Category Archives: Our Country Bungalow

Daylilies

I did a lot of weeding on Monday and I was surprised at the many varieties of daylilies that are in our yard.

I don’t remember seeing all these varieties in years past.

This pretty butterfly sat long enough for me to capture a photo.

Here’s a closeup of the butterfly.

We have had a nice variety of butterflies in our yard but they flit about and I’m not close enough to get photos when they land somewhere. I might have to sit outside with my camera for a while to try to catch the other varieties.

My fingers and arms are complaining from all the pulling and tugging of the weeds in our beds. It looks better but the job is far from done.

Hope you all have a good day.

Friday Tidbits

Painting continues on Our Country Bungalow and Dear is doing an great job as usual.

Soon I’ll be able to show before and after all the way around the house. The new colors are Teton Blue with white trim. We purchased a 5 gallon bucket of the Teton Blue and we might need one more gallon.

My photos aren’t uploading this evening so I’ll try again tomorrow.

The small businesses in our little town are having sidewalk sales. They started on Thursday and continue till Saturday. After I was done at the hairdressers on Thursday I stopped by and walked Main street to see what I could see. I bought greeting cards for 50 cents each and a handmade soft simple leather wallet that fits in a pocket. I’ll use that little wallet on walks instead of taking my purse. There is a new little shop in town that I made two more purchases from that I’ll show photos of soon.

This photo popped up in my memories on Facebook this week from July of 2009. Me and my daughter transformed our patio gazebo into a Moroccan dining room for a bridal shower. Katie’s friend was into all things Moroccan. So much has changed for all of these young ladies since 2009. This was at our home in Kenmore.

Back to the present. After our very busy times last weekend we are heading into a quieter weekend with only painting, mowing and church on the schedule. What is happening in your corner of the world?

Time Well Spent

Uncle Joshie and Auntie Lolo arrived late on Thursday night for a few days in our neck of the woods. When they arrived after being delayed by roadworks on Highway 395 between Chewelah and Arden we chatted for a while then hit the sack for a full day of fun on Friday.

Auntie Lolo took most of these photos, by the way.  Thank you, Laura!

The 8 of us gathered on Friday morning for breakfast at our country bungalow. Katie and Andrew were stuck on the westside and not with us all for this gathering. After breakfast on Friday, Josh and Dan headed out to golf, Dear worked on some much needed  maintenance on the lawnmower and the girls and JJ met up to walk on the Rotary trail.

It was sunny and hot and humid and we persevered.

After our walk and golfing and naps everyone gathered again at our country bungalow for dinner and fun until bedtime for our grands. For dinner we made Chili Verde which had some great spice depth with sides of rice, veggies, corn and flour tortillas.

The grands showed off their skills on the Big Wheels.

Bedtime came as usual and the grands and their parents headed home for the evening. A full good day for us all.

On Saturday duty called and Josh and Laura headed to our local kids mountain for the day while Dear and I worked on the lawn after a few days of delay because of rain.

I mowed the front and back lawns and Dear weed wacked.

The kids went to the Farmer’s Market, played pickle ball and worked on dinner for all of us.

After our delicious meal on our kids mountain we opted for a walk down the driveway.

 

A great spot for a selfie before we tried to beat the mosquito bites on the way back up the driveway!

On Sunday we all gathered at church and then enjoyed lunch out before Josh and Laura headed to the airport and home. One of the highlights of our church morning was that JJ was willing to go into his Sunday School class with no regrets or resistance so mommy could attend the service in peace. Addy has been willing and happy to attend Sunday School for a while now.

Hope you all had a good weekend. We are grateful for the good times we spent together this weekend.

A Spring Like Summer

So far this summer we have had a good amount of rain and it still feels like Spring. Not grumbling just documenting. If this bodes well for a short fire season we will take it!

The plants are enjoying the rain and flourishing.

Our oldest and his bride of 21 years are visiting us this weekend so we are busy with lots of conversation and activities. I’ll be scarce this weekend. Hope you will be enjoying yours.

I’ll leave you with these excerpts from a book I’ve been enjoying called Name above All Names by Alistair Begg and Sinclair B. Ferguson. I highly recommend the book.

“Back again to Sunday School in Scotland! Our teachers used to teach us some of the most amazing songs. They are etched into our memories–and some of them really are marvelous. Here is one that drives home the nitty-gritty, day to day, practical difference it makes to know Jesus is King. In it’s child-friendly, child-attractive fun way (and surely children had fun with Jesus?), it underscores the power of the gospel. It says: “Come on now, you don’t have to be bedeviled and overwhelmed by all these things that are coming at you.” Here are the words:

“Come leave your house on Grumble Street
And move to Sunshine Square
For that’s the place where Jesus lives,
And you’ll be happy there!

Well you say, “That isn’t exactly a brilliant lyric. What were they doing teaching mischievous little boys that kind of poetry?” 

Yes, but we got the message of these choruses. It wasn’t necessary to master a systematic theology textbook to see the point:

“Come on now; we say that Jesus Christ is King . Why then are our faces sad? Jesus Christ is King. Where then is our hope? Jesus Christ is King and Lord; where is our enthusiasm for the Lord Jesus? We do need to leave our house on Grumble Street and move to Sunshine Square. That’s the place where Jesus is. We’ll be happy there.”

Is there a Sunday School song from your memory that pops into your head now and again?

Free Range Hodgepodge

Time for Wednesday Hodgepodge with thanks to Jo From This Side of the Pond for coming up with the questions.

