Our third day in Ireland was Sunday September 17th. We enjoyed breakfast at the Lemon Jelly before we attended church at Grosvenor Rd. Baptist Church, Sunday Roast at The Old Spot, St. Patrick’s Cathedral for Evensong and Guinness Storehouse Experience for the finale. Sunday it rained off and on, mostly on, so it was good we had so many indoor activities planned. Slainte!
On Sunday in Texas twenty three of us gathered at Watermark Church for the 9am service.
The service was excellent with worship songs that glorified God and a message from the Word of God that challenged me. It was good to be together and to worship together.
After the service we toured part of the area where Leonard and Mandy work at Watermark. Such an impressive property that functions well.
From church we gathered at Leonard and Mandy’s for brunch. We had Mandy’s famous John Wayne Egg casserole and fruit and our sister Kathy had her hand in making blintzes for all of us, too. (Thanks for the picture, Michelle) This shows the first stage. After this stage they are filled with a lightly sweetened cheese filling (ricotta, or dry cottage, or farmer’s cheese) and rolled up and put into a baking dish and baked with butter and half and half. Rich and delicious. We were all full and content.
Photo above is from another time to show what the pans look like before they are baked. The photo below is how they might look when they are on your plate ready to eat.
We played a game answering questions about the birthday twins that Leonard and daughter Hope created on a phone app. We all logged in and answered the questions on our individual phones. It was fun and easy to include 20 people in a game sitting all over the living area.
Sunday evening we went out for Mexican food at Mariano’s Hacienda, two tables of eight and one table of seven.
After dinner our niece and nephew took us to the airport car rental center and I rented a car for our trip to Waco on Monday. More about that day in another post. Another good long day in Texas.
It’s Wednesday and I’m rolling in a little later than usual for Wednesday Hodgepodge. Thank you, Jo!
1. Hello August. What’s one thing you’re looking forward to this month?
I’m still soaking in the last four days of July. So much to share about our time in Texas.
In August I’ll enjoy watching our Grands play soccer.
2. What are you doing to beat the heat right now? If you live in the southern hemisphere are you enjoying cooler temps or counting the days until summer?
Oh goodness me. When we stepped out of the airport in Spokane on our way home from Dallas last night, we were relieved to be in 90 degree weather instead of 100+++ weather. What I do to beat the heat is to work in the early morning hours and stay inside in air conditioning for the other hours. If I’m outside I always navigate to shade!
Today the high in Colville is supposed to be 95 but right now it’s a cool 53 degrees! Woohoo!
3. How do you see the world?
I see the world as a training ground in my Faith and walk with Jesus. The song that popped into my head when I read this question is the title I used for this post. I’ll share the full song here because another thing we enjoyed the last 4 days of July was singing together at my sister’s home, at the Twins birthday bash and in church on Sunday morning.
This world is not my home, I’m just passing through.
My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue.
The angels beckon me from Heaven’s open door
And I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.
Chorus
O Lord you know I have no friend like you
If Heaven’s not my home, then Lord what will I do?
The angels beckon me from Heaven’s open door
And I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.
They’re all expecting me and that’s one thing I know.
My Savior pardoned me and now I onward go.
I know He’ll take me through, though I am weak and poor.
Chorus
O Lord you know I have no friend like you
If Heaven’s not my home, then Lord what will I do?
The angels beckon me from Heaven’s open door
And I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.
Just up in Glory Land we’ll live eternally.
The Saints on every hand are shouting victory.
Their song of sweetest praise drifts back from Heaven’s shore
And I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.
4. What food product do you think is better store bought than home made?
Fried Chicken or donuts. I don’t or wouldn’t even attempt to make those items at home.
How about something you refuse to buy because it is so much better homemade?
So much is better homemade and fresh from the stovetop or oven. Anything my mother made could not be bought. Growing up our family always had homemade. Once in a great while our Pop would bring home pizza.
5. Are you easy to get along with?
For the most part, yes. I do hold my ground on my strong beliefs and don’t appreciate being identified with movements or ideologies I’m opposed to.
6. Insert your own random thought here.
We are home from a wonderful birthday celebration with family and friends in Dallas, Texas. We also took a side trip to Waco in the heat while in Texas. I’ll be gathering my thoughts and my photos and photos from family and friends of the wonderful time we had and will be posting soon. Here we are on this last Sunday in July singing along with 3500 voices praising our LORD! It was glorious!
Thanks for stopping by. I’ll try and visit between laundry loads!
On Sunday June 25th our granddaughter Addy was baptized at the end of our morning service at First Baptist Colville. Our whole family and Addy’s Granny and Granny Great were at the service to witness Addy’s step in her new found faith.
Aunties and Uncles and brother all in a row. Gramps and Baba were across the aisle to have a better view of the baptismal pool.
