A Day Off…

Thankfully today is President’s Day and Dear has the day off. We’ve been working and celebrating all weekend and our yard project continues today. I’ll be strapping on my back brace and helping Dear after my coffee. I’ll show you a little of what’s gone on this weekend already and I’ll show the complete before and afters of our yard project soon.

On Saturday, Valentines Day, we headed to the Home Depot and bought what we’d need for the beginning of our yard project. We finished the first half of what we planned and will continue with the second half today.

On Sunday we took the day off from our project and after church we had a nice brunch/lunch with Josh and Laura catching up on a lot of what’s been going on in our lives the last few weeks. It was a good time filled with fun, laughter and some hard things, too. That’s life, isn’t it? After the kids left we changed up a bit and headed to downtown Seattle for our belated Valentine dinner at Morton’s Steak House.

The food was delicious and that Grand Marnier Souffle for two was a very nice way to end our meal!

I’ll end with a little tribute to one of the presidents we celebrate on this day, Abraham Lincoln. The quote is from Lincoln’s Devotional.

Communion with God

a Source of Joy

There be many that say, Who will show us any good? Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us. Thou has put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased. Psalm iv. 6, 7.

Lord, what is life? if spent with thee,
In humble praise and prayer,
How long or short my life may be
I feel no anxious care:
though life depart, my joys shall last,
When life and all its joys are past.

Hope your cares are few and your joy is full. Do you have today off? What does your day hold?

B is for Birthdays!

January is a big birthday month at this old house. Our oldest son was born on January 19th and his younger brother arrived two years later on January 16th. My younger brother was born on January 22nd and my youngest niece, Hope, was born on January 25th.

I set Joshua’s birthday table around a Washington state sports theme. Since we were celebrating the night before the NFC championship game here in Seattle I added some Seattle Seahawks touches to our Seattle Sounders Soccer themed table.

The Seahawks and the Sounders have similar team colors which made it easy and fun.

Our boy was happy with the table setting, the Ribeye steaks and his special request dessert. We had such a good time celebrating Josh.

Josh and Laura gifted me these beautiful illustrated ABC verse cards at Christmas and I’ll share the verse for letter B, too.

On Tuesday you can click on over for more ABC Wednesday posts on the letter B. Thank you to Denise Nesbitt who started this meme and to the team of bloggers who manage it every week.

Night at the Museum

On Wednesday night we drove downtown in the rain and wind to Dear’s company Christmas Party which of course they call a Holiday Event. For the next couple months Dear’s company is Dendreon Corporation. They are currently in Chapter 11 proceedings and the company will be auctioned off to the highest bidder on February 4th. In the meantime there are speculations flying around as to what large company might be interested in purchasing Dendreon. Dendreon has a treatment for Prostate Cancer. A very simple explanation about the treatment is that the patient’s own cells are treated to be able to fight the cancer.

We were treated well with good food and drink. There were two signature drinks. Orange for Dendreon and Blue for Provenge, the name of the cancer treatment.

The party was at the MOHAI in Seattle, Museum of History and Industry. It was a great setting for a private event. Some of my favorite displays at the museum were the following.

“It is fitting that the Toe Truck will be included in the museum’s eclectic collection of local memorabilia. Built nearly 25 years ago, the Toe Truck became a local landmark for millions of motorists during the more than two decades it was displayed outside the Lincoln Towing yard at Fairview Avenue North and Mercer Street.”

The Rainier Beer R was a landmark for years just off the Interstate in Seattle. The original 12-foot-high Rainier sign graced the top of the Rainier Brewery from the 1950s until 2000, and now rests restored at MOHAI.

I was happy to see items from my favorite team amongst the museum sport team memorabilia.

When we left and were waiting for our car I snapped some photos of the Space Needle. By this time the rain had stopped. We were very happy the company provided free valet parking for the event, too.

We are choosing joy as we continue to make preparations for the most wonderful time of the year and for all the unknowns of next year!

L is for Lofty!

Time for ABC Wednesday and we are on the letter L.

Thank you to the founder of this meme, Mrs. Nesbitt and her now trusty crew that keep the meme going.

A few weeks ago I was on an airplane flying out of Seattle and I was treated to some lofty views of downtown Seattle, Mount Rainier and the Columbia River.

The Columbia river where it divides the State of Washington from Oregon.

This Saturday flight on September 13th was a nice flight and time to have a window seat. I most always choose an aisle seat.

Hot Town…

…summer in the city…walking on the sidewalk, hotter than a match head.”

I’m in Southern California for their most recent heat wave with red alerts and warnings being issued left and right. Temperatures over 100 degrees are about 25 degrees above my comfort zone! When I get home on Tuesday to the cooler Northwest I’ll fill you in on all the hot doings down here.

