Tag Archives: Photography

ABC Wednesday ~ U is for

U is for Underwood Family Farms, U-pick Blueberries, Uitility Poles, and the U.S. Post Office

I sure wish there was someone with me when I was taking this shot so I could have a face to go with one of these animals.

The Underwood Farms sell fresh fruit, produce and flowers at this roadside stand. They are also known for their U-pick Blueberries.

 

While at the Underwood Stand I looked down the road and noticed all these Utility Poles.

On the way home I passed this U.S. Post Office. All they seem to want to send me these days is lots of USELESS mail and very few meaningful pieces of mail.

For more ABC’s head over to Mrs. Nesbitt.

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.

The Bridal Shower

My extended family came together to host a bridal shower for our future niece, cousin, granddaughter. June 28th is the wedding day. I put together some photos from the event. Good food, Fellowship, and blessings all around. A lovely colorful afternoon.

 

Can you guess the color scheme we chose for the shower? Yep, lavender, green, and cream.

 

I’m happy to say the fondant cake turned out and if the fondant had been fresher (confession time: I had this box of fondant in my cupboard for over a year) it would have been easier to work with and a lot more pliable. I will try fondant again, fresh fondant.

 

We had savory blintzes filled with chicken and broccoli, tabbouleh, fruit salad, Italian Wedding cookies, and Kefili cookies filled with apricot and plum jam. My mom made the cookies. The Kefili are one of her russian recipes. Growing up we had a great Italian friend living across the street, Lucille. She always made these Italian wedding cookies for showers and weddings. My mom hunted down her recipe to make them for this shower.

 

Jessica ~ Jessica and her mom, Connie ~ Jessica with Kelly (my Sil) and Kelly’s mom, Lynn ~ Jessica with my mother.

 

My niece Michelle getting the Mojito Punch ready. We love details, so my niece Melissa made ice-cubes with mint in them. That’s my niece Debbee in the kitchen. Sadly the Mojito Punch was virgin (no rum), but it was very good and refreshing.

Speaking of nieces, here they are ~ Jessica, Michelle, Debbee, and Melissa.

 

Details, details, we placed sprigs of lavender on each of the blintzes.

 

My sister Kathy had these great vintage snack trays that we used for the food.

 

 

 

 

 

I love this photo of my mom.

The shower was wonderful. We ended up making each other cry (a good cry). Don’t you think that sometimes if there are tears that are shed we are being real with each other? We thanked God and prayed for Jessica and Tim and prayed for all of us. We wanted to give God the honor for all He has done for our family and friends.

I was exhausted but happy that everything came together well. I had left my condo at 9:30 am and returned at 8:30 pm. 181 miles round-trip. Today I’m a little brain dead. I hope to get around and see what you are all up to sometime today after I empty my trunk and put everything away…

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.

Eye Hath Not Seen ~ Fanny Crosby

Eye Hath Not Seen

They tell me of a land so fair,
Unseen by mortal eyes,
Where spring in fadeless beauty blooms,
Beneath unclouded skies.

Refrain

“Eye hath not seen, ear hath not heard,
Neither hath it entered into the heart of man,
The things which God hath prepared for them,
Prepared for them that love Him.”

They tell me of a land so fair,
Where all is light and song,
Where angel choirs their anthems join
With yonder blood-washed throng.

Refrain

No radiant beams from sun or moon
Adorn that land so fair,
For He who sits upon the throne
Shines forth resplendent there.

Refrain

O land of light and love and joy,
Where comes no night of care,
What will our song of triumph be
When we shall enter there!

Refrain

Words by Fanny Crosby, 1890. Music by George C. Stebbins

Feelings Meme ~

I saw this at Susanne’s and since I have to work at being sensitive to my feelings I decided to give it a whirl.

Feelings meme:

Reluctant ~ to get too involved in church activities these days.

Excited ~ to be spending 6 weeks in Seattle this summer.

Worried ~ About whether my first attempt at a cake with fondant frosting is going to turn out for a bridal shower this weekend. :0)

Relieved ~ that I found a couple bills that were missing and paid them.

Wondering: ~ I’m the Happy Wonderer, I wonder about everything!

Certain ~that Jesus lives and I will stand before Him someday. 

Cautious ~about over committing.

Happy ~that I have so many loving people in my life.

Love ~every new adventure that comes my way

Adore ~God’s creation

Grateful ~for kind words of encouragement.

Go ahead and find your inner touchy feely and do this meme. After you do let me know so I can come by and get all emotional with you…

Oh and the photo at the top of this post is ellen b in the restroom at the Queen Mary Tea Room. Yep I take pictures everywhere…

Smashed Potatos are Good!

 

We had some very interesting guests for dinner last night and we wanted to feed them something special so I decided to try Pioneer Woman Cooks’ Smashed Potato recipe she shared this week. To go with the potatos we had a marinated flank steak and a Fiesta Salad. Here’s my attempt with the smashed potatoes.

 

First boil red potatos in salted water till you can pierce them with a fork. Then put them on a olive oiled sheet pan and smash them with a potato masher. Mine look different from Pioneer woman’s because she had the older fashioned potato masher.

 

After smashing them brush them with olive oil and salt them with Kosher salt liberally. Sprinkle pepper on them and a finely minced herb of your choice. Pioneer Woman and I used rosemary. Then stick them in a 450 degree oven for 20-25 minutes.

They were delicious and even the little rabbit really enjoyed them. He mostly went for the rosemary.

 

Then because these were very special guests we served a fresh strawberry pie for dessert. Yum…

It was fun to change identities during the evening. Even the beloved stuffed dog got a new face.

My guests were my niece Michelle (the Lion), her husband Ryan (the Bear) and my great nephew Jack (the Rabbit).

Do try these potatos, you won’t be disappointed. You can boil the potatos ahead of time then get them ready to pop in the oven 20 or so minutes out from serving time. Oh and because we are big fans of garlic I’ll add garlic next time.

Have a wonderful day!

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.

Japanese Gardens ~ Washington Park Arboretum, Seattle

During my weekend in Seattle my sister, daughters, and I decided to stop at the Lake Washington Arboretum and to stroll through the Japanese Garden. We wanted to see the Tea House where Katie attends class every Thursday to learn the Japanese Tea Ceremony. She has her final this Thursday (today).

 

 

The Gardens are beautifully landscaped.

 

These photos are of the Tea House that is nestled in the beautiful surroundings of the garden.

 

It’s Spring so the Rhododendrons and Wisteria were in their glory.

 

I was so pleased to see the Wisteria in bloom.

 

The 4 of us were really in awe of God’s glorious creation and how He has given man the eye to plant and plan the beautiful landscape in this garden.

 

 

 

I hope you can sense much of the beauty through these photos.

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.

Sky Watch ~ Washington

I was in Seattle, Washington this last weekend so my sky watch photos are from there.

 

This first one is from my bedroom window on Saturday evening looking West.

 

This one was taken from the Lake Washington floating bridge on Sunday Afternoon looking South.

 

This last one is taken in Kirkland, Washington looking across Lake Washington towards the city of Seattle to the West.

For more Sky Watch visit Tom at 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!

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!