Time for the new school year!
It’s always fun to see their favorites. Busy days ahead with homeschooling and with Co-op.
We had twin fawns visit and I only managed to get one of them in a photo.
I will be hit and miss on the internet and with posting for the next little while. I’ll pop in when I can.
My Grands via their dear mom gifted me with seeds to plant at Mother’s Day. The Sunflower is finally blooming in all it’s glory. There are three more buds that could bloom any minute.
The rest of these photos are of the nicest areas of our yard taken on September the 1st. Our high today, Sunday, was 97 degrees at our Country Bungalow after several cooler days. Sunday was the hottest of a few days of warming in our neck of the woods. Labor Day, today, is a bit cooler in the forecast.
I’m happy that our potted hanging plant we bought in May has survived until now.
Don’t look too close or you will see all the weeds I have not been able to keep on top of.
We are so thankful for our little plot of land that affords us peace and contentment in this stage of life that God has afforded us.
Happy September to you all. Happy Labor Day to all our friends in the U.S. of A.
We made it to our little Country Fair Parade on Saturday morning. We were only sprinkled on and didn’t get wet…just sprinkled. ‘Every cloud has a silver lining.’ Our Grands were able to gather a bunch of candy as the different participants in the parade threw the treats to the sides of Main street. Our Fire department starts the parade off with their sirens and such and that is why Addy and JJ have their ear protection on! ‘Better Safe than Sorry’
Onward to our questions of the week…
Yikes! It’s the last Wednesday Hodgepodge for August! Thank you to Jo, From This Side of the Pond, for the questions that ‘give us a run for our money‘.
1. What is one cliche you think is nonsense?
‘Easy as pie’, for me, is nonsense. Getting the pie crust just right and making a great pie without a ‘soggy bottom’ is not easy for me. I wasn’t raised with a pie baking mom so making a pie has always been intimidating. That said, I do appreciate my pie making friends and their great pies with the crust being just right!
What’s one you think holds truth?
‘Ugly as sin’ Sin is ugly and has caused all the trouble we’ve ever seen in our world or will ever see. So thankful that God made a way for us to be out from under it’s condemnation! That way came through Jesus Christ and His sacrifice on the cross for our sin. Colossians 1:13-14: For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
2. What’s the last thing you broke and how did it happen?
Recently, I knocked a stemless wine glass off my little side table and it shattered and traveled to many places unknown. The glass did not have wine in it, it was empty which was a good thing! It was a cheap variety of glass, too, not a Riedel, (if you know, you know). ‘Don’t cry over spilled milk’
3. Are you a fan of s’mores? Have you had a s’more this summer?
Not a fan and no I haven’t had a s’more this summer.
Last thing you ate that you wanted to ask for ‘s’more of’?
A Scone with lemon curd. ‘One Man’s Meat is Another Man’s poison’
4. A mode of transportation you’ve never tried? Will you someday?
I’ve never tried a Hover board and I will never try them. I’m at the ‘it’s too easy to break a hip’ stage of life! ‘Don’t Play With Fire’
5. Believe it or not, next week’s Hodgepodge lands in a brand new month. What’s your happiest memory from the month we’re bidding adieu?
My favorite part of August was when Josh and Laura came for a 4 day visit in the middle of the month. All the gathering moments together were sweet and it’s always good to spend time together ‘face to face’.
6. Insert your own random thought here.
Speaking of Josh and Laura, they celebrated their 23rd wedding anniversary this past Sunday.
On Saturday the 17th of August an afternoon boat adventure became reality. The younger set filled up all the seats on the boat for a cruise and landing on a beach. Gramps and Baba relaxed and recuperated at home.
Enjoying the best that summer offers in our own backyard! The weekend and Uncle Joshie and Auntie Lolo’s visit was coming to an end.
We all gathered at church on Sunday morning and Josh and Laura hit the road for home right after the service ended. Till next time, adieu!
Saturday morning the 17th of August we hit the Rotary Trail at 9am.
JJ was determined that Uncle Joshie would get him a Cat Tail from the trail.
The Battle of the Cat Tails!
Father and son #1. Our 2nd son was working this Saturday.
After our walk Greg and I headed home while the rest of our crew headed up to Bayles Mountain. An outing on the water was planned for after Dan’s work hours. That post is coming soon.
The Rotary Trail runs along and through the golf course and it is beside the high school and our little Colville airport. We noticed this huge craft at the air field. We’ve had several air resources around to help with the fires in our region.
Back to the current Saturday we had a nice amount of rain overnight and a lot of wind. There were many power outages around our county. Thankfully we weren’t part of any outages. Hopefully the storm aided instead of created more fire danger. The Fair is in town since Thursday and runs through Sunday. Greg and I went to the Fair on Thursday morning. Boise Cascade, a local company, pays for the first 1200 fair goers on Thursday and we were 2 of those 1200! There is a Fair parade this morning and I’ll meet up with our Grands for that. Other than that it will be a quiet Saturday.
Mornings around here are feeling more and more like Fall. Enjoy your last full weekend in August.
Friday morning the 16th of August we had Greg’s famous Swedish Pancakes for breakfast at Our Country Bungalow.
Our daughters in law were twinsies without planning it.
The three of us took off to do a little shopping while the guys stayed at our country bungalow. We couldn’t resist trying on these beauties off the sale rack. They did not come home with us but gave us a chuckle.
While we were gone the guys and Addy did some clearing of fallen branches on our property for which I was very thankful.
