Author Archives: Ellen

A Day With a Friend…

I drove to Edmonds and parked my car and bought my ticket to walk on the ferry Wednesday morning.

I sailed on the ferry from Edmonds to Kingston on the Kitsap Peninsula.

It was a beautiful warm day and perfect to be close to the water.

So is this a jelly fish? I saw a few of them in the “Sound”.

When I arrived at the Kitsap dock I waited for the pedestrian bridge to connect to the ferry deck.

I walked off the ferry and my friend Beth was waiting for me and we drove to Poulsbo first and then to her home for lunch. I’ll show more photos of our adventures and her beautiful home in another post. Our friendship began through our sons. Our sons began their friendship in grade school and are still good buds. What a blessing to be friends with your children’s friends!

“It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

Noteworthy…

…from Spring 2011 in Washington D.C.

These photos are all from the National Cathedral in Washington D.C. What a national treasure it is!

I’m joining Vee at A Haven for Vee for her August Notecard party.

Just wanted to give an update on our refrigerator. It is now fixed and the Sears repair man that came to the house was a hoot! We thought it was worth the wait. The interior of the unit is light and bright again.

Just a Year Ago…

…We were in Southern California having a bridal shower for Katie. It seems like ages ago.

I talked to my mom today and she is still experiencing lots of pain so will you please continue to pray for her and my dad. They were both crying which is hard to take over the phone and being 1200 miles away. I know she’ll get better but these are hard days to bear before the better days come.

My sister took this photo this evening and she reports that my mom is feeling a lot better since I talked to her this morning. I’m so happy to see this. Thank you Lana. My mom is learning to manage her pain.

A bizarre storm swept through Nuevo, Ca. and the surrounding area with tornado like effects on Sunday. My brother’s family lives there and they have been cleaning up. On one street a dozen power poles came down like dominoes. They had to work hard to keep mud from coming into their home. Yikes, now they are getting severe weather warnings again. So far there are no injuries that we’ve heard of. Needless to say there are power issues and with temps over a 100 that is not a good scenario…

Our refrigerator is getting repaired today sometime…remember our light issue that caused the light housing to melt. It’s after 4:30 and we’re still waiting. Did you ever read Waiting for Godot in your school years? Hopefully we aren’t waiting for Godot.

We are still having summer here in the Northwest and that has been nice. I’m going to have to water!!

Lavender and Life…

“Ladies fair, I bring to you

lavender with spikes of blue;

sweeter plant was never found

growing on our English ground.”

Caryl Battersby

Appropriate quote as we end the Olympics in London. I wasn’t able to make it to the lavender festival this year but I do have 3 lavender bushes in my yard. I finally went out and cut some to enjoy inside. We never know what a day holds let alone a year. We make plans and then we wait and see what the Lord’s will is.

This photo was taken at the Sequim Lavender Festival in 2010

Our son Josh directed a junior high camp this past week at Lakeside Bible Camp. He came home from camp on Saturday. On Sunday we were able to have dinner with Josh and Laura and it was good to get the first hand report on how the week went. Such a fragile time for youth in this age group. It’s great to hear good reports about these junior highers and the help they got in their struggles.

I’m looking at making plans to fly to Southern California in September to visit my folks and see as many loved ones as I can. I’m learning more and more that we make plans but we can’t hold on to those plans too tightly. I’m getting more flexible in my older years and learning to go with the flow of life. We had a weekend filled with real good news and very sad news. That’s life isn’t it? Rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn. We have been rejoicing and mourning.

Hope that you are finding joy in the midst of life!

Fountain of Grace

Fountain of Grace

Fountain of grace, rich, full and free,
What need I, that is not in Thee?
Full pardon, strength to meet the day,
And peace which none can take away.

Doth sickness fill my heart with fear,
’Tis sweet to know that Thou art near;
Am I with dread of justice tried,
’Tis sweet to know that Christ hath died.

