Twice in December

Twice in December we drove north to the town of La Conner to enjoy a meal and a stroll.

We enjoy the farm scenes that we pass along the way.

At the end of December we celebrated Katie’s birthday at Anelia’s which features some good Polish fare and other light dishes.

At the beginning of December we ate at the Oyster and Thistle for our anniversary.

I’m linking up to Mosaic Monday with Maggie at Normandy Life.

I’m also linking up for The Barn Collective with Tom The Backroads Traveler.

We had a cold quiet weekend mostly with small projects accomplished and started. I lasted just a very short while outside starting the Apple Tree Pruning. It didn’t take long for my hands to complain from the cold. I’ll be doing that project in short shifts. The Pear tree needs pruning also. January is full of events for us at this Old House.

Today at the Mennonite Girls Can Cook blog I posted a French Onion Soup for two recipe. I was inspired by the soup I had at the Oyster and Thistle in La Conner in the mosaic above. Happy Monday!

Prayers for Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge

To remind me to pray for the people of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge I’m re-posting about one of the days from Katie and my road trip from Seattle to Jacksonville, North Carolina in May of 2014. We were driving her and a lot of her stuff back to Camp Le Jeune in anticipation of Andrew’s return from Afghanistan.

Praying for this area of our country that is burning. Praying for rain and containment. Also praying for the people who have lost everything. Not forgetting to pray, too, for the Firefighters and First Responders.

From May of 2014…

We left Hendersonville, Tennessee after a stop at Starbucks and filling up our gas tank at a Kroeger Grocery store Station. Kroeger in Washington is either our Fred Meyer stores or our QFC stores.

Right about here on the road our clocks turned forward an hour and we were now in the Eastern Time Zone!

We really weren’t prepared for our drive through Sevierville and Pigeon Forge and the strange sights we would see.

This was promising but then we drove into the bizarre world of Pigeon Forge.

What!?

The Hatfields and the McCoys!

The Titanic?

We weren’t able to make it to Rushmore and this did not make up for it!

A Bavarian Denny’s? This town had an amazing amount of dinner theaters of different genres to experience. There were some great looking miniature golf properties but so many other ~~tacky~~ unusual properties.

We did not divert our path further to go to Dollywood.

Now this was more like it. This was the scenery we were expecting on our Smoky Mountain Detour.

This was in the town of Gatlinburg. This town had a lot of candy shops, donut shops, fudge shops, taffy shops and Whiskey shops.

Ripley’s Aquarium was also located here. I’m scared to think of what kind of creatures you would see in there.

We bought a sandwich here and headed out to our destination on this day which was Asheville, North Carolina.

We laughed real hard when we crossed this river 8 times during our detour!

We made it to Asheville at 5:30, checked into our hotel and then got ready for our dinner reservation at the Omni Grove Hotel on their Sunset Terrace. That experience will be a future post!

We are so happy to be here in Asheville for a two day stretch. We spent most of the day at the Biltmore Estate properties today and walked our feet off. We are chilling in our hotel room tonight having a picnic in our room instead of heading out to eat. The weather was beautiful today. Tomorrow we drive our final miles on this road trip across the U.S.A.

Thanks to all of you bloggy friends for following along with us on this journey across the U.S.A.

Now back to 2016 I’ll be linking this post to signs, signs with Lesley.

The Buckeye State

Ohio country roads. We didn’t make it to the larger cities in Ohio like Cleveland or Columbus. On this drive we were headed to the airport in Detroit to fly back to Washington State.

It was always a treat to see a horse and buggy although it was scary to see scenes like this next one.

A tanker passing the buggy on the road.

Millersburg

We stopped at this General Store near Sunnyslope before we drove through Nashville, Ohio.

Word of Truth Bible Church in Nashville, Ohio.

First Presbyterian Church in Loudonville was having a Ham and Bean Supper. Loudonville is in the heart of Mohican Country.

Just after Hayesville we connected to Highway 30 to head west and connected to 75 north onward to Michigan. We stopped in Toledo, Ohio for lunch. Toledo was the largest city we navigated on this trip.

Holy Toledo! Many of us have heard the expression, but where did it come from?

The origin of the exclamation “Holy Toledo!” is the subject of much speculation. One suggestion is the name came about because of the heavy concentration of churches located on Collingwood Boulevard, according to the Greater Toledo Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Also, the City of Toledo, Spain, after which the American city is named, is often called “the Holy City of Toledo.”

Other suggestions of origin are not religious, but may be more likely. Holy Week has always been the worst week at the box office for show business; old-time Vaudeville actors contended that any week in Toledo was Holy Week. Toledoans Joe E. Brown and Danny Thomas popularized the term as they became nationally known performers.

