Category Archives: Colville

Time Well Spent

Uncle Joshie and Auntie Lolo arrived late on Thursday night for a few days in our neck of the woods. When they arrived after being delayed by roadworks on Highway 395 between Chewelah and Arden we chatted for a while then hit the sack for a full day of fun on Friday.

Auntie Lolo took most of these photos, by the way.  Thank you, Laura!

The 8 of us gathered on Friday morning for breakfast at our country bungalow. Katie and Andrew were stuck on the westside and not with us all for this gathering. After breakfast on Friday, Josh and Dan headed out to golf, Dear worked on some much needed  maintenance on the lawnmower and the girls and JJ met up to walk on the Rotary trail.

It was sunny and hot and humid and we persevered.

After our walk and golfing and naps everyone gathered again at our country bungalow for dinner and fun until bedtime for our grands. For dinner we made Chili Verde which had some great spice depth with sides of rice, veggies, corn and flour tortillas.

The grands showed off their skills on the Big Wheels.

Bedtime came as usual and the grands and their parents headed home for the evening. A full good day for us all.

On Saturday duty called and Josh and Laura headed to our local kids mountain for the day while Dear and I worked on the lawn after a few days of delay because of rain.

I mowed the front and back lawns and Dear weed wacked.

The kids went to the Farmer’s Market, played pickle ball and worked on dinner for all of us.

After our delicious meal on our kids mountain we opted for a walk down the driveway.

 

A great spot for a selfie before we tried to beat the mosquito bites on the way back up the driveway!

On Sunday we all gathered at church and then enjoyed lunch out before Josh and Laura headed to the airport and home. One of the highlights of our church morning was that JJ was willing to go into his Sunday School class with no regrets or resistance so mommy could attend the service in peace. Addy has been willing and happy to attend Sunday School for a while now.

Hope you all had a good weekend. We are grateful for the good times we spent together this weekend.

A Spring Like Summer

So far this summer we have had a good amount of rain and it still feels like Spring. Not grumbling just documenting. If this bodes well for a short fire season we will take it!

The plants are enjoying the rain and flourishing.

Our oldest and his bride of 21 years are visiting us this weekend so we are busy with lots of conversation and activities. I’ll be scarce this weekend. Hope you will be enjoying yours.

I’ll leave you with these excerpts from a book I’ve been enjoying called Name above All Names by Alistair Begg and Sinclair B. Ferguson. I highly recommend the book.

“Back again to Sunday School in Scotland! Our teachers used to teach us some of the most amazing songs. They are etched into our memories–and some of them really are marvelous. Here is one that drives home the nitty-gritty, day to day, practical difference it makes to know Jesus is King. In it’s child-friendly, child-attractive fun way (and surely children had fun with Jesus?), it underscores the power of the gospel. It says: “Come on now, you don’t have to be bedeviled and overwhelmed by all these things that are coming at you.” Here are the words:

“Come leave your house on Grumble Street
And move to Sunshine Square
For that’s the place where Jesus lives,
And you’ll be happy there!

Well you say, “That isn’t exactly a brilliant lyric. What were they doing teaching mischievous little boys that kind of poetry?” 

Yes, but we got the message of these choruses. It wasn’t necessary to master a systematic theology textbook to see the point:

“Come on now; we say that Jesus Christ is King . Why then are our faces sad? Jesus Christ is King. Where then is our hope? Jesus Christ is King and Lord; where is our enthusiasm for the Lord Jesus? We do need to leave our house on Grumble Street and move to Sunshine Square. That’s the place where Jesus is. We’ll be happy there.”

Is there a Sunday School song from your memory that pops into your head now and again?

Out of the Blue

This Ground Hog showed up on our property this week. We have never seen one in our yard before. Our neighbor also said he has never seen ground hogs in our little stretch of homes.

After reading about the ‘colonies’ these critters are associated with we decided to send it on it’s way.

It was fun to watch for a day…

Robins have been quite active around here building nests. The Swallows are busy with their nests in the bird houses around our property. The birds are entertaining and we welcome them.

Welcome to July! We don’t have plans for the weekend but we will be attending a Monday 4th of July gathering with several folk from church. Do you have plans?

The Heavens Declare the Glory of God…

Jo is taking the week off from Wednesday Hodgepodge.

I was up early on Tuesday and stepping outside I enjoyed the beautiful skies while listening to all the songbirds greeting the morning. Couldn’t help myself from hoping I’d hear that trumpet sound!

Painting is in progress. This is the South side and most exposed and faded part of the house. We are changing the trim to white and simply framing the windows with white. The rest of the siding will be the Teton Blue by Behr paints. We won’t add a third color except for the doors which are already painted the Marine Dress Blue. Don’t look too closely at all our weeds.

June is speedily coming to an end.

All My Times Are in Thy Hands

~
Even though the day be laden,
And my path dreary,
And my strength small,
A song keeps singing in my heart:
For I know that I am Thine;
I am part of Thee;
Thou art kin to me,
And all my times, all my times are in Thy hands.
~
~Inscribed on an altar in the Hebrides
~
And here are some photos of the current state of our plants after all our Spring rain, then being basked by some summer sunshine. We had to water for the first time this year on Saturday.
Peonies have such a delightful but short season. I’m always in awe of their beauty.
~
These two are celebrating their 7th Anniversary. They spent Sunday without their little ones in tow and had a nice time in Spokane which included bowling. They met each other at the bowling alley in Colville and that’s where it all began. Happy Anniversary Dan and Jamie! We love the two of you together! God bless you with many many more anniversaries!
~
Hope you all have a beautiful week which brings us into July.