Hope your days are moving along nicely.

E is for Ellen…

ABC Wednesday is already on the letter E. Thank you to Denise Nesbitt the proud founder and to the whole ABC team!

E is for ellen b. and a few of her favorite things…

This is a theater on Main Street in Bozeman, Montana spotted by daughter Katie on our cross country road trip back in April.

Ellen loves and enjoys spending time with her family.

Ellen loves her brothers and sisters and her dear old pop. This photo was taken last September at my dear old mom’s funeral.

Ellen loves her nieces and nephews. These cousins have so much fun together!

Ellen b. with her sisters and mom enjoying each other 6 months before her mom died.

Ellen loves Dear’s brother’s family to the left of the groom and below.

Ellen loves her whole big family including her brother in laws and sister in laws.

Ellen loves the girls from the Mennonite Girls Can Cook and is so thankful to have them as her true blue friends.

Ellen loves to travel to England and all of the United Kingdom.

Ellen loves Soccer/Futbol and has been to games in Manchester and Milan. Her favorite team is the home team, the Seattle Sounders.

Ellen is a Seattle Sounders season ticket holder along with her son and daughter in law.

Ellen loves Dear. Their 40th wedding anniversary celebrations have begun already.

Ellen B. and Dear started celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary with a trip to England in July where they spent one of their days in Oxford.

Ellen likes to read Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Dorothy Sayers and a little Chesterton so it was a treat to eat in the Pub where these authors were known to meet.

Ellen loves God and His son Jesus who has given her eternal life through his death and resurrection.

Congratulations if you made it to the end of this very long post!

Canlis

There’s a restaurant in the Seattle area that is a kind of icon that reminds you of bygone days when people would dress up to go out to eat and service was top notch. We had never been to Canlis before. We might have been a little intimidated but no more…

Josh and Laura invited us to join them in the Canlis Lounge to break the intimidation and celebrate a late Mother’s Day/Father’s Day meal together.

One of the views from the restaurant. Remember the fact that I was a little intimidated to start so my photo taking suffered because of that. I did not get one photo of Laura and I on the other side of the table.

Father and Son with Father starting or re-visiting a style statement from years gone by.

The Bolo or String Tie. Do you remember these? Dear has 3 of them that were his fathers.

A shot of Josh with the piano player behind him. The soft live piano music was a very nice addition. I just noticed that nice shiny table top that picked up a reflection of Josh.

We ordered small bites along with the Canlis Salad. The Canlis Salad has been on the menu since opening night of the restaurant in 1950. The recipe was taught to Peter Canlis by his Lebanese mother. Oops, forgot to take a photo of the salad.

I did get a photo of myself in the ladies room so you can see I was wearing pearls and I did wear a dress instead of my usual jeans. Fabulous expression on my face. Looks like I was holding my breath hoping no one walked through the door and caught me!

We had to order this dish to top off the night. Canlis Souffle ~ Grand Marnier, Orange zest and creme anglaise. Please allow 30 minutes for this dessert. We were happy to allow the time and enjoyed it very much.

There is a story that we keep retelling about this night at Canlis. Josh drove us up to the door and the valet team let us out of the car and drove the car away with no tickets, no names exchanged. They just said, “Have a nice evening”. We stepped into the restaurant and walked to the host/hostess area and said “We don’t have reservations but we would like to eat in the lounge”. No names exchanged. We were guided to the lounge where we chose our seats and enjoyed our time together. Josh paid the bill at the end of our time and we walked up the stairs and out the front door of the restaurant and Josh’s car magically appeared at the door as soon as we exited the restaurant. We did not have a seconds wait for our car. I looked at the Valet and said “How did you do that?” He looked at me and smiled. They are not giving out their secrets but we had fun speculating on how that little bit of magic happened on the way home. The next time we go to Canlis I’ll take a photo of that famous salad!

Gatherning the Moments ~ June

Looking back at June and all that took place around this old house and beyond.

I’m joining Cheryl at Thinking About Home for Gathering the Moments.

Trees came down, firewood cut, patio covers went up, peonies bloomed and were enjoyed, hydrangeas just started to color.

Main floor bathroom renovations began with the gutting process, removing everything to the studs and car deck, adding a new window, adding recessed lights and a fan/heater, replacing the ceiling dry wall.

Visitors came from the South and visitors came from the North. Tours commenced. The Market, Kerry Park, the Troll, Ballard Locks, Ste Michelle Winery, Whidbey Island, Queen Mary Tea Room, and University Village just to name a few destinations visited.

Celebrations in June included a retirement, combined Mother’s Day/Father’s Day dinner, and a wedding in the Portland area.

World Cup fever began and continues!

