P52 {WEEK 52}

My last post of 2013!

Linking to Tamar's blog at Random-osity.

 Thanks, TAMAR for hosting P52. 

Although I missed a few weeks, I loved being able to connect to her blog. She'll be starting a new MONDAY "muse" entitled, 

 Hope to see you there!

We had a Christmas celebration at the Big Bear cabin... it had snowed the night before we drove up, but the warmer, sunny weather melted most of the snow before we left. Seems odd to have snow & kayaks in one picture! but here they are... in all their fair weather glory...

The orange cupcake looks realistic... I expected to be able to get a dab of icing on my finger, but, the ornament was spongy to the touch & squeezable!

Love the natural decor! although it wouldn't work in my house (I decorate our tree with my SANTA collection), I love the re-cycled, simplistic nature of houses that use loads of white, beige and cream in their decor.

One of my favorite bloggers is leaving the blog-world... Chez Larsson...  (her all-white decor is refreshing) of course I'm sad, but understanding how difficult it can be to write posts 2-4 times a week! it's something I expected! Benita will still post photos on Instagram.

CHRISTMAS DAY cookie decorating is becoming our "new" tradition! When my grandniece, Katie, and grandnephews, Matthew & Derek, were younger, I would bring the cookies fully decorated... as they gotten older, I'm s-l-o-w-l-y passing on the JOY of the Christmas cookie decorating!

This is the second year of asking them to decorate cookies. It's a blast... they eat (way too many cookies during the afternoon... more than their mom knows!!!) and decorate to their heart's content. Of course, the adults get caught up in the action also.

On our way home... we stopped at Snapper Jack's for fish tacos! yummy!! Arrived home to Lola sneaking a nap in front of the fireplace (Allie & Brian were watching a movie)... But, OH NO, our succulents got frost-bitten while we were gone! 

Today we're going to a matinee, to see the Hunger Games! then, dine on lentil-potato soup + cornbread! taste a bit of sparkling cider & "watch the ball drop" (three hours ahead of time-East Coast time)... we have a puzzle on the table... ENJOYING the quiet after a whirlwind November & December!

See you in 2014! (LOVE even-numbered years)... with my annual recap of the year, Memories, Dreams & Reflections ... here are my 2012 & 2011 posts.

SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY 12.22.13 + SONG-OGRAPHY

12.22.13

SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY
words this week:

LIGHTS, TREE, BIG, MAKES YOU FEEL MERRY & ON THE DOOR

Celebrating Christmas this morning... with Lydia, Tasha, Jack, Taylor & Morgan in Big Bear...

looking up at the Christmas tree LIGHTS
(from outside the guest cabin)

Lego TREE... Big TREE...

larger than a normal cupcake... a BIG ceramic cupcake...

three adorable 6th graders playing their "strings"
in downtown Big Bear...

hoping to earn money to go to a music festival in Salzburg, Austria...

MAKES YOU FEEL MERRY!

beautiful garland, ON THE DOOR frame

NOW, for SONG-OGRAPHY!

check in with Kathy at DON'T SHOOT YOUR EYE OUT!

SILVER BELLS

"Silver Bells, Silver Bells

It's Christmas time in the city

Ring-a-ling, hear them ring 

Soon it will be Christmas Day"


"Silver Bells" was first performed by Bob Hope and Marilyn Maxwell in the motion picture The Lemon Drop Kid, and released in March 1951.

But, one of my first memories of someone singing "Silver Bells" was Bing Crosby & later Frank Sinatra.

What memories of this song do you have?

P52 {WEEK 50}

Saturday December 14th - JPE brought Mom & Katie up from So California. He had been attending a conference near Disneyland. We saw our nephew, Daniel dance in the Nutcracker at the historic Arlington Theater, Santa Barbara.

Sunday morning was pancakes & playing (I pulled a tub of Allie's Barbies out of the garage). And we took a drive to San Luis Obispo, and showed Katie around the Cal-Poly campus. Cal-Poly is noted for its Agriculture, Architecture, Business, Engineering, and Kinesiology programs. 

An animal lover... of course, Katie needed to visit the horses, cows, sheep and goats. The goat manager introduced us to "Pepe" (Le Pew) - the only male in this field of pregnant females! 

After an early dinner at Apple Farm Restaurant & exploring all three floors of the gift shop... We ended the day seeing Mary Poppins (third row seats) at PCPA. It was a truly "magical" weekend!

I'm posting this at Tamar's blog, Random-osity. We are counting down the last few weeks of 2013!


pictures are a bit blurry - taken with i-Pad mini!

HAPPY B-DAY!!!

Guess who had a BIRTHDAY??

M.E!

BUT...

so did my BROTHER!

(he was born on my FIRST birthday - my LUCKY day)

pssst! Mom and Katie rode the train back home this morning!!

boo! didn't want to see them go...

GLITTER & GLIMMER...

most people COLLECT things....

I have a COLLECTION of SANTA ornaments...

what do you collect?  

ROOT-TOOTING...

Finally!!!

got some time on the computer!

nothing spectacular to say!

just a "check-in" to

say H-I...

SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY 12.8.13 + SONG-OGRAPHY

SHS 12.8.13

Wondering... how this holiday season came woooo-shing in? 

I haven't done a whole lot better getting my camera out, reading other blogs or posting (thank goodness for i-Pad's), ...

