Category Archives: Spring

Hijole it’s May Hodgepodge!

These were our rhoddy bushes at our last home in Kenmore, Washington.

Jo From This Side of the Pond has a new bouquet of questions for us to answer this first Hodgepodge of May. Click over to join in the fun. Thank you Jo!

1. What’s something you ‘may’ do this month? 

Gut our master shower and start work on the remodeling of it. That won’t be me alone but the royal we who do this. Mostly he’ll do it and I’ll be his gofer.

2. “All things seem possible in May”~Edwin Way Teale. Do you agree? Elaborate. If not May, then in which month if any would you say all things seem possible? 

I’m more of a get-er-done in October kind of person. For me the merry month of May yields more things to leisurely enjoy.

3. April showers bring May flowers…is this true where you live?

Absolutely true here. We are still in daffodil and tulip mode and soon many different plants will flower.

What’s your favorite color of the rainbow?

I will go with Violet.

Your favorite May bloom?

Rhododendron

Do you enjoy visiting gardens?

Yes! I’ve been fortunate to visit several beautiful gardens like Butchart Gardens on Vancouver Island, The gardens at Biltmore in Asheville, The Japanese Gardens in Seattle,  Roozengaarde Tulip Garden in Mt. Vernon Washington State, Descanso Gardens in Flintridge, California, Airlie Gardens in Wilmington N.C. , Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden, Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh, Hidcote Gardens (Cotswolds), Kiftsgate Court Gardens (Cotswolds) to name a few…

What’s a ‘famous’ garden you’d like to visit? 

Beatrix Potter’s Garden at Hilltop

4. Are you a fan of the Star Wars series of films? If so how many have you seen? (I think there are 12) 

I enjoyed watching the first series in the theater, the first 4. We went to church with George Lucas’s sister when we lived in Huntington Beach. Didn’t really keep up with the last 7 or 8 of them.

Are you a fan of the sci-fi genre in general, in either books or movies? What’s your favorite sci-fi book or movie? 

More a fan of Fantasy. Hubby really enjoys Sci-fi. His favorite author is Isaac Asimov and the favorite series is The Foundation Trilogy.

5. Cinco de Mayo lands on Friday of this week…do you enjoy Mexican food? How often?

We grew up in what I call ‘Northern Mexico’ aka Southern California so we learned to enjoy Mexican food early. I can eat Mexican food several times a week but on average I’d say twice a week.

Do you eat out or make your own?

Both. This week we’ll be eating Mexican food out on Thursday and on Cinco de Mayo!

Your favorite thing to order in a Mexican restaurant?

Depending on the restaurant I enjoy Chile Colorado in a burrito or a chalupa. I also enjoy Enchiladas Suissa.

Have you ever been to Mexico? 

Yes and not to a resort. We went to Tecate to pick up floor tiles for our cousin’s house. Ticate is well East of Tijuana. We have tales to tell about that trip. After we got the tiles in the van the trip back to the Border near Tijuana was dicey. The heavy load necessitated more air in the tires and we called out to the Lord to find somewhere for that air! We made it back on the U.S. side and parked the van there. Then we crossed the Border again taking a taxi to Tijuana for some shopping. After we were done shopping we thought we could walk back to the Border, because we were so cheap. A Tijuana Police car pulled up and told us it was too far to walk to the ‘Border’ and we were escorted back to the U.S. Border by two Tijuana policemen in their police car… My cousin sat between the two policemen in the front seat and Me, Jeanie and Greg were in the back seat. We were a little nervous until we saw the Border crossing. Come over for dinner sometime and we’ll tell you the rest of the story…

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Speaking of gardens…

The gardens at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville N.C. in May of 2014 with our daughter Katie.

Butchart Gardens with our daughter, Katie.

Japanese Gardens in Seattle.

Descanso Gardens in 1988 and 2010, Katie and her cousins.

Roozengaarde in Mount Vernon, Washington State.

Hidcote Gardens in the Cotswolds 2014.

 

So thankful for all the beauty that God created for us to enjoy.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope to visit Hodgepodgers soon.

Hello May

Happy May Day!
“Come, my soul, put on your springtime clothes and gather garlands of heavenly thoughts.”
Spurgeon

Looking forward to our May flowers! Our last couple days of April brought temperatures into the 80’s!

Spring has brought some common visitors back to our yard.

These stay right where they are all year round in all kinds of weather.

Our daffodils came up and they are in their full glory.

Spring Rhubarb.

Soon we’ll be enjoying the Peonies.

