Category Archives: Flashbacks

World Cup Fever Hodgepodge

Ole Ole Ole, it’s time for World Cup and for Wednesday Hodgepodge! Thank you, Joyce.

1. June 17th, 1994 was the day of the infamous O.J. Simpson car chase. What were you doing in 1994? I’m guessing somebody is going to tell me they weren’t born yet but that’s part of the fun of the Hodgepodge. Lots of generations are represented here. 

In June of 1994 we traveled to Southern California to stay with family and take in all we could of the World Cup. I’m sure we were on the same freeways O.J. was on during our time in L.A., the Santa Ana freeway and the 405!  I know we watched it on TV.

Back to the more important reason we were in the greater LA area. Our boys and I found the USA World cup training center and met some of the players. Then we found the hotel the team was staying in and our sons worked hard to get signatures on the team poster our oldest son bought. They managed to get every signature of the people in the poster except for one trainer/coach who wasn’t in Southern California.

If I remember correctly Josh got a 3 or 4 game package deal and Dan got 1. The prices were very reasonable compared to today.

2. What’s your favorite summer salad that isn’t the traditional tossed green lettuce kind of salad? 
Click below to see the recipe.
Do you like fresh fruit in a salad (other than in a fruit salad of course)?
I enjoy strawberries or pears in a green salad with the right dressing and cheese to compliment and roasted walnuts or shaved almonds…
3. Is chivalry dead? Should it be? 
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No and no. It is always a pleasure to enjoy chivalry or witness it.
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4. Would you rather spend a week of your summer vacation in Hawaii or Alaska?
I’ll say Hawaii because there are fewer bugs.
Have you ever been to either?
We have been to Hawaii but not Alaska.
Are they two places you really would like to see?
No
How do you feel about ‘Hawaiian pizza’ aka pineapple on a pizza?
Nyet, No, Nine
Have you ever eaten Baked Alaska?
I think I have but I couldn’t tell you where or when.
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 5. World Cup play is happening now…are you interested?
Very interested. And for the record I’m interested in soccer all the time not just for World Cup.
Watching any matches?
I’ve watched them all to one degree or another. Some I’ve watched every minute others I watched parts of .
Did you or your children play soccer/futbol?
All three of our children played. Our sons played for their school varsity teams and on traveling teams, too. Our sons also worked as referees for our community leagues and for indoor games, too.
And now, our Grands are playing soccer.

There are eleven US cities hosting matches-

–Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York with the stadium in NJ, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Seattle
 along with  three cities in Mexico (Guadalajara, Mexico City and Monterrey)
and two in Canada (Toronto and Vancouver)-

You get free tickets to one of these matches. Which city do you choose? Tell us why. 

Seattle, because it would be the easiest stadium for us to reach.

Our son and daughter-in-love are attending the USA v. Australia game this Friday in Seattle!

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Dan’s ticket that he purchased from his soccer coach was for a game in Stanford. Dan and I traveled from the LA area up to Stanford for the game. The game was on June 24, 1994. And yes, we traveled those same freeways O.J. did. 🙂

I’m behind and the way things are going it will be a while for me to get my mojo back.

I hope to get around to see y’all.

Cambridge~ Monday March 9th

I’m working on finishing off my posts about our days in Cambridge. These posts are from Monday March 9th.

I’ve already posted about our early morning walk and seeing the famous clock here.

And I also posted about our lunch at The Eagle and all about it’s history here.

On this same day we visited the beautiful Wren Library.

From the Wren Library we continued on enjoying ‘the backs’. ‘The Backs’ is an area to the east of Queen’s Road in the city of Cambridge, England, where several colleges of the University of Cambridge back on to the River Cam with their grounds covering both banks of the river.

St. John’s College

1776 & 1779 William Wilberforce and Thomas Clarkson begin their studies at St John’s. Joining forces in 1787, they will spend the rest of their lives leading the campaign to abolish the slave trade and slavery

1787 William Wordsworth arrives as a 17-year-old Cumbrian undergraduate.  With his sympathy for the common man and love of nature, he becomes a central figure in shaping English Romanticism and perhaps our most famed alumnus

This is a photo of the back of the building where the Wren Library is housed.

Punting along the river Cam which is a major tourist draw. We did not choose to take a ride.

Signs like this were all along the sidewalk along Queen’s Road.

We made our way along the road for our destination for refreshment and along the way we saw many signs of the promise of Spring.

We were beat by the time we found the Pickerel Inn which is now a traditional public house established in 1608.

After our treat we walked back to our lodgings just a short .3 miles from the Pickerel.

The dish towels in our kitchenette had this saying on them.

The door signs made us chuckle, too.

