Author Archives: Ellen

Corn Maze 2023

Uncle Joshie and Auntie Lolo arrived to Colville on Thursday evening last and we enjoyed a few days together. On Friday October 27th we arrived at the Pumpkin Patch and Corn Maze when they opened at 4pm.

Addy was keen on reading the map and leading us to find the 9 stations of the maze.

JJ was interested in other discoveries.

We mastered the maze in forty minutes and then it was time to pick a few pumpkins to carve.

Carving happened the following day on Saturday after the pumpkins had time to warm up. We’ve been experiencing lows in the teens and 20’s here in Colville.

Saturday evening we enjoyed dinner at our Country Bungalow with nonstop fun and I even got a back massage by my favorite little boy.

Sunday we were all in church for a wonderful service and afterwards enjoyed lunch together at Rancho Chico before Auntie and Uncle hit the road for home.

A special Fall weekend enjoyed and one that will be remembered. Thank you, Joshie and Lolo for taking the time to drive over the mountains to visit us. Loved our time together.

Happy Reformation Day and Halloween to you all. We are looking forward to our two very special trick or treaters to ring our doorbell tonight!

Day Six ~York to Grassington

At the start of our sixth day in the United Kingdom we had our breakfast at the hotel and decided to take one last stroll around the city of York before we checked out of our hotel and made our way to the Enterprise Car Rental behind the train station in York. This was Wednesday the 20th of September.

It was drizzly to start but soon gave way to some blue skies.

After our selfie we packed up and checked out of our hotel and walked to Enterprise Car Rental over the River Ouse and beyond the train station. It was an easy enough trek with our luggage in hand.

We had some fun interactions with the staff at this car rental location and Norm got us settled into our brand new Mercedes. Laura punched in our first destination which was a car park in Ripon where we planned on lunch and a visit to Ripon Cathedral. Josh did a fine job of driving on the wrong side of the road and we had an uneventful time on the roads and on the roundabouts. When we got to Ripon the easy way to the car park was shut down for road works but we circled about the town and made it. We wanted to eat at the One Eyed Rat but it would not open until four so we regrouped and headed to the Silva Bells which was just across from the Ripon Cathedral. On our way we got stuck in a deluge of rain and were soaked in no time.

We enjoyed our lunch while we tried to dry up a bit.

The rest of day Six will continue in a couple of posts covering Ripon Cathedral and our first evening in Grassington. I’m behind on my research.

Back to the present. We had a wonderful full weekend with Josh and Laura arriving here on Thursday evening and leaving after lunch on Sunday. We enjoyed meals and our annual trek through our local corn maze. Lots to share in between keeping up with my travel journal.

Hope you all have a nice ending to October!

Why Should I Fear the Darkest Hour ~ Hymn

Why Should I Fear the Darkest Hour?

Why should I fear the darkest hour,
Or tremble at the tempter’s power?
Jesus vouchsafes to be my tower.

When creature comforts fade and die,
Worldlings may weep, but why should I?
Jesus still lives, and still is nigh.

Though all the flocks and herds were dead,
My soul a famine need not dread,
For Jesus is my living bread.

I know not what may soon betide,
Or how my wants shall be supplied;
But Jesus knows, and will provide.

Though sin would fill me with distress,
The throne of grace I dare address,
For Jesus is my righteousness.

Though faint my prayers, and cold my love,
My steadfast hope shall not remove,
While Jesus intercedes above.

Against me earth and hell combine;
But on my side is power divine;
Jesus is all, and He is mine.

Words: John Newton, 1771.

Day Five ~ York Minster

Tuesday the 19th of September was our 5th travel day and this was our only full day in York. Our plan was to buy tickets and tour York Minster and then to attend Evensong at the Minster at 5:30. We decided it would be good to make some reservations for dinner, too.

But first…a hardy breakfast to start our day. The hotel reservations we made at The Judges Lodging included breakfast which was served in the Cellar.

For our nonstop activity breakfast included with our lodging served us well.

This day was a blustery day. We stood in line outside the main entrance to the cathedral just before it opened to buy our tickets. We found out that once purchased that ticket would be good for a year if you wanted to re-visit.

