Chewelah Murals and Spokane Mosaics

It was hard to get the whole of this mural in one photo. This mural is on the side of a building along highway 395 in downtown Chewelah, Washington. Chewelah is a one traffic signal town in the northeastern corner of the state of Washington.

Dear and I are spending several days between Chewelah and Colville with our son and daughter in law. It’s a nice change to be out in the country, in small towns.

From HistoryLink.org:

The early settlers named the town Chewelah (spelled various ways). According to some sources, this was an Interior Salish Indian word for small, striped snake, which refers either to snakes in the area or to the narrow, serpentine appearance of the river. Alice Sherwood Abrahamson, a member of one of the Indian families still living in the Chewelah area around 1900, offered this explanation in a memoir: “The name Chewelah comes from the Indian word ‘S che wee leh,’ meaning water or garter snake. There was a spring in what is now the southwest end of Chewelah. The old McCreas lived there and their homestead was called ‘S che wee leh ee,’ for the spring that bubbled up there. The motion of the water gave the illusion of snakes moving about in the water”

Another mural on the side of a building that I spotted along highway 395. On this portion of the highway the speed limit is 25 miles per hour so it’s a little easier to spot gems to photograph.

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

This Sunday was a full day for all of us. Dear and our son continued work on the pump house and our daughter in law and I traveled down to Spokane for the Bubble Run on the Spokane Riverfront. In the late afternoon we joined in for a birthday barbecue for our daughter in law’s aunt in Colville.

I’m also linking up to Mosaic Monday with Maggie at Normandy Life.

We have one more full day in the country before we head back home to the city. Hope you all have a great start to your week.

Country Living

Here are some things I’ve learned in the country.

Horses and other animals graze peacefully and make for idyllic photos.

You can use large old tires from farming equipment and add some dirt and wild flower seed and enjoy a wild tire garden.

You can’t take having a store close by for granted in the country. For our kids the closest is just 7 miles away, though. Vegetable gardens are the best for having fresh outside your door produce. So far we’ve enjoyed potatoes, squash, green beans. Zucchini bread is just out of the oven. Later today we’ll have tomatoes and lettuce from the garden on our hamburgers. Cucumbers the size of small baseball bats were picked today.

Having a chicken coop and chickens that lay eggs everyday is a bonus. A rooster can be annoying, though. Yep, that rooster is still alive and cock a doodle doing. You don’t need a rooster to get eggs from the chickens and roosters can get real mean. Even though you think you just purchased birds with no rooster you can be surprised as time goes by. Your days are numbered spotty! The other thing I found out about chickens is that skunks find them to be a delicacy. Our kids don’t put egg shells in their compost pile because they don’t want to attract skunks to their property. A friend of our kids just had several of his chickens killed and eaten by skunks.

There are lots of wasps, hornets, mosquitoes and other flying things in the country. It’s best to get rid of nests in the winter time.

There is plenty of room for dogs in the country. They make for good companions. They do shed just as much in the country as in the city, though.

Birds in numbers like to hang out together. Sometimes they all take off at the same time and that’s a sight.

You have to be extra cautious when driving in the county because you never know what you’ll encounter along the way. These turkeys took to flight as I approached. You need to be aware and watch for deer and other wildlife because car v. animal never goes well for the humans or the animals. We always crack up at the road signs that say “Watch for Deer next 10 miles” How do they know the deer will stay within that 10 mile area?

Are you a city mouse or a country mouse?

Doe and Fawn

This Doe and Fawn have been showing up on our son’s property each afternoon or evening. If you just go about your business and don’t make sudden moves they are content to graze with us in the distance.

If you look carefully through the chicken coop you can see them. The fawn is watching me and the doe is busy grazing. That black and white speckled cock a doodle doer is destined for the cook pot soon! In the meantime we are eating lots of eggs!

An Interlude…

…in the northeastern area of Washington State, where it is hot but no hotter than our western part of Washington right now. Why not sweat in a different location than our own for a few days?

This afternoon doe, a deer, a female deer and her fawn were grazing in our son’s yard. I’ll share those photos soon. We’ll be eating farm fresh eggs the next several days and we might have to put the rooster to rest if it keeps crowing at all hours and then we’ll have chicken and dumplings. Dear has projects to do with our son and I’m going to walk the dog in the cool of the morning. Hopefully I won’t meet up with any bears or cougars, oh my.

