Up and Down Five…

Up: Wonderful blooming Camillias on my neighbors bushes that border our property. I took this photo on Monday.

Last Saturday while we were having a very lazy day one of the “girls” talked about how she was making muffins so I scrounged around the kitchen and came up with the ingredients for these bran muffins. I’ll be posting the easy recipe on the MGCC blog on Monday. Fresh out of the oven they are the best. The down side…I ate more than one.

While we were in Kettle Falls a couple weekends ago I spent a few hours on Sunday with our daughter in law and her granny. Granny treated us to lunch at TJ’s Tavern in Kettle Falls. This sign is on the outside of the tavern and I had to post it for my Canadian friends. TJ’s is about 32 miles from the border between the USA and Canada.

I love the colors that were so brilliant in this rainbow that showed up outside Dan and Jamie’s place in Chewelah. Rainbows are always a welcome sign in the sky filled with hope that makes me stop and ponder and click a lot of photos trying to capture the glory of it all. The downer: I have been having pain around my left hip that has made me stay home from my exercise classes for the last couple of months. I was thinking the worst but I finally visited my doctor who diagnosed a muscle issue with a course of action that does not involve anything but physical therapy. It was not a joint issue and I am thankful and relieved to hear that news. So while my thoughts were down about that they have been lifted up.

The other down this week was an early morning phone call that my sister was taken by ambulance to a local hospital. Dear and I showered quickly and headed to the hospital to sit with and wait for the all clear from many tests and her release. To see her in pain was a downer but to find out there were no life threatening conditions was good. To find things to laugh about while we were at her bed side was good therapy.

This is a tree on our son’s property. I’m calling it the cyclops tree and it’s the closest thing I have to a Halloween photo for now. Some choose to avoid Halloween but I really enjoy it for these specific reasons. I can give treats to my neighbor kiddies and it’s a joy to have them knock on my door. I meet people in the neighborhood that I haven’t met before. I buy candy we like so if it doesn’t all get given out we reap the benefits. Everyone who comes to my door gets the same love and candy on Halloween.

Even though the leaves have fallen and covered our lawn, planters, walkways, and gutters we are enjoying the color and weather of the fall season. It’s good to have distinct seasons to enjoy.

Tonight, Thursday, I’m headed to a Sounders playoff game against Kansas City and I really hope it will be an “up” experience instead of a downer! HOT OFF THE PRESSES: We won and here is a shot my DIL took last night at the game.

Josh, myself and Laura. It was a tense 95 minutes and a player we have been waiting on to score had the goal of the year for himself and all the fans cheered so heartily for this young man. We were so worked up it took a while to get to sleep.

Thankful to our creator for 1. All the reminders each day of His love and care over us through the ups and downs. 2. Good doctors who can diagnose and help us with our aches and pains 3. Signs in nature that point us to a good creator who is still in control even in the ups and downs. 4. The comfort of good food. 5. Creating our bodies in a way that allow us to work hard in everyday chores and on the sports fields.

So what were your ups and downs this past week that made you thankful?

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

Thank You for Friday & Everything Else

Last weekend Dear and I were visiting our eastern Washington kids. On Saturday while the guys worked hard on a home project, Jamie and I attended a Paint Party. The party was put on by Raggedy Rose Vintage Designs ~ Make and Take Sign Parties. They have a Facebook Page.

First we got to pick our wood board in whatever finish we liked.

We got to choose the stencil with a saying we wanted to add to our board. The equipment was all provided along with great spaces to create. So many paint colors to choose from. The hostesses went around helping us and giving us tips.

After we painted the lettering and symbols we let the paint dry somewhat and then we peeled off the stencil and got to see our final results. When things were good and dry they screwed in a hanging wire for us.

There was a little glare on the photo of this one which is our daughter in laws. Mine is the one at the top of this post that says thankful & Grateful.

Here are the gals with their new creations ready to take home. For a non-crafty person like myself this was not as scary as I thought it would be. Everything was so well organized and things explained well. It was a lot of fun. We got home in time to relax before we enjoyed dinner with the guys.

On Monday we got to enjoy a wonderful double rainbow just out of our kid’s door.

I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. ¹⁴Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, ¹⁵I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. ¹⁶Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”

¹⁷So God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth.” Genesis 9: 13-17

I posted this Russian Beet salad, Vinegrette, that was a family favorite growing up on Monday. You can find the recipe at Mennonite Girls can Cook by clicking here.

On Tuesday we drove the five and a half hours back to our home in Western Washington.

