Category Archives: Our Country Bungalow

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We had a busy hectic day on Wednesday getting Dear home from the hospital. He is very happy to be home. We have lots of new things to learn and it is tiring for him and for me. If my blog is quiet you will know why.

We are so very grateful and thankful for all the concern, prayers and encouragement we have received. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

We came home to snow on the ground at our Country Bungalow and to a freshly plowed path to our front door. Our neighbor did that for us. So thoughtful and sweet!

Thank you to our family Veteran, Andrew. We love you and are grateful for your service to our country. We especially thank you for loving our daughter.

Until my next post take care of each other, love one another.

Our Guest Bath Update

Good morning friends. The forecast here in our corner of Washington State has predictions of heavy wet snow with the possibility of falling trees and branches breaking and downing power lines. Hopefully we will not lose power but if we do, I’ve created a few posts for this week and hopefully the predictions won’t be as dire as forecasted.

When we moved into our current home in September of 2018 we knew that we wanted to make changes in our guest bath. In 2019 we bought a slab of maple wood with a live edge to replace the countertop in this bathroom. That slab lived under the guest bed in what we call the Blue Room for about 3 years. Along the way in those 3 years we bought a new sink for the bathroom, too.

Demolition day…

After he stripped the bathroom, the walls, ceiling and cabinet were painted white.

The slab of wood was measured for cutting the hole for the sink and faucet.

Now it was time to treat the wood with TopOil.

The top oil complete it was time to install the backsplash.

Time for the plumbing. We tried some of our old wall pieces and really didn’t like the look so we contemplated changes that would function better. That wall piece on the side wall got moved to the master bedroom. It poked out to far over the new countertop and imposed on the counter space.

Time to set the sink and hook up more plumbing.

We tried a few pieces over the toilet area and finally settled on this piece with shelves and a rod for hand towels. We found this piece at Wal-Mart.

We are pleased with the update. Josh and Laura were our first overnight guests to enjoy the changes.

Dear does good work and has saved us thousands of dollars over the years by doing these projects himself.

I was going to list the projects that Dear was planning to complete in the next several months but as Providence would have it we had an emergency health event that has changed our plans. Dear suffered a Stroke on Saturday in our home while we were together enjoying our lunch. He and I recognized something was terribly wrong. 911 was called and we had a great response with the EMT’s and the Fire Chief of our area. Once evaluated at our local hospital, Dear was transported to Spokane to the ICU at Sacred Heart for further evaluation. Our son drove me to Spokane and booked a room for us across the street from the hospital. Dear is in expert care and it was determined he should have surgery sooner than later and he will have an Endarterectomy on Tuesday afternoon. We are grateful that things were caught early and the right treatment was given for the best overall outcomes. His brain and speech are in great shape. The lingering symptom is weakness in his left hand. Thanking God for watching over him. Thanking those of you in advance who will pray to our God for Dear’s surgery to go well and for his recovery to be free of complications.

We have had such an outpouring of care and prayers from loved ones, our kids have rallied, our church family in Colville, old friends in Edmonds, Monroe, Bothell, Lynnwood, Kenmore and Poulsbo. Family in New York, North Carolina, Texas, California, my ‘girls’ in British Columbia and Manitoba. We are so thankful to our God for the love and peace we have experienced because of those prayers.

Posts this week will be sporadic if at all.

Hope your new week is going well.

Grow Old With Me Hodgepodge

 

If it’s Wednesday, it must be Hodgepodge. Thank you Jo From This Side of the Pond for gathering the questions.

1. Tell us a little bit about the best birthday you’ve ever had. 

My 60th and 70th birthdays were over the top wonderful. Filled with face to face time with friends and family. Delightful surprises planned with love. Delicious food, beautiful flowers and precious gifts. So thankful for the time and energy and travel my dear friends and our family honored me with. The bonus on my 70th were the addition of one more daughter, son and two grandchildren.

 

2.  In what way(s) have you changed in the last five years? 

Four years ago I became a country mouse after being a city mouse for 66 years! My role as a Baba (grandmother) is a change in the best of ways. My body is letting me know I’m aging. The mirror is confirming that fact.

I’m becoming more reformed in my faith concentrating on a Biblical world view that is shaped by a better understanding of the Providence of God and the Sovereignty of God coming from the belief in the inerrancy of scripture from Genesis to Revelation. Truth Matters!

3. What’s your favorite thing about the street on which you live? 

It’s mostly flat and I can make it to town when it snows.

4. The Hodgepodge lands on National Beer Day…are you a beer drinker?

Dear bringing our pints at the Castle Hotel in Conwy, Wales.

I’ve been known to enjoy a pint here and there. Soon I’ll be enjoying half-pints in cozy pubs. Reminds me of the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit Pippin’s exclamation when Merry sits down next to him with a pint of ale, “it comes in pints?!”

Pippin:
What’s that?

Merry:
This, my friend, is a pint.

Pippin:
It comes in pints?

Pippin:
I’m getting one.

Buttermere Ale IPA at the Bridge Hotel in Buttermere in the Lake District 2006

What’s a recipe you make that lists beer as one of the ingredients? If not beer, how about yeast?

We have used beer in some marinades or in a stew here and there.

5. As I grow older I would like to be a woman who __________________________.

loves my God and Savior more, with the proof in the pudding…

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

This is our granddaughter’s drawing of me at my 70th dinner celebration. She was so enamored of the crown and the birthday sash.

Adios August Hodgepodge

Time for the last August Wednesday Hodgepodge! Thank you Jo From This Side of the Pond for asking the questions!

1. Something you’ve labored over recently? 

Pulling weeds, weeds and more weeds, to the point of my right arm/elbow screaming at me to stop it!