We stayed in for this evening after it seemed we were walking all the day long.

We were looking forward to being able to make our own coffee in our room on Tuesday morning since we purchased a French Press and coffee while out and about this day.

Reviving

Seattle July 3, 2007.

I’ve been blogging since March of 2007. There was an interim of time that I was using Photobucket for uploading and storing my photos. At some point in time they wanted to charge me more money than I wanted to spend to keep my photos. At that point many of my older photos vanished from my blog posts. I’ve been able to regain access to many of the photos and from time to time I will be posting some oldies but goodies. It is mind boggling for me at this point to try to go back to old posts and replace the photos.  This will be my way of reviving some photos from years gone by.

Camarillo July 30, 2007.

In 2007 we still had our home in Kenmore, Washington but were living in Camarillo, California for Greg’s work. We lived in a small Condo and I had a lot of time on my hands. Blogging became a hobby that kept me busy and engaged in the world around me. Photography was a by product of blogging and it is something I’ve always enjoyed.

This was taken in July of 2007, also. This was one of our regular Mexican Restaurant haunts in Camarillo.

Ha! This was also the beginning as a blogger of taking photos of food. Chuckle with me fellow bloggers!

Alaska Airlines was my transport from Seattle to LAX and from LAX back to SEATAC.

 

Saturday morning walks on the beaches of Ventura County became our routine. There were many sunrise walks.

That’s enough of reviving for now. Back to the present, nineteen years later! We still love Mexican food! Hope all is well in your corner. We are still in our foggy soggy pattern here in Colville. We are hearing of some snow in the forecast, though. Enjoy your day!

 

A Deep Hodgepodge

This photo from January of 2016 (10 years ago) was from a few days spent in San Francisco while Greg was at an Oncology Conference. The words below the first photo are about that day in 2016.

Alice day S.F 030

Today was a full day of sight seeing with an old friend from my college days who grew up in San Francisco. She happens to be Russian/Chinese and knows the city well. We had several stops and enjoyed lunch and shopping in China Town where everyone is getting ready for the Chinese New Year. I don’t think I need to tell anyone what bridge they are looking at in my photo…

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My friend, Alice, at our delicious lunch in Chinatown. She did the ordering. My friend passed away in 2018.

Back to…

…Another winter Hodgepodge with a flashback to ten years ago thanks to Joyce From This Side of the Pond.

1. Ice skating, skiing, sledding, snowshoeing, playing in the snow, or a snowy walk…which winter activity do you choose? Have you done any of these activities so far this winter? 

Nothing this winter. We have not had any measurable snow this season.

At this stage of life, the only winter activity I would choose are the walking kind.

When we have a good dump of snow I have gone out our door to snowshoe. This is from 2019.

This one is from 2022.

2. Everyone is posting pictures from ten years ago on their social media sites so let’s jump on the bandwagon too. Share one photo and one thought to go with said photo from the year 2016. And maybe everyone isn’t doing this, but many are and we’re going to be part of the fun. 

This was one of the best memories of 2016! This is the photo that was shared with us and I shared it on the Hodgepodge with the words below the photo.

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We have the best of news that we have permission to share now with the world. Dear and I are grandparents for the first time and will  be able to see our new little granddaughter for the first time in person sometime in March or April of 2017 depending on when she pops out. Even though our little granddaughter is not born yet we consider her our granddaughter already as God is wonderfully forming her right now.
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At the end of 2016, this review of the year from July to December was published on my blog. What a year!
~

3. What’s a trend you hope disappears in this new year? 

Stalking, attacking and verbally assaulting Law Enforcement.

4. ‘They’ say there’s a day for everything and January 21st proves it. National Granola Bar Day. Do you like granola bars? How about just regular granola? Do you like bars of other kinds? 

I’ll have one if I’m desperate but they aren’t something that is purchased and available in my pantry. I do enjoy granola as a cereal with milk.

5.  A frozen lake, a trickling stream, a raging river, or a deep well…which one describes something about your life right now? Elaborate as much or as little as you like. 

A deep well. There is so much to learn that I do not know. So much to see that I haven’t seen. So much about God that I do not know. I believe the ache to know more, see more and do more comes from a deep longing from our inner being that wants to see God as He is. It is a hard thing to explain. Someday that will be a reality. Until then I’ll keep digging in God’s truth and in the world God created for us to enjoy and give glory to God in the discoveries along the way that show me more of Him. My deep desire will become reality when I graduate to heaven.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Speaking of 2016, this is another amazing memory and experience we had in September/October of that year.

shipshe-laughing

The “Girls” and most of our husbands have just returned from a seven day trip to Indiana and Ohio to see a production using our name in Amish/Mennonite Country. The Blue Gate Productions hosted us and treated us as VIP’s. All ten of the girls were together at the Blue Gate Garden Inn where we enjoyed “Faspa” on Sunday night before we had our cooking show and saw the production for the first time. As you can see from the first photo above we have fun together.

heritage-tour-179

We took this opportunity to get some photos of all ten of us since Betty and Charlotte live in Manitoba and miss many of our get togethers in British Columbia and Seattle.

blue-gate

I shared many posts about our time in Amish Country. This is the initial one here.

