Author Archives: Ellen

She’s Not a Gardener…

…but she can dig a hole and put a pretty plant in it!

Last year I planted these after they were wilted in their little pots. This year they surprised me popping up and showing me their pretty smiling blooms! God is the best gardener and I really do depend on Him.

Luke 12:27 (CEV)

Look how the wild flowers grow! They don’t work hard to make their clothes. But I tell you that Solomon with all his wealth wasn’t as well clothed as one of these flowers.

On Saturday I added these Primroses that I’ll be able to see from my kitchen window. It makes me smile.

We had a few hours of dry weather on Saturday and Dear worked in the garage organizing more “stuff” and I did a little work in the yard. It felt so good working outside. It didn’t take long for the weather to turn on us and we experienced some lion like March weather. Sunday started cold but bright. Such a nice change. Blessings to you on this first Sunday in March!

God Is Goodness, God Is Love ~ Hymn

God is Goodness, God is Love

Songbirds in the woodlands sing it,
Flowers breathe it in the grove,
Bells in tow’r and steeple ring it,—
God is goodness, God is love.

Refrain

Lift your voices, happy, happy voices,
And the sunny hours of life improve;
Praise Him for His countless blessings,—
God is goodness, God is love.

Smiling plains and vales display it,
Breezes tell it as they rove,
Rivers, rills, and brooklets say it,—
God is goodness, God is love.

Refrain

Lakes and seas with joy reveal it,
Suns proclaim it from above,
In our hearts today we feel it,—
God is goodness, God is love.

Refrain

Words: James Rowe, circa 1910.

Bonhoeffer Quotes

For my Friday’s Fave Five hosted by Susanne at Living to Tell the Story this week I’m sharing 5 quotes from this biography on Bonhoeffer. I’m almost half way through it. It’s not a quick read book but one with so many things to consider along the way.

1. “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”

2. “Bonhoeffer began to wonder whether he ought to pursue the life of a pastor rather than that of an academic. His father and brothers thought it would be a waste of his great intellect, but he often said that if one couldn’t communicate the most profound ideas about God and the Bible to children, something was amiss. There was more to life than academia.”

3. ” Only if we will venture to enter into the words of the Bible, as though in them this God were speaking to us who loves us and does not will to leave us alone with our questions, only so shall we learn to rejoice in the Bible…”

4. “The church has only one altar, the altar of the Almighty…before which all creatures must kneel. Whoever seeks something other than this must keep away, he cannot join us in the house of God…the church has only one pulpit, and from that pulpit, faith in God will be preached, and no other faith, and no other will than the will of God, however well-intentioned”

5. “A true leader must know the limitations of his authority.”

A bonus quote:

6. “If you board the wrong train, he said, it is no use running along the corridor in the opposite direction.”

These quotes of course are more powerful to read in context and considering the time period that Bonhoeffer lived in Germany. Bonhoeffer is eventually executed just weeks before the end of WWII.

Taken from the jacket of the book: “Bonhoeffer gives witness to one man’s extraordinary faith and to the tortured fate of the nation he sought to deliver from the curse of Naziism. It brings the reader face to face with a man determined to do the will of God radically, courageously, and joyfully – even to the point of death. Bonhoeffer is the story of a life framed by a passion for truth and a commitment to justice on behalf of those who face implacable evil.”

I highly recommend this book to all of you.

To a lighter subject…I’m looking forward to our weekend and spending time with Josh, Laura and Katie at the opening game of our Sounder’s soccer season and then next week Katie, Dear and I are traveling across the mountains for Katie to see her brother Dan’s new home. Good times together…

What’s happening in your part of the world? I’ll leave you with this photo I took today that promises me that Spring is on it’s way…

Susanne’s new button also says Spring is coming!

Set the Table…

…and they will come!

On Monday night we gathered around the table to enjoy our visitors from California. We had stuffed cabbage that we call Goluptsi. You can see the recipe here. We had a wonderful salad with lots of goodies chopped in it and dressed with our favorite Persian Dressing.

Thursday the MGCC girls are being interviewed by Suzanne Woods Fisher at 2:00 PST and 5:00 EST on her Amish Wisdom show. You can listen in on a live feed here.