2. How will you rest on Labor Day? 

We rarely rest on Labor Day for many different reasons. We have been listening to and reading some great talks and articles on having a Lord’s Day Rest. We want to be more intentional on leaving Sundays for rest from our labors and being more in tune with keeping our ‘lamp tended and storing good oil for our lamps’. We also don’t want to ignore the importance of spending time each day with God through His Word, the Bible.

3. Margaret Mead is quoted as saying, “I learned the value of hard work by working hard.” Would you agree? Where and how did you learn the value of hard work? 

It is good for man to work. I have learned the value of hard work by working hard and by the example of my parents and others who worked hard and work hard. My Dear is a great example of someone who works hard to a good end not just spinning his wheels.

4. It’s National Eat Outside Day (August 31st). Will you? Do you enjoy dining ‘al fresco’ or prefer indoor seating? 

I prefer eating inside and if I have to eat outside I need a shady spot. I developed, in my late 50’s, a skin sensitivity to the sun shining directly on me, especially my thighs. When the sun hits them it immediately feels like they are burning. This happens through my clothing. When living in Southern California from 2006-2010, I had to put sunshades on the passenger window so the sun wouldn’t hit my thighs. Weird…

5. Somehow it’s the end of August. What was the best day of the month for you and tell us what made it so? 

We had a great day last Friday when our Colville family could have dinner together and the grands and I had some water gun and hose fun outside, getting a wee bit soaked. There were emergency surgeries and other issues over the course of the month that kept us from getting together for a meal. Then on Saturday I met up with our DIL and Grands to watch our small town parade. FUN. The collage at the top of the post is from our parade time.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

They Turned on Me!

The kids and grands were over for dinner last Friday night and after dinner the grands wanted to play with the water guns in the back yard. Soon the water guns were left behind for the hoses that offered more fun and power!

It was all good for a time and then they both decided to turn on me!

Little stinkers! We came inside to get dry clothes on and it was time for them to head home for bed.

I got dry clothes on and put my feet up for a little relaxation before going to bed.

I cherish these moments and am happy to have the opportunity to spend time with these two little humans!

On Saturday we met up on Main Street in Colville for the Fair Parade. I’ll share photos from the parade tomorrow.

Early Morning Conditioning

Monday morning at dawn we enjoyed a beautiful sunrise. We decided to head to the Rotary trail again to continue our walking conditioning.

An early morning walk on this trail is a real treat.

We continue to plan and condition for our trip to England in September. Our longest walk in Oxford is only 4.2 miles and those miles involve stops along the way so we are confident we should be good, conditioning on our 3 mile walk without stops on the Rotary trail. While on the trail we listen to sermons and the latest are from 2 Corinthians.

2 Corinthians 3:18 ~  And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

After our walk on Monday morning we came home and got to work, me with mowing, and Dear with finishing his work on the mount for our snowplow.

Snow this winter will be the test on whether this mounting and plow will work well.

We were in the upper 80’s today which was a nice change to our upper 90’s and low 100’s. For the rest of this week we have some Spokane shopping, some granddaughter soccer fun, a dessert get together with our church family and the Northeast Washington Fair.

Are you looking forward to anything this week and weekend?

Variety

We’ve been enjoying a variety of hummingbirds at our feeders this season.

We call this one, Rusty. I think it’s a Rufous

Besides the hummingbirds and all the other variety of birds in our yard we had some more visits from mama deer and 2 fawns.

After being under the weather the past week I’m good as new. Thank you for your kind thoughts! We had a quiet week and most of the weekend staying home. We decided to not attend church on Sunday morning just in case there were any lingering germs to share. We did go to the trail early on Sunday to continue our walking conditioning.

Here are some photos from the trail on Sunday morning we only passed one other human on the trail.

I only had my phone with me so this zoomed photo of the eagle isn’t too clear. This is a regular perch for this eagle.

This is getting to the last stretch before we are back at the parking area. We listened to a sermon from Second Corinthians on the New Covenant on this walk.

We both have appointments for eye exams this week so we’ll get in some Spokane shopping adventures while there. Dear avoided being in the house with me and my germs last week and worked in his shop on the mounting of the snow plow for his truck. He wants it ready for this coming winter and it involved a lot of thinking, welding and building of mounts, etc. A few tweaks and it should be good to go once we get snow.

His next project is our Master Bath. That won’t start till October. We’ll try to buy the tile for that project while we are in Spokane this week.

What’s new in your corner?

Mid August Fun

Our grands were dropped off last Thursday for some time at Gramps and Baba’s.

The new dollar store water blasters were broken in.

Hunting for hidden marbles is always fun.

Big Wheels in the backyard…

…and Big Wheels in the front yard.

Inside fun consisted of washing dishes (tupperware), working on a craft and building with Construx. All too soon it was time for them to be picked up for home and lunch. Hope they were still hungry after all the snacks they had at Babas.

It was fun to see this photo of our ‘Coast kids’ enjoying time together at the Seattle Sounders game on Sunday night. Too bad the Sounders lost. Thank you Laura for taking this photo!!

We are in another hot pattern here with the high predicted over 100 on Thursday. Watering in the early hours will have to be the norm for a while longer. Hope this new week is going well in your corner.

Me and My Shadow

The Hummers continue to entertain us. We have put out a second feeder that has perches that the hummers can rest on.

This is a week off for Wednesday Hodgepodge.

We were able to meet our local kids’ new puppy on Tuesday as they wanted to introduce her to their old dog Reyna on neutral ground before bringing the puppy into their home which has always been Reyna’s domain. Things will be busy as they train and enjoy a new puppy. Her name is Ember. I’ll let them share a photo first on Social Media before I do here. Sweet and mellow.

Vacation Bible School is in full swing and things went well with registration and making sure all the kids had their name bands on their wrists. I look forward to another evening helping out and doing my small part to help things go smoothly.