She’s Baaack~ Wednesday Hodgepodge

Thank you Joyce for bringing Hodgepodge back!

1. Howdy Hodgepodgers. It’s kind of fun to be back, isn’t it?  Last time we met was September, 2018. Tell me something big-important-happy-or sad that’s happened in your life since that date. Just one thing. We don’t know how long this current isolation situation is going to last and we might need to dole out our news bit by bit.

Has it really been that long!? Well I will start with September of 2018. The major thing that happened on September 11, 2018 was becoming owners of our country bungalow and moving from the big city to the wide open country. We used a container company to move most of our stuff (3 containers full) and we hauled other things across the mountains in our vehicles and a trailer. 

So thankful for our helpers! We couldn’t have done it without them!

2. Might as well get this out of the way early on…COVID-19. On a scale of 1-5 how serious are you about keeping your distance? Explain. fyi-I didn’t create the scale but have seen it several places online. Also fyi-we won’t only have virus related questions each week, but for this first one it feels right.

1-Not at all, living normally
2-Cautious but still going out
3-Going out as needed, mostly home or working from home, still seeing friends/family
4-Extremely limited, only going out when unavoidable, minimal contact with people
5-Full lockdown, no one in or out
This has changed just in the last week. Two weeks ago we were at #3. Today we are at #4. 
Granddaughter’s 3rd birthday party was cancelled this past weekend and our Coast kids were supposed to be on this side of the mountains for the party, etc. but they stayed home so the guest rooms are still clean and ready for them for whenever we are all free to be around each other again. Dear and I are in the “at risk” age group so our kids are feeling the responsibility of keeping us as safe as possible. Missing my hugs with our three year old granddaughter and almost one year old grandson! That’s the hardest thing.

3. Raise your hand if you think you might run out of steam in the cooking department before it’s all said and done? What’s something delcious you’ve cooked or eaten in your own kitchen in the past week?

We are really missing our regular visits to our favorite Mexican restaurant. Mexican food is my comfort food.

The most delicious thing was the corned beef and cabbage we had a week ago on St. Patrick’s day. Dear made the whole meal on the Traeger. The next night we used the leftover corned beef to make a grilled Reuben. Corned beef with sauerkraut, thousand Island dressing, Swiss cheese on rye bread grilled on the stove top…perfection! I should have taken a photo. 

4. What’s a television show or movie you’ve seen recently (it could be an oldie) that you really liked?

We so enjoy British Murder Mysteries. We have access to Brit Box, Amazon Prime, and Acorn besides Netflix. The only problem is that we live in the country and all of our services come via satellite so streaming is sketchy a lot of the time. There are some days that we cannot stream any of these shows because of broadband issues. But here’s what we like.

Vera, Endeavour, Father Brown, Midsomer Murders, Shetland, Morse, Detective Lewis, Call the Midwife, Silent Witness, The Crown, Great British Baking Show, to name a few. We are waiting for our Broadband to get better so we can watch The English Game on Netflix.

5. Share something funny you’ve seen or heard this week.

There are so many creative memes/Gifs showing up on Facebook that have been hilarious and have made me laugh.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

This is one of my prayers for this time we are in:

 Lord, make us strong and courageous like Joshua and obedient and faithful like Daniel. Help us not to fear and keep us from being paralyzed by anxiety. Help us to always look to the rock of our faith, Jesus, who suffered the cross on our behalf and lives to intercede for us. Continue to draw and save people for your kingdom. May they know they are lost and need you today. Help them not to wait but to respond to your call to be saved. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.

Thank you again Joyce for reviving the Hodgepodge. Click on Hodgepodge to see more posts! I’ll add the direct link on Wednesday.

Helpful Blogging

It’s been so encouraging to be able to visit my blogging friends while we stay home and embrace social distancing.

I will be sharing any posts I find that are encouraging, helpful blog posts for you that you might have missed.

