Market Day

On Tuesday some of the crew had a shopping day in Woodinville and then we re-grouped with a couple carloads going downtown on the way to deliver Melissa to the airport. She had to fly home on Tuesday for work responsibilities.

My sister Kathy and I stayed behind. We picked up Katie who was done with her workday and enjoyed lunch together at La Corona our favorite Mexican joint on the west side of the Cascades. Sadly because of COVID our favorite waitress only gets 3 days of work and Tuesday was not her day. After lunch we shopped for some dinner items and headed back to Josh and Laura’s to relax before we started cooking dinner. Taco night with pies for dessert.

A very random shot of the clean up after dinner.

On Tuesday night I was feeling under the weather so I made the decision to stay away from the rest of the family gatherings on Wednesday and planned to drive back home on Thursday morning instead of Friday. Even though I didn’t get the chance to see Liliana at La Corona on Tuesday I was able to see her on Wednesday and it was good to get caught up with her and the owner of La Corona. It’s not an easy time for restaurant owners and their waitstaff.

It was good to see Lily!

Wednesday was pumpkin patch day for the rest of the crew.

Are you going to a Pumpkin Patch this year and do you have a Corn Maze near you?

Back in Colville we had our first good frost and this week is bringing more freezing temps so we’ve disconnected all our hoses, closed the crawl space vents, and rolled up the patio cover cloth. On a dry day I’ll be clearing out all the beds and our burn pile will be stacked and ready for the burn ban to be lifted.

Happy Thanksgiving Day to our Canadian neighbors and Happy Columbus Day here in the USA!

A Nostalgic Hodgepodge

It’s time for Wednesday Hodgepodge. Jo From This Side of the Pond publishes the questions on Tuesdays for us to answer and then we post our answers on Wednesdays to share with other Hodgepodgers.

1. When is the last time you experienced nostalgia?

I was putting together all the photos of my little Babushka for a post and it got me thinking of her life and all she endured and her perseverance. She died in March of 1980. So many conversations that I couldn’t have with her because of our language barrier. When we were young and she would come over to stay with us I’d hope to be the one who would be able to sleep with her on the fold down couch in the living room. Her left arm was amputated at her elbow in her youth but she learned to do more than a lot of people with two hands can do. She taught me to embroider or I should say she persevered with me as I tried to embroider. One thing she told me as a teenager that I still quote from time to time is something like this, “Nothing good happens in the dark”. She was cautioning us as young adults not to be out at night. She prayed for the salvation of all her grandchildren and their spouses. It would have been fun for our children to know her…

2. September 29th is National Coffee Day.

Do we need this? Ha!

Seems like everyday is a National day of something. Reminds me of handing out trophies to everyone regardless of their talent.

So are you a coffee drinker?

I am a coffee drinker. The mug on the left is my current every morning choice of coffee vessel. I bought that mug at TDMaxx (not TJ) in Windsor, England.

If so how many cups per day, and tell us how you like it.

One large cup in the morning, strong and black.

Is there a recipe you enjoy that calls for coffee as one of the ingredients?

I have had some things that have coffee as an ingredient but nothing that is in my recipe wheelhouse.

3. Do you find praise or criticism to be more motivating? Explain.

My pride gets in the way of accepting criticism. I find it easier to accept when the Holy Spirit convicts me of something that needs correcting. I’m definitely spurred on by genuine praise but not flattery.

4. What’s a television series you keep coming back to and re-watching?

Vera, Midsomer Murders, Detective Lewis, Endeavor…there’s a theme going here. British murder mysteries.

5. As the month of September draws to a close give us three words to describe your mood.

Smiling With Anticipation…

6. Insert your own random thought here.

The reason I’m smiling with anticipation is because the month of October will be family filled. We are meeting up with my youngest brother’s family this Thursday in Idaho and then they will be parking their 5th wheel at our place for a bit. My oldest sister’s family is traveling to Washington state next week and we will gather together on the west side of the Cascades for a few days together. Four of our eight siblings will be together along with their families and our “Coast” kids. Then more family time in Colville with all of our kids together for our annual hunting weekend. All the rooms will be full at all the Family Inns for many days in October.

We are traveling for a few days and I will be late in visiting everyone this week. Cheers!

Where in the World…

…is our traveling family?