The internet has been touch and go at our country bungalow so I’m behind on my visits to your blogs. Hopefully things will speed up and I’ll be back soon.

1. July 6th is National Fried Chicken Day…are you a fan? Do you make your own or have a favorite place to buy from? Do you own chickens? If not chicken what’s your favorite fried food?

Chicken is not my favorite fried food but we do enjoy fried chicken and buy it once in a while from Colonel Lickie Quickie Chickie. We do not own chickens but our local kids do. I like Tempura Vegetables and they are probably my favorite fried food.

2.  What’s something you’re too chicken to try?

Sky diving, bungie jumping, backpacking just to name a few.

3. When did you last find yourself running around like a ‘chicken with its head cut off‘?

I’m drawing a blank with this one.

4. Something you’ve done recently that makes you think ‘I’m no spring chicken’? 

Oh boy, here we go. Trying to get up off the floor when I get down to play with the grands. Getting down on the floor isn’t easy either. Weeding is another thing that reminds me of the natural progression of my age and how it affects my body. Trying to get out of cars that sit low to the ground.

5. ‘Winner winner chicken dinner‘…tell us about something good that’s happened in your life lately. 

So many things…

Time spent with loved ones that I hadn’t seen for ages. Visits from our kids and grands. Finding a friend to walk with. My dear husband and his care for me. Speaking of Dear, he’s painting the exterior of our home and it is looking fresh and good. Generally relationally I am blessed with very little conflict, with good relationships and I don’t take that for granted.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

The many faces of our grands reacting to their at home Fourth of July fireworks! Thank you to our daughter-in-law for capturing these moments.

Still Stormy

We’ve had some stormy weather with wind, downpours, thunder and lightening. The ground was so soaked that we took the opportunity to pull a lot of weeds that were easier to pull up.

On the Fourth the skies cleared up just in time for a gathering of lots of church folks at a family from church’s home. Everyone brought their own meat to throw on the barbecues. We all got a grilling number when we arrived. We were number 7. Everyone also brought sides and desserts to share with everyone. It was a feast. We left about halfway through the Corn hole tournament. There were enough corn holes for 8 teams to play at a time. We made it home just in time for another downpour. Hope the corn hole tournament wasn’t rained out!

With all the storms this summer it was safe enough to shoot off lots fireworks.

Walking early this morning with a new friend from church who just moved back to Colville from Montana. It’s going to be hard to remember what day of the week it is since the Fourth landed on a Monday.

If the rain is over for a few days Dear will be able to continue on the exterior painting project.

Out of the Blue

This Ground Hog showed up on our property this week. We have never seen one in our yard before. Our neighbor also said he has never seen ground hogs in our little stretch of homes.

After reading about the ‘colonies’ these critters are associated with we decided to send it on it’s way.

It was fun to watch for a day…

Robins have been quite active around here building nests. The Swallows are busy with their nests in the bird houses around our property. The birds are entertaining and we welcome them.

Welcome to July! We don’t have plans for the weekend but we will be attending a Monday 4th of July gathering with several folk from church. Do you have plans?

The Heavens Declare the Glory of God…

Jo is taking the week off from Wednesday Hodgepodge.

I was up early on Tuesday and stepping outside I enjoyed the beautiful skies while listening to all the songbirds greeting the morning. Couldn’t help myself from hoping I’d hear that trumpet sound!

Painting is in progress. This is the South side and most exposed and faded part of the house. We are changing the trim to white and simply framing the windows with white. The rest of the siding will be the Teton Blue by Behr paints. We won’t add a third color except for the doors which are already painted the Marine Dress Blue. Don’t look too closely at all our weeds.

June is speedily coming to an end.

All My Times Are in Thy Hands

~
Even though the day be laden,
And my path dreary,
And my strength small,
A song keeps singing in my heart:
For I know that I am Thine;
I am part of Thee;
Thou art kin to me,
And all my times, all my times are in Thy hands.
~
~Inscribed on an altar in the Hebrides
~
And here are some photos of the current state of our plants after all our Spring rain, then being basked by some summer sunshine. We had to water for the first time this year on Saturday.
Peonies have such a delightful but short season. I’m always in awe of their beauty.
~
These two are celebrating their 7th Anniversary. They spent Sunday without their little ones in tow and had a nice time in Spokane which included bowling. They met each other at the bowling alley in Colville and that’s where it all began. Happy Anniversary Dan and Jamie! We love the two of you together! God bless you with many many more anniversaries!
~
Hope you all have a beautiful week which brings us into July.

Reunited and Celebrating

Our dear grandchildren are back in our neck of the woods and we were able to enjoy a meal together at our home on Friday evening June 17th. After the meal JJ and Addy were keen on preparing me another meal in their play room. JJ prepared the crab for me while Addy put together a sandwich.

Later we headed outside for some time enjoying the latest skills these two have developed on their Big Wheels.

In the same week our kids on the Coast enjoyed a meal out together and sent us this picture. Love seeing them together.

On Father’s Day we received texts with photos and Happy Father’s Day greetings from all our kids and grands.

We enjoyed a Taco bar meal together in Colville with extended family. These two fathers were celebrated.

So happy these 4 are back home in our neck of the woods.

Happy First Day of Summer. We are supposed to enjoy some sunshine the rest of the is week instead of the cloudy rainy days we’ve had up to now! How goes it in your neck of the woods?