Monthly Archives: August 2017

The Barn Collective

Saw this barn in the distance on a walk at Evans Creek in early July. I zoomed in for a closer look. Evans Creek Preserve is in the city of Sammamish, Washington.

If time permits I’ll link up with Tom the Backroads Traveller for The Barn Collective.

I’m thankful for a breeze this morning and hoping it helps to blow the smoke away. There was an advisory I saw yesterday saying that the air quality in Washington State is the worst in all of the USA. We can’t see our mountains to the east or to the west. People are now hoping for some rain to help clean up the atmosphere. The heat and the air make for a very unproductive ellen b. My daughter in law sent a photo yesterday from the same spot I took the photo in my header. They cannot see any of the layers of the mountains or the hills!

Our Charity Video

Lovella from Mennonite Girls Can Cook with the help of her son put together this video explaining what Mennonite Girls Can Cook do and where 100% of our author royalties go. This video was created as a promo to a play that was written bearing our name and being performed as a musical this year in 3 different Blue Gate venues in Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania. The musical is fun and entertaining but didn’t represent what our mission has been and it is nice to shed some light on the real Mennonite Girls Can Cook with this video. Our talented Lovella has again done a fine job of representing all of us girls. I’m thankful to God for being included as their American cousin and being part of this giving group of Canadian “girls”.

Sifting Through…

…the piles and getting around the roadblocks. I will be back soon once I get to the bottom of the pile and am free to visit y’all.

In the meantime, I love this photo from the fifties of my pop and mom at Knott’s Berry Farm in California.

It’s hotter than we like it here in the Seattle Area and on top of that the smoke from the fires in British Columbia have moved into our area so the air is not as clean and clear as it usually is. We do hope the fires will be extinguished soon and that no new fires will threaten that area and areas in Eastern Washington. Hope you are enjoying your summer.

 

From California With Love…

For the last 5 days we have been enjoying visitors from California at our house. My oldest sister and her daughter Michelle along with Michelle’s hubby and two kids have been staying with us. On Sunday we gathered at Josh and Laura’s for a birthday celebration for their Aunt Lana, my sister. Three out of the four original sisters were able to enjoy this time together. Our oldest sister, Kathy, on the left was born in Iran. Lana and I were born in California. Kathy and her family have been caring for our dear old pop. He’s getting a little lonely since she’s been gone but Kathy’s husband and her other daughter are keeping a close eye on him. I hope it’s a nice break for Kathy.

Sisters, Aunts, Mothers, Nieces, Daughters…

The current batch of Californians visiting and celebrating with most of the Washingtonians.

The weather was just right for an outdoor event.

During the visit Pandemics were halted and the world was saved by different groups of players in different locations. There were fairy worlds to discover by others.

On Monday some of the ladies headed to Snohomish to do some shopping along First Avenue. Since we only managed to hit about 1/16th of what this shopping district had to offer a return trip in the future is on the to do list.

The youngest among us on this family visit enjoyed using the fruit picker to help Great Auntie out by picking a small fraction of our apples.  Our white hydrangea has some huge blooms as you can see with Avery standing next to it.

This extended family photo from our nephew Joe and Hannah’s wedding just popped up on facebook. In this photo from my side of the family there are 11 Washingtonians, 4 Texans and the rest are Californians. This wedding was in January just north of Santa Barbara, California. It’s nice to have visits from our family a fraction at a time. We have another small fraction of family arriving on Monday!

The Pacific Northwest is bracing itself for a heat wave. It’s all the news up here. Hope you are staying cool and comfy where you are.