York’s cathedral church is one of the finest medieval buildings in Europe.  The Minster is also known as St Peter’s, its full name being the ‘Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of St Peter in York’.  In the past the church sat within its own walled precinct, known as the Liberty of St Peter.

This statue of Queen Elizabeth is a new addition in a niche at the front of York Minster. The full story and progress of the creation of the statue was on display inside the Cathedral.

King Charles III unveiled a new statue of the late Queen Elizabeth II on November 9th, 2022. It is installed in a niche on York Minster cathedral in York, England. 

The work was planned five years ago and had originally been intended to celebrate the queen’s platinum jubilee. It was finished in August, a month before she died. 

The majestic statue by Richard Bossons, 52, shows the queen in her robes of the Order of the Garter and has been installed above the West Front entrance of the 850-year-old building. It stands seven feet tall and weighs 1.1 tons.

We couldn’t get over the size of her hands.

The Rose Window.

The nave of York Minster is the widest in Europe, and one of the highest, and this impression of height is enhanced by the large expanse of stained glass which allows light into the interior of the structure. The nave was built from 1220, replacing an older structure, and is primarily Early English.

The Quire (Choir) of York Minster is a delight to the eye. The Quire Screen is one of the most intricately carved in all the UK, with depictions of famous churchmen set within niches facing the nave. Before passing through the Screen, look up, where the huge organ is poised above the screen. Recently refurbished, it boasts an astonishing 5,300 individual pipes.

The Quire was where we would enjoy Evensong. We sat in these seats.

The Five Sisters or the ‘The Jewish Window’

I found the following information here and there is a more comprehensive post about this window and other history.

The ‘Five Sisters’ window in the north transept of York Minster was reputedly paid for by a loan from the Jews of York. This five-light window is executed in abstract grisaille work The 13th century window is filled with grisaille glass – from the French for ‘greyness’ – or finely painted clear glass that is set into geometric designs with jewel-like points of coloured glass making the pattern.

It is said the creation of the window was funded in part by York’s Jewish community, notably the wealthy Aaron of York, leading to the windows being called ‘the Jewish window.’

 

At the entrance to the Chapter House…

The ribbed wooden roof is truly a masterpiece of medieval architecture, with colourfully painted panels and a profusion of gilded bosses . Unlike other chapter houses, such as that of Wells Cathedral, there is no central column to support the roof vaulting; the ceiling is “free-standing” if you will, seeming almost to hang in space.

One of the ‘Minster Guides’ told us of a little chapel that we could go into through a door she pointed out to us.

Off the south aisle of the choir in York Minster is an old wooden door.  It leads down steps into the Zouche Chapel, a quiet place reserved for private prayer.  The chapel itself is small and very peaceful. The windows in the chapel contain a number of fragments of stained glass that have been recovered from other parts of the Minster.

I found these details in the chapel interesting. The cathedral was named St. Peters.

Josh and Laura climbed to the roof of the Cathedral and were belted by winds but enjoyed these amazing views of York and the Minster.

We also made it down the stairs to the Crypt.

 

This photo of the Peacemaker is for you, Laura. There is so much to the history in and outside of this amazing cathedral. It would take many visits to take it all in. A good history and description of many of the details can be found here.

We decided to try The Hole in the Wall for lunch and were happy to be able to get a nice table to dine at.

We had some time before Evensong at 5:30 so we bought tickets for the Hop on Hop off bus and enjoyed a tour of York from the top of the bus. We had to move inside when we got some rain.

For Evensong we entered the ‘minster’ at these doors. After Evensong we strolled over to the The Fat Badger for our dinner reservations,

Another full day of sightseeing. The bells of the cathedral were ringing after dinner so Josh and Laura enjoyed an evening walk taking in the beautiful sounds coming from the bell tower. They could even see the bell ringers in the tower. Greg and I opted to go back to our lodgings and put our feet up.

I just found this paragraph about the bell ringing on a post by Rick Steves. How serendipitous for Laura and Josh’s enjoyment on Tuesday evening. Another smile from our God.

If you’re a fan of church bells, you can experience ding-dong ecstasy Sunday morning at about 10:00 and during the Tuesday practice session between 19:00 and 22:00. (7pm-10pm) These performances are especially impressive, as the church holds a full carillon of 35 bells (it’s the only English cathedral to have such a range). How big of a deal are the bells? When the church let go of its bell-ringing staff after some internal disagreements in 2016, it was national news.

