Thank You for Friday & Everything Else

Last weekend Dear and I were visiting our eastern Washington kids. On Saturday while the guys worked hard on a home project, Jamie and I attended a Paint Party. The party was put on by Raggedy Rose Vintage Designs ~ Make and Take Sign Parties. They have a Facebook Page.

First we got to pick our wood board in whatever finish we liked.

We got to choose the stencil with a saying we wanted to add to our board. The equipment was all provided along with great spaces to create. So many paint colors to choose from. The hostesses went around helping us and giving us tips.

After we painted the lettering and symbols we let the paint dry somewhat and then we peeled off the stencil and got to see our final results. When things were good and dry they screwed in a hanging wire for us.

There was a little glare on the photo of this one which is our daughter in laws. Mine is the one at the top of this post that says thankful & Grateful.

Here are the gals with their new creations ready to take home. For a non-crafty person like myself this was not as scary as I thought it would be. Everything was so well organized and things explained well. It was a lot of fun. We got home in time to relax before we enjoyed dinner with the guys.

On Monday we got to enjoy a wonderful double rainbow just out of our kid’s door.

I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. ¹⁴Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, ¹⁵I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. ¹⁶Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”

¹⁷So God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth.” Genesis 9: 13-17

I posted this Russian Beet salad, Vinegrette, that was a family favorite growing up on Monday. You can find the recipe at Mennonite Girls can Cook by clicking here.

On Tuesday we drove the five and a half hours back to our home in Western Washington.

I’m thankful and grateful for God’s goodness and love towards us. For our visit with our kids in Eastern Washington. For enjoying creative endeavors. For Dear and Dan being able to complete a house project together. For God’s provision for our son in giving him a good helper in Jamie, (Genesis 2:18 (ESV) Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”) For the rainbow and God’s promise to us. And on a lighter note…good food!

I’m linking up to…

Foodie Friday and Everything Else at Rattlebridge Farm

Five on Friday with Amy at Love Made My Home

Friday’s Fave Five with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story

City of Murals

In late September when traveling from Shipshewana Indiana to Sugarcreek Ohio we stopped briefly in Ligonier, Indiana.

The murals all depict historical places, businesses, and events. No tax money has been used for the murals. All money and time has been donated by local foundations, individuals, businesses, and industries, even to the bronze plaques on each mural.

Mier Carriage

Tyler Tank Oil Company

Mier Car

Blazed Trail Garage

Ligonier 1835. (I took this one from our moving car)

There are now a total of 31 murals. Artists have been chosen from Bronson, Mich.; Winona Lake, Ind.; Goshen, Ind.; Butternut, Wis.; Kendallville, Ind.; and Albion, Ind. from the Dept. of Corrections at Chain O’ Lakes State Park.

It would have been fun to go on a hunt to spot all 31 but we were in a time crunch to get to our destination for the night. They offer a map on the city web page showing where the murals are located.

I’m linking up to Monday Mural hosted by Oakland Daily Photo.

Hope your Monday is going well.

A Church in a Barn…

When were were driving the Heritage Trail on a Sunday in Indiana it didn’t take us long to figure out that there was a church gathering happening in a room in this barn.

All the horses were unhitched from their buggies.

At one point a fussy little one had to be taken out to the buggy for something to soothe the tears.

I’m linking up to…

InSPIREd Sunday with Beth and Sally and

The Barn Collective with Tom The Backroads Traveller.

We are in the country again this weekend in Northeastern Washington State. The guys are working on finishing up a staircase project while us girls are walking and enjoying other things. The big storm that was suppose to hit the Western part of our state fizzled out. That’s okay by us. Hope your weekend is filled with peace.

Escape from Seattle…

…to the country.

We were greeted by many country creatures upon our arrival.

We’ll be busy being country mice for a few days. I will get caught up with bloggy world here and there. Meanwhile back on the other side of the Cascades these warnings are being issued.

The latest look at the forecast models this morning shows they are still calling for a major windstorm this evening and tonight. This morning would be a good time to do your final preparations in case the power goes out in your area.

Right now a powerful low pressure center carrying the remnants of Typhoon Songda is off the Oregon coast. It’s expected to track inland across the Washington coast into southern British Columbia — a text book scenario to a damaging wind storm in Western Washington.

We have our home prepared and people in place to watch and let us know what’s going on…

Shipshe Flea Market Signs

When we were in Shipshewana we spent some time at the Flea Market and saw these signs and other merchandise.

The Time Out chairs cracked me up.

“I had a Fit Now I gotta sit” and Time Out ~ “Have Mercy on me O Lord For I’m in Trouble”

There were lots of items I wanted to bring home with me but alas my suitcase wasn’t the size of a pick-up truck.

I bought this Celebrations sign with discs and hearts to add for our family birthdays and anniversaries.

We are being threatened with a mighty wind storm and lots of rain to blow through our region. We have been busy “battening down the hatches” at this old house. We’ve mowed and cleaned out the planters and soon we’ll have more leaves to deal with because of the mighty winds. Hopefully we won’t lose power. Hope y’all are enjoying Fall!

