Ruby Tuesday ~ The Beaches On Saturday…

We took an early morning walk at Emma Wood State Beach on Saturday morning where we found some Ruby and then we headed South to Huntington Beach for a family gathering and found more Ruby at the Huntington Beach City Pier.

Emma Wood State Beach. This wild ground cover is a shade of Ruby this time of year.

One of the State Beach Campers taking 3 dogs out for their morning stroll. He had to stop and explain to us that not all the dogs were his…

The building at the end of the Huntington Beach City Pier is donning some Ruby, too.

The Prickly Pear Cactus is blooming in Southern California right now, too, with these interesting Ruby bulbs. The top right photo are some roses.

For more Ruby Tuesday click over to Maryt’s at Work of the Poet.

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I posted on my blog from 2007-2015 hostage and replaced them with big black and grey boxes with threats. So discouraging…as I’m slowly trying to clean up thousands of posts!

Saturday in Huntington Beach with Hope ~

My brother Leonard, his wife Mandy and their 7 month old daughter Hope paid us a surprise visit from Dallas the last few days. Leonard had to travel to Southern California for business so Mandy and Hope joined him for the weekend.

Leonard is my baby brother, Lana G’s twin. He’s been married to Mandy for 2 years now and they were blessed with sweet little Hope in January of this year.

When my family gets together there is a lot of everything. Lots of people, lots of food, lots of plates, lots of talk and lots of laughter. We generally meet up at my sister Vera’s house in Huntington Beach because her and her husband Nick have the gift of making lots of food. We joke around about what 3 meats they will be preparing this time. The rest of us bring something to accompany all the meat they prepare. This time we had ribs, chuck roast, pineapple chicken, roasted chicken, spaghetti and meat sauce. My brother Tim and his wife Letty were all dressed up because they were headed to a wedding from our get-together. I don’t know why I had to explain that except for they are so dressed up compared to the rest of us.

Hope finally woke up and she just couldn’t take her eyes off of Jack. Jackson is my niece Michelle and Ryan’s 3 year old son. Michelle’s a blogger too and you’ll catch her in some of my photos with her camera in hand. Her blog is “Wait for It”

Some fun with Sweet Potatoes. Yes people there are going to be lots and lots of photos of Hope. I had to get my 4 hour fix before I see her again at Christmas.

After we stuffed ourselves with all that meat and salads and dessert we decided a walk down to the beach was in order. That’s the other great thing about Nick and Vera’s, it’s just a very short stroll to Huntington City Beach.

On our walk we met up with more guests for the evening and when we returned there was a gift for Hope. It was so stinkin sweet to watch her pat her Pooh Bear and give him loves.

We are so happy that our huge family does not overwhelm Hope. She seems to be able to relax with all of us. Did you catch Michelle with her camera?

Jackson entertained us with his dancing skills. He seems to be doing well with not having all the attention on him when Hope’s around.

Hope really lights up and kicks her feet when her Dzeda (grandfather) pays attention to her and he loves to entertain her. She loves her baba (grandmother). Aunt Kathy is great too. Now look at that expression on daddy and Hope’s face…hmmm.

Thanks Nick and Vera for opening your home for another fun get together.

Here’s the verse that Leonard and Mandy chose for Hope’s Baby Announcement ~

“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, Therefore I have Hope in Him.”

Pink Saturday ~ Shopping and Walking

Today for Pink Saturday I’m sharing some photos from my walks in Camarillo, California and a great Home Decor Store that is housed in a old Farmhouse in Bothell, Washington. Have a great September Saturday everyone.

This is an interesting Bougainvillea that has been trained into a bush. We usually see these more spread out growing on fences and sides of homes or patios.

A Porch in Old Town Camarillo.

This was the Pink Room in the Cranberry Cottage on Bothell-Everett Highway in Bothell. Across the street from Country Village. They sell a combination of antique, collectibles, and new goodies.

For more Pink visit Beverly at How Sweet the Sound.

Fave Five for Friday ~ September 5th

Susanne at Living to Tell the Story is hosting Fave Five for Friday. Here’s what she says…

“Hope you play along. It’s very simple. Just list your favorite five things from the week. It can be anything from jokes to music to food. It’s a fun way to get to know more about each other and maybe make new friends, find new blogs or new things to try. Expand our world’s a bit. Make it as detailed as you like, but the more detail the more fun! Don’t forget to link to this site and sign the Mr. Linky so I can come and read your favorites.”

For my Fave Five this week, I’ll start with Sunday the last day of August and move forward.

1. Sunday we traveled 3-1/2 hours northeast of our condo to attend an Engagement party for my cousin’s son and his fiance. Lots of photos from the event are here.

