Today is another walking day for me. I walked on Friday with some new friends on the trail. Today I meet up with another of my former walking buddies and my sister to continue the quest of walking and keeping our joints from freezing up on us. Do you walk? It’s one of my favorite forms of exercise when I have a friend to walk with…
Head over to Mennonite Girls Can Cook for the recipe.
I’m happy to report my son got Katie and me off the couch last night and we walked over to the local high school and had some exercise. Mostly I walked while Katie and Josh did some jogging and running around the track. After the football squads ended their practices we played a little soccer. I managed to record 7245 steps.
I hope to get walking back into my normal routine. I have already changed up the way I eat and since June 12th I’ve manged to drop 13 pounds and boy does my body appreciate it. I’ve got another 10 pounds to lose before I shop for a Mother of the Bride dress.
On Wednesday early afternoon daughter and I went to the river trail to get some exercise. Along the way I had some reflections.
#1. Why don’t I take more advantage of this lovely trail close by? Answer: I do not like to walk alone.
#2. If I had a dog I wouldn’t have to walk alone but for me the benefits don’t outweigh the negatives in my mind about owning a pet. Before you judge me too harshly I do appreciate the camaraderie between this row boater and his dog. I can appreciate the fact that you might love owning a pet.
#3. The Pacific Northwest is afforded so much green lush beauty. For some of you who might be envious right about now you also need to consider that we get our fair share of rain and gloom to achieve this beauty. For the record…I’m staying here as long as God sees fit to allow that.
#4. There are a lot of plants out there that I have no clue about.
#5. No matter how bad my hips feel right about now I praise God that I can still walk 3 miles or 6 miles. I won’t be joining any 20 mile a day walks, though.
#6. I really appreciate shade on a sunny day and enjoy the light that breaks through. Did you know that God refers to himself as Light?
#7. How can these wonderful blackberries be noxious? They are if they threaten native growth in protected areas because they just overwhelm the land wherever they grow. They spread like weeds…
#8. Herons seem so lonely to me…
#9. I enjoy bridges…
I’m thrilled my daughter had the time and the ambition to take this 3 mile walk with me today. Not only did we get some exercise that we really need, and some vitamin D which has been lacking in the Pacific Northwest but I got an R post for Alphabet-Thursday! My reflections might not be too deep but they R what they R….
I’m linking up with Jenny for Alphabe-Thursday
Meanwhile, back to our Sister weekend in Victoria on Vancouver Island. Pondside gave me the great suggestion of walking along Dallas Road. We started out on Sunday morning after another fabulous breakfast at the Beaconsfield Inn and headed for Ross Bay Cemetery which happens to be on Dallas Road. Lana and I love old cemeteries and this one did not disappoint. My post with many photos from the cemetery will come on another day. Today here are the beautiful views along Dallas Road which we walked on our way back to the Beaconsfield Inn where Pondside would pick us up for our driving tour of Victoria. That post is coming later, also.
Victoria, BC Dallas Road area is an ideal spot for a walk, marine sightseeing, picnics and in the winter the area is a popular gathering spot for storm watching. The mostly paved waterfront walk way follows the coastline all the way to the back door of Beacon Hill Park and continues far beyond leading to sandy beaches.
Our walk along Dallas Road started at Memorial Crescent and ended at Cook St. where we turned off to head back to the Beaconsfield.
Flying proof we were in Canada!
There are so many great views in Victoria. My sisters and I appreciated being shown and directed to things we would have never seen on our own.
This week is a full busy week. Today I’ll be in the kitchen for a good chunk of the day. Tomorrow I’ll be on the road. How’s your week going?
Photobucket replaced all my photos with these 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.
…heigh-ho, heigh-ho, It’s off to walk we go. On Saturday morning after a lovely breakfast we set out for our day of walking. First stop would be Craigdarroch Castle.
We saw things along the way that we felt were worth of some space on our memory cards.
Craigdarroch Castle was built between 1887-1890 for Robert Dunsmuir, a Scottish immigrant who made his fortune from Vancouver Island coal. This Victorian mansion, built on a hill overlooking the City of Victoria announced to the world that Robert Dunsmuir was the richest and most important man in Western Canada. Craigdarroch means “rocky, oak place” in Gaelic.
I took this photo looking up the stairwell to the 4th floor. The interior oak panelling was pre-fabricated including the stairs, doors, window frames, and 2182 panels. They were shipped from Chicago to Victoria in five railcars in the summer of 1890 and installed in the house.
The castle has one of North America’s finest collection of Victorian residential stained and leaded glass windows.
This was the breakfast room for the family. After touring all 4 floors we headed out on foot again.
Our 2nd destination was a bust so we headed for the Oak Bay area of Victoria and found the Penny Farthing to rest our feet and get some refreshment before our 3rd destination of the day.
We are finally getting some sunshine today. Woohoo!
Photobucket replaced all my photos with these 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.