This was a long post and trust me it could have been even longer with more photos!

Truth for Today #75

Thursday October 26th

On Thursdays my posts will include verses that stood out in my readings from the Bible during the week. One, two, three or maybe more. If you have a verse/verses that you read during the week and would like to share, leave it/them in the comments and I will add it/them to the post. Let’s dig deep in God’s Truth again this year!

The verses that you share are appreciated and so encouraging, I’m thankful for them and for each of you! 

Colossians 1:3-7 (ESV)

We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing–as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, just as you heard it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant.

From Vera:

“For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.”
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭54‬:‭10‬

“Oh sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things! His right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him.”
‭‭Psalm‬ ‭98‬:‭1‬ ‭

From Dianna:

In peace I will lie down and sleep, for You alone, LORD, make me dwell in safety. Psalm 4:8

Artsy Hodgepodge

We have visited some art museums in our travels and a local one in Seattle when we lived on that side of the state. The piece above stood out to me on one of our visits. The description of this piece reads “One of the most penetrating portraitists of the seventeenth century, Phillipe de Champaigne assimilated his observations of real people into religious paintings giving them a down-to-earth quality. Here, the central focus is the aged face of Elizabeth, as she affectionately greets her younger cousin, the Virgin Mary. According to the Gospel of Luke, both women were pregnant–Elizabeth with John the Baptist and Mary with Jesus. For Christians, their meeting symbolized the transition from the Old Law to the New Law of Christianity.”

Thank you to Joyce for Hodgepodge Wednesday. Here are this weeks questions to ponder.

1. October 25th is International Artists Day…do you have a favorite artist? If so tell us who and why.

I enjoy Impressionists like Renoir or Monet.

2. Would you describe yourself as artistic? Elaborate.

No, and here is an example of my flop of a craft project…

Mine is the angry matryoshka on the far right. Everyone else had a cute result.

3. What’s a skill, task, hobby, or job you’ve done so often you now have it ‘down to a fine art’?

Setting a table…

4. How often do you dine out? Fast food, fine dining, or somewhere in between? Tell us about a less than stellar restaurant experience you’ve had recently (or not so recently if that’s easier).

We probably eat out once a week even though our choices are very limited here in Colville.

My less than stellar experiences are mostly my fault because I order the wrong item.

The latest less than stellar experience was not noticing that the waitress gave us the wrong bill and a week later when looking at the receipt I realized that error. We were suffering from jetlag and our brains were not up to par.

5. Do you celebrate Halloween? To what extent? Are there trick or treaters where you live?

We love trick or treaters but decor and celebrations are on the down low.  Now that we live farther from the city and on a country road we do not get trick or treaters except for our grandchildren who dress up with their parents and come over for treats!

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Our larches have turned golden…

Enjoy the end of October y’all!

Day Four-Part 3~The Shambles

Continuing on our travel journal we are still on Day Four, our first day in York. Again we packed in a lot on this day. Walking from the section of the city walls that we completed we found ourselves at the Whip-Ma-Whop-Ma-Gate that led us through the alleyway to The Shambles.

1-1/2 is a fun address to have.

By the time we got to The Shambles all the shops were closed and that meant fewer people. I’ll share this excerpt from the British Express;

The Shambles is often called Europe’s best-preserved medieval street, although the name is also used to collectively refer to the surrounding maze of narrow, twisting lanes and alleys as well. The street itself is mentioned in the Domesday Book, so we know that it has been in continuous existence for over 900 years.

There is some debate on whether Rowling was inspired by The Shambles for Diagon Alley but stores are taking advantage of the popularity of the series with store fronts and merchandise for Harry Potter fans.

The name “Shambles” comes from the Saxon “Fleshammels”, which means, “the street of the butchers”, for it was here that York’s butchers had their shops. Notice the wide window sills of the houses; the meat for sale was displayed here. Several former butcher shops still have hooks where meat was hung.

We were happy to have seen the Shambles without it being overcrowded as in the photo below that I took from the hop on hop off bus on Tuesday afternoon.

