What’s Your View Hodgepodge

Joyce, From This Side of the Pond has new questions for Wednesday Hodgepodge to inspire the Thinker in us.

I love this view from August of 2019 when a few of our MGCC (Mennonite Girls Can Cook) friends came to camp in our front acre for a few days. Such a fun time of eating and fellowship together.

1. What kind of thinker are you-doer concrete thinking) analyst (analytical and abstract thinking), orator (logical thinking) inventor (imaginative thinking) or original thinker (creative)? What makes you say so? You can try this little quiz (link here) to help with your answer. 

I scored the highest in Doer/Original Thinker. Get er done people! 🙂

2. Do you own a crock pot, air fryer, and/or instapot? Do you leave said small appliance sitting out? How often do you use it/them? Favorite thing to make in one of these? 

Just a Crock pot. We had an instapot for awhile but I gave it to our kids because it mostly sat in the cupboard. Crock pot is in my pantry. I use it infrequently. I like to use it for a roast or for Carnitas.

3. What’s something you hold a strong opinion on that matters not at all in the grand scheme of things? 

Coffee should be black and unadulterated. No flavored coffee for me, please. Freshly ground, too, please. And strong, please. Make it strong. Is that a strong enough opinion?

4. Describe the view from your window. 

When we were looking for our retirement home in 2018, one of the desires I expressed was to have views out my windows that did not include a neighbor’s carport or any building in close proximity. I’m so grateful for our views. This is our kitchen sink window view. We see trees and mountains and horses and barns in the distance. Sometimes we see haystacks or rolls of hay. Frequently we are visited by deer, turkeys, quail, barn swallows and occasionally we smell a skunk. Just to keep it real we also get that foul smell in the air sometimes because there are lots of cows around us. It reminds us that we live in the country.

5. Do you have a favorite brand? Explain.

Toyota. We love our Toyotas. Our Toyotas have served us well and lasted a long time. Our Toyota Van was the first brand new Toyota we bought in 1985 just before Katie was born. Our 1992 Toyota Corolla all track was such a great car in the snow. We gifted our used Toyotas to our kids and they served them well, too.  Our 1999 Camry was gifted to Katie and Andrew. Katie and I drove it across the U.S. from the Seattle area to Camp LeJeune, Jacksonville N.C. in 2014 to set up an apartment for K & A upon Andrew’s return from Afghanistan. That car made it back from Jacksonville with Katie and Andrew after Andrew’s service was completed and they used it until 2020ish.  That Toyota was then gifted to our Grand Nephew who lives in Southern California. Unfortunately it was totaled in an accident last year. Our Grand Nephew was not injured in that accident and it was not his fault. In total we’ve purchased 5 new Toyotas. We also purchased 4 used Toyotas. Currently we still have our 2007 Camry and we have a 2019 Toyota Highlander.

On our cross country trip in 2014, our first stop from our home in Kenmore for the night was in Bozeman, Montana. When we woke up and looked out the window we saw the car covered with snow. That was not something we anticipated. We put our big girl pants on and soldiered on with God’s help to our next stop in Rapid City, South Dakota.

6. Insert your own random thought here.  

Seajack 6 pentax-001

This is the rear view mirror of that 1999 Camry looking back on the highway during our epic journey across the USA in 2014. It was fun to look back and remember this trip with my daughter with all it’s twists and turns.

Valentine Treats With Love

Our favorite Valentine’s stopped by to give us some love and we returned some love to them.

We got a special homemade Sour Dough loaf from Jamie and Dan. She has the bread skills down!

This Friday will be busier than usual. Hope all is well in your corner of the world.

Candlelit Dinner

 

It was fun to set this table and a lot more fun to enjoy most of our family around it for a belated birthday dinner. I wanted it sparkly. After I lit all the candles Addy and JJ wanted the other lights off so we could just have the candles give us light. We had a wonderful candlelit dinner.

Monday got away from me because of some further work Greg and our son had to do on our Water Heater. They had to empty the water tank and replace the elements which were in horrible shape. New ones are in so we should be good for a few years or at least we hope for that. Our grands were here during the work on the tank and they kept me very busy. Hoping for a quiet day today so I can catch up!

Hope your week has started well.

Happy Weekend

Josh and Laura arrived to our side of the mountains on Friday afternoon and we enjoyed a belated birthday dinner for Josh in candlelight. After we lit the candles JJ and Addy asked if we could turn off the other lights and just have the candles giving us light. It was a special dinner and weekend together. Friday night after dinner and cake, checkers and Legos and ‘Don’t Break the Ice’ were the entertainment.

On Saturday we gathered on the ‘Mountain’ and had a delicious lunch of Beef Stew with Jamie’s amazing sour dough bread creations. This time she baked regular and one with siracha.

After lunch Addy had her nails done and then wanted to polish our nails, too. She did a fine job.

Saturday late afternoon and early evening it was time for the Awana Grand Prix. Addy was pleased with her car the Silver Star.

We were all there to cheer everyone on. We weren’t winners this year.

On Sunday we filled a row at church. It was good to worship together. We had lunch out and too soon it was time for Josh and Laura to travel back over the mountains home. We love you, We love you, We love you. Thanks for making the trek and spending good times with us!

Thank you, too, for sharing your photos!

Tomorrow I’ll post photos of the Birthday Candlelight Tablescape.

Our weekend was full and I did not spend time on the computer or make any blog visits. I’ll get caught up soon.

