Category Archives: Spring

Red Squirrel

Another surprise on our property.

This is the one and only squirrel we’ve seen on our property. We were excited to see it since we’ve never seen a red squirrel in person before.

Latin name:
Tamiasciurus hudsonicus
Category:
Mammals
The red squirrel is about the same size as the Douglas squirrel and lives in coniferous forests and semi-open woods in northeast Washington. It is rusty-red on the upper part and white or grayish white on its underside.
The squirrel didn’t stay long but I was really happy that I happened to have my camera on me when it appeared.
We have more surprises to share soon from around our Country Bungalow.
Have a good day everyone…

Tuesdays With Moisi

Today is Tuesday but my Tuesdays with Moisi posts will have to be put on the back burner because I do not have the proper time to research and find the photos I need to continue. It will take a while before I can resume.

The photo above was taken in May at the last home our parents owned before they left to Russia as missionaries in 1997. This home was in Yorba Linda, California. The town where President Nixon’s Library is. I’ll make a guess and say Pop was barbecuing for a family get together to celebrate his and our sister Kathy’s birthdays in May.

Springs demands are keeping us busy at our country bungalow. It took me over 4 hours to mow our property on the riding lawn mower yesterday. Dear did the weed whacking for the same amount of time. We purchased a back support for me to wear while I mow since our ground is uneven and there is quite a bit of bouncing about as I move across the acreage. After that kind of work we are a wee bit brain dead and just fit for vegging for a while.

Our Canadian friends enjoyed their Victoria Day weekend and now we have our Memorial Day weekend coming up here in the U.S.A. Do you have any plans?

Came across these verses in my readings this morning and thought they were a good reminder for our times.

So, flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know they breed quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.  (2 Timothy 2: 22-26, ESV)

The Pond and Beyond

After several warm days and Dear’s hard work the pond has dried nicely.

This is another necessity on most properties in our neck of the woods. Everyone says they are unusually big this year. We are hoping they aren’t as prolific as they were last year.

First of 3 stumps we want to get rid of. And on the very bright side…

Lily of the Valley. We’ve heard from those of you who know that this plant is very invasive. I’m happy to report they are in an isolated planter.

These succulents are in the rockery that borders the pond area.

We have a nice healthy looking Peony. Looking forward to seeing what the blooms are like. We also have a white bleeding heart blooming and three clematis that are reaching towards the sky.

On the way back from the mailbox Dear stopped to chat with our neighbor and heard some stories about the rattlesnakes killed from year to year. Yikes. We’re being careful especially when we clear out brush.

Happy to report that our Heat Pump is working as it should and we’ve been able to cool things down when we need to. The technician found wires that were wired wrong. Glad it was an easy fix.

To Northport

On Sunday afternoon we turned left out our driveway and headed north to the town of Northport.

We followed our road to highway 25 and turned right headed for Northport. Northport is just shy of 10 miles to Canada.

Northport was given its name since it was once the northernmost town on the Spokane Falls and Northern Railway. It was officially incorporated on June 1, 1898 but has a history stretching back to the 1880s when it was a port and shipbuilding center for steamboat services running northwards into British Columbia during construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway, related to its location at a stretch of the Columbia known as the Little Dalles, a rapids and narrows that was a barrier to navigation and which also was an alternate name for Northport itself. In 2010 the census of Northport registered 295 people.

We had a meal at the River Town Grill.

We crossed the bridge over the Columbia River.

Sometime in the near future we’ll follow the highway all the way to Canada and check out some of the towns close by like Rossland, Trail and Nelson. Nelson is where the movie Roxanne was filmed. (Steve Martin)

On the way back home we stopped to take some photos of the Columbia River.

At this spot we recognized the property across the river and the structures at the top of the slope. Our Eastern Washington kids got married on that property in 2015. I zoomed in to make sure it was the spot.

Flash back to June 30, 2015.

Home again, home again, jiggety jig.

We hope to have many more day trips in the future to learn more about our new part of the state.

