Author Archives: Ellen

Messiah…

and other beautiful Christmas music is playing in the background as I sit and enjoy twinkling lights and a tree all trimmed and waiting for wrapped presents. For now I’ll savor the moment with some Egg Nog in a pretty glass.

On Saturday our mystery tree was brought in from the cold and unwrapped. We were pleased with it’s fine shape and it’s great price of $19.97.

Dear strung the lights on the tree and the decorating continued with the Angel tree topper added first.

It was fun to pull out my favorites with memories attached and enjoyed.

Baby’s first Christmas ornaments are getting a little tattered.

After the tree was trimmed it was time to set out our favorite things from Christmas’s past.

The kissing Santa salt and pepper shakers and 2 sets of angels are from Dear’s mother. The Santa Matryoshka is from my brother Leonard.

These mugs belong to our 3 kids. I might have mentioned before that this will be our first Christmas since our kids were born that we won’t all be together on Christmas Day. Katie will be in North Carolina and our son Dan has to work on Christmas day in Eastern Washington. Josh, Laura, Dear and I will enjoy the day together. I’ve had some “moments” since getting back home from North Carolina. Those out of nowhere teary moments that last for just a spell when it strikes me that things have changed. It’s OK that they change but I still get caught by surprise by the emotions associated with the changes. When I pulled these mugs out of the attic I stood on the attic stairs crying to think they all wouldn’t be used this year. Ahh…but then I move on.

This is my Christmas Card clothes card line. I love it because I can hang each card that comes our way and keep them where I can continue to see and enjoy them.

And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear.  And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”

You can read the whole Christmas story from the Bible in Luke chapter 2.

Hope your week, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day are filled with joy!

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

Joy Bells Are Ringing ~ Christmas Hymn

Joy Bells Are Ringing

Joy bells are ringing,
Christmas is bringing
Tidings of Jesus’ birth.
Candles are gleaming,
Gladness is streaming
Out over all the earth.

Light is ascending,
Nighttime is ending,
Sunshine from God appears.
Hope of the ages,
Foretold by sages,
Comes to dispel all fears.

O what a treasure
God in His pleasure
Lovingly gives today.
Grace to the lowly,
Peace, pure and holy,
Angels to men convey.

Come to the manger,
Kindred and stranger,
Hail now the newborn King!
In adoration
With jubilation
Peoples and nations sing!

Banish all sadness,
Fill me with gladness,
Jesus, whom I adore!
All else may perish,
Thee will I cherish
Now and forevermore!

Words: Nils Frykman, 1881. Translated from Swedish to English by E. Gustav Johnson, 1946.

For more Joy visit the Mennonite Girls Can Cook blog today for Bread for the Journey.

In the Meantime…

See this tree on the cart?

It’s still outside my house in this original state. Saturday is the appointed day to cut the base and cut away some limbs and bring it in the house!

No way is it going to look like any of these great decked out trees I saw at Molbaks nursery in Woodinville, Washington.

I enjoy looking at all these trees decorated with fabulous themes in mind but I’m content with my homey classic tree with all our ornaments that have been gathered over the years.

There were other fun displays in this great store, too.

Today…Saturday…our tree is going up and getting trimmed.

What does your Saturday hold?

Fort Macon, North Carolina

We all really enjoyed this sign. Finally a site with some common sense signage…

We are approaching the main entrance to the citadel.

This is called the sally port. It is the primary entrance to Fort Macon. The three sets of original doors date from 1843-44.

This is the inner court known as the parade ground. On either side of the parade are vaulted rooms known as casemates.

The upper area is called the Covertway. This is where the original cannon emplacements stood. This is also the best place to view the surrounding area.

The danger of naval attack along the North Carolina coast seems remote now but during the 18th and 19th centuries the region around Beaufort was extremely vulnerable to attack. Blackbeard and other pirates passed through Beaufort Inlet at will and successive wars with Spain, France and Great Britain during the Colonial Period provided a constant threat of coastal raids by enemy warships.

This area is the ditch and moat. This sunken area was deeper and could be turned into a moat by flooding it with sea water from a nearby canal. The moat posed an obstacle to an enemy assault.

Fort Macon was designed by Brig. Gen. Simon Bernard and built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. It was named after North Carolina’s eminent statesman of the period, Nathaniel Macon.

And now back to Christmas preparations…

I managed to get down a few boxes from the attic and finally have our wreath on our front door. Are you sitting down? I don’t know how to explain it except for it being a God thing, our Christmas cards are in the mail. My roots were all fixed up by my great hairdresser today and I even got a last minute doctor appointment to check some nasty moles on my head that the hairdresser was concerned about. All is well, sigh of relief. I truly hope all is well with all of you, too! Blessings.

Beaufort, N. C.

Katie and I were in Beaufort, S.C. (pronounced byoo-furt) in 2010 and now in 2011 Katie, Dear and I visited Beaufort, N.C. (pronounced bow-furt).

