Some time in the 1950’s in Pico Rivera, California.
This is ellen b. in all her glory with a good fence behind her!
In my early years my family lived in a little area of Montebello, California called Montebello Gardens. Later this area was known as Pico Rivera.
I see some similarities at this age with my sister Lana and my niece Hope.
Feeling nostalgic and linking up with Tex*Wis*Girl for Good Fences #35.
The beginning of the traditional school year is a favorite time for me. I’ve been absent from Susanne’s Friday’s Fave Five for a while but I wanted to chime in with some things this week that make my favorite’s list.
My exercise regiment has been totally non-existent for quite a while. It’s been hit and miss at best. Today I hope I’ve found some things to remedy this problem in my life. So here are my five…
1. I’ve had a hard time finding a regular walking buddy since I’ve come back to Washington. If you are part of Susanne’s weekly fave five you know who Willow is. Well…she used to be my walking buddy when we lived in the same city in Southern California but since I moved back to Washington in the Spring of 2010 I’ve been without a regular walking buddy. Boo hoo. Today I joined up with a group from the Senior Center who walk every Tuesday and Thursday rain or shine on a great walking trail close to my home.
What a beautiful day it was to walk and a nice bunch of ladies. We saw this wonderful view of Mt. Rainier at our turning point on the trail.
2. After being encouraged with being out of doors and walking, I showered and headed to the Senior center to sign up for an exercise class that meets Monday, Wednesday and Fridays. I’m excited about my daily exercise commitment.
3. I’m happy to be done, done, done, with the Bathroom Renovation company. I’m looking forward to Dear finishing up the bathroom and sharing it with you all in the near future.
4. This new expanded family will be my favorite for a long time. I am really looking forward to meeting my new little nephew from the Ukraine.
5. Celebrating Dear’s birthday with most of our kids was another favorite for sure. It is so good to be together and enjoy each other.
I found a photo I took on September 11, 2001 and wanted to share it here, too. We can never take for granted the freedoms we are afforded here in our country and we can never forget that there are those who would love to destroy those freedoms. So thankful to God for his protection over us and that no matter what, we have a hope in our future that cannot be taken away!
What makes your thankful list this week?
Happy 40th Wedding Anniversary to my sister Kathy and her hubby Len. This was the third wedding in 1974 in our extended family.
My dear little maternal grandmother and my sister Vera helping Kathy with some final touches.
Mom and Pop ready for the day.
My brother Steve, Dear, and brothers Fred and Tim
Leonard and Lana my youngest siblings.
My and Dear’s wedding would be at the same church in December of 1974.
Sisters!
The after wedding opening gifts party at my parents home.
Thanking God today for Kathy and Len and their faithfulness to each other and to their family. May God continue to bless you.
Last night or I should say early this morning our two cross country travelers arrived home to roost for a while.
Thankfully they have their own key so I didn’t have to get up and let them in.
We thank the good Lord they made it safely through the rainstorm that was quite intense over the pass last night.
Things will be a little different around this old house while they settle in and start the process of looking for an apartment. They are breaking in the new but not completed bathroom, too. Yes…the saga continues on the bathroom.
In the meantime we’ll enjoy this next chapter in their adventure called life!
ABC Wednesday is already on the letter E. Thank you to Denise Nesbitt the proud founder and to the whole ABC team!
This is a theater on Main Street in Bozeman, Montana spotted by daughter Katie on our cross country road trip back in April.
Ellen loves and enjoys spending time with her family.
Ellen loves her brothers and sisters and her dear old pop. This photo was taken last September at my dear old mom’s funeral.
Ellen loves her nieces and nephews. These cousins have so much fun together!
Ellen b. with her sisters and mom enjoying each other 6 months before her mom died.
Ellen loves Dear’s brother’s family to the left of the groom and below.
Ellen loves her whole big family including her brother in laws and sister in laws.
Ellen loves the girls from the Mennonite Girls Can Cook and is so thankful to have them as her true blue friends.
Ellen loves to travel to England and all of the United Kingdom.
Ellen loves Soccer/Futbol and has been to games in Manchester and Milan. Her favorite team is the home team, the Seattle Sounders.
Ellen is a Seattle Sounders season ticket holder along with her son and daughter in law.
Ellen loves Dear. Their 40th wedding anniversary celebrations have begun already.
Ellen B. and Dear started celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary with a trip to England in July where they spent one of their days in Oxford.
Ellen likes to read Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Dorothy Sayers and a little Chesterton so it was a treat to eat in the Pub where these authors were known to meet.
Ellen loves God and His son Jesus who has given her eternal life through his death and resurrection.
Congratulations if you made it to the end of this very long post!
There’s a restaurant in the Seattle area that is a kind of icon that reminds you of bygone days when people would dress up to go out to eat and service was top notch. We had never been to Canlis before. We might have been a little intimidated but no more…
Josh and Laura invited us to join them in the Canlis Lounge to break the intimidation and celebrate a late Mother’s Day/Father’s Day meal together.
One of the views from the restaurant. Remember the fact that I was a little intimidated to start so my photo taking suffered because of that. I did not get one photo of Laura and I on the other side of the table.
Father and Son with Father starting or re-visiting a style statement from years gone by.
The Bolo or String Tie. Do you remember these? Dear has 3 of them that were his fathers.
A shot of Josh with the piano player behind him. The soft live piano music was a very nice addition. I just noticed that nice shiny table top that picked up a reflection of Josh.
We ordered small bites along with the Canlis Salad. The Canlis Salad has been on the menu since opening night of the restaurant in 1950. The recipe was taught to Peter Canlis by his Lebanese mother. Oops, forgot to take a photo of the salad.
