Author Archives: Ellen

Barns in Tulip World

When we travel to Skagit Valley to see the tulip fields we get the added bonus of seeing some barns along the way.

I spy myself taking this photo in our side view mirror!

The purpose of our trip to Skagit Valley was to visit the gardens at Roozengaarde and the bonus were the views along the country roads.

A horse beyond the tulips out of focus but the tulips were the focus of this trip.

I’ll leave you with this masterfully taken selfie of me and Dear. I have a lot of work to do on my selfies, yes?

Our Saturday is a mix of tweaking, painting, sorting, recycling, and trashing. I’ll have a few hours break at noon for soccer south of downtown Seattle. What’s on your agenda?

Linking up with Tom the Backroads Traveler for The Barn Collective.

Tulips in Borders

We were happy that we had a nice window of sunshine on May 2nd to enjoy this years tulip display even though it was in it’s very last days. The tulip festival usually runs the month of April. This year there was a late start to the blooms because of our winter weather so they extended the festival through the first week of May. So much beauty in living color.

We had a crazy weather day yesterday. The day started with beautiful sunshine and the temps climbed up to 78 and then just before 4pm the skies darkened and we had a thunderstorm event across our region with lots of lightning. One of the lightning strikes was right over our home and it was so loud! The rains came down in buckets and some trees and power lines came down, too. We have power but a good amount of folks lost power. The news called the event “the biggest severe weather day in decades”. Things are a lot milder today. Spring is unpredictable.

Our weekend looks to be quiet again which is a good thing because the end of the month will be busy with travel for both Dear and me. Got this sweet collage texted to us from our daughter-in-law with Miss Addy enjoying the sunshine on their porch. These photos were taken on May 4th.

Oh how we love this little girl. What a blessing she is from God to our whole family. Have a good Cinco de Mayo and first weekend in May everyone!

Zoom In to Tulips…

So many beautiful varieties of tulips and I’ve only shown you some of them. More coming soon.

Wednesday we managed to mow half the lawn and then finished up this morning. We had another sunny day today up until about 3:45  and now we are having a few thunderstorms roll through. Dear and I picked up Katie today and headed to the Seattle Japanese Gardens where Katie enjoyed a Japanese Tea Ceremony course for one of her college classes. She wore a tank top today! Our warmest day to date this year.

A Rare Sunny Morning…

My new header photo was taken at the Roozengaarde Gardens in Mt. Vernon in the state of Washington. When we heard we might have a few hours of sunshine on Tuesday, Dear and I zoomed up north about an hour from our home to see the very end of the tulip festival offerings. I’m first sharing the photos I took out in the few remaining fields of tulips.

 

The well planned garden and the borders of tulips in alphabetical order to help you know what you might want to order were still lovely to  enjoy. I’ll be sharing photos from those areas next.

We had a warming up today which is much appreciated. We even were able to throw open a few windows to enjoy the fresh air.

First Hodgepodge of May

1. Can you tell I’m embracing a Cinco de Mayo theme here this week? Do you like Mexican food? What’s your favorite dish? How about on the side-black beans, pinto beans, refried beans, rice? What about heat-mild, medium, hot? Will you celebrate with Mexican food and drink on May 5th aka Cinco de Mayo?

We embrace Mexican food every week. Most Tuesdays you’ll find us at La Corona sitting at a table served by our favorite waitress, Liliana. When she sees us drive up she heads to the bar to make us our Cadillac Margaritas. We’ve become good friends sharing life experiences together with her. We enjoy medium hot. No plans so far for Cinco de Mayo as we already had our Tequila Tuesday this week. We enjoy Mexican food at home, too. Photo is from a couple years ago before I embraced a new hairdo and my grey. Growing up in Montebello, California in my elementary school days we would have special assemblies and dance the Mexican Hat Dance on Cinco de Mayo.

2. Ever been to Mexico? For work or holiday? Love it or no? If you haven’t been is this a place you’d like to visit? Can you speak Spanish?

Surprising that even though we grew up in Southern California Dear and I have only been to Mexico once to pick up Saltillo floor tiles (a type of terracotta tile) with my cousin and his wife who were building a home. It’s referred to as the perfectly imperfect tile. This was not a vacation in any stretch of the imagination. We are happy to have made it to Tecate and back alive to talk about it. Part of the story involves us getting a ride by the Tijuana police back to the border.

3. What’s one thing you may accomplish this month?

I know that this month I’ll be getting a large part of my quota in of visiting family. We will head east to visit Addy and her folks again and then I will fly south to see my dear old pop for his 94th birthday and see as many siblings and nieces and nephews that I can fit in and who have the time to visit with me.