Laura at Decor to Adore shows anyone who sews, how to sew hospital face masks.

https://decortoadore.net/2020/03/how-to-sew-hospital-face-masks.html

Joyce has good news From This Side of the Pond, she is reviving Hodgepodge Wednesday for such a time as this!

http://www.fromthissideofthepond.com/2020/03/hey-hodgepodgers-no-thats-not-mistake.html

One thing I’ve found is that it is very hard to do social distancing with little grandchildren. Until we have been well for 10 more days without any contact to other human beings I won’t be holding, hugging, lifting or cuddling with our grandchildren. In other words, I won’t be visiting or having them visit us. This is the hardest part of this virus. After that we will have a discussion with our grands’ parents to see if they are comfortable with us being around them again.

Daniel the Tiger Birthday

This is the Daniel the Tiger Cake Jamie made for Addy’s birthday party.

Addy’s Daniel the Tiger birthday party was supposed to happen on Saturday the 21st of March. Because of the Corona Virus and Social Distancing it was cancelled. We delivered presents on Saturday morning and kept our distance. If you are familiar with the Daniel the Tiger series you might have seen the trolley that is used on the show. Our daughter in law and son created a trolley from large appliance boxes and I took a few photos of it and the Daniel the Tiger dress that Jamie sewed for Addy. A lot of planing and creating that I was happy to be able to photograph. Now my computer and our broadband service won’t let me upload those photos. I’ll add them to this post when things improve.

These photos I’m posting were the photos after our morning gift time taken by our kids. The kids took a hike down their driveway and then enjoyed Addy’s birthday cake. So happy to have them and to see what a good day of sunshine they had together as a family.

On Sunday morning we had church online and it was good.

Two quotes from our online sermon from First Baptist Church Colville this morning:

“God’s glory has to be more consuming than our comfort”

“The presence of anxiety is unavoidable but the prison of anxiety is”

Stay out of prison dear ones.

We are taking this new lifestyle one day at a time. We have all we need at home and are grateful for connections via phone and social media. Our neighbors reached out to us in a text today to make sure we were doing okay. We are the “older folk” in our 5 household community who share a well. Hope all is good in your corner of the world.

Stay safe and keep the Faith!

Sovereign Ruler of the Skies ~ Hymn

Sovereign Ruler of the Skies

Sovereign ruler of the skies,
Ever gracious, ever wise,
All my times are in your hand,
All events at your command!

His decree, who formed the earth,
Fixed my first and second birth;
Parents, native place, and time,
All appointed were by Him

He who formed me in the womb
He shall guide me to the tomb.
All my times shall ever be,
Ordered by His wise decree!

Times of sickness, times of health,
Times of poverty and of wealth;
Times of trial, and of grief
Times of triumph, and relief.

Plagues and death around me fly;
Till he bids, I cannot die!
Not a single shaft can hit,
Till the God of love sees fit!

O Thou gra­cious, wise and just,
In Thy hands my life I trust;
Have I some­what dear­er still?
I re­sign it to Thy will.

Thee, at all times, will I bless;
Having Thee, I all pos­sess;
I can ne’er be­reav­èd be,
Since I can­not part with Thee.

John Ryland (1753-1825)

 

Addy is Three!

She’s happy to hold up three fingers to show you just how old she is!

Here she is with Gramps this past weekend in Spokane Valley where we braved some time in a hotel.

Back home and in the fresh sunshine air on Wednesday.

Such a good helper prepping seeds for starts for the garden.

On St. Patrick’s Day she and her family came to Baba and Gramps’ for our traditional Corned Beef and Cabbage meal.

She won’t understand the scope of what’s going on during her 3rd birthday this year. The following photos were taken by her mommy and daddy at her birthday celebration in isolation with her immediate family. The COVAD-19 rules of social distancing warranted a no party birthday.

Thankful for social media so we can share in these moments from a distance.

Happy Birthday dear Addy. You are such a joy to Gramps and me. You are always ready to help. You love gymnastics. You love the outdoors and a good hike. You have an amazing memory. You seem to be very visual. We look forward to enjoying your antics in this new year! You are a special Spring gift to us all! We love you dearly.

11 Months Old!

This little guy reached the 11 month old benchmark on Monday the 16th of March. The photo above was taken at our hotel room this past Sunday when he was 1 day shy of 11 Months.

