At the RV Park

Last Thursday we met up with my brother’s family at the Tamarack RV Park in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho for an overnight before we guided them up to our home. It was so good to finally see them in person. The last time we were together was at our Pop’s funeral in 2018.

We were impressed with all the steps that need to be taken to settle a RV in.

Andrew was excited to show me his skateboarding skills.

We made a quick trip to Costco and brought in a meal of Rotisserie Chicken, Mac n Cheese, Caesar salad and fresh baked bread. We had the meal together in the cabin that Dear and I rented in the same RV park.

Me and my brother.  I’m #4 in our sibling order and my brother Leonard is #8. There’s a twelve year difference in our ages.

We all made it safely to Colville and the Reflection will be parked in our front acres for a few weeks before my brother’s family leaves for their journey south through Oregon and California.

While they are in Washington they will travel without the RV to a couple of our National Parks and of course get their obligatory family selfie photo in front of the Capital building in Olympia. They are trying to see as many National Parks as they can and they are also trying to make it to the capital of each state they visit. While on the West side of the Cascades they are staying with our sister Lana and her husband. Leonard and Lana are twins.

More to come from our time in Colville and the Western part of Washington.

I’m on the road again today so I won’t be participating in the Wednesday Hodgepodge.

Pear Custard Pie

I found the recipe for this Pear Custard Pie at https://www.dinneratthezoo.com/pear-custard/

INGREDIENTS

  • 4 firm pears of any variety cored, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 1/4 cup of unsalted butter melted
  • 3 eggs
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/3 cup all purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • Powdered sugar for garnish
  • Cooking spray

INSTRUCTIONS

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9 inch round pan with cooking spray.
  • Arrange the pear slices in the pan.
  • Put the butter, eggs, milk, salt, granulated sugar, flour and vanilla into a blender; process until smooth.
  • Pour the batter over the pears. Bake for 40-45 minutes until the custard is golden and firm to the touch. Dust the top with powdered sugar before serving.

It is a recipe that was very successful and I’ll make it again. Enjoy. Bon Appetit!

Whatever Dims Thy Sense of Truth ~ Hymn

Whatever Dims Thy Sense of Truth

Whatever dims thy sense of truth
Or stains thy purity,
Though light as breath of summer air,
Count it as sin to thee.

Let not the world thy God dethrone
Or from His smile divide;
And count compared with heavenly wealth,
As dross all things beside.

Dim not the crystal of thy soul
By sin’s destroying breath:
There lurks beneath the siren smile
Dark treachery and death.

Preserve the tablet of thy thoughts
From every blemish free,
For our Redeemer’s lowly faith
Its temple makes with thee.

And pray of God, that grace be given
To tread time’s narrow way:
How dark soever it may seem,
It leads to cloudless day.

Words: Mary W. Hale, 1840.

Whatever weak­ens your rea­son, im­pairs the ten­der­ness of your con­science, ob­scures your sense of God, takes off your rel­ish for spir­it­u­al things, what­ev­er in­creas­es the au­thor­ity of the bo­dy ov­er the mind, that thing is sin to you, how­ev­er in­no­cent it may seem in itself.

Susanna Wes­ley, mo­ther of John & Charles Wes­ley

Belated Birthday Celebration

We enjoyed a belated birthday dinner and overnight in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho on Wednesday September 30th. We strolled along Sherman Ave. before our dinner reservation at 4:00.

Our kids gifted us a certificate to eat at Tony’s on the Lake, an Italian restaurant across from Lake Coeur d’Alene.

Filet for Dear and Osso Buco for me and it was oh so good.

We stayed the night at Blackwell Hotel, An old grand house turned into a Boutique Hotel. It is right on Sherman Ave. It has all the creaks and wood banisters to prove it’s old.

When we checked out of this hotel we headed north just a bit to stay in an RV park that my brother’s family rolled into on October 1st. We spent the night and then all of us headed to our country bungalow on Friday. More tales to come.

Thursday Bible Verse Challenge, D is for…

It’s Thursday the first of October and we are on the letter D in our Truth from A to Z Bible Verse Challenge. It’s been so good to read the verses all who participate have come up with. This week I’m traveling and it could take me a while to add the verses you share here but I will eventually get to them. Thanks for understanding.

D is for dominions, dead, dwell

Colossians 1:15-20 (The Preeminence of Christ)

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or DOMINIONS or rulers or authorities–all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the DEAD, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to DWELL, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. 

Mrs. T at Across My Kitchen Table chose the word Deliver. She has an in depth post on her blog on Deliverance. Pop over to read it, you’ll be glad you did. Here are some of the verses she posted.

“[He] hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son.”  (Colossians 1:13)

 “For Thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living.”  (Psalm 116:8-9)

“The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished.”  (2 Peter 2:9)

“The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles … Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.”  (Psalm 34:17, 19)

“And call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me.” (Psalm 50:15)

 Psalm 37:39-40:

“But the salvation of the righteous is of the LORD; He is their strength in the time of trouble.  And the LORD shall help them, and deliver them: He shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in Him.”

From my sister Vera: D is for Decision

I love how this verse shows us that through it all a God is in control.

Decision

“The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.”
‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭16:33‬ ‭ESV‬‬

From Maristella:

D is for Desire,Do…
“I have the right to* do* anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but I will not be mastered by anything.”
1 Corinthians 6:12 | NIV

From Willow at Willow’s Cottage: D is for Depend

Psalm 62:5-6

5 I depend on God alone; I put my hope in him. 
6 He alone protects and saves me; he is my defender, and I shall never be defeated. 

Click over to read it on her blog.

Leave your verse/verses in the comments or on your blog and I’ll add them here. Thank you in advance. If you have a post on your blog please let me know and/or leave your link in the comments.