I’m linking up with Kathleen at Cuisine Kathleen for her weekly Let’s Dish Linky Party!

To the Island!

We have several islands to enjoy in our area. One of our favorites is Whidbey Island. On Saturday we caught a ferry in Mukilteo that took us to Clinton at the south end of Whidbey Island. We drove up to the ferry line and were happy to make the ferry that was already loading. We were the last car on…

It was a blustery day. We braved the outdoor deck for long enough to take a photo. This is my cousin Jim, his wife Jeanie, and our daughter Katie.

Our first stop was up the island in Coupeville. Coupeville is located on Penn Cove. Penn Cove is known for mussels. This coming up weekend is Penn Cove Mussel Fest. Coupeville is the 2nd oldest town in the state of Washington. We ate at the Front St. Grill. They had a page full of mussel offerings to enjoy. We chose the Coconut Green Curry Mussels. Delicious!

We walked along the Front St. and enjoyed perusing the shops.

We hopped back in the car and returned to the southern end of the island to visit our favorite town of Langley. This is our traditional photo spot on 1st. St. in Langley. Saratoga Passage is behind us. We spotted a whale in this Passage last year. Saratoga Passage lies in Puget Sound between Whidbey Island and Camano Island.

After walking through our favorite shops we headed back to the ferry dock. When the ferry rolled in I saw these two seagulls perched on the lights above the pilot house. It made me chuckle that they chose the first class perches to roll into the dock.

We were quite pleased that the weather was nicer than what we expected for Jim and Jeanie’s visit and for our adventures. Last night we had a farewell meal together with our company plus my sister, her husband, our son Josh, our SIL Laura and Katie. Hope your week is going well…

Tour of Seattle…

…on a blustery day!

The wind and rain limited my camera from clicking much outdoors. We were again blessed with a parking spot right at the Market! Amazing! My cousin and his wife who happens to be my best friend from college are in Seattle and I tried to give them my hallmark tour but we just had to go with the flow. While at the Market we went down the steps to the famous “Gum Wall”.

It can be a little overwhelming for newcomers! Jim and Jeanie were good sports.

Jim wanted to enjoy the abundance of our seafood choices and ordered a crab cocktail to enjoy while we walked around the stalls in the Market.

When in Seattle it’s a good idea to enjoy our bounty!

Katie joined us on our tour, too. Our last stop downtown would be Boka for Happy Hour where we would meet Dear when he was done with work.

I’m grateful that Dear is willing to work hard while I gallivant about the town. We love to meet up after work for him to enjoy a good ending to the day.

Father and daughter time is always good along with some good food!

We have lots of good history with Jim and Jeanie. Jim, Jeanie and I all graduated together from Cal State Los Angeles in 1972. Jeanie and I both graduated with a Bachelors of Arts Degree in Home Economics. We both completed a 5th year to receive our Teaching Credential. Jim and Jeanie were married the same year Dear and I were married. We’ve had lots of celebrations together. We lived in Huntington Beach together as newlyweds and attended the same church. Their 3 kids were born in the same years our kids were born at different ends of the year.

Our Seattle tour was on Friday afternoon. I’ll be sharing our Saturday tour on Whidbey Island soon. Today we attended church together with a great celebration of Missions around the world and in our neighborhoods. Good times and good memories continue. A great afternoon of re-kindling our memories of fun playing Rook together so many years ago…

Hope you had a good weekend!

Lord, Who Thoughout These Forty Days ~ Hymn

Lenten Rose

Lord, Who Throughout These Forty Days

Lord, who throughout these forty days
For us didst fast and pray,
Teach us with Thee to mourn our sins
And close by Thee to stay.

As Thou with Satan didst contend,
And didst the victory win,
O give us strength in Thee to fight,
In Thee to conquer sin.

As Thou didst hunger bear, and thirst,
So teach us, gracious Lord,
To die to self, and chiefly live
By Thy most holy Word.

And through these days of penitence,
And through Thy passiontide,
Yea, evermore in life and death,
Jesus, with us abide.

