Book of Grace and Book of Glory ~ Hymn

Book of Grace and Book of Glory

Book of grace and book of glory,
Gift of God to age and youth,
Wondrous is thy sacred story,
Bright, bright with truth;
Wondrous is thy sacred story,
Bright, bright with truth.

Book of love in accents tender,
Speaking unto such as we;
May it lead us, Lord, to render
All, all to Thee;
May it lead us, Lord, to render
All, all to Thee.

Book of hope! the spirit, sighing,
Sweetest comfort finds in thee,
As it hears the Savior crying,
Come, come to Me!
As it hears the Savior crying,
Come, come to Me!

Book of life! when we reposing,
Bid farewell to friends we love,
Give us, for the life then closing,
Life, life above;
Give us, for the life then closing,
Life, life above.

Words: Thomas MacKellar, 1843.

Closer to Home

…and what’s been going on here at this old house. I’ll start with the latest and work back.

We switched out our old fireplace insert for a new one with no brass and a larger window, quieter fan and more efficiency. We are happy with our choice. While the installers were at my house on Wednesday I scrubbed down all my kitchen cabinets and scrubbed my hardwood floors.

No I don’t have my Christmas Tree yet, but can you believe all the Christmas merchandise in the stores already? I digress…

I posted this photo to show you the 3 bookshelves full of books that on Thursday while I waited for the Inspector to sign off on the fireplace insert I dusted. Yep, each and every book and all the shelves. My wrists and arms and knees are calling for a couple days off now! And speaking of Christmas our mystery tree this year is going in a new spot and I’ll show you that in December!

I received a package from bj (Sweet Nothings) in Texas because my name was drawn on her giveaway. She has such a good sense of humor and I enjoy visiting her blog.

A few Saturdays ago Katie and I met some friends at the Seattle Center for the Northwest Tea Festival. We enjoyed sipping tea samples and then we all went out for lunch at a Thai Restaurant close to the center.

These girls have been friends since elementary school.

My new getting out and exercising plan is continuing nicely. Some views from my walking trail…

On a overcast morning I thought this boat and it’s reflection was very cool and look at these great looking mushrooms!

The following week these same mushrooms had spread out to a huge flat top and I didn’t have my camera with me. Epic fail…

After exercise class this morning Katie and I are headed to University Village for W Day in honor of the University of Washington homecoming. We’ll be wearing some vintage sweatshirts from when Dear was in Pharmacy School at the University of Washington. There are special offers and discounts available from merchants if you are wearing purple or UW-licensed apparel.

Katie and I look a little different now but we’ll both be wearing a sweatshirt like the one I’m wearing here at Disneyland back when the University of Washington went to the Rose Bowl and played Michigan on January 1, 1992. Dear was able to get tickets for the Rose Bowl game and we decided to take a family trip to California and enjoy a day at Disneyland with the kids and time with family for Christmas. Fun memories…

Hope you all have a good weekend!

We Whispered a Fond Adieu…

It’s no secret around this Old House and my blog that Dear and I are very fond of traveling to Great Britain. This is my fond farewell post of our latest travels back in July.

Our final two days were spent just outside of Windsor. On our final full day we spent some time on a boat trip on the Thames, a walk across the bridge to Eton and shopping on High Street in Windsor. Here are some photos to show our adventure.

We saw a few loaded boats with students learning to row as we started off our river tour and then we came upon this scene…

Oops, looks like they need a little more schooling on rowing properly.

On our way back we saw the kids bailing the water out of the boat!

After our lovely cruise we took a walk across the Thames on this bridge to explore a little of Eton.

After all this cruising and walking it was time to find a spot to eat…

We chose the Duchess of Cambridge.

After we were full and satisfied we did some souvenir shopping in town.

Here’s our one and only Selfie that we decided to take outside the Selfie London store on High Street!

This was a shop I had to check out since I’m quite a fan of T.J.Maxx in the U.S.A. I was happy to find a souvenir nicely priced.

The Crooked House was a restaurant that served coffee and Afternoon Tea. They advertise that they are Royal Windsor’s only tearoom.

Windsor is another town that I wouldn’t mind re-visiting.

I took this picture as we left our hotel on the way to Heathrow to fly home. Why yes, I do hope to come back soon! Toodle Pip!

O is for October!

“I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.” from Anne of Green Gables

October…one of my favorite months of the year. It’s when colors begin to change.

