Category Archives: Spring

Cherry Blossoms

Laura and I had such a great day out and about catching some of the spectacular sights in the Seattle area. Our stop at the University of Washington was a highlight of the day. In later posts I’ll share some other views on the campus and many of the gargoyles the old brick buildings have.

This is a magnolia that I always like to get a photo of when we visit the quad this time of year.

The crowds we experienced on Monday were nothing comparted to the crowds that gathered on the weekend. A sea of humanity!

I’m slowly adjusting back to being at home and I’m slowly getting around to blogs and catching up with emails. Hope April has started off well for all of you.

Who is Flat Stanley?

And what is the Flat Stanley Project? Many of you are unaware of who Flat Stanley is and why he visits different parts of the world. Click on this link to get more information Flat Stanley. Some elementary school teachers have their students color and cut out a flat figure of Stanley. They then choose victims willing participants to send him to and ask for the willing participants to take Stanley around with them and document interesting sights in their locale. When it’s time to send him back you include information, history, photos of where Stanley has been. Laura and I had a lot of fun with Flat Stanley. He will have a few more adventures with Josh and Laura before he gets sent back to Skylar, our Grandniece in New York.

We took Flat Stanley to see the beautiful blooming cherry blossoms on these great trees in the Quad at the University of Washington.

Many more photos from the Cherry Blossoms at the University of Washington’s Quad will be in my next post.

We are home again and getting ready to attack our Spring clean up on our acreage. All the snow has melted off our property revealing all the work that needs to be done. I hope to catch up on visits to your blogs in the next several days.

Weekend Roundup “S”

1. Starts with “S.”
2. A Favorite.
3. Silver.

Starts with S…

Sisters and siblings with our dear old Pop in Southern California. He turns 95 on May 25th. Left to right, youngest to oldest, Lana, Ellen b., Vera and Kathy.

2. A favorite…

Spring in my yard.

3. Silver…

A table set with my sterling silver flatware and other silver touches.

And my parting shot…

Sailboats sailing on Lake Union in Seattle last summer.

Linking up with Tom The Backroads Traveller for Weekend Roundup.

Hope all of you enjoy Mother’s Day weekend and if your mom is still alive that you have the chance to honor her in some way.

Before the Rumble!

Yesterday we had a sunny and windy start to the day. This is a view of our Pink Dogwood from the kitchen window and then from the yard.

We have 4 mature Rhododendrons in our yard and they are getting to full bloom.

Closeups of the lilac and dogwood blooms. Those lilac blooms are filling our yard and deck with their fragrance. Of all these blooms they are the only ones with a strong fragrance.

Blooms from two of our rhoddies.

In the late afternoon the clouds got dark and grey and we had a loud thunderstorm that lasted for an hour. A lot of noise and a little rain. The winds continue today. In the meantime our house is still clean and organized waiting for that family who wants to buy our home.

The Merry Month of May Hodgepodge

1. April showers bring May flowers or so the saying goes. Is there a flower you associate with a particular memory? Explain.

We live in the Rhododendron state. Every May these beauties in the photo above bloom all over our state. They come in different sizes and colors. We have five different plants in our yard. They grow with extra care and they grow wild with no care. The yellow one below is our newest one. I’ll always associate Rhodies with our move to Washington state way back in 1988.

2. Last time you helped someone? Tell us how.

These two just attended the Aeronautical Engineering “Space Ball” last weekend. Andrew will be graduating soon and he has been offered an intern to hire job after graduation. And yes, Katie’s hair is a rich shade of purple. They needed to search for a new apartment and I helped them by driving them to five complexes to check them out. These two brilliant young adults hate to drive. I like to drive so I was happy to help them in this small way. I also needed to be out of the house since there was an open house going on at our home so it filled the time nicely.

3. It’s National Salsa Month (the food, not the dance) so tell us, do you like salsa? Hot, medium, or mild? Homemade, store bought, or from your favorite restaurant only?

We like the salsa at our local Mexican restaurant. It’s medium. Other than good restaurant salsa we enjoy homemade.