Are you having an interlude, an intermission from the regular?

InSPIREd Sunday

On Monday Dear and I drove to Chilliwack, British Columbia for dinner with the Mennonite Girls. On the way at exit #215 off Interstate 5 in Snohomish County we pulled off the highway to change drivers. We were so happy that this was the exit we took because we found some treasures to enjoy.

We saw this church in the distance and then noticed the sign below.

4 February 1906 – 9 April 1945

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, one of the most well-known Protestant theologians of the twentieth century, an active anti-fascist, a man who had an extraordinary personal courage, who was executed in a German concentration camp a few weeks before the German surrender. He is a symbol of Lutheran martyrdom in the twentieth century. His statue, placed on the western facade of Westminster Abbey in London among the ten Christian martyrs of that time. Several parish churches are named in his honour. Also a postage stamp released in his memory in Germany.
The Bonhoeffer’s theological views had a great influence on the further development of the Christian theology.

A couple years ago I read a biography of Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxas that was a very good book and I highly recommend it. It’s available on Amazon…

As Adolf Hitler and the Nazis seduced a nation, bullied a continent, and attempted to exterminate the Jews of Europe, a small number of dissidents and saboteurs worked to dismantle the Third Reich from the inside. One of these was Dietrich Bonhoeffer—a pastor and author. In this New York Times best-selling biography, Eric Metaxas takes both strands of Bonhoeffer’s life—the theologian and the spy—and draws them together to tell a searing story of incredible moral courage in the face of monstrous evil.

We made it to a small parking lot to change drivers and while I was out of the car I took these photos.

These plantings on top of these kiosks are to attract butterflies.

There were several senior citizens with easels set up busy painting.

We drove around to the front of the church to see the name, Freeborn Lutheran Church & Cemetery.

I plan to go back next March to see the 400,000 daffodils in bloom around the church.

Pilchuk living history farm is part of the property here, too. We didn’t have time to explore since we were only changing drivers and continuing to our destination.

I’m linking up to InSPIREd Sunday with Beth and Sally.

We are having a very lazy day at this old house. We had a short shopping excursion and that’s about it. It took a while but the sun is out from behind the clouds. They are predicting some hot temps here during the next week. How are things in your neck of the woods.

Day #1 Roadtrip Postcards

We left home while it was still dark and headed east over the Cascade Mountain Range and then through Central and Eastern Washington on Interstate 90.

We entered Idaho at Post Falls with a quick stop at Cabela’s for some binoculars.

We then entered Montana just past Lookout Point. We were on empty at this point and hoped we’d find an exit that didn’t say “no services”. We made it to a small town with a couple pumps and added a few gallons before our stop in Missoula for a fill up at Costco and a stop for the night.

Missoula County Court House, Missoula, Montana.

We’ll hit the road early again tomorrow to reach Yellowstone National Park.

We are enjoying one of Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache mysteries on cd as we drive along. A very pleasant way to make the time fly on the road!

St. Joseph Church – Leavenworth

I was attracted to the Russian onion dome steeple. We walked up to the church but there was no information for us to see. When I researched it I didn’t find much information until I came upon Susanne Wilson’s blog.

Suzanne Wilson has some great information on her blog “Churches on Sundays” about this church and it’s history. It is no longer used as a church but the owners of Pension Anna (a hotel) moved this abandoned church adjacent to their hotel and named it the Old Chapel Suite. I’m glad it has been preserved.

Linking up to InSPIREd Sunday hosted by Beth and Sally.

Signs Along U.S. Route 2

Last Saturday we drove east on U.S. Route 2 in Washington State to meet up with family in Leavenworth, Washington.

When we stopped for breakfast in Gold Bar we saw these signs and more. My favorite is the Positively No Profanity or Dancing!

This sign does not lie. I wish the Big Bear was clearer in my photo.

As you approach Leavenworth you see the beautiful and powerful Wenatchee River.

Welcome to Leavenworth, a Bavarian like village nestled against the eastern slopes of the Cascades and right on U.S. Route 2.