I’m thankful and grateful for God’s goodness and love towards us. For our visit with our kids in Eastern Washington. For enjoying creative endeavors. For Dear and Dan being able to complete a house project together. For God’s provision for our son in giving him a good helper in Jamie, (Genesis 2:18 (ESV) Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”) For the rainbow and God’s promise to us. And on a lighter note…good food!

I’m linking up to…

Foodie Friday and Everything Else at Rattlebridge Farm

Five on Friday with Amy at Love Made My Home

Friday’s Fave Five with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story

Five More in Fall

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.

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!

When 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.

We 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.

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

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….

Welcome Fall…

…looking forward to what you have in store for us. In the meantime here are some favorites from the end of summer and the very beginning of Fall.

If you missed the recipe for my Pear and Almond Tart on MGCC click away and get it now. You can make this with canned pears.

Our hydrangeas are waning nicely with their colors fading in a pretty way.

Colors are changing on our plants and the leaves are changing and falling.

Our neighbor Pat died this summer and a couple weekends ago there was an estate sale in her home. I ended up buying her drop leaf tea trolley to remember her by. I waited till the last day of the sale when everything was half off to make my purchases. We found a spot for it and we have plans to make a few changes to it. It cost me $20.

Early fall shots of our home from the back of our property. We do welcome Fall/Autumn at this old house.

Thankful for Autumn and all it brings like new colors to enjoy, comfort food, cooler weather, cozy fires, and new adventures.

Thank you Lord for who you are and your love and care over us.

Joining: Rattlebridge Farm for Foodie Friday and Everything Else, Five on Friday with Amy at Love Made My Home and Friday’s Fave Five with Susanne at Living to tell the Story.

Pop in Five or More…

These two…always the best when they were together. Together for 70 years before our mom died. My Pop has been fragmented ever since our mom died on their 70th wedding anniversary, September 13, 2013. They could communicate well in Russian with each other. None of us kids are fluent so he’s lost that aspect of his daily life. We’ve all tried to support him in his sorrow. He would love to be reunited with mom and His Savior. But…until then we try to keep him looking up and staying in the light. Can you imagine sharing life together with someone for 70 years and then trying to live on your own?

Pop lives with our oldest sister’s family now. God bless her and her family for being there daily for our Pop. He has a special buddy in our dear niece Miss on the right in the photo above. Our sister Lana tries to visit regularly while she is in Southern California. I love the photo above of the 3 musketeers.

My Pop loves eating breakfast out but nowhere fancy please! He likes Denny’s or a similar spot where he can get his 2 eggs sunnyside up, with hashbrowns, sausage links and a cup of coffee. Oh yes…white toast only!

For lunch if you are going to take him out he enjoys a hamburger at the Habit. If you order or bring in a pizza he does not want thin crust healthy nonsense. Bring on the dough and all the good toppings, please.

Our best purchase ever was this recliner that he tells me every time he sees me in person that he loves. Thank you Lyena for my chair.

His latest sweet great granddaughter Eleanor. He thinks she’s the best.

No birthday cake just bring him a cherry pie!

His last sibling that is alive today. Aunt Anna and Pop live a few miles from each other. She lives in a senior care home. They talk most every day for about 30 seconds top. That’s another thing about Pop all you need is about 30 seconds a week to stay connected. He does not talk long on the phone!

These are some of Pop’s grandchildren with their spouses. He has many others and a very cool thing I’ll share about my Pop is that he gets down on his knees every night and prays out loud for each of his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.

My niece captured this image of our Pop on his knees praying. Although my Pop and Mom had a language challenge in communicating with us children and grandchildren they showed us all love in different ways. My mother expressed her love through her cooking and preparing meals for us. Our Pop expressed his love in working hard all his life to provide our basic needs. Both my Mom and Pop prayed for each of us every day. These days if our Pop feels his bank account has more money than he needs he gives us some extra cash. My parents always lived with the bare necessities. Another thing my Pop would want you to know is that he is a sinner like the rest of us and that he has been saved by grace. He’s not perfect but he loves God and is grateful for all that God has done for him.

My Pop turned 93 in May of this year. We thank God for Him and how God has blessed him and kept him all these years.

Although my post is not a clear 5, I’m linking up to Five on Friday with Amy at Love Made My Home and for Friday’s Fave Five with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story.

Five on Friday

We’ve been working on making more distinct borders on a couple of our planters. This planter is on the backside of our deck and between our home and garage/shop.

This planter is in the front of our home and is ready for the weed cloth and bark that you see in the planter above. It was so much easier to mow with this nice border today.

We are just home from our last minute getaway to Yellowstone National Park. We stayed one night in the Old Faithful Inn. The structure is the largest log hotel in the world; possibly even the largest log building in the world. The lobby was a comfortable setting to people watch and enjoy a drink.