4. If you were mayor of your village, city, or town, what’s one thing you’d like to see changed, done away with, revamped, or accomplished? Is serving in public office something you’ve ever seriously considered?

If I was mayor of my village I’d space out city projects so that every major street in town wasn’t torn up at the same time. No interest whatsoever in serving in public office, thank you.

5. What’s something that may be popular, but that you just don’t get?

Green “healthy” smoothies.

6. Can’t let this week slip by without mentioning Thursday May 4th is Star Wars Day. As in ‘May the 4th be with you’ ahem. Are you a fan of the Star Wars series? Exactly how much of a fan are you? On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being ‘I’ve seen every film, own the action figures, might have dressed as Darth Vader for Halloween one year’, and 1 being, ‘what’s a Vader?’ -where do you land?

Well we embraced the series back in the day.  Our middle son always had little figurines of Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker in his pocket. I still have those in one of my china cabinets to give back to him.  On the scale, I’ll say 3. And…just to name drop, we were in a small group with George Lucas’ sister in the late 70’s and early 80’s.

7. Scroll back through your blog posts and in three sentences or less tell us the general theme of your fourth blog post. Does it still ring true today? Is it a topic you re-visit on your blog from time to time?

My blog is about all the things I enjoy and wonder about. What I see in the world around me and who I see it with. It’s always been heavy with photos because I’m visual. My fourth post dated March 5, 2007 was a devotional about Trusting and Obeying. Yes, it still rings true and I post devotionals occasionally and Sunday Hymns every week. Jesus will always be a part of my blog since He has saved me and leads me on in my life.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

Today Dear and I enjoyed some time at Roozengaarde Gardens in Mt. Vernon enjoying the end of Tulip season there. My photo at the top of the post and this one above was taken at the gardens. I’ll be publishing a few posts of all the beautiful tulips we enjoyed soon.

Linking up with Joyce at From This Side of the Pond for Wednesday Hodgepodge.

So Thankful for May!

Addy May that is! Our little triple Y! She’s Y we want to head east and Y we are willing to drive across the pass over the Cascades anytime whatever the weather. She’s Y we bought a car that can manage those driving conditions better, too. Those driving conditions include the driveway to our kids home. All these photos have been shared with us via smartphone texts.

Comforted by her daddy while mommy gets some much needed sleep.

On April 28th-30th Uncle Josh and Auntie Laura got to fly over to Spokane and head north to have a few days of cuddles and walks. Our boys, Josh and Dan were born 2 years apart and have been the best of friends for most of their years and I thank God for that. I thank God a lot for that.

Auntie Laura was determined to catch a photo of Addy smiling. In the meantime Addy had a sweet grip on auntie’s finger while cuddling.

Sweet sleeping bliss.

A wee smile of contentment.

Some sweet sleepy cuddles with Uncle Josh.

Be still my heart for this sweet capture of daughter and daddy!

And then a comfortable sleep in uncle’s arms.

Another sweet pick that is my phone wallpaper right now!

Of course Uncle and Auntie had to try on the Sounders hat while listening to the game on Saturday night. She looks concerned but thankfully the team pulled off an amazing comeback to tie the game.

Auntie and Uncle with miss Addy May just before they said their goodbyes till next time.

Thank you Jamie, Dan, Auntie Laura and Uncle Josh for sharing these photos with us! Love them all and all of you!

Dear and I are planning our next trip over the pass and across central Washington to Spokane and then north to see our kids again soon.

Today on Mennonite Girls Can Cook I’m sharing a recipe Rosella shared with me for Lactation Cookies. I made them for Jamie and if you have a new mom in your community group or family they’d be a good choice to add to that meal you take over.

Farewell to April ’17

A view from my kitchen window on Saturday April 29th.

The apple tree is in full blossom and several other plants are greening up nicely and pushing forth their buds.

It’s a very green time of the year here. This is a view from the back of our home looking towards our old pear tree in the distance beyond the chain link fence.

The steps into our home from the deck.

Some of the apple blossoms close-up.

The Pink Dogwood is just now getting ready for it’s full glory with it’s pink blooms unfurling.

We’ve had a quiet weekend except for me going to a Sounders game with our daughter and son-in-law on Saturday evening. We went down early in the game and in the 2nd half at the 74th minute we were down by 3 goals to none. In the last fifteen minutes of the game we scored 3 goals to tie the game. The last few minutes were amazing. Too bad about the folks that left early thinking we would lose. Weather wise we had some dry stretches in the morning and into the afternoon the rain began as we headed to the game and after the game it was pouring as we drove home. Sunday has been a mix. The weather people are talking about the possibility of us getting up to 70 degrees this next week. We hope so!!

