We decided to take down these umbrellas that didn’t work well with our windy afternoons and replaced them with a shade cloth. I say we in the royal sense, Dear did it all!
We are happy with this new arrangement. The cloth is secure enough to withstand strong wind gusts. It will be easy to take down at the end of summer.
On Friday JJ’s mommy and Addy went to Spokane with Granny and Granny Great to celebrate a friends new baby. JJ and Baba were left to their own devices. It is so good to just spend time with one Grand now and then. JJ is developing the right skills to pedal his bicycle and it was fun to watch him. We spent a little time in the garden and he gets to pick and eat all the raspberries he wants. Inside he enjoyed his lunch and then we played with trucks and blocks and puzzles. We worked on a Kiwi Activity box that gets delivered monthly. After we read the book that came with the activity box JJ brought several other books he wanted me to read to him. Later in the afternoon it was time to wind down to his nap so we watched Octonauts just as Mommy and Addy pulled into the garage. A nice day for everyone.
This photo of sand and surf and a pier is from Huntington Beach, California.
Thank you Jo From This Side of the Pond for Wednesday Hodgepodge.
1. July 5th is National Hawaii Day…have you ever been to Hawaii?
Yes, once in 1997.
Any desire to visit or make a return trip?
Not particularly.
Pineapple, mango, or guava…what’s your pleasure?
Pineapple but not on a pizza. 🙂
2. Last time you were ‘thrown in at the deep end’? Explain.
I’ll leave out some information to spare the mostly innocent but ‘the deep end’ was showing up at an event that no one was really in charge of and having to jump in and make it run smoother than it was going to.
3. Sun, sea, sand, salt…your favorite when it comes to summer?
I like the sea in the summer because it is usually cooler at the seashore than inland.
4. Bury your head in the sand, the sands of time, draw a line in the sand, pound sand, shifting sands…pick one and tell us how the phrase currently relates to your life in some way.
I’ll go with the sands of time as in ‘the steady unstoppable passage of time’. It currently relates to my life as I turned 70 this year. How did that happen? As the saying goes I am not a Spring chicken but that is quite okay as I’ve lived and learned a lot with a lot more to learn!
5. On a scale of 1-10 (1 = make your own rules and 10=like a warden), how strict were your parents? If you’re a parent where on the scale do you land?
Our Pop worked long hours but he had his priorities and that was making sure we were all at church on time a few days a week. My mother tried to be a warden but mostly fell in at about a 5. I was the baby of the family for 7 years before my younger 4 siblings arrived and I wore my parents down and got to do things my older siblings didn’t do. We didn’t really have chores and we never had an allowance.
Dear and I fall in closer to the warden side than the “free range kids” side. Maybe at a 7, it’s hard to put a number on it. We had rules, specific bedtimes and other expectations but we didn’t lock them in their rooms. They had the freedom to break the rules when we weren’t watching.
6. Insert your own random thought here.
At my follow-up appointment yesterday my eye tests confirmed I have 20/20 vision in my right eye after my cataract surgery. Looking forward to my left eye cataract surgery July 16th.
Many of our plants have survived our epic heat wave and for that I’m grateful.
This clematis hasn’t bloomed the last couple of years but this year we’ve gotten two blooms. This is the second bloom.
The daylilies seem to thrive in the heat.
How does your garden grow?
Today I have a follow-up appointment in Spokane so we’ll leave O-dark-thirty to get to the appointment on time. Need anything from Costco while we are there? That’s a standard question we ask our kids and they ask us depending on who is headed to Spokane.
Today my baby sister and her hubby are stopping overnight before they venture home to the west side of the Cascades.
We had such a wonderful church service on the 4th of July.
Have you ever sung the 4th stanza of our National Anthem? We sang all 4 stanzas in church on Sunday.
O thus be it ever when freemen shall stand
Between their lov’d home and the war’s desolation!
Blest with vict’ry and peace may the heav’n rescued land
Praise the power that hath made and preserv’d us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto – “In God is our trust,”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Praising the Power who hath preserved our nation. Thank you Lord!
