Thursday, January 07, 2010

FFF

Welcome to Friday's Fave Five aka Willow's Week. Here at Willow's Cottage, the kids are gone, life is back to (almost) normal,and the cottage is empty(er).

1. Our Farmers Market continues to sell fruits, vegetables and flowers every Saturday. How I love to plan my Saturday morning around a stroll through the market to visit my favorite local vendors to pick out potatoes, garlic, apples, cucumbers and fresh greens.

2. I am back at work, helping teach, doing some tutoring. Fortunately, I enjoy what I do to earn money to purchase that fresh produce.

3. While the rest of the US and much of the Northern Hemisphere has been shrouded in snow and ice, our Southern California coastal area has been sunny and warm. Between teaching and tutoring on Thursday, I had a few minutes to drive a few extra blocks to Ventura Beach, pop out of the car, breathe deeply, and snap this photo of the Pacific Ocean. Our Ventura County weather advisory warns of high surf this weekend, but our temperatures will remain in the high 60s. Winter is my favorite season in Southern California.

4. Ellen and I are back walking our usual route! We walked on Tuesday and plan to walk Friday morning again. What a blessing it is to have a friend to exercise with.

5. http://www.crivoice.org/ I've been using this website to download daily Scripture readings for The Church Year where it lists the reading for the current Season of Epiphany. Because one of my 'hopes and goals' for 2010 involves more focus on my spiritual life, I appreciate having the readings easily accessible.

Thank you to Susanne for faithfully hosting FFF every Friday. Go visit her and leave a comment and find out what people all over the world loved about their weeks.

And thanks for stopping by Willow's Cottage. Your comments make my day!

35 comments:

nikkipolani said...

Y'know, the farmer's market is where I want to visit more often this year. Thanks for the reminder! Like you, I'm using more online sources to do my daily Bible readings.

Jane said...

The fruit and veg in your photo look so good. Yes we have snow and its making life very difficult! but school is closed and work is being set for the students to do at home, so no snowball fights or snowman building either. Still there's always the weekend to have fun. Jane x

Hazel said...

A morning stroll around a market filled with great produce is just lovely. Nice faves. A walk on the beach looks so inviting too. Happy Friday!

roxie said...

When I win the lottery, I'm going to bring the ladies' knitting tea to you! Love your fave fives, and your beautiful photos.

Savor the sunshine! We have total overcast like a layer of dryer lint, and boisterous east winds at about 37 degrees.

Kari said...

Great Five Willow. That's so great that you love what you do.
Your fruit looks great and yes winter in Southern California - gorgeous!!

Melli said...

Doesn't it feel soooooooo good to just get back to "normal"? I'm loving it too! Of course... I would love it MORE if my normal winter temp was 60F and I lived next to the ocean! :) This morning's "normal" was a call from my daughter saying "Luz has 2 hour late arrival this morning mom! I'll be droppin' her off in a minute!" ... which meant I had to shovel out to get her to school on time! LOL! Snow! PFT!

Have another great week Willow! :)

Tracy said...

mmm... such good! Those strawberries are calling my name! :o) The beach in winter is so special. But here we are knee-deep in snow and getting around isn't too easy--LOL! We have about 30 inches of snow so far--more on the way--and it's about 0 degrees F... bbbbrrr...Would love some warm CA sun about now. ;o) Happy Weekend, Willow ((HUGS))

ellen b. said...

High surf advisories for this weekend! Yippee! I hope Dear is well enough to go to Emma Wood and check it out. Love the farmers market photos and your beach shot...
Happy Friday off to you! See ya in a few....

Barbara H. said...

That fresh produce and that ocean view look so inviting on this cold day!

Happy walking! Sometimes I see ladies walking together in our neighborhood and it reminds me of you and Ellen.

Kathie said...

Oh, seriously! You're making this Montanan green with envy. Lovely as usual.

Stephani Cochran said...

LOVE the produce photos. We have a garden every year and we can and freeze a lot of things. We also go berry and peach picking every year. It sure is nice to have cobbler or pie made from fresh summer fruit right in the middle of this cold winter! Have a great week.

Joanne said...

Thanks for sharing your farmer's market with me! (none here for a long time yet...) I so appreciate your birthday wishes. Also, hope that you can find room for your loom this year! I've found that just a few minutes a day of shuffling and packing and sorting result in a lot of clean up. At least, that's what worked with this big move to Canada. Can't say how long it will last!

Carrie said...

It's hard to wrap one's mind around the idea that Farmers Markets are still ongoing! =D Ours wraps up around November when the rain hits. But it's always fun when they come back again!

Happy Friday!

Anonymous said...

