Half Way Hodgepodge

Our summertime visitors have been entertaining us here at our country bungalow. I’ll post more photos later in the week.

Time for the Midweek Hodgepodge with thanks to Joyce From This Side of the Pond.

1. The midpoint of summer (believe it or not) is August 7th. Describe a perfect summer day. Have you had one this year?

A nice clear blue sky with fluffy clouds at 78 degrees or less with no mosquitoes, yellow jackets, or wasps to bother me. Have not had one this summer.

2. What’s one thing you wish you knew before starting high school?

It was a waste of time, emotions and regrets to have boyfriends. It would have been good just to keep all relationships at the friend level.

3. What’s something that bothers you if it’s not done perfectly?

I think perfectly is a very high standard that has different opinions attached. I like events that are well planned and that have flexibility if things go wrong.

It does bother me when you arrive to help someone move and nothing is packed or that there aren’t boxes and paper and tape to get the job done.

It bothers me when an event is planned but then there is no one really in charge.

4. What’s the most overrated food you’re convinced people are just pretending to enjoy?

Green Juice.

What’s a trendy food you actually do enjoy and would say is definitely not overrated?

Thai Food

5. Wrapping it up this week with five fun this or thats…

personal stylist or personal chef?

Chef!
dance like nobody’s watching or sing like nobody’s listening?

Sing like nobody’s listening!
unlimited tacos or free pizza?

Unlimited Tacos!

bookshelf organization-by size or by genre?

By Genre and within the genre the authors.
ten minutes late or ten minutes early?

Ten minutes early!

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Our younger summertime visitors from the animal kingdom.

These two were crying for their mother on Monday night when I got home from VBS. A sad cry I had never heard before.

Our church is having Vacation Bible School, Wonder Junction, this week. I’ll be selling t-shirts and hats each evening.

Of Boats and Birthdays…

Tuesday July 29th was my brother and sister’s birthday. They are twins. It was fun to have one of the ‘twins’ with us to celebrate his birthday this year. Our Colville kids own a boat and the plan for this Tuesday was for them to treat their uncle and cousin to a day on the water. Their boat is not a yacht so Greg and I stayed home for boat time.

While the crew were boating I baked a cake and prepared our taco dinner. The candle on the cake had a small explosion of edible confetti that was fun. Note to self: read the directions before you light the candle. For the first candle I didn’t read the fact that I was supposed to put in the edible sprinkles ahead of lighting the candle. Thankfully there were two candles in the package and Jamie loaded up the second candle and Dan lit it for a successful ‘second take’ on singing and lighting and exploding!

The evening was capped off with a game of SkyJo which has become our ‘go to’ card game this year.

Wednesday morning was pack up day with a trip to the airport for our visitors. We stopped for breakfast at Frank’s Diner and another stop at Spokane Falls for a quick view before we continued on to the airport.

The Spokane International airport was a short ten minute drive from here. We dropped off my brother and nephew with hugs and good wishes. ‘God be with you till we meet again’.

We still had to make a couple shopping stops on the way back to Colville for supplies for our Vacation Bible School. After stopping at the Chef’s Store and Costco we drove the rest of our 70 mile trip to Colville with views of clouds that warned of Thunderstorms that were ready to burst at any minute.

We are thankful for the time we could all spend with my brother and nephew in our corner of the world.

Tee Time and Museum Time

While my brother and nephew were visiting a week ago we had a few activities planned. On Monday the 28th of July we had a Tee Time of 8:30 am. Greg, Leonard and Andrew golfed and I drove one of the golf carts. Dominion Meadows Golf Course in Colville is a great resource for our county. We enjoyed our time. The scores would have been real good if they were for 18 holes instead of 9.

After golf we enjoyed lunch at Rancho Grande Mexican Restaurant. After lunch we made a last minute decision to visit the Colville Museum run by the Steven’s County Historical Society.

We had a great introduction to the history of our area by a volunteer before strolling through the museum.

