We’ve had a busy few days with company. We enjoyed a meal together on Memorial Day. The rest of the week I will be involved with a group garage sale. I didn’t have time to complete the answers to the Hodgepodge questions this week. My usual Thursday, Truth for Today, will not be happening this week. Hope you all have a good end to May and beginning of June. It was fun setting a Memorial day table. I’ll be back next week!
On Friday May 26th we made a dump run and then enjoyed some breakfast out.
The views above are from the roads we take to the dump.
After dropping the truck off and switching to our car we enjoyed another drive in the opposite direction. It was fun to spot these ducklings with their parents on the road to Rocky Lake.
Home again enjoying the lush green of Spring.
Happy Tuesday everyone! We are busy with company today. We might even be chopping down our huge dead tree. Have a good week.
I was reminded of this brunch from 2013 that would be easy to recreate at our Country Bungalow soon.
A Memorial Day Weekend Brunch in 2013 at our home in Kenmore.
The recipe will be posted tomorrow here.
I’m behind again on the internet. After weedwacking (overdid it) and mowing and cleaning the mower my arms and lower back were toast. Dear finished up a fence section while I was doing my chores. We went to a local joint for our meal and came home with no ambition to exercise our bodies further. We sat in front of British Murder mysteries until bed time. Now it’s Friday and we are making a trip to the dump. That’s our exciting couple of days in the country.
What’s up in your corner?
We are in the greening time of the year which also means it is mowing season.
Our red peonies are bursting forth and we’ll have many bouquets to enjoy.
I was sad to see one of our 90 foot trees is dying. You can see the one that looks brown. That tree will be coming down soon.
The buds on our White Peony. I really need to divide this plant up.
Our deep red peonies. We have 5 bushes of these.
Irises grow well here and grow wild and multiply!
We are ready for Memorial Day, Flag Day, The Fourth of July and more!
On Sunday we had some severe thunderstorms with gusts of wind, downpours of rain and hail, too. The noise of thunder and the flashes of lightning kept me awake from 2am on. We had some minor damage but nothing serious. We have never had storms this intense. Exciting to watch. They predict more excitement into Monday. The bonus is that I do not have to water for a few days. I had to mow twice last week things are growing so quickly. All of these photos were taken last Thursday and Saturday.
Happy Victoria Day to our neighbors North of us, O Canada!
The hawk was too high in the sky for me to get better photos. I zoomed as close as I could.
The male turkeys have been strutting about these Spring days.
Besides hawks and turkeys we have visits from quail and robins and swallows. Hummingbirds are returning, too. Everything has grown quickly and I’ll need to get out to take some photos of the greening of the yard and the peonies about to open. With the heat we’ve been having I’ll need to water instead of counting on the Spring rains to do that for me. We are getting some of the haze from the fires in Alberta. Fires this early does not bode well for our fire season. A peculiar thing that we’ve noticed this year, too, is an abundance of moths flitting about.
Hope all is well in your corner of the world.
We’ve been enjoying some summer weather here the last few days. Things are growing fast.
It was fun to spot our state bird in the bushes of one of our planters and it stayed long enough for me to zoom in for some photos.
The American Goldfinch was designated as the Washington State Bird in 1951. This beautiful golden bird is found throughout our state and is commonly seen in flocks in fields, bushes and trees.
The state bird proved a point of contentious debate in the state of Washington. After more than two decades of voting and arguing, the state chose the American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis) officially in 1951.
We had a good weekend with lots of outdoor work that takes it’s toll on my wrists and back but still gives a measure of satisfaction to get the work done.
We had a nice Mother’s day starting off at church and having dinner at our Colville Kids’ home. Thanks for stopping by.
Addy played Jesus Loves Me for her recital piece.
Auntie Lolo caught this shot of me and my buddy listening to the piano pieces.
It was wonderful that Auntie Lolo was able to be here for the recital.
Granny Great was back home from Arizona and able to enjoy the recital, too.
Happy Friday everyone. It’s been a busy week in the outdoors, mowing and weeding and pruning till it was hard for each of us to stand up straight. Things are looking better but there are miles to go before we can rest.
We are moving into Mother’s Day weekend here in the U.S.A. and Canada. We celebrated last weekend with our kids on the West side and this Sunday we will celebrate with our Colville kids.
Happy Mother’s Day to all the mom’s that visit here.
…Awana, Awards, Adorable, Addy, Auntie.
This past week we had Awana Awards Ceremony celebrating the end of the Awana year and Addy is modeling Auntie Katie’s dress from the late 1980’s! Our Cubby and Spark got their awards. I could only get good photos of JJ during the awards.
We are enjoying time with our kids on the Westside of the mountains. Friday we enjoyed a good Mexican meal together. Tonight we are having an early Mother’s Day dinner. On Sunday morning after church we’ll head back to Colville.
Hope you all are having a good first weekend in May.
These were our rhoddy bushes at our last home in Kenmore, Washington.