Linking up with Lesley at signs, signs.

Wednesday Washday in Amish Country

I don’t know if every Wednesday is washday but on this particular Wednesday as we drove the country roads we spotted many wash lines filled with clothing drying in the wind. This area has a large population of both Amish and Mennonite folk.

ON A WINDY WASH DAY MORN

Soaked and scrubbed in a round tin tub
with homemade soap
up and down the ribs of a wooden washboard
by hands rubbed red & raw
on a windy wash day morn.

Stiffened with starch, squeezed
and wrung to a twisted laundry rope
then hung on lines to flap
back and forth and snap dry
on a windy wash day morn.

Laid on the lawn like paper cutouts
clean shirts and sheets, towels and skirts
smelling of sun and clouds and wind
wait to be ironed and worn and dirtied
again for another wash day morn.

~ Brenda Seabrooke, American poet and novelist

They really have some great pulley systems and other clothes hanging inventions to make the job more efficient.

Do you have a set day to do laundry?

I’m linking this post to Good Fences with TexWisGirl.

Neigh…

…of a horse.

While driving the country roads in Amish Country Ohio with our friends Bev and Harv we stopped to take a closer look at these noble creatures.

They noticed us and came closer to see if we had a treat for them.

We chose roads less traveled and we were rewarded with these beautiful scenes.

All these photos were taken on Wednesday September 28th in Holmes County, Ohio.

Linking up to ABC Wednesday for N is for Neigh. Thank you Mrs. Nesbitt for starting ABC and Roger and company for your hand in keeping it going.

Head over to Mennonite Girls Can Cook for my Cucumber Salsa Recipe.

Heritage Trail Mosaics…

On Sunday the 25th of September we traveled along the Heritage Trail in Amish/Mennonite Country, Indiana. These shots are from one of our first stops just south of downtown Shipshewana. This reminded me of the Goldilocks story for some reason.

We have had a soggy weekend with some sun breaks here and there. We have been quite lazy here at this old house this weekend. We were in church early Sunday morning where we started a new series on the Holy Spirit. It was a good start with more to come. After church we had breakfast out and stopped at Fred Meyer to buy some ingredients for chicken chili for our second meal of the day and it was real good. These days we are happy with two meals a day.

How was your weekend? It wouldn’t be hard to accomplish more than we did at this old house.

Monday is Thanksgiving in Canada and I wish our good neighbors a very Happy Thanksgiving Day. May God bless Canada today and forever…

Linking to Mosaic Monday with Maggie at Normandy Life. Thank you Maggie for being a great hostess of this meme.

La Grange, Indiana

I tried to get some information on this mural on line and couldn’t really find anything. There were some references to Corn School.

La Grange Methodist Church?

1st Presbyterian Church in La Grange, Indiana.

On our way to Shipshewana, Indiana from the Detroit airport we stopped in La Grange on Highway 20 a few miles from “Shipshe” for dinner and saw these churches and mural while scoping out our dinner options. It didn’t take long to decide on one of the two spots that were open. The barn was spotted on the road before we reached La Grange.

Linking up with Tom the Backroads Traveler for The Barn Collective,

InSPIREd Sunday with Beth and Sally,

and Monday Mural at Oakland Daily Photo

Combining these three memes since all these photos are from La Grange, Indiana.

Amazed in Amish Country…

E & S Sales: Come enjoy their unique varieties and wide selection of bulk flour, candy, nuts, snacks, dried fruit, baking ingredients and spices. They have cheese, meat, produce, jams & jellies, salsa, noodles and many other products. You can sit in their deli and enjoy a sandwich, salad, soup, slice of pie and ice cream. Check out their antiques on display while you browse the store and remember they are not open on Sunday!

We just kept pointing and exclaiming to each other as we walked the aisles. This is not your Costco variety bulk.

Me and my fellow shoppers.

The parking lot.

This is my niece’s mother in law. She and her hubby traveled from Michigan for our cooking show and offered to take us around to some of their favorite spots in Shipshe. I’m sorry I didn’t get a photo of the 4 of us together. Besides E & S they took us to their favorite snack spot, JoJo’s Pretzels! JoJo’s is located in the Davis Mercantile, four levels of shops with a carousel on one of the levels.

They have a sense of humor, too.

We finished off our morning at Yoder’s Red Barn Shoppes not to be mistaken for Yoder’s Meat and Cheese. I’ll save that for another post. Thank you Arden and Mary Lou for your hospitality!

We are having a soggy stay inside Saturday here at this old house. The colors are changing nicely in our corner of the world. Our Canadian neighbors are celebrating Thanksgiving all through this weekend with Monday being their official Thanksgiving Day. Here’s a photo of the back of our home with some fall color. I took this photo yesterday morning.

Enjoy your weekend everyone…

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage

Category Archives: Travel