When I went to link up this morning for the Hodgepodge we had the news from Joyce that her dear Mama passed away earlier this week. Our hearts and prayers are with you, Joyce, and with your whole family.
1. How do you feel about the transition from lazy summer days to a busier fall routine?
I’ve always loved the transition from summer to fall. Even the years I was in school, I welcomed with excitement going back. These days I enjoy the fact that Ladies Bible studies will start up again and there will be more order in our days. I enjoy Fall weather and Fall events like cider fest and the corn maze.
2. Your favorite cookie?
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I like homemade Loaded Chocolate Chip Cookies with oatmeal, walnuts, almonds, and sometimes coconut!
I use the toll house recipe and load them up with extras.
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3. What’s something you’ve learned from a culture different than your own?
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I grew up in Southern California just outside East Los Angeles and the neighborhoods we lived in were multi cultural with Mexicans, Jews, Russians, Armenians, Japanese, Scots, and Heinz 57 Americans. I included Scots, although I only first heard of anyone who was Scottish in 5th grade when Karen’s parents moved to Montebello and she was introduced as a new student in our class. I was enthralled with her from the start and she taught me a few Scottish dance moves that we shared with the class for show and tell. I think we sang a song, too, The Bonnie Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomand.
Apart from the great food we enjoyed in the homes of my friends from these cultures, I learned about the Jewish custom of coming of age.
A bar mitzvah and a bat mitzvah are both Jewish coming-of-age milestones. A bar mitzvah (“son of commandment’) marks the religious maturity of a boy at the age 13, while a bat mitzvah (daughter of the commandment) marks the religious maturity of a girl, traditionally at age 12.
I was invited to one of my Jewish friends Bat Mitzvah and I was blown away by the lavishness of the celebration!
These are my multi-cultural Cheer friends from my high school at a Russian dinner at my house before a football game. (My Scottish friend from 5th grade, Karen, is the one with the rollers in her hair). We would have a meal at a different Cheer members home before Varsity games. They are eating borsch. That was just one of the food items my mother prepared for them. I think I see piroshky on the table, also. After the meal we would all get our cheer clothes on and head to the game for a night where we would work off every calorie we ate at dinner!
This is one of my best buddies from school days, Nanc. I spent a lot of time in her home where I learned how to make guacamole and we learned every popular Leslie Gore song by heart. Her parents brought me along to Mexican restaurants with them and to the downtown wholesale fashion district for shopping. Growing up, my family did not eat in restaurants so that was an eye opening experience all its own. Her dad drove a Volkswagon Square back and we spent many miles in that little car. One summer when she got back from visiting her uncle who was a jeweler in Mexico City she gifted me the ring below that he made for me.
While we were living in Camarillo for a short time Nanc and I reconnected online and we met up a couple of times for meals and to catch up on life. The photo above is of one of our meet ups. I hadn’t seen her for 40 years! There is a long story about that…
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4. Food critic, film critic, book critic, art critic…which hat would you most like to wear? Tell us why.
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Of these choices I’d choose the Food Critic hat because I love to travel and I love to try new restaurants and eat good food. I’d have a hard time writing bad critiques, though. I’ll just choose to be a traveler and enjoy trying new food in different places and being satisfied.
I’m not a film buff, or the reader of a variety of genres, and I’m definitely not artsy.
5. What’s a small, random thing from your childhood that you still remember clearly?
This will give you a little insight into my character. I remember hiding from my mother and father on Saturday mornings because I did not want to go to Russian School. When they found me, I would stomp my feet and say, “I’m an American!”. Well that didn’t work. In my latter years I was thankful to have learned the Russian alphabet and to learn to read and write in Russian.
To say “I am American” in Russian, use Я американец (if you are male) or Я американка (if you are female). If you want to say “I am from America” or “from the USA,” you can say Я из Америки or Я из США.
Я американка, Yah Amereekanka, I am American.
6. Insert your own random thought here.
These questions pulled up a lot of memories from my past.
