Category Archives: Flowering Plants

Simple Joys

It is the sweetest experience to be doing my regular shopping in town and having these two find me in the store with a big hug! Simple but a very special joy for me.

It is also so sweet to enjoy flowers that pop up year after year that I had no hand in planting!

We had a wild thunderstorm come through on Friday morning! We had lightning and thunder and a good soaking of our planters. I’m happy when God does the watering for me!

During our heat wave which is continuing this week it was a good exercise to finish this summertime puzzle.

On Saturday afternoon, JJ had a Taekwondo exhibition at Yep Kanum Park.

It was time for the Yep Kanum Park Celebration in Colville, the celebration will bring neighbors and visitors together from July 17-19, 2026, for a vibrant weekend of activities. Attendees can enjoy live music performances, local artisan markets, food vendors, and family-friendly events. This year’s celebration promises to be a wonderful celebration including performances by musicians, local artists, a classic car show, a youth baseball tournament, a pickleball tournament, and plenty of entertainment for all ages.

JJ gave a demonstration of his kick that split the wood in two. I have a video of that but I’m not able to share it here.

On Sunday after church we enjoyed the finale of the World Cup with Spain defeating Argentina. I’m one who has enjoyed every World Cup soccer game despite the teams I was cheering for coming up short. We were rooting for Spain in the end and were happy for their accomplishment.

I’ve been following ‘Drew Cooks‘ on Facebook and we enjoyed two of his recipes on Sunday.

Blueberry biscuits were very good. We also enjoyed chicken thighs in the crockpot with a soy sauce, brown sugar, green onion, garlic, and ginger. Delicious!

Our area is experiencing wild fires with smoke making our outdoor spaces unhealthy. We can identify with those of you on the east coast experiencing smoky skies and hard to breathe air. Praying for our firefighters!

Last and least, it is always fun to spot these frogs in our yard, as long as they stay in the yard!

How was your weekend and what does this new week hold for you?

July at Home

Summer has arrived in our corner of the world. On Friday evening our A/C stopped pumping cold air into our home. Of course it was after hours which means we won’t be able to schedule a service call until Monday after 8am (today). We have had the windows open and are enjoying the summer breezes. Thankfully the air has been fresh without the fertilizer and other natural livestock scents dominating the air!

Our July views prompt gratitude and thanksgiving to our God who created all things for us to enjoy.

lavender

We have a new umbrella this year and we’ve had to put extra weights on the base even though it’s supposedly a 40 lb. base. Before we added the weight the umbrella had tried to fly away.

Bee Balm

Coneflowers

Hosta

Bluebells or a relative?

Day lilies

The baby swallows have exited their nests and learned to fly.

We have several Quail families roaming our acres with babies, toddlers, and teen quail in tow. They always make us smile. There is always a scout quail that chooses a higher position to warn the other quail of any danger.

Deer have been more sporadic.

Hopefully before the morning ends we’ll have a scheduled HVAC appointment for this week!!

Busy Butterfly

We have a very busy Saturday and Sunday this weekend.

We are flitting about like this butterfly from one activity to another.

The Swallowtail enjoys this plant.

I think it’s a Tiger Swallowtail.

We have Taekwondo Promotion, Taco Salad Dinner, Irish Dance Recital, overnight out of town guests, Church, Lunch, Irish Dance Recital, Pulled Pork Sandwich Dinner and more!

Whew!

I did manage to finish this puzzle before things got real busy.

I’m glad it was a thrift store bargain with all the pieces included. The quality of the pieces and the way the pieces fit was a bit of a challenge. I’ll offer it for sale at the Community Garage Sale we are part of at the end the of this new week coming up.

Speaking of puzzles…

These two finished up the puzzle I started with them over Memorial Weekend. It was a fun one to work on. We almost finished it before their parents got home from Montana. I’m glad they put the last pieces in. Looks like someone wants to put in the very last piece.

If you don’t see any comments from me on your weekend posts, you’ll know why.

May Endings

Spring rain has been a theme here these last days of May. We also had thunder and an epic lightning show on Thursday night of last week. Epic in that it lit up the surroundings as if it was daytime. It lasted several hours and we had never experienced anything like it before. There was dry thunder, too, if that’s a thing.