It’s when the regular season of MLS soccer comes to an end and when playoffs loom ahead!

In October we love to visit our middle son in Eastern Washington. The photo above is taken on his property.

When there is still a little color in some Autumn plants and the leaves are falling.

Oh my…the leaves keep falling.

At this old house I wouldn’t have to mow again except for the fact that I use the mower as a vacuum for the leaves.

I do love October even though it brings more yard work at this old house. The tree that drops all these leaves isn’t even our tree.

I’m linking up to ABC Wednesday that was started by Mrs. Nesbitt and continues on with the help of a great team.

Turkey Pepper Chili…

Head on over to the Mennonite Girls Can Cook Blog to get the recipe for my Turkey Pepper Chili!

Happy Monday everyone. How was your weekend?

We had a calm weekend and got a lot accomplished. Lawns mowed or should I say fallen leaves vacuumed. We sold two of our old vehicles on Craig’s list. I finally went through all the stuff we hauled out of our bathroom before the renovation and threw out a bag full and filled the new cupboards and drawers with what we decided to keep. Have a great week!

Hear Us, O Savior! ~ Hymn

Hear Us, O Savior!

Hear us, O Savior, when we pray,
Humbly our need confessing;
Grant us the promised show’rs today—
Send them upon us, O Lord!

Refrain

Send show’rs of blessing;
Send show’rs refreshing;
Send showers of blessing;
Send them, Lord, we pray!

Knowing Thy love, on Thee we call,
Boldly Thy throne addressing;
Pleading that show’rs of grace may fall—
Send them upon us, O Lord!

Refrain

Trusting Thy Word that cannot fail,
Master we claim Thy promise;
Oh that our faith may now prevail—
Send us the showers, O Lord!

Refrain

Words: Fanny Crosby, 1891.

The Parish Church of St. Helena ~ Beaufort, S.C.

When my daughter and I attended her now husband’s graduation from MCRD (Marine Corp Recruit Depot) Parris Island in September of 2010 he got a few hours off and we went out to eat and explored part of the historic area of Beaufort S.C. The Parish Church of St. Helena was a great photo back drop for Katie and Andrew. Historic information about the church can be read here.

Later this same fall Katie and Andrew were engaged in Salt Lake City, Utah. This next photo was on the evening of their engagement.

They got married in March of 2011 and their formal wedding celebration was in March of 2012. Andrew is now on In-Active Reserve status out of the Marine Corps after a little over four years and two tours of duty in Afghanistan. He left the Marine Corps as a Sergeant.

I’m linking to InSPIREd Sunday hosted by Beth and Sally.

Windsor Castle

This time around on our trip to Jolly Old England Windsor Castle was our only tourist attraction that we had to buy tickets for and to que up for. It was worth the lines and the hoard of people milling about. Photography is not allowed inside the castle but you can click away on the grounds of the castle. We were also treated to a changing of the guard during our time there. At Windsor this event is not as grand as at Buckingham Palace. You can check online to see the scheduled days and times for this event. Windsor is a great town to get the flavor of the Monarchy without the sea of humanity you find in London.

Since I’ve shown some fences and walls and gates in my post on Windsor Castle I’m linking up to

Good Fences #30 at Run*A*Round Ranch and TexWisGirl.

N is for Neckwear ~ The Bear in Oxford

Dating from 1242 The Bear is the oldest Pub in Oxford. It was fun to see it featured in the latest season of “The Amazing Race”. There is another pub in Oxford that also claims to be the oldest. I’ll let them duke it out.

The Bear is home to a rather impressive yet random collection of neckties. Visitors from around the globe have contributed to the collection. They are displayed in a room off the main entrance and you can see that the display continues onto the ceiling.

I was stumped to come up with an offering for the letter N until I remembered this pub that we stopped into after a long day of walking and sight seeing in Oxford in July. It has very low ceilings and a very narrow steep staircase to the toilets. I can’t imagine someone having a few too many going up and worse coming down those steep steps.

I’m linking up to ABC Wednesday with the fine originator, Denise Nesbitt and her trusty team that keep things going…

The Balm We Needed…

After our one bad hotel experience the Oakley Court in Windsor was the balm we needed to end our time in England on a very good note!

Oakley Court is situated along a stretch of the Thames known as Water Oakley. It was first shown on maps around 1800 and the name appears to originate from Cornish Breton in which it appears as “Warhta Eog Lee” – The Upper Salmon Place.