Walking Five…

…not the walking dead.

Last Friday Dear and I ventured out to the Sammamish River Trail for a walk. We walked until the raindrops were hitting us in the face. With our walk by the end of the day my fitbit registered 13,858 steps. Here’s a trail photo.

Saturday morning we walked on boardwalks and walkways at Juanita Bay Park. At the end of this day I had 13,372 steps. Here’s a photo from Juanita Bay.

On Monday we walked part of the Centennial Trail in Snohomish. It was sunny. I registered 13,113 steps by the end of the day.

On Tuesday we walk/hiked the North Trail at St. Edward State park. It was more of a huff and puff walk. By the end of Tuesday I had 12,130. I thought I should have gotten double credit in steps for this hike.

On Wednesday the rains returned with a vengeance so we ventured out from home when there was a slight break in the precipitation. Hoodies up! At the end of Wednesday I registered 12,614 steps.

I’m hoping to keep up with over 10,000 steps every day. I’m also hoping to drop a few pounds. This will be a slow process as I’m not counting calories just increasing my activity. Time will tell if this might work long term for controlling weight gain.

1. Thankful that Dear and I can walk in safe places. 2. Thankful we can still move in this way. We have aches and pains but not debilitating. 3. Thankful for the beauty of God’s creation that we see on our walks. 4. Thankful for some sunshiny days between the rainy days. 5. Thankful for time together to talk and to laugh and to see new things none of which drain the pocketbook.

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.

Fleeting Five…

Fleeting: Lasting for a very short time. We had a snow event in the Seattle area that lasted a couple days. It arrived on Monday and by Thursday morning was all washed away by steady rain. Thursday morning all three passes across the Cascade mountain range were closed to traffic due to ice storms. Our friends in the Frasier Valley in British Columbia are still covered in snow and now ice and snow.

Many of you deal with harsh winters. For us in the Seattle area harsh winters are not a given. Some years we don’t get any snow. Wind storms can cause a lot of damage with downed trees on power lines or on roofs. We have big trees in the Pacific Northwest. We also might get flooding because of the quick melt off of snow that make our rivers rise.

If during one of our rare storms we manage to keep power it’s more like a party. We usually don’t experience cabin fever because of snow and not being able to go out and about. If the snow turns to ice it’s very hard to get around the Seattle area because of all of our hills. It is very scary driving down a hill with no control because of ice. There have been those years in our past where it was freezing and we had no power for up to 5 days. Those times we put our refrigerator contents out on our deck to keep it cold. During these times we do suffer from cabin fever.

Our kids in northeastern Washington are very tired of the snow and especially since they have to plow themselves out off their hill to the road below them.

1. In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,
earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;
snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,
in the bleak midwinter, long ago.

2. Our God, heaven cannot hold him, nor earth sustain;
heaven and earth shall flee away when he comes to reign.
In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed
the Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.

(Christina G. Rossetti)

Thankful for fleeting things and the everlasting: 1. Our brief interlude of snow. 2. Bare roads again after the snow. 3. Digital cameras that can capture some of the beauty. 4. Power, light, heat and running water. 5. Our God of heaven who came down to earth to a stable so that we could be saved from death in our sins to life in Him because of his sacrifice on the cross and His gift of righteousness to us.

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

Reflective Five on Friday

Last Friday after I picked up my sister Vera from the airport we headed to Chihuly Garden and Glass in the shadow of the Space Needle in Seattle, Washington.

Here is the Space Needle in the background of a Chihuly Glass art piece in the outdoor garden. Now I’ll leave it to you to spot the reflections of the Space Needle in Chihuly’s glass balls that are in that garden.

I shared some photos of the Chihuly Glass Museum earlier this week here.

Thank you to Amy at Love Made My Home and to Susanne for Friday’s Fave Five for hosting these Friday parties.

After I took my sister to the airport on Monday for her to flight back home we’ve been getting our winter pruning done at this old house. The Pear tree is done and the apple tree is half done. I finally trimmed the lavender way back the way I was told to do and my hydrangeas are trimmed, too. A local garden store is having a Hellebore event this Saturday with a discount on them and I’m thinking of adding another variety to my current plant. We have a quiet weekend except for the Super Bowl game on Sunday.

Our church has a great Super Bowl themed Sunday with 2 pastors going head to head in a sermon battle. Don’t know yet if we’ll have guests here to watch the game yet. Hope you all have a great Friday and weekend ahead!

My Friday thankfuls #1 thankful for sister time. #2 thankful for talented artists. #3 thankful for accomplishing yearly chores. #4 thankful for quiet weekends. #5 thankful for my church family.

Mother Theresa on Abortion~ My Five

Friday January 27th is the Right to Life March 2017 in Washington D.C. The theme is The Power of One. I’m one blogger who wants to bring attention to the march. I’m sharing this quote from Mother Theresa and four more thoughts.

