Hello Spring!

Isaiah 61:11 
For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, 
and as the garden causeth the things 
that is sown in it to spring forth; 
so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise
 to spring forth before all the nations.
~
Spring is such a welcomed season. It is even more special to me because our very first and only granddaughter was born on the first day of Spring. Today is her birthday. We will gather as a family and celebrate her tomorrow at her ‘Survivor’ party. Our Grands get to choose the theme for their parties. We will don our camo and other appropriate items to illustrate the theme. It will be an epic celebration of her 9th birthday!
Doubly blessed, our grandson was also born in the Spring. His celebration will be next month.
Addy we thank our Lord for you and how he created you. We are so thankful that we live close enough to watch you grow.  We love your willingness to try new things and to work hard at developing special skills like Irish dance and piano. You are storing up God’s Word in your heart with all the Bible verses you are learning at Awana. Those will come back to you to strengthen you. Gramps and I pray that you will always know how much God loves you and how close He is to you. We love you, we love you, we love you!
It is sweet that you have your Granny and Granny Great living in the same town as you, too.
And here are a jumble of random photos from the past 9 years…
You are dearly loved and you have a wonderful heritage from God.
Happy Birthday, Addy!

Eating in Budapest

On Saturday February 28th we walked from St. Stephen’s Basilica to the Jewish District looking for Mazel Tov. We had reservations for a meal at 4:30 but we wanted to see if they would slip us in at 1:30 instead since our dinner reservations at Retek Restaurant were for 7:30 on Saturday instead of Friday. (Did you follow that?)

The area had a lot of interesting murals.

We arrived tired and thirsty from our 1.6 k walk in the sunshine. They graciously changed our reservation and we joined the crowd of diners for our meal. We met someone from Costa Mesa, California who is studying abroad. That was fun.

 

Our meals were both delicious. Greg ordered the DIY Falafel Sandwich and I ordered the spicy lamb shank ragout, couscous with root vegetables, raisins and red onion chutney.

We had another long walk (1.6k) ahead of us to get back to our hotel. We were entertained by interesting buildings on the way.

Our dinner reservations at Retek would be a 1 k walk so we opted for a taxi ride to the restaurant and then we’d walk back to the hotel after dinner.

We went traditional at this very popular restaurant.

Hungarian Beef Goulash with the fresh bread.

Chicken Paprikash

Cottage Cheese Dumpling and Grandmother’s apple pie for dessert.

A delightful all around experience. This was all my kind of comfort food.

This statue was the beginning of history we would learn all through our cruise about the Habsburg empire.

The year 1795 saw Archduke Josef, son of Emperor Leopold II and brother of Emperor Franz, being appointed Palatine of Hungary, a post he held for more than half a century. As such he was the deputy of the King of Hungary – who was of course none other than the Emperor in his capacity as the head of the house of Habsburg. 

The streets we walked at night in Budapest seemed safe.

I’m saving St. Stephen’s Basilica which we visited on this two restaurant day for another post.

A Celtic Hodgepodge

“May your blessings outnumber the shamrocks that grow, and may trouble avoid you wherever you go.”
Luckily, Joyce from This Side of the Pond, has a fresh set of questions for us to answer for Wednesday Hodgepodge!
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1. St. Patrick’s Day lands on March 17th. Do you believe in luck? Are there things you do thinking they’ll  bring good luck or  things you avoid because they’re considered bad luck? 
Nyet, nyet, nyet. 🙂
I believe in the sovereignty and providence of God. This is a deep subject.
———
Here is a quote (Daily Doctrine pg. 97, Providence, DeYoung) that sheds some light on this belief;
“If sovereignty is God’s power to do whatever he pleases, providence is the wonderful good news that this power is pro-us. “Providence is the almighty and ever present power of God by which he upholds, as with his hand, heaven and earth and all creatures, and so rules them that leaf and blade, rain and drought, fruitful and lean years, food and drink, health and sickness, prosperity and poverty–all things, in fact, come to us not by chance but from the fatherly hand.” Therefore, we can be patient when things go against us, thankful when things go well, and have confidence for the future that nothing will separate us from God’s love (Heidelberg Catechism Q/A 27,28).
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2. Forest-lime-sage-mint-olive-emerald…what’s your favorite shade of green? 
Of these shades sage is my favorites. I really enjoy the combination of pink and green.
Purple/lavender and green is a lovely combo, too.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
3. In Ireland the meal on this day is often a hearty beef or lamb stew served with colcannon (mashed potato mixed with cabbage and leeks). In the US corned beef and cabbage is the more typical St. Patty’s Day meal. Will you/did you mark the day with one of these dishes? Baked-fried-roasted-mashed…what’s your favorite way to eat a potato?