Last week during our heat wave we tiptoed to our neighbor’s Cherry trees very early to help him out by picking. Our neighbor had his leg amputated below the knee this past year and understandably is unable to do what he’s done in the past. We didn’t want to wake him up or get his little dog barking so we were as quiet as could be.
They are very tall trees and Dear is on a 10 foot ladder.
There are still more cherries to pick so we’ll sneak over early today to pick some more.
Since summertime can be a busy or less organized time of the year for some our Thursday Bible Verse Challenge will be open to any verse or verses from any Book of the Bible. As you study choose a verse or section that you’d like to share with us. Leave your verses in the comment section and I will add them below. Keep reading, keep studying, keep following Jesus and depending on the Holy Spirit to guide you and illumine the Word.
I’m just finishing up my daily reading of the Book of Romans and choosing the next Book to read for the month of July.
Romans 11:33-36 (ESV)
33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord,
or who has been his counselor?”
35 “Or who has given a gift to him
that he might be repaid?”
36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.
From Patricia:
Joshua 1:9 Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
From Linda P:
Galatians 2. 20
I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.
From Maristella:
“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”
James 5:16
We are novices when it comes to garlic and harvesting garlic. All the garlic that appeared in our raised planter was put there by someone before we moved in. It was a surprise last year when they popped up and our Daughter in law informed us what they were. This year we were a wee bit more informed and were told if we removed the scapes as soon as they appeared we would get larger bulbs. That advice was timely and good.
This is what the scapes look like and you remove them before you harvest the bulbs. They are good for eating, too. You can see the curly stem with a single bulb on the plant and you can remove them easily.
Next year we will be even smarter about how to pull up the bulbs and what to avoid. I watched a lot of youtubes on the subject after we pulled the bulbs up. Why not before you might ask? That’s the way I roll. Hopefully I’ll learn from my mistakes.
Hanging the harvest in the Cold Room that we have in our garage using the deer hanger. It’s dark and dry (hopefully). We’ll check them in about 3 weeks to see how they are doing. When they are good and dry we will cut off the stalks, trim the stringy roots and brush off the dirt. Then we’ll store the bulbs in mesh bags like lemons or oranges come in, something airy. Then we’ll store them in a cool dark spot.
Going into the cold room this morning to take the photo I was hit with that pungent fragrance of garlic. It smells like an Italian or Greek restaurant in there!
On the weather front: Our little digital window thermometer tells us our high yesterday was 107 degrees. Today they are predicting 111. Time will tell. Dear is mowing today very early (6:30 am). Our neighbors aren’t close enough to mind too much. We continue to water in the coolest part of the morning.
On the Cataract front: My eye is doing well and Dear is administrating the 3 different drops 4x a day. Tomorrow we move to only 2 different drops 3x a day. Thank you all for your encouragement!
Saturday and the temps are blistering. Hope you are keeping cool in your neck of the woods. We are so thankful for our air conditioning. Still recuperating from my Cataract surgery. Three different eye drops 4x a day. Dear is a great caregiver in this regard.
We are going to be replacing these umbrellas with a large shade cloth. The concept of these umbrellas seemed good but with the wind we experience at our Country Bungalow they aren’t right for our space. They blow around too much hitting the house.
I’ve been reading the rich book of Romans for a month.
Romans 11:33-36
33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord,
or who has been his counselor?”
35 “Or who has given a gift to him
that he might be repaid?”
36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.
I’m scheduling a few random shots while my eye is recovering from my Cataract surgery. We’ve made a few minor changes in our living room since the original look when we moved in.
Romans 12: 1,2
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Update:
Good morning. Surgery went well and my only restrictions are no lifting, bending over, or contact sports for a few days. Thank you for all your prayers on my behalf!
Took this photo on the twenty first of June in the evening. We are entering Summer with some blistering temperatures. This coming Sunday they are predicting 105 degrees. Yikes!
This morning we are in Spokane for my cataract surgery. We had to leave the house at 5:30am.
When things are working well with my eyes again I’ll be back. Until then enjoy your Summer days.
The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b. 