Pastor David going over how Addy got to the place where she wanted to be baptized. First she was born again and then she wanted to proclaim it publicly through baptism. I love this sweet photo. We could barely see her whole head when she stepped into the pool.
Pastor lifted her up so everyone could see her.
Mom and Dad were looking on as were the rest of us.
We are so grateful for God’s saving grace and mercy on our sweet Addy May and praise Him for what He has done and will continue to do in the life of His little lamb. Baba and Gramps love you dear granddaughter of ours!
After the service we all gathered on Bayles Mountain for tacos.
Addy’s Mommy and Daddy bought her a sweet necklace with a cross, her initial and her birthstone. On the back of the cross the date of her baptism was engraved. I didn’t get a good close-up of the necklace. Auntie LoLo and Uncle Joshie got her a child’s version of Pilgrim’s Progress beautifully illustrated. Baba and Gramps also got her a cross necklace.
I’m trying out a new collage program and until I master it in my organization you’ll see some duplicate photos.
Addy and I were looking at her Pilgrim’s Progress Child version.
The kids stayed on at the Mountain but Gramps and Baba had one more event on this day to attend at church for our Pastor Candidate meet and greet. We were also in charge of the Ice Cream Social after the formal question and answer time Sunday Evening.
After the sunset walk the adults were able to get some card playing in while Addy and JJ crashed for the night. It was a long full day of excitement and celebration. Baba and Gramps crashed, too.
Katie and Andrew left on Monday morning to get back over the mountains and home.
On Monday before Uncle Joshie and Auntie LoLo hit the road for home at noon there was one more get together at a local park.
Another wonderful Family weekend that we do not take for granted.
I’ll leave you with this quote from a larger poem by Jean Ingelow, 1879. It was put to music by John Chadwick.
“I sought the Lord,
And afterwards I knew
He moved my soul to seek Him,
seeking me!
It was not that I found,
O Saviour true;
No, I was found by Thee.”
We traveled to the West side of the Cascades for 338 miles to visit our kids on Thursday the 4th of May. We met up with friends in Kirkland at La Corona on the way and the Mexican food theme began. Good time catching up a bit then we said Adios and headed to our kids home with a stop at Fred Meyer on the way. We had a nice quiet evening recuperating from our drive.
On Friday Laura drove us to Business Costco and regular Costco. Friday was Cinco de Mayo and we met up with our other Westside kids and we all enjoyed a meal at Viva Jalisco.
Saturday morning we baked up some Lemon Scones to enjoy while watching some of the Coronation. Laura pulled out a puzzle for us to work on over the course of the day.
The girls enjoyed a dry spell in the morning at Pickin’ at the Barn in Monroe. A market of all things vintage, antique and artisan. We all made some purchases. On the way home from the market we stopped at The Maltby Cafe and Laura and I split Huevos Rancheros. Another day of enjoying the Mexican theme. Saturday afternoon we worked on the puzzle before we headed out to an early Mother’s Day meal at Feast and Fire in Edmonds.
I had the Osso Buco (Pork) which was fall off the bone delicious. The others enjoyed Halibut and pasta dishes.
You can see the Edmonds/Kingston Ferry loading at the dock if you squint.
After a stop at the waterfront in Edmonds we went back to Josh and Laura’s. I opened up some sweet Mother’s day gifts and we continued watching some of the Coronation while finishing up the puzzle.
On Sunday we went to Josh and Laura’s church and were encouraged by an amazing sermon by a visiting Pastor from Southern California. “God’s mercy is God’s goodness to us despite our sin.” What a blessing that was along with Communion. We also ran into friends from our former churches there. An extra sweet encouragement to see and talk to them.
We packed up the car and headed back to Colville after church with Laura as our passenger. Laura traveled back with us so that she could be in town for Addy’s Piano Recital Monday evening. We stopped in Cle Elum for a fill up of gasoline and lunch at El Corporal…if you guessed Mexican food, you guessed correctly! That’s why the title of this post is cuatro, cinco, seis and siete because I enjoyed Mexican food on the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th of May! After lunch Laura took the wheel and drove for a couple hours and then we switched back to me for the ride into Spokane. Dear drove from Spokane to Colville. We dropped Laura off at Dan and Jamie’s and it was a great surprise for Addy and JJ who had no idea Auntie Lolo was coming to stay a couple nights with them.
I think they are thrilled to have Auntie Lolo in town!
Thankful for a wonderful weekend from beginning to end.
Noah and the Ark
Abraham and Isaac
Joseph sold into slavery by his brothers.
Joseph reunited with the brothers who sold him into slavery not realizing who Joseph is.
These are not all of the mosaics that line the walls of Keble College Chapel but all I will post. I’m thankful to be able to hold the inspired and inerrant Word of God in my hands to read and not to depend on an artists representation of the Bible.