It hasn’t been easy getting mowing and weed wacking in since we’ve been dodging the rainy days and waiting for some dryness in between the storms.

Plans are afoot to transfer the pergola/patio structure up onto the deck instead of leaving it below. Before that progresses we needed to pressure wash the deck. One thing leads to another.

Hooray for a clean deck. It has been several years and we were happy the pressure washer stayed on for the job after several cranks to get-er-going. We won’t be giving it a fresh coat of stain this year.

Our plants and weeds are thriving! The pink peony bush tripled in size from last year!

The butterflies especially love this bush, a relative to a lilac?

This clematis looks the best in the 8 years we’ve lived here.

Columbines have taken over!

The yellow ones are the hardiest and pop up in new places every year.

Farewell to May and hello to June.

This will be a busy week into the weekend. We have an Irish Dance Recital Saturday and Sunday to attend with out of town overnighters staying here!

How’s the first week of June shaping up for you?

Early May Days Hodgepodge

May the hodgepodge questions entertain your brain, thank you to Joyce.

1. What’s something you may do this month?

Drop some pounds…

2. Hola! Hodgepodge Day lands just after Cinco de Mayo… how do you feel about Mexican food? What’s your favorite dish? Do you make it at home or is it a strictly dine out option?

Mexican food might be my comfort food. I don’t think I have an absolute favorite dish out but we choose the restaurant on whether they make a good salsa which is always served up with chips on the table. We do make some dishes at home like tacos, enchiladas, quesadillas, guacamole, pico de gallo and margaritas.

3. When the children of today grow up what do you think they’ll say about this time period? What do you most hope they remember?

I think Covid will be something they will never forget not only because of the sickness and lives lost but also all the false information and lies circling around that time that were devastating to relationships and mental health.

I want our Grands to remember the rich time they have had learning about God’s love for them and all the love that their parents, uncles, aunts and grandparents showered on them, too.

4. What advice would you give a new mother?

Cherish all the seasons of growth and find joy in the current season even if it is a difficult one.

It is okay and beneficial in many circumstances to say NO.

5. What’s a phrase your mother often said to you? If you’re a mom do you say it to your own children?

No phrase from my mother comes to me. I’ll ask my siblings if they can remember anything.

Now that I’ve read some of your answers for this question, I do remember a phrase that we heard growing up. It was in Russian but the gist was “It will heal by the time you are married!” I might have said this same thing a few times…

6. Insert your own random thought here.

May already has given us lots to enjoy and it’s only been around for 6 days!

An overnight visit from Uncle and Auntie!

We were able to cast a live you-tube of our Great Nephew’s Senior Composition Recital.

We were all blown away by his talent.

Graduation is this Friday.

Hope that your May has started out well, Hodgepodgers and other visitors here!

