Tag Archives: Nature

October’s Bright Blue Weather ~

 

October’s Bright Blue Weather

O suns and skies and clouds of June,
And flowers of June together,
Ye cannot rival for one hour
October’s bright blue weather.

When loud the bumblebee makes haste,
Belated, thriftless vagrant,
And Golden Rod is dying fast,
And lanes with grapes are fragrant;

When Gentians roll their fringes tight,
To save them for the morning,
And Chestnuts fall from satin burrs
Without a sound of warning;

When on the ground red apples lie
In piles like jewels shining,
And redder still on old stone walls
Are leaves of woodbine twining;

When all the lovely wayside things
Their white-winged seeds are sowing,
And in the fields, still green and fair,
Late aftermaths are growing;

When springs run low, and on the brooks,
In idle golden freighting,
Bright leaves sink noiseless in the hush
Of woods, for winter waiting;

When comrades seek sweet country haunts,
By twos and twos together,
And count like misers, hour by hour,
October’s bright blue weather.

O suns and skies and flowers of June,
Count all your boasts together,
Love loveth best of all the year
October’s bright blue weather.

~Helen Hunt Jackson

Walking Again

Oh the Places you will go, Oh the Wonders you will see…

I made the horrible timely mistake of stepping on the scale last Tuesday morning. Right then and there I decided it was time to get serious about walking everyday again. I’ve gotten a little more fluffy and soft then I want to be. So I headed out to see what I could see…

 

The Burke Gilman Trail which spills into the Sammamish River Trail is a great place to walk/ride/run in the Seattle Area. My two walking buddies and I walked this trail every Saturday morning for several years before I moved to California. When I’m back in town we still get together to walk it. The two of them walk it when I’m away. It’s so lush and green in the Spring and Summer! This last Saturday we walked our typical 15,000 steps! On Wednesday of last week after the “stepping on the scale” incident I walked part of the trail starting at Bothell Landing and I clocked 7282 steps. These photos are from that day.

 

LOOK! I even found the MAGIC PORTAL to get to Hogwarts from the Pacific Northwest!

 

On Thursday for my motivation to walk I headed to Juanita Bay in Kirkland, Washington. There’s a wonderful park next to the bay with boardwalks that go out into the marshes and wetlands.

 

I saw this young Blue Heron.

 

Lots of Woodland Ducks. It was so exciting when I looked straight down from a spot on the boardwalk and saw this mama duck with her ducklings just below me.

 

Then I spotted these turtles!

 

This beautiful Dragonfly stayed around long enough for me to zoom in and get a shot.

 

When Dear gets here I think we’ll have to do this walk again together.

 

You can see why it was easy to get in 8694 steps checking out the wonder of this spot. The beauty that the Lord has created for us to enjoy and praise Him for is all around us. I hope to always have eyes that see it and a tongue that gives Him praise for it.

On Friday I went to Bellevue and I already posted about that day and those steps! So for my first 5 days back with renewed inspiration to walk my average steps were 9286. My Saturday walks with the girls really pushes up my average.

I hope to keep walking this week. Have a wonderful week and remember your Creator, the God who made all things beautiful for us to enjoy…

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage on their site and have replaced my photos with black and grey boxes of ugliness. I’m slowly deleting those boxes from my blog and trying to update so many posts, very frustrating.

The Butterfly

 

I was so happy that a butterfly stayed still long enough on my walk yesterday with Willow so that I could get a photograph. This is my first butterfly shot. I’d love to be able to get closer to one to get a clearer shot sometime. I had to zoom in fearing it would flutter away if I got too close. Dear tells me this is a Swallowtail butterfly, smarty pants!

Photobucket is holding all my photos I stored with them from 2007-2015 hostage. They have blacked out all those photos on my blog posts. OH BOTHER! I’m slowly cleaning up my posts.

Our Quick Trip Home

I’m back at the Condo in Southern California after a quick weekend to my home in Seattle. I’m sharing some photos of my walks around the yard while I was there and a couple from my typical outings when I’m home in Washington.

 

The Planters are filling in. The Azaleas are at the end of their pretty blooms. The Camellias are at an in-between stage. I chopped off their tops so I hope I didn’t kill them. We’ll see. My two lavender plants are getting ready to show off. They sure smelled good when I was weeding around them.

 

Azaleas, Lavender, I can’t tell you what the center plant is *but two of my lovely commenters say Corral Bells, yippee, and my Lenten Rose that has gotten quite hardy!