Your farmers' market photos are making me salivate. :) I can't wait for ours to open up in a few months. We've had a mild winter (no snow yet) so far and I'm enjoying it. What a great place for a walk! Have a great weekend!

Sniffles and Smiles said...

Dearest Willow!!! Thank you for your lovely comment...your photos are exquisite!!! And you make me very, very hungry ;-) May I ask you a question? You do not need to answer if you do not wish...or if you do, I will not post it...(I don't get an email address associated with your blog and so cannot respond to your comment that way...if you do not wish to post this that is okay, too)...okay, so here's my question...At which Southern California University does your husband teach? I am simply curious...I have dear family in your area...Love you so much!!! I'm excited about all that 2010 holds for you!!! So glad we're "friends"...you are very special to me!!! Love, Janine XO

Marg said...

Oh, the fresh fruits and produce...Don't do this to us...It's only apples, grapefruit and oranges.
I agree, now that there a bit more money to purchase..I felt so broke before Christmas...Done again.
Enjoy your walks.

Susanne said...

That produce look absolutely delicious. You don't see strawberries like that around here at this time of year!

It is actually a degree or two above freezing right now. Amazing. We've been sitting in a deep freeze for more than a month. It's nice to see a little warmth.

Mr Puffy's Knitting Blog: said...

Lovely to see another FFF here at Willow's Cottage!

Sounds like life is resuming a normal pace with a nice balance.

I do miss visiting the Farmer's Market. I must make that a priority!

TXDidi said...

Ooh, send some of that warm weather our way. I'll just have to close my eyes and imagine it. Our pastor challenged us to read through the Bible this year which I've done in years past but didn't this past year. I really missed the discipline so I'm doing it this year. It's a wonderful way to start my day.

Allie said...

Oh! Fresh fruits and veggies! That, for me, is the hardest part of living in Western NY. The produce we get in the winter doesn't have much taste. Dreaming of spring!

Brenda said...

I love going to Farmers Markets as well. Its so fun to pick up delicious fresh produce and it helps us to eat healthier.

Nice that you are having such wonderful weather down there. Winter along the CA coast is nice in most places.

Laura@OutnumberedMom said...

Beautiful picturse of your fruits and veggies. I have a son in Southern California, so seeing your pictures made me think of him.

It was a little cold to walk on the Florida beaches this week!

Faith said...

mmmm...that ocean pic was just what i needed tonite as I sit here in the Albany NY area with my thick sox, heavy sweater and the outdoor temp saying it is only 11!!! brr....but...I am imagining the warm sun on my face and the fresh ocean breezes in warmer temps :)
loved your list today!

Karyn said...

Sounds like you had a great start to the new year! How blessed you are to have someone to walk with daily - and a place to walk in the outdoors without having to bundle up!

Lisa notes... said...

Both the produce and the beach look SO delightful. Wonderful pictures of wonderful things. Thanks for the link to the Bible readings. I bookmarked the site to return to. Enjoy your weekend.

Val said...

Oh I just love your blog. This is my first visit and I enjoyed seeing everything. I will be back.

Carol E. said...

I love the beach shot! I'm in MN where it's very cold and snowy! Nice to know that beautiful sand beaches still exist, and someone gets to be warm. :-)

Jientje said...

I would LOVE to have a farmer's market like yours nearby, it must be wonderful to be able to buy fresh produce like these straight from the farmer who grew them.
Have a grear weekend Willow!

Caroline said...

Love your pictures of the delicious looking fruit. I've kind of forgotten that Farmer's Market are still going on, especially on the coast. We like the Saturday morning ones in San Luis Obispo; maybe we need to do that next weekend.

Pat @ Mille Fiori Favoriti said...

You are lucky to have such nice weather year round Willow.

Farmers markets are the best!

Thanks for the scripture web site -- I'll visit that next.

Aqeela said...

I really enjoyed your photos in this post, very bright, that fruit and veg looks delicious!
Thanks for visiting my blog, its lovely to hear from you. And sorry that i dont comment much on yours (im terrible for that and i know that must change!) I do read your blog though!
Aqeela xx

Sniffles and Smiles said...

Dearest Willow...Finally had time to follow your links in this post!!! Fabulous!!! Ellen's blog is beautiful! and the Scripture site is wonderful!!! Take care! Much love, Janine XO

Knitting Linguist said...

Aren't farmer's markets wonderful? I don't know what we'd do without ours. And I love your beach photo; it looks like you've been getting some gorgeous weather :)

Anonymous said...

The sight of fresh strawberrys was startling. Ummmm.

Beautiful ocean picture.

Cheers to working on spiritual development and a closer relationship with God. :-)

mommy to six J's said...

Hi I use to live in Southern California where do you live. I live in Washington state now. The pictures are just so beautiful. I will be back have a great day