Tag Archives: Birthday

Duomo Milan

Milan Cathedral is the cathedral church of Milan, Italy. Dedicated to Santa Maria Nascente, it is the seat of the Archbishop of Milan, currently Cardinal Angelo Scola. The Gothic cathedral took nearly six centuries to complete. I’ll be sharing several posts on the Duomo. My first photos will be of the front of the Duomo. My future posts on the Duomo will be from the interior, the roof and the rear.

The cathedral of Milan holds over six centuries of history and the entire building is made of pink-hued, white marble that comes from the quarries of Candoglia. Its construction began in 1386 on the area where the basilicas Santa Tecla and Santa Maria Maggiore stood and later became “encompassed” in the new cathedral. Architects, sculptors, artists and thousands of specialized workers became involved in the Fabbrica del Duomo (the construction of the cathedral) which, it can easily be said, has never stopped operating. Even today, in fact, work still continues on this extraordinary piece that is the symbol and heart of the city.

This was one of the highlights of Milan but it also has it’s downside. Tourists are bombarded by pickpockets here that work in tag teams trying to distract you while they try to steal your valuables or just con you out of your money. We enjoyed the views of the Duomo away from the crowds.

I am finally feeling well enough to get things done around here and to go out and about again. It was so good to be back in church this morning and to reconnect with friends. After our morning Palm Sunday service Josh and Laura picked us up for a belated birthday meal in Seattle. We had a great time together catching up and planning some future events together. Hope you had a good day!

Today We Celebrate…

…the Mother of the Bride.

It’s my birthday and I’m being taken out to brunch and dinner today. My sister, niece, my grand nephew, and my grand niece are still here from California so my Daughter in law is bringing them to join in for brunch together before she takes them to the airport. Tonight Josh, Laura, Dear and I are going out to dinner.

Meanwhile back to the wedding. My friend and hairdresser Sherri came to the venue on Sunday to attend to our hair. What a treat that was. She does a beautiful job on Katie’s hair and always makes my hair behave.

Since all the sisters were together we had to make sure and get plenty of photos. This one is from oldest to youngest starting from the left. Kathy, Vera, Ellen and Lana.

Right to left oldest to youngest.

Me and my sister Lana. Partners in crime and tablescaping…

Love this photo of the Father of the Bride walking our daughter down the aisle. Thanks to Harv and Bev for this one and the next few photos.

The wedding party walked in to the theme from Anne of Green Gables and I really had a hard time keeping it together.

Dear and I really were blessed with our daughter and son-in-laws day and we were filled with joy for them and us.

We were surprised when the guests applauded as we walked out after the ceremony.

Dear thanked all our friends and family for coming to the wedding and prayed a prayer of blessing over our food and time together.

I had to add this photo my niece posted on Facebook today. Me and my brother Leonard cutting the rug!

There are plenty more posts coming with all the Bride and Groom’s special moments and more family shots, too.

Thank you to all of you who have held us up with your prayers over these last few weeks as we prepared for this day. Those prayers were answered and we felt the peace and joy we prayed for. Truly a day that love was poured down on. Katie and Andrew traveled back to North Carolina last night and should be home by now.

Blessings…

Snowflake Tablescape

Our daughter Katie turned 25 last week and on the morning of a little dinner party planned for her it snowed here! A theme is born…the snowflake table.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Her snowflake taco party was a success!

 

The cake was a spice cake with snow on top. Yes of course that’s snow in the form of powdered sugar! The only problem with snow on top of a birthday cake is when you go to blow out the candles you also get a snow flurry!

I’m linking to the lovely Susan at Between Naps on the Porch please click on over to see some very nice tables set for our enjoyment!

 

Plates: Nikko – Vintage Lace Platinum from Marshalls  ~ Snowflake tablecloth, centerpiece, napkins and napkin rings are from Martha Stewart K-Mart collection  ~ Candle holders are from a garage sale ~ Goblets, cut glass dessert plates, cake plate and scarf I used as a runner are from thrift stores ~

Photobucket replaced all my photos with ugly black and grey boxes and they are holding my photos hostage until I pay them lots of money. I’m slowly going through all my posts and trying to clean them up and replacing some photos. Such a bother.

Short Week Favorites…

When the ole girl parties downtown on Thursday night her Friday post comes late to the table! Never-the-less the party must go on…

Thank you to Susanne for reminding us to take a look back and see the favorites that came our way since last Friday.

