Category Archives: Addyson May

Red White and Blue Hodgepodge

Joyce has the questions for our Wednesday Hodgepodge posted and ready for us to answer. Welcome!

1. It’s a big week in the US of A as we celebrate Independence Day. Do you have any special plans? How will you mark the day? BBQ? pool-lake-beach time? fireworks? homemade ice cream? If you’re not an American you can tell us what’s happening in your corner of the world on Thursday.

We are celebrating with a good crowd on the 4th. We bring our own meat to barbecue and a dish to share with the crowd, either a side or a dessert. The party starts at 4pm and ends after fireworks. In between there is a very competitive Corn Hole tournament. Fireworks are downplayed in our corner of the U.S. because of fire danger.

2. What’s your favorite ‘All-American’ dessert?

I’m going with Chocolate Chip Cookies and Strawberry Shortcake.

3. Does that patriotic feeling come easily to you, or are you having to work for it more these days? What’s something that makes you proud to be a citizen of your country?

If I think about how our country was founded and the principles that shaped our Constitution and governance I can be proud and patriotic. Our leadership these days brings me down in this area. I’m thankful my hope and future are in God’s hands.

4. Your favorite ‘patriotic’ movie? Favorite patriotic song?

Yankee Doodle Dandy for the movie and America The Beautiful for the song.

5. One simple pleasure on your July ‘bucket list’?

Besides the 4th our calendar is free of any big events so I’ll say relaxed mornings are on my July bucket list.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Our family of ten have been enjoying each other since Saturday in Walla Walla, Washington at a VRBO. Today, Tuesday, we are all traveling to our respective homes. It has been such a delightful 4 days and there will be several posts covering our time together. Today will be a day of laundry and yard work!

Happy July Y’all!

Early Summer Delights!

A day at the lake. (Thank you, Jamie, for this great photo!)

Look carefully to spot the young quail.

Shade cloth up and doing it’s magic making it pleasant to sit out on the deck.

I love the cool of the mornings and listening to all the birds singing.

We rested from our labors on Sunday but the days prior we did a lot of work outside tackling some weeds, weed cloth and mowing the lawn. We are back to a watering regiment since we haven’t had rain the last few days. Do you have to water?

Have a good week!

 

Hello Summer

Hello from Summers past. This shot above was from Butchart Gardens in 2009.

Time for summer sport camps and lots of time outside in the sun!

For us older folk it means mowing and weeding and watering!

After we did a lot of weeding we took a drive into Kettle Falls in search of a good hamburger.

We were very pleased with the quality of our burgers and with my onion rings at a little joint in Kettle.

Heading back to Colville from Kettle on Highway 395, I took a photo of this beautiful first day of summer view.

We will be enjoying our first Summer adventure the last weekend of June into July. More about that soon.

Happy Summer to all of you.

The Last Three Days…

After pulling some weeds early on Friday morning we were inspired to hit the road and go a little north and then west about an hour to the little town of Republic, Washington.

We had lunch at the Mexican Restaurant in town and then poked around the few shops on the main drag. We found the thrift store in town and then found the park where there was a Farmer’s Market and a Library book sale.

Republic, Washington is a city with an early 1900s look and a heritage based in the mining and logging industries. Originally named Eureka Gulch, Republic had a population of 954 in 2000. Noted for its fossils, natural beauty and recreational possibilities, it is nestled in a valley between Wauconda and Sherman Passes at the intersection of Washington State Routes 20 and 21 in the north central part of the state.

On the way back to Colville.

When we spot the Columbia River we know we are close to home. The weather was great for our quick trip to Republic and back home but things began to turn after we got home.

On Saturday we got some mighty winds and thunderstorms with some hail and rain. At one point the temperatures inside our home dropped five degrees. We also saw that the same roads we had taken to Republic that were clear and dry had snow and slush on Saturday and into Sunday at the highest point on Sherman Pass! Sherman Pass has an elevation of 5574 feet.

On Father’s day we had clear weather again as we headed to church and after we got home from church this was the view we had out our windows.

It didn’t dampen our little Father’s Day meal on Sunday evening with our Colville kids.

Happy Father’s day to our son who is faithful and loyal and cares for his family well.

The two dads got nice gifts and we enjoyed our time together.

Dear got phone calls from our out of town kids wishing him a happy Father’s day.

Happy Father’s Day to Dear. A good Father with integrity and faithfulness.