Happy Wednesday, Hodgepodgers and all who stop by here.

Hello October Hodgepodge

Speaking of Southern Charm and September…

The Rhett House Inn, Beaufort S.C.

Hello October Hodgepodge. Thank you, Joyce!

1. What’s your favorite fall scent?

Vanilla with just a hint of cinnamon.

Would we find this in or around your home right now? 

No

2. October is Country Music Month…are you a fan of country music? Do you have a favorite country artist? Ever been to Nashville?

I enjoy country music but I do not have a favorite artist and I’ve never been to Nashville.

In terms of lifestyle are you more country mouse or city mouse? 

I was raised and lived the city mouse lifestyle for 67 out of my 74 years but I’m adjusting to the country mouse lifestyle. We moved to the country in 2018 and we are enjoying the country life. I have bonded with Wal-Mart. 🙂

3. How about ‘country cooking’? (loosely defined as rich flavors, familiar foods, large portions, often fried, and often associated with the southern region of the US of A)? 

Fried Green Tomatoes were delicious at a restaurant called Wren in South Carolina. Katie and I were in South Carolina in 2010 staying in Beaufort to attend Andrew’s graduation from Marine Boot Camp at Parris Island.

chicken and dumplings-fried chicken-shrimp and grits-biscuits and gravy-mac and cheese-fried green tomatoes-cornbread-collard or turnip greens-deviled eggs-‘barbecue’-gumbo-banana pudding 

Which of the foods listed is your favorite? 

I would say that barbecue, deviled eggs, cornbread, biscuits and gravy are favorites.

Any on the list you haven’t tried or would say a firm no thank you to if offered? 

I would be fine with eating any of the items on the list once in a while.

4. What’s something that always has a positive impact on your mood? 

Good Christian Worship Music and Hymns. Music speaks to my heart.

“May I be singing when the evening comes.”

5. As we say so long to September share a noun, a verb, and an adjective that tells us something about how that month looked for you.

September had some fun travel and joyful events but the horrific assassination of Charlie Kirk hit me hard. His Memorial service reaffirmed my great hope in God and our Savior, Jesus Christ.

noun: assassination ~~verb: travel ~~adjective: horrific

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

September of 2010 was a memorable one in our family.

The photo above is from the Parish Church of St. Helena in Beaufort, S.C.

This wonderful old church and graveyard were around the corner from our lodgings in Beaufort. (Photo at the top of this post) I took several photos here of the grounds and of the fresh in love couple!

Beaufort is a city on Port Royal Island, one of South Carolina’s coastal Sea Islands. It’s known for its antebellum mansions, especially in the downtown historic district.

Being at Parris Island and experiencing all the ceremonies involved with Andrew officially becoming a Marine were amazing and unforgettable.

Katie and I stayed in Beaufort while we attended Andrew’s graduation from Parris Island Marine Bootcamp in September of 2010. Later that month on September 29, 2010, Katie said yes to Andrew’s proposal of marriage. The photo below was taken on that evening.

We are looking forward to some special times in October starting this Saturday with Marcus Cider Fest! It was fun to turn the calendar page this morning.

Adieu to Summer Hodgepodge

A summer sea scape dinner party to celebrate the end of summer from our deck in our former home. This is also a nod to Addy’s creative under the sea outfit at the Feis. (End of post)

It’s time for Wednesday Hodgepodge and Joyce has a fresh batch of questions to prove it.

Dinner parties were mentioned in one of our questions so here are a collection of dinner parties from the past with the Mennonite Girls Can Cook in Canada.

1.  Are you more life of the party or more party pooper? If your answer is somewhere in the middle which side of the middle do you lean towards more? 

I think I’m a little above middle, more toward life than pooper. 🙂 I might be one of the first ones to say goodnight these days.

Birthday party, beach party, cocktail party, dinner party, charity fundraiser, surprise party, costume party, garden party, Christmas party, reunion...what’s your favorite kind of party? 

Dinner party and Christmas Party are my favorites!