4. When I was twelve years old…

This is the junior high school I was attending when I was 12. When I was 12 I attended Hume Lake Christian camp. What I learned at Bible Camp was that the only connection I could have to God was through Jesus Christ and what He did for me on the cross. Being Russian and being a part of my father’s religion did not give me a direct link to God that I believed I had. In 1963 at Hume Lake while listening to a speaker talk about Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross to save sinners I was moved to step out and become a follower of Jesus. God’s plan of salvation was exclusively through his perfect son Jesus, who is fully God and came to earth to live a perfect life among us and be the perfect sacrifice for our sins. I knew I was one of those sinners and I needed a Savior. This decision began a journey of ups and downs, highs and lows, but a journey forward with my God and Savior.

Nestled close to Kings Canyon National Park in California’s Sierra Nevada is the Youth Camp that I was able to attend in 1963, 1965 and 1967. I was 12, 14, and 16 during these wilderness adventures.

5. It’s the first of May so let’s run with it-first things first, don’t know the first thing about it, first dibs on something, first impression, first rate, first cousin, first string, first come first served, at first light-which phrase can best be applied to something in your life currently or even recently?

Currently I’d have to choose at first light. Seems Dear and I are up before first light each day. We should have been farmers or milk deliverers.

6. Insert your own random thought here.
It’s the Merry Month of May and I’m happy that it’s here.
Joining Jo From Across the Pond for Wednesday Hodgepodge.
 

They Bloom…

…as if overnight!

Addy warmed up to Gramps and Baba with no problems. We are always pleased that she remembers us and lifts up her arms for us to pick her up. We were able to see first hand all the new skills that she has mastered.

She moves and entertains in motion.

Eating cheerios while walking.

Scooting on her (what animal is that?) giraffe?

Building…

She has the cutest way of saying she is done eating.

Trying to gather all the numbers from her number puzzle right side up and upside down.

We enjoyed our time again with our kids in northeastern Washington.

Meanwhile Spring is blooming in our western Washington yard!

Lilacs, Pear blossoms and apple blossoms.

What’s blooming in your corner of the world?

Stop to Enjoy Spring!

Enjoying the photos I was able to snap of Addy and this next one that our Daughter-in-law took of Addy with her trusty furry friend.

We are in the thick of it at home again. With our house on the market we don’t have a lot of down time at home and that means my time on the computer is limited, too. We have no offers on our home yet and we have not found a home in northeastern Washington to make an offer on, either. Asking for an extra measure of trust from the Lord. Our weather has been glorious since we’ve come home. It’s so nice to have sunshine and to see all the Spring blooms.

There’s a Hole in My Bucket Hodgepodge

1. Three things on your spring bucket list? If you don’t have an actual list that’s fine, pretend you do.

  1. Sell our home 2. Buy a new home 3. Be moved into our new home by the time Spring is over. This is my reality bucket list. Any other time in life it would be filled with things like travel here and travel there…

2. Where do you find rest? What restores your soul? When was the last time you did whatever it was you answered here?

Going to church on Sunday restores my soul, especially communion Sundays. I also need a day in between very busy days to have no agenda. All this moving crunch has messed with my soul restoration time but…it is well with my soul nevertheless.

3. April is National Celery Month. Who knew? Do you like celery? What’s your favorite dish made with celery? On a veggie and dip platter which would you reach for first-carrot sticks, celery sticks, cucumbers or cherry tomatoes?

Celery is okay especially with peanut butter spread on it. A Bloody Mary with a celery stalk in it is good, too. My first go to on a veggie tray would be cucumbers. Mirepoix (celery, carrots and onions) is a great base for lots of dishes.

4. I read here eight things to do before 8 am to make your day less hectic-Start one load of laundry, drink water, empty the dishwasher, read your Bible, know what you’re having for dinner, get dressed, brain dump (two lists-one what you’re thankful for and one what’s weighing on your mind), and after the brain dump make your to-list for the day

How many of these are you currently doing? Which one do you think would help the most if you added it to your early morning routine?