Today we are scheduled to have our windows washed. We didn’t anticipate all this crazy weather. Hopefully the day will be dry and we’ll be able to enjoy the clean dry windows for a few hours.

Tomorrow I’ll be helping in the kitchen for our Church High School camp and I’ll be gone from home from 6am till after 6pm. I won’t be visiting blogs. Time will tell if I’ll be able to muster for Wednesday Hodgepodge.

Hope you all had a good weekend and have a good week ahead.

Busy Start to June

June has started off with full weekends and good family days. Our Grands and their mom enjoyed some sweets with Granny Great. I love this photo of all of them.

Josh and Laura were in Nashville for a business trip and got to enjoy the Grand Ole Oprey.

Our Garage sale started Wednesday with 15 families bringing all their stuff together so we were ready for the early birds on Thursday morning. All the participants signed up for shifts to help at the sale.  When our Grands and their mom came for their shift, Addy and JJ and the other littles were able to cuddle the new pups. The family that hosted the garage sale raise and sell golden retrievers.

We had a very successful sale with many families earning over $200 and some earning a whole lot more. We earned close to $400.

On Saturday I put in some time at the sale before Gramps and I headed to Kettle Falls to watch Addy’s Irish Dance group perform at Town and Country Days. It was hot with limited shade. We were happy that the stage was a covered stage so the kids didn’t have to dance with the sun beating down on them.

Finding some shade before the performance.

It was fun to watch Addy again on stage. When the performance was over they got her changed into cooler clothes quickly so they could enjoy some of the Town and Country festivities.

While waiting for the performance to begin we popped into an establishment next door to the stage to cool down and it was fun to spot this customer.

This guy was part of a group that performed in the Town and Country parade earlier on this day. When you are planning a trip to Scotland, you notice people dressed like this.

After the performance we headed back to the garage sale that was in it’s final minutes to gather up our stuff that didn’t sell and collected our money. We had three days in the sun and I was spent.

Another thing happened this weekend. When we put our A/C on it wasn’t working properly. We’ll have to call today and try to get someone out soon before the real heat starts!

Sunday morning after a good time at church we had a true day of rest.

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Being An Adult Hodgepodge

Joyce From This Side of the Pond has a fresh set of questions for us to ponder for Wednesday Hodgepodge.

1. Growing up, at what age did you think you’d become an adult? At what age did you actually become an adult? 

If I thought about it I didn’t call it being an adult. The older siblings in my family had some responsibilities that were adult like earlier in life. Our parents immigrated to the U.S. just after World War II, legally. Our mom never drove and our pop had to work hard to support a family with 8 children.  Sometimes my older sisters and I walked into town to pay bills in person with cash from our parents. We got ourselves to swimming lessons, the library, and to school. When I got my license there were times that I took my younger brothers to their baseball practices and games. When many of my friends were at senior prom, I was at my younger brother’s baseball game.  In my senior year of high school I had enough credits to graduate with morning classes. I found an afternoon job at a local company and got rides to and from work. I saved up for college with that job. I earned scholarships for most of my college costs. My older sister drove me to the University of Redlands for my freshman year and helped me settle in. We didn’t have and didn’t expect input from our parents on which college to go to. If they could they would help with college costs but mostly we paid our own way. We purchased our own cars and they were mostly used cars. After college I was able to finance my Volkswagen at a school credit union and when I paid that off, like an adult, I earned some good credit.

2.  What’s a favorite item you’ve bought this year?

At our church my area of service is the kitchen and the hospitality branch. We had some money left in the budget so I was able to purchase a coffee system that got plumbed and makes providing coffee at functions so much easier. Instead of those big old coffee pots that you have to fill with water, add the coffee in the baskets and plug in two hours before an event, we can now fill a basket with coffee grounds push the button on the new system and have 2.2liters of coffee in 5 minutes. Yes, and amen!

3. May 28th is National Hamburger Day…are you a fan? If so, how do you like yours? When was the last time you had a hamburger? Besides the backyard grill, what’s your favorite place to go for a burger? 

We do enjoy a good burger. We hadn’t had burgers for a long while but Saturday of Memorial weekend we had a good burger on the way home from shopping in Spokane. We enjoy the burgers at Masters Brew House in Deer Park. Their onion jam that you can have on a burger is delicious. Sorry to say we haven’t found a good burger in Colville. We have fond memories of In N Out burgers.