Linking up for Mosaic Monday with Maggie at Normandy Life.

All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name!

All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name!

All hail the power of Jesus’ name!
Let angels prostrate fall;
Bring forth the royal diadem,
And crown Him Lord of all.
Bring forth the royal diadem,
And crown Him Lord of all.

Let highborn seraphs tune the lyre,
And as they tune it, fall
Before His face who tunes their choir,
And crown Him Lord of all.
Before His face who tunes their choir,
And crown Him Lord of all.

Crown Him, ye morning stars of light,
Who fixed this floating ball;
Now hail the strength of Israel’s might,
And crown Him Lord of all.
Now hail the strength of Israel’s might,
And crown Him Lord of all.

Crown Him, ye martyrs of your God,
Who from His altar call;
Extol the Stem of Jesse’s rod,
And crown Him Lord of all.
Extol the Stem of Jesse’s rod,
And crown Him Lord of all.

Ye seed of Israel’s chosen race,
Ye ransomed from the fall,
Hail Him who saves you by His grace,
And crown Him Lord of all.
Hail Him who saves you by His grace,
And crown Him Lord of all.

Hail Him, ye heirs of David’s line,
Whom David Lord did call,
The God incarnate, Man divine,
And crown Him Lord of all,
The God incarnate, Man divine,
And crown Him Lord of all.

Sinners, whose love can ne’er forget
The wormwood and the gall,
Go spread your trophies at His feet,
And crown Him Lord of all.
Go spread your trophies at His feet,
And crown Him Lord of all.

Let every tribe and every tongue
Before Him prostrate fall
And shout in universal song
The crownèd Lord of all.
And shout in universal song
The crownèd Lord of all.

O that, with yonder sacred throng,
We at His feet may fall,
Join in the everlasting song,
And crown Him Lord of all,
Join in the everlasting song,
And crown Him Lord of all!

Words: Edward Perronet, 1726-1792.

 

Highway 231

Our journey home from Colville via Highway 231 on Tuesday April 18th started just on the outskirts of Chewelah. We turned west off of Highway 395 and continued south on 231 all the way to Interstate I-90 in Sprague. All the photos were taken from the passenger seat of our car.

We traveled through the small town of Valley, stopped to have breakfast in Springdale. Continuing south we passed through Ford, Long Lake, Reardon, Edwall then connected to the interstate in Sprague. We enjoyed going on this unfamiliar road instead of our usual trek down Hwy 395. Not having to deal with Division St. through Spokane was a treat!

Linking up with Tom the Backroads Traveler for The Barn Collective.

Tea at Lovella’s

To get to this lovely setting and presentation it takes lots of planning ahead and sometimes it takes many hands.

All the Mennonite Girls from British Columbia and me, the U.S.A. cousin, hadn’t been together since December. It was high tea time for us to get together again and Lovella graciously offered her home knowing that it is easier for me to get there from the U.S.A.

Can you take enough photos to document all the planning, baking and creating of these beautiful delicacies?

Anneliese baked, mixed and put together this tiered platter of gluten free tea bites for Julie and all of us. They were so tasty and she’ll share the recipe sometime in the future on our blog.

There were eight of us around the table on this day and we sorely missed our two Mennonite Girls from Manitoba. Lovella made these beautiful cookies for each of us and they served as place cards letting us know where to sit.

Some close ups of what we enjoyed.

Kathy made this fruit salad with a nice dressing that she will share soon.

And here is a little glimpse in how it all came together just before we sat down at Lovella’s table.

Lovella worked ahead of time to make the tea come together making pastry puff cones to stuff with an egg salad mixture and other tea treats.

Judy put together a lovely Earl Grey punch that she’ll be sharing soon on the blog.

Bev made some wonderful tarts with basil and other yummy ingredients, bottom right. Lovella also made mini croissants from scratch, rhubarb scones, and plain scones. Lovella provided lemon curd, blackberry preserves and creme fraiche to go with the scones.

When we ate enough of the savory treats Lovella brought out these delicacies that she had also prepared ahead of time for us. Melt in your mouth pavlova goodness!

We had a great time of catching up and taking care of some business for some upcoming events.

I’m very thankful for my Mennonite Girl friends and all I’ve learned and enjoyed since God plopped me into this community. Thank you Lovella for such a lovely time that you thought out and brought together for all of us. Thanks to all the other girls for their contributions to our wonderful time of feasting and of fellowship. It was a sacred time.