Tag Archives: Travel

ABC Wednesday ~ O is for…

O is for Oban, Scotland ~

Oban is the gateway to the Isles.

 

Oban is on the west coast of Scotland.

Oban is the frontier between the West Highlands and the Islands; the meeting place between land and sea. A perfect, sheltered harbour makes it the principal seaport for the Isles and the capital of the West Highlands. It has a mild, temperate climate, warmed by the Gulf Stream and washed (too often, some might say) by the soft rain that often falls hereabouts. This misty, briny character, with a background of heather and peat, is perfectly echoed in the malt whisky produced at Oban.

 

We travelled to Oban in May of 2006 and enjoyed a couple nights here. Our favorite part of this stay was our day trip to the Isle of Iona via the Isle of Mull. Our tour of the Oban Distillery was an extra treat for Dear…

For more O posts visit Mrs. Nesbitt

ht: Dave for Oban photos…

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!

Hospital-i-Tea Blogathon ~ Favorite Tea

April 27 – May 3
Tell about your favorite tea. How do you prepare it and serve it? Milk and sugar? Plain? What are some of your best memories of serving or sipping on this tea.

Truth be told I generally enjoy tea steeped with a tea bag. If I am going to steep loose tea I enjoy a good Earl Grey or English Breakfast Tea. I always have to make sure I have good ole Lipton tea bags around for my family especially my brother Leonard. Some of my sisters have moved on to herbal teas. When I was younger I put lots of sugar and milk in my tea. These days I drink most of my hot beverages black with no sweeteners. In honor of this weeks assignment Dear and I went to Cost Plus bought a tin of Twinings Earl Grey Loose Tea and steeped ourselves a cuppa this afternoon. Lovely…

 

My best memories of tea are from my childhood when I’d have tea with my maternal grandmother. Also whenever we get together with my side of the family we enjoy tea at the end of our meals together. Sometimes I’ll have it black, sometimes with lemon, and sometimes with milk. Then the next best memory of tea is when I travelled to England for the first time in 1973. We were part of a Christian Rock band singing at local schools and churches. We would be housed by local families who were interested in our ministry. How very special it was to have a knock on the bedroom door in the morning, open the door and see a tray with a teapot steeping and tea cups and milk to get us started in the morning. What a wonderful treat and memory. I also love how when staying at Bed and Breakfasts in England we’ve been greeted with tea upon our arrival. This next photo is of our daughter enjoying a cup of welcome tea in our flat in Edinburgh.

 

I’d love that beautiful blue and white tea set! Tea is always a welcome refreshment when I am tired and after travelling a long way.

 

For more Tea Posts visit LaTeDah at Gracious Hospitality.

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!

Mad Hatter Tea Bridal Shower…

On Saturday I drove 90 miles from Camarillo to Newport Beach to attend a shower for our future niece, Jessica, who is marrying my brother Steve’s son Timothy. Timothy’s lovely mother is my SIL Kelly.

 

This is a fun photo of 3 of my brother Steve’s sons. (Joe is missing) Timothy is the one in the middle flanked by his brothers Caleb and Levi.

Oh the destination and the setting and the beautiful ladies that we got to spend the afternoon with made the 180 mile round-trip so worth it.

 

 

The table was set perfectly for our Mad Hatter Tea. We gave thanks to the Lord for this wonderful occasion and began the festivities.

 

 

Michelle, the maid of honor,  was our hostess and the setting was in her parents gated community in Newport Beach. I can’t even begin to guess what the HOA fees are in this wonderful setting. Did I just say that out loud?

 

It was a Mad Hatter Tea which meant we were all required to wear hats. My SIL Letty and me.  Jessica, the Guest of Honor. Jessica opening her Samovar from my mother and a tablecloth that my mother made when she was 12 years old (that would have been in Tehran, Iran) The last photo is of the daughters and daughter in laws with my mom. Letty, Vera, My Mom, Kathy, Ellen b, and Kelly.

 

Jessica with her friends and most of these ladies will be her bridesmaids. Our hostess, Michelle, to the left of Jessica.

 

After we had our Tea/Lunch we walked over to the Rose Garden in the Community.

Some of my lovely nieces, Melissa, Debbee, and Michelle.

Ellen b. in a hat! You won’t see that everyday.

Well that hat won me a prize along with the great hat on the right that the mother of the hostess wore! I won a wonderful lavender scented candle.

