Tag Archives: Puget Sound

Fashionably Late…

Here I sit on this Friday after, Black Friday, It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas Friday, still in my robe Friday but still very thankful Friday!

I’m joining in with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story with my favorites from this past week. Five (or so) faves but lots more than five photos!

1. I’m thankful for this leftover photo of when my kids were all together a couple weekends ago.

T-Day and after 001

2. I’m thankful for our Son-in-law, Andrew, serving his country in Afghanistan. He had to have Thanksgiving in what he calls the sandbox.

Andrew trainingThis photo is from his cold weather training for Afghanistan.

3. I’m thankful for some leisurely shopping the evening before Thanksgiving with Dear and Katie topped off with Happy Hour at Daniel’s Broiler in Bellevue. I know from here on out it will be crazy out there in the stores. I am still sitting here in my robe on this Black Friday with no intentions of going anywhere.

Bellsquare-H1A good meal with a lovely view with people you love…priceless.

P1040722We could see all the way across Lake Washington to downtown Seattle.

P1040725I’m always grateful to see a glorious sunset!

Bellsquare-H

4. We were invited to our friend’s home for Thanksgiving. There were forty five of us gathered and the food was amazing and oh so plentiful. I made double the amount of yams needed and I could have fed a whole neighborhood with just the yams. Oye. By the time we ate my memory card was full so I can’t show you the ginormous pan of yams with marshmallows on top browned to perfection. You’re going to have to take my word for it.

2013-11-29 T-Day at SpirosThe cousins table, the kid table and the collective table. The collective table was for those of us who had the most collective Thanksgivings…translation ~ the old people table! We had those of us starting in the 50’s to two matriarchs that are very close to 90 represented.

T-Day at Spiros 007Some of the younger guests!

T-Day at Spiros 010

When you see a crowd on the deck poised with their phones, quick, grab your camera and fun out there, too!

T-Day at Spiros 013There was a cloud layer resting above the Puget Sound and at sunset we got a fun view of the Olympic Mountain range peeking out above the fog with the lovely colors of the sunset above. What you see with the naked eye is very hard to capture with a camera or phone. The view with the eyes God gave me was so much more spectacular than this photo.

5. I’m thankful that with our technology we can talk to and communicate with people across the world and in a different hemisphere than us. Our hosts’ youngest daughter is on a 2 year trek around the world living in different countries. We were able to communicate with her and see her on one of the I-phones from Australia.

T-Day at Spiros 017Hi Jamie!! We love you and miss you! (Jamie was our Katie’s maid of honor)

Did I mention I’m still in my robe? I love the morning after Thanksgiving when there is nothing on the calendar and I can just dilly dally the day away!

Sunday starts another week of celebrations around this old house. Now that Thanksgiving is behind us I’ll start getting serious about Christmas, too. How about you? Have you started on Christmas?

Escaping the Chaos…

All is good at this old house in the midst of the chaos. Dear had a minor injury during the work over the weekend so he’s taking the next couple days off to recuperate which means happily for me he’ll be here to supervise the work as the new floors go in on Tuesday. Josh and Laura rescued us and especially Dear bringing food and helping put the new patio door in. I washed all the window inside and out in the family room and washed the mini blinds. Now I really understand people having them professionally cleaned. What a job!

On Saturday I had another escape to a fun tea sponsored by a Girl Scout friend’s troop to raise money. She and her troop did a wonderful job of serving all of us and also making conversation as we sipped our tea. The 3 girls who were on the Tea Committee earned their Social Butterfly badges. How cute is that!

Sarah's Tea1Here’s my DIL Laura with our little friend Sarah. Sarah was on the Tea Committee so she earned her badge. Sarah’s older sister Anna is in the top right photo. This last photo is of the views from the home where the tea was held. Such a beautiful day in the Puget Sound area of Washington.

Sarah's Tea2I zoomed in on the Ferry doing the Edmonds/Kingston voyage.

Hope you all had a nice weekend.