For Mosaic Monday please visit Mary at The Little Red House. Her photography is always stunning. I took these photos of the beautiful Dogwood and Wisteria during a 5K walk I participated in on Saturday morning. I always have time to stop and smell the roses!! I just had to jog to catch up with my walking buddies. I am determined to plant a Dogwood, Wisteria and lilac in my yard!!
For Blue Monday you need to visit Sally at Smiling Sally. She’s a very gracious hostess! These sculptures were on the courthouse where I was on Jury Duty last week. I never had to sit on a jury but at least I got some photo time in! These are a great assortment of Northwest wildlife!
Have a great Monday and start to your new week!
Photobucket replaced all my photos with ugly black and grey boxes 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.
It’s time to get your outdoor shots together for Outdoor Wednesday hosted by Susan a Southern DayDreamer! Thanks Susan!
It’s great to be in Sunny Southern California again and to resume my walks with Willow! Sheesh, it’s been over 8 weeks since we last walked! The sun peeked over the Santa Monica Mountains as we started out. Willow said “that’s a nice shot”. So I said, “Okay I’ll take a picture.” When Bloggers walk they are always looking for a great shot.
After we made it up the first hill huffing and puffing a little (remember it’s been awhile since we’ve walked) we spotted this great Poinsettia plant and I thought of Ruby Tuesday…except it’s almost Wednesday so this will work for O.W.
Hope your week is going well and that you are surviving whatever weather is being thrown at you!!
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.
Friday already and time to look back and choose our favorites. Susanne at Living to Tell the Story is the hostess of this event. She’s also Canadian and will be celebrating Thanksgiving this weekend. Happy Thanksgiving to all our Canadian Friends…
Now for my favorites from this past week.
#1. We returned home to our little condo last Sunday happy to feel the cooler weather. It has remained cool all week and that is definitely a favorite of mine.
#2. On Tuesday Willow picked me up and drove us to her friend’s Blueberry farm for our walk. It was fun meeting Willow’s Blueberry Farm girlfriend and walking along the property. Some of our walk was more elevated then it looks but my huffing and puffing let me know we were climbing. It was a beautiful morning here in Southern California.
#3 and #4 ~ I finished the Anne of Green Gables Series of books this week. The last one in the series was Rilla of Ingleside and the story was told during the time of WWI. I really enjoyed all 8 books and it was the first time that I’ve read through them all. I would recommend them to fans of Anne. I was sad to be done with the series but then I found this sequel to The Wind in the Willows at the Friends of the Library. This is my #4 favorite this week. Don’t you love the cover and the here’s an illustration from inside the book.
I’m looking forward to dive in to this book. Have I mentioned before that I’m a huge fan of Children’s Literature?
#5. Before we returned to Southern California we spent fun times playing Beatles Rock Band with our kids. It was fun to sing along to those favorites of mine from my junior high and high school years.
I’m at Bible Study this morning and then I’m making and delivering a meal to someone who had surgery so I’ll be coming around later today or this evening. Have a good weekend 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.
After some googling I found out this is a San Pedro Cactus. Aren’t the blooms pretty?
Since I’ve come back to Southern California it’s been nice walking in the mornings with my Bloggy friend Willow. We walk in her neighborhood that butts up to the northwestern edge of the Santa Monica Mountain Range. It was fun to see this beautiful cactus flower popping out of the side of this San Pedro Cactus.
The days since this walk have gotten hotter and hotter here. We had to skip our morning walk last Friday because the heat was so oppressive.
We walked this morning earlier then usual to try to beat the heat. We saw a lot of deer out early, too.
With the fires burning in Southern California the air quality has also been unhealthy. We are praying for cooler temperatures around here and for stamina for our Fire Fighters who are risking their lives. Our hearts go out to the families of the 2 Los Angeles firefighters that have died in the line of duty.
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.
This past week has been filled with activity and adventures and fun. It’s time to narrow it down to my 5 favorites and join in with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and share. Thank you Susanne for hosting this great weekly event!
1. It was great to have family and friends over for a 4th of July barbecue!
2. My niece Debbee arrived on Sunday afternoon and the adventures began. On Monday my kids and I went to Happy Hour in downtown Seattle for dinner before the Mariners game at Safeco field. It was “Salute to Japanese Baseball night so that’s why we are saluting! :0)
3. On Tuesday the girls went shopping in the University District and walked around the University of Washington campus then we met the guys for dinner on the waterfront in Kirkland.
4. 3 mornings this week I walked along our beautiful Sammamish River/Burke Gilman Trail while my niece Debbee ran for an hour. She’s in training for her cross country high school coaching job and the Boston Marathon. Her main job at the high school is teaching math.
5. Having a nice day out with my daughter shopping in Bellevue and discovering this great Irish Pub for lunch!
6. I’m adding a favorite this week!! I really enjoyed this great wine ad in a Thai Restaurant my niece and I had lunch in. If you can’t read it too well it says “I finally remembered…red with hunter, white with fisherman. Too cute!
Looking forward to seeing your favorites this week.
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.
The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b. 