It’s been a while since I shared a photo of my dear old Pop on my blog. Most every week my sister Lana and niece Melissa join him for dinner at his apartment. This last week my niece Debbee and sister Kathy joined in the fun, too. They are getting real good at taking these selfies. My pop still has his ups and downs with his loneliness but he can still move around well and gets out to his church services and a Bible Study weekly. I appreciate seeing the weekly photos on Facebook since I live so far away…

I have to say that June just flew by this year. July holds many new adventures for us. We are looking forward to a trip to England to celebrate our 40 years of marriage, and when we get back the Bathroom renovation will be completed. What are you looking forward to in July?

Share Your Cup Thursday ~ Seattle

Washington State has so much to offer it’s residents and visitors and I had some fun sharing my home state with my niece and her husband over the last few days. I’m linking up to Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olsen’s Share Your Cup Thursday#107

Today I’m sharing our visit to the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks and the Charles S. English, Jr. botanical gardens known locally as the Ballard Locks.

We visited on Flag Day and it was nice to see the U.S. flag flying everywhere we went including on top to the Space Needle.

Construction of the Lake Washington Ship Canal and Hiram M. Chittenden Locks was completed in 1917 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Connecting the waters of Lake Washington, Lake Union, and Salmon Bay to the tidal waters of Puget Sound, the canal and locks allow recreational and commercial vessels to travel to the docks and warehouses of Seattle’s busy fresh water harbor.

I caught some photos in amidst the Salmon Waves art display just outside the Fish Ladder at the Locks. We were able to see a lot of salmon using the ladder on this day.

The complex of locks sit in the middle of Salmon Bay and are part of Seattle’s Lake Washington Ship Canal. They are known locally as the Ballard Locks after the neighborhood to their north. (Magnolia lies to the south.)

The locks and associated facilities serve three purposes:

To maintain the water level of the fresh water Lake Washington and Lake Union at 20 to 22 feet above sea level.
To prevent the mixing of sea water from Puget Sound with the fresh water of the lakes (saltwater intrusion).
To move boats from the water level of the lakes to the water level of Puget Sound, and vice versa.

The complex includes two locks, a small (30 x 150 ft, 8.5 x 45.7 meter) and a large (80 x 825, 24.4 x 251.5 meter). The complex also includes a (235-foot, 71.6 meter) spillway with six (32 x 12-foot (3.7 m), 9.8 x 3.7 meter) gates to assist in water-level control. A fish ladder is integrated into the locks for migration of anadromous fish, notably salmon.

Operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the locks were formally opened on July 4, 1917, although the first ship passed on August 3, 1916. They were named after U.S. Army Major Hiram Martin Chittenden, the Seattle District Engineer for the Corps of Engineers from April 1906 to September 1908. They were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

It’s Thursday already and June is more than half over. We have a do nothing outside the home weekend except going to church and the Home Depot planned. Dear was waiting for a good dry day to pick up drywall from the big box store. I’ll be feeding my worker over the weekend while he chips away at his portion of responsibilities for the new bathroom. Yikes I might have to help hold up some drywall for the ceiling. I might need longer arms. What is going on in your corner of the world?

Maybe…just maybe…

…I’ve missed my calling. I could have been a tour guide.

The Fremont Troll who lives under the Aurora Bridge is a must see when you visit our area. You can read all about it’s origins here.

My new nephew by marriage, Lenny, had never been to Seattle so we had to show him the top picks in our area.

Sorry, couldn’t resist the “top picks” reference!

The Troll could use a little cleaning up because it’s hard to see the full size red Volkswagon bug that is under his left hand without straining.

You really get great views of downtown Seattle from Kerry Park on Queen Anne Hill. We never miss this photo opportunity with our out of town company. I never resist photo opportunities of our “in town” kids, either.

My niece Debbee is in the bright blue coat nestled in amongst Auntie Lana, Cousin Laura and Auntie Ellen. I missed the shot of her and Lenny here but made sure to get plenty of the two of them at some other favorite tourist spots in our area.

And of course we didn’t miss out on some great local food, either…

We started with some delicious sustenance that carried us through all our adventures of the afternoon at the Portage Bay Cafe in the South Lake Union area of Seattle. All seven of us would recommend this restaurant. They had lots of great Gluten Free choices for my niece, too. Before we met up for brunch Josh, Laura, Debbee and Lenny had visited Pike Place Market, the original Starbucks and the Gum wall. After the troll we headed to the Ballard Locks but that’s another post coming soon…

I have several days off before my next tour guiding gig. I’m looking forward to a week from today when I get to show some VIP’s a different part of our city. Of course you’ll hear all about it and it could be that you’ll hear about it from a few more sources than me since several of my VIP visitors are bloggers, too. Stay tuned! Have a wonderful Wednesday everyone!

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage

Tag Archives: Seattle