In the Good Ole Summertime Hodgepodge

It’s Wednesday so time to answer the Hodgepodge questions of the week. Thank you to Jo From This Side of the Pond for the questions and the link!

1. Something you learned from your father? 

That following Jesus is worth the cost. When my Father was called by God and he repented of his sins and started following Jesus and obeying what the Bible teaches he realized what was missing in his religious life. When he was saved he was immediately aware of the presence of the Holy Spirit within him. All his religious efforts never gave him this presence and peace within. When he made the decision to be baptized in obedience his parents would not speak to him, his friends didn’t want to associate with him. He was treated like pariah. We were ostracized from the church we grew up in. This was a blessing in disguise. We ended up in the same church as my maternal grandmother. Over time my parents re-established the relationships that were severed because of his decision without compromising their Faith in Jesus.

2. Do you like onions? Raw or cooked? How about onion rings? What’s something you love to eat that calls for onions? 
Yes, yes, and yes. I really enjoy onions and the flavor they add to many dishes. Give me a nice huge slice on my burger, please. I like caramelized onions on steak or a burger, also. Salsa and pica de gallo are a couple favorites that call for onions. I could go on and on. In my teen years I would order the Stinko-burger at Twoheys in South Pasadena.

3. It’s officially summer (in the Northern hemisphere)…your favorite and least favorite things about the season?

Favorite: A freed up schedule

Least Favorite: Heat above 82 degrees with any humidity added to it.

4. When you think about the summers of your childhood what are two or three things that come to mind? 

Getting sunburned at Newport Beach, California. Collecting soda bottles while there and turning them into the store to get the deposit on them so we could buy a candy or a popsicle. When the sunburns were really bad our mom would soak old rags with vinegar and lay the rags on our sunburned bodies to ease the pain/heat.

Camping in a tent at Big Bear, California with cousins.

5.  A hot mess, the heat of the moment, beat the heat, if you can’t stand the heat, catch heat, in a dead heat…choose a ‘hot ‘phrase and tell us how it applies to your life right now.

At this stage of life you’ll find me beating the heat in any way I can. I look for shade. Stay in the shade. I prefer to eat inside at restaurants not out in the sun. Walk early before it gets too hot. Work in the yard early in the day. You get the picture…

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Celebrating the fact that school’s out for the summer. They had a very successful first year of homeschooling!! Our daughter-in-law is an amazing mom and teacher to our grands. Happy summertime to you!

Reunited and Celebrating

Our dear grandchildren are back in our neck of the woods and we were able to enjoy a meal together at our home on Friday evening June 17th. After the meal JJ and Addy were keen on preparing me another meal in their play room. JJ prepared the crab for me while Addy put together a sandwich.

Later we headed outside for some time enjoying the latest skills these two have developed on their Big Wheels.

In the same week our kids on the Coast enjoyed a meal out together and sent us this picture. Love seeing them together.

On Father’s Day we received texts with photos and Happy Father’s Day greetings from all our kids and grands.

We enjoyed a Taco bar meal together in Colville with extended family. These two fathers were celebrated.

So happy these 4 are back home in our neck of the woods.

Happy First Day of Summer. We are supposed to enjoy some sunshine the rest of the is week instead of the cloudy rainy days we’ve had up to now! How goes it in your neck of the woods?

Hummingbirds

I’m traveling today so Truth for Today will resume next Thursday.

We hung a Hummingbird feeder up on our patio structure and it has been delightful to watch the hummingbirds come and go.

 

I’ll be scarce on the internets for the next several days. I’m hoping to document what I’ve been up to soon.

Since Thursday is when I post Truth for Today I will share this paragraph from Drawing Near, by John MacArthur.

Be Quick to Hear

…”You should be quick to hear the Word because it provides nourishment for your spiritual life and is your weapon against all spiritual adversaries. It is the means by which you are strengthened and equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17) It delivers you from trials and temptations and engages you in communion with the living God. The Word should be your most welcome friend…”

Spring Deer

 

 

The deer are coming around again to nibble and rest in the shade in our back yard. They are welcome as long as they stay away from my clematis.

This male was interested in the female and was chasing her so they didn’t stop to nibble on my clematis.

Here is some evidence of our Spring showers from this past weekend. While I’m typing the dark clouds have moved in again and we have thunder and lightning.

Raindrops Keep Falling…

…and our blooms are slower to open up this Spring. Compared to last year our Peonies, Clematis, Irises, and Columbine are all a bit behind in opening up in their glory.

We have 2 large bushes of this variety of Peony and 3 smaller ones. When they bloom I try to bring bouquets in and give away some, too. I was able to take a nice bouquet to a surprise birthday party we went to on Sunday afternoon during a dry spell with sun, some blue sky and lovely fluffy clouds. When we got home from the party the skies opened up with an amazing downpour with lightning and thunder and hail, oh my.

One of the many Iris bulbs opened up on Saturday. Several more to come.

Our weekend was filled with mostly rain with a few dry spells. During the dry spells I pulled as many weeds as my back and arms would permit. When the soil is wet with rain the weeds pull up easier. I figure 20 more hours of weeding and I’ll be ahead. I smile and sigh at the same time.

Even though we are getting a lot of rain and cooler temperatures this Spring we go with the flow and hope that this accumulation of moisture will help lower the risk of wildfires this summer.

How goes it in your corner of the world?