Tag Archives: Seattle

The Fountain ~ by James Russell Lowell

 

The Fountain
~
Into the sunshine,
Full of the light,
Leaping and flashing
From morn till night!

Into the moonlight,
Whiter than snow,
Waving so flower-like
When the winds blow

Into the starlight
Rushing in spray,
Happy at midnight
Happy by day!

Ever in motion,
Blithesome and cheery
Still climbing heavenward,
Never aweary;

Glad of all weathers,
Still seeming best,
Upward and downward
Motion thy rest;

Full of a nature
Nothing can tame,
Changed every moment,
Ever the same;

Ceaseless aspiring,
Ceaseless content,
Darkness or sunshine
Thy element;

Glorious fountain!
Let my heart be
Fresh, changeful, constant,
Upward like thee!

 

Photos from the University of Washington, Seattle, Washington and from the Historical Olivas Adobe in Ventura, California.

Hope your hearts are content and looking up today! Happy Friday to all!

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.

Port Gamble in Washington

 

On Wednesday afternoon Josh, Laura, Michelle and I took the Ferry from Edmonds to Kingston for High Tea in Port Gamble. The Tea Room at Port Gamble is in an old Victorian house on the main street in this little town. You get off the ferry at Kingston and follow the road to Highway 104 headed for the Hood Canal Bridge. When you get to the 25 mile an hour speed zone you know you are close. You can’t miss it and it’s a delightful afternoon stop!

 

Josh was such a good sport to play along and don a hat, too. He had never been to High Tea and we discussed just how civilized it is. Of course none of us had to wear hats but we were just in the mood.

 

I think the highlights for us were the wonderful scones with strawberry jam and clotted cream and then the chocolate fondue at the end of our tea. Duhliscious!! (I miss-spelled that on purpose!)

 

We strolled through the little town and enjoyed the architecture and unique little shops. Took the picture of the Artful Ewe for you Willow!

My son Josh and Laura

My DIL Laura and niece Michelle

 

Do you see the sign the antique dealer has under her cash register in her shop? It says “YOUR HUSBAND CALLED – And said you can buy anything you want” On the way out of town we stopped at the Anglican Church.

 

From the cemetery we could see the Hood Canal Bridge and we commented that we should drop in on Dave and Beth but we didn’t call ahead and our afternoon was turning into evening.  Maybe you can meet Katie and I for tea sometime in Port Gamble Beth!?

 

At the cemetery Josh spotted this engraving on one of the tombstones. “Remember friend as you pass by, As you are now so once was I, As I am now you soon will be, Prepare for death and follow me”

Sobering thought or it could be taken as an encouragement to prepare ourselves for the inevitable by making decisions today that guarantee our future in Glory when we meet our Creator…

Well we decided it was time to head back to the ferry dock and journey across the Puget Sound to Edmonds and onward. But what did we spot on the way back…

CB’s Nuts! A small Roasting operation right off the main highway. We made a U-turn and headed back after we zoomed by too fast to stop. We are glad we turned around. We met Mr. Roasting Guy and he sold us some fresh peanuts, pistachios, and peanut butter.

 

Can’t get too much fresher then this!

 

At the ferry dock while we were waiting for our boat I zoomed in for this shot of Mt. Rainier and downtown Seattle. If you look closely you can see the Space Needle to the right of the rest of the buildings.

Another fabulous day in the Greater Puget Sound! To end the day we met my other kids, Dan and Katie, at PF Chang’s for dinner. A very full day that made this lady pretty tired but joyful.

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.

Suzzallo Library ~ University of Washington

Since I had absolutely nothing for ABC Wednesday, the letter Z, I decided to cheat a bit and use my Suzzallo Library Post for Z. Look! There are two z’s in Suzzallo! My daughter and I were here last Thursday.

 

This is Suzzallo Library on the campus of the University of Washington in Seattle. Ground was broken for this library in 1923. The building is an example of the Collegiate Gothic style adopted by the University as part of the 1915 campus plan, developed by architects Carl F. Gould and Charles H. Bebb.

 

Three heroic figures of cast stone depicting “Mastery”, “Inspiration”, and “Thought” sculpted by Allan Clark stand over the portals of the main entrance.

 

 

We walked up the beautiful staircase to get to the second floor reading room.

 

 

 

 

One of the entrances to the reading room. This room has inspired comparisons with the great library reading rooms of the world. After being in it I can understand why.

 

 

Oak bookcases are topped with a hand-carved frieze representing native plants of Washington State, including salal, Douglas fir, scrub oak, grape, dogwood, mountain ash, rhododendron, pear, trillium, salmon berry, wild rose, apple, marigold, canteloupe, tulip and cherry.

 

The room measures 65 feet high, 52 feet wide, and 250 feet long.

 

At each end of the room, a paneled alcove features a hand-painted world globe hanging from the ceiling, which bears the names of different explorers.

