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.
On Thursday we got up at O’dark’thirty and drove south to the Spokane airport for my trip to Southern California. It was a two leg journey for me. First leg from Spokane to Seattle which is a quick hour up and down trip with not much in the world of perks. The second leg was from Seattle to Orange County (John Wayne Airport also known as Santa Ana Airport). The airport is in the city of Santa Ana which is in the county of Orange.
I’m now in the land of Palm Trees but the sun and blue skies are not breaking through the June Gloom here.
My youngest sister works in a high rise that’s close enough to the airport to see the planes landing and she captured my plane as it came in for a landing. She was looking out for it since she would be picking me up from the airport.
Thankful for another safe landing.
Three of us ‘sisters’ enjoyed dinner out at the Black Trumpet in Huntington Beach before retiring for the evening.
The French Onion Soup was delicious and I’m sorry I didn’t take a photo before I destroyed the top of it!
Today (Friday) my sister Vera and I will have a walk along the Pacific Ocean. June Gloom is still happening here so I’m not sure what photos I’ll be snapping.
Our brother from Texas arrives tonight.
Saturday will be a day filled with many reunions with friends and family as we celebrate the life of our friend Alice.
Our daughter Katie with Alice at Katie’s bridal shower.
Our mom and our life long friend Alice. They are both in heaven now.
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?
Pineapple but not on a pizza. 🙂
2. Last time you were ‘thrown in at the deep end’? Explain.
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?
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?
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.
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.
The 9/11 Memorial is dedicated to the first responders and victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania that killed 2,996 and brought down the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center.
The HB 9/11 Memorial has a pentagon shaped base with two slabs of black granite representing the twin towers set in a cement wall. The words “We Will Never Forget” are set in brass letters contained on the cement wall between the two towers. The monument includes a plate and a section of steel beam from the World Trade Center. The base of the memorial has the names of the four airline flights lost in the attacks engraved on its sides.
I took these photos at the Huntington Beach Civic Center back in March while visiting family in Southern California. Vera and I stopped at the center so she could purchase her annual beach parking pass. While she was busy in the building I walked around and took photos.
Sharing this early on 9/8/2020. We stopped at another memorial on our way back from the Coast in June and I’ll share those photos on Friday.
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
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.
Have a good day everyone!
Our son Josh and our dear DIL, Laura, flew to Southern California for a few days to celebrate Joshua’s birthday. This photo is of our nephew David and his dear wife and our kids at Huntington Beach.
Our niece Melissa and niece Debbee with our kids at Huntington Beach. Debbee and David are siblings, my sister Vera’s kids. Melissa belongs to my sister Kathy. So grateful that many photos were taken and shared.
Newport Beach/Balboa where David and Kristin live.
The guys heading to the gun range. Nephew Tim and Dave. Nephews in law Ryan and Lenny. Our grandnephew, Jackson and our son Josh.
Seriously…
The girls making lotions and such while the guys were shooting. Niece Debbee, Melissa and Michelle. Niece in law, Kristin and grandniece Avery. Daughter in law, Laura. Melissa and Michelle are sisters.
After shooting and lotion making a dinner celebration with cake for Josh.
Breakfast at Juliene, a family favorite in San Marino, California.
And a rare treat to be able to get together with two of our nieces on Dear’s side of the family. Kacie was in Southern California visiting from North Carolina and our niece Annie is now living in Long Beach moving from North Carolina recently. Their sister Jenna lives in New York.
Our kids filled up their days in California enjoying their cousins. Their Dzeda, our pop, told them all before he died to “stay together, love each other.” It fills me with joy to see them doing just that. I’m thankful for social media so I can see things like this and (steal) share the photos to memorialize them on my blog.
My next post will be all about cousin time at Disneyland with other encounters, too.
…in love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another – and all the more as you see the day approaching. Hebrews 10: 24-25 (NIV)
Cousins enjoying breakfast together the day after the funeral.
While many of our extended family gathered in southern California for our Pop’s funeral we took every advantage to enjoy each other’s company at restaurants, in homes and at the beach.
Cousins, aunts and uncles at Huntington Beach.
These two had to leave shortly after this photo was taken.
After the beach we gathered at our niece’s home in Huntington Beach and my siblings and I were captured having a laugh out loud till we cried moment.
Addy with her cousin once removed reading to her. Breakfast, Beach, airport, dinner all on Saturday July 21st.
Our pop’s famous greeting and benediction.
Newport Beach, Balboa Island and Balboa Peninsula on Sunday July 22nd.
Newport Beach at our nephew and niece’s home. We are enjoying pizza and salad here for dinner. Earlier in the day we walked over to Balboa Island and enjoyed hot dogs from Crocker’s , the well dressed frank! Oh yum I forgot to take a photo of the best Chicago Dog that I’ve ever had!
Many of us out of towners left after this get together on Sunday July 22nd. The rest of the family enjoyed more special times together after we left.
Sunday July 29th was a birthday celebration at Golden Skewers in Montebello for our brother Leonard who is twins with our sister Lana. (She was gone for this celebration). Next door to Golden Skewers is a bakery we’ve enjoyed for over 50 years, Amy’s. The birthday cake in the next photo was purchased there.
Birthday brother with my two older sisters getting ready to enjoy the cake at my sister Kathy’s home.
With our parents gone from this earth the baton is in our court to keep our families connected and accountable to carry on in the good faith of our fathers.
Back here in Washington State we continue to tie up loose ends on this side of the mountains. We are making progress in emptying out our shop and making plans to find a spot to store that stuff in Colville or Kettle Falls. It’s been quite hot on both sides of the mountains and we are looking forward to cooler days to work in. Some new possibilities for homes have come on the market. We have a comfortable space here at our son and daughter in law’s in the meantime. God bless them. I’ve also had some quiet times in the morning to spend in the Word and then to even visit blogs. I don’t feel as displaced these days. Thank you for your visits and comments and prayers during this time of our lives. You are an encouragement to me.
The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b. 