Merry Month of May Mosaics

Our oldest flew in for the weekend to enjoy his niece and nephew while his wife was on an annual girls weekend away with her college roommates. Addy loves her uncle Josh and it’s fun to hear them interact and laugh.

Spring is greening and blooming at our country bungalow.

Some plants we recognize, others we have no clue. We aren’t even sure if they are a weed or flowers.

We have found at least 6 Peony plants on our acreage. I’m quite excited to see if the blooms are all alike or a variety.

We rescued this windmill from our kids property a couple years ago and moved it to our home in Kenmore and put it in our yard. When we packed up to move to our place in the country we dissassembled the windmill and moved it here. Dear reassembled it on Saturday and we set it in this spot.

We’ve had a couple days of rain and mowing was delayed. Tomorrow will be dry and I’ll try out our new grass catcher attachment on our riding mower. Hopefully using the catcher will help decrease the dandelion population.

Lots of times poop is the reason for prayer requests and this time it is literal. For my blogging friends who pray, could you please continue to pray for our little Jaymison, that he would be able to poop at least every 3 days. Thank you.

I’m linking up to Mosaic Monday with Angie from Letting Go of the Bay Leaf.

I Sought the Lord, and Afterward I Knew ~ Hymn

I Sought the Lord, and Afterward I Knew

I sought the Lord, and afterward I knew
He moved my soul to seek him, seeking me;
It was not I that found, O Saviour true,
No, I was found of thee.

Thou didst reach forth thy hand and mine enfold;
I walked and sank not on the storm-vexed sea,—
‘Twas not so much that I on thee took hold,
As thou, dear Lord, on me.

I find, I walk, I love, but, O the whole
Of love is but my answer, Lord, to thee;
For thou wert long beforehand with my soul,
Always thou lovedst me.

—Anonymous

Addy and Gramps

Addy is most content these days being outside. She has a relentless mantra to whoever will listen…”outside, outside?”  On Mother’s day we gathered at Dan and Jamie’s and Addy tried to coax me into taking her outside and Gramps came to the rescue to take her outside while the preparations for our late afternoon meal were completed.

Jamie noticed the special Gramps and Addy moments outside and I stepped outside on the porch to capture some photos but then Addy noticed me on the porch taking photos.

She diverted from the drive and headed for the fence heading for the porch where I was.

Gramps diverted her back to the path.

Baby brother was oblivious to all the goings on. Stretch!!

He’s always most content with his mommy but daddy is a huge help in the late night and before dawn feedings. JJ’s big sister is learning and growing in her affection for him.

We are thankful to God for the improvement in JJ’s appetite and activity. His digestive system is still in transition but his weight is increasing which is a good thing.

Times like these are best suited for the younger set. I can’t even remember how we managed with two little ones 2 years apart. We were in our late 20’s and 30’s when we had our babies. Katie came 5 years after our second and it seemed easier with her since Josh and Dan were 7 and 5. Now being closer to 70 then to 60, I know why the child bearing ages are easier when they are earlier. We can help out with babysitting here and there but the challenge is for these young parents to work out on a daily basis. They will find it hard to remember all the challenges when they are our age, too. God’s ways are good and good for us. We count on Him to see us through all the challenges of child rearing and aging, too. We pray that we all will depend on God and help lead Addy and Jaymison to faith in our Lord and Savior.

The Pond and Beyond

After several warm days and Dear’s hard work the pond has dried nicely.

This is another necessity on most properties in our neck of the woods. Everyone says they are unusually big this year. We are hoping they aren’t as prolific as they were last year.

First of 3 stumps we want to get rid of. And on the very bright side…

Lily of the Valley. We’ve heard from those of you who know that this plant is very invasive. I’m happy to report they are in an isolated planter.

These succulents are in the rockery that borders the pond area.

We have a nice healthy looking Peony. Looking forward to seeing what the blooms are like. We also have a white bleeding heart blooming and three clematis that are reaching towards the sky.

On the way back from the mailbox Dear stopped to chat with our neighbor and heard some stories about the rattlesnakes killed from year to year. Yikes. We’re being careful especially when we clear out brush.

Happy to report that our Heat Pump is working as it should and we’ve been able to cool things down when we need to. The technician found wires that were wired wrong. Glad it was an easy fix.

Sister and Brother

These photos were taken on May 2, 2019.  Jaymison is 16 days old and Addy is 25-1/2 months old in these photos.

Our new heat pump seems to have some wires crossed and it is not cooling. We found out late on Friday so of course the company who installed it was closed by then and not open until Monday. Hopefully we’ll get some service early this week. One more summer like day predicted for tomorrow and then it will cool down to the 70’s.

Mother’s Day was a good full day. Hope your day was a good one.

Hallelujah! What A Savior

Hallelujah! What a Savior

Man of Sorrows! what a name
For the Son of God, who came
Ruined sinners to reclaim.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Bearing shame and scoffing rude,
In my place condemned He stood;
Sealed my pardon with His blood.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Guilty, vile, and helpless we;
Spotless Lamb of God was He;
Full atonement! can it be?
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Lifted up was He to die;
It is finished! was His cry;
Now in Heav’n exalted high.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

When He comes, our glorious king,
All His ransomed home to bring,
Then anew His song we’ll sing:
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Words and Music: Philip P. Bliss, 1875.

To Northport

On Sunday afternoon we turned left out our driveway and headed north to the town of Northport.

We followed our road to highway 25 and turned right headed for Northport. Northport is just shy of 10 miles to Canada.

Northport was given its name since it was once the northernmost town on the Spokane Falls and Northern Railway. It was officially incorporated on June 1, 1898 but has a history stretching back to the 1880s when it was a port and shipbuilding center for steamboat services running northwards into British Columbia during construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway, related to its location at a stretch of the Columbia known as the Little Dalles, a rapids and narrows that was a barrier to navigation and which also was an alternate name for Northport itself. In 2010 the census of Northport registered 295 people.

We had a meal at the River Town Grill.

We crossed the bridge over the Columbia River.

Sometime in the near future we’ll follow the highway all the way to Canada and check out some of the towns close by like Rossland, Trail and Nelson. Nelson is where the movie Roxanne was filmed. (Steve Martin)

On the way back home we stopped to take some photos of the Columbia River.

At this spot we recognized the property across the river and the structures at the top of the slope. Our Eastern Washington kids got married on that property in 2015. I zoomed in to make sure it was the spot.

Flash back to June 30, 2015.

Home again, home again, jiggety jig.

We hope to have many more day trips in the future to learn more about our new part of the state.

Mother’s day plans here are going to be last minute and flexible as our kids are still pretty much homebound. The guys are prepped and ready to barbecue something for a meal on Sunday for all the usual suspects.

Spring Visitors

In April, before we drained our pond, we had 3 real ducks land in it. I had to look up their name on google images. They are Common Mergansers.

In May we had some more visitors. This Quail sat on top of this birdhouse for the longest time calling out.

This turkey kept pacing our side fence and it seemed like it’s bird brain could not figure out how to get out of our backyard. Dear went on the deck and made some noise and it finally realized it could fly over the fence.

Finally caught a Tom Turkey fanning it’s tail feathers!

Colville claims the title of the Turkey Capital of the Pacific Northwest.

The Swallows continue to entertain us with their flying.

Our Spring clean up continues. We are working on getting the pond liner cut and removed. It’s a toilsome job especially because of the scum. Pond scum is a real thing.

We’ve been in the 70’s and there are predictions of soaring in the 80’s on the weekend!

Hope the merry month of May is going well in your corner.