I'm planning to participate in Ashley's annual Memories, Reflections and Dreams. It will be a fabulous way to document 2013!!! Here's the LINK to get you started!!! I hope you join me - You'll be able to blog-hop while you watch the New Year's parades on TV.

WHERE I STOOD, SILVER, TINY, IN THE CUPBOARD & SHADOW.

From WHERE I STOOD in the doorway of the Apple Farm Gift Shop... this is what I saw... sort of a skinny St Nicholas!

Well, these outdoor decorations looked more SILVER when I took the picture! Pretty huh? and there's a SILVER car in the background.

This WAS actually very TINY! a TINY set of sweaters decorated with holiday characters... a Santa, Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer.

All our baking supplies cannot fit IN THE CUPBOARD (known as the pantry at our house)... JPE used the "candy cane" melting chips to frost one end of his candy cane biscotti! YUM!!!

I took this picture the day before Thanksgiving! Taken at the charming, historic Santa Barbara Courthouse... several of the ornate lights are in the SHADOW! 

And, now for SONG-OGRAPHY! This is an archived photo! but... it's located in OUR (JPE & I  got married in this area) "special place" - Big Sur, California.

stop by Kathy's @ Don't Shoot Your Eye Out to see what others have posted!!!

This week's song is the "Big Yellow Taxi" by Joni Mitchell.

"They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot

They took all the trees
And put 'em in a tree museum
And they charged the people
A dollar and a half to seem 'em

Don't it always seem to go,
That you don't know what you've got
Til its gone"

Well, in Big Sur they left this yellow bus, painted it blue, yellow & red & turned it into a little coffee bar! Truly unique... the bus sits on the dirt parking lot underneath some huge redwoods! Lucky for us... it's only a little over two hours north of us!

I'll be posting on a more regular basis this week. I've got a little stash of photos to share, so please come back.

SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY 12.1.13 + SONG-OGRAPHY

SHS 12.1.13 + SONG-OGRAPHY

 Can you believe the holiday season has arrived?

So, THANKFUL to have had the entire Thanksgiving Week off!

We slept in, started decorating, car shopped, went to movies, visited with JPE's family...
I took some pics, but seem to have lost my photography "mojo"... 

My offerings for SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY,
hosted by the beautiful Ashley at Rambling & Photos.
Words this week:
STARTS WITH "S", TEXTURE, BLESSINGS, WARMTH & I WENT...

recently wandered through Apple Farm Gift Shop
if you're feeling "bah-humbug"
this is the place to find some holiday SPARKLE!

 some cloud TEXTURE 
no, we didn't get rain, unfortunately!

 definitely, two of my greatest BLESSINGS!
living on opposite coastlines {California & Washington DC} 
they don't get to see each other much!

WARMTH = comfort food
 {charming holiday graphics!}

 snow globe in the Apple Farm Gift Shop
{such fond memories of our travels}

AND, for SONG-OGRAPHY, check in with Kathy at DON'T SHOOT YOUR EYE OUT.

L-R: Natasha & JPE; Thanksgiving feast; Perry, Lauren, Daniel & Jenna; Celebrated Hanukkah too!

  this week's song is
"CELEBRATE ME HOME" by Kenny Loggins

"I believe I've missed each and every face.
Come on and play my music,
Let's turn on the love light in the place." 

M-E-M-O-R-Y  M-A-K-I-N-G  T-I-M-E-S! 

 

A MAN OF MANY TALENTS...

JPE is NOT just a fabulous baker!!! 

his talents extend to ice cream scooping with

decorative hearts of chocolate syrup.

oops! he missed the bowl...

P52 {WEEK 47}

The Nutcracker Ballet is a-coming!

Our holidays get into full-swing when I start playing Tchaikovsky's musical score for the Nutcracker Ballet... our daughters took ballet lessons, so I'm very familiar with the precision & skills required of ballet dancers. Although they never danced in a full-length holiday Nutcracker Ballet....

...our nephew, Daniel, has been dancing in the Nutcracker since he was 4 years old... He's played most of the roles... and in a couple of weeks, he'll be dancing his last Nutcracker Ballet at the Arlington Theater, in Santa Barbara, CA. {Daniel is JPE's nephew} I knew when I watched his first performance, he loved performing! for the past three summers, he's participated in "ballet intensive" summer programs --- in New York, Chicago and Salt Lake City!

Daniel again!
December 2012

My mom & grandniece, Katie, will be attending one of Daniel's performances... I know this year's ballet will tug at my heartstrings, so I can imagine the impact it will have on his mom & dad! He's planning on graduating from high school, and move onto the next step of his journey... and ultimately, a career as a professional dancer.

Do you plan to attend a Nutcracker

performance this holiday season?

if so, where?

SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY 11.24.13

SCAVENGER HUNT SUNDAY

The words for this week are:

HORIZON

BLUE

DIAGONAL

SHARP

LEATHER

THANKFUL FOR THIS VIEW

ON MY DRIVE TO & FROM WORK!

CUTE BLUE TEA POT!

STITCHING ON A DIAGONAL!

YOU'LL NEED ONE OF THESE TO COOK A TURKEY! 

FANCY LEATHER COIN PURSE!

A QUICK POST BEFORE HEADING TO BED!