 

 

Tall, traceried windows incorporate leaded glass which is intended to break the direct rays of light.

 

The room features a vaulted ceiling elaborately decorated with rich colored and gilded stenciling.

 

A 1927 article in The Pacific Builder and Engineer stated that “This room has been pronounced the most beautiful on the continent and is ranked among the most beautiful in the world. It is comparable only to the nave of a cathedral.”

 

Some more views of the outside of the building.

If you live in the Greater Puget Sound Area and have never visited Suzzallo or if you happen to travel to Seattle, I highly recommend you put it on your list of places to visit.

ht: Most of the information I’ve shared comes from a Library Guide that is free at the entrance to the Library.

If you’d like to see more ABC Wednesday, Z is for posts click on over to Mrs. Nesbitt’s.

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.

Canoeing on Lake Washington

There is nothing, absolutely nothing
Half so much worth doing
As simply messing about in boats

~From The Wind in the Willows

Katie and I continue on our quest to re-visit places we love in the Greater Puget Sound Area on her days off. On Thursday we headed over to the University of Washington Water Front Activities Center to use her Student card to rent a canoe and paddle about Lake Washington. Once we were in the water, her doing most of the paddling, me taking the photos, we looked at each other and said “why have we waited so long to do this?” It’s been about 17 years!

We headed over to the 520 (Evergreen Floating Bridge) to go under it and on to quieter and more peaceful waterways.

See that little wooden foot bridge? We’ll duck and go under it. “Keep paddling Katie, I’m getting some great photos!”

So quiet and peaceful. The water is so calm and is a mirror reflecting the trees and sky. It was just about here that we started singing

“Praise God from whom all blessings flow
Praise Him all creatures here below
Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, Amen”

I have so many beautiful photos to share from our canoeing adventure, the herons, ducks, lily pads and our journey back to Husky stadium. I’ll be sharing more later along with our trip to the Husky campus to take in the beautiful Suzzalo Library reading room. Blessings!

Walk About the Yard

I’m in the Seattle area spending 6 weeks at my home here. I took a stroll about the yard to see what was blooming and growing.

 

We’ve got some wild blackberry blossoms, our apples and pears are maturing, the hydrangea is promising a few blooms, the lavender is in it’s glory and the blueberries are still green but plumping up.

I’m still getting my bearings here in my house. I decided to tackle a few rooms at a time for cleaning and organizing. On Tuesday I deep cleaned the kitchen and dusted the living room. Yesterday I got everything presentable except for my Master Bedroom. We’re having 16 for the 4th and I wanted the main living areas clean. Saturday I’ll tackle my bedroom, it’s on the 3rd floor all by itself so I felt fine leaving it till last and after our company on the 4th. Dear goes back to California on Sunday and then he flies back up to Seattle for the first two weeks in August. I’ll be able to get a lot of weeding in while he’s gone.

A very happy 4th to all you in the U.S.A.  and a very happy Friday to my friends in other parts of the world. My flag waving post for the 4th is just below this so scroll on down if you’d like…

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 ~ Seattle Skies

 

I’m in the Seattle area for the next six weeks so I’m hoping for some great skies to show you. I took this one last night from my upstairs bathroom window. A storm was blowing in and it was a great one. We had lots of dramatic thunder and lightning. Nope I wasn’t able to catch a lightning photo. Someday…

For more Skies from around the world visit our great humble host Tom at Wiggers World. Thanks Tom!

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.

8 Random Things About My Kitchen ~ Meme

Hello everyone! We made it to Seattle at 12:30 A.M. this morning. 17 hours on the road. I’m brain dead but I had this little meme in my drafts and decided I needed to put something new to look at on my blog. Since the kitchen and cooking and eating and fellowship were the theme of the last 3 days I thought this was a good filler for the time being. Hope to get around soon and see what you are all up to! Blessings.

Here’s a little Meme about the Kitchen. List 8 random things about your kitchen. You can combine things about your kitchen with your cooking style…

1. My Kitchen in my home in Washington is also my Dining Room. It all happens in here….

2. I have a gas stove top that is separate from my electric double oven.

3. A center rectangular work area with cabinets and a section of bar seating doubles as a buffet service area.

4. My kitchen has loads of cabinets that were an Oak finish and Dear painted them for me in two shades of green with my walls an even darker shade of the same green tone.

5. We used to have fluorescent light fixtures in this space that we jokingly said we could do surgery under. Dear replaced them with recessed lighting and drop down pen lights over my Island and a light fixture over our table.

6. We have seated up to 16 people around our dining room table!

7. We like to cook classic comfort food and also experiment with the latest recipes we see on Food Network!

We clean up all the messes in this wonderful sink. It’s deep and wide and I can fit a cookie sheet in here and my large pots and pans.

8. We love to share our space and our food with no expectations of reciprocation…

If you’d like to participate in this meme please do and let me know if you do…

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…