My youngest brother and his family are having an RV adventure around the USA (Wholly-Rollin) for who knows how long. My sister Lana and her hubby Steve met up with them in South Dakota the 16th through the 19th of September and here are a couple photos I “borrowed” from them. Leonard, Mandy, Hope and Andrew will soon make it to our neck of the woods the beginning of October. Hope and Andrew are being RV schooled enjoying God’s amazing creations around the USA. They have just left the Yellowstone Area and the Grand Tetons heading to Montana.

Leonard and Lana, the babies of our family. They are twins. The Black Hills of South Dakota.

Meanwhile back in our neck of the woods, Jaymison and Addyson enjoying the beginning of Autumn.

Addy is enjoying a carrot fresh out of the garden and JJ is always pleased to be seated on any piece of machinery!

After I got the framework of the puzzle done and a lot of the interior done, Dear helped me finish up this Matryoshka Doll puzzle. He did leave the final pieces for me. It was a tough one but satisfying to see it completed. This is our 7th COVID-19 puzzle in the books!

Have you taken up puzzles lately? Do you grow carrots in your garden? Are you part of the RVing world? What’s the favorite place you’ve traveled to in the USA?

Hello Fall Hodgepodge

Thank you to Jo for coming up with the questions for the weekly hodgpodge! Click over to From This Side of the Pond to join in.

This photo of JJ and Addy covered with leaves is from last Fall after the leaves fell.

1. It’s fall y’all. What’s something you love about this season and also something you don’t?

Fall clothing is something I enjoy. I really can’t come up with something I don’t like about Fall. Fall might be my favorite season of all.

2. When you think of the colors of fall, which one is your favorite?

Hmmm…I think I like the combination rust, gold, olive green, maroon, and brown. If I had to pick one I’d pick olive green.

Is there somewhere you could easily day trip to see the leaves in all their glory?

There are lots of great drives in our area where we can enjoy fall colors.

Will you? Yes, we will.

3. What’s one thing you’ve let ‘fall’ by the wayside during this season of staying home and staying away?

We aren’t taking as many roadtrips as we have in the past.

4. If you’re wearing a sweater is it most likely a cardigan, crew neck, v-neck, or zip up hoodie?

Most likely a cardigan.

5. What’s your secret to dealing with change?

It’s not a secret but sometimes we forget that God is sovereign, that He is in control. Reminding myself that I am not in control takes the pressure off when change happens.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Each Thursday until we have gone through the alphabet I’m hosting Truth from A to Z Bible Verse Challenge. Tomorrow we are on the letter C. If you’d like to join in you can add a verse in the comments on my post tomorrow or let me know that you posted a verse on your own blog. I’ll add a link to your post or add your verse from the comment section onto the Thursday challenge post. The word/words that start with C can be anywhere in the verse. It can be a key word or not. Not a lot of rules just an exercise that encourages you to search the treasure we have in the Bible.

Hello to Fall 2020!

I’ve added a few touches of Fall Decor for 2020. We have some exciting events happening in October. Lots of family time with our little circle and extended family, too. Fall is a favorite time around our parts. Time will tell if the Cider Festival will be happening. (So far it hasn’t been cancelled). We know the corn maze is opening soon. Hunting season opens in October, too. For Christmas our kids gifted us a family photo shoot and we are getting our clothing choices coordinated for that. We hope to get the photographer scheduled during hunting weekend when all our kids will be on this side of the mountains.

Do you have any Fall plans?

UPDATE: Sad news that the Ciderfest has been cancelled. 😦

The Heavens Declare

Psalm 19

The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

Day to day pours out speech,
and night to night reveals knowledge.
There is no speech, nor are there words,
whose voice is not heard.

Their voice goes out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world.
In them he has set a tent for the sun,
which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber,
and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.

Its rising is from the end of the heavens,
and its circuit to the end of them,
and there is nothing hidden from its heat.

The law of the Lord is perfect,
    reviving the soul;
the testimony of the Lord is sure,
    making wise the simple;
the precepts of the Lord are right,
    rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is pure,
    enlightening the eyes;
the fear of the Lord is clean,
    enduring forever;
the rules of the Lord are true,
    and righteous altogether.

More to be desired are they than gold,
    even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey
    and drippings of the honeycomb.
Moreover, by them is your servant warned;
    in keeping them there is great reward.

Who can discern his errors?
    Declare me innocent from hidden faults.
Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins;
    let them not have dominion over me!
Then I shall be blameless,
    and innocent of great transgression.

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable in your sight,
O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

We have spent some time this month memorizing Psalm 19: 7-9. Verses 10-11 were easy to add on because of a popular worship song in the early 70’s that has stuck in our memory. Time will tell if we end up memorizing the whole Psalm.

