I finished this latest puzzle just in the nick of time before we needed the dining table for our dinner last Friday night. This was a fun puzzle to do. Garden scenes for each month of the year. There was enough variation in the patterns that it was easy to find where the pieces would fit.
We finally got some dry hours with sunshine breaking through on Wednesday the 7th and the grands enjoyed traipsing around their yard!
It made them giddy. Sunshine can do that to a person.
We have had quite a stretch of foggy days with several days of rain, too.
And then a glorious couple hours of this…
The sun broke through the fog and we could see blue sky for just a few hours on Friday and now we are back to fog and rain. That couple of hours reminds us that the sky is still blue and the sun is still there and the fog will lift again.
How are the skies where you are?
Our birdfeeders attracted this Northern Flicker and he tried his best to twist his body to get some seed.
We had more snow over the weekend and now we are having rain. On Saturday we realized our hot water tank was not heating our water anymore so parts have been ordered to fix that problem. Until the parts come and the non working parts are swapped out we are in camping mode. Thankfully we have a quiet week ahead.
Hope all is well in your corner of the world.
A very happy birthday to our firstborn son Josh. He is a wonderful son, husband, brother, uncle, cousin, boss and friend. So thankful to God for Josh and all he means to our family. Praying God blesses your new year with joy, strength, courage and more love for Jesus.
We’ve been enjoying the birds showing up for birdseed.
We had another 5 inches of snow this week and when we looked out the window we thought this looked like a walrus so we are calling him, Wally the One Eyed Walrus Snowman.
Have a good weekend everyone.
On Friday night we enjoyed an early birthday dinner for Dan and Jamie who have birthdays today and tomorrow. Josh has a birthday this week, too, and Laura sent a couple photos of them enjoying an amazing sunset on the other side of our state.
On Friday we served Lovella’s Arroz Con Pollo which was enjoyed by everyone. It’s a dish that Jamie orders most often at any Mexican restaurant. We enjoyed it with brown rice and both corn and flour tortillas. We also enjoyed Pico de Gallo with added chunks of avocado. For dessert we had a family favorite, Applesauce Spice Cake.
We have been below freezing here for a few days. We stayed inside all day Saturday and I worked on my latest puzzle. I’m getting close to finishing.
On the way to church on Sunday our car was registering -5 degrees F outside.
We had a great Vision Sunday with a ministry fair. Our church theme for the year is Take The Next Step.
Colossians 2:6, Therefore as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him.
We are now heading into another week of very cold temps and snow promised from Tuesday evening through Thursday morning. We always wait and see if the predictions are accurate. We have seen that many folks in many parts of the country are experiencing severe cold. How is it where you live?
Here are the latest questions Joyce From This Side of the Pond has come up with for Wednesday Hodgepodge.
1. What’s a change you’d like or need to make this year?
Physically, I need to be more active throughout the year, not just in fair weather. Mentally, I need to be less selfish.
2. Break the ice, on thin ice, ice skating, tip of the iceberg, ice cold...which icy idiom applies to your life right now? Explain.
I’ll go with ‘tip of the iceberg’. I need to continue my efforts in getting rid of many of my possessions! Decluttering the storage areas in our home.
3. What’s a project you’ve been putting off? Will you get to it this month? This year?
See #2
4. Of the fruits that grow well in winter which ones have you tried? Which is your favorite?
pomegranates, clementines, persimmons, passion fruit, pears, grapefruit, lemons, pomelos, kumquats
I believe I have tried all but a pomelo which looks like it’s pretty close to a grapefruit. Since I’m supposed to pick a favorite, I’ll go with lemons.
5. What do you think it means to be courageous?
To fear God rather than man and have my actions, words and lifestyle reflect that.
6. Insert your own random thought here.
We had 6 inches of snow fall Monday night into Tuesday. Snow Hats are in fashion…
The first weekend in 2024 proved to be a busy one. On Friday we enjoyed a last minute open house at the home of our friends and met some of their neighbors. On Saturday a big pot of borsch was cooked from scratch with broth from a seven bone roast. A few quarts of borsch will be shared this week. One small pot was delivered to our neighbor.
On Saturday evening we attended a Karaoke party for a friend from church who turned 50. We met another couple from our community and had a nice time getting to know each other. There have been lots of predictions of snow that didn’t materialize until Sunday in the wee hours. We woke up to a pretty blanketed landscape.
The following collage is photos of our ride into church on Sunday morning. Our series in Colossians continues to be excellent.
We didn’t have anymore snow on Sunday but they are threatening us with more starting Monday Evening into Tuesday. Time will tell if they are right.
We traveled to the West side of the Cascade mountain range last Wednesday and spent some time with our kids and then traveled north from their home into Canada to attend the annual MGCC Christmas party. I’ll be sharing more about that when I gather all the photos. Our travel was slow and interesting because of the weather.
On the way last Wednesday we encountered Hoarfrost and freezing fog which was very treacherous. We stopped at a couple stores in Spokane and the parking lots were ice skating rinks. We decided against going into Costco because of the danger walking posed and just hit the road to the Seattle side of the mountains. Along the way there were crews cleaning up after accidents with semis who spun out of control because of the slick roads.
We made it safely to Kirkland to our favorite Mexican restaurant and met up with our good friends for a couple hours of catching up. After that on to our kids’ home for the night.