For close to 5 years we have been half-satisfied with our internet service. Where we live Satellite service has been our best option. Our plan was expensive and doesn’t deliver for the cost in our opinion. Lately we have another choice for Satellite and we took the plunge and ordered Starlink. Dear is on the roof getting the space ready for the Satellite dish.

That dish moves and finds the optimum position in relation to the Satellites. Very cool. It lets us know if there are obstructions. It also will melt snow that might accumulate on it. Our other service had a data limit and this service does not. We are happy campers. It was expensive for the initial cost of equipment, etc., but the monthly fee is $50 dollars less than our previous provider. We are pleased. When we called to cancel our previous service they offered us more data and a $50 discount on our plan. Too little, too late.

Hope you can enjoy lots of pretty blooms in May and joy in your hearts!

Back on the Trail

Last Saturday we left our house early to see how the Rotary trail had shaped up after our Winter and Spring snow. We were hoping for the trail to be free of mud. We were happy to only encounter a very small patch of mud on our three mile course. It was nice to get out in the sunshine for our walk and we hope for many more early walks to come.

Mid April

On Tuesday of this week we took a drive to Chewelah for lunch and I took this photo on the way home as we traveled back towards Colville. This was a nice change after a very rainy Sunday night through Monday late into the early hours on Tuesday. So grateful to see blue skies and be warmed by sunshine!

We still are dropping into the freezing range at night but the days have seen sunshine and temperatures into the 50’s. We worked outside today getting some things cleaned up and cleared out at our country bungalow. We have a truck load to donate to a garage sale at our church to raise money for our MOPS (Mothers of Pre-Schoolers) program. Dear changed out our winter tires to our all purpose tires so we are ready for travel on roads with easier conditions.

Our westside kids are traveling today to our home for the weekend. We look forward to a good catch-up and some celebrating.

How’s your April shaping up?

I Choose Joy Hodgepodge

Wednesday Hodgepodge is back this week. Thank you Joyce From This Side of the Pond for the questions!

1. Did you celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in some way? If so tell us how. Are you a fan of corned beef? Cabbage? The color green? Yes, yes, and yes. 

This year St. Patrick’s day landed on the Friday that our kids drove over from the Westside to celebrate birthdays over the weekend. All of us, except for Andrew, gathered Friday evening for a Corned Beef and Cabbage meal. Our weekend was packed solid with celebrations. Addy’s party on Saturday afternoon and a belated celebration for me Saturday evening.

2. March 22nd is National Goof Off Day…will you celebrate? Your favorite way to goof off? Last time you had a whole day to spend ‘goofing off’? 

My favorite way to goof off is to do nothing and stay in my jammies and robe for most of the morning. Wednesdays is not usually a goof off day for me. Wednesday morning I join some other gals at church for prayer meeting at 9am. After prayer I usually stop at Wal-Mart or Super 1 to pick up any needed groceries since I’m in town already. On this particular Wednesday we are having 2 other couples over for cards at 5 so I’ll be making some kind of a dessert for us to share during our card evening. Hand and Foot is what we play (Canasta?).

3. Something on your to-do list that has been there more than a month? Will this be the month you finally cross it off? 

Usually in late Fall the planters should be cleared of old growth and prepared for winter. We had early snow that covered our planters and Dear had a stroke on November 5th so any outside work got put on the back burner. Before March is over I hope to be able to clear out all the soggy and dead growth to give way to the Spring growth. On Monday and Tuesday of this week the weather was right to get a start on this task. My back can only take so much each day. I have 4 of the 7 planters done. Dear was able to gather many of the fallen branches from our evergreens and chop them down to size for the burn pile. So thankful that we are still physically able to accomplish some of these tasks.

4. In your opinion, what emotion is the most beneficial? Which one is the least useful? 

I think many emotions can be both beneficial and detrimental depending on the degree they are felt and acted upon. Example: There is healthy fear and a debilitating fear.  There is a place for sadness and grief but not despair.

Since we are asked to choose. I’ll choose JOY! Joy lifts up and it is encouraging to be around a joyful person. For my least useful choice I’ll go with anger even though there is a place for anger we are apt to go overboard if we let this emotion take over.

5. What was your favorite thing to do as a kid? Elaborate. 

Read! I can still remember what a joy it was to be able to hold a book in my primary years and read it. Dick and Jane most likely. Then that joy grew. My siblings and I would walk to the library and check out our quota of books to bring home to read. I remember scanning the shelves of books to choose the right ones. In later elementary years a bookmobile would come to our school and I enjoyed that chance to choose books to read, too.