This Ghost Sign says Lucas County Board of Elections.

After driving around this area looking for a spot that was open to have lunch we settled on the Ye Olde Durty Bird. It was open and there was parking across the street. Sometimes those are the best reasons to choose a spot in a downtown area. Thankfully it was good.

Time will tell if I link up to any memes this weekend. Got some laziness going on. How’s your Saturday going?

I will link up to InSPIREd Sunday and to the Barn Collective and to Monday Mural and signs, signs.

Thank you to Beth, Sally, Tom, Oakland Daily Photo and Lesley.

Roads Less Traveled

All these roads, signs, and fences are from our trip to Amish Country at the end of September. These roads are in Holmes County, Ohio.

^{Matthew 7: 13-14 –}“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”

Linking up today for ABC Wednesday with Mrs. Nesbitt, Roger and the team. R is for Road Less Traveled.

Also linking up later in the week to signs, signs with Lesley and Good Fences with TexWisGirl.

More Signs from Indiana

All of these signs were seen on a Sunday along the Heritage Trail in Indiana mostly contained within Elkhart County. The Pillsbury’s flour sign was in Wakarusa.

These last two signs are in Topeka, Indiana just south of Shipshewana next to Yoder Popcorn. There were a few places that would have been fun to explore but were closed on Sunday.

Linking up to signs, signs with Lesley.

Such a wet and drippy day here in the Pacific Northwest. Daughter and I had a fun several hours shopping at the Navy Exchange and Costco with a little lunch in between.

Sugarcreek, Ohio

I’m sharing a series of signs seen while in and around Sugarcreek, Ohio, with the Mennonite Girls Can Cook.

We saw the signs that described Sugarcreek as The Little Switzerland of Ohio.

We headed to downtown Sugarcreek for our book signing at The Gospel Shop on Main street.

Sugarcreek is also known for having “the world’s largest cuckoo clock” which earned an Ohio Historical Marker.

All the shops downtown have facades that try to mirror a Swiss Village.

On our travels around this area we passed these smoke stacks several times and I managed to get a photo on one of our drive-bys.

Because of its abundant deposits of clay, Sugarcreek has also become one of the country’s leading makers of face brick. Its history goes back to 1910 when the Finzer Brothers Clay Company was started by the Finzer brothers, grandsons of Swiss immigrants who settled in Sugar Creek. Belden Brick, a company that originated in Canton, Ohio, bought the Sugarcreek company in 1946. Several of the buildings and many of the kilns that are used today were built and installed when the original company was founded in 1910.

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

We are a soggy mess here in the Pacific Northwest today. Looks like we’ll have to gather soggy leaves tomorrow. Hope all is well in your corner of the world.

Thank You for Friday & Everything Else

Last weekend Dear and I were visiting our eastern Washington kids. On Saturday while the guys worked hard on a home project, Jamie and I attended a Paint Party. The party was put on by Raggedy Rose Vintage Designs ~ Make and Take Sign Parties. They have a Facebook Page.

First we got to pick our wood board in whatever finish we liked.

We got to choose the stencil with a saying we wanted to add to our board. The equipment was all provided along with great spaces to create. So many paint colors to choose from. The hostesses went around helping us and giving us tips.

After we painted the lettering and symbols we let the paint dry somewhat and then we peeled off the stencil and got to see our final results. When things were good and dry they screwed in a hanging wire for us.

There was a little glare on the photo of this one which is our daughter in laws. Mine is the one at the top of this post that says thankful & Grateful.

Here are the gals with their new creations ready to take home. For a non-crafty person like myself this was not as scary as I thought it would be. Everything was so well organized and things explained well. It was a lot of fun. We got home in time to relax before we enjoyed dinner with the guys.

On Monday we got to enjoy a wonderful double rainbow just out of our kid’s door.

I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. ¹⁴Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, ¹⁵I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. ¹⁶Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”

¹⁷So God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth.” Genesis 9: 13-17

I posted this Russian Beet salad, Vinegrette, that was a family favorite growing up on Monday. You can find the recipe at Mennonite Girls can Cook by clicking here.

On Tuesday we drove the five and a half hours back to our home in Western Washington.

I’m thankful and grateful for God’s goodness and love towards us. For our visit with our kids in Eastern Washington. For enjoying creative endeavors. For Dear and Dan being able to complete a house project together. For God’s provision for our son in giving him a good helper in Jamie, (Genesis 2:18 (ESV) Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”) For the rainbow and God’s promise to us. And on a lighter note…good food!

I’m linking up to…

Foodie Friday and Everything Else at Rattlebridge Farm

Five on Friday with Amy at Love Made My Home

Friday’s Fave Five with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage

Category Archives: Signs