 

We are having a very hot weekend in Southern California. See that 100 degrees for the outside temperature next to my odometer. That registered when I was driving home and reached the San Fernando Valley. Hot, hot, hot for Spring around here! (Looks like I need to dust off my dash!)

Made it home in good time praising our God for the blessing of family and friends to enjoy life with on this earth.

“May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.”
~2 Thessalonians 2: 16,17

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!

Photo Hunters ~ Funny/Funky Signs

I had to go to the archives for this challenge. So forgive me if you’ve seen these before on Wordless Wednesday. I didn’t see any new funny/funky signs this week…

 

 

For more Funny/Funky Signs head over to TnChick…

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!

J. Paul Getty Museum ~ Pacific Pallisades

As promised here are more of my photos from the Getty Villa during our Bloggy rendezvous on Monday.

 

 

 

The J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Villa is home to an extensive collection of Greek, Roman, and Etruscan antiquities, one of America’s finest holdings of ancient art.

 

J. Paul Getty purchased the sixty-four acre site in 1945. This is a photo taken in the Outer Peristyle.

In Greek and Roman architecture a peristyle is a columned porch or open colonnade in a building that surrounds a court that may contain an internal garden.

 

There are Bronze sculptures, replicas of statues found at the Villa dei Papiri.

 

 

These columns lead you out to the Outer Peristyle from the Inner Peristyle. The capitals of the Corinthian columns in the Triclinium on the south side of the Inner Peristyle were inspired by the curling acanthus plant.

 

A View into the Inner Peristyle.

 

 

 

This fountain is located in the East Garden. The colorful fountain with shells and theater masks is a replica of an ancient fountain from the House of the Large Fountain in Pompeii.

 

 

A sampling of some of the treasures…

 

I was in the Men in Antiquity Room and spied this statue in an opposite room divided by an open court. There were two windows between me and the statue. I was intrigued and put the camera on zoom and hoped it would turn out. I was pleased to see it did.

 

When I made it to the Women and Children of Anitquity this Herculaneum Woman and the other women statues in the room were off limits for photography.

 

Willow here’s my version of a Monet.. The colors in these lily pads are so beautiful.

 

Couldn’t leave without a close-up photo of one of the roses on the grounds. This Museum is worth a few trips to see all it has to offer. It is free but you have to make a reservation and request a free ticket for entrance to the estate.

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!

Bloggy Friends at the Getty Villa

 

On Monday Willow and I met Sara from Much ado About Something at the Getty Villa. This was the first time I met Sara face to face. Sara in person is true to who she is on her blog. She’s gracious, thoughtful, and kind. What a fun experience to meet bloggy friends in person. I’ll be posting more about the Getty soon.

 

Here we are at lunch at the Getty Cafe. Willow from Willow’s Cottage, Sara of Much Ado About Something and ellen b. from the Happy Wonderer. See ellen b. leaning over without wincing with back pain. Whoohoo!

 

Friends, Fellowship, Food and Fun. Stay tuned for some of the architecture and art from the beautiful Getty Villa Grounds. Thanks for the fun package and avocados, Sara. I’ll be emailing you…

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!

Fun Monday ~ What Was & Is Worth It…

Southern Doll is hosting Fun Monday this week and she has the following assignment. What have you done in your life that was worth doing?

I know that as soon as I publish this there will be other things that come to mind. I decided to start with high school and move on from there.

The thing in high school that was worth doing was getting baptised in my junior year. I started a more dedicated journey following Christ at this point in my life and would never turn back.

During my College years I was part of a Christian Rock band. I met Dear in this group and we became engaged and then married in 1974. We went on two summer tours in England together with the group which was an amazing experience in travel and ministry.

 

Getting a College Degree and a Teaching Credential was worth doing.

Getting married to Dear was and is definitely worth doing and we’ve been doing it for 33 years. Oops! I think I just probably embarrassed my children and myself by accident.

Having each of our three children was worth it big time in my life. Each of them is unique and I thank God for their individual gifts and personalities.

Developing close friendships and opening our home for fun and fellowship and spending loving times with my extended family has been worth it.

 

Much of this time is spent around food!

Moving to Seattle in 1988 and raising our children there and developing friendships there was worth it.

 

Starting a blog and meeting bloggy friends around the world has been worth it.

Growing older with Dear and being faithful to our marriage is worth it.

For more Fun Monday posts head over to Southern Doll’s.

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!