Village Pharmacy

Starbucks Coffee, Bavarian style, with a small sign above the door.

This is my favorite sign from Leavenworth since our main reason to drive east was to see our son Dan and our daughter in law.

Hope you enjoyed traveling the U.S. Route 2 with us.

Linking up with signs, signs hosted by Lesley.

And back at home we are still working on some planter extension projects at this old house.

We received the sad news that our neighbor passed away last evening. Just one short month since she was diagnosed. Our hearts grieve for her children and grand children. Life is very unpredictable with no guarantees for tomorrow, even for the healthy. Make peace with God through Jesus Christ. He is the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but by Him (Jesus). Hug more, love more, smile more, encourage more until that day comes.

Tuesday’s Treasures & ABC Wednesday…

Today is Flag Day in the United States of America and we treasure what the flag stands for at our house.

The Pledge of Allegiance

Officially adopted on Flag Day, June 14, 1924 (“Under God” Amendmant made by Congress in 1954)

I pledge allegiance to the flag

of the United States of America

and to the republic for which it stands;

one nation under God, indivisible,

with liberty and justice for all.

Off with your hat, as the flag goes by!
And let the heart have its say;
you’re man enough for a tear in your eye
that you will not wipe away.
~Henry Cuyler Bunner

I believe our flag is more than just cloth and ink. It is a universally recognized symbol that stands for liberty, and freedom. It is the history of our nation, and it’s marked by the blood of those who died defending it. ~ John Thune

Whatcom Falls Park

Mid May Dear and I had a road trip north to Bellingham via Chuckanut Drive to check out Whatcom Falls and the historic stone bridge.

President Roosevelt’s New Deal Works Progress Administration paid workers to move the Chuckanut sandstone arches from a downtown burned-out building to the park. In 1939 the sandstone was used to construct the landmark stone bridge.

Too bad about the fallen tree that had lodged itself into the falls. I’m wondering if it has dislodged and flowed downstream by now.

In the distance above the main waterfall was this smaller waterfall with some pretty lighting.

The parking lot with access to the stone bridge and the falls was a very short distance from this spot.

I’m linking up with ABC Wednesday started by Mrs. Nesbitt and administered by Roger and a team of ABC’ers.

W is for Whatcom Falls Park and for Waterfalls.

I’m also linking up with Tuesday’s Treasures hosted by Tom The Backroads Traveler.

Meeting Halfway…

…or Over and Back Again.

Our young marrieds planned a weekend trip meeting halfway with our DIL’s family and our family. At the end of this month they will have been married 1 year!

We all gathered in Leavenworth, Washington. Everyone else arrived on Friday and stayed till Sunday. Dear and I traveled over on Saturday morning and came back home Saturday evening.

Our family above and the whole crew below.

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One of the main events that was planned for the weekend was a river rafting trip for the brave amongst us.

Here’s the crew ready to go!

Our three sons pulling together!

While this crew were river rafting, Dear, Laura and I shopped about the town of Leavenworth dodging the crowds that flock to this picturesque Bavarian like town with the Cascade Mountains as it’s backdrop. I bought a few little treasures from the Russian shop, a free trade shop and a kitchen shop. We survived the Kris Kringle shop, too. If you love all things Christmas, this is the shop for you!

Dear, Laura and I enjoyed lunch at the Icicle Brewing Company while the rest of the crew enjoyed a barbecue spread after their river rafting experience.

We had beautiful weather on the eastern slopes of the Cascades while there was a lot of rain on our western side of the Cascades!

We all got together and enjoyed a potluck taco meal on Saturday evening and on Sunday morning the crew enjoyed a potluck breakfast together.

On the final morning of the weekend our guys got together for some miniature golf fun. Not sure what the girls were doing but I’m guessing they did some shopping.

So thankful to God for all these dear people that we get to enjoy life with. That includes all of life, the good, the bad, the ugly and the beautiful. Joy and sorrow with the comfort of the God who created us and loves us more than we can comprehend. Love one another, forgive one another, keep moving forward together with the hope of a glorious reunion with our Lord and Savior. Yes, and Amen!

HT: Rafting photos courtesy of Osprey Rafting Company.

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage

Category Archives: Washington State