George Washington Inn ~ Port Angeles

Between Sequim and Port Angeles on a bluff above the Strait of Juan de Fuca is a beautiful Inn dedicated to reflect the spiritual legacy that was the foundation of our country. Here’s a little recap of our journey for High Tea at the George Washington Inn.

We woke up to a significant wind storm on the morning of George Washington’s Birthday. We were hoping our ferry crossing on the Puget Sound would go well. We crossed with rocking and rolling and white caps in view.

We picked up Beth in the historic little town of Port Gamble and crossed the Hood Canal bridge without incident. When we turned the bend into Sequim we were hit head on with some gale force winds that made me keep a tight grip on the steering wheel. We were visually impressed when we turned up the driveway to the George Washington Inn.

How fun to have to be squinting in the bright sunshine! Despite the wind the weather treated us kindly.

What a wonderful surprise when we walked into the front door and George Washington greeted us!

He was kind enough to take a photo with us.

We were early so we toured the Inn before our tea time.

The guest rooms were so lovely. The soaking tub really was inviting. We headed out to see the views from the Terrace.

There was a driving wind blowing across the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

Did I already mention how lovely it was to have the sun shining brightly?! We headed back inside and downstairs to look around.

The Inn has great comfortable spaces and we enjoyed this sitting area before we headed into Tea. My next post will show all my photos from our High Tea time which included time with George Washington and hearing some history of his life.

What a wonderful setting. We all agreed that it would be a very special treat to stay overnight at this beautifully appointed and comfortable Inn. The Innkeepers made us feel right at home. This Inn and property also participate in the annual Lavender Farm Faire. How great  it would be to stay here during the festival!

5:35 A.M. Ferry to Kingston!

Who chooses to get up on a Saturday and head out at 4:45 A.M. without a fishing pole? Dear and Ellen B.! I’ll share more in the next few days on our adventure…

 

Hope your weekend is going well!

Photobucket replaced all my photos with blurred out versions and they are holding my photos hostage until I pay them lots of money. I’m slowly going through all my posts and trying to clean them up and replacing some photos. Such a bother.

Shine!

Arise, shine;
For your light has come!
And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you.
For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth,
And deep darkness the people;
But the LORD will arise over you,
And His glory will be seen upon you.

~ Isaiah 60: 1-2 (NKJV)

Outdoor Wednesday ~ Edmonds, Washington

Susan at A Southern Daydreamer is our hostess for Outdoor Wednesday. I finally have some free time while I’m in Washington to join in on the outdoor fun. Visit Susan by clicking on the link above to see more Outdoor posts!

 

Edmonds – Kingston Ferry Dock

 

On Saturday I took a detour on my way to Goodwill and walked along the waterfront in Edmonds. The tide was low this day.

 

 

This was a new waterfront sight that I don’t see in Southern California…Canadian Geese!

On Wednesday Dear and I fly back to Southern California. Happy Wednesday to everyone!

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.

Outdoor Wednesday ~ Edmonds-Kenmore

Photobucket is holding all my photos I stored with them from 2007-2015 hostage unless I pay them a lot of money. I’m slowly cleaning up many posts from this time period and deleting their ugly grey and black boxes with a ransom request. Such a time consuming bother.

Outdoor Wednesday this week is from my trip to the Seattle Area last week. I returned home to California on Sunday afternoon. I experienced all kinds of weather while I was in Washington.

 

The sun was shining bright on Friday. I was in the Edmonds area and this is the view of the Puget Sound across to the Kitsap Peninsula. The snow capped mountains are in the Olympic Mountain range.

Edmonds is also home to Rick Steves and his travel business.

 

On Saturday morning I met my walking buddies in Kenmore on Lake Washington for a 6 mile round trip walk to Bothell and back on the Burke Gilman trail.

 

Even though it was cold and misty I still got some photos in. I was happy to see this Robin.

 

The trail at this point goes along the Slough which connects Lake Washington to Lake Sammamish.

Just before I left for California on Sunday we got another dusting of snow.

When I was putting this post together and I was looking at the ones from our walk this song kept going through my head.