1. My number one favorite was spending Dear’s birthday with our son Josh in downtown Seattle. We met Josh at a Park n Ride and then drove together to Seattle. We had dinner at the Wild Ginger Restaurant and then headed to Qwest field for the Seattle Sounders F.C. game against Real Salt Lake. It was fun spending the evening with our first-born. On Saturday we are going to have a family birthday celebration with Josh, Laura, and Katie.

 

It’s truly a blessing from God for me to be married to this man!

2. I got 2 new books in the mail this week. So for my #2 favorite I wanted to share my friend Sandy Coughlin’s new book with you. Sandy is a blogger at the Reluctant Entertainer and she’s had a book published about simple and gracious hospitality. It is well written with great ideas on entertaining that won’t break your budget. There are lots of recipes in the book, too. This would make a creative Bridal Shower gift! I ordered my copy from Amazon but you can click over to her blog and order it there, too. She’ll also sign a copy if you order it from her. You won’t be disappointed with the reluctant entertainer – every woman’s guide to simple and gracious hospitality

3. Speaking of books, I also ordered the new book in the Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter series by Susan Wittig Albert, The Tale of Oat Cake Crag. I really enjoy these mysteries surrounding Hill Top Farm. I’m looking forward to reading this new book.

4. I bought some granola that was good for you but didn’t taste good to me so I came up with a cookie recipe using it. It’s fabulous in the cookies. I’ll share the recipe later this month on the Mennonite Girls Can Cook blog. I’m calling them Granola Chews.

5. And last but not least I’m still savoring and remembering with contentment and joy my 3 days in Canada with these Mennonite Girls that cook!

 

So what have you been up to and what are some of your favorites?

Have a great weekend and NEVER FORGET!

Photobucket replaced all my photos with ugly black and grey boxes and they are holding my photos hostage until I pay them lots of money. I’m slowly going through all my posts and trying to clean them up and replacing some photos. Such a bother.

We Highly Recommend…

The Wild Iris Inn in La Conner, Washington for a great getaway.

 

Dear and I had an overnight there for my birthday last weekend.

 

First we had lunch at Seeds-A Bistro & Bar. They have a great menu. After lunch and a little walk about town I checked in for my 90 minute massage at Salon Rouge while Dear checked into our Bed and Breakfast Inn. Later we would have dinner at the restaurant in the bottom right photo.

Before dinner we strolled through the La Conner Quilt and Textile Museum which is housed in the National Historical Victorian Gaches Mansion. It’s the white house on the left…

 

All of the food we ate was wonderful. Top left is my lunch at Seeds, Borsch and a 1/2 meatloaf sandwich. That amazing appetizer of fried polenta smothered in a fabulous sauce and the lamb shank was my meal at Nell Thorn Pub and Restaurant. It was an exceptional place to eat with a great staff and ambiance. Our two course breakfast at the Wild Iris was very tasty and filling.  Good thing it was a lovely weekend to walk around town and burn a few of the calories we ate.

 

Some of the shops about town. In 1869 John S. Conner purchased the trading post on the Swinomish Channel and named the area in honor of his wife Louisa Ann Conner and that’s how La Conner got its name.

 

The waterfront and the Rainbow Bridge crossing the Swinomish Channel. The Swinomish Indians are La Conner’s First Nation.

 

It was fun to come upon the wild turkeys that made La Conner their home in 2005 and that the city has declared the official town mascot.

 

Some sites just outside of the city center. The acres of fertile farmland around La Conner were first planted mostly with oats. The Tulip industry emerged in the Skagit Valley in the 1920’s when there were restrictions on importing Dutch Tulip bulbs. After WWII, Dutch immigrants began farming tulip bulbs. Since 1982, the annual Skagit Valley Tulip Festival is held the month of April and has been attracting visitors from around the world to view between 400 and 500 acres of tulips in bloom. I’m going to try to get back up to this area when the tulips bloom…

On the way home on my birthday we also saw the Snow Geese which I posted about earlier in the week. La Conner was a delightful overnight getaway for Dear and ellen b.

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.

Tablescape Thursday ~ Birthday Dinner…

It’s time to visit Susan at Between Naps on the Porch to see some wonderful tables set for you. This is the first table I’ve set since returning to my home in the Northwest. It was my birthday this past Sunday and my son and his wife came over and made us all dinner.

There were only 4 of us since our daughter was in Florida and our middle son is in Arizona.

The chargers were a Christmas gift from Josh and Laura. The blue goblets are from Goodwill.

