And…three cheers for our kids who share their photos with us! From Colville, Bothell and Lynnwood everyone had their version of celebrating Independence Day. God bless America.
My heart is heavy because of the tragedy from the Guadalupe River surge in Texas. I can’t imagine the pain and grief so many are going through. I’m sure many of you are feeling the same way. Prayers continue…
Sizzling into Hodgepodge Wednesday this week. Thank you, Joyce!
Today is forecast to be hot, hot, hot. If I do anything outside it will be in the early hours. But now on to the questions.
1. What does freedom mean to you?
Freedom means I can choose. I can choose what I believe, where I live, where I get an education, where I go to church, what I wear, what I eat, where I work, what I do for fun, where I travel, and all of that without fear of being thrown into prison because of those choices.
I can also choose to give up a freedom for a greater cause like parenting, being a wife, being a friend, being a citizen, being a member of the Body of Christ. As a mother I chose to give up many freedoms so that I could help my children. As a wife I can give up some of my freedom to be a better helpmate. In serving others sometimes you give up personal freedoms, too.
There are national freedoms and personal freedoms.
I don’t want to abuse my relationships by demanding my freedoms to the extreme.
The more I think on this the more there is to say about freedom. There are times that God will take my freedoms away to teach me something I need to learn. Maybe through an illness or a loss. I’ll save those thoughts for another time.
2. How will you celebrate Independence Day this year? If you live outside the USA answer this question as it relates to your own country’s patriotic holiday, wherever that may land on the calendar.
We will go to an annual party in Colville with many of our church family. We bring our own meat to cook and a side or dessert to share. There are several grills for cooking the meat. There are games to play including an annual corn hole tournament. Fireworks are set off later in the evening.
3. This or that…red, white, or blue? Blue
Stars or stripes? Stars
Watermelon, home made ice cream, or blueberry pie? Watermelon
How do you feel about fireworks? I enjoy watching them. I’m always reminded of our dear Pop who never bought fireworks that I’m aware of. If we asked, he would say, “Here’s a dollar, just burn it.” His sentiment was that spending money on fireworks was just burning up money that was better spent for something necessary. 🙂
That said, here in Colville we don’t set off fireworks just anywhere because we are in a high fire danger season. Many families shoot off fireworks on New Year’s Eve instead when there is snow on the ground. People in town can set them off without the greater danger of starting a wild fire.
4. What have you purchased recently that made you excited?
I talked about my new riding lawnmower last week. This week I was excited to have the window washers come. Clean windows are exciting and when someone else cleans them that is even more exciting!
5. I’m thankful to live in America (or fill in whatever country you call home) because____________.
…it’s the land of the free and home of the brave.
I’m so thankful God led my parents to make the choice to immigrate legally to the United States from Persia. They made the hard journey to settle in the Los Angeles area with our oldest sister Kathy and while our mom was pregnant with our sister, Vera. God led them on that journey and was with them all their 90 and 95 years. They enjoyed their freedom in the U.S. and their abundant life in Jesus Christ. That freedom and abundance is available to all of their children, children’s spouses, grandchildren and great grandchildren.
6. Insert your own random thought here.
I love decorating and celebrating the 4th of July, Independence Day in the U.S.A.
Bell Flowers
Purple Campanula
July is coming in hot! Today is predicted to be the hottest day this week, 97F. How are things in your corner of the world?
Happy Canada Day to our neighbors in the North!
Reminders from our Sunday sermon: Fight the good fight, the good spiritual fight. Don’t fight the wrong fight. Salvation is by grace alone, by faith alone, through Christ alone. Stay faithful to the Gospel. Rest on the Gospel not your good works. We are not saved by our good behavior or good works. Bad doctrine and bad behavior go together. Don’t violate your conscience. Your faith and your conscience are not separable.
I was saved when God called me and I asked forgiveness for my sins and put my faith on the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Son of God, who died on the cross for my sins, rose from the dead, and is my Lord and Savior. He paid the penalty I could not pay and I am eternally grateful.