“All the leaves are brown and the sky is grey, I’ve been for a walk on a winter’s day. I’d be safe and warm if I was in L.A., California dreaming on such a winter’s day.”  Yep the Mama’s and the Papa’s were a hit group while I was in high school.  Anybody else out there remember listening to them way back when? I also got to go to one of their concerts!

To see more Outdoor Posts visit Susan our lovely hostess by clicking here.

It’s An Edmonds Kind of Day…

 

What an absolutely glorious day in the Pacific Northwest. This shot is taken in Edmonds, Washington looking out over the Puget Sound to the Olympic Peninsula.

 

I was in Edmonds on Friday morning for my yearly exam. So why am I showing you this collage with our good friends and traveling companions Bob, Jan, Dave and Jody? Jan is not only my Northwest walking buddy along with Jody but she’s my doctor’s nurse. Whenever I go to the doctor’s office she greats me and weighs me (curses), takes my blood pressure and settles me in the exam room. Dave is my doctor and he’s married to my other Northwest walking buddy Jody. We’ve been friends since 1984. We met Dave and Jody at our church in Ventura, California while Dave was completing his residency at the County Hospital there. Dave delivered our daughter Katie 23 years ago in Ventura, Ca. He is still my doctor. We met Bob and Jan on a bicycling trip in the wine country in 1986. After we moved to Seattle in 1988 we attended church with Dave, Jody, Jan, and Bob. Bob was our pastor for 19 years. Oh and Dave and Bob are brothers. So when I went for my doctor appointment I got to see my friends. What a privilege it is to be brothers and sisters in the Lord. Saturday the 3 walking buddies will meet at 9:00 am for our 6 mile walk on the Burke Gilman Trail. When I lived in the Seattle area we would meet to do this walk most every Saturday rain or shine or even snow sometimes.

 

After I was done at the doctor’s office I decided to drive down into the “Edmonds Bowl” and see what I could see. And boy did I get an eyeful. There’s Mount Baker that is very close to the Canadian Border. Hi Lovella!

 

It’s always such a great treat to see the snow covered Olympics across the Sound.

 

This is the Edmonds side of the Edmonds/Kingston Ferry run. This ferry takes you across the Sound to the Kitsap Peninsula.

 

Hope you all have a wonderful Saturday! I’m headed back to Southern California on Sunday…

Photobucket is holding all my photos I stored with them from 2007-2015 hostage unless I pay them a lot of money. I’m slowly cleaning up many posts from this time period and deleting their ugly grey and black boxes with a ransom request. Such a time consuming bother.

Fun with Friends and Family

 

We have had some fun and fulfilling days this week with family and friends. Yesterday we headed to Dave and Jody’s house in Edmonds overlooking the Sound for swimming and food.

 

I had a little stroll about Jody’s garden and watched the bees enjoying it.

Finn charmed us with his cuteness. At one point in the evening, when no one was watching, Finn went into the bathroom and had fun with lots of toilet paper and grandmother’s lipstick!

We met and held sweet little Josee (pronounced JoeZay). She is 2 weeks old.

We also met for the first time, sweet Juliet, who is 4 weeks old and Josee’s cousin.

As if with all this sweetness we needed the desserts I brought (Recipes to follow soon)

Creamy Cheesecake and

Fruit Pizza (thanks Bernideen for the recipe) The recipe will make 2 round medium size pizza’s. I chose to do 1 large rectangular one.

Dave and Jody served Soft Fish Tacos made with barbecued Tilapia (Yummy) and Jan brought fruit. We always eat well when we get together.

 

The Sun going down beyond the Olympic Mountains on the Olympic Penninsula. Thank you Dave and Jody for another wonderful time in your company!

Besides all this fun the guys have been busy, busy, working on our continuing basement project. I love it when my 3 guys are together working, laughing and just hanging out…

Dear and Dan assembling the new wheelbarrow they needed for mixing cement.

 

Josh mixing up the cement…

Dear and Dan pouring the cement down into cinder blocks with limited access.

Time flies when you’re having fun.

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.