Now at home we are getting ready for our annual fourth of July celebration with a few of my red white and blue decorations going up.

Our Canadian neighbors are enjoying Canada Day and on Monday we will celebrate with family, friends, food and fireworks for the fourth! Five words starting with the letter F!

I am thankful to God for the results of our hard work, for our last minute getaway, for the safety we had on the road, for the beauty of God’s creation that we were afforded on our trip, for our country where can worship our God in safety (so far).

Happy Canada Day to our dear neighbors to the North!

Linking up to Five on Friday with Amy at Love Made My Home and Friday’s Fave Five with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story.

Five on Friday and…

…Friday’s Fave Five.

1. My niece shared this photo of my Pop that she took while he was reading his Bible in his room at my sister’s home. He reads every night before he kneels at his bed and prays for all of his children and grandchildren and great grandchildren. This is a favorite blessing of mine. A Pop who loves the Lord and is obedient in his prayer life and Bible reading. He will be 93 on May 25th.

2. Our rhododendrons are at their peak and I am grateful that we have these established plants in our yard to enjoy. Rhododendrons are the Washington state flower.

3. My visit last Friday with my brother’s family in Austin, Texas is a favorite for sure.

4. My rosebud Azaleas are filling out and showing their glory this week, too.

5. On Thursday we took a ferry across the Puget Sound to visit dear friends of ours. We were able to catch up and have a time of prayer together as we all face our fleeting time on this earth. It was good to be together. How about this wonderful view they have from their home?

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Here in the U.S.A. and Canada we celebrate Mother’s Day on Sunday.

Linking up with Amy at Love Made My Home for Five on Friday and

with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story for Friday’s Fave Five.

Cotswold Five…

It’s time for Five on Friday hosted by Amy and Friday’s Fave Five hosted by Susanne. Today I’m continuing my reminiscing of our time in Great Britain with our daughter Katie in April of 2004. After our day in Oxford we took a day to drive through the Cotswolds.

This was a literary tour for our daughter to see her favorite authors haunts or inspirations for the books they wrote. We were hoping to see a Hobbit in the Cotswolds. Our first stop was for a snack of treacle close to the Cotswold way. I fantasized about walking the whole of this trail once…

The closest we came on this tour of seeing Hobbit land was just seeing the countryside and coming upon this little village of Buckland which I’m counting as stop number two. Buckland has a lot of history we weren’t aware of when we stumbled upon it. Isn’t that the way it goes when you blog? You come home and look up a stop you made to research for a blog post and find out everything you missed! I wasn’t blogging in 2004 so I’m letting myself off the hook for this trip!

Our third stop in the Cotswolds was Hailes Abbey. Built in the 13th century by the Duke of Cornwall, the beautiful ruins of Hailes Abbey are set amid delightful Cotswold countryside. There was a small church with this graveside next to the Abbey.

Stop number four was Hidcote Gardens. This was early in April and the blooms were still not at their prime except to our delight the daffodils!

All these photos were taken with film not digital. The manicured hedges are always a treat to see.

Lambs were in plenty.

One more stop halfway on the Cotswolds Way was St. Mary’s Church in Painswick. The church of St Mary (originally Norman) was extended around 1480 in the English perpendicular style. The churchyard with 99 yew trees (legend has it that the 100th won’t grow) also has unusual tabletop tombs.

This past week afforded me the time and effort to scan our film photos from our trip to Great Britain in 2004. It’s nice to look back and remember the good things that God has allowed in our lives. This trip was a good experience for Dear, Katie and me. I still have the Jane Austen portion of our trip to share and the Monty Python portion, too. I’ve already shared the C.S. Lewis and Tolkien portion in Oxford.

These five stops could be way out of order but I don’t think that matters now. Hidcote Manor Gardens and Hailes Abbey are part of the Heritage Pass that you can purchase for your touring pleasure…

Dear got home from Austin Thursday night so all is back to normal around this old house. I made it to the accountant in the big blue truck and he was helpful as usual. I have a few more things to dig up for him so we can get a few more deductions. I was able to get out and walk in between rain showers by myself while Dear was in Austin which was a great accomplishment for me.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

This is a long post already but today on Mennonite Girls Can Cook I’ve reposted my Chicken Quesadilla recipe with a new twist. Click over to check it out. Also on some of your blogs my comment link takes you to the Mennonite Girls Can Cook blog instead of to my home blog (The Happy Wonderer). That happens when the pull down choices for comments don’t include the Name/URL option or the double choice blogger and open ID. On those that give you 5 choices with open ID it won’t let me switch from my blogger ID to my WordPress Blog. TMI? It’s just one of those weird things. Sheesh…I better just let you go now and enjoy your day!

