Category Archives: Colville

Smoke and Puzzles

All these sets of photos show what our view could be and what we usually enjoy contrasted to what those similar views look like with our smoke filled skies.

As you can guess the air quality is not good for working hard or exercising so I’ve added putting together some of my puzzles to my daily ‘things to do’ list.

 

I finished this one which was very enjoyable to put together.

This next one is a lot tougher and I don’t gravitate to the dining room table as often as with the London puzzle.

This one is of Eilean Donan Castle in Scotland. Hopefully I can face the sky in this one soon.

What’s new in your corner?

Update: I just woke up to the glorious sound of rain! Thank you, Lord. It’s been raining steadily for a while and there are already puddles. Hoping the rain will make a huge dent in the fires in our region and that the rain continues north to British Columbia to help with their fires, too. 

Chipmunks

 

 

These photos of the entertaining pests were taken last month. They are cute and entertaining but they can cause a lot of problems, too.

We are still smoky here and surrounded by fires from Canada and in our state, too. We are sorry to hear of those who have lost their homes. We are praying for all who are fighting the fires and rescuing people. We have mostly stayed in during this past week because of the very unhealthy air quality. We are also keeping an eye on the tropical storm coming up from Mexico into California and neighboring states. If that doesn’t rattle you the 5.1 magnitude earthquake close to Ojai will. We are hoping there won’t be any tornadoes!

Keepers of the Kingdom ~ VBS

Our annual Vacation Bible School was in the evenings the week of August 7th-11th. All the kids were divided into age groups with lessons appropriate to their age group.

The whole church was decorated to look like a medieval castle.

The lessons were all on The Armor of God from Ephesians 6.

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.

Our daughter-in-law was a helper each night along with over 125 other volunteers and 218 children throughout the 5 evenings. I was the t-shirt sales lady.

Everyone was exhausted after the five night 6:00 – 8:30 fun and games centered around the Word of God. We attended the closing program on Friday night and volunteers stuck around to take down all the VBS decorations. Hats off to all the volunteers! It was an amazing time for our church family to love and serve our community.

Then on Saturday night the 12th of August we met downtown at the Spaghetti factory for a birthday party for our Grands’ Granny.

It was a milestone birthday and we all enjoyed celebrating Linda.

JJ and Addy didn’t last long on the way home from Spokane and had a nice sleep as they were both exhausted from a busy week!

This week has been slow and quiet and uneventful which is a blessing.

Happy Friday everyone. The last couple days we have been socked in with smoke here in our area from fires mostly in Canada. Ash is even settling here. The air quality is not healthy and we have been staying in. Our Grands soccer and other outdoor activities were cancelled this week. We are hoping for improvement soon. Hope all is well in your neck of the woods.

Small Town Hodgepodge

Another Wednesday has rolled around so it’s time for Jo’s Hodgepodge questions!
~
1. What motivates you to work hard?
The hard part for me is not working hard but getting motivated to get started. Once I’m committed to a task, I work hard.

2. It’s been said “Ignorance is bliss”…is it? 

In the short term maybe, but in the long term it is more devastating to find out too late than knowing the hard truth from the beginning.

3.Would you rather be stuck on a broken elevator or a broken ski lift? Explain.

Neither really, but since you are making me choose, I’ll say ski lift because you can see around you and what is going on.

Have you ever actually been stuck on either? 

Yes, Greg and I were stuck on a ski-lift in Mammoth once. It was cold and scary. It didn’t last long enough for us to get totally desperate, though. The section we were stuck in was at a steep part of the mountain so no fluffy landing if we fell. 🙂

Of the common fears listed here what’s your #1-

heights-enclosed spaces-snakes-public speaking-the dark-flying

It’s a toss up between snakes and public speaking.

4. What’s something you like about the town or city where you live? 

It’s a small town with four distinct seasons and only two stop lights in the whole town. Traffic is pretty much non-existent unless there is an accident of some kind or road work.

The best thing about Colville is that we have family here. Our grandchildren live here and we get to see them on a regular basis and enjoy watching them grow. We know we can depend on our Son and Daughter-in-love no matter what. We have a strong Bible centered church which affords us another ‘family’ to love and depend on.

Here are more facts about our little town…

Colville is a mountain town in America’s forested northwest, a clean looking town that serves recreational, timber, and farm interests.