Everyday Images #73

October Prompts – Everyday Images #73
I’m linking up with Kim from A Fresh Cup of Coffee for Everyday Images/October Prompts
~~~~~
More photos, less words.
leaf or leaves
at home (monthly)
harvest
gold as in golden anniversary
doorway (quarterly)
on my plate (quarterly)
Something that is on my plate this time of year is clearing out the flower beds in front and back of our property.
We have company coming today from Southern California and are looking forward to time to catch up with each other. My computer time will be limited.

Catch Up Saturday

We had a nice Independence Day and we enjoyed texts with photos from our loved ones here in Washington, in California and in Texas. I’ll share some of those on Monday.

The rest of these photos are catch ups from the past couple of weeks.

These little Pansies (Johnny Jump Ups) pop up all over our acreage. I suppose you could call them wild.

We had a de-constructed Chicken Pot Pie for a meal. It is a simpler way to enjoy a nice crisp crust and the filling. When we buy a Costco chicken I take the meat off the bones immediately and freeze portions in quart size freezer bags for quick meals later.

This buck caught me looking at him.

A couple Wednesdays ago, Greg helped Dan butcher the last two of the three sheep Dan bought for meat. It was an all day project!

Josh and Laura were proud to represent the colors they stand behind at a soccer game.

Didn’t want to forget the traditional photo for our Colville kids’ anniversary that they take each year and added two more from their getaway at the end of June. They enjoyed a meal at Baba’s (no relation to this Baba 🙂 ).

Our daughter attended a Medieval Castle wedding and shared some photos. The wedding was during work hours so Katie and her friend attended without their husbands (they were able to get time off from their jobs). They enjoyed their time and all the medieval touches.

Our beautiful daughter.

Speaking of castles, this is one of the latest puzzles I completed and it is going straight to the garage sale pile. I love the result but the pieces were all cut into shapes that were too varied and too brain teasing. I bought it for $3.99 at Goodwill and was happy that there were no missing pieces. Hooray.

The lavender plants are in their glory and the fragrance can’t be beat.

Happy Saturday everyone. The weird thing is that every day this week felt like a Saturday to me.

Colors of Summer

Bell Flowers

Purple Campanula

July is coming in hot! Today is predicted to be the hottest day this week, 97F. How are things in your corner of the world?

Happy Canada Day to our neighbors in the North! 

Reminders from our Sunday sermon: Fight the good fight, the good spiritual fight. Don’t fight the wrong fight.  Salvation is by grace alone, by faith alone, through Christ alone. Stay faithful to the Gospel. Rest on the Gospel not your good works. We are not saved by our good behavior or good works. Bad doctrine and bad behavior go together. Don’t violate your conscience. Your faith and your conscience are not separable.

I was saved when God called me and I asked forgiveness for my sins and put my faith on the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Son of God, who died on the cross for my sins, rose from the dead, and is my Lord and Savior. He paid the penalty I could not pay and I am eternally grateful.

Hello Summer Views and News

We’ve had a mix of blue skies and rain showers for the beginning of summer. It has been a banner year for our clematis varieties.

The yellow day lilies are always the first of the lilies to bloom.

Addy and JJ had fun at Golf Camp. We visited the camp on Wednesday held at the Chewelah Golf and Country Club.

On Thursday they were able to play nine holes of golf.

On the other side of the mountains, the Seattle Sounders had tournament games with international teams and Josh and Laura were able to attend.

Our kids had uninvited visitors on their mountain. The farmer/rancher was called to lead this girl back home…but she must have told her friends that the grass was greener here because later in the day this crew arrived. There are fencing repairs needed by the owner of these cows.

We finally decided to give this Mexican restaurant a try since the ownership and management changed. We gave it a thumbs up. For our small town with limited restaurants it’s interesting that we have three Mexican Restaurants.

We are still enjoying the many shades of green with pops of color on our property.

We had some rain on Saturday and on Sunday in the late afternoon we had thunderstorms and a real good soak.

This Monday morning would be a great time to do some weeding since the soil is very wet and softer than usual.

Quote of the week:

“Never start with your problems. Never! Never start with earth; never start with men. Always start in heaven; always start with God.”
(Martin Lloyd-Jones, Seeking the Face of God: Nine Reflections on the Psalms)
Psalm 71:1 In you, O LORD, do I take refuge…

Sorry to See Spring Go Hodgepodge

Last week it was time for the white peonies. This week it is time for the pink peonies and they are my favorites!

Wednesday Hodgepodge with thanks to Jo From This Side of the Pond.

1. Summer officially begins this week (in the northern hemisphere)…what was your favorite thing to do in the summer when you were a kid?

We grew up in Southern California so a favorite was going to the beach. Newport Beach in California was where extended family gathered. I remember scouring the beach for soda bottles and turning them in for the deposit at a store and buying a treat, ice cream or a candy bar.

What do you like most about summer now? 

Visits from family. Watching the Grands at their summer sports.

First golf, then swimming and lastly soccer.

2.  Something you’ll celebrate this summer? 

The 4th of July is the traditional day we celebrate in the summer. I love to pull out my bins filled with red, white and blue decor starting in June.

3. Summer tastes like? Smells like? Sounds like?

Taste~Watermelon

Smell~Lavender

Sounds~Mosquitoes buzzing around my head

4. June 18th is National Splurge Day…what’s the last thing you splurged on? 

My old riding mower died and we bought this new beauty.

What might you splurge on today? 

Not today but tomorrow I’m splurging on a massage.

5. Share a favorite summer quote, saying, song lyric, or meme. 

When I was younger it would be ‘Schools out for the summer’.

These days it will be ‘Where’s the shade?’

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

By next week the Peonies will have wilted away so here are some more for today.

Thank you for visiting today!