We left Keble and we were still early for our Lodge check-in.
On this last full day in Oxford we made our last visit to The Turf for Fish and Chips.
Before we settled into our Lodge room for the night we made a stop at Gail’s Bakery in the Jericho area of Oxford for some sweet treats to enjoy in the evening.
Finally we could check in to our little room and prepared our things for our trip to the airport the following morning.
After breakfast at our Lodge on Saturday September 24th, 2022 we took a Taxi to the bus terminal for our ride to Heathrow. We met a couple from Washington State who were on the same bus and enjoyed exchanging our experiences in England with each other. Till next time, Lord willing, it was a wonderful trip to Oxford, The Cotswolds and Woodstock.
Thanks for reading along. This post completes our Oxford September 2022 holiday. Cheers!
Back to the Present:
We got some fresh snow on Thursday and they are talking about more.
Sunshine makes it a lot nicer. The fresh snow melted nicely since we got up into the 40’s. We are supposed to get a couple more inches of snow today.
We entered the chapel here.
Keble College Chapel was opened on St Mark’s Day (25 April) 1876. The College was founded in memory of John Keble, a Victorian clergyman who, with others in what became known as the Oxford Movement, had a profound impact on the Church of England in the mid 19th century, renewing and strengthening it in the catholic tradition. The architect was William Butterfield (1814-1900), a renowned exponent of the Gothic style. His masterpiece, the College Chapel, is perhaps the grandest ecclesiastical space in Oxford and the interior is decorated with colourful tiles, mosaics, and stained glass.
The organ, built by Kenneth Tickell, was installed in 2011. The Chapel’s resonant ‘cathedral-like’ acoustic is home to a lively and active music foundation in which the Chapel Choir plays a primary role.
I will save the mosaics and the famous Light of the World Painting for another post.
We saw so many beautiful old doors during our time in Oxford and beyond in September of 2022. When we were at the Ark in Kentucky in 2021 we picked up a brochure that talked about the Doors of the Bible.
On the back of that pamphlet it talked about The Door That Leads to Life.
What will you do with Jesus Christ? Your answer to that question has eternal consequences.
We are all guilty of sinning against our holy creator. Because he is holy, God must judge sin. Take an honest look at your life. Have you ever lied, stolen anything, disrespected your parents, or failed to honor God? If so, then you have broken God’s law and are a sinner in need of a Savior.
There was one door into the ark that saved Noah and his family from the flood. Similarly, there is only one door that can save us from eternal judgement. Jesus Christ is that door. The Bible states that now is the day of salvation. If you have not already done so, will you turn from your sins and call on the risen Lord Jesus to save you?
By faith, enter the only door that leads to eternal life today.
One of my favorite things to do when traveling is to walk through the older churches and cathedrals. This is the easiest when traveling in England because there are so many and they seem to be more readily open to visitors. One of the things that has stood out when walking through are beautifully stitched kneelers. At St Mary Magdalene in Woodstock there are over 200 kneelers! That is the most I’ve seen anywhere in my travels and visits to churches.
The brochure I picked up in the church about the kneelers was photographed so I could share the information easier for my record here. I was going to make collages of the kneelers that caught my eye but after reading about all the work involved in creating one of them it seemed to me they were worthy of being presented singly.
Here is the church tower kneeler, the Winston Churchill and one I think might be part of the Blenheim Connection
The following give honor to the Lord, the Bible and Prayer.
Then we move on to more community minded themes…
And from the state where Dear and I were born and raised. We were surprised when we spotted the California Kneeler.
That’s just a small sampling of the kneelers during our visit on Wednesday September 21st, 2022.
Do you enjoy needlework?
Back to the Present: On Sunday we enjoyed our Sunday services and made a stop on the way home to buy some Deli Salads to go with the 2 racks of ribs we put in the oven. The ribs were pre-seasoned from Costco and turned out fall off the bone delicious. We watched the first half of the Super Bowl game and then hit the record button. Since 2 racks of ribs are more than we could eat, we dropped a rack off at our Colville kids for their dinner before we headed to our Evening service at church. Back at home after church we watched the last 10 seconds of the game and saw that the Kansas Chiefs won. Congratulations to them. I’ve got to say that I really didn’t understand half of the commercials and we didn’t watch the half time show. We got a text with photos of our Grands enjoyed the ribs!
Ribs enjoyed in two households for the win!
Much history of the church and of the photos I’m sharing can be found here.
The church was built during the reign of Henry II (1154-1189) as a chapel of ease so that local people, including members of the royal court, did not have to travel to the parish church at nearby Bladon to worship.
Later in the 13th century the church was enlarged and a bell tower and burial ground were added.