Jo From This Side of the Pond has a new bouquet of questions for us to answer this first Hodgepodge of May. Click over to join in the fun. Thank you Jo!
1. What’s something you ‘may’ do this month?
Gut our master shower and start work on the remodeling of it. That won’t be me alone but the royal we who do this. Mostly he’ll do it and I’ll be his gofer.
2. “All things seem possible in May”~Edwin Way Teale. Do you agree? Elaborate. If not May, then in which month if any would you say all things seem possible?
I’m more of a get-er-done in October kind of person. For me the merry month of May yields more things to leisurely enjoy.
3. April showers bring May flowers…is this true where you live?
Absolutely true here. We are still in daffodil and tulip mode and soon many different plants will flower.
What’s your favorite color of the rainbow?
I will go with Violet.
Your favorite May bloom?
Rhododendron
Do you enjoy visiting gardens?
Yes! I’ve been fortunate to visit several beautiful gardens like Butchart Gardens on Vancouver Island, The gardens at Biltmore in Asheville, The Japanese Gardens in Seattle, Roozengaarde Tulip Garden in Mt. Vernon Washington State, Descanso Gardens in Flintridge, California, Airlie Gardens in Wilmington N.C. , Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden, Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh, Hidcote Gardens (Cotswolds), Kiftsgate Court Gardens (Cotswolds) to name a few…
What’s a ‘famous’ garden you’d like to visit?
Beatrix Potter’s Garden at Hilltop
4. Are you a fan of the Star Wars series of films? If so how many have you seen? (I think there are 12)
I enjoyed watching the first series in the theater, the first 4. We went to church with George Lucas’s sister when we lived in Huntington Beach. Didn’t really keep up with the last 7 or 8 of them.
Are you a fan of the sci-fi genre in general, in either books or movies? What’s your favorite sci-fi book or movie?
More a fan of Fantasy. Hubby really enjoys Sci-fi. His favorite author is Isaac Asimov and the favorite series is The Foundation Trilogy.
5. Cinco de Mayo lands on Friday of this week…do you enjoy Mexican food? How often?
We grew up in what I call ‘Northern Mexico’ aka Southern California so we learned to enjoy Mexican food early. I can eat Mexican food several times a week but on average I’d say twice a week.
Do you eat out or make your own?
Both. This week we’ll be eating Mexican food out on Thursday and on Cinco de Mayo!
Your favorite thing to order in a Mexican restaurant?
Depending on the restaurant I enjoy Chile Colorado in a burrito or a chalupa. I also enjoy Enchiladas Suissa.
Have you ever been to Mexico?
Yes and not to a resort. We went to Tecate to pick up floor tiles for our cousin’s house. Ticate is well East of Tijuana. We have tales to tell about that trip. After we got the tiles in the van the trip back to the Border near Tijuana was dicey. The heavy load necessitated more air in the tires and we called out to the Lord to find somewhere for that air! We made it back on the U.S. side and parked the van there. Then we crossed the Border again taking a taxi to Tijuana for some shopping. After we were done shopping we thought we could walk back to the Border, because we were so cheap. A Tijuana Police car pulled up and told us it was too far to walk to the ‘Border’ and we were escorted back to the U.S. Border by two Tijuana policemen in their police car… My cousin sat between the two policemen in the front seat and Me, Jeanie and Greg were in the back seat. We were a little nervous until we saw the Border crossing. Come over for dinner sometime and we’ll tell you the rest of the story…
6. Insert your own random thought here.
Speaking of gardens…
The gardens at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville N.C. in May of 2014 with our daughter Katie.
Butchart Gardens with our daughter, Katie.
Japanese Gardens in Seattle.
Descanso Gardens in 1988 and 2010, Katie and her cousins.
Roozengaarde in Mount Vernon, Washington State.
Hidcote Gardens in the Cotswolds 2014.
So thankful for all the beauty that God created for us to enjoy.
Thanks for stopping by and I hope to visit Hodgepodgers soon.
Looking forward to our May flowers! Our last couple days of April brought temperatures into the 80’s!
Spring has brought some common visitors back to our yard.
These stay right where they are all year round in all kinds of weather.
Our daffodils came up and they are in their full glory.
Spring Rhubarb.
Soon we’ll be enjoying the Peonies.
For close to 5 years we have been half-satisfied with our internet service. Where we live Satellite service has been our best option. Our plan was expensive and doesn’t deliver for the cost in our opinion. Lately we have another choice for Satellite and we took the plunge and ordered Starlink. Dear is on the roof getting the space ready for the Satellite dish.
That dish moves and finds the optimum position in relation to the Satellites. Very cool. It lets us know if there are obstructions. It also will melt snow that might accumulate on it. Our other service had a data limit and this service does not. We are happy campers. It was expensive for the initial cost of equipment, etc., but the monthly fee is $50 dollars less than our previous provider. We are pleased. When we called to cancel our previous service they offered us more data and a $50 discount on our plan. Too little, too late.
Hope you can enjoy lots of pretty blooms in May and joy in your hearts!
The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b. 