Daffodils

Like sunflowers daffodils make me smile. I have yet to track some down this year to brighten up the house.

Maybe I’ll find some today.

March has been calm around here so far but plans are afoot for the middle of the month and beyond. Tomorrow we will be watching the grands while D & J help a friend in Spokane with a move.

I’m enjoying the senior workouts by Yes2next on Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays and I’m looking to add something different by them for Tuesdays and Thursdays. I like that the daughter\mom team have voices that are easy to listen to. I’m not a fan of loud screeching instructions.

The owl jigsaw puzzle is still on the dining room table and I’ve made some progress but it continues to be a tough one.

The electrical is mostly done in the shop and Dear has lights, lots of them. Soon he’ll start in on drywalling the ceiling. The temps have been above freezing which makes it easier to work in the shop without heat. Toe warmers and battery warming gloves also add to the comfort of working in the cold.

Other than watching our grands we will have a quiet weekend. How about you?

More Lockdowns…

We learned while we were at church this morning of the new lockdowns that our governor is instigating. We are concerned for the restaurants in our area and how they will survive this latest mandate. After church we headed to El Ranchito in Chewelah to support them with this next looming mandate. The above photo is on our drive home from Chewelah to Colville.

We will keep trying to buy local and keep our businesses afloat during this difficult time.

I would really enjoy a hot tub right about now as I’m sure many small business owners would enjoy, too.

In the meantime we will be thankful for all the luxuries afforded to us living in the country.

Here I sit pain free with all the comforts of home which makes me cry out to God for those we know right now who are suffering in hospitals, after surgeries, one with COVID and others enduring chemotherapy treatments and their side effects that are so painful. And another who will have a procedure on Monday. God almighty and the God of all comfort and to the God who heals I pray for Ruth, Tom, Barbara, Kristin and Melissa. Heal and hold and encourage each one.

Our Father who art in heaven…what a privilege to bring our requests to you…

Good News from North Carolina

We got some good news from North Carolina on Thursday. Dear’s niece got engaged. We are hoping to be able to travel to the wedding when we get the invite with time and place. We know the wedding will be in North Carolina. The collage above is from Katie and my trip across the U.S. to get her to North Carolina in time for her Marine husband to return from Afghanistan in 2014. We stopped in Asheville for a night and enjoyed a delicious meal on the Sunset Terrace at this hotel.

This is Dear’s older and only brother. I took this photo at our mom’s funeral in 2013. It’s his daughter Kacie who is now engaged to Chris. Terry is married to Christina and they have 3 daughters. Kacie is the youngest of the three.

Our kids just met up with Kacie and her sister Annie in California in January. These four happened to all be in California at the same time and carved out some time to meet up and get caught up. Kacie is standing between Josh and Laura. Our nieces are real beauties.

This is our daughter Katie, Christina (Dear’s SIL) and our oldest niece, Jenna. Jenna, Annie and Kacie are sisters. Christina is married to Dear’s brother, Terry.

Another post to keep me on track of what happened when.

Give Thanks and Make Known

Yesterday I reported that we weren’t slated to get snow but when I walked down the stairs this morning at “oh dark thirty” I noticed that we did get a dusting in the wee hours. Once it’s light I’ll take a photo before it all melts off with the rain that is falling.

Waking this morning my mind was singing these lyrics off an old Acapella cd.

Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name
Make known among the nations what he has done
Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name
Make known among the nations what he has done

Chorus:
Sing to him sing praise to him
Tell of all his wonderful acts
Glory in his holy name
Glory in his holy name
Glory in his name
Glory in his name

Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name
Let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice

I rejoice and give thanks for God’s beautiful creation. I so love autumn, the weather, the colors, the start of something fresh and new.

We live in an area with easy access to walking trails and parks that show off God’s creation.

There’s an old public golf course along the Burke Gilman Trail that the city of Bothell sold off and it is sitting and waiting for developers to change it’s landscape. There was lots of controversy over this sale and I’m sure the folks whose homes have enjoyed the green views are disappointed. In the interim they are allowing the public to walk on the course. We enjoyed our first time doing this last Sunday. The many hazards on the course were left there by Canadian Geese, wink wink.

Old and young golfers are mourning the loss of this course. We met one of them who wasn’t golfing this day but walking his old dog on the course instead.

I’m thankful to God for this guy and all the years we’ve had together so far.

Not linking up today with any memes because it snowed and I have to make potato salad to go with the pork butt that has been in the smoker already for 5 hours and the Sounders won last night and I was at the game and didn’t get home till after 10:30 PM…way late for this early to bed, early to rise person. I hope no grammar police are out today to critique my run-on paragraph! Our Sounders are off to the Western Conference Finals!

Go Sounders!

This is what it looks like here this morning. Yikes! It’s melting fast.

Also…to to Mennonite Girls Can Cook for a yummy white chili recipe.

We Interrupt Our Normal Programming…

…for a major event!

The 2017 Solar Eclipse! We didn’t get the full show here but it was a good show. We really enjoyed seeing the interesting shadows cast by the Eclipse! We also enjoyed watching the NASA coverage on T.V.

And here for historical perspective for our dear little Addy is her 5 month photo collage that her mommy took yesterday on August 20th.

We love you Addy May! Look at you grow!

Waiting…

A season of waiting makes for introspection. Some is good and some is not so good. In the world of blogging right now I’m not so good at getting around to many participants in my favorite weekly memes. I will cut down on some so I can do better with others. It doesn’t sit well with my brain and my comfort to be a “hit and run participant”.