I’ll leave you with this photo from Christmas past, 1958. I’m on the left at seven years old. Our little brother Tim was 11 months old. Our parents added three more siblings after Tim was born. There’s a reason I’m the only one who isn’t dressed in their Christmas clothes in this photo. I had some medical problems that I can only remember as some kind of kidney infection that I was hospitalized for. I ended up having to have a home teacher come to our home for a couple months in the new year, (1959). I know I missed Valentine’s Day because I remember that my home school teacher brought me Valentine’s Day cards from my classmates.

We are ready for our Christmas celebrations and for our daughter’s birthday party on the 27th. It always feels good to be ready. We will relax and not worry about any little thing we might have forgotten and just roll on…

All is calm, all is bright…

The Day After…

So Baba is guilty of a complete photo fail at JJ’s first Thanksgiving. So grateful that his mommy remembered at the last minute to take this photo and grateful for our time together with Jamie’s family over a delicious traditional Thanksgiving meal.

The next collage was taken a week ago on the “Coast”.

We trust you all gobbled up some good turkey and fixins. We sure did.

Yesterday Katie and Andrew arrived from the Coast at 1:30 in the afternoon. I have no photos of the two of them so far. The roads were great for them to travel on Thanksgiving day. We gathered at two thirty and after with plans to eat at four. Today Josh and Laura will land in Spokane at 10:30 ish and arrive here noonish. We are grateful for the time we will have together in our neck of the woods.

Happy Black Friday. Are you out shopping? We have plans to raise the remaining trusses today while Josh and Andrew are here. Katie gets to be the 4th person needed for the task. Praying that the plan works and there are no complications.

And I Think to Myself…

…what a wonderful world.

I’m so thankful for the wonders of the world that God has created for us to enjoy.

These were our views on the way home from our Sunday Drive to the orchard.

Crossing over the Columbia from west to east. The Columbia River Bridge at Kettle Falls.

The layers of mountains, the trees, the mighty Columbia River…so much beauty in our backyard. Thank you Lord for plopping us in this beautiful part of your world.

Communities around these parts like to brand their mountains. KF is for Kettle Falls. Our Colville mountain has a C on it and a cross.

Now we are about 5 miles from our Country Bungalow with more pastoral views. It was a beautiful day for a drive.

“I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving.” Psalm 69:30.

Sunday Drives

The forecast came true for Sunday and it was a beautiful day for a drive. After church we headed to Kettle Falls and enjoyed some lunch and then continued on across the Columbia to Sherman Creek Orchard.

Note to self: Next year go in early fall to see all the beautiful color this orchard affords. We bought 16 pounds of pears and enjoyed the drive home.

I will share more photos from the drive home on another day. My upload speed for photos has been slower than molasses. 🙂

We are entering a busy week for many here in the U.S.A. with preparations for our annual Thanksgiving celebrations. It was good to start the week off with a little time away from home and focusing on God’s creation. I’m thankful for Sunday drives and beautiful views!

A Shopping Day…

On Tuesday we decided since it was going to be a rainy day we would head to Spokane to shop. I’m thankful that we can travel south for an hour to Spokane and enjoy shopping at all the stores we enjoyed when we lived in the Seattle area. While we drove we enjoyed listening to a couple of sermons online. That’s another thing I’m thankful to be able to do on the road.

It rained most of the day but we were treated to some clearing on the way home as we approached Colville

In Spokane we stopped at The Home Depot, Trader Joe’s, HomeGoods, Hobby Lobby, Total Wine, At Home, and we ended at Costco for shopping and refilling our gas tank.

On our drive home we stopped in Chewelah at our favorite Mexican restaurant on this side of the mountains for “linner”.

This is the auto body shop that will be working on our car. Our car is scheduled for December 16th. They are in high demand at this shop.

I’ll be doing a fair share of shopping local in Colville for the holidays, too.

WalMart has already gotten some good business from us.

We bought our overpriced natural fresh free range turkey from this store. It’s our favorite grocery store in town. When we saw turkeys for 99 cents a pound at Costco we consoled ourselves with the fact that we had helped our local economy out. 🙂

This is the part of our road where I hit the deer.

Almost home.

At the mailbox.

Looking back towards town and enjoying the clouds.

We enjoyed a quiet evening at home after our day of travel for shopping.

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage

Category Archives: Fall