to all who will suffer loss because of this epidemic.

Update: The wedding has been moved to a hotel in Orlando Florida for this Saturday. Lots of phone calls and scrambling and changes of flights and the event will be happening. :0) Unfortuanately Dear and I will not be able to transfer our tickets for Florida but our son and DIL are going to be able to swing it!

2nd Time Around Tuesday ~ Apple Blossoms…

Well if it’s Monday night it’s time for 2nd Time Around Tuesday. Diane at A picture is Worth a 1,000 Words is the hostess of this weekly event.

I found these Apple Blossom Plates at Goodwill in Bellevue, Washington this past March. I thought they were so sweet. Here is a photo of my Apple tree with the blossoms almost opening that I took after Easter. I’m sure by now they have opened up but I’m not in Washington to take a photo right now.

For more 2nd Time Around visit Diane by clicking here!

 

Should I stay or should I go…

So this is part of the beautiful resort in Cancun we are suppose to be at this weekend for our niece’s wedding…Cancun, Mexico. We are praying and consulting before making a final decision on whether we will be cancelling our travel plans. We are praying for the young couple who have to make the decision to carry on with the plans or cancel the event that has been planned for so long. Praying for wisdom and comfort in the decisions and praying about disappointments and concerns…

Also praying that the State Department and CDC get good information and give out good advice in regards to the Swine Flu and travel.

Blue Monday ~ Peacocks

Happy Blue Monday

When I drive across Los Angeles to visit my parents I always stop at the Target in Norwalk which is at the exit I take to get to their place. I stop because the trip is long, I’ve given birth to 3 children and this is a convenient spot to stop if you catch my drift. The unusual thing about this Target is what I’ve seen and heard in their parking lot more than once…

There is a really cool old farmhouse next door and peacocks that live behind the farmhouse. They hop the fence and stroll about the Target parking lot from time to time making their annoying loud calls.

I kept asking this guy if he’d kindly fan his feathers but he was not impressed with me and didn’t feel the need to show-off!

I’m always fascinated to watch these beautiful creatures with their iridescent feathers.

Blue Monday is hosted by Smiling Sally who hails from Florida. If you’d like to see more blue or to join in please click here.