From the Shambles we continued on along streets heading to the Cathedral and wondering where our next meal would be.

We spotted the cathedral off of High Petergate at the end of Minster Gate.

Adding to the history of York is the fact that Constantine the Great was proclaimed Roman Emperor here in 300

We tried a couple places along High Petergate to see if there was room for us for dinner to no avail so we went back to our hotel and regrouped at the House of Trembling Madness where we found a room to occupy and enjoy some food.

We were in the room you can peek into from the upper left window.

Our savory palette was satisfied and we finished off the evening at the Cellar in our hotel for a sweet and a toast to Laura’s grandmother, Wilma.

That was the end of our very full fourth day of travel and first day in York. Tuesday the plan was to tour the inside of York Minster and to attend Evensong there, also.

 

My God, I Love Thee

My God, I Love Thee

My God, I love Thee; not because
I hope for Heav’n thereby,
Nor yet because who love Thee not
May eternally die.

Thou, O my Jesus, Thou didst me
Upon the cross embrace;
For me didst bear the nails and spear,
And manifold disgrace.

And griefs and torments numberless,
And sweat of agony;
E’en death itself; and all for man
Who was Thine enemy.

Then why, O blessèd Jesus Christ
Should I not love Thee well?
Not for the hope of winning Heaven,
Nor of escaping hell.

Not with the hope of gaining aught,
Nor seeking a reward,
But as Thyself hast lovèd me,
O everlasting Lord!

E’en so I love Thee, and will love,
And in Thy praise will sing,
Solely because Thou art my God,
And my eternal king.

Herb and Garlic Paste

We roast a lot of different large cuts of beef at our house and this preparation method with paste is tried and true.This recipe will be good for a six to ten pound beef roast like a Rib Roast or New York Strip.

What you’ll need:
Balsamic Vinegar to lightly coat the beef.
3 cloves of garlic minced or pressed
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh thyme or 2 teaspoons dried.
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh Rosemary or 1 teaspoon dried.
3 Tablespoons salt
1-2 teaspoons freshly ground pepper.
2 tablespoons Olive Oil

Method:
Remove meat from refrigerator 1-2 hours before roasting.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Rub the whole portion of beef with the Balsamic vinegar.
Place the meat on rack in shallow roasting pan fatty side up.
Make a paste from the next six ingredients.
Coat the top, sides and ends of the roast with the paste.
Roast at 400 degrees for 15 minutes and then turn the heat down to 350 degrees and roast until internal temperature reaches 125-130 degrees for medium rare.

Day Four, Part 2 ~ York’s City Walls

After our lovely tea time at Betty’s on Monday September 18th we walked to Bootham Bar to head up the stairs to the City Walls. York still has most of the walls that surrounded the city 700 years ago. We walked from Bootham just past Monk Bar and descended down onto Peasholme Green to St. Saviours Place to St. Saviours Gate and finally to Whip-Ma-Whop-Ma to go into The Shambles.

Bootham Bar

We only ran into a few other people on the walls and that was nice. We again were thankful that the weather was wonderful for this evening walk.

 

 

 

Approaching Monk Bar…

 

We descended these stairs to get to the street level to get a better view of Monk Bar, below.

Monk Bar is the largest and most ornate of the bars, it dates from the early 14th century. It was a self-contained fortress, with each floor capable of being defended.

We then ascended the walls again and continued on to their end on to the east corner and as far on the walls that we would go on this evening.

This eastern section of the walls had this plaque on the walkway. The place where medieval Jews buried their dead in York has long been called Jewbury. There was a thriving Jewish community here in the 13th century. The history of the treatment of Jews in York is a tragic one. I found this article about some of the tragic treatment of the Jews.

In the Middle Ages, a massacre of the Jewish population took place at Clifford’s Tower, pictured above. Clifford’s Tower is in the Southern section of the city center.

We had our first views of York Minster from the walls and later in this evening we saw it up close.

On Tuesday we did a hop on hop off tour and saw the wall from a different perspective.

 

Walmgate Bar.

 

Micklegate Bar was historically the main entrance to the city for anyone arriving from the south, and particularly, the gate through which visiting Royals would pass.

There is so much history in York and it’s hard to capture it all in one visit. We just touched the surface while we were there.