Author Archives: Ellen

O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go ~ Hymn

O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go

O Love that wilt not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee;
I give thee back the life I owe,
That in thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.

O light that followest all my way,
I yield my flickering torch to thee;
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in thy sunshine’s blaze its day
May brighter, fairer be.

O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain,
That morn shall tearless be.

O Cross that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from thee;
I lay in dust life’s glory dead,
And from the ground there blossoms red
Life that shall endless be.

Words: George Matheson, 1882.

This hymn was sung at the fun­er­al of Amer­i­can pre­si­dent Cal­vin Cool­idge, Jan­u­a­ry 7, 1933, at the Ed­wards Con­gre­ga­tion­al Church, North­amp­ton, Mass­a­chu­setts. Ac­cord­ing to Mrs. Cool­idge, it was his fa­vo­rite.

ht: Cyberhymnal

Garage ~ Before and After

Through the seasons here is what our garage/shop looks like from the house.

Since it will be quite a while until we are able to re-side the garage, we decided to paint it the same color of our house. There still is 1/2 of our house that needs new siding and to be painted, too.

Last week Dear finished the side of the garage that faces my kitchen window.

On the morning of the 4th the wall was dry and ready for the new metal art to go up.

We’re enjoying the new view from our kitchen window when we look out at the garage. This weekend more painting is on the schedule and the weather is cooperating.

The Sun Did Shine!

The sun came out, the flags came out, our friends came out, the food came out and we enjoyed a grand 4th of July!

I didn’t take photos of all the food. We had smoked brisket that Dear prepared, cole slaw, a loaded salad, eggplant parmesan, and desserts.

It’s hard to believe Dear has to go to work today. I’ll be off kilter the rest of the week with this Independence Day landing on a Wednesday this year.

We have a forecast of summer here in the Northwest finally. Hope all is well where you live…

Land of the Free…

…and the Home of the Brave.

Happy 4th of July to all in the U.S.A.

Nothing in the United States symbolizes democracy more than the U.S. Capitol Building. For nearly two centuries, it has been home to both chambers of Congress and has evolved and expanded as times changed and the nation grew. The building itself has more than 16 acres of space and 540 rooms. The Capitol Grounds cover about 274 acres with sloping lawns, splashing fountains and beautiful terraces.

The bronze Statue of Freedom crowns the dome of the U.S. Capitol. Her right hand rests upon the hilt of a sheathed sword; her left holds a laurel wreath of victory and the shield of the United States with thirteen stripes. Her helmet is encircled by stars and features a crest composed of an eagle’s head, feathers, and talons, a reference to the costume of Native Americans. A brooch inscribed “U.S.” secures her fringed robes.

Sprucing It Up…

Gotta love a guy that will paint for you after he’s put in a full day of hard work in the office. Did I mention he was dodging rain drops?

It wasn’t raining hard enough to bother the newly painted wall since it’s pretty well protected by the overhang.

I also bought a few more plants to add to the deck. The planters that could also be used as large candle holders were on clearance at 75% off.

This white hydrangea was calling my name, too. I have to decide now where to plant it. I was happy that the weather cooperated for me this morning and I was able to get the lawn mowed. We’re promised rain again on Tuesday and then they say we could have good weather for the 4th.

Tuesday is shopping day for the food for our 4th of July barbecue.

Raindrops Keep Fallin…

In between the raindrops here in the greater Seattle area I decided to take some shots of what’s growing in our yard.

Raindrops keep fallin’ on my head
And just like the guy whose feet are too big for his bed
Nothin’ seems to fit
Those raindrops are fallin’ on my head, they keep fallin’

So I just did me some talkin’ to the sun
And I said I didn’t like the way he got things done
Sleepin’ on the job
Those raindrops are fallin’ on my head, they keep fallin’

But there’s one thing I know
The blues they send to meet me won’t defeat me
It won’t be long till happiness steps up to greet me

Raindrops keep fallin’ on my head
But that doesn’t mean my eyes will soon be turnin’ red
Cryin’s not for me
‘Cause I’m never gonna stop the rain by complainin’
Because I’m free
Nothin’s worryin’ me

So we do have apples, pears, and blueberries growing. My hydrangea is going to have more than one bloom this year and that makes me happy. That rose bush blooms like crazy and my lavender is blooming but not as lush as years past.

The birds are enjoying my new bird feeder and have almost emptied it of seed.

I finally planted the new rhododendron plant we bought at the end of April.

And here’s my last shot of part of the yard on July 1st…just keeping it real folks. Hopefully I’ll have a dry enough spell to mow these weeds before our 4th of July barbecue!

Our lawn definitely is not the envy of the block and is mostly weeds and moss!

I’m linking up with Mary at Little Red House for Mosaic Monday.

Let Us Break Bread Together ~ African-American Spiritual

Let Us Break Bread Together

Let us break bread together on our knees, (on our knees)
Let us break bread together on our knees. (on our knees)
When I fall on my knees with my face to the rising sun,
O Lord, have mercy on me.

Let us drink wine together on our knees, (on our knees)
Let us drink wine together on our knees. (on our knees)
When I fall on my knees with my face to the rising sun,
O Lord, have mercy on me.

Let us praise God together on our knees, (on our knees)
Let us praise God together on our knees. (on our knees)
When I fall on my knees with my face to the rising sun,
O Lord, have mercy on me.

FFF ~ Summertime…

It’s been a while since I’ve participated in Susanne’s Friday’s Fave Five but I’m happy to chime in this week. The next few weeks of my summer are going to be really busy so I don’t know what my Friday’s will hold in the world of blogging. So here are some of my favorites from this last week.

1. Field of Dreams fund raiser auction for Medical Teams International.  Click on the link to find out what great work this group does. Our son invited us to join their table at the event and we were so glad that we attended and found out the scope of this great organization in helping the hurting around the world and in the USA.

2. HomeGoods grand opening was a long awaited event for me. I grew to enjoy the shopping experience at this store when we lived in California and was hoping they’d make their way to Washington State. Their grand opening was this past Sunday and I made my first shopping trip on Monday morning. On my initial trip I bought some goodies for the yard, a bird bath and some iron wall decorations. I’ll share a photo when they are mounted properly, too.

3. Spending time in person and talking with our adult kids on the phone. It’s always so good to hear their voices and to get up to date on what’s going on in their worlds…

4. Starting my first Christmas project. A first for me trying this German traditional treat. I found some little jars at HomeGoods for my Christmas gifting of the end result, too. Of course instead of calling it Rumptopf I might have to change the name to Vodkatopf or Smirntopf.

5. Enjoying a new mystery writer to me. I’ve started the Inspector Monk murder mystery series by Anne Perry staged in Victorian England with all the manners and tensions and history of this period. It’s been a good escape for me.

My sister Kathy sent my family the text of Psalm 145 this week and it was such a great Psalm to read and consider. I’ll leave you with just 2 of the verses.

The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love.
The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.

Psalm 145:8-9

Have a wonderful weekend everyone and to our Canadian friends a very happy Canada Day weekend to you!