I bought the Johnson Bros. Chippendale dishes back in the 80’s at a model home sale in our neighborhood in Ventura, California. Service for 4 for $25.00. The silverplate was another Goodwill purchase for $29.00. The plate is even engraved with the letter B!

The coffee/tea pot and platter are both from the thrift store also. My sweet daffodils were purchased in Skagit county on my birthday weekend away and didn’t open up till the day after my wonderful birthday dinner.

I’ve had a busy week doing some Spring cleaning around the homestead. Hope you’re week is going well. Thank you for stopping by…

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.

Friday’s Fave Five ~ Where’s My Brain?

When I woke up today and wondered what day of the week it was it dawned on me that I forgot all about Friday’s Fave Five. Scramble, scramble here we go. Thank you Susanne for helping me keep my days straight! Visit Living to Tell the Story for more favorites or to join in.

 

1. On Sunday I was still in Southern California and Dear and I met his brother and wife for a birthday brunch at the Tam O Shanter in L.A. We don’t get together very often with T and C and it was fun to catch up a bit and enjoy a good meal together. Turning 60 is a very good excuse for a nice meal.

2. On Monday Willow and I were able to get a early morning walk in and it was hot, hot, hot already. It was good to catch up since we hadn’t walked for a couple weeks. What a surprise to see the  Jacarandas still blooming.

3. Monday evening I flew to Seattle in a smaller plane where the seats were closer together and smaller then usual (is that’s possible?) but I had a window seat and got some fun shots of Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Rainier. I arrived in Seattle to warm temps, too.

4. Tuesday evening I joined my kids and a friend at the U.S. Open Cup game at a small venue to see the Sounders beat Houston 2-1 in overtime. It was an exciting game and fun to be right on the field. Again it was very hot.

5. Making blueberry muffins with blueberries from my bush was another fun treat this week.

My daughter’s sunburn is finally in a tolerable stage and it’s good to see her feeling so much better. Wednesday was a very hard day around here. Friday is really looking up!!

Blessings and I’m looking forward to seeing what you’ve been up to.

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.

Tablescape Tuesday ~ Black and Gold

Welcome to another round of Tablescape Tuesday hosted by Susan at Between Naps on the Porch. Today I’m sharing the table I set for an early birthday dinner for our two sons. Both of their birthdays are in January and Dear and I will not be in Washington on their birthdays so we decided to celebrate with them while we were still in Washington last Friday night.

 

I bought these great black and gold dishes at Target Christmas clearance. I got 8 dinner plates and 8 salad plates for under $30. I thought they had a more masculine feel than some of my other dishes for the guys!

 

The heavy black iron candle holder for the centerpiece with the Fleur de lis design was a find at Goodwill a while back. Again, I liked the heavier bulkier look for the guys.

 

Christmas clearance at Target was great. I went on the day everything was 75% off. The Fleur de lis napkin rings were under $5 for 8 of them. The little gold cocktail napkins were $1.24 for a 4 pack. The two pack of goblets that I decided to turn into candle holders were clearance also but I forget how much. The shimmery gold tablecloth was originally from the Pottery Barn that I bought at Goodwill. Now the really great thing about this tablescape is that we actually sat down and ate dinner at it. It was a great time of celebrating Josh and Dan’s lives and thanking God for them and how they’ve enriched all of our lives!

 

Josh is married to Laura and all four of these young adults graduated from Inglemoor Highschool in the Northshore School District of Washington in the late 90’s and early 2000’s.  They chuckled at the fact that Black and Gold were their High School colors! Go Vikings! My sister Lana G! was able to join us for our dinner celebration, too. Fun times….

For more Tablescapes around the blogisphere visit Susan at Between Naps on the Porch.

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.

Blue Monday and Tablescape Tuesday!

Since we had a blue and white tablescape for our daughter Katie’s birthday on Saturday I’m combining Blue Monday and Tablescape Tuesday this week!  My sister Lana G! was over and helped with the details on the tablescape while Dear and I prepared dinner for the party. Dear made both soups we were serving for the dinner. His famous Tomato Rice Soup is one he’s been making since his college days from Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child. The second soup was a Potato Leek Soup with Bacon and Havarti cheese that we used the best of 3 recipes to come up with. Both soups were yummy and well received.

 

My daughter Katie gave me the star bundt cake pan for Christmas so I decided to make her the Bundt Spice cake she enjoys. Here are the thick hearty soups we served along with bread and salad…

 

For more Blue Monday posts visit Smiling Sally and on Tuesday for more tablescapes visit Susan at Between Naps on the Porch.

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.