2. Cheese, wine, and balsamic vinegar all improve with age. What would you personally add to the list? 

Personally I believe human beings, relationships, marriage, and friendships should all improve with age. Most importantly, my faith and trust in Christ should improve with age and I should be more like Christ each new year. This is challenging and humbling and something I’d never attain to without the Holy Spirit, our Helper.

3. How do you feel about your birthday? How do you want to be celebrated? Or don’t you? 

I enjoy my birthday regardless of fanfare. I do enjoy having special meals with loved ones to celebrate my birthday. I’m past needing or wanting gifts other than good times with family and friends. A card or note or text is gift enough.

4. What remarkable feat, interesting piece of trivia, or historical event occurred on your birth day and month? Not necessarily your same birth year, just the same date/month. 

March 14th: It is Pi (π) day, 3.14.

In 1942 Anne Miller became the first American patient to be treated with Penicillin on this day.

5. Share two good things about your life right now. 

Right now my health is good (I do have some typical old lady aches and pains) and my life in the country is good. I’m where I’m supposed to be. It is so good to be in the same town as our grandchildren.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

On Friday I’ll share more about Addy’s first Irish Feis!

This outfit isn’t representative of an Irish Feis but it played a special role in a creative dance challenge (Water, Under the Sea) at the end of the festival (feis).

Flashback Friday~Butchart Gardens

In August of 2009 Greg, Katie and I managed a one day journey from Washington State to Butchart Gardens. When I had a glitch with Photobucket all my photos from early days with my blog were deleted. It’s quite a task to revive those posts. My photos have been recently recovered and I’ll share the photos I have from  our one day epic trip in 2009 here.

On Tuesday (August 4, 2009) we left our house at 6:00 am and headed north to Anacortes to catch the 8:15 ferry to Sydney, Vancouver Island, B.C. Our ferry ride through the San Juan Islands was very foggy and misty for most of the way. At first it was hard to make out the islands till you got very close. Towards the end of the trip the skies lightened up. Vancouver Island was nice and sunny. We made it to Butchart Gardens after stopping for breakfast along the way.

First things first before touring the Gardens… Katie learned that she needs sunblock or else she’ll burn like a marshmallow in a campfire.

Katie was really intrigued by the Chilean Rhubarb that grows 6-10 feet tall. I zoomed way in to try to capture it. Katie is sure you could float down a river on one of the leaves! :0)

A little blue from Butchart Gardens. It always makes me smile to see blue flowers. The stained glass window was from the Blue Poppy Restaurant in the gardens.

From the Ferry in Sydney on our way to Butchart Gardens we stopped at a restaurant called The Roost which had great freshly made food. I opted for their sandwich special with Beet Borsch on the side. The sandwich was a chicken, cheese, basil, tomato, red onion and Portobello mushroom. Dear had the same sandwich but with a Roasted Yam and cilantro soup. Katie ordered the 3 cheese quiche with a garden salad. We would go back to this spot if we ever ferry across from Anacortes to Sydney again. After we walked about Butchart Gardens and on our way into Victoria we stopped in Oak Bay and were happy to stumble upon the Penny Farthing where we enjoyed some traditional Fish & Chips and Lamb Stew.

It’s too bad we had to be in the ferry line for 90 minutes prior to our trip back to the states or we could have fit in one more good meal on the Island!

We traveled on the Black Ball ferry out of Victoria to Port Angeles to get home. From Port Angeles we had to make it to Kingston, Washington before the last ferry set sail at 11:10 pm. We were so thankful to make it on time and to be in our beds by 12:30 am!

It’s incredible to me that we managed this trip in one day back in 2009. We were still living in Camarillo, California during this time and we enjoyed coming back to our home in Washington and spending as much time as we could with our adult children.

Tea ~ Fullerton

Welcome to Tea Time 2025. These posts will be about Tea Rooms we’ve been to, Teas we’ve given for friends and family, Church Tea events, and High Tea in restaurants from 2008 to the present. Tea in the U.S.A., Tea in England and Tea in Canada. Many of the Tea Rooms are no longer in business, which is sad.

This post was from October 17th of 2009. That was sixteen years ago!

Southern California is having a weather event and we are HOT HOT HOT. Back in April of 2009 my family planned a nice afternoon at the Rose Tree Cottage in Pasadena for my mother’s 85th birthday. It was a disappointing day for my mom because she fell on an uneven sidewalk when she arrived and had to spend the afternoon and evening at the hospital instead of having tea.

My mother giving us some words of wisdom at her birthday tea in 2007.

We decided it was high time to get together for tea again and thought we’d have some nice Fall weather for our get together. Well it’s Fall but we are having some summer weather. This time my mom, all my sisters, a SIL, nieces, and little grand niece are gathering in Fullerton. We’re praying for an accident free day!

