Category Archives: Fall

Our World Tuesday

Last Thursday October 5th we picked up our daughter and drove a couple blocks to Magnuson Park for a walk. Dear and Katie always have lots of information to exchange with each other.

Magnuson Park is a 350 acres park on Sand Point at Pontiac Bay, Lake Washington, in the Sand Point neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. The park is the second largest in Seattle, after 534 acres Discovery Park in Magnolia.

Established in 1900 (military use 1922-1975).

I have three previous posts about this park here and here and here.

 

There were a great variety of reflections to take photos of on this fall day.

On our way back to the car we walked out on the dock and I took this photo of our shadows on the lake surface.

Sharing a little bit of Seattle with Our World Tuesday. Click away and see other parts of our world.

Speaking of our world we got word that family and friends had to be evacuated in Anaheim Hills, Orange Park Acres, North Tustin and East Orange areas of Southern California today due to fires. Praying for containment and for all who are fighting the blazes. Also for those who had to leave their homes. There are fires in the Northern part of California in Santa Rosa and other parts of the wine country. Sure hope there’s containment soon.

The Barn Collective

On our way home from a short road trip up to La Conner for lunch we took some back roads to the interstate. This is one of the barns we saw in Skagit County. And then we saw some fall friends just hanging out.

The fall colors are showing nicely here and there.

Ugh…my lower back has decided to go on strike and keep me from too much activity. Didn’t get to church this morning. Hoping to get some good relief soon. Hope y’all are doing well.

Linking up to the Barn Collective with Tom The Backroads Traveller. Thanks Tom!

Hello October

Update: So so sad and sorry to wake up to the horrible news about the shooting in Las Vegas last night. May God comfort those who lost loved ones and may He heal those who are injured. May he also heal those who have been traumatized even though they survived the carnage.

The trees and plants at this old house are beginning to show their autumn colors.

The blueberry bush…

The Forsythia

I saved the best for last. Our little Addy is enjoying new things this fall. She’s enjoying some solids like rice cereal, applesauce and just this past week she tried zucchini and gave it a thumbs up. She did not like banana. It made her gag. She is 6-1/2 months old and getting some good use out of her many bibs. She soon will be too big for her current car seat.

We had a quiet weekend. Our new senior pastor preached his first sermon this morning. We are looking forward to this new chapter in the life of our church. Our church will be celebrating it’s 50th anniversary in 2018 and in almost 50 years this is only our fourth pastor. That’s an impressive pastor history.

Speaking of 50 years, my graduating class from high school will be celebrating 50 years next October. A committee is planning the event and trying to locate as many Montebello High School class of 1968 graduates as possible. If you are reading this post and are a MHS class of 68 graduate there is a special email address for our reunion and you can give them your contact information there. mhs50.1968@gmail.com

 I’ll be linking up to Mosaic Monday with Maggie from Normandy Life.

Goodbye Hello Hodgepodge

Goodbye to Summer, Hello to Autumn!

1. What’s something you’d rate a 10/10? Tell us why.

First and foremost being redeemed by Jesus is always something that is a 10/10 because I’m at peace with God and enjoy all His benefits. But here’s another little something that rates 10/10 these days.

Being a grandparent rates a 10/10 for me. We’ve only been grandparents for 6 months now but it has been delightful in so many ways. It’s fun to see our children step up in new roles surrounding this little one. So many new things to experience while watching her grow in the first year of life.

2. What job would you be terrible at? What makes you think so?

I do not think I’d be a good manager. I’m just tempted to do things myself instead of telling people what to do.

3. When did you last take a fall?

Thankfully it’s been a while since I’ve fallen. My last significant fall landed me in the ER for several hours. I met a few rainy, slimey cement stairs with my face and had to have x-rays and be put on an antibiotic because of the significant cut on my nose. It was not a pretty sight, for a very long time.

What’s something you’re falling for (in a good way) these days?

Having Dear (my husband) around all the time. Now if he could be around and get a paycheck, too, that would be grand!

4. According to the Travel Channel here are some of America’s best fall festivals-
National Apple Harvest Festival (near Arendtsville PA, close to Gettysburg), Harvest on the Harbor (Portland Maine), German Village Festival (Columbus Ohio), Wellfleet Oyster Fest (Cape Cod), and Wine and Chile Fiesta (Santa Fe NM)

Have you ever been to any of the festivals listed?  No

Which one appeals to you most?

I think I would really enjoy visiting Maine so I’ll pick Harvest on the Water in Portland, Maine.

Does your hometown have any sort of fall celebration, and if so will you make it a point to attend?

Seattle and some neighboring cities have some (Sausage Festival, Octoberfest, Autumn Leaves) but my hometown does not have any. These days I’m not a fan of navigating through crowds of people so I won’t be making a point to attend. I might take an Autumn drive to see some changing of the leaves.

5. What is your goodbye message to summer?

Adios smoky dry summer! Come back next year with less dryness and no forest fires, please. The air quality was so bad in Addy’s hometown that she had to stay indoors for a significant amount of time lately. 

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Our grandparenting skills will be put to the test this Saturday as our kids have their first evening out planned since Addy was born. They are flying in Thursday evening (Addy’s first airplane ride) and will join good friends for a concert in Seattle on Saturday evening. Addy will have a couple days to get used to seeing us again before she gets left alone with us. We get to put her down for the night. Here’s hoping she won’t refuse a bottle. She’s not a fan of bottles. Mommy is best. But…we have a saying in Russian that loosely translated says “by the time she gets married this will have healed”. She and we will survive whatever may come.

