Here and Now…

We’ve been home from England for 10 days now and all I’ve been sharing are posts from our time in England but it’s time to show what’s happening in the here and now…

The bathroom renovation is moving along. What that means for me is that I’m pretty much home bound while the workers are here. The workers show up sometime between eight and eight thirty in the morning and then leave anytime from two and four in the afternoon. That great big bathtub delayed work for a day because there was a glitch in the ordering of it. When it finally came the plumbing work could proceed.

Last Sunday my niece’s family arrived for a little vacation here in Seattle from Southern California for a week. They have been keeping me company some days while the workers have been here. We’ve tried to fit in as many meals around the table together as we can. They are staying at my sister’s house since all her bathrooms are intake. After a very rainy Wednesday and Thursday, Friday dawned dry and sunny!

On Friday my niece Michelle, my dil Laura, my grand niece Avery and I went to Country Village in Bothell for a little shopping and fun.

Avery and I first concentrated on ponies that needed our help to make them move. Boy did I get my exercise and I think I might have earned my “Great” Aunt status.

When we were done with the not real horses we got free tickets to ride the little train that goes all around Country Village. Avery really enjoyed the train ride. I was amazed I could get in and out of that little car we rode in. While on the train Avery spotted the REAL ponies.

Yep! We had to have a real pony ride, too. At least on this ride I could just stand and watch and click some pictures. No running and pushing or climbing in and out required.

We also got to sit in the shade and watch all the ducks in the pond. Avery’s mom and my dil Laura found some fun items to buy while we were busy and we made it home just as the guys returned from their afternoon adventure at an indoor shooting range. It was a win win day for the guys and the gals.

On Saturday we made reservations for 10 at Cactus Restaurant in Kirkland to celebrate my sister Lana’s birthday. What a beautiful day.

Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Nieces, Nephews, Moms, Dads, Brothers, Sisters, Husbands, Wives, enjoying time with each other.

A very Happy Birthday to my sister Lana and her twin, my brother Leonard on the 29th of July!

We continue to enjoy some wonderful weather here in the Puget Sound area of Washington.

Monday night Josh, Ryan, Jackson and I are going to a Sounders Soccer Game against the L.A. Galaxy. Then Tuesday morning my niece’s family makes the long trek south to California. We are hoping the bathroom work might be wrapped up by Friday of this week. Time will tell. Hard to believe we are entering the last week of July.

What’s new in your neck of the woods?

Happy 4th of July!

Before I take you on a walk about the yard I wanted to wish everyone in the good ole U.S.A. a very Happy Independence Day.

We landed in the country we gained independence from on the 4th of July!

Because of my early Thursday morning walk about I found myself another job to do and another request to make of our house guests before we left the country.

Many of the blueberries are ready for picking. This will be a nice fresh treat for the guests!

I love the hydrangeas at this stage of coloring.

We also have white ones and a small potted pink one this year.

The lavender has made it’s debut, too.

I’ll leave a note for our guests to feel free to snip the fresh thyme for their meals.

The apples won’t be ready until we return home.

So how’s your garden/yard growing?

Later than Usual…

This year our patio covers and our patio furniture got a later than usual start. Our covers usually go up sometime around Mother’s Day and the furniture is in place in time for Memorial Day. Well this year the covers went up Memorial Day weekend and the furniture finally made it’s debut on June 12th! And as per usual the rains came shortly after we had the furniture in place. I say that with a smile on my face not as a complaint. I enjoy the natural watering system around here just so long as the sun comes out again tomorrow!

We didn’t deck the halls we decked the deck.

Mother’s Day…Father’s Day, what’s a month or so when it comes to readiness?

We are now ready for you summer. Bring it!

What are you looking forward to this weekend?

My niece and her husband of one year arrive in Seattle on Saturday and we will be enjoying along with my sister and her husband and our son Josh and dil Laura showing them some Seattle/Washington hot spots and eating meals and watching some sports together. Maybe we can even have one of those meals on this deck. My niece is a high school math teacher and she is also a track coach and a marathoner. She has participated in the Boston Marathon. Her husband works behind the scenes at the Staples Center in L.A. and he’s a huge L.A. Kings fan so we are hoping for him that the King’s win the Stanley cup tonight! Of course I’ll be fitting in all the World Cup Soccer I can.

Before I head to the family room to watch the Mexico/Cameroon game here’s where we are at in that bathroom demolition…

Today the toilet and the cabinet/sink get removed. Good thing my niece and nephew are staying at my sister’s house!

Summer is Waning…

…but we are still enjoying what’s left of it.