4.  How have your priorities changed over time? 

The closer I get to heaven the more concerned I am about friends and family and people in general who haven’t had their debt to God paid by Jesus Christ. We all have a debt of sin on our accounts. You can trust Christ who suffered and died and rose from the dead to provide that debt payment.  You need to ask forgiveness (repent) for your sin and put your faith in him and His sacrifice. What Jesus accomplished will pay your debt in full or you will have to pay that sin debt to God yourself in hell. Only Christ’s sacrifice provides the way. You can not earn it by being a ‘good’ person or a ‘religious’ person. It’s a no brainer to me. I’m getting too old to sugar coat this message. Heaven is real and Hell is real. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father but by Him.

5. What’s one thing on your June calendar you’re really looking forward to? 

The very last weekend in June our family of 10 will be enjoying time together in Walla Walla at a VRBO.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Our son gifted his dear bride a long weekend away over Memorial Weekend. He took time off of work and cared for our Grands while mommy was gone. We enjoyed feeding them a meal on Friday night of the weekend.

First corn on the cob this year!

Looking Back at May

Awana Awards were at the beginning of May. Both Addy and JJ did well and completed their books. Addy completed some extra credit books, too. JJ graduates from Cubbies and will be a Sparky with Addy next year.

A fieldtrip to the local small airport was a hit!

Our church had a fun Mother Daughter Pajama Princess Party.

Popcorn and licorice at the movie at the party.

Saturday of Mother’s Day weekend we got ready for a Mother’s Day Fun 5K at our local Rotary Trail.

A run to the finish line!

After our 5K this little guy got a nice haircut!

Our dear Addy had out-patient surgery on May 17th and all went well and her recovery went smoothly enough that she was able to be at her Piano Recital on May 20th. We made it back from the Westside in time to enjoy her piano pieces.

A great smile the day after her surgery!

She played two songs, Stand Up Stand Up for Jesus, and Holy Holy Holy. Well done, Addy!

One more catch-up post for May will come soon.

Monday at the Bungalow

Looking back on our busy weekend before we are full swing into a new busy week. I still can’t upload any new photos but I have many photos that show the state of the yard from years past and things look quite similar for this time of year.

Friday May 10th: On Friday evening we had our Princess Pajama Party at church and it was a hit! I joined Jamie, Addy and Granny at church and we were all in our comfy jammies. I had my Ugg slippers on, too. There was a hair braiding station, coloring stations, nail polish stations, animal face masks that were facials, wonderful snacks and then an hour long movie where the littles plopped down on their blankies and pillows with popcorn and licorice! Those adults who were still young enough to plop down easily and get up again got comfy with the littles, too. I stayed in a chair.

Friday night into the wee hours of Saturday we had a wonderful treat of the aurora borealis. I wish I could show you my photos. Amazing pinks and greens and blues looking straight up and for a time more on the horizon view we got the typical green frosty views. Those were clearer to the naked eye but the views right above were visible from camera photos which was very strange. You could see swaths of something looking up but no color until you looked at the images you snapped! A bucket list item to check off without flying to Iceland!

Saturday May 11th: On Saturday morning I met up with these two along with their mommy and granny and we walked the Rotary trail with an added loop to make it a 5k Strong Mom Walk that the City parks put on.

Saturday afternoon our now not as new Pastor and his creative wife had an open house for our church body to show us how things have shaped up at their new to them home. Many of our church body helped them move their stuff into the garage and get flooring pulled out and new flooring in etc, etc. and they wanted to have a little thank you for helping gathering. Our Pastor’s wife painted most of the walls in the home, used their stuff and gathered new stuff and decorated the whole home in such a lovely way. It was fun to have seen the before so we could really enjoy the ‘after’!

Sunday May 12th, Mother’s Day:

Sunday service was full with moms and their kids and our service was God honoring as usual with some very nice tributes to moms as well.

Sunday evening our Colville family came over for a Mother’s day meal and we had a good time catching up with them. JJ was eager to fill us in on all the things his dad and he did while the girls were at the mother daughter event at church.

As I type I hear the washing machine going. I’m putting fresh linens in both of our guest rooms.  Our guest rooms will be used this weekend by our former Pastor’s parents and brother who are traveling here for the wedding of our former pastor’s son on Saturday. We will miss the wedding since we are leaving for a long weekend on the other side of the mountains with this lovely crew below.