 

Rosemary, pears, ferns, hydrangea, little blueberry buds, wild rose, stuff in pots, my pear tree, and another photo of my blueberry bush.

 

The wonderful Washington State Flower the Rhododendron. I have 4 bushes that are in the need of some serious pruning to make them even hardier than they are. Just so you all know, everything I’ve shown you grows by the Grace of God. I do not want to pretend that I’m a gardener. I truly appreciate gardeners and praise God each year when these plants bloom again despite my neglect.

 

While I was home I had a quick walk with my Washington Walking buddies, Jody and Jan. The Burke Gilman trail is amazing in the Springtime.

 

Lilac bush/tree along the trail. Lilacs bloom everywhere here. I’d love a lilac tree in my yard.

 

Before we headed to the airport to fly back to California on Monday, I made a quick trip to my favorite thrift store in Washington State, Goodwill, not to be mistaken for California Goodwill’s. I found this pretty hand painted tea pot and creamer from Japan. (no sugar bowl to match)

 

But I picked up this cute little glass sugar bowl to compensate!

Greeting and Farewell ~ Quote from Anne of the Island  by L.M. Montgomery

“Anne dressed in the cheerless grey dawn, for an early start was necessary to catch the boat train; she struggled against the tears that would well up in her eyes in spite of herself. She was leaving the home that was so dear to her, and something told her that she was leaving it for ever, save as a holiday refuge. Things would never be the same again; coming back for vacations would not be living there. And oh, how dear and beloved everything was – that little white porch room, sacred to the dreams of girlhood, the old Snow Queen at the window, the brook in the hollow, the Dryad’s Bubble, the Haunted Wood, and Lovers’ Lane – all the thousand and one dear spots where memories of the old years bided. Could she ever be really happy anywhere else?”

Well just so y’all know I’m not quite as sentimental as Anne is. I can be happy somewhere else and I do think that I will return to this home sometime in the future but there’s always a little sadness when I arrive home and then when I have to leave again. And until I can return “my heart will keep on singing” and I will choose to find joy each day I’m away.

I’ll be posting more photos from the Japanese Gardens we visited tomorrow. In the meantime I hope you find joy today.

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage and they have blacked them all out. I’m slowly working at restoring my posts without their help. Such a tiresome bother!

Photo Hunters ~ Shoes

Shoes on the Beach

 

What to do with shoes on the beach~
Hold them
Put them on a rock
Just don’t put them on your feet

 

This is our oldest son Josh and his wife Laura at the beach with us in California.

For more Photo hunters head over to tnchick’s.

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage and they have blacked them all out. I’m slowly working at restoring my posts without their help. Such a tiresome bother!

Back to Emma Wood With the Tide Out…

We had a wonderful sandy walk at Emma Wood State Beach in Ventura, California last Saturday. We were so pleased to see the tide out far enough for a true walk on the beach.

 

 

These little Sanderlings were scurrying about in full force digging in the sand with their long narrow beaks.

 

I was excited to catch this Pelican with my camera.

 

And these Cormorants were an added bonus!

 

 

We had fun exploring some of these pools.

 

We saw many sea anemones

 

We also saw crabs, mussels stuck on rocks, and a Jellyfish!

Lord willing this coming Saturday we are going to try to do a walk here again at dusk.

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage and they have blacked them all out. I’m slowly working at restoring my posts without their help. Such a tiresome bother!

Mother’s Day 2008 ~ Whittier

 

Our Mother’s Day Celebrations started early this year. I was away from all my children this year so they got together and created the best gift I could possibly ask for. Each of them wrote to me and included a photo of themselves. Each note was unique just like they are. They were put together in the book cover you see in the center of the collage. I was in Mom heaven! On Mother’s Day morning Dear was very sweet and took me to the Rose Bowl Flea Market with a pocket full of cash. I’ll post more about that later. After we walked the isles and isles of goodies at the Flea Market we headed to Whittier for a smaller family gathering with my Sister’s Family and my Mom and Dad. My brother Steve was able to come, too.

 

As we drove through Whittier to my sister’s house we were greeted with the beautiful purple blooms on the Jacaranda Trees.

 

My Father and Mother who are always a joy to be around.

 

My Father and Jackson (Great grandson)

 

Jackson with his friend.

 

We were surounded by beautiful blooms on potted plants and fresh bouquets.

 

We started lunch with my mother’s Borsch and then had fondue. Main course of beef, chicken, cheese, bread, and vegetables. Then a dark chocolate and milk chocolate fondue mix for our fruit and wafers and biscotti. Everything was very good.