On Thursday we traveled up to Abbotsford, B.C. for our Mennonite Girls Can Cook Christmas party. (A post will be coming soon) We had great interactions with the Border agents on both sides of the line!
On Saturday we had safe travels back to Bothell and had a meal out to celebrate our daughter-in-law’s birthday.
It was so good to be with our ‘westside’ kids to celebrate Auntie LoLo!
On Sunday we packed up the car bright and early and went to the 8am church service with Josh and Laura before hitting the road back to Colville at 9:15 am.
On Sunday Addy sent this message to Auntie Lolo from church in Colville where she would be performing with the children’s choir to start off the season of Advent. I was able to watch the performance on our church’s livestream while on the road heading back to Colville on Sunday since Greg was driving. Addy did an exceptional job with singing and hand motions.
Snoqualmie Pass had accumulated some snow and the driving was treacherous with 35 mile an hour reduced speed limits. Chains were required for cars without 4wd and for the large trucks.
Once over the pass the roads improved and the plows were doing their job nicely.
We made it off the freeway in Spokane with a sigh of relief and only 75 more miles to go.
Colville had a good drop of snow while we were gone and our grands were taking advantage of it.
We finally made it home after 5pm.
Our stars on our deck with our small outdoor manger scene greeted us in some fresh fluffy snow. It was a nice ending to our trip and the first Sunday of Advent. We had so many praying for us on our hard journey and we thank God for his care and for our prayer warriors, too.
This continues the post of our walk over hill and dale from Grassington to Hebden and back to Grassington along the River Wharfe. The whole walk was closer to 6 miles than 4 miles but the steps that Laura’s device clocked were 20,077! This was on Thursday September 21, 2023.
We left our cozy Pub and headed through the village towards the River Wharfe.
The Old School Tea Room, Hebden. Family run, traditional but quirky tea room. Gifts, crafts and cards also available. School dates back to 1874 and the old bell still chimes every hour! (Laura, we missed going in here)
Hebden suspension bridge: The bridge, next to stepping stones, was built in 1884 to connect Hebden with Thorpe after a man drowned trying to cross the Wharfe. Nearby Burnsall Bridge, also on the river, had been swept away in a storm the previous year. The new bridge was built by the Hebden blacksmith using 262 yards of redundant steel rope from the old lead mines. It was restored in 2014/15.
If my hips were any bigger I wouldn’t have been able to squeeze through here! 🙂
The water at Linton Falls was in full force due to the storms the day before.
It was tempting to go down this lane and investigate Linton Church and village but our feet said no.
Back in town we treated ourselves to some famous Love brownies and got a recommendation for dinner and made reservations. As if we didn’t have enough steps in already to strolled in town and did some last minute shopping before we got ready for dinner.
Our dinner this evening at the Grassington House would be in honor of Greg’s 70th birthday, a treat from Josh and Laura.
Cheers to Pops on 70 years!
It was a lovely dinner and an American couple from Utah stopped by the table for conversation since they noticed we were from the States, too.
After dinner we took some evening shots for our memories.
We were thankful for being able to walk in sunshine with glorious blue skies and fluffy clouds and to see the wonderful landscape of a portion of the Dales. Capping the evening off with a delicious meal was a nice treat.
Although there was talk of taking part in Quiz Night at The Devonshire we all opted to tuck in and rest our feet and legs and get ready for Day 8 of our trip.
Looking back at our travel days makes me marvel at how much we packed into each day. Our last event on Sunday the 17th of September was our tour of the Guinness Storehouse. Our Uber driver dropped us off at St. James Gate for our tour slot of 4:45. It was still raining. There is so much history that surrounds Guinness in Dublin that we didn’t want to miss this opportunity to learn more.
We bought the basic experience tickets which was a self-guided tour. There are 6 floors to the Storehouse Experience.
Escalators, elevators, ramps and stairs took you around and upward to all the displays and history.
I will share some history with you and if you’d like to read more follow this link.
Arthur Guinness was born in 1725 near Celbridge, County Kildare. His father, Richard Guinness, was land steward for the Rev. Dr. Arthur Price, Archbishop of Cashel.
Arthur was named for the archbishop and was handsomely remembered in his will. Arthur used his £100 bequest to establish a small local brewery in nearby Leixlip with his brother. Arthur set his sights on the capital city of Dublin four years later, signing the now-legendary lease for a former brewery at St. James’s Gate.
Arthur Guinness was just 34 when he signed the iconic 9,000-year Guinness lease, on a then-disused brewery site on 31 December 1759 for an annual rent of £45. It was here on this four-acre site where Arthur would hone his craft and build the global brand that Guinness is today.
Josh took in the stories and history surrounding the handmade casks.
The sixth floor offers panoramic views of the city of Dublin and it has the circular bar with lots of seating. You can hand in your ticket stub for a pint of Guinness and watch the classic Guinness pour.
If you aren’t a beer drinker there are other options for your ticket on the 5th floor at Arthur’s! This is where we camped out for a while enjoying our drinks and having some good food, too.
And that was the end to our Sunday. It was pouring as we tried to leave the Storehouse. Josh ordered our last Uber of the day and it was back to our hotel to pack up and turn in. Monday we’d be traveling from Dublin across to England to continue our adventures.
This Guinness with the shamrock was served at Martin’s Tavern in Washington D.C. several years ago when I traveled along with Greg for a medical conference.