A Nostalgic Hodgepodge

It’s time for Wednesday Hodgepodge. Jo From This Side of the Pond publishes the questions on Tuesdays for us to answer and then we post our answers on Wednesdays to share with other Hodgepodgers.
1. When is the last time you experienced nostalgia?
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I was putting together all the photos of my little Babushka for a post and it got me thinking of her life and all she endured and her perseverance. She died in March of 1980. So many conversations that I couldn’t have with her because of our language barrier. When we were young and she would come over to stay with us I’d hope to be the one who would be able to sleep with her on the fold down couch in the living room. Her left arm was amputated at her elbow in her youth but she learned to do more than a lot of people with two hands can do. She taught me to embroider or I should say she persevered with me as I tried to embroider. One thing she told me as a teenager that I still quote from time to time is something like this, “Nothing good happens in the dark”. She was cautioning us as young adults not to be out at night. She prayed for the salvation of all her grandchildren and their spouses. It would have been fun for our children to know her…
~
 2. September 29th is National Coffee Day.
Do we need this? Ha!
~
Seems like everyday is a National day of something. Reminds me of handing out trophies to everyone regardless of their talent.
~
So are you a coffee drinker?
~
I am a coffee drinker. The mug on the left is my current every morning choice of coffee vessel. I bought that mug at TDMaxx (not TJ) in Windsor, England.
~
If so how many cups per day, and tell us how you like it.
~
One large cup in the morning, strong and black.
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Is there a recipe you enjoy that calls for coffee as one of the ingredients?
~
I have had some things that have coffee as an ingredient but nothing that is in my recipe wheelhouse.
~
 3. Do you find praise or criticism to be more motivating? Explain.
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My pride gets in the way of accepting criticism. I find it easier to accept when the Holy Spirit convicts me of something that needs correcting.  I’m definitely spurred on by genuine praise but not flattery.
~
 4.  What’s a television series you keep coming back to and re-watching?
~
Vera, Midsomer Murders, Detective Lewis, Endeavor…there’s a theme going here. British murder mysteries.
~
 5. As the month of September draws to a close give us three words to describe your mood.
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Smiling With Anticipation…
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 6. Insert your own random thought here.
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The reason I’m smiling with anticipation is because the month of October will be family filled. We are meeting up with my youngest brother’s family this Thursday in Idaho and then they will be parking their 5th wheel at our place for a bit. My oldest sister’s family is traveling to Washington state next week and we will gather together on the west side of the Cascades for a few days together. Four of our eight siblings will be together along with their families and our “Coast” kids. Then more family time in Colville with all of our kids together for our annual hunting weekend. All the rooms will be full at all the Family Inns for many days in October.
~
We are traveling for a few days and I will be late in visiting everyone this week. Cheers!

First Sunday Drive This Fall

Our area has such a beautiful layering of mountains all around us looking North, South, East and West. The photo above is looking South.

We are choosing to drive some roads in our area that are new to us to continue familiarizing ourselves with our county. On this first Sunday in Fall we chose Greenwood Loop Rd. which took us to Mingo Mountain Road. When the road became Primitive we turned around and went back the same way we came.

We had a good weekend and I hope you did, too. Happy new week to you all.

My computer only let me upload a couple of my collages. I’ll add the rest of the photos when my computer behaves. Bright and early this morning my computer is behaving so I added the rest of the photos!! 

This will be a busy week for us. I’ll be very scarce come Wednesday and beyond.

O God of Truth ~ Hymn

O God of Truth

O God of truth, whose living Word
Upholds whate’er hath breath,
Look down on Thy creation, Lord,
Enslaved by sin and death.

Set up Thy standard, Lord, that we,
Who claim a heavenly birth,
May march with Thee to smite the lies
That vex Thy groaning earth.

Ah! would we join that blest array,
And follow in the might
Of Him, the Faithful and the True,
In raiment clean and white!

We fight for truth, we fight for God,
Poor slaves of lies and sin!
He who would fight for Thee on earth
Must first be true within.

Then, God of truth, for whom we long,
Thou who wilt hear our prayer,
Do Thine own battle in our hearts,
And slay the falsehood there.

Still smite; still burn; till naught is left
But God’s own truth and love;
Then, Lord, as morning dew come down,
Rest on us from above.

Yes, come: then, tried as in the fire,
From every lie set free,
Thy perfect truth shall dwell in us,
And we shall live in Thee.

Words: Thomas Hughes, 1859.

Where in the World…

…is our traveling family?

My youngest brother and his family are having an RV adventure around the USA (Wholly-Rollin) for who knows how long. My sister Lana and her hubby Steve met up with them in South Dakota the 16th through the 19th of September and here are a couple photos I “borrowed” from them. Leonard, Mandy, Hope and Andrew will soon make it to our neck of the woods the beginning of October. Hope and Andrew are being RV schooled enjoying God’s amazing creations around the USA. They have just left the Yellowstone Area and the Grand Tetons heading to Montana.

Leonard and Lana, the babies of our family. They are twins. The Black Hills of South Dakota.

Meanwhile back in our neck of the woods,  Jaymison and Addyson enjoying the beginning of Autumn.

Addy is enjoying a carrot fresh out of the garden and JJ is always pleased to be seated on any piece of machinery!

After I got the framework of the puzzle done and a lot of the interior done, Dear helped me finish up this Matryoshka Doll puzzle. He did leave the final pieces for me. It was a tough one but satisfying to see it completed. This is our 7th COVID-19 puzzle in the books!

Have you taken up puzzles lately? Do you grow carrots in your garden? Are you part of the RVing world? What’s the favorite place you’ve traveled to in the USA?