I brought my mom, sister, and niece these Johnson Bros. mugs filled with 3 kinds of Tea.

My nieces gave me the potted pink hydrangea in the top collage.

It was a beautiful day of honoring mom’s and enjoying each others company. Thank you Len and Kathy for always opening your home to family. Len’s 95 year old mother was able to join us at the table for a little while and had us in stitches with some of her remarks. How lovely the day was. Thank you Lord.

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage and they have blacked them all out. I’m slowly working at restoring my posts without their help. Such a tiresome bother!

Sky Watch ~ Our Lord’s Candle

 

I saw this wisp of a cloud on a neighborhood walk with Willow last week. The hillsides are filled with these Yucca’s blooming right now. I’d like to get a little closer to one and smell the fragrance…

Our Lord’s Candle (Yucca whipplei) Agave Family. AGAVACEAE ~ The flower stalk is 4 to 8 feet tall. There is basal rosette of spine-tipped, sword-like leaves 1 to 3 feet long. The white flowers sometimes purple-tinged, appear in a terminal compound cluster up to 4 feet long. They are very fragrant and even have a pleasant taste when nibbled.

Beginning in April and continuing through July, Our Lord’s Candle blooms abundantly in Chaparral and Oak Woodland in elevations up to 2500 feet.

 

For more Sky Watch photos click over to Wiggers World.

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage and they have blacked them all out. I’m slowly working at restoring my posts without their help. Such a tiresome bother!

Fun Monday ~ Favorite Walk

Here’s our assignment from Angela at the Lurchers for this week.

“I’m going to make it a nice and easy Fun Monday this week. All I want you to do is take me on your favourite walk. In words or pictures. Or both of course! Tell me why it’s your favourite and point out things of interest on the way.”

My husband and I have two wonderful walks that we do early on Saturday mornings. Our walk along the beach at Emma Wood State Beach in Ventura, California.

 

The beauty of the Pacific Ocean, the fresh salt air, all of God’s beautiful splendor, what a wonderful stimulation for all our senses.

 

Then we have another choice close by. Our second favorite is in the Santa Monica Mountains that are in our backyard. In Sycamore Canyon we have several hiking trails with different elevations to choose from. On the Scenic Trail we again are able to see the Pacific Ocean when we reach the top…

 

We enjoy both of these walks/hikes because we are generally all alone going as early as we do. It’s quiet except for the birds and the crashing of the waves. We see different and interesting plants and wildlife.

 

It’s great to get away from the neighborhood and into the “wild”.

For more Fun Monday visit Angela at the Lurchers.

And look what Anni gave me today. I love her graphics and this one is so darn cute! Thanks Hootin Anni!

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage and they have blacked them all out. I’m slowly working at restoring my posts without their help. Such a tiresome bother!

Pleasant Valley Historical Society Museum~Botanical Garden

In the City of Camarillo there is a small Museum and Botanical Garden that is only open on Saturdays and Sundays for 4 hours. The facility is staffed by volunteers who are knowledgeable about the history of the area and the artifacts on hand.

 

The museum is housed in the old water district building and the small garden is behind the building.

 

There are several glass cases of some of the local Chumash Indian artifacts and other memorabilia from the early days in the Pleasant Valley Area. After a look at all the cases I headed out to the Garden with a challenge from one of the volunteers to try to guess what a green object in the garden was. Well I like a challenge so I was off to have a look.

 

On the way to find this mysterious green object I stopped to smell the roses…

 

 

More pretty flowers along the walkway still looking for the Green mystery item.

 

This must be the mystery item. I look at it and chuckle because this is not a mystery to me. This is a Still! I’m married to Dear and he has educated me about the Art of Stills. I went back into the museum to let them know I was familiar with the Green Mystery Item. I earned some brownie points for not being stumped! I was then told the history of this Still and how it was donated to the museum by one of the farmers in the area.

“Well, between Scotch and nothin’, I suppose I’d take Scotch. It’s the nearest thing to good moonshine I can find.”
William Faulkner

***I’m headed to a Mad Hatter Tea Shower today instead of a walk so I’m posting my average steps for the week here. I am quite pleased that I’m finally able to walk a little further and that my back is getting better and better everyday. My average steps this week were 7663. Next week I hope to be able to get closer to 10,000 again. We’ll see what my back allows. Have a wonderful Saturday and keep on walking.

Oh and if I’m brave enough I’ll post a photo of myself in my hat!

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage and they have blacked them all out. I’m slowly working at restoring my posts without their help. Such a tiresome bother!