Today my daughter Katie arrives for a visit from Seattle. She will be here until next Tuesday. The main event she is coming for is the wedding of one of her Wheaton College friends here in Southern California. After I pick her up from the airport today we head to a family gathering in Whittier. We will be having many adventures while she’s here so if I’m AWOL from Bloggy world you will know why.
Blessings and see you sooner or later! :0)
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.
This photo of my kids on the horse was taken in July of 1988 on our move from Southern California to the Seattle Area. We stopped in Yuba City at Dear’s Aunt and Uncles’s farm/ranch. The kids were thrilled to get to ride a horse even if they had to share the ride.
I just got home on Sunday from spending a week with my kids in Seattle. I always get a little nostalgic when I travel away from them again…
Tam is the hostess for Three or More and to get on over to her blog just click on the logo above!
It’s time to consider the past week and to record some of our favorites!
Susanne at Living to Tell the Story is our trusty hostess for this weekly event.
My favorites are all about family, friends, food, fun and the Father.
Since I’m in Seattle this week instead of Southern California I’ve been able to spend time with my adult children. We’ve enjoyed meals together, conversation, laughter and work. They are really into playing Rock Band and it’s been fun watching and listening to them enjoy this interactive game.
I’ve run into friends this week and it’s been fun catching up. On Saturday I’ll be walking with my buddies on our 6 mile Burke Gilman walk. Maybe I’ll have a picture to share next week. Willow ~ Saturday will be my first walk since last Thursday when we walked…yikes!
This week the theme for my 40 day Journey with Jesus is my relationship with God the Father. It’s amazing to be reminded about what love the Father has for us and to respond to that love. I also treasure the beautiful things He’s created for us to enjoy like this scene on Lake Washington from Kirkland, Washington.
I have my yearly this morning so I’ll try to get around to your favorites later today. Have a wonderful Friday everyone.
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.
It’s almost Monday and time to post something for Smiling Sally’s Blue Monday. This week Blue Monday for me is all about travels and nostalgia.
Early Saturday morning I traveled from Los Angeles to Seattle on Alaska Airlines. Alaska Airlines is my favorite airlines to fly. We flew out of LAX over the Blue Pacific Ocean and could see the coastline with the Santa Monica Mountains as a backdrop. I upgraded to first-class and had a whole big row to myself with a window seat. Breakfast was delish with a Mimosa just because. I’m on a 40 day Journey focusing on my life with Jesus in this season of Lent looking forward to our Easter celebration. I had nice quiet time on the plane since my row was empty. I’m also reading a book by L.M. Montgomery called A Tangled Web. I’m really enjoying reading more of L.M. Montgomery after finally reading Anne of Green Gables. Soon I could see the Seattle area with the Cascade Mountain Range in the background. I was happy to be “Home” and seeing the Maple Tree out my kitchen window is always a treat especially when the blue sky peaks out from around the clouds.
I tend to get a little nostalgic when I get to come “home”. This is a photo from my senior year in 1968. We had Friday Night Cheer Squad dinners at different homes every Friday. This was at my parent’s home in Montebello. My high school colors were blue and gold. The Song Leaders have the blue sweaters on and the Flag Twirlers have the gold sweaters on. I was a Song Leader. We helped lead cheers with pom poms.
For more Blue Monday Posts please visit Smiling Sally by clicking here.
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.
Cori G! at Gingerbread Crumbs & Co. via Pam at Grey Like Snuffie is passing along a meme about 10 things you love starting with an assigned letter. She assigned me either the letter L or R to list 10 things I love. I chose to list 10 L’s I love.
If you’d like to play let me know and I’ll assign you a letter or two to choose from.
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.
Things that make me wonder!
Have you ever wondered why so many images of angels are so gentle looking and non threatening? I’m thinking our images of angels are a little too feminine and nice. The Bible speaks of angels appearing, angels speaking to someone in a dream, angels fighting in the Spiritual Realm, us being unaware of angels in our midst, angels ministering to Jesus during the temptation, angels with the Israelites in the Exodus. An angel is a messenger of God. Sometimes angels are seen, sometimes they are not seen. Sometimes they have swords in their hands. They are supernatural messengers. The angel Gabriel and the angel Michael are the only two angels named in the Bible. Gabriel stands in God’s presence. Gabriel brought the announcement of John the Baptist being conceived and he brought the good news of the conception of Jesus. He is someone to be believed. If I’m ever in real trouble I’d love to have Michael in front of me. An angel with a sword in his hand and not flowers…
Luke 2:8-13 ~ “And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
I’d really like to find a strong, masculine, mighty looking angel to go with my Nativity set. I wonder how long it will take me to find one?