Settled in 1709, Beaufort is North Carolina’s third oldest town. Originally a fishing village and port of safety dating from the 1600’s, Beaufort has been visited by patriots, privateers and pirates!

This two acre complex interprets the town’s colonial maritime heritage in nine houses and buildings dating from 1732 to 1859.

We had lunch at Clawson’s. The original Clawson’s grocery store was owned by Charles and Mary Clawson who were immigrants from Sweden and Ireland, respectively. Its first location was on the south (water) side of Front St. where all the retail shops were able to serve customers that arrived by boat from Harkers Island and points east. Clawson’s claim to fame back then was its bakery, located behind our current building where Backstreet Pub is located. It’s believed to be the oldest building in Beaufort built about 1870 completely of brick. The original waterside grocery store was destroyed by a hurricane, so the current Clawson’s was re-established on the north side of Front Street where it is today.

We also visited the fudge shop and bought some freshly made fudge to enjoy later. After we left Beaufort we headed to Fort Macon on the northern tip of the Emerald Isle.

I think all my Christmas shopping is done now. Today I picked up our mystery tree at Home Depot. Thursday I get my grey roots taken care of just in time for Dear’s company Christmas function on Friday at the Fairmont/Four Seasons in downtown Seattle. I’m hoping to have all my decorating done by Sunday. Still haven’t decided about the Christmas cards…

Nature Walks at the Aquarium

There were some nice nature walks and trails outside the Aquarium that we enjoyed.

We learned something new about Spanish Moss. Found it really interesting that it’s related to pineapple.

Got my shipping shopping done and the boxes are sent. This is the first year that I have to send Christmas gifts to some of our kids. I was so busy this morning that when I hit the road I realized I hadn’t made or had my morning coffee. I stopped at a Starbucks which isn’t ever part of my regular routine but the morning brew I got was very nice and sharpened me up a bit.

North Carolina Aquarium ~ Pine Knoll Shores

We really enjoyed the Aquarium on Emerald Isle in North Carolina. Because it’s off season we didn’t have any crowds to deal with which is always a plus. Besides the indoor tanks and displays we enjoyed some outdoor nature trails that are part of the Aquarium. I’ll show those photos later.

Today was a surprisingly productive day for me and I thank the Lord for that. I changed my tablecloth to a Christmas one and that is the only Christmas decor visible in my house so far. I got some laundry, cleaning, Christmas shopping, banking, and mailing done. Pats herself on the back. I’m still debating if Christmas cards are going out this year. Time will tell. Hope your days are going well.

The Atlantic

On our last full day in North Carolina we headed on an adventure to the seashore. We traveled east to Emerald Isle/Crystal Coast of N.C.

We traveled the length of Emerald Isle across to the mainland to Beaufort.

We walked along the sand and collected a couple handfuls of shells.

It was good to walk along the beach again. It’s been a long time since our weekly walks along the Pacific Ocean.

Seems like mushrooms can grow in many environments…

Here are the shells we collected.

I’ll share our stops at the aquarium, Beaufort, and Fort Macon in the next few days.

On Saturday after our day out Dear and I left for the airport home. It was hard to say goodbye to Katie and leave her alone. We know she’ll do well and that soon she’ll be reunited with Andrew. I also know I will have those tearful moments as I adjust to our empty nest. The triggers that lead to tears vary. The first trigger was walking past Katie’s room. Oops! I might just have to redecorate sooner than later. But first I need to start getting our home ready for our Christmas celebrations!

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

Lift Up Your Heads, Rejoice! ~ Advent Hymn

Lift Up Your Heads, Rejoice

Lift up your heads, rejoice, redemption draweth nigh;
Now breathes a softer air, now shines a milder sky;
The early trees put forth their new and tender leaf;
Hushed is the moaning wind that told of winter’s grief.

Lift up your heads, rejoice, redemption draweth nigh;
Now mount the laden clouds, now flames the darkening sky;
The early scattered drops descend with heavy fall,
And to the waiting earth the hidden thunders call.

Lift up your heads, rejoice, redemption draweth nigh;
O note the varying signs of earth, and air, and sky;
The God of glory comes in gentleness and might,
To comfort and alarm, to succor and to smite.

He comes, the wide world’s King, He comes, the true heart’s Friend,
New gladness to begin, and ancient wrong to end;
He comes, to fill with light the weary waiting eye;
Lift up your heads, rejoice, redemption draweth nigh.

Words: Thomas T. Lynch

Glad We Said Yes…

…to the freshly made apple fritters!

On the way to our Emerald Isle adventure we decided to stop for breakfast at Yana’s Restaurant on Front Street in Swansboro.

The apple fritters were dusted smothered with powdered sugar. It was great to bite into the sweetness straight to a great slice of fresh apple.

This was very much a 50’s diner and we were surrounded by Marilyn and Elvis.

Loved this sign. You definitely can trust me because I’m far from skinny.

After breakfast we continued on to our sea and sand adventure on the Emerald Isle. I’ll share more later along with our stop at the Aquarium, Beaufort, and Fort Macon.