We have enjoyed corned beef and cabbage on this day and other days, too.

 

On Monday, because my creative energy levels are at minus something,  I bought a package deal for a slow cooker corned beef and cabbage meal. I just have to open the package and put all the ingredients in the slow cooker. Everything is washed and ready to go, corned beef, carrots, potatoes and cabbage with a spice packet, too. On Tuesday morning I put all the ingredients in the slow cooker and let it prepare itself. The aroma was wonderful during the day. We enjoyed the meal when it was ready to eat.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

4. What color of the rainbow best represents your personality/mood today? Tell us why. 

I’m going with a lighter answer here after my deep one in question one!

Sisters wknd 076

Yellow is the color I’ll go with, as in daffodils and sunshine. I like to smile and share the light.  Daffodils and sunshine make me smile and tell me Spring is on the way. The photo is of  my sisters in a sea of daffodils, in the glorious sunshine from 2016 in Mount Vernon, Washington State!

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5. Which ‘lucky’ quote resonates with you. Elaborate. 

 ‘Luck is not something you can mention in the presence of self-made men.’ E.B. White 

‘Diligence is the mother of good luck.” Benjamin Franklin 

‘Luck is where opportunity meets preparation.’ Seneca 

‘Shallow men believe in luck. Strong men believe in cause and effect.’ Ralph Waldo Emerson 
~~~~~~~~~~~~
I’ll go with ‘Luck is where opportunity meets preparation.‘
We are just back from 16 days abroad and many good things culminated in the research that we made before we landed in all the places we visited. The preparation made the opportunities more meaningful and enjoyable.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

An Old Celtic Blessing

May the blessing of light be on you –
light without and light within.
May the blessed sunlight shine on you
and warm your heart
till it glows like a great peat fire.

IMGP7563

Budapest Pre-Cruise

We arrived in Budapest on the afternoon of Friday February 27th. There was an AmaWaterways Kiosk just outside of the baggage claim area where we checked in and met a few of our fellow river cruise passengers before it was time to board our bus to the hotel. When making our arrangements for the cruise we chose the 2 day pre-cruise option and we are so glad that we did. On our bus ride to the hotel we were able to get our first glimpse of the Danube.

When we arrived at the hotel we were pleasantly surprised at the luxury level of the hotel.

The Matilde Palace is a luxury hotel and part of the Marriott properties. This is not the type of hotel we would book for ourselves. There were automatic buttons for everything including the curtains and sheers.

Matild Palace, an iconic gem of Budapest, was envisioned in 1902 by her Imperial and Royal Highness, Maria Kotild of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha as part of the twin Kotild Palaces, a beacon of the Bell Epoque Era. Standing proudly beside the Elisabeth Bridge, these two majestic landmarks were designed to inspire and sere the social heart of the city. Over the decades, Matild Palace has borne witness to profound historical moments. From the grandeur of its early days to the trials of two world wars and the Hungarian revolution. Following a meticulous restoration, it emerged reborn in 2021 as a masterpiece within Marriott’s luxury collection.

Today, Matild Palace invites guests to immerse themselves in art nouveau inspired rooms and suites, and dine in exquisite venues led by the globally acclaimed Chef Wolfgang Puck.

Before dinner we had a meeting with our Tour Director for some general information. I thought I had made dinner reservations on Friday evening at a restaurant in town but come to find out it was for Saturday night instead of Friday night. We shifted our plans and headed up to the rooftop bar in our hotel and had some charcuterie and lovely views of the town at night.

 

Saturday morning we woke up early. Breakfast was included with our pre tour package. The hotel puts on an amazing buffet along with items you could choose off of a menu. We were really impressed with all of it and with the honey comb that was part of the buffet.

The breakfast view of the Elizabeth Bridge.