I use feedly to keep track of the blogs I don’t want to miss any new posts from. I hope to add more blogs to this site as I search out more faithful bloggers out there.

We are in the season of Lent and Dear and I have set aside something together that we enjoy on a regular basis for this season. So maybe this is a kind of Spring cleaning time in my life.

We are on the alert for the arrival of our little Addy. God knows the timing on this and we will be hitting the road post haste when we get that phone call.

If you don’t see anything new here for a stretch of days don’t get the wrong idea. Blogging and bloggers are near and dear to me. I’m not giving up. Here are some verses from God’s Word on waiting in the English Standard Version.

Isaiah 40:31:

but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.

Psalm 27: 13-14

I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord
    in the land of the living!
Wait for the Lord;
    be strong, and let your heart take courage;
    wait for the Lord!

Psalm 33: 20-22

Our soul waits for the Lord;
    he is our help and our shield.
For our heart is glad in him,
    because we trust in his holy name.
Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us,
    even as we hope in you.

Psalm 130: 5-6

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
    and in his word I hope;
my soul waits for the Lord
    more than watchmen for the morning,
    more than watchmen for the morning.

Isaiah 64: 4

From of old no one has heard
or perceived by the ear,
no eye has seen a God besides you,
who acts for those who wait for him.

1 Kings 2: 3

and keep the charge of the Lord your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his rules, and his testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn,

Beauty from Ashes…

We had a devastating fire in our neighboring city, Bothell, on Main Street.

Several businesses were totally destroyed. Temporary Fences have been put up to keep people away from danger.

The fire started in a section of downtown that was being renovated into new apartments. The crane you see was destroyed in the fire, too. The fire was so intense it hopped the street to destroy the little Bothell Mall.

ATF and other agencies are in town trying to determine why the fire started.

The community has come together to help support those who have lost their businesses and for the employees of those businesses who are out of work now.

This section of Main street is closed to traffic but the undamaged businesses are still open for business and they are making sure the signs are visible. We have enjoyed meals at Three Lions Pub, Alexa’s Cafe, and the Kozy Korner Cafe. Over the years we have had several breakfasts at the now destroyed Kozy Korner Cafe.

We drove out to Main street on Tuesday to see the damage ourselves. On Thursday the Chamber of Commerce is having a fund raiser on Main street inviting the community to come out to help raise money for the businesses that are destroyed and who’s employees are out of work.

I’m linking up to signs, signs by Lesley.

We are happy at this old house that temps are being downgraded for the rest of this week. We aren’t fans of over 80 degree weather. We are heat wimps. Hope you are keeping cool!

What’s New in 2016…

We finally were able to admit to ourselves that we weren’t thrilled with Keurig coffee. We have returned to using a Bunn Coffee Maker now and are enjoying a full bodied cup in the morning. Keurig is convenient but no matter what pods we bought we didn’t get the depth of flavor that we enjoy from our freshly ground coffee.

Dear was unemployed from May 29th of last year and has just signed a contract with a Biotech company that has a product in trials. He is working from home for 6 months for this company as an independent contractor. Being an independent contractor means that Dear does not have any benefits at this time. Here he is in his new at home office.

I was fine with giving up my desk since I didn’t make money from this desk but just spent money paying our monthly bills! Dear is doing a lot of reading and studying about the cancers that his new company is working on fighting. It takes a long time and a lot of research for a new drug/procedure to be developed and brought into the market, not to mention a lot of money. Dear will be attending an Oncology Conference in San Francisco next week and I’m tagging along. I’m hoping the weather will be decent enough for me to walk about the city staying mostly dry.

Any recommendations for restaurants or sights you wouldn’t want me to miss?

Having Dear working at home I have to re-think how my days go and how I’m going to work around him.

One thing we are trying to establish as a good habit is walking each day. Having someone to walk with and ~~nagging~~ encouraging him to do it is a win win situation.

Since I turn 65 soon I have been inundated with all the choices of Medicare supplement plans. Instead of Christmas catalogs I’m getting Medicare mail! I have to choose a Medicare plan soon and we have to come up with a health insurance plan for Dear since he’s younger than me and we lost our insurance when his company was bought out last year and his department was eliminated.

Something that’s not new and seems to be a recurring situation is the fact that I am back in the fluffy state and am getting motivated to de-fluff again.

What’s new in 2016 for you?

I’m headed for the kitchen now to put a cake in the oven for our birthday celebration tonight. Got the table set in a Russian theme and I’ll share that with you next week…

Joining Many…

…in praying for the troubling situation in the Ukraine. Personally the Mennonite Girls Can Cook have an ongoing relationship with The Good Shepherd Shelter that is located in the Ukraine.

All of our author royalties from our first book have been designated for the shelter and we’ve been able to build a greenhouse where they are already growing food year round for the shelter.

We also are waiting news of a pending adoption of an orphan from the Ukraine. We just don’t know how the tensions and uprisings and invasions will effect the shelter or the adoption process but we do know the God who loves orphans. We know that He knows and He is sovereign. Praying for a peaceful resolution and that the country will be able to move forward without more bloodshed.

Moore, Oklahoma

Praying for the families who have lost loved ones in the latest devastating tornado in Oklahoma. Praying, too, for all those working tirelessly to uncover victims. I cannot imagine what those in the path of this tornado have gone through and continue to go through.
May God comfort and provide for all who have lived through this.

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage

Category Archives: News