Elevation: 1,635 feet; population 5,084

Colville (pronounced “Call-ville”) is the county seat of Stevens County and lies in the Colville River Valley about one-half mile east of the Colville River and 10 miles east of the Kettle River and Columbia River.

Colville is located at the junction of U.S. Highway 395 (north-south) which runs completely from Mexico to Canada through the center of Colville, forming the town’s main street, and State Highway 20 (east-west), which runs from the Idaho-Washington border to the Pacific coast and Washington’s San Juan Islands.

5. Life is too short to_____________________________. 

withhold dessert, wear tight shoes, isolate at home, hold grudges. I’ll think of many more and enjoy your answers, too.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

We have so many small town pleasures to enjoy with our grands in Colville. The collage below is from the parade on Main street for rodeo weekend a year ago. We also have the best corn maze to enjoy in October. It’s always a thrill for this Baba to be shopping in a local store and hear my grands call out ‘BABA!” when they spot me.

Back to the present: We are in the middle of a 4 day heat advisory here with a cool down happening come Friday. Pretty much we are staying indoors and enjoying our air conditioning. I’ve been working on a jigsaw puzzle while listening to some podcasts.

Hope all is well in your town or city!

Summertime

Summer has been full of sunshine and some usual events and unusual events, too.

Fishing on the shore and throwing rocks is always fun.

Soccer camp is over but soccer teams have now formed and continue through August.

Our son Josh signed up for his first ever triathlon and his goal was to ‘not drown and to finish’. He achieved both and finished well. Laura was there to see it in person and document this epic achievement.

He was being cheered on from near and far!

We were all so impressed and happy that he could accomplish this goal. I was particularly happy he didn’t drown!

After all that excitement we were ready for a week of Vacation Bible School and that will be a separate post.

We are already at the middle of August and so many have started back to school already. It’s always hard for me to get my mind wrapped around that since I’m such a traditional school year kind of gal. Start up after Labor Day and end by or shortly after Father’s day! Happy days of summer to all of you.

 

Start the Day Just Right Hodgepodge

Swim lessons this week. Mom said, “JJ, look at me.” and JJ said, “I am”.

If it’s Wednesday it must be Hodgepodge. Thank you Joyce!

1. August 8th is National Cat Day. Do you own a cat? Are you a ‘cat person’? Your favorite ‘famous’ cat?

Never owned a cat and although I’m intrigued with cats and their antics I’m not a ‘cat person’. Our daughter and her hubby just got their second cat. The photo is of Willow and Ash. Willow is taking her time in accepting the ‘new cat’ into her territory. She does not look pleased that Ash is up on her perch!

I really don’t have a favorite famous cat. Garfield and the Cheshire Cat come to mind but they aren’t favorites. Katie reminded me of Crookshanks, Hermione’s cat in the Harry Potter series. I was just reminded of Felix the Cat, too.

2. Cat nap-copycat-scaredy cat-curiosity killed the cat-cat got your tongue-like herding cats…which cat phrase applies to your life in some way currently? Explain.

Herding Cats! I’m herding myself these days with a different schedule this week because of Vacation Bible School at our church. Our VBS is in the evenings. This throws my usual schedule out the window. The older I get the harder it is to change courses. 🙂

3. What’s your favorite or most- often-made one pot meal?

Chili of any kind using ground beef, turkey or chicken. So easy peasy.

 

Ground Chicken Chili

4. What do you wish you’d placed in a time capsule fifteen years ago?

My first little flip-phone.

5. Your favorite hour of the day? Tell us why.

Early morning with my Bible and a little Spurgeon or Alistair Begg, or John MacArthur, or John Piper or Martin Lloyd-Jones. God wrote the Bible and these men who followed (in Heaven now) and are following Him closely (on earth) have great insight to the world we are living in. God’s Word and my coffee early in the morning…divine. I’m amazed that Spurgeon writing over a hundred years ago is so relevant for today. His Biblical perspective is truth for today.  It’s because God’s Word stands forever as truth and is relevant.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Speaking of Vacation Bible School. Our theme this year is Keepers of the Kingdom. Our church is all decked out like a medieval castle and The Armor of God is the theme, standing strong in today’s battle for truth.

Walks North and South

Sunday the 16th of July we headed out our door and walked north on our road until we reached this private drive that leads to many houses (see the mailboxes) and walked down across the stream and back to the main road again. On Sundays our road has a lot less traffic and very few if any log trucks or large chip trucks.