A big thank you to Joyce From This Side of the Pond for the Wednesday Hodgepodge questions.

We Have Fallen, A Leaf’s Perspective…

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Now it’s up to you to pick us all up and put us away till next year.

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You can just blow us off somewhere unless…

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…we get stuck in the nooks and crannies.

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And now we are wet which adds another dimension of challenge to get rid of us.

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We are mostly off the huge Maple in your neighbor’s yard. Just one more good windy day and the branches will be bare.

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The day has come and now you can clear the rain gutters of the last remaining leaves.

14907636_10211131300946676_1284445175970299593_nYou leaf laborers have earned yourselves a good meal off the smoker and out of the oven with all the colors of Fall. Ribs off the Traeger, roasted vegetables, coleslaw, jalapeno cornbread, and barbecue beans.

Eat, Drink, and Be Merry for the leaves are gone till next Fall!

Linking up to Foodie Friday and Everything Else, Five on Friday, and Friday’s Fave Five.

Thank you to Rattlebridge Farms, Amy at Love Made My Home, and Susanne at Living to Tell the Story.

And if laboring over leaves wasn’t enough I’m now having some physical therapy to help with the extreme tightness of my IT Band that has been giving me some grief. Sad but true you have to exercise and try to endure more pain to get rid of the pain and here is one of my new torture instruments.

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This is called The Stick…hmm…catchy but it works like a rolling pin to work out the tightness of your muscles.

So…thank you Lord for seasons, for the strength to deal with the fallen leaves, for the enjoyment of good food that nourishes our bodies, for physical therapy to repair and strengthen our bodies and for Spiritual therapy to strengthen and anchor our souls.

Hebrews 16:19-20 (ESV) ~ 19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

Autumn Mosaics

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We took a drive a couple of Mondays ago to see what we could see along Hwy 9 and Hwy 20 north of Seattle in Washington state.

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We saw some lakes we hadn’t seen before like Big Lake.

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It was a beautiful drive for the hours we had until the rain came in.

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Along the Skagit River in Rockport.

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This afternoon Josh, Laura, and I attended the final season game of the Sounders Soccer Team and said goodbye to a fan favorite player Zach Scott. Winning this game means we are now headed to the playoffs. We are happy fans. We also had a wee visit from our dear daughter in law and her Granny who were on this side of the mountains for a memorial service for Granny’s brother. It was a great afternoon from start to finish.

Linking up to Mosaic Monday hosted with Maggie at Normandy Life.

Five More in Fall

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When we (the MGCC Girls) were in Ohio our publishers brought each of us a gift of these great totes from Lands End with a personalized logo. My bag is hanging on one of our dining room chairs.

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Some of the girls were at the airport together in Chicago on their way home and had a photo shoot with our new bags. I stole this photo!

gospel-bookstoreWhen we were at a book signing at The Gospel Shop in Sugarcreek , Ohio it was fun to see our book in the new release section of the bookstore.

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fall-drive-066We had a few nice days without rain this week in the Seattle area so Dear and I took a drive to see if we could see some nice fall colors. This road above is off of Highway 20, the North Cascades Highway, near Concrete, Washington.

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This week I posted this great cucumber salsa inspired by my daughter in law. You can find the easy recipe by clicking here.

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We are always on the lookout for a good burger spot and we found one this past week close to home. This restaurant is called the Tipsy Cow. Good brews and good burgers.

Thankful for Bags, Books, Drives, Salsa, and a good burger.

Last night I had some bonus time with half of our kids. We went to a Sounders Soccer game together and were able to talk and get caught up. It had been awhile that we could see each other face to face with all of us going hither and yon. For the next few days Dear and I will be spending time with two more of our kids, doubly thankful.

Linking up with Foodie Friday and Everything Else at Rattlebridge Farm, Five on Friday at Love Made My Home and Friday’s Fave Five at Living to Tell the Story.

Dear bloggy friends, I’ll be late coming around today as we are traveling across the mountains to our son and daughter in love’s home. See you tonight or early tomorrow morning….

A Little Diversion…

Yesterday Dear and I decided to take a short road trip to the cities of Duvall and Carnation. We enjoyed beautiful fall colors in the mist, a few fun shops and some good eats. I’ll show more of what we saw soon and I’m happy to say I finally have some more barns to share along with fences and signs.

Here’s Dear, outstanding in his field. Sorry couldn’t resist that one! We had a full day yesterday and I hope to be able to visit more of you today.

Have you been to a pumpkin patch yet?

Hello October!

On this first day of October I was out on the road running errands getting ready for our company and events this weekend. Fall is showing itself nicely here in the Pacific Northwest!

On the road to our big box home improvement store and office supply store this great burst of fall met my eyes.

After I bought my ink cartridges for my printer I headed to Whole Paycheck, that’s what my dear dil Laura calls Whole Foods, to get some organic corn tortillas for my sister in law, Leticia. She’s on a restricted diet. We are making chicken fajitas for the cabinet installers on Friday evening. Letty is our family’s expert on all things in the Mexican culinary world. The least I could do was to buy the right ingredients for her. She will also be making her special Spanish rice and beans.

When I got home I experimented with a new pumpkin recipe for dessert that I’ll share in October on the Mennonite Girls Can Cook Blog. If you click over today you can see my Mocha Toffee Parfait.

Since I’m up late today waiting for our guests to arrive at this old house I had time to complete this post. Our son Josh is picking up his uncle and aunt at the airport and delivering them here late tonight. Tomorrow we hit the ground running. I’ll check in with all of you in the quiet moments…if there are any!