I have a more thorough post about the museum from another visit we made in 2020. You can see it here.

This time we took a tour of the lookout tower.

It was a good uphill trek to get to the tower and then a couple sets of stairs that showed me how out of shape I am from my sedentary time with Plantar Fasciitis.

The views were worth the huffing and puffing. It was nice to see these views of Colville.

The volunteer who took us up in the tower was a great resource of information about the history of the tower. You can read the information here.

The museum had some resident deer that we call city deer. They are less concerned by humans than the deer out in our part of the country.

It was a good full day and with the heat we were beat and stayed in for the evening.

This week we are supposed to have lower temperatures than last week which is fortunate since we are having Vacation Bible School this week. I’ll be busy selling t-shirts each evening again this year. It’s always fun to see the kids arrive each evening.

What’s new in your neck of the woods?

Whate’er My God Ordains is Right ~Hymn

Whate’er My God Ordains is Right

Whate’er my God ordains is right:
His holy will abideth;
I will be still whate’er He doth;
And follow where He guideth;
He is my God; though dark my road,
He holds me that I shall not fall:
Wherefore to Him I leave it all.

Whate’er my God ordains is right:
He never will deceive me;
He leads me by the proper path:
I know He will not leave me.
I take, content, what He hath sent;
His hand can turn my griefs away,
And patiently I wait His day.

Whate’er my God ordains is right:
His loving thought attends me;
No poison can be in the cup
That my physician sends me.
My God is true; each morn anew
I’ll trust His grace unending,
My life to Him commending.

Whate’er my God ordains is right:
He is my friend and Father;
He suffers naught to do me harm,
Though many storms may gather,
Now I may know both joy and woe,
Some day I shall see clearly
That He hath loved me dearly.

Whate’er my God ordains is right:
Though now this cup, in drinking,
May bitter seem to my faint heart,
I take it, all unshrinking.
My God is true; each morn anew
Sweet comfort yet shall fill my heart,
And pain and sorrow shall depart.

Whate’er my God ordains is right:
Here shall my stand be taken;
Though sorrow, need, or death be mine,
Yet I am not forsaken.
My Father’s care is round me there;
He holds me that I shall not fall:
And so to Him I leave it all.

Words: Samuel Rodigast, 1676.

Tea ~ Fullerton

Welcome to Tea Time 2025. These posts will be about Tea Rooms we’ve been to, Teas we’ve given for friends and family, Church Tea events, and High Tea in restaurants from 2008 to the present. Tea in the U.S.A., Tea in England and Tea in Canada. Many of the Tea Rooms are no longer in business, which is sad.

This post was from October 17th of 2009. That was sixteen years ago!

Southern California is having a weather event and we are HOT HOT HOT. Back in April of 2009 my family planned a nice afternoon at the Rose Tree Cottage in Pasadena for my mother’s 85th birthday. It was a disappointing day for my mom because she fell on an uneven sidewalk when she arrived and had to spend the afternoon and evening at the hospital instead of having tea.

My mother giving us some words of wisdom at her birthday tea in 2007.

We decided it was high time to get together for tea again and thought we’d have some nice Fall weather for our get together. Well it’s Fall but we are having some summer weather. This time my mom, all my sisters, a SIL, nieces, and little grand niece are gathering in Fullerton. We’re praying for an accident free day!

Half the ladies in my family met for tea yesterday in Fullerton, California. We had the Senior member of our family, our 85 year old mom and the youngest member of our family, our 1 month old Grand Niece/Great Granddaughter in attendance.

The venue was the Spring Tea Garden in Fullerton, California. We were treated well during our time there.

Avery was born September 17th

This venue is still open for events.

That was 16 years ago which means this Fall our Grandniece Avery will be turning 16!

Dallas to Colville

My brother and our nephew traveled to Colville to enjoy a Father/Son time with us. Leonard is the youngest of my siblings being born 6 minutes after his twin, Lana. Andrew has an older sister, Hope. Hope was enjoying some cousin time in California. We stopped at The Master’s Brewpub in Deer Park on the way home from the airport for a meal.

