Category Archives: Colville

Raclette for a Worthy Cause

I managed to take a few photos of the Raclette Meal in progress. We served Steak, Shrimp, Asparagus, Red Bell Pepper strips, Mushrooms, Thinly sliced Onion, Pickles, Cheese, Boiled Potatoes, bread and butter. It was up to our guests what they would cook on the top of the grills and melt in the individual melting pans that fit under the grill. The usual item placed below the grills is the cheese or something else cooked with a little butter like mushrooms.

For dessert I served the Strawberry Ice Cream Cake that I posted the recipe for on Wednesday Hodgepodge.

The Raclette Meal was a hit and it was a first for all 6 guests. This was a meal that we offered up for an auction item at our church to raise money over and above our usual monthly support for our missionaries to the Ukraine. The couple that won the bid donated $450.00 for this meal for them and 4 of their guests. We enjoyed serving them. The Missionary Auction brought in $16,000 from items donated by our church members and then bid on by people in our church.

This week I’m very busy both helping out by watching the grands during the day and then in the evenings helping with our Vacation Bible School which runs from 6pm until 8:30. I won’t have much leisure time for visiting blogs. I’ll visit when I can.

Early Morning Visitors

This past week we’ve enjoyed seeing these visitors in the early morning hours. It’s always fun to see fawns. We’ve also had to dodge Turkeys crossing the roads with their poults (baby turkeys).

Because of the heat we’ve been doing our outdoor chores bright and early in the coolest part of the day. We have one more day creeping up to 100 or more degrees and then we’ll cool down to some 80’s and 90’s.

Welcome to August which already has many days filled in on our calendar with local events. What are you looking forward to in August?

Firewood 2022

We drove to a remote part of the Colville National Forest to find a spot to fell some trees for our kids’ wood supply.

To clarify and answer some questions: There is a usual $30 permit fee you need to obtain to cut down trees in the forest. The last 2 years the fee was waved. These are standing dead trees that you can cut. They require you to cut your lengths to 7-1/2 feet so that you aren’t processing lumber, as such, but using the wood for heating purposes.

It was a new adventure for four of us. Dear and Dan have done this a few times.

All the proper gear was loaded in the trucks. We were far enough away that the grands really didn’t need their ear protection.

Keeping a good distance away from the location that the trees would fall upon.

Timber!

Chaps and gloves and ear protection are all important along with common sense.

Bear spray, fire extinguishers and other safety equipment were loaded, if needed.

The first sections ready to load at about 7-1/2 feet. Smaller rounds will be cut at home.

Addy was not happy about all the Dear Flies, none of us were! They were annoying for sure.

A little time in the shade.

These two persevered for the 4 hours or so out in the wilderness with entertainment from their own imaginations. There were lots of snacks and water, too. On the way home after singing a few rounds of ‘I’ve been working on the Railroad’ they both fell asleep and had a nice little nap but once home they were raring to go!

JJ found his tractor and trailer and was ready to haul some wood if needed.

The two old folk stopped on the way home for a quick bite to eat and then went home for a cool shower and to put their feet up! We are thankful that we can be a help to our kids when needed.

Goodbye July Hodgepodge

Another Summer Wednesday Hodgepodge today with thanks to Jo From This Side of the Pond.

1. According to author Gary Chapman there are five love languages-words of affirmation, quality time, physical touch, acts of service, and receiving gifts. Which one is yours? 

If you mean which one do I receive as love, I’d have to say acts of service with true words of affirmation coming in close. On the other side, the giving not receiving, I like to give gifts.

2. What are five foods you eat every day? 

As it stands, I’m in a period of trying to drop some pounds so according to that regiment here are five foods I’m eating at present:

High Fiber Cereal from Trader Joe’s with 9 grams of fiber per serving, a good handful of blueberries, low fat string cheese, eggs and an assortment of veggies.

3. Five places you’d love to visit?

Prince Edward Island, Ireland, New England States, More National Parks, More of Great Britain

4. Something you’ve done recently that deserved a ‘high five‘?

I’ve lost a good solid 12 pounds.

5.  Give us five 5-letter words that describe your July. 

Water: with the summer heat I’ve been watering, a lot.

Shade: If I’m outside I try to find shade. We have also put up our shade cloth.

Walks: Early morning walks have started in July.

Grands: July has lots of opportunities for fun in the sun with our Grands!

Focus: Working on a more God-Centered focus. Something I read yesterday in a devotional by Alistair Begg: “Jesus made it clear that in order for us to embrace a God-centered focus, we must first understand who we are without Him. In fact, Jesus explained to His disciples that apart from Him they could do nothing; after all, “in him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:17) Our need for Jesus is not partial; it is total. None of us can even breathe without God’s enabling. How can we think of taking credit for any work that He’s done through us? We are absolutely impoverished without divine help.”