I like this list of things to do but for a retired person this doesn’t have to be done by 8. I think if I do this list by 9 or 10 am it would be sweet! And because we are retired some of the things on the list aren’t critical like starting a load of laundry.

5. Describe the view from your window.

This is the view from my laptop spot on my family room couch.

Patio covers up and my patio furniture all set out with my privacy fence in the background. Leaves beginning to appear on the huge maple that looms above my patio covers. Sweet bleeding hearts blooming in a container just outside our “french doors” that exit to our deck.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

I’m apologizing ahead of time for not visiting other hodgepodge posts in a timely fashion. Today is our outdoor work day to get the house ready for open houses before we hightail it out of here to Eastern Washington on Thursday. I mow, Dear weed wacks. So far we only have one house to look at in Colville on this trip. We are hoping for more houses to come on the market that we look forward to seeing. Time will tell. What’s great is that we get to see and enjoy our eastern Washington kids including dear little Addy May while we are in Colville. It’s been a while…

Spring is finally blooming here in our yard and in western Washington in general. How’s Spring doing in your corner?

Linking up to Hodgepodge Wednesday with Jo at From This Side of the Pond. She asks the questions and we answer them.

Easter Monday Update

Saturday was a multitasking day at this old house. The girls prepared Russian Easter Bread, our sweet cheese spread, packed boxes, took photos and paintings off the walls. Dear gathered up items we wanted to sell and Josh took over my phone and managed the photos and listings for us and responded to the inquiries and we sold several items, cha ching! We were exhausted at the end of the day but were satisfied with the successful results of working together.

On Easter morning we were texted this collage of Addy’s first experience with bubbles.

We celebrated our risen savior at the 8 am service and it was glorious!

Our peeps gathered at 11:00 am for our Easter meal together. Yummy.

Our phones alerted us to a text coming in and we saw our little Easter bunny from across the mountains who was zonked out after attending Easter service with her parents.

We missed these three at our celebration but are always happy to get photos via text!

Hope you all had a joyful Easter weekend.

Spring Hodgepodge

The Cherry Blossom Quad at the University of Washington. Katie, Laura and I enjoyed a couple hours at the University with lunch on the “Ave” on Monday.

1. On this first official day of spring tell us something (besides the weather) you’re looking forward to in this season of the year.

Well that’s a great question. This Saturday we are celebrating Addy’s first birthday with family and friends. She was born on the first day of Spring last year and she turned 1 on the first day of Spring this year. She’s our very special Spring gift. We are also looking forward to finding our new home somewhere close to our kids in Colville.

2. When it comes to spring cleaning would you rather wash windows or wash baseboards? Clean out closets or clean out the garage? Dust ceiling fans or dust bookcases? Wipe down the patio furniture outside or wipe down the light fixtures inside? Any of these tasks recently completed?

I’d rather wash baseboards.

I’d rather clean out the garage because Dear will do that and not me.

Dust ceiling fans since I only have one but I have a ton of bookcases.

Wipe down the patio furniture outside because that means the sun is shining.

I’m trying to pack a box a day so my closets are getting cleaned in a manner of speaking.

3. Your favorite thing to make/eat that calls for cream cheese? Sour cream? Whipped cream?

Cream Cheese = Cheesecake

Sour cream = Beef Stroganoff

Whipped Cream = Parfaits

4. I read here a list of commonly mispronounced words. What is a word that gives you trouble when it comes to pronunciation?

Arborvitae

5. What’s a song you love with the word ‘rain’ in the title or lyrics?

Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head

6.  Insert your own random thought here.

We are headed east again for a very special birthday celebration and to look at some more houses that are for sale. Tuesday I clocked more than 20,000 steps…a first for me this year. We did some major yard work. Hello Spring and so it begins, weeds and the grass growing before our eyes. That’s a spring cleaning job that I don’t mind, mowing the lawn. Crazy but true. Happy Spring dear bloggy friends. Hope you find renewed energy and new things every day to thank God for.

Hop over to From This Side of the Pond for Wednesday Hodgepodge. Thank you Joyce!