I did get a photo of myself in the ladies room so you can see I was wearing pearls and I did wear a dress instead of my usual jeans. Fabulous expression on my face. Looks like I was holding my breath hoping no one walked through the door and caught me!
We had to order this dish to top off the night. Canlis Souffle ~ Grand Marnier, Orange zest and creme anglaise. Please allow 30 minutes for this dessert. We were happy to allow the time and enjoyed it very much.
There is a story that we keep retelling about this night at Canlis. Josh drove us up to the door and the valet team let us out of the car and drove the car away with no tickets, no names exchanged. They just said, “Have a nice evening”. We stepped into the restaurant and walked to the host/hostess area and said “We don’t have reservations but we would like to eat in the lounge”. No names exchanged. We were guided to the lounge where we chose our seats and enjoyed our time together. Josh paid the bill at the end of our time and we walked up the stairs and out the front door of the restaurant and Josh’s car magically appeared at the door as soon as we exited the restaurant. We did not have a seconds wait for our car. I looked at the Valet and said “How did you do that?” He looked at me and smiled. They are not giving out their secrets but we had fun speculating on how that little bit of magic happened on the way home. The next time we go to Canlis I’ll take a photo of that famous salad!
Looking back at June and all that took place around this old house and beyond.
I’m joining Cheryl at Thinking About Home for Gathering the Moments.
Trees came down, firewood cut, patio covers went up, peonies bloomed and were enjoyed, hydrangeas just started to color.
Main floor bathroom renovations began with the gutting process, removing everything to the studs and car deck, adding a new window, adding recessed lights and a fan/heater, replacing the ceiling dry wall.
Visitors came from the South and visitors came from the North. Tours commenced. The Market, Kerry Park, the Troll, Ballard Locks, Ste Michelle Winery, Whidbey Island, Queen Mary Tea Room, and University Village just to name a few destinations visited.
Celebrations in June included a retirement, combined Mother’s Day/Father’s Day dinner, and a wedding in the Portland area.
World Cup fever began and continues!
It’s been a while since I shared a photo of my dear old Pop on my blog. Most every week my sister Lana and niece Melissa join him for dinner at his apartment. This last week my niece Debbee and sister Kathy joined in the fun, too. They are getting real good at taking these selfies. My pop still has his ups and downs with his loneliness but he can still move around well and gets out to his church services and a Bible Study weekly. I appreciate seeing the weekly photos on Facebook since I live so far away…
I have to say that June just flew by this year. July holds many new adventures for us. We are looking forward to a trip to England to celebrate our 40 years of marriage, and when we get back the Bathroom renovation will be completed. What are you looking forward to in July?
“Don’t Sit Under The Apple Tree”
Don’t sit under the apple tree
With anyone else but me
Anyone else but me
Anyone else but me
No no no
Don’t sit under the apple tree
With anyone else but me
’til I come marching home
Don’t go walking down lovers lane
With anyone else but me
Anyone else but me
Anyone else but me
No no no
Its lyrics are the words of two young lovers who pledge their fidelity while one of them is away serving in the war. Made popular by Glen Miller and the Andrew’s Sisters during World War II. Just yesterday as I walked under our apple tree and commented on the beauty of the blossoms, Dear called out “Don’t sit under the apple tree with anyone else but me”.
Seems somewhat appropriate that I post this song and my apple blossom photos as our daughter Katie and I think about packing the car to head to Camp Lejeune for her to be reunited with her beloved who has been serving with the Marines in Afghanistan since September.
No, don’t go walking down lovers’ lane
No, walking down lovers’ lane till you see
When you see me marching home
Then we’ll go arm in arm and
Sit down under the apple tree
Baby, just you and me
When I come marching home
Happy Friday to you all. Today Katie and I have hair appointments and Dear and I have eye appointments. Am I packed? No. I do have some piles going. Katie has made some good progress. We both have 1 P.M. events tomorrow and then tomorrow evening we’ll pack up the car.
What’s going on in your part of the world?
After a great Resurrection Sunday service we headed home to make preparations for our Easter meal.
We had our kids, Josh, Laura and Katie along with my sister Lana and hubby Steve. Our son in law Andrew celebrated Easter at Camp Leatherneck in Afghanistan. We did hear that they had a Sunrise Service at the camp. Our son Dan is celebrating with his girlfriend’s family in Eastern Washington.
Our menu included rack of lamb, rice pilaf, salad and bread. For appetizers we had asparagus spears wrapped in prosciutto and broiled.
Our dessert was Italian Easter bread (Colomba)…think Paska/Kulich with strawberries.
We had fun with special shrink wrap boiled egg Matryoshka embellishments that we found at the Ukrainian market. The eggs with the XB on them are hollow chocolate eggs. The X is for Christ and the B is for arose. Here’s the shrink wrap method. With eggs that have been boiled already, you put them in the sleeve and then dip them in boiling water for about 3 seconds.
The guys are out on the deck now enjoying the sunshine and the girls are inside enjoying relaxing on the couch while watching Property Brothers. After a busy rewarding morning and early afternoon it’s good to just sit and veg!
How was your day?
My daughter has an Etsy shop. She creates hand made Chainmaille jewelery. It’s been a nice diversion for her while Andrew has been away in Afghanistan. You can click on Simple.Complication to get to her Etsy shop.
She’s wearing some of her creations here.
I wasn’t thinking of showing off her jewelery when I took these photos but you can almost see the earrings and necklace here.
More earrings, these were inspired by Frozen. You can like her page on Facebook by clicking here.
She has other interests, too.
Do you watch Dr. Who?
The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b. 