“But I feel that the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a war against the child – a direct killing of the innocent child – murder by the mother herself. And if we accept that a mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another? How do we persuade a woman not to have an abortion? As always, we must persuade her with love, and we remind ourselves that love means to be willing to give until it hurts. Jesus gave even his life to love us. So the mother who is thinking of abortion, should be helped to love – that is, to give until it hurts her plans, or her free time, to respect the life of her child. The father of that child, whoever he is, must also give until it hurts. By abortion, the mother does not learn to love, but kills even her own child to solve her problems. And by abortion, the father is told that he does not have to take any responsibility at all for the child he has brought into the world. That father is likely to put other women into the same trouble. So abortion just leads to more abortion. Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching the people to love, but to use any violence to get what they want. That is why the greatest destroyer of love and peace is abortion. ”
~ Mother Theresa

2. Today as a woman I cannot stay silent on this issue. I agree wholeheartedly with Mother Theresa! My choice is to speak up now and stop sticking my head in the sand on this issue.

3. I have heard from dear women who were lied to about the need to abort their babies and have suffered deeply because of it.

4. This act is not a good choice for women. For many it’s a hard choice, very hard, but it’s not a good choice. It will not bring peace to the situation. It will haunt you forever. Give your dear baby up for adoption over abortion. This choice will go well for you.

5. Dear one, If you have already aborted a baby in your past please know that God loves you and offers forgiveness and peace to you, too. This peace comes through what Jesus did for us on the cross. He died for all our failings and poor judgement and offers peace with God through forgiveness of our sins. Choose this life with God through his dear son Jesus Christ and enjoy his peace and love and joy.

So thankful that these and many more were not aborted but were allowed to be born and thrive albeit with struggles and challenges along the way.

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

First Five…

My first Five on Friday, Friday’s Fave Five, and Foodie Friday and Everything Else for 2017.

I saw and bought this delightful looking book because of it’s cover. Who could resist the inviting illustrations?

I bought it for just over $2.00 at Goodwill.

Part One: Childhood, Part Two: Country Life, Part Three: Pepperidge Farm, Part Four: Cooking From Antique Cookbooks, Part Five: Ireland.

There are great stories, recipes and illustrations throughout the book. Dear has been reading segments to me that he has found to be interesting and entertaining about the history of Pepperidge Farms. Here’s a quote from the end of the Foreword, “Few things are more rewarding to a woman than that happy feeling she has when she knows that the food she has prepared with love and interest brings pleasure to her family, served in a setting more important than any glamorous restaurant-dinner at home!”

This last photo I’m sharing is of my youngest sister with my dear old Pop on Christmas Eve. My mom would be pleased he thought to put a red shirt on. His shirt pocket has envelopes filled with a little cash for his kids, grandkids, and great grands. He’s not interested in having any money left in his accounts when he heads to heaven!

It’s safe to say my Pop has no treasures stored up on this earth but his Bible, the chair he loves and his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Thank you to Amy, Susanne and Michael Lee for hosting these Friday memes.

My Dear hooked up our new equipment from Xfinity to replace our old slow equipment and I’m so happy that everything is working great and all went smoothly. Hooray! You all know the tension when the good ole internet does not function properly for bloggers! Happy weekend to all of you.

We Have Fallen, A Leaf’s Perspective…

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

You can just blow us off somewhere unless…

…we get stuck in the nooks and crannies.

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

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

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

You 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.

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, ²⁰where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

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….

Early Fall Favorites…

We’re home from our week long trip to Shipshewana, Indiana and Sugarcreek, Ohio for the Showings of the Mennonite Girls Can Cook Comedy Play. It was such an interesting area filled with things we don’t see everyday in the Seattle Area.

We were sorry to have to miss the annual Crafter’s Fall Fair that started after we moved from Indiana to Ohio. One of the nice treats on this Mennonite Girls Can Cook trip was that most of our husbands came along for the ride and it was good to have their support.

Fourteen of us arrived on Saturday night to Shipshe and on Sunday, our only full free day, we took the Heritage Trail driving tour of the Amish/Mennonite countryside. We fit into three cars for the tour and Harv and Bev came along with Dear and me. We had lots of stop on a dime moments and the cameras were snapping away.

These corn horse photos were taken at the very end of the tour after we had come full circle.

#BlueGateCornHorses

Thank you Lord for:

1. A good safe trip driving many miles in the countryside. 2. Uneventful flights to and from Detroit. 3. Beautiful scenery. 4. Our kids who dropped us off at the airport and picked us up at the airport. 5. Good times with friends during this trip.

This is a bonus thankful link that comes from Rattlebridge Farm on How to Be a Happy Blogger. I found it to be very encouraging.

I’m linking up with Susanne at Friday’s Fave Five , Amy’s Five on Friday., and Rattlebridge Farm for Foodie Friday and Everything Else.

To all my Canadian friends that come here today I’m wishing you a very Happy Thanksgiving weekend and Thanksgiving Day on Monday!

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage

Category Archives: Five on Friday