 

A week later on a Saturday we decided to try walking south out our door and onto a less traveled street for our walk. We’ll be doing this walk on the weekends from now on since the traffic is very quiet there on the weekends.

We try to get out the door at 5:30am and that insures even less traffic. Things start picking up at 6:30am.

Caravan Guests

Thursday last, one of the Mennonite Girls Can Cook and her hubby arrived for an overnight stay on our property. Judy and her hubby were at the beginning of a road trip from B.C. to Manitoba via a highway in the U.S.A. We had dinner together and enjoyed dessert, too.

Blintzes with huckleberries ( a new taste treat for Judy and Elmer) and strawberries and raspberry syrup.

After dinner we braved the heat and mosquitoes for some conversation on the deck.

Friday morning we had some coffee together before it was time for them to hit the road to their next overnight destination in Idaho.

Till next time happy trails!

During this same time our kids were all together on the other side of the mountains enjoying some special time with each other.

Summer at it’s best.

 

I See You!

Hope y’all are doing okay with the heatwave hitting just about everybody. We are so thankful for our air conditioned bungalow. We had guests arrive yesterday in their little RV for an overnight before they head further East. I’m typing this before they get here and I hope we have the clarity of mind to get a photo.

Happy Friday to you all…

Guard Your Mind Hodgepodge

If it’s Wednesday it’s time for Wednesday Hodgepodge. Thanks to Joyce From This Side of the Pond for the questions.

1. What’s something bizarre you’ve seen or heard recently? 

Oh boy! I’m going to hubby for this question. He says, “that people can convince themselves to believe what is not true, and claim it and argue it and become immovable when confronted with the actual truth.”

My thoughts and a Bible verse;

Satan is the father of lies and is an influencer in our world.

John 8:44  “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

2. July 18th is National Sour Candy Day. Who knew? Do you like sour candies or other foods with ‘sour’ flavors?

I can enjoy some of these sour treats occasionally.

Kimchi, rhubarb, gooseberries, tamarind, dill pickles, sour cherries, sauerkraut, cranberries, and  grapefruit…of the sour foods listed which is your favorite? 

Kosher dill pickles!

3. Share a favorite memory of an aunt or uncle. 

This is a tough one for me. I really didn’t have endearing relationships with any of my aunts or uncles on either side of the family growing up. I never had a meaningful conversation with any of my aunts and uncles. There was a language barrier that didn’t help the situation. One nice memory I have is of my Uncle Alex making pancakes when I stayed overnight with my cousins and I enjoyed them. I grew up in a culture and generation where we were ‘seen and not heard’. The kids (cousins) played outside while the adults had conversation inside.

4. How would you describe your ability to manage stress? 

I don’t have the ability on my own to manage stress. I have to go to the Bible and remember that Almighty God is in control and I can trust Him with my life and the lives of my loved ones. Prayer, music, and encouraging conversation and remembering the promises of God help me. Not listening to a lot of news helps, too.

Things in this world are stressful. Studying the Truth is a lifeline for me.

I’m studying Ephesians, a book of the Bible during the summer months. One of the resources I’m using is a commentary of Ephesians by John MacArthur. This is a quote from the commentary I made note of;

“Macbeth pessimistically declared that history is “a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing” (Shakespeare, Macbeth, 3.3.19)

“Apart from the wisdom and insight God provides His children, such a hopeless conclusion is inescapable. But history belongs to God, not to the puny plans of man or the perverse power of Satan. History is written and directed by the Creator, who will see it through to the fulfillment of His own ultimate purpose—the summing up of all things in Christ. He designed His great plan in the ages past; He now sovereignly works it out according to His divine will; and in the fulness of the times He will complete and perfect it in His Son, in whom it will forever operate in righteous harmony and glorious newness along with all things in the heavens and things upon the earth.”

5. What do you think about when you let your mind wander? 

Usually my mind goes to the next thing coming up because I spend so much time in planning that when my mind wanders it goes over some of the things and tweaks some of those plans…weird. If I have my good music and hymns on during the day in the background while I’m doing other things, my mind will wander to some of the great lyrics I’ve heard.

6. Insert your own random thought here.  

We are continuing to walk a few days of the week and on Sunday we finally tried walking out from our own front door down the road and back again. We generally avoid walking on our road because it is a very busy road with several large trucks hauling logs, etc., most days. On Sundays the larger trucks aren’t on the road so we felt safe enough to try it. We made it safely thirty minutes out and thirty minutes back very early in the morning before we got ready for our church services.