A Puzzling Hodgepodge

Happy last day of January everyone. Here are the Hodgepodge questions we pondered by Joyce From This Side of the Pond this week.

1. January 29th is National Puzzle Day. Do you enjoy puzzles? What kind (crossword, jigsaw, sudoku, etc)?  How often do you work a puzzle? 

I am a jigsaw puzzle fan and I will work on them when the season is right and the time is right. While waiting for each of our grandchildren to be born we worked on a jigsaw puzzle in the hospital delivery waiting room to pass the hours away. I’ve completed two puzzles this month and am now just starting this one.

I have not gotten into sudoku or crossword puzzles. The photo at the top of this post are some of the jigsaw puzzles completed in the past year.

2. Something you currently find ‘puzzling’? 

I’m in the throws of troubling and puzzling and am wrestling with my thoughts and feelings on this issue. It’s nothing to do with my family or marriage which is a blessing but it has captured a lot of my attention. I’ll be praying and watching and waiting on how it progresses.

3. What’s your go-to dish to take to someone who needs a meal (new baby, bereavement, etc)? 

The go to was chicken thighs baked with Italian dressing and served with rice and whole green beans, not canned beans. Some of the ladies in our church are providing meals for someone who is undergoing aggressive treatment for breast cancer and who is too wiped out to think about cooking. I had to come up with more than my standard go to so I’m looking forward to reading what fellow Hodgepodgers share to help me come up with something new.

The photo above is a Teriyaki Glazed Skillet Chicken that I will make for the next meal for our friend. My recipe will post on Saturday.

4. Do you watch any HGTV and/or The Food Network? If so, what’s your favorite program there? 

I watched more in the past but not so much anymore. In the past we enjoyed, The Kitchen on Saturday mornings. We thoroughly enjoyed all the Fixer Upper shows. When the new season of shows come on we’ll watch them. I’ve enjoyed the Food Truck challenges in the past. Flea Market Flip is another show I’ll watch once in a while if I’m sick and need to make the hours pass quicker in my head.

5.  Wrap up your January in five words, with a five word phrase, or with a five word sentence. 

I have two…

Celebrate Three birthdays and more.

Snow, Fog, rain, minus sunshine. 

6. Insert your own random thought here.

The top view of this collage has been the norm around our parts for many days in a row. We are hoping to see more of that bottom view soon!

See you soon, Hodgepodgers.

Foggy With a Chance of Sunshine

We have had quite a stretch of foggy days with several days of rain, too.

“Faith is like radar that sees through the fog—the reality of things at a distance that the human eye cannot see.” – Corrie Ten Boom.

 

And then a glorious couple hours of this…

The sun broke through the fog and we could see blue sky for just a few hours on Friday and now we are back to fog and rain. That couple of hours reminds us that the sky is still blue and the sun is still there and the fog will lift again.

How are the skies where you are?

 

Woody Came to Visit

Our birdfeeders attracted this Northern Flicker and he tried his best to twist his body to get some seed.

We had more snow over the weekend and now we are having rain. On Saturday we realized our hot water tank was not heating our water anymore so parts have been ordered to fix that problem. Until the parts come and the non working parts are swapped out we are in camping mode. Thankfully we have a quiet week ahead.

Hope all is well in your corner of the world.

Birthday, Snow, Birds and Wally

A very happy birthday to our firstborn son Josh. He is a wonderful son, husband, brother, uncle, cousin, boss and friend. So thankful to God for Josh and all he means to our family. Praying God blesses your new year with joy, strength, courage and more love for Jesus.

We’ve been enjoying the birds showing up for birdseed.

We had another 5 inches of snow this week and when we looked out the window we thought this looked like a walrus so we are calling him, Wally the One Eyed Walrus Snowman.

Have a good weekend everyone.

Finished!

It took longer than some and it was fun and satisfying to put in the last piece of this puzzle. Two more puzzles are on their way from my puzzle club present.

Another below freezing day here in the northeast corner of Washington State. Morning devotions, catching up on blogs (I always get behind from Friday through Sunday), washed bed linens, finished the puzzle, made a meal using up some stuff in the freezer (thankfully it was good), braved the freezing temps to throw out some food for the birds and that was about it. We didn’t have to trek out to the mailbox since it was Martin Luther King Jr. day here in USA and no mail was delivered.

That was yesterday. Today is our son Dan’s birthday. Happy Birthday, Dan!

Hope all is well in your corner of the world.

Birthdays and the Great Freeze

On Friday night we enjoyed an early birthday dinner for Dan and Jamie who have birthdays today and tomorrow. Josh has a birthday this week, too, and Laura sent a couple photos of them enjoying an amazing sunset on the other side of our state.

On Friday we served Lovella’s Arroz Con Pollo which was enjoyed by everyone. It’s a dish that Jamie orders most often at any Mexican restaurant. We enjoyed it with brown rice and both corn and flour tortillas. We also enjoyed Pico de Gallo with added chunks of avocado.  For dessert we had a family favorite, Applesauce Spice Cake.

We have been below freezing here for a few days. We stayed inside all day Saturday and I worked on my latest puzzle. I’m getting close to finishing.

 

On the way to church on Sunday our car was registering -5 degrees F outside.

We had a great Vision Sunday with a ministry fair. Our church theme for the year is Take The Next Step.

Colossians 2:6, Therefore as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him.

We are now heading into another week of very cold temps and snow promised from Tuesday evening through Thursday morning. We always wait and see if the predictions are accurate. We have seen that many folks in many parts of the country are experiencing severe cold. How is it where you live?