On summer mornings I walk out to turn the oscillating sprinkler on to water our planters. The faucet that the sprinkler is connected to is further away from the house. When I walked back on this particular morning last week I took some photos.
I wish you could hear the birds serenading and the quail warning signals that a human was about.
Can you see the reflection of me still in my summer robe?
These last two photos are afternoon photos after yard work. I do the mowing on the riding lawn mower and Greg does the weed wacking. When I’m done mowing there is a set up to wash the undercarriage of the mower which takes 5 minutes with me sitting on the mower for the process. I took the photo above from my mower perch. If you squint, you can see Greg on the left walking with a white bucket.
After yard work if the deck is still in the shade we cool down with some iced cold water and we thank the LORD for being able to get the job done yet again.
Just after midnight Saturday we had a thunderstorm roll through with lots of lightning bursts and a downpour. It was welcomed. Some from our church got their power knocked out. Ours only went out long enough to have to reset the oven clocks!
As I type this Sunday afternoon we hear more rumblings in the distance. Hopefully more rain is coming. We have a new fire 30 miles from us that is thankfully being managed well. More rain will be welcomed.
We are entering the last week of August and already there are more events on the calendar. Hope you all have a good week.
This is a quick easy bread to make using Bisquik or another pancake and baking mix
Ingredients:
1 egg
3/4 cup of sugar
1- 1/2 cups milk
3 cups Bisquik mix
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
3/4 cup finely chopped almonds
3/4 cup blueberries
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Prepare a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan by greasing it.
Beat the egg and add the sugar beating until well combined.
Add the milk and Bisquick mix and beat well.
Stir in almonds and almond extract.
Carefully blend in blueberries.
Pour batter in prepared loaf pan.
Bake for 50 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean, ovens vary so check at 45 minutes. Cool in pan for about 10 minutes and then remove from pan onto wire rack to continue cooling. Slice and enjoy.
On Fridays my posts will include verses that stood out in my readings from the Bible during the week. One, two, three or maybe more. If you have a verse/verses that you read during the week and would like to share, leave it/them in the comments and I will add it/them to the post. Let’s continue to dig deep into God’s truth.
The verses that you share are appreciated and so encouraging, I’m thankful for them and for each of you.
1 Timothy 6:20
O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge, for by professing it some have swerved from the faith. Grace be with you.
1 Peter 1:8-9
Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
Psalm 18:1
I love you, O LORD, my strength.
From Vera:
Psalm 148:1-14 ESV
“Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise him in the heights! Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his hosts! Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars! Praise him, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens! Let them praise the name of the Lord! For he commanded and they were created. And he established them forever and ever; he gave a decree, and it shall not pass away. Praise the Lord from the earth, you great sea creatures and all deeps, fire and hail, snow and mist, stormy wind fulfilling his word! Mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars! Beasts and all livestock, creeping things and flying birds! Kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all rulers of the earth! Young men and maidens together, old men and children! Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted; his majesty is above earth and heaven. He has raised up a horn for his people, praise for all his saints, for the people of Israel who are near to him. Praise the Lord!”
From Karen:
Psalm 118:24
This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
From Maristella:
Psalm 18:28
For it is you Who light my lamp,The Lord my God lightens my darkness.
From Rosie:
Psalm 46:2
Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
A quote about prayer from John MacArthur who was Greg and my first pastor after we were married in 1974. He got his promotion to heaven July 25th of 2025. Even though we moved far away from our first church and have been active members under other pastors since 1976, we’ve continued to learn and grow from Johnny Mac’s sermons (available at Grace to You) and his books.
“Far from being merely a wish list, godly prayer is fundamentally and inescapably an act of worship. It is an expression of our praise, our unworthiness, our desire to see God’s will fulfilled, and our utter dependence on Him for all our needs. Thus, every aspect of prayer is an act of worship. That includes the petitions we make, because when we properly make our requests known to God–without anxiety, through prayer and supplication, and with thanksgiving (Phil. 4:6)–we are acknowledging His sovereignty, confessing our own total reliance on His grace and power, and looking to Him as Lord, provider, and ruler of the universe–not some kind of celestial Santa. Even when we are making requests, proper prayer is pure worship.”