Planning: Laundry, a little dusting, mowing and packing is on my agenda for the week.

Organizing:

Things for our guests who will arrive while we are gone and leave before we return.

Continuing: 

With the missions prayer challenge.

I didn’t mention it last week but I’ve been doing a workout with a video daily except for Sundays. Today will be my 31st day!

Weeding out photos from past blog posts. Tedious and a little frustrating.

Reading:

Our church handed out a 31 day devotional for Women on Mother’s Day. All ladies 18 and up received one if they wanted one. Gospel Meditations for Women.

My daily Bible readings this week are in 2 Samuel, 1 Chronicles, Psalms and Acts.

I’m still reading through the Discipline of Grace by Jerry Bridges.

Quotable:

John Owen: “If you have any regard to the constancy of your faith, to the comfort of your life, the honor of God, for the salvation of your own soul, labor immediately to get your belief of the Word better founded.

Read the scripture constantly, study it seriously, search it diligently, hear it explained and applied by others, meditate on it yourself, and beg of God an understanding of it and a right faith in it.”

Thankful:

So thankful for all the love showered on me by our children and grandchildren. God is good to me.

Have a great week ahead everyone!

Hello May Hodgepodge!

It’s the Merry Month of May and time for our first May Hodgepodge. Thank you to Jo From This Side of the Pond for the timely questions.

I’ll be using photos from my archives for many posts until I can figure out how to be able to add more media to my site. Such a revolting development.

1. Mayday! Mayday!…when was the last time (or a recent time) you literally or figuratively needed to call for help? Elaborate. 

A few months back we had to call our son to help with our water heater that wasn’t putting out any hot water. Brrr. He was a huge help scraping out a bunch of residue and helping Greg with draining the thing and installing some new parts.

2. May Day…when was the last time you danced?

At our brother and sister’s 60th birthday party at a ranch in Texas on July 29th 2023 we enjoyed some line dancing.

Do you have a lot of baskets?

I have a few baskets.

What’s something you keep in a basket?

Napkin rings. I have a lot of napkin rings, y’all. I have sets in ziplock bags. Sets of 4, sets of 6, sets of 8, sets of 10, sets of 12 and some sets over 12. Sets of 6 and under are in a basket. Sets of 8 are in a basket. Sets of 10 and over are in a basket.

What’s your favorite purple flower? 

Oh, this is a hard one. I love purple flowers. I’ll go with lavender even though we won’t see fields like these until July.

This collage is from several years ago at the Annual lavender festival held in Sequim, Washington.

3. What’s something you may do this month? 

We might be putting out our outdoor furniture soon.

4. Do you like eggplant? Quick topic changes lol? If you said yes in answer to the eggplant question how do you like yours prepared? Of the following purple foods, which one is your favorite…plums, purple carrots, purple asparagus, eggplant, acai berries, blackberries, purple cauliflower, elderberries, purple potatoes, or passion fruit? 

Not a huge fan of eggplant and I don’t think I’ve ever cooked eggplant. In my Russian culinary heritage there is a dish called Ikra that is a popular dish to spread on bread or crackers to enjoy, an eggplant caviar. My mother did make it and my sister Vera has made it. The recipe is in our family cookbook that Vera put together.

  • 1 eggplant, peeled and chopped
  • 1-2 carrots, grated
  • 1 onion chopped
  • 1 can tomato sauce
  1. Saute onion in oil until tender.
  2. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer until eggplant is soft, 1-1/2 to 2 hours.
  3. If it gets too dry, add more tomato sauce.
  4. Another method is to bake the eggplant in the oven until it is soft and then peel and chop it. This will reduce the simmering time.

From the list of purple things, Blackberries are my favorite.

5. The calendar turns on Hodgepodge Day…

“Then you have to remember to be thankful; but in May one simply can’t help being thankful that they are alive, if for nothing else.”-L.M. Montgomery

Tell us one thing you’re thankful for today. 

Just one!? I’m thankful for how our Grands are growing and learning about our God who created them and loves them.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Tonight is Awana Awards night. These photos are from the last couple years. JJ graduates from Cubbies tonight and next year he’ll be a Sparky. Addy will get some awards tonight because she finished all her books and all her verses and then did some extra books and verses! She will still be a Sparky next year.

This is Addy two years ago when she was still a Cubby.

Happy May everyone!