We had an early morning walk on streets next to the hotel. We tried to get some local currency at a bank ATM and the transactions would not go through. We hoped this was just a local issue.

So many grand buildings with impressive architecture.

The back entrance to the Matilde.

There was a excursion on Saturday morning that we were part of and into the tour we broke off to be able to buy tickets to see the inside of St. Stephens Basilica. I’ll share those photos in another post. We had time on Saturday to be on our own and also on Sunday before it was time for embarkation on the AmaMagna.

Back to the Present:

Monday afternoon was JJ time here while Addy was at dance lessons. While we were away he had to go to dance with his mom and Addy which was quite boring for him. He kept asking how many more days until we would return.

Today is St. Patrick’s Day and we will be enjoying a corned beef and cabbage meal later in the day.

We are still in recovery mode and I’m forcing myself to stay awake till at least 8pm. Hopefully sleep patterns will return to normal, soon.

Land Legs

“Land legs” refers to, the ability to regain balance and stability on solid ground after being on a ship, boat, or in motion for an extended period, essentially reversing the effect of “sea legs.” It is the process of readapting to a stable environment, which often leaves travelers feeling as though the ground is still rocking or swaying.

We are in the process of regaining our stability.

We made it home from Cambridge after a 2 hour bus ride to Heathrow, a 9 hour flight into Seatac (Seattle) and a 1 hour hopper to Spokane. Our son was waiting for us when we got off the plane a little after 9pm. The back seat of our car was decorated for a happy birthday greeting for me with crepe paper and balloons and there was a card for me from Addy and JJ. Such a sweet hello. Dan left his truck at our house so that he could drive us all the way home instead of us dropping him off at his house and then us continuing on home. Very thoughtful and very much appreciated since we were very tired after starting our journey 9am England time. (8 hours ahead of our Pacific Standard Time) If I’m figuring that out correctly, it means we were traveling for approximately 22 hours!

These are the sweet cards waiting for me when I got off the plane.

We got our hugs Sunday morning at church from Addy and JJ. It seems like they grew 6 inches since we saw them last!

We had a great trip but it is always so lovely to return to all the comforts of home and family.

I Believe in God the Father ~ Hymn

 

I Believe in God the Father

I believe in God the Fa­ther,
Who cre­at­ed Heav’n and earth;
Made the stars to shine so bright­ly,
Gave each liv­ing thing its birth.
I be­lieve in God the Fa­ther,
And in Je­sus Christ His Son,
Who was cru­ci­fied on Cal­v’ry
For the sins that all have done.

I be­lieve He died, was bur­ied,
Rose again, no more to die;
And as­cend­ing to His Fa­ther,
Took His seat with Him on high.
I be­lieve in God the Spir­it,
Sent to us from Heav’n above,
And the Church our bless­èd Sav­ior
Hath re­deemed by His great love.

I be­lieve in His for­give­ness,
And His won­drous pow­er to save;
In a glo­ri­ous re­sur­rect­ion,
And a life be­yond the grave.
I be­lieve in God the Fa­ther,
I be­lieve in God the Son,
And in God the Ho­ly Spir­it,
Everlasting Three in One.

Words: Fanny Crosby, 1892.

Seventy Five!

Today is my seventy fifth birthday. God has been so good to me. We will be traveling all the live long day today. From Cambridge to London to Seattle to Spokane and then home again, home again, jiggity jig!

It will be good to be home again and to get our bearings.

Here are some birthday photos from the past.

 

 

 

 

The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
    indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

Thank You, LORD!

 

The Wren Library

Cambridge is a town that affords you many great architectural treats. On our way to the Wren Library which is part of Trinity College we enjoyed many. This day was still Monday March 9th and our first full day in Cambridge.

There is a lot of history in this library and many important documents. If you are interested you can read more here.

A detailed description of the window can be found here.

A.A. Milne attended Trinity college and some original manuscripts from Winnie the Pooh are featured in the Wren Library. Some interesting reading here.