Because of all our renovations at this old house we had the patio furniture cleared off the deck for the workers to set up their saws to cut the wood for the new flooring. Last weekend after using the clear path to re-furnish the house with all our furniture stored in the garage we put the patio furniture back in it’s place and were even able to have a meal on the deck with our traveling guests!

Fun end of summer times with Josh, Laura, Lana, Steve, Dear and me! What do you serve come as you are guests of hosts with no time to fuss over a meal? Dear and I had been working all day getting the house back in order so I didn’t have time to plan a meal but had time to throw together a meal! We had flank steak, cucumber and tomato salad and are you ready for the starch?? All I had were frozen hash browns and that’s what I cooked up and served. Yummy! I also steamed some frozen broccoli in their own steam bag. Love the carefree company that just enjoys sitting down to food on a plate! We had ice cream for dessert and Steve ran home to bring some of Lana’s homemade cookies and banana bread to add to the ice cream.

The hydrangeas are losing their summer brilliance.

I like them at all stages.

Don’t judge me but this is what’s happening with my apples this year. I do not have the energy to pick them all and make applesauce again. I’ve offered them to friends and neighbors and haven’t had a good response. I’ve been able to give away some of the pears and have offered more to neighbors.

This handy dandy pick up and reach tool that I bought at Goodwill a few years ago is really saving my back when I pick up the fruit that has fallen and been partially eaten by crows and some nocturnal animals. I’m content this year with letting the animals glean my fruit.

We are looking forward to the arrival of Katie and Andrew on Saturday. They have a 12 hour drive from Salt Lake City to us. Dear is making his Tomato Rice soup that you can find in our latest Mennonite Girls Can Cook Celebrations cookbook for their arrival and he’s adding some Lobster and crab leg meat to the pot which will transport it to a wonderful bouillabaisse!

What are you looking forward to this weekend?

August…

named after Augustus.

Here’s what’s happening or can be seen around this old house in the beginning of August…

This rug used to be in our living room hiding as much of the old worn carpeting we had in that room. Now that we are replacing the carpeting in the living room this area rug will not work in there. We were happy to see that it would work nicely in the eating area of our kitchen. The dining table will sit on top of it with room for the chairs, too. Until the carpeting is installed we will have to stack all our mattresses here, not the table that is living out in the garage right now. Fun times. Just to show you the reality of it all this last photo is the living room with the mattresses. This weekend we’ll move those mattresses to the kitchen…

I actually am cooking this afternoon trying a new recipe for chicken thighs. I hope to share it in the near future. My apple tree is shedding it’s apples so maybe I should cook up some apple recipes in my kitchen. That won’t be happening until after the mattresses can move back to their own rooms…

Sunshine & Birthdays!

We’ve had a wonderful streak of sunshine in the Pacific Northwest. It really has been a blessing for all the back and forth trips we’ve been making to the garage to store some of our furniture while we get all our floors redone.

Monday is a big day as we celebrate my youngest siblings turning 50! I remember the day that Leonard and Lana were born in Montebello in 1963. We had just gotten home from a week of family camp at Forest Home. The only way we could afford a week at family camp was through scholarships that Forest Home gave us after I wrote a letter to request some funding so we could go. In 1963 I was 12 and I’m so grateful that my family was afforded a way to be able to spend this time away from home. While at camp my mother hiked around and everyone was so concerned she’d go into labor any minute. We arrived home on the weekend and then on Monday my dad went to work and my mom went into labor. Although my Pop was fully aware my mom was pregnant he did not know that my mom was pregnant with twins. My mom was too upset to let him know that she was having twins. At the time of this pregnancy my parents already had 6 children, 3 boys and 3 girls. She didn’t know how they would be able to afford one more child and then to learn she was having two shocked her into secrecy. On that Monday we were thankful to the Lord that my mom had a good friend close by who could take her to the hospital. A relative of my mom’s sister in law, a wonderful lady we called Aunt Zena came to our rescue and transported my mom to the hospital and then let us all know that my mom had delivered twins, a boy and a girl.

Here’s my mom with Aunt Zena in 2007.

When my dad finally got home from work my little brother Tim ran out to our station wagon and announced to our pop, “Pop! Not one but two babies! We have two babies” My poor father was in shock now, too. He came into the kitchen and asked for a glass of punch!

Here’s a photo of “our twins” taken at Disneyland in 2011. It’s always fun to celebrate with these two! What an adventure it was for the whole family to raise twins.

This year Dear and I were able to celebrate the big 5-0 with Lana, Lana’s husband Steve and Steve’s parents here in the great Northwest. We tried to plan a combined birthday bash for both the twins at our home this summer but it wasn’t to be this year. We plan and God directs what will be.

It was a great treat after a day of hard work at this old house. Have you ever eaten Beef Cheeks? Oh my did they melt in your mouth.