In life, Thy promises of aid
Forbid my heart to be afraid;
In death, peace gently veils the eyes;
Christ rose, and I shall surely rise.

Words: James Edmeston, 1844.

There’s More Than One Way…

…to skin an apple!

I had a timely $10.00 coupon for Sur la Table and I made a quick stop there to see what I could see.

 

Here’s the beauty I bought to peel and core my apples. My justification for this gadget is the fact that our apple tree is not going to get chopped down and I’m going to have to deal with apples every year!

I have it under some great authority that once this gadget is ready to go the male in the family might not be able to resist the job of getting the apples ready. We’ll see what happens.

My mother is settled in at her Care facility and is doing better than yesterday. We all have to remember she had some major trauma inflicted on her body and she will not bounce back as quick as a young person would. She likes the food better at the facility than the hospital. The Care facility is on the same street as my parents apartment just 5 miles north. We are thankful for that and that it is easy for my dad to get back and forth.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

A Golden Moment!

Congratulations to the U.S. Women’s Soccer team and their gold medal in the 2012 Olympics! It was a beautiful thing for me a huge soccer fan to watch. Congratulations, too, to the Canadian Women beating France to earn the bronze medal and to Japan for receiving the silver medal. It’s great to watch the medal ceremony and see the women all lined up with those huge smiles!

Here are some more beautiful things from my yard…

Before I watched the game I mowed the lawn, picked some apples and enjoyed some of the flowers growing in planters about the yard.

I’m trying to get motivated to peel and core these apples off the tree and make some applesauce…

My top hat blueberries are getting big and ripe.  This is a dwarf blueberry that grows well in pots.

My mom is being moved to a rehab center this afternoon. They are calling around to find one that has room. I’m hoping it isn’t too far from my parents apartment since my dad will be driving back and forth. Thank you so much for all your prayers and concern for my mom. It is really appreciated.

Don’t Attempt This…

…at home.

I saw this simple recipe on pinterest and tried it and in my humble opinion it’s not worth the cost of the cake mix and filling.  I realize it just might be my taste but I wanted to save you the bother and tell you to just stick to your tried and true recipes. The recipe was to mix a can of any flavor pie filling with a box of angel food mix and bake in a 9 x 13 or slighty larger pan for 28-30 minutes at 350 degrees. I added chopped nuts because I enjoy nuts in cakes, etc.

It looks good, doesn’t it? I just thought it was my bloggy duty to warn you about this recipe. If you end up trying it and enjoy it…that’s great.

My mom was doing well today. They had her up to walk 3 times. She couldn’t walk as far as they wanted her to because of pain so they decided to give her pain medication before her second walk…duh! They are also showing her how to breathe so that she will avoid pneumonia. I’ll find out on Thursday the latest after I call mid morning.

Thursday I’m out early to mow the lawn so I can be inside to watch the U.S. Women play Japan in the Gold medal soccer match.

When You’re Hot…

We were sizzling in Washington this past Sunday and our Seattle Sounders were hot hot hot on the field and beat L.A. Galaxy 4-0. I was happy to see that Beckham was back from London.

There were 60,000 people at the game and when we scored the noise was deafening! In other news…

The apples are falling off the tree and I’m slow in getting inspired to do anything with them.

My hydrangeas have really advanced to a deeper color. They are so nice to cut and have in fresh arrangements in the house.

We have cooled down around here today and it’s nice to be more comfortable while working around the house.

While I’m typing I’m watching the U.S.A. vs. Canada Women’s soccer semi-final at the Olympics. What a game! It’s a toss up on who is going to win. I’ll let you find out who does…

Tuesday my 89 year old mom will be having hip replacement surgery because she has been experiencing severe pain constantly for several months now. Could you pray for Nadia for good results from the replacement and a good recovery from the surgery. We are hoping for pain free days in her future. Pray for my dad, Moisi, too. He will be home alone for a while and he’s not used to that.