As we continued home, we passed many sunflower fields. Andrew was born in the Ukraine so we pulled off the highway to get a photo of him with the sunflowers. They are Ukraine’s national flower and are associated with peace, the sun, and the warmth of the Ukrainian spirit.

Once home we had a walk about and played some Corn Hole.

On Sunday we met up with our family at church.

After church we enjoyed Greg’s famous Swedish Pancakes.

Sunday dinner was on Bayles Mountain. What a treat we had, lamb gyros with homemade gyros and tzatziki. Homemade Ice Cream with huckleberry sauce was our dessert. Our kids picked all the huckleberries themselves.

Jamie remembered to take the group shots and we are grateful for them. Andrew is our children’s cousin. He is cousin once removed to our grands.

Driving down our kids’ driveway for home we stopped for our traditional spot for a photo.

I’ll share our Monday and Tuesday doings in another post.

We had some intense thunderstorms yesterday and our temps dropped by 20 degrees by the time the storms ceased.

Happy August to you all.

Truth for Today #155

Thursday July 31st

On Thursdays my posts will include verses that stood out in my readings from the Bible during 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 dig deep in God’s Truth again this year!

The verses that you share are appreciated and so encouraging, I’m thankful for them and for each of you!

1 Timothy 6:11-16

¹¹But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. ¹²Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. ¹³I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, ¹⁴to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁵which he will display at the proper time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, ¹⁶who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

From Dianna:

John 1:12-13 NASB

“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who are born, not of blood nor the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but of God.”

From Vera:

‭‭James‬ ‭1‬:‭19‬-‭21‬

“Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.”

From Leonard:

Isaiah 41:10

“Do not fear for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am you God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

From Karen:

Isaiah 1:18.

Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they hall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

‭

Goodbye July Hodgepodge

Here we are at the end of July but before it’s over we have one more July Wednesday Hodgepodge. Thank you, Joyce from This Side of the Pond.

1. On July 29th 1957 The Tonite Show premiered with Jack Parr as it’s host. This marked the beginning of the modern day talk show. Do you watch any daytime or late night talk shows today? Do you have any thoughts on the hubbub surrounding the cancellation of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, or are you more in the camp of ‘who is Stephen Colbert?

“Leave politics to the politicians and just get on with being entertaining. That’s the advice iconic late-night talk show host Jay Leno gave.”

I’m in the ‘who is yada yada’ camp. When supposed comedians and movie producers and sports teams become political it’s a shame and their demise is their own fault.

2. What’s the best part of your day?

I have to say it’s the peace and quiet of the morning. My cup of coffee time and time in the Word of God starts the day off in a pleasant subtle life changing way. It plays a part in my Sanctification that has been ongoing since God called me to be one of His own through the door Jesus opened through His sacrifice for sin on the cross and His resurrection from the dead. The words of this song from Chris Tomlin speak to this life changing Faith. One God, One Savior, One Way to peace with God.

There is a savior for the sinnerHe is my friend and my forgiverThere is new mercy that flows like riversIt washes me, it washes me

I believe in JesusHe is the Son of GodHe died and rose to save my soulI confess that He is Lord

There is a cross that reminds meThere’s only one who is worthyAnd there is a grave forever emptyOh, I believe

Yes, I believe, oh

I believe in JesusHe is the Son of GodHe died and rose to save my soulI confess that He is Lord

You are LordYou are LordYou are LordI confess, You are Lord

My salvation, my rewardYou are all I’m living forYou are LordYou are LordI confess, You are Lord

Every knee will bow beforeJesus Christ forevermore

I believe in JesusHe is the Son of GodHe died and rose to save my soulI confess that He is LordOh, I believe in JesusHe is the Son of God(He died) He died (and rose) and rose to save my soulI confess that He is Lord

He died and rose to save my soulI confess that He is Lord

https://youtu.be/TjRSCpeBgm8?si=Ozhiig7ozRUX7_rA

3. What’s something your generation does that you actually dislike?

I’m tweaking this question a little by changing does to did. My generation was a smoking generation and that is something I dislike/disliked. There was cigarette smoke everywhere including restaurants, offices I worked in, airplanes, and in many homes. What a relief it was when smoking was not allowed in contained public spaces anymore, especially in restaurants and airplanes. ‘Smoking sections’ were such a joke but we put up with them for years.

