I was happy that these Pelicans were resting instead of flying so I could get my photos.
Back here in N.E. Washington State we have entered a dry warm cycle which means I’ll need to start watering the planters.
Dear has started painting the exterior of our home. When it’s complete I’ll share some before and after photos. Enjoy the last weekend in June!
On Sunday my sister Vera and I were happy to see that June Gloom was nonexistent. We dropped our brother off at the Orange County airport for his trip back to Dallas and decided another trip to the beach was warranted. We had a good meal at Dukes at the Huntington Beach Pier with this view from our table…
After our meal we headed to the pier to walk it and enjoy the views.
I’ll have a full post with this pelican as the star later.
The crashing waves looked like snow from above.
This post is being published on Tuesday June 14th, Flag day. I will be in the air for a few hours and then on the road home.
Happy Flag Day from Huntington Beach and Newport Beach.
This photo of sand and surf and a pier is from Huntington Beach, California.
Thank you Jo From This Side of the Pond for Wednesday Hodgepodge.
1. July 5th is National Hawaii Day…have you ever been to Hawaii?
Yes, once in 1997.
Any desire to visit or make a return trip?
Not particularly.
Pineapple, mango, or guava…what’s your pleasure?Â
Pineapple but not on a pizza. 🙂
2. Last time you were ‘thrown in at the deep end’? Explain.Â
I’ll leave out some information to spare the mostly innocent but ‘the deep end’ was showing up at an event that no one was really in charge of and having to jump in and make it run smoother than it was going to.
3. Sun, sea, sand, salt…your favorite when it comes to summer?Â
I like the sea in the summer because it is usually cooler at the seashore than inland.
4. Bury your head in the sand, the sands of time, draw a line in the sand, pound sand, shifting sands…pick one and tell us how the phrase currently relates to your life in some way.
I’ll go with the sands of time as in ‘the steady unstoppable passage of time’. It currently relates to my life as I turned 70 this year. How did that happen? As the saying goes I am not a Spring chicken but that is quite okay as I’ve lived and learned a lot with a lot more to learn!
5. On a scale of 1-10 (1 = make your own rules and 10=like a warden), how strict were your parents? If you’re a parent where on the scale do you land?Â
Our Pop worked long hours but he had his priorities and that was making sure we were all at church on time a few days a week. My mother tried to be a warden but mostly fell in at about a 5. I was the baby of the family for 7 years before my younger 4 siblings arrived and I wore my parents down and got to do things my older siblings didn’t do. We didn’t really have chores and we never had an allowance.
Dear and I fall in closer to the warden side than the “free range kids” side. Maybe at a 7, it’s hard to put a number on it. We had rules, specific bedtimes and other expectations but we didn’t lock them in their rooms. They had the freedom to break the rules when we weren’t watching.
6. Insert your own random thought here.Â
At my follow-up appointment yesterday my eye tests confirmed I have 20/20 vision in my right eye after my cataract surgery. Looking forward to my left eye cataract surgery July 16th.
These were the only seabirds we saw on our morning at the beach.
The birds are returning here and it’s fun to see them flying about the yard and hearing their chirping.
We’re flying the coop for a couple days. See you later…
On Christ the Solid Rock I stand, All Other Ground is Sinking Sand…
I missed the bigger waves crashing on the pylons under the pier.
We are having a snowfall event as I create this post. Quite a contrast to these beach shots. Soft puffy flakes that are melting as they hit the ground.
Have a great new week. We have a little travel planned for the end of the week.
Walking on the pier and looking South.
Looking North on the pier to Long Beach and Rancho Palos Verdes and beyond.
Another great view of Catalina Island to the West.
The last couple of days have been clean up days outside here at our country bungalow. I’ll share some photos of the work we’ve accomplished once I upload the photos. I went to Wal-Mart today and happened down the toilet paper aisle and saw that the TP buying frenzy is alive and well here in Colville. Empty shelves everywhere. Seems there was a run on dried beans, too. I got the last bag of pinto beans for the crock pot recipe I’m making tomorrow.
Hope you didn’t let your TP totally run out before this mass hysteria set in.
Be Anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. and the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6,7
A beautiful day for a walk at the Beach…
On Monday March 2nd my sister Vera and I were able to enjoy a walk to the end of the pier in Huntington Beach. It was a decent day for surfing and several surfers were taking advantage. Winter days at the beach are my favorite and this winter day afforded us great views of Catalina Island, too.