Abide with us, that so, this life
Of suffering over past,
An Easter of unending joy
We may attain at last.

Words: Claudia F. Hernaman, Child’s Book of Praise; A Man­u­al of De­vo­tion in Sim­ple Verse, 1873.

Chirp, Chirp…

Some of you might be tired of seeing food photos so I’m chirping in to say we are busy here with some out of towners. My camera cord for my computer is in their bedroom and they are sleeping so I can’t show you a few photos from our gallivanting. We might be going to an island today and not the sunny tropical variety.

Hope your weekend is going smoothly. I’m thinking of our bloggy friends in the path of the latest greatest storm and hoping all is well with you!

It’s probably time to refill the bird feeder! Blessings!

Adventures in Eating…

Since my parents lived in Persia (Iran) from the early 1930’s till 1947 they learned to enjoy Persian cuisine and to cook many dishes. We finally found a Persian restaurant we enjoyed in Bellevue, Washington.

Dear had the lamb kabobs.

 

 

I had the Ghormeh Sabzi. Chopped and sauteed parsley, spinach and leeks, simmered with stew beef, herbs and red beans.

Katie had Chicken Vegetable Curry. All entrees were served with basmati rice with saffron.

This is my all time favorite salad. So simple and fresh and delicious. It was called Shirazi at this restaurant.

We would recommend Caspian.

Do you have an international food favorite?

Two Country Drive…

Have I ever mentioned I love being able to take in 2 countries on a drive starting from my front door? Two countries in one day with beautiful weather is a special treat. Having Katie along on this road trip was a delight for me. As we started out our trip we started singing “Oh Canada” and Katie managed to sing most of the words!

This wasn’t our best view but I found out that when I’m the driver on a road trip fewer photos are taken. Our views were truly magnificent and I don’t think a photo could have really captured the glory anyway. We saw our wonderful Cascade range of mountains starting in the U.S.A. with many more glorious views in British Columbia. An eagle flew over us on our way up and on our way back. We drove through a lot of country that these creatures call home…

The photos from the road that I took like this one were when we were stopped for road works or at the Border Crossing. Speaking of Border crossings, I am always appreciative of the kind courtesy we receive from Border Crossing Agents from Canada and the U.S.A. I am grateful for the work they do, as thankless as it might be, to keep both our countries safer.

Our primary reason for traveling to Chilliwack was to pick up a shower gift I ordered for our niece Debbee from Winks. Katie, Laura, and I will be traveling to California soon for her bridal shower. I was so excited about seeing Kathy (one of our Mennonite Girls) at Winks I forgot again to take any photos. Kathy did a lovely job of bagging our purchase. This photo was taken after we got home. Sorry I can’t show you the gift until Debbee unwraps it. We were only at Winks for a very short time as we had a very important date down the road.

Meeting up with these Mennonite Girls was the best part of Katie and my trip. It was fun for Katie to meet them all and to see Bev again. We chattered for quite a while over our nice lunch and then parted ways. What? You want to see what we ate? Wouldn’t you know I at least got a few photos of our food.

I was real happy to see the pickle spears on our plates. Here is another question for you. Do you eat the pickle or leave it on the plate? It seems Marg and I both enjoy eating ours and are willing to eat yours, too, if you leave it there too long!!

From lunch we followed Bev to Yarrow to check out a local pottery shop that her friend Ted Dreidiger owns and where he throws and fires his beautiful creations. Umm, it’s not food, so again my camera stayed in my purse. Oye! I did take a photo of my purchase when we got home. It’s a great piece that’s perfect to warm a round of brie in or to serve other hot or cold dips in.

It was fun to visit Ted in his workshop and to see all his great pieces. Thanks Bev for suggesting this stop on our way back to the U.S.A.

As we continued home after our nice chat with the U.S. Border Officer Katie was game to see the downtown area of Lynden, Washington. Can you guess what we brought home in that box?

Bumbleberry Pie! We wanted Dear to get a taste of our trip, too.

Look at all that yummy filling!

We will be having a nice quiet day at home today with more excitement starting on Friday. It’s good to pace yourself…

What have you been up to?