It was 1.7 miles one way from our home in Pico Rivera to the Montebello Library that sat on the grounds of Montebello City park. That library is now a Senior Center. We walked out of our neighborhood (Montebello Gardens) to Whittier Blvd, across the Rio Hondo River bridge and straight on to the library.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Our sweet granddaughter who turned six on the first day of Spring, Monday.

Her party was on Saturday. We are so thankful to God that we get to have a granddaughter and grandson to love and watch grow. Posts of the Magical Unicorn Party Here, Here and Here.

We had a wonderful packed weekend. Our Westside kids drove home on Sunday.

Our Sweet Spring Gift

Six years ago on the first day of Spring our very first grandchild was born. Happy Sixth birthday to our one and only granddaughter, Addy May! Baba and Gramps love you so much. A very full birthday fun post is coming soon. We thank our God that He created you and we get to love you! We love you, we love you, we love you!

Happy First day of Spring everyone. We had wonderful Spring weather from Friday through Sunday which was a wonderful change. Much of our snow has melted. We had a full weekend of celebrations, too. Hope Spring arrives nicely in your corner of the Northern Hemisphere!

Beach Walk Sightings

Home again after a long day of traveling and no energy to participate in Wednesday Hodgepodge. Alaska Airlines upgraded me to First Class for my flights home and that was a nice treat. The flight attendant was cheerful and happy to serve which made things even more enjoyable. After landing in Spokane on my second leg of the journey, we made a stop at Hobby Lobby to try to find a few things for the walls of my of our guestrooms that we upgraded to a King bed, etc. My brain was in slo-mo which made making design decisions difficult. We left with two small items and headed to Costco to fill up our vehicle with gasoline and buy a few items. Back on the road home we tried to stop at a favorite spot for dinner in Deer Park but it was closed for some mysterious reason. We tried a new spot in Loon Lake and it was good enough that we will stop there again in the future. Once home we had absolutely no energy left so the unpacking will be slow. Here are some extra photos from a walk along the Beach that my sister and I enjoyed.

Besides the beautiful ocean and beaches we saw both pretty and unusual things on our walk Friday the 10th of June.

The dog walker. This made us smile. This was a group of very well behaved dogs!

And besides seeing things on the ground we spotted this group in the sky.

Getting back in the groove here at home. Thank you for following along and all the kind comments. I’ll be responding soon. And just like that we are at the middle of June!

Hummingbirds

I’m traveling today so Truth for Today will resume next Thursday.

We hung a Hummingbird feeder up on our patio structure and it has been delightful to watch the hummingbirds come and go.

 

I’ll be scarce on the internets for the next several days. I’m hoping to document what I’ve been up to soon.

Since Thursday is when I post Truth for Today I will share this paragraph from Drawing Near, by John MacArthur.

Be Quick to Hear

…”You should be quick to hear the Word because it provides nourishment for your spiritual life and is your weapon against all spiritual adversaries. It is the means by which you are strengthened and equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17) It delivers you from trials and temptations and engages you in communion with the living God. The Word should be your most welcome friend…”

Spring Deer

 

 

The deer are coming around again to nibble and rest in the shade in our back yard. They are welcome as long as they stay away from my clematis.

This male was interested in the female and was chasing her so they didn’t stop to nibble on my clematis.

Here is some evidence of our Spring showers from this past weekend. While I’m typing the dark clouds have moved in again and we have thunder and lightning.

Raindrops Keep Falling…

…and our blooms are slower to open up this Spring. Compared to last year our Peonies, Clematis, Irises, and Columbine are all a bit behind in opening up in their glory.

We have 2 large bushes of this variety of Peony and 3 smaller ones. When they bloom I try to bring bouquets in and give away some, too. I was able to take a nice bouquet to a surprise birthday party we went to on Sunday afternoon during a dry spell with sun, some blue sky and lovely fluffy clouds. When we got home from the party the skies opened up with an amazing downpour with lightning and thunder and hail, oh my.

One of the many Iris bulbs opened up on Saturday. Several more to come.

Our weekend was filled with mostly rain with a few dry spells. During the dry spells I pulled as many weeds as my back and arms would permit. When the soil is wet with rain the weeds pull up easier. I figure 20 more hours of weeding and I’ll be ahead. I smile and sigh at the same time.

Even though we are getting a lot of rain and cooler temperatures this Spring we go with the flow and hope that this accumulation of moisture will help lower the risk of wildfires this summer.

How goes it in your corner of the world?