6. Insert your own random thought here.  

Speaking of our grands and July, on Monday we went into the Colville National Forest to a very remote area to help our kids get stocked up with fire wood for the winter. I’ll do a whole post on our time there. Here are the grands who persevered a whole 4 hours!

Our Country Bungalow ~ Before and After

I’ll start with some good old photos of our home past seasons…

Such a sweet memory of Addy bringing me a bouquet of flowers on my birthday. Old door color, new door color.

Before and after…

 

We put our summer shade cloth up on Thursday.

Front and Back in the new colors.

Dear also removed the outdoor light fixtures and painted them white. They were a gold finish that was not in great shape.

There is still a little touch-up on the white trim that needs to be done. Dear also had to take out the decking closest to the house to put in flashing so the rain water wouldn’t soak the siding and destroy it. That set him back a few days.

We are happy with the new look. The paint is Teton Blue by Behr.

The new view for all the south bound traffic that drives by with the clearest view of our home.

It took almost 6 gallons of paint. We have enough paint left over to redo the south side of the house in a few years. That’s the side that gets the most sun and other weather beating.

We have moved into the last week of July. Time is ticking away. Predictions this week are for temps to get upwards to 100 degrees and above. We’ll be working very early in the morning and staying inside in the heat of the day.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all have a good week.

Summer Boating

It was a perfect day for a family outing on the boat. The littles looked excited.

The 5 year old told me about going under bridges in the boat.

This was the 3 year olds first outing on the boat.

Before long they were pros and ready to drive.

The 3 year old told me about driving the boat and other things when they came for dinner.

More fun times ahead on the water for this little family.

Thank you to our daughter-in-law for the great photos!

Driving Like Nuts Hodgepodge

 

Time for Wednesday Hodgepodge where Jo From This Side of the Pond comes up with the questions and we accept the challenge to answer them.

1. Last time you drove more than 100 miles from your home? Where did you go? 

In May, we drove to Western Washington for a long weekend with our westside kids, 325 miles each way.

The photo at the top of my post is me on our lawnmower that I drive around our property every week from about May to October. I’ve logged 160 hours on it in the last 4 years.

2. Something that drives you batty? 

All the twisted reasoning given to justify evil.

3. Do you feel like you’re ‘on track‘? For what? 

We, the royal we, Dear and me, are on track with finishing the exterior painting on our country bungalow. Dear is doing the painting and I supply beverages when he needs them. Sometimes I hold the ladder. On Tuesday we made a trip to Spokane for the usual shopping and picking up one more gallon of paint. Soon I’ll be able to show the before and after shots on all sides of the house.

4. Your favorite car snack(s)? 

If I was going to snack in a car I would probably have nuts, or M&M’s. When we travel we don’t usually need a snack in the car. We just time our stops for a good meal when we drive a long way or all day. Bottled Water is something we like to have in the car all the time.

5. Something you’ve done recently ‘on the fly‘? 

We left our home at 5:45am on Sunday and walked the Rotary Trail (2.9 miles) and then came home for breakfast and showers with plenty of time to attend Sunday School and our Main Worship Service at Church.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I’m loving our July yard with all the green and other blooms that are thriving because of our early Summer rain this year.

Thank you for stopping by…

Daylilies

I did a lot of weeding on Monday and I was surprised at the many varieties of daylilies that are in our yard.

I don’t remember seeing all these varieties in years past.

This pretty butterfly sat long enough for me to capture a photo.

Here’s a closeup of the butterfly.

We have had a nice variety of butterflies in our yard but they flit about and I’m not close enough to get photos when they land somewhere. I might have to sit outside with my camera for a while to try to catch the other varieties.

My fingers and arms are complaining from all the pulling and tugging of the weeds in our beds. It looks better but the job is far from done.

Hope you all have a good day.

Early Morning Walk

On Sunday we left our country bungalow at 5:45am to drive to the Rotary Trail for an early morning walk. It takes us 10 minutes to get to the parking lot for the trail.

Our path was pleasant and the early morning coolness was good for a walk.

We were treated with an eagle sighting.

We are resolved to get many walking miles in to get conditioned for our trip in September.

It was wonderful to be serenaded by many birds.

This trail borders the golf course but no golfers were out yet. We only met 3 other humans walking this morning.

The Canadian Geese were honking as they got booted from one of the greens.

This walk, 2.9 miles, takes just under an hour to complete so we were home in time to breakfast, shower and head to Sunday School and Church. A wonderful morning!

On the schedule this week is completing the painting of the exterior of the house, have our kids over for a meal, prayer meeting, watering, harvesting our garlic, our weekly mowing/weeding and a trip to Spokane to restock some essentials. What are you up to?