Baba and Gramps love you dear Jaymison!!

He was over Tuesday evening and is working on mastering his walking skills. From standing he can bend over to pick something up off the floor and get upright and continue walking! Thursday morning I was able to add more photos to this post since my broadband service let me! This sporadic problem is a mystery to me.

Hope all is well with my bloggy friends!

Tuesdays With Moisi ~ Katie and Andrew’s Wedding 2012

This last week our daughter and her husband celebrated 9 years of marriage. Katie and Andrew were legally married at the magistrates office in Jacksonville, North Carolina before Andrew’s 1st deployment to Afghanistan. We planned a marriage ceremony and celebration one year later in Seattle. That weekend in March of 2012 was packed with gatherings of family and friends who came from near and far to celebrate. We were so grateful to God that Katie’s Babushka and Dzedushka could travel to be at her wedding and that Andrew got back in time to get leave to come to his wedding ceremony!

It was a lovely wedding on a cold clear windy March 11th in Seattle on Lake Union.

Moisi, Katie’s Dzeda (grandfather), prayed a blessing over Katie and Andrew.

These were all of Moisi’s people at the wedding.

Did I mention it was really windy?

Katie and her Dzeda (Moisi) at her first Christmas and birthday.

Moisi and Nadia were able to attend our niece Debbee and Lenny’s wedding in 2013 and that would be the last grandchild’s wedding the two of them could attend before our mom was ushered into Heaven in September of 2013. They watched some of grandson Caleb’s wedding in August of 2013 from their apartment via the internets. It was too far for Moisi to attend our son Daniel’s wedding in 2015. Moisi was able to attend grandson Joseph’s wedding in January of 2017 since the wedding was in California.

A good word from Spurgeon during these trying days of the COVID-19 Pandemic:

God is with the true, the just, the holy, to deliver them; and he will deliver you. Remember how Daniel came out of the lions’ den, and the three holy children out of the furnace. Yours, is not so desperate a case as theirs; but if it were, the Lord would bear you through, and make you more than a conqueror. Fear to fear. Be afraid to be afraid. Your worst enemy is within your own bosom. Get to your knees and cry for help, and then rise up saying, ‘I will trust, and not be afraid’.

HT: Jeremy Leffel Photography

St. Patrick’s Day 2020

Celti

It’s time to get ready for our annual Corned Beef and Cabbage meal for St. Patrick’s Day.

We got all the ingredients on our way home from Spokane Valley on Sunday. Do you make a Corned Beef meal on St. Patrick’s day or any day?

An Old Celtic Blessing

May the blessing of light be on you –
light without and light within.
May the blessed sunlight shine on you
and warm your heart
till it glows like a great peat fire.

IMGP7563

I was not able to upload any new photos today from our weekend away. I hope to be able to do that on Monday. On Monday I’m having a massage which was a Christmas gift to me from my Colville kids. Looking forward to that even though it doesn’t qualify as social distancing.

Glory To His Name ~ Hymn

Glory To His Name!

Down at the cross where my Savior died,
Down where for cleansing from sin I cried,
There to my heart was the blood applied;
Glory to His name!

Refrain

Glory to His name, glory to His name:
There to my heart was the blood applied;
Glory to His name!

I am so wondrously saved from sin,
Jesus so sweetly abides within;
There at the cross where He took me in;
Glory to His name!

Refrain

Oh, precious fountain that saves from sin,
I am so glad I have entered in;
There Jesus saves me and keeps me clean;
Glory to His name!

Refrain

Come to this fountain so rich and sweet,
Cast thy poor soul at the Savior’s feet;
Plunge in today, and be made complete;
Glory to His name!

Refrain

Words: Elisha A. Hoffman, 1878.

The President of the United States has declared today a National Day of Prayer over the COVID-19 Virus Pandemic. This is something all believers can do from the comfort and safety of their homes. Call out to our God of mercy and grace together for safety, protection, healing with hope for stopping the rapid spread of this virus. May God allow us to be able to help in practical ways and with our encouragement and joy in the midst of these trying times. Glory to His name!