2. Too tired to cook after all that fun Sunday on Monday (Labor Day) we tried an Italian Restaurant in Old Camarillo for the first time and had a nice experience.

3. Walking each morning for an hour with Willow from Willow’s Cottage and pushing ourselves up the hills and seeing these sights.

4. I shared a meditation I read by John Piper this week. You can read what I posted here. This was one of my favorite parts on running the race… “The finish line is crossed in the end, not by a burst of human energy, but by collapsing into the arms of God.”

5. My last favorite thing from this week was watching Piper Palin while her mother was giving her speech. Priceless moments. This little girl was meant for the stage! :0) You can see a You tube of part of these fabulous moments here at Light Came. OH! You’ve got to click over to Bloggin daz and see Angie who is a amazing look-a-like of Sarah Palin.

For more Fave Five on Friday visit Susanne at Living to Tell the Story.

Opening Doors ~ Day Two

This is day two of Jientje’s Opening Doors Photo Challenge. There are still 4 more days so you still have time to join in. I’m sharing 3 doors today that are a little outside the box…

Garages come in all sizes. These are two colorful Garage Doors that caught my eye. The first one I spotted in a beach side neighborhood in Ventura, Ca. The second one is a garage in Old Town Camarillo. Usually you would expect to find cars in garages but more than cars these days you’ll find them filled with stuff that doesn’t fit in the house!

This last photo is a door that is not fancy. It doesn’t have any great architectural beauty. It is a very ordinary front door in a very ordinary neighborhood in Southern California.

This door in Whittier, California was the front door of my family home in the 70’s. It is the door where Dear first kissed me after one of our dates. It is the door that opened many more doors to my relationship with Dear and our now almost 34 years of marriage. My parents moved away from this home and have made homes as far away from Whittier as a little village in Russia. They are now in a Senior Apartment in Southern California.

To see more photographs of doors around the world visit Jientje at Heaven in Belgium.

Opening Doors ~ Day 1

Good Morning and Happy Labor Day to those of you in the U.S.A. Busy holiday today watching and praying Gustav will lighten her load and that our far away neighbors will be spared another huge disastor!

Day One of Opening Doors Photo Challenge

For Day One of the Open Doors Photo Challenge I chose this gate and front door combination on a house I walked by in Ventura, California.

Make sure and visit Jientje at Heaven in Belgium to see more doors from around the world.

Fave Five for Friday…

Susanne at Living to Tell the Story is hosting Fave Five for Friday. Here’s what she says…

So here are ellen b.’s 5 for this last week.

1. Things have gotten really out of hand this summer in my eating and staying in shape! One of my favorites from this week is getting back into walking with my bloggy friend Willow. During our walks this has been my favorite sighting this week.

2. I have just come off a whirlwind of travel and entertaining and having a week of rest and relaxation makes my top 5, too. Here’s a photo of my clean organized condo that helps in the rest and relaxation.

3. True Confessions! I really enjoy some of the reality t.v. shows. I get a big kick out of Project Runway and it’s always a highlight of my week to watch it on Wednesday evenings.

4. One of the best times in the day is when Dear comes home from work. Besides coming home which is a good thing, he barbecued some steaks for us on Monday night and that was a favorite meal this week.

5. Hearing that John McCain chose Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate just makes me smile. I’m not that into politics but I love it when things get shaken up.

So if you want to see more Fave Fives and join in head over to Susanne’s.

Skywatch ~

This is what the sky has looked like the mornings this week on my walks with Willow. You can barely see the Santa Monica Mountains through the marine haze. It usually burns off by the middle of the afternoon. This looks like a great scene for a science fiction story or horror movie with a title like “Out of the Mist” or “Out of the Marine Layer” How about the first sentence to the thriller… “He appeared one morning out of the mist, off the mountain. Nobody had ever seen him before but one thing was certain, he was not of this world.”

Thanks for your indulgence. Have a great Friday and weekend. It’s a long weekend here in the U.S. since we’re observing Labor Day on Monday.

For more Skywatch photos click here.

Bridging the Gap ~ Day 4

My bridge for today is from my favorite place to walk in Southern California. This is a foot-bridge we use when we walk along Emma Wood State Beach in Ventura.

This is Dear after he crossed the bridge. This shot was taken in the Winter. We usually start our walks at 7 A.M. so we pretty much have the beach to ourselves. The next shot is the same bridge taken in the summer time with my friend Jody from Washington crossing it.

I took it at this angle to get this great patch of Cactus in the photo.

For more Bridging the Gap Photos visit Alice at Iwasborn2cre8.

WW ~ Juanita Bay Park in Washington

For more WW click here.

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.

Photo from Juanita Bay is a more recent one.

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage

Tag Archives: Walks