Category Archives: Travel

My Pop!

On thursday I was able to travel from Huntington Beach to La Habra, California to see my 92 and half year old Pop. It’s been 10 months since I’ve seen him face to face. We had lunch at The Habit close to Cal-State Fullerton. My pop said he wasn’t hungry for lunch but my niece and I were so he said, “Okay let’s go. I’m going to pay because what else am I going to do with my money?” So when we got to the habit we all ordered the #1 and he ate the hamburger and every last fry! I get to see him again on Sunday before I head home on Monday night. He has aches and pains and still would rather be in heaven than here on this earth but doesn’t he look great!?

Another great Moisism (my dad’s name is Moisi in English) that we heard again today was…”he sold the house in Thirty Nine Palms instead of Twenty Nine Palms.” He will not be corrected on that and we don’t care…we love Thirty Nine Palms!

Hope you are all doing well. I fly back home on Monday night and hope to be able to visit you all later next week.

The Last Two Days…

Recovered Autosave

Thank you for your prayers for my BIL. Things remain pretty much the same. My first day here was 20 hours filled with lots of back and forth, in and out, ups and downs and freeway driving.  My BIL was airlifted to a renowned hospital in the Los Angeles area the evening I arrived. A long drive from my sister’s home. There are some impressive views from the critical care waiting room. I’m having quality time with my sisters and today I’m going to go visit my 92 year old pop. I hope to see more of my family on the weekend.

Headed South…

…to rally around my sister and her family.

Don’t know when I’ll be back online.

“All praise to the God and Father of our Master, Jesus the Messiah! Father of all mercy! God of all healing counsel! He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us.” 2 Corinthians 1: 3-4 (The Message)

The Barn Collective

On the road (highway 203) between the cities of Duvall and Carnation in Washington State last Thursday we saw a few barns. I found some history about this farm from 1996.

“The small tragedies that littered East King County were most evident on farms like the one owned by Jake Groeneweg.

Groeneweg yesterday tried to salvage whatever he could of a barn that collapsed, killing at least a dozen of his cows and calves.

This was the first time in the 30 years he’s been farming that he’s lost livestock because of the weather, he said.

“It’s kind of devastating,” Groeneweg said.

Despite the troubles, he’s thankful for his neighbors, and some strangers, who stopped at his farm along state Highway 203 Sunday to help him pull about 50 cows still trapped under debris.

Groeneweg said he easily lost $200,000 in storm damage. He plans to head to the bank later this week to take out a loan to help him through the winter.”

You can read more about it here.

1996 was a devastating year for our family in Washington State, too. Because of a series of unrelenting storms we ultimately walked away from our dream home. The excess of water caused landslides on the back slope. The astronomical repair costs to shore up the land that dropped ten feet at our foundation caused us to ultimately walk away and give our house back to the bank. Our county got a disaster declaration and the money we got from FEMA was a little drop in a big bucket! After living in a couple rental properties we were able to buy a home again and have been happily toiling at this old house. God has been good to us.

Linking up with Tom the Backroads Traveler for the Barn Collective.

Good Fences – Port Gamble

This is a view of the Hood Canal Bridge in the distance from the good fence at the Port Gamble Historic Cemetery. Port Gamble is a historic village on the Kitsap Peninsula in Washington State. Our last time through Port Gamble we stopped at Mike’s Barbecue and we highly recommend it to our fellow travelers!

Linking up with TexWisGirl at Run*A*Round Ranch Report for Good Fences #73!

Catching the Light

Trying a new meme this morning called “Catching Light” at Nature Footstep.

1 John 1:5 ~ This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light , and in Him there is no darkness at all.

Hope you all had a nice weekend. We had our kids who live the closest to us over for Dear’s Swedish pancakes which are always a treat for them. We watched a soccer game together which ended up not being a treat since our team lost. Oh well…that’s the way it goes in soccer and life…you win some, you lose some. I’ll be working on “staying in the light” this week and choosing gratitude.

Road Trip Barns…

Last Sunday we traveled north to Canada for a get-together with friends. These are the barns I took photos of on the way.

Doesn’t the side of this barn look like a face?

I’m linking up with Tom the Backroads Traveller for Barn Collective.

We had a relatively quiet weekend which is very nice once in a while. Our sermon this morning was on ingratitude and why we should practice gratitude in our lives. “Gratitude unleashes God’s love in our lives”. It is important to verbalize your gratitude.

Thank you for all who visit my blog and take the time to comment. I appreciate your observations and kind words!

How did your weekend go?

Summertime in Canada…

Who knew several years ago that we would become familiar with the roads and back roads in Abbotsford and Chilliwack Canada? God knew and we had another fun adventure on Sunday meeting up with seven of the Mennonite Girls and their husbands.

We started with a short hike to Cascade Falls to see and experience the new suspension bridge.

 

 

Marg and John would meet up with us later for dinner.

This is Judy’s photo of the new suspension bridge. I forgot to take one. Thanks for letting me steal it, Judy.

 

 

I didn’t get two of the couples shots because I was using their camera’s and phones to take the photo for them.

After our time at Cascade Falls we traveled back to Hatzic Lake where Anneliese and H. hosted all of us for our potluck.

 

Lovella brought this beautiful bouquet from the flowers blooming in her garden!

We enjoyed the most delicious meal. Everything was fresh and homemade including the buns that Anneliese baked. Chilliwack corn fresh from Marg’s farm again verifying why everyone agrees that Chilliwack corn is the best! Lovella’s potato salad made from her farm eggs and potatoes from her garden. Kathy’s coleslaw that topped my pulled pork sandwich was perfect. Bev’s very fresh salad of watermelon, blueberries, cucumber, feta and mint. I forgot to take a photo of the cheesecake I brought and of the Peaches and Cream pies that Judy brought for dessert.

It was a lovely evening on the lawn beside the lake getting caught up in person and sharing stuff like books we’ve read and lots of things that made us laugh or moan. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, we do not take this friendship circle for granted and we acknowledge that God brought us together and it is good as He is good!

Dear and I made it home by midnight after a 25 minute wait at the border crossing.

More Chewelah Barns…

I’m pretty sure these are the last of my Chewelah Barns.

Linking up at the Barn Collective with Tom the Backroads Traveller.

Dear and I took a road trip up to Canada yesterday and didn’t get home till midnight so I’m a bit behind the ball right now. I’ll be sharing about our trip soon. While on the road I managed to take some drive by shots of more barns in the U.S. and in British Columbia that I still need to upload. We are cooling down a wee bit today and it feels nice to feel that breeze. Have a good first week of August!

Fields and Sprigs of Lavender…

“here’s your sweet lavender
sixteen sprigs a penny
that you’ll find my ladies
will smell as sweet as any”

Lavender Sellers’s Cry, London England CA 1900

 

 “lavender, sweet lavender;
come and buy my lavender,
hide it in your trousseau, lady fair.
Let its flovely fragrance flow
Over your from head to toe,
lightening on your eyes, your cheek, your hair.”

Cumberkand Clark Flower Song Book 1929

While we were on the Olympic Peninsula we visited two lavender farms on our way back home. The first one we visited was Jardin du Soleill which is always one of our favorites.

The second farm we stopped at was Purple Haze, another favorite.

We were in Sequim the day before the annual lavender festival began. I always enjoy beating the crowds for these kind of events. The Sequim Lavender Festival is held every full third weekend in July.

Today is the last day of July…my goodness the month has melted away in this heat we are having. Watering and trying to stay cool here in the great Northwest. It’s also fun to hear the Blue Angels practicing for our SeaFair weekend.