I’ve never tried to surf. Have you ever tried? When our son was at Westmont College in Santa Barbara he enjoyed some surfing. He also enjoyed some surfing in Hawaii on a vacation there. Body surfing was something both sons have enjoyed. Water skiing was the closest I ever came to surfing and that was years ago before I had children. A little snow skiing is also in my past and it will remain there.
I’ll be sharing more from Huntington Beach soon.
I’m home again and far away from the ocean. It was a good time to be in Southern California and to see four out of eight of my siblings and a few nieces and nephews. I’ll share more from Huntington Beach soon. Today is a recovery day at our country bungalow.
Here are a couple of quotes from J.C. Ryle (1816-1900) who I read about in Five Minutes in Church History and Grace Gems.
First on his conversion (1837):
Nothing I can remember to this day appeared to me so clear and distinct as my own sinfulness, Christ’s preciousness, the value of the Bible, the absolute necessity of coming out of the world, the need of being born again, and the enormous folly of the whole doctrine of baptismal regeneration. All these things seemed to flash upon me like a sunbeam, in the winter of 1837, and have stuck in my mind from that time down to this. People may account for such a change as they like, my own belief is that it is what the Bible calls conversion. Or, what the Bible calls regeneration. Before that time, I was dead in sins, and on the high road to hell. From that time, I had become alive, and have had a hope of heaven, and nothing to my mind can account for it but the free sovereign grace of God.
And this quote which is from the 1800’s but rings true to our time:
There is a common, worldly kind of Christianity in this day, which many have and think they have enough–a cheap Christianity which offends nobody, and requires no sacrifice; which costs nothing and is worth nothing. The standard of the world, and the standard of the Lord Jesus–are indeed different. They are more than different–they are flatly contradictory one to another. Never be satisfied with the world’s standard of Christianity!
Today is my 13 Year Anniversary with WordPress and with blogging.Â
Have a good day everyone!
Do you associate the color red or pink with the month of February? I think of purple, too, because of my sister Vera’s birthstone, amethyst. She is a leap year baby. My mom was big on birthstones and each of us girls got a birthstone ring for our 16th birthday. Or maybe some of my sisters got necklaces instead of a ring. (Vera?) Now I’m wondering if my youngest sister ever got a birthstone ring. If she didn’t don’t feel sorry for her because her boss has gifted her some amazing precious stones! I remember picking my ring out at a jewelry outlet in Los Angeles.
The stone, aquamarine, is not precious in this ring, the setting is in white gold, though. Lots of memories associated with it. I need to have it sized so it will fit me again.
I’m joining my kids from eastern Washington on a plane ride to John Wayne Airport in southern California for a few days.
From views and walks like the one above to…
…a walk on the Huntington Beach Pier.
On this trip I’m looking forward first to being reunited with our Eastern Washington kids and Addy at Seatac airport. From Seattle we fly together to Orange County/John Wayne airport in Southern California Saturday evening. On Sunday we’ll be seeing many of our extended family after Jamie and our niece Debbee run in a half marathon in Huntington Beach with brunch at the end of the run and then a Superbowl party later in the afternoon and evening. And last and certainly not least visiting with my dear old pop on Monday. He will get to see Addy for the first time. He is her only great grandparent on my side of the family. My pop is not doing well and is tired and weary of continuing his life on this earth. He is in Hospice care in my oldest sister’s home. Bittersweet moments.
I am not taking my computer with me on this trip so there will not be any posts about my trip until after I get home on Tuesday. Hope you all have a great weekend. See ya next week!
Crystal Cove Beach, California, January 2017 with my sister Vera.
It’s time to answer the Wednesday Hodgepodge questions…
1. What keeps you blogging?
I’ve thought about laying it aside and then I bump into someone who says they are reading my blog and enjoying it. I’ve been able to go back and read things I’ve forgotten over the years. If I look at it as a journal I’m content to keep going. From the beginning I’ve wanted my blog to honor and encourage and I hope that it has brought some glory to God and encouragement to others. I’m also interested in what’s going on in the lives of fellow bloggers.
It’s a big birthday week at this old house. Monday was our daughter-in-law Jamie’s birthday. Tuesday was our son Dan’s birthday and Friday is our son Josh’s birthday. We aren’t seeing any of them on their day since Dan and Jamie are in northeastern Washington and Josh and Laura are celebrating in Hawaii.
Miss seeing our little Addy, too. It’s been almost a month. I’m always a little worried she’ll forget us but she has a sharp fresh mind so I should just let those thoughts go…
Joyce From This Side of the Pond asks the questions for Wednesday Hodgepodge. Thank you Joyce and thank you to those of you who took the time to read this post. I appreciate your visits!
The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b. 