4. When you cook do you clean as you go, or clean it all up once you’re finished cooking? What’s the last thing you cooked/baked in your own kitchen?

It varies on whether I clean as I go or after I’m finished. It really depends on how complicated a recipe or method is and if I need the same space to complete the recipe.

On Tuesday, I baked a cake for my youngest brother who is visiting us with his son. It was his birthday. Tuesday dinner was a true taco Tuesday here. I browned the meat, fried the taco shells and made guac and pica de gallo, etc. etc. It was a mess. Today, Wednesday, we are taking them to the airport in Spokane for their flight back to Dallas, Texas.

As I hurry this morning to finish this post my dear husband is washing up some of the pans from our taco meal prep from our dinner last night and also bringing me my morning cuppa. He’s a keeper, y’all!

5. Sum up your July in ten words or less.

July a mix of celebration, organization, grief, sorrow ending with joy.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

I’m coming in late because we have been busy with my brother and our nephew. Lots to share on another day. I’d like to clarify that this iconic view that our family loves is from our kids’ driveway, not ours. We usually are inspired to take a photo here on our way home from their house.

I’ll be coming around late to visit, Hodgepodgers!

Wrapping Last Week Up

At soccer camp last week we had intermittent showers and winds and a beautiful rainbow!

It was a very full week with soccer camp in the evening and golf camp in the morning, not to mention Irish Dance practice, too!

Our road is being asphalted from highway 395 all the way to highway 25. That’s about 20 miles worth. There are times where we have to wait at our driveway for a pilot car to let us out. We have to plan our trips wisely and also leave plenty of time in advance if we have an appointment. The road is looking real nice and it will be great when it is all done.

We have been enjoying my brother and his son being with us since Saturday afternoon. I will have lots of posts to share soon.

I’ll leave you with some flowers that are blooming in our planters right now.

Enjoy the final days of July!

I Once Was a Stranger ~ Hymn

Jehovah Tsidkenu is Hebrew for The Lord Our Righteousness.

I Once Was a Stranger

I once was a stranger to grace and to God,
I knew not my danger, and felt not my load;
Though friends spoke in rapture of Christ on the tree,
Jehovah Tsidkenu was nothing to me.

I oft read with pleasure, to sooth or engage,
Isaiah’s wild measure and John’s simple page;
But e’en when they pictured the blood sprinkled tree
Jehovah Tsidkenu seemed nothing to me.

Like tears from the daughters of Zion that roll,
I wept when the waters went over His soul;
Yet thought not that my sins had nailed to the tree
Jehovah Tsidkenu—’twas nothing to me.

When free grace awoke me, by light from on high,
Then legal fears shook me, I trembled to die;
No refuge, no safety in self could I see—
Jehovah Tsidkenu my Savior must be.

My terrors all vanished before the sweet name;
My guilty fears banished, with boldness I came
To drink at the fountain, life giving and free—
Jehovah Tsidkenu is all things to me.

Jehovah Tsidkenu! my treasure and boast,
Jehovah Tsidkenu! I ne’er can be lost;
In thee I shall conquer by flood and by field,
My cable, my anchor, my breast-plate and shield!

Even treading the valley, the shadow of death,
This watchword shall rally my faltering breath;
For while from life’s fever my God sets me free,
Jehovah Tsidkenu, my death song shall be.

Words: Robert M. McCheyne, (1813-1843)

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage

Author Archives: Ellen