I leave you with this sweet photo of our little twins from 1963!

Happy 50th Birthday Leonard and Lana! What a joy it has been to be your big sister all these years. God bless you both with many more years of celebrating life!

1963 was a landmark year for my family. In September of that year our pop accepted Christ during the Billy Graham Crusade at the Los Angeles Colliseum. This decision changed the course of our family forever. My decision to follow Christ earlier that summer during Hume Lake Junior High Camp at King’s Canyon National Park made attending the Billy Graham Crusade even more meaningful to me and to witness my pop accepting Christ the same year was life changing.

Night after night we filled our station wagon and drove downtown to the coliseum. It was so cool to listen to that many people singing Just As I Am…

We worked very hard at this old house this weekend. We have our living room and 2 bedrooms on our main floor emptied out and ready for the old carpeting to be removed. Our garage is full of furniture and every available space on our new hard floors is being used to also free up the rooms that will be carpeted soon. We managed to take a break to go to dinner to celebrate Lana and a break to attend church on Sunday. How did you spend your weekend?

Summer in the City

…or summer in the burbs.

Hot town, summer in the city
Back of my neck getting dirty and gritty

Been down, isn’t it a pity
Doesn’t seem to be a shadow in the city

All around, people looking half dead
Walking on the sidewalk, hotter than a match head

We finally put our patio covers up on the last day of June. That’s pretty late for us but very timely with the heat wave that has been hitting us here in the Northwest. I took these photos in the morning so things are still cooler and pleasant.

We are going to have a few friends over on the 4th of July so it was time to get the deck ready for our celebration. While it was still in the 80’s instead of 90’s I walked about the yard to take some photos of the progress on our fruit trees and bushes.

Apples are moving along nicely along with our bumper crop of pears!

The blueberries on our large established bush are starting to turn blue.

The berries on our small deck blueberry bushes in pots are looking good, too.

You know you can invite friends over with all your floors torn up and they won’t mind? It will be a memorable 4th of July celebration here. We can call it “4th of July in the rough” or “4th of July before the floors”. Besides the good food we will share together we’ll mix up a pitcher of a very relaxing beverage just in case someone stubs their toes on our rough floors!

I’m Melting…

…but my plants are thriving.

We are all about the weather…aren’t we? Today was way over my comfort zone for sure. 90 degrees in the Puget Sound area of Washington is scorching. In the meantime when I get the energy I’ll show photos that we finally put our patio covers up. I think this is a record late start for us but here’s what’s been taking up our weekend warrior hours instead…

Dear has all the vinyl and most all the particle board removed from our kitchen area in preparation for our new hardwood floors. We had to move the island around on that dolly so he could remove the boards from underneath it. Lots of hard work in these hot temperatures. We’ll be happy to have our normal temperatures back around here.

Did you have any weekend warrior projects or did you enjoy a relaxing weekend? For our neighbors to the North you still have a holiday for your Monday. Happy Canada Day to you!

There’s More Than One Way…

…to skin an apple!

I had a timely $10.00 coupon for Sur la Table and I made a quick stop there to see what I could see.

Here’s the beauty I bought to peel and core my apples. My justification for this gadget is the fact that our apple tree is not going to get chopped down and I’m going to have to deal with apples every year!

I have it under some great authority that once this gadget is ready to go the male in the family might not be able to resist the job of getting the apples ready. We’ll see what happens.

My mother is settled in at her Care facility and is doing better than yesterday. We all have to remember she had some major trauma inflicted on her body and she will not bounce back as quick as a young person would. She likes the food better at the facility than the hospital. The Care facility is on the same street as my parents apartment just 5 miles north. We are thankful for that and that it is easy for my dad to get back and forth.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

A Golden Moment!

Congratulations to the U.S. Women’s Soccer team and their gold medal in the 2012 Olympics! It was a beautiful thing for me a huge soccer fan to watch. Congratulations, too, to the Canadian Women beating France to earn the bronze medal and to Japan for receiving the silver medal. It’s great to watch the medal ceremony and see the women all lined up with those huge smiles!

Here are some more beautiful things from my yard…

Before I watched the game I mowed the lawn, picked some apples and enjoyed some of the flowers growing in planters about the yard.

I’m trying to get motivated to peel and core these apples off the tree and make some applesauce…

My top hat blueberries are getting big and ripe. This is a dwarf blueberry that grows well in pots.

My mom is being moved to a rehab center this afternoon. They are calling around to find one that has room. I’m hoping it isn’t too far from my parents apartment since my dad will be driving back and forth. Thank you so much for all your prayers and concern for my mom. It is really appreciated.

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage

Category Archives: Summer