Mother’s day plans here are going to be last minute and flexible as our kids are still pretty much homebound. The guys are prepped and ready to barbecue something for a meal on Sunday for all the usual suspects.

Spring Visitors

In April, before we drained our pond, we had 3 real ducks land in it. I had to look up their name on google images. They are Common Mergansers.

In May we had some more visitors. This Quail sat on top of this birdhouse for the longest time calling out.

This turkey kept pacing our side fence and it seemed like it’s bird brain could not figure out how to get out of our backyard. Dear went on the deck and made some noise and it finally realized it could fly over the fence.

Finally caught a Tom Turkey fanning it’s tail feathers!

Colville claims the title of the Turkey Capital of the Pacific Northwest.

The Swallows continue to entertain us with their flying.

Our Spring clean up continues. We are working on getting the pond liner cut and removed. It’s a toilsome job especially because of the scum. Pond scum is a real thing.

We’ve been in the 70’s and there are predictions of soaring in the 80’s on the weekend!

Hope the merry month of May is going well in your corner.

The Swallows

Birds have been very active in our back acres and we’ve enjoyed watching them fly and sit for a while, too.

We have a couple electrical wires that run the length of our back yard and birds perch there.

The colors on this bird are so pretty.

Thank you for sitting pretty little bird.

I’m pretty sure this is a Swallow and they seem to really enjoy flying and they are so fun to watch. Tree Swallow or a Violet Green Swallow?

We’ve been working hard outside and the temperatures are getting warmer everyday. We have a forecast for Saturday in the upper 80’s. We’ve started draining our pond and will have our work cut out for us to pull out the liner. It is a man made pond and the liner is huge and thick and after being covered with water it is very slimy. We rented a trash pump and two 50 foot 3″ hoses that emptied the pond at 400 gallons per minute. We stopped with a few inches left in the pond and will let that naturally evaporate. We plan to fill in the area with material we have on hand and then we will have to bring in fill dirt to finish the space off.

The pond could be pretty but that requires a lot of work that we do not have the energy for. It’s enough work for us to mow and weed and clear brush. We also are concerned about attracting too many mosquitoes or worse yet breeding them in the pond. Last but not least, I don’t want to worry about my little grands falling into the pond.

How’s your May coming?

Mowing Season

Mowing season is upon us. I’m so thankful for our riding lawn mower. We finally were able to start the burn pile today.

Addy had a good view from the inside.

We were outside to see our water feature before Addy had to go home for her nap. After Addy left with her auntie Laura, Dear and I tended to the burn pile and did a lot of weeding.

 

My sister Vera was here for the weekend and she was a hit with Addy. Addy couldn’t say Vera and calls her Sarah. Too cute.

We managed a selfie at Douglas Falls with Vera and enjoyed some meals out on our drives to and from Spokane.

All Work and No Play…

…makes Jack a Dull Boy.

We gave a lot of good energy to our back acres on Friday and Saturday morning. I am so happy to have learned about the tarp trick for gathering and moving weeds and brush!

We found new places for some of our wall art that we brought from our home in Kenmore.

As the saying applies…we are all decked out.

Birds have been flying hard into our slider and practically knock themselves unconscious. Dear helped revive one with a warm cloth as it shivered.

On Friday evening we played with Addy while her folks went out on a date.

Don’t worry they had a nice dinner before they headed to Wal-Mart.

While we were playing on the east side of the state our Coast kids were out celebrating our favorite son-in-law’s 30th birthday! They went out for German food and Axe throwing.

Looks like they played bocce ball, too.

The Birthday boy deserves one photo all by himself. He landed both those axes in the center circle, throwing them both at the same time!

The Eastsiders sent a selfie wishing Andrew a happy birthday on the Coast.

We are thinking of forming a singing group called Crowns and Axes.

This celebration on the Coast made my heart sing.

Katie, Laura, and Josh fly in Monday night to be here for BBB’s birth. Andrew will drive over on Thursday to welcome BBB. Time will tell on what or when I’ll be posting next.