Five in February…

Linking up with Amy for Five on Friday and with Susanne for Friday’s Fave Five!

1.This is the time of year that we I prune the apple tree. See all those branches growing straight up. They all need to be cut. It took me a few weeks to complete this task as I do a little on dryer days because it is hard on my neck and shoulders. I’m happy to say that I finished this week and I’m patting myself on the back. It was hard to get a good photo but in the photo on the right you can see that all the branches that were growing straight up are gone now. I’m thankful to have the strength to still do some yard work.

2. This week my Lenten Rose is making a great showing. I love this humble plant and the fact that it blooms during the season of Lent.

I’m thankful for my Lenten Rose and that it reminds me of my savior who humbled himself for all of us and died in our place.

3. The Primroses are blooming. So nice to see them appear and our littlest and youngest rhoddy looks like it will have more blooms this year than last. I’m always surprised and thankful when they pop up all on their own again and again.

4. and 5. On Wednesday I went to See’s, Macy’s, Costco and Hobby Lobby to do a little shopping for myself and others. At See’s I bought 3 small boxes of candy handpicked from lists of our families favorites. Our oldest son’s office is across the street from the mall so I delivered his and our dil’s box early. I went to Macy’s because I was ready to replace my purse. My everyday purse has to be light to start with, not beautiful heavy leather. I like pockets on the sides that my sun glass case and phone will fit in. Two main compartments to keep my wallet separated from other stuff. I had this exact purse in black and this time I went with this lighter color combination. By the time the sales person gave me some extra percentages off it ended up being half price. I also bought some items for Dear that he requested. At Costco I was happy to see they have my favorite jeans so I bought 2 pairs. They were $14.99 each! The sweater was $12.00. Then at Hobby Lobby I found three puzzles for my dear old pop. At almost 93 he enjoys his puzzles. They help his days fly by instead of drag on. I was on the hunt for bright and light pictures because the darker backgrounds are hard on his eyes. I’m thankful for such a productive outing and that I have the shekulkie (money) in my pocket to make these purchases.

Dear and I are having an early Valentine meal together on Friday. Rain is forecast for many days in a row now so we aren’t going far from home but far enough to get to a good steak house for our midday meal. Hope you all had a good week. On this Valentine weekend may you feel the unconditional love of God and pass it along to those around you…

Five

Whether they are Friday’s Fave Five with Susanne or Five on Friday with Amy here are my favorites I’m sharing this week. Some are illustrated with some photos from our time in San Francisco last week.

A quiet week after time away with time to read and pray. (photo from Grace Cathedral in San Francisco)

2. Some fun adventures finding things to decorate a Chinese New Year table in February. I bought some items in San Francisco but when returning home I realized I needed more things to pull the table together. (above photos from Chinatown San Francisco) While shopping at Goodwill I spotted…

…this! Back in 1973 when I was in England I started my china Hope Chest purchases with a tea set from England. Were you in the Hope Chest era? The pattern is Moss Rose by Royal Albert. After I was married Dear and I completed my set with a dinner service for 12 that we drove into Canada to buy. When I saw this smaller teapot and trivet at my local Goodwill I grabbed it fast. With my senior discount these pretties cost me $10!

3. Happy find while I was out and about was a Persian Bakery and a Persian restaurant in a strip mall close to our home! Just look at that fresh Barbari bread above! I grew up enjoying Persian cuisine. My parents’ families escaped out of Russia into Iran in the early 30’s. My parents spent their teen and early adult years in Persia and learned to enjoy Persian food and to cook it. My father even learned Farsi while he lived there. I’m looking forward to eating at the restaurant soon.

4. One pot meals! Tomorrow on Mennonite Girls Can Cook I’m sharing the one pot meal I made from these ingredients. Earlier in the week I made Susan’s (My Mother’s Apron Strings) Skillet Lasagna and it was delicious.

5. Since Dear has been working from home we are walking together most days of the week. It rained all night and all day yesterday so we skipped but we are determined to get out on most days and do our loop. Our walk starts on a gradual uphill before we hit the steepest part of the walk and we get our hearts pumping. Then we have another flat spell before we head downhill home. This photo is not from our neighborhood but from a lovely walk we had in England on a trip in 2014. I’m always ready to go back to scenery like this!

Here we are heading into the last weekend of January. Nothing major going on which is nice. Maybe I’ll get around to dusting! What’s up in your neck of the woods?

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage

Category Archives: Fave Five on Friday