The only parts of that original chapel of ease to survive are a section on the south nave wall and a beautifully carved round-headed 12th-century doorway set into the south wall. The doorway is carved with two orders of traditional Norman zig-zag pattern separated by moulding. Unusually, the zig-zag carving extends all the way to the ground.
The above photo is of that ancient door from the outside and below from the inside.
Separating the church porch from the nave is a wooden screen, carved in the early 16th century. The screen was originally installed in the traditional place between the nave and chancel, but was moved to the west end of the nave in 1999 to make the high altar more easily visible.
This flying eagle lectern is like several others I’ve seen in churches in Great Britain. I think they are so cool.
The superb column capitals on the south nave arcade are one of the church’s best features. There are 23 carved heads incorporated into the design of the capitals, interspersed with foliage.
Each capital is different and the heads are all unique.
All of the stained glass is Victorian.
The angels at the top have banners that read: Let us love one another ~ For love is of God.
Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again.
Over 200 kneelers are in this church of which I photographed quite a few. That will be another post.
Inching along to complete posts about our last few days in Oxfordshire in September of 2022.
Back to the present here in the U. S. of A. Yesterday, Friday February 10th, we traveled to Spokane to do some shopping at places we do not have here in Colville. After our stops at Home Depot, T.J.Maxx, Costco, Hobby Lobby, and Trader Joe’s we tried a new to us Chinese Restaurant called the Red Dragon. We had the best Hot and Sour soup and some good potstickers. After we ate we made one more stop at Fred Meyer before we headed home.
Happy Saturday to you.
My return to our Oxford travels post today is a two for one. It will cover Sunday and Monday in Oxford, September 18th and 19th of 2022.
On Sunday morning we had some breakfast in the apartment before we walked a little under a mile to St. Luke’s Chapel where we would attend church. We researched churches before we left home and emailed a couple pastors. Andrew Young emailed us back and after further research we decided to worship at his church, the Oxford Evangelical Presbyterian Church. They meet on Sunday mornings at St. Luke’s Chapel, 10:30 a.m. On our way we passed the Oxford University Press Building and this next building.
The Radcliffe Observatory, which is now part of Green Templeton College. This is the back of the building. A statue of Atlas is on top of the tower.
I did not take this photo of Atlas. This is the author of the photo.
As we walked up to the door of St. Luke’s we saw two of the people from Florida that we met at the C.S. Lewis Kilns tour. The Father/daughter duo were in Oxford because the daughter took a job in Oxford. Her dad was helping her get settled. She chose this church to attend while she lives in Oxford. That was a fun 2nd encounter.
We also met a young family who are in Oxford for the husband to earn his doctorate. This family was from Southern California and are part of Grace Community Church, Dear and my first church after we were married.
Pastor Andrew spoke on The Source of Christ’s Authority using Mathew 7:28-29 as part of his text. Part of his outline; 1. Who Jesus Was, 2. What Jesus Taught, 3. How Jesus Lived. What stood out to me; Jesus has permanent authority because of who He is. Jesus is true to the Word of God. Jesus was the obedient Son of God. We live under Christ’s authority. We need to be obedient. Believe, worship, follow Jesus.
After the service we talked with a few more of the folks before we walked back to The Turf Tavern to try to get a seat for a Sunday Roast.
The streets were a little more crowded than usual.
The only seat we could find was in this outdoor section of the Turf. We kept our eyes peeled for a table to open up inside.
This part of The Turf shares a wall with New College. The tower behind and the gargoyles are part of New College.
When our food arrived a table opened up inside and our server delivered the food to our new location. Hooray.
I had the lamb roast and Dear enjoyed the Fish and Chips.
After our meal we decided to shop at the Sainsbury Market on the edge of the Westgate shopping center. We wanted to have food for our meals on Monday since it was the day of Queen Elizabeth the II’s funeral and we knew a lot of places could be closed.
Back to our apartment above the never closed cheap pub, The Swan and Castle. We did not choose to have any meals there but a lot of other people did.
Into the building and that was almost the end of the day.
After unpacking our groceries we decided we needed to add a couple items but our local Sainsbury closed early on Sunday so after looking online we found a Tesco Express that stayed open late on Sunday. Got our walking shoes back on and made the evening trek, a half mile away. Home again, home again, jiggety jig. Now we were equipped for a day at home on Monday.
We woke up on Monday and watched the coverage of Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral.
We enjoyed a charcuterie while watching.
We were in awe of these young men who carried the coffin up and down stairs and down long aisles. It was a wonderful memorial tribute to the Queen.
After the coverage ended we saw that the Slug and Lettuce, a restaurant in the complex was open so we walked down and had a hot meal. We wouldn’t recommend the restaurant, though. Slug was appropriate in their title.
We had big plans for Tuesday our last full day in the apartment before we moved out to Woodstock for a couple nights.
Cheers!
The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b. 