In other news: Our pastor is stranded in Dallas trying to get home from Florida where he was doing some teaching. His connecting flight was cancelled and he didn’t make it home Saturday as planned. Now we hear he might not be able to get a flight until Tuesday. The weather has been the problem. Two of our Deacons had to step in last minute and deliver a message this morning for Palm Sunday. They did a good job encouraging us to spend some time this Holy week in thought and preparation for our Easter Celebration.

Are you doing anything in preparation for Easter?

One of my readings by Spurgeon hit the mark with my heart…Even in the Face of Mockery…

O Jesus, “despised and rejected by men,” how could You die for men who treated You so badly? Here is amazing love, love divine, love beyond degree. We despised You in our pre-converted days, and even since our new birth we have given the world a place in our hearts, and yet You bled to heal our wounds and died to give us life. O that we could set You on a glorious high throne in all men’s hearts! We would ring out Your praises over land and sea until men would universally adore you just as they once unanimously rejected You.

Linking up with Angie for Mosaic Monday.

Spring in Colville

We watched Addy this afternoon and early evening so Daddy and Mommy could have a last date for a very long time. Their words not ours. This is the view from their driveway on our way home.

Dear and I worked hard in our back acres today. Our riding mower started right up after it’s winter rest. We also cleared some brush and cleaned out some planters. We tried to start our burn pile but things still haven’t dried out enough for it to stay lit. We are hoping our piles of limbs and brush will burn before we have any burn bans put in place. There is no doubt we live in the country.

We’ll be working in our back acres again tomorrow before we wrap things up for a very special week coming up. It’s Holy Week and grandson is being delivered on Tuesday.

What’s happening in your corner of the world?

 

The Rest of the Tour

After we left the University, Laura and I took Flat Stanley to see The Fremont Troll, some floating houses, views of the Space Needle and a statue of Chief Seattle.

Here’s a link if you want more information on the Troll. The sad thing about this fun Seattle sight is that drug addicts have chosen to use this sight to shoot up and discard their needles here. When we were there a concerned citizen had already picked up over 30 discarded needles. He was warning people with children to watch out.

Some of the floating houses on Lake Union in Seattle.

Views of downtown Seattle from Queen Anne’s Kerry Park.

This statue of Chief Seattle is in the Belltown area of Seattle between 5th Avenue and Cedar Street in the shadow of the Space Needle. I’ll add a link for anyone who wants to read more about the man Seattle was named after here. I found this quote about him interesting:

“What we know of Sealth (pronounced SEE-elth, with a guttural stop at the end) and his life is mostly conjecture based upon myth with a little bit of extrapolated fact. That he was a tyee, or chief, has never been disputed. His father, Schweabe, had been a tyee, and the title was hereditary, though it conferred no power upon the holder. The Suquamish listened to the tyee only when he said what the people wanted to hear. The remainder of the time, a tyee was expected to share his largess with the rest of the tribe during a potlatch.”

Seattle, Chief of the Suquamish, A Friend of The Whites. For Him the City of Seattle was named by it’s Founders.

This week I’m adding three quotes from my readings that I want to remember.

“Loving, not being loved, is essential.” John Piper

A line from a hymn by John Newton, 1779, that Alistair Begg shared on an interview about Prayer:

“Thou art coming to a King, large petitions with thee bring”

I’ll be sharing the full hymn on a Sunday in the future.

This last quote and the longest is from The Gospel According to Jesus by John MacArthur, page 46.

“The call to Calvary must be recognized for what it is: a call to discipleship under the lordship of Jesus Christ. To respond to that call is to become a believer. Anything less is unbelief.

The gospel according to Jesus explicitly and unequivocally rules out easy-believism. To make all of our Lord’s difficult demands apply only to a higher class of Christians blunts the force of His entire message. It makes room for a cheap and meaningless faith – faith that may be exercised with absolutely no impact on the fleshly life of sin. That is not saving faith.”

Have a Thursday filled with good thoughts!