They finished that task and decided it was time to scale the mountain behind our home. We own part of Rattlesnake mountain and it was fun to hear about this trek up the mountain using game trails to traverse the steepness. Here is the team of four who took the climb!
Here are the views looking back down on our home.
It was fun to see these views without having to make the climb!
Friday night we enjoyed hamburgers at the Colville kids’ home.
Earlier a couple chickens got loose and they were tracked down and put back where they belong.
A little basketball and more shenanigans before dinner.
I could have gotten my days mixed up with all these photos.
After dinner and on our way back to our home we couldn’t resist snapping these photos from their driveway.
We all wonder when that great old barn is going to collapse.
Good night, Colville.
Saturday was another good day in Colville filled with fun in the sun. That will be another post or two.
Happy last full weekend of August!
Beautiful early summer morning getting our stair workout.
Wednesday Hodgepodge is here again. Thank you to Jo From This Side of the Pond for the questions we answer!
1. What’s the last thing you completely overreacted to?
I’m trying to drop some pounds…again. I tend to overreact when the scale does not show a loss equal to my sacrifice. The struggle is real.
2. Your top five snacks?
This time of year I love a sweet nectarine for a snack. Snack sized Payday, mini dark chocolate, mixed nuts, Sunflower or Pumpkin seeds are some of my go-to snacks.
3. What smell always brings back some type of memory? Elaborate.
When I make a big pot of borsch that can bring back many childhood memories. The overall aroma especially when I add the fresh dill can stir up memories of our mom in the kitchen or the big church meals. Cucumbers also are a memory trigger. Cucumbers, tomatoes and fresh slices of bread, that combination reminds my senses of times past.
4. What’s something you learned from the last book you read?
I learned so much from the Discipline of Grace by Jerry Bridges that it still sits on my desk for a re-read. What I learned is that I still have a lot to learn before I die. I’ll add this quote from a Scottish Commentator John Brown that Bridges quoted in the book and a few from Bridges;
“The mind is renewed when, under the influence of the Spirit, the truth is understood and believed, so as to displace the ignorance and error that previously prevailed.”
and one from Bridges;
“We do not transform ourselves although we have a part in the process.” and…
“…we should pray for knowledge of truth that will change our lives rather than simply inform our minds.”
5. What’s the next thing on your to-buy list? Will you make that purchase before the end of the year?
We do not have anything major on our to-buy list. We do wonder about our TV and whether it might need an upgrade, soon. Not a thing, but our septic is on the verge of needing to be pumped out. That will cost a few pennies!!
6. Insert your own random thought here.
How about this shot for a quintessential fun summer evening going up the driveway home with Auntie and Uncle.
Wednesday evening August 14th Uncle and Auntie arrived just at the end of soccer practice. We enjoyed dinner out at Rancho Chico before resting up for a full Thursday.
Bright and early Thursday morning the brothers had a tee time.
On Thursday after throwing some roasts in the slow cooker we headed to Bayles Mountain for lunch. The guys were there already after golfing 18 holes.
We had home made sourdough pita bread and tzatziki with steak and with the fresh veggies from the garden.
Everyone gathered back to our place in the afternoon after Addy’s dance practice.
We had dinner early and then some outdoor activities.
Mama deer was outside, too, and very interested in this little guy who got a kick out of seeing her so close. The Aronia Berries were ripe for the picking and everyone had a chance to get their hands stained purple.
While outside I got stung by one of these. The Yellow Jackets and hornets are in abundance this summer and they are aggressive. Our traps have been filling up quickly. Lots of chatter on our county sites about how to get rid of them!
Addy’s Soccer games are on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6:30. Our son is coaching which makes it even more fun to watch. We piled into our vehicles and headed to the soccer fields.
Turned out that there was not a referee available so our son Josh stepped in for that role. Triple the fun watching Dan Coach, Addy play and Josh referee!
Go Addy!
Great job, Bobcats, Coach and Referee!!
I had to add a few more photos that I missed the first time around!
Thank you to Auntie Lolo for all the great photos!!
And that was Thursday. Friday and Saturday were two more full days that I’ll post about later this week.
I’ll share one more photo of the Northern Light show we had on Monday night.
This past Monday we also started a new routine for getting in shape. We are going up and down the stairs at our high school in town. We were pleased with all the hand rails so that we could do the workout more safely.
We don’t have any stairs in our current home so this is a good alternative for us. It takes a lot less time for us to get our heart rate up doing this than it does walking on the trail.
Uncle Joshie and Auntie Lolo are visiting so our days and evenings and mealtimes have been full and good. I’m sure I’ll be sharing some of the fun soon.
Have a good Friday everyone!
On Friday afternoon there was an advertised Birthday Party for Smokey The Bear at the Colville Museum but Smokey never showed. It was still a fun experience to walk around the museum and the museum grounds.
On Saturday we took a early morning trip to Spokane to make purchases to re-stock the kitchen cupboards at church since our VBS week depleted all the stock. The sunflower fields were not in their glory but it was fun to whiz by the fields of yellow and green.
Sunday morning was a wonderful church service with our VBS kids starting us off with one of their VBS Songs, God made the Manatee. From beginning to end it was good to worship God together.
On Sunday evening we celebrated our Grands’ Granny’s birthday at our Colville kids and this was the sunset we enjoyed driving down their driveway for home.
It was a good full weekend. Looking forward to Mid-week when Uncle Joshie and Auntie Lolo are planning a drive over the mountains for a short visit to enjoy some summer activities with us.
Have a good week everyone.
The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b. 