This was a beautiful day in Cambridge and we enjoyed some views at the back of Trinity and other colleges, too.

A view of the Wren from the Backs.

A view of St. John’s college.

They have a claim to fame of C.S. Lewis visiting here during his time in Cambridge.

They also claim to be the oldest pub.

We had our last meal of the day at the Mitre.

Love the signs of spring we are seeing…

So this was Monday and we had 4 more full days in Cambridge. It will take lots of posts to cover everything we have seen and experienced. Today, Thursday the 12th of March, was a very blustery day. The kind of wind that moved you along. We still had sunshine break through. Our weather here has been fabulous with no rain so far. Time will tell if we get rained upon. Thank you, friends, for following along with us.

The Eagle and DNA

Frances Crick’s brag in the Eagle. The pub where we habitually ate lunch, that we had indeed discovered that ‘Secret of life, struck me as somewhat immodest, especially in England, where understatement is the way of life. ~James Watson

The Eagle, Cambridge ~ Discovery of DNA~

On this spot on February 23, 1953, Francis Crick and James Watson made the first public announcement of the discovery of DNA with the words “We have discovered the secret of life.” Throughout their early partnership Watson and Crick dined in this room on six days every week. 

Greg and I dined in this room on Monday March 9th, 2026.

The other history that is special here is the ceiling covered in graffiti of British and American WWII pilots who burned their names and squadron numbers here using cigarette lighters, candles and lipstick.

Cottage pie and duck hash were our choices for our meal.

From The Eagle we decided to trek over to the Wren Library in Trinity College. It has limited visiting hours and this was a good day to fit it in. That will be another post!

We are walking our feet off here in Cambridge. Thanks for following along on our travels and discoveries.

On Our Own in Cambridge

After 8 days and nights of being waited on hand and foot we are on our own in the college town of Cambridge. We are staying at The Wilde Aparthotel which is positioned well in the central part of the city. We have a one bedroom small apartment in a very large building with over 400 rooms/apartments.

The lobby is a gathering space with lots of comfy furniture and spaces for people to gather. It was quite lively when we checked in.

Our apartment has a Nespresso machine but we wanted a fresh brew so on Monday morning we went on a quest to get a good cup of coffee. The earliest time that a shop opened was at 6:30 a.m. so we set out before then and enjoyed the quiet of the city without students racing about on bicycles.

We walked along Bridge Street and spotted the Round Church.

Once we go inside, I’ll share more about this ancient church.

We found the coffee shop and enjoyed a strong cup of coffee and shared a delicious almond croissant. Appropriately fueled we journeyed on to see what we could see.

We found our way to King’s Parade.

Part of our Tuesday Tour will cover King’s College and I’ll have lots to share about it. I’m anticipating the chapel at King’s College the most.

We also plan to do our own Reformation Walking Tour from a book I purchased showing some key areas and things to look for.

The window designs at the Copper Kettle were so charming. We might need to eat a meal here.

We came across the Corpus Clock and enjoyed watching the big grasshopper biting away at time! This clock is fascinating and it draws a lot of attention. I took a video to share it with our Grands.

Here’s a You-Tube video about the clock.

The Latin inscription translates, “The World and it’s desires pass away”

Walking down from the Clock we saw The Eagle.

We made a plan to return here for our midday meal.

What a joy to see this beautiful blossoming tree! Spring is coming…thank you, LORD!

Before our lunch at The Eagle we did some shopping acquiring a small French Press and ground coffee so we can make our own coffee in the morning. TK Maxx to the rescue to find a very affordable coffee press and we bought coffee at Sainsbury.

I’ll keep our time at The Eagle for a separate post along with our visit to the Wren Library.

The weather was a bit brighter than Sunday and made walking about pleasant. Cheers!