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.
Welcome to Ruby Tuesday where you’ll see a little or a lot of red. Make sure and visit our gracious hostess Mary at The Work of the Poet to see more Ruby or to join in the fun. My Ruby this week is from Los Olivos in the Santa Ynez Valley known for it’s ranches and wineries.
I took these photos in a sculpture garden in the middle of town. (I think eclectic is a good description)
Los Olivos is noted for its eclectic art galleries, wine tasting, unique shopping, epicurean restaurant opportunities, antiques and generally friendly populace.
Welcome to Blue Monday! Smiling Sally is our hostess and you can click on her name and join in or see some more blue from around the world.
My blue today is a combination of sights and purchases over the last 3 weekends. This past Saturday after our walk at the beach where we found all these cool shells, Dear and I headed to Somis, Moorpark and Simi to see what we could see. We are on the hunt for a piece of furniture to fill a space between our living room and dining area at the condo. We want the piece to work both for books and some of my pretties. I’m always a little disappointed when a shop is called a Thrift store but really thinks it’s an Antique store and prices everything accordingly. Do you know what I mean? Can you feel a bargain hunters pain here? I ended up buying this blue oversized creamer at HomeGoods in Simi.
The Shell Beach Sign, Avila Peir sign and the wall mural are all from our trip to the Central California Coast from January 19th. The Amtrak Surfliner is from last weekend in our hometown…
That’s my blue and now I’m off to see your blue! Happy Monday and February to all of you!
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.
Welcome to a new round of ABC Wednesday hosted by Mrs. Nesbitt and Friends. Today we are on the letter B and my post is all about the Monarch Butterflies that overwinter at Pismo Beach, California.
Each year thousands of vibrant orange and black Monarch Butterflies flock to Pismo Beach, seeking shelter from the freezing northern winters. From late October to February, the butterflies cluster in the limbs of a grove of Eucalyptus trees at Pismo State Beach. The grove is easily accessible. It is located on State Highway 1 at the south boundary of the city limits of Pismo Beach.
The Pismo Beach colony is one of the largest in the nation, hosting an average of 25,000 butterflies over the last five years.
The butterflies form dense clusters with each one hanging with its wing down over the one below it to form a shingle effect. This provides shelter from the rain and warmth for the group. The weight of the cluster help keeps it from whipping in the wind and dislodging the butterflies.
Dear and I visited the Grove on a weekend getaway we had to Pismo Beach on January 18th and 19th. It really was wonderful to see this sight. When the sun warmed up the cluster of butterflies they started flying around and landing all around the grove. The grove of Eucalyptus trees was not very large. I had use the zoom on my camera to be able to get any close-ups of the butterflies.
Seeing one of these Monarch overwintering groves has been a desire of mine for a while now and I was so thrilled we could get away just an hour and a half up the coast of California from where we live to see these. This happened to be a record-breaking year for the Monarchs here with over 26,000 arriving. So the question that comes to my mind is how do they count them???
The Monarchs that visit Pismo Beach are a special variety. They have a life span of six months as opposed to that of common Monarchs who live only six weeks. This can be attributed to a unique fat storing system. However, even with an extended life span, those butterflies that leave in March will never return.
Scientists do not know why the Monarchs consistently return to some wintering sites. In North America, those sites range from the Central and Southern California Coast to Mexico. Some scientists speculate that the insects are equipped with genetic homing systems that lead them from their summer sites in the Sierras, Florida, Canada and the Great Lakes Region in North America back to their winter locations.
On the Central Coast, Monarchs winter in Pismo Beach, Pacific Grove and Morro Bay. The Natural History Museum In Morro Bay is an excellent resource for information about Monarchs.
For more ABC’s on the letter B visit the official ABC Wednesday Blog.
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.
The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b. 