The stained glass window and photo from the cellars are from Dunfermline Abbey and Palace in Scotland. The window depicts Jesus on the Mount of Olives praying the night he was betrayed with some of his Disciples sleeping nearby.
The cellars afforded Josh, Laura, Greg and me our own mini praise and worship time to our Lord God singing Praise God from Whom all Blessings Flow.
1. August 19th is National Aviation Day…do you like to fly?
I do enjoy reaching special destinations by plane.
Last time you were on an airplane?
We flew to Southern California in May for our dear friend’s Memorial Service.
The date is chosen in honor of the history and development of aviation, and celebrated on the birthday of Orville Wright. Have you ever been to the Kitty Hawk area of North Carolina? The city of Dayton in Ohio (their birthplace)
No to both.
2. In what area of your life do you tend to ‘wing it’? Is this an area you should be winging?
Lately I’ve been in winging mode for meals at our country bungalow. I don’t know about should be, it is a phase.
3. A favorite book, song, or movie that relates to flight in some way?
I do still enjoy Leaving on a Jet Plane by John Denver.
This video was from August 19th, 1972!
4. Soft serve, gelato, sherbet, frozen yogurt, or good old fashioned ice cream…what’s your pleasure? Your favorite flavor? How often do you indulge?
Orange sherbet is a favorite. As far as old fashioned Ice Cream goes, Häagen-Dazs Coffee chip is a favorite.
5. I never get tired of______________________.
I never get tired of seeing our family and spending time with them.
It’s hot and muggy outside and there is not much to share here. We have a family wedding of a Grand Nephew coming up in October and I’ve been checking out their registry to see what we’ll pick to gift them. My thoughts went back to our wedding registry.
We were married in December of 1974 and these were some shower and wedding gifts we received. They are still serving us well. These high quality stainless steel bowls have been used over and over again for mixing anything from cookies to cakes and brownies and for savory things like egg scrambles. Fifty two years old and it is accurate to say, ‘they don’t make them like they used to’.
My tried and true stand mixer has been a faithful friend over all these years beating up ingredients for me and saving my hands and wrists and arms a lot of wear and tear.
My aluminum pans have made so many cakes, crumbles, breads, brownies, and other wonderful treats.
We don’t have all the Pfaltzgraff Yorktowne dishes anymore. I did keep a couple of the teapots, the sugar and creamer and the cookie jar. I use the cookie jar as decor. We do have a full set of Moss Rose by Royal Albert that we collected after we were married. I purchased the Moss Rose Tea Set in Oxford in 1973 on our summer music tour before we were married and that inspired us to buy the dinner set, too. My parents purchased service for 8 of our sterling. Since our wedding we added 4 more place settings.
In walking about the house to see what other wedding gifts are still visible this pewter oil lamp came into view.
We both enjoyed and enjoy pewter. This gift was from friends from my Bethany Russian Baptist days. And these pewter gifts below were from mutual friends.
Looks like I have some silver polishing to do on those sugar tongs!
This sent me way down a rabbit hole that I’ll continue closer to our anniversary in December.
Are you still using gifts from your wedding showers and wedding day?
On Saturday we made a trip to Spokane for some big store shopping. On our way home we stopped in Deer Park for a meal at Master’s Brewhouse. We had their Teriyaki Rice Bowl and their soup of the day. The rice bowl was delicious and especially the fresh Asian spiced coleslaw. It’s hiding under the chicken. The soup of the day was a Mexican corn chowder. We always enjoy their soup of the day.
Along the highway from our lunch stop there were some sunflower fields and we pulled off to enjoy some closer views. The fields were a little past their prime but it was a nice sight nevertheless.
From the fields we continued north into Chewelah. We are still basking in the views without smoke.
This mural honoring Veteran’s is on the front of the American Legion building in Chewelah right on the highway. We get a good view when stopped at the one signal in the whole town.
We continued home and enjoyed a quiet evening.
On Sunday we had a great morning church service and then a relaxing afternoon and evening at home.
The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b. 