Last week I showed a photo of the leaning barn taken from our kids’ driveway. The photo above is another shot I took last Friday. The next photo was from 7 years ago.
From July, 2018.
I’m adding more photos with closeups and different sides of the barn that I took last Friday.
We’ve enjoyed seeing this barn through the years and are sad that it won’t be in the landscape for many years to come unless it just decides to stay leaning and not collapsing. Judging from the photos it doesn’t seem likely that it will last for too much longer.
How will you spend the last day of June?
These two are celebrating their 10th Anniversary today. They had an overnight away last night and today in Idaho.
From their wedding, ten years ago…
Granny, Baba and Gramps are in charge of Addy and JJ while their parents are away.
On Thursday there was time on our acreage to see what they could discover. Gramps taught them how to whistle using a blade of grass. There was some sprinkler fun and hammering stakes in the ground. Lunch was an interesting combination of eggs, turkey sandwiches, a pancake, applesauce, sour cream and real maple syrup.
On Wednesday when I asked what treats Baba should have for their visit, JJ suggested popsicles. He said Ice cream can be eaten inside but popsicles are for outside.
Granny was in charge of Taekwondo and Baba was in charge of Irish Dance and then we all met up at one of the Mexican restaurants for dinner before Granny took Addy and JJ to their house for the night. There will be a slumber party in Addy’s room. As JJ put it at dinner, Granny is younger looking than me and she is in fact 13 years younger than me so the overnight gig was hers to enjoy!
I’m heading to the mountain this morning with a Sugar free Mocha with double shots to reward that young granny for taking the night shift!
A view from the mountain driveway. That barn is leaning more and more. We are all wondering when it will collapse.
Happy Friday everyone.
We’ve had a mix of blue skies and rain showers for the beginning of summer. It has been a banner year for our clematis varieties.
The yellow day lilies are always the first of the lilies to bloom.
Addy and JJ had fun at Golf Camp. We visited the camp on Wednesday held at the Chewelah Golf and Country Club.
On Thursday they were able to play nine holes of golf.
On the other side of the mountains, the Seattle Sounders had tournament games with international teams and Josh and Laura were able to attend.
Our kids had uninvited visitors on their mountain. The farmer/rancher was called to lead this girl back home…but she must have told her friends that the grass was greener here because later in the day this crew arrived. There are fencing repairs needed by the owner of these cows.
We finally decided to give this Mexican restaurant a try since the ownership and management changed. We gave it a thumbs up. For our small town with limited restaurants it’s interesting that we have three Mexican Restaurants.
We are still enjoying the many shades of green with pops of color on our property.
We had some rain on Saturday and on Sunday in the late afternoon we had thunderstorms and a real good soak.
This Monday morning would be a great time to do some weeding since the soil is very wet and softer than usual.
Quote of the week:
I’m adding some blooms to sweeten things up.
Welcome back to another Wednesday Hodgepodge hosted by Jo From This Side of the Pond.
1. June 10th is National Herbs and Spices Day. Besides salt and pepper what herb or spice container do you reach for most often?
We like Lawry’s Seasoned salt.
Is there a spice you truly dislike? No
What’s a recent dish you made that called for more than salt and pepper?
Chili calls for chili powder and cumin and we use those spices often.
2. It’s been said ‘variety is the spice of life’…in what way is this true for you? Elaborate.
I enjoy variety but there is a lot to say for the good ole familiar and a regular schedule, too.
3. What’s something in your life that adds ‘spice’ (excitement, intensity) even if also comes with challenge or unpredictability?
Traveling adds lots of spice.
Grandchildren have added so much spice to our lives. It’s a joy to be able to see them at each new stage of life. It’s a challenge to keep up the older we get.
Some of the spice we enjoy right now is watching Addy with her Irish dance troupe.
And we love to see JJ with his new skills at Taekwondo.
4. If you could instantly master one skill or hobby, what would it be and why?
It would be amazing to be able to master playing piano with the ability to read music instantly.
5. We’re halfway through the year…what’s one book, movie, or activity you’ve loved this year that you’d recommend to others?