Half the ladies in my family met for tea yesterday in Fullerton, California. We had the Senior member of our family, our 85 year old mom and the youngest member of our family, our 1 month old Grand Niece/Great Granddaughter in attendance.

The venue was the Spring Tea Garden in Fullerton, California. We were treated well during our time there.

Avery was born September 17th

This venue is still open for events.

That was 16 years ago which means this Fall our Grandniece Avery will be turning 16!

Choo Choo Train Hodgepodge

Our second born, Dan, enjoying his Choo Choo Train engine at his 3rd birthday celebration.

It’s time my friend for another Hodgepodge thanks to Joyce From this Side of the Pond.

1. What do birthdays look like in your house? How are they celebrated? Any special traditions?

We always tried to have a special celebration for each of our children on their birthdays. Their first birthday was an extended family and friend event with lots of adults and kids. As the years progressed birthdays morphed. After having the inspiration to have a Choo Choo train cake for Dan’s 3rd birthday, it became a special tradition for him.

The photo above is from his 5th birthday celebration.

From Dan’s 19th birthday celebration.

When Dan met Jamie and before they were married, she made him a Choo Choo Train cake for one of his birthdays. This next cake was her idea, too, at his 40th birthday celebration in Arizona.

Dan’s 40th birthday Pokeman choo choo train cake.

What about birthdays growing up? 

Birthdays were celebrated growing up but they were not the over the top brand of today. Simple cake and ice cream. Sometimes there was a gift and sometimes there was not a gift. One unique thing my parents did for my older sisters and me was to buy us a special birthstone ring for our 16th birthday.

2. Someone is sending you a dozen roses…what color are you hoping for?

I enjoy roses with subtle color, not the bold reds or yellows. You don’t have to send me roses but do bring a bouquet from your garden, please.

 Are you someone who gets accused of seeing the world through rose colored glasses? Is your accuser correct? Elaborate. 

I would say that I lean toward black and white, not rose colored. I’m more of a realist and less of a poet. Saying that, I do choose joy and am filled with hope for a future in heaven that far exceeds anything on this earth. I will be upbeat and have a smile on my face in many circumstances of life.

3. June 4th is National Cheese Day…will you celebrate? What’s something (besides a burger) you make in the summer months that calls for cheese? 

There is nothing specific that calls for cheese but we’ll add cheese to egg scrambles, burritos, tacos, and some salads.

Summer reminds me of Bible Camp and Bible Camp reminds me of the classic grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato soup!

4. ’tis the season…any weddings on your June calendar?

No June weddings on our calendar.

What’s the first word that comes to mind when I say marriage? 

It was a jumble of words because of our current climate where the marriage covenant has been so mistreated and undermined and attacked. It’s not a surprise since marriage was ordained by God and the model is His model. The original is the standard, a man and a woman, leaving mother and father, becoming one in marriage. I believe in the Word of God, the Bible, and what it has to say about marriage.

Mark 10:6-9

But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.

This is a great month to celebrate and affirm marriage as God intended. Marriage reflects Christ and His Bride, the church.

Ephesians 5:31-33 ~Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is profound, and I am saying it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

5. What are you most looking forward to this June? 

Having our epic garage sale behind us. The dates for this sale keep shifting but we hope to get it accomplished by July!

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

The above photo is from a Happy Birthday meal on the Westside for Greg in 2024 just before we flew to Scotland for more celebrations.

From September of 2024 through April of 2025, we celebrated all 10 of our ‘family’ birthdays.

We sing, we blow out candles, we eat cake or pie, we gift, and most of all we love and affirm one another on birthdays and other days, too.

“The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.”

Tea ~ Country Village

Welcome to Tea Time 2025. These posts will be about Tea Rooms we’ve been to, Teas we’ve given for friends and family, Church Tea events, and High Tea in restaurants from 2008 to the present. Tea in the U.S.A., Tea in England and Tea in Canada. Many of the Tea Rooms are no longer in business, which is sad.

Back to the year 2008 and to Madam Fifi’s with more of our family.

After our very successful trip to Goodwill the ladies arrived at Madam Fifi’s Tea Room at Country Village in Bothell for an Afternoon Tea. This was the day after Thanksgiving in 2008.

Madam Fifi (Christine) had our lovely room all ready for us. The usual after Thanksgiving Goodwill shoppers were in attendance and this year we inducted Pat (my DIL Laura’s mother) into the group. Katie, Laura, my sister Lana, sister-in-law Letty, Pat and me for tea.

We each chose our tea and enoyed a relaxing time.

Our sandwiches, scones, clotted cream, lemon curd, and sweets were divine!