We’ve enjoyed some series on Britbox and Acorn like Ludwig, Death Valley, Harry Wild, Mr. & Mrs. Murder, The Brokenwood Mysteries and our fallback, Midsomer Murders.
6. Insert your own random thought here.
Right now on our property the white and pink peonies are blooming and I’m having a hard time keeping up with them. It’s a wonderful problem to have.
I love the white but the pink are my favorite.
Hope to get around soon to see your spicy posts!
These sunny Spring days we’ve been getting some outdoor work done. Weeds are a never ending job. Watering has been simplified with oscillating sprinklers. Watering will also be easier with the projects below completed.
Our two water hydrants have been out of commission for some time. After a lot of researching on replacing them and what replacement parts would work the best for us, it was time to dig the holes. Once the connection under the frostline was uncovered and examined, more parts were bought. Hats off to Greg for researching and completing these projects and thanks to Dan for helping him on the first hole and for the use of his pick-up for the stones needed for the projects.
Now we have easy water access with both working hydrants.
After the second hydrant was secured in place on Saturday, we had a good diversion driving north about 8 miles to the Kettle Falls Town and Country Days. Addy’s dance troupe were to perform on stage at 1:15. We were fortunate to score some front row seats on bleachers to watch the performance.
It is such a treat to be able to see Addy dance along with her fellow dancers! On Saturday we got into the 90’s so the dancers had to make sure they stayed hydrated.
To finish off the busy Saturday of work, digging, installing, dancing, and staying hydrated in ninety degree weather, our son’s family picked up some sheep and soon there will be some lamb grilling on their mountain. I’m sure they’ll share some packages of lamb with us, too. They aren’t naming them and the time will be short before it’s judgement day so they won’t be missed as pets.
In other country news from the state of Wyoming…
…we enjoyed seeing our oldest taking advantage of his beautiful surroundings while on a business trip to Jackson Hole. Those Tetons make an awesome backdrop!
Last week after I mowed our acreage, our mower gave up the ghost. Our new riding lawnmower is arriving today. Hopefully it will come first thing so I can mow.
When I was weeding last week I found a tick on the back base of my hairline. I was able to get it off and kill it before it bit me or dug into my body. Ugh! That was the very first one I’ve experienced since moving here in 2018!
We still have to get our mosquito abatement system going. Yikes, they are bad this year! We have our other flying pest traps that need to be set out, too. What sort of flying pests do you have to fight off?
Looking back to Mother’s Day weekend and Addy’s dance recital with the Great Potato play. She had the part of one of the leprechauns. None of us got good photos of her in costume but her mama saved the day after the fact. The costume was pulled out of storage at the dance studio and Addy played the part in the still photos!
Thank you, Jamie and Addy, for filling in the gaps.
Towards the end of the month Addy and JJ attended a Shakespeare in the park event.
Throughout the month of May several deer came through our acreage looking for tasty nibbles of this and that. When they start nibbling on the clematis, I shoo them away.
June has started sunny and warm on the Westside of our state and on our side of the state, too. Josh and Laura, loyal fans at the Sunday afternoon Sounders Soccer game.
Our Colville ‘kids’ working hard in the garden and in the background you’ll see the lawn being mowed all on the first day of June 2025.
I tried to catch the aurora borealis on Sunday night but it wasn’t the right time. If I would have stayed up till 2am on Monday I might have seen some better color but I was fast asleep while the lights danced in the sky.
…and a look back at May blooms.
The Red Peonies are at full bloom and we are still waiting on the white and pink to open up.
My camera does not get the true color of this clematis.
A bumble bee was enjoying this columbine.
We are enjoying the variety of color on our property right now.
Our weekend was a bit of this and that, weeding, watering, and organizing some shelves in the Garage. On Saturday we had our cars washed by the teens from church who are raising money for camp. After church on Sunday we made an impromptu trip to Spokane for a meal and some shopping.
We’re welcoming June here with sunshine and warm temperatures.
The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b. 