On our recent road trip east to visit our son and daughter in law we saw these signs.
Ukrainian/Russian treats at the Farmer’s Market in Chewelah.
My mom made piroshki and pelemeni in our home growing up but I had never heard of Cheburekki.
Linking up to signs, signs with Lesley.
I’m joining in again for Wednesday Hodgepodge with Joyce from This Side of the Pond. She comes up with the questions we find the answers. This week it’s all about the Hodgepodge blues…
1. Are there any men or women in blue on your family tree?
We have a cousin who was a police officer in Huntington Beach. Our son in law is a Marine who wore dress blues.
2. Are you someone who suffers from the Sunday night blues? What helps you get over it?
No Sunday night blues at our house since we are unemployed and everyday is a holiday. We are hoping for a few more years of employment for Dear before he is truly retired. Waiting to see…
4. We can’t head in to the Labor Day weekend without a related question, can we? Complete this thought: I work best when____________________.
I work best when I’m on my own and when the end is in sight. Sometimes to achieve the end in sight part I have to cut off big chunks of work into little chunks. I also work best with encouragement.
5. ‘Everything yields to diligence.’ Antiphanes Your thoughts? (on this particular quote or on diligence in general)
First I went to the definition of diligence: constant and earnest effort to accomplish what is undertaken; persistent exertion of body or mind.
My Dear is a great example of someone who is diligent. He completes whatever he undertakes and is constant and earnest in his endeavors. I appreciate the end result but sometimes I have to leave for many hours and come back to the result of his labors instead of seeing all the earnest effort and what had to yield in the process!
6. The National Park Service turned 100 years old on August 25th. Have you been to many of America’s National Parks? If so share with us a favorite or two. Which National Park would you most like to visit before the next birthday rolls around?
Dear and I visited Yellowstone National Park in June for the very first time. It was amazing. We’d like to see many more or our National Parks but the one that is on our bucket list right now is Glacier National Park.
Here’s a flashback from the 50’s. My family at Crater Lake in Oregon which is a National Park. I’m the one in my mom’s lap with my sister Kathy holding my brother Tim and my sister Vera on the right. We also visited Yosemite National Park in my youth with my family in the 50’s.
7. Bid farewell to August in seven words or less.
Celebrations, anticipation, launches, and goodbyes…adieu August.
8. Insert your own random thought here.
Speaking of blue I have to share that I love blue and white dishes. It’s hard for me to leave any blue dishes behind especially if they are made in England.
I also like blue jeans…
Hope you aren’t suffering with summer blues. We are cooling down right now with some rain in the forecast.
On Sunday our family traveled across the Puget Sound on the ferry Walla Walla to Bremerton to attend Dave’s celebration of life. We became friends midway in Dave’s life so it was good to learn some things about him we never knew. One of the things that struck us right away was his middle name, Pinkerton. We could have had some fun with that detail. I think it’s a real cool middle name.
As part of Jamie’s tribute to his dad he read from second Corinthians 4:16-18 (NIV)
16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
Jamie also fulfilled a promise to his dad to play “Spirit in the Sky”. The story goes that Jamie and Dave were driving in Dave’s truck one day and this song came on the radio. Dave turned to Jamie and said “Play this at my funeral and play it really loud” I’m sharing some of the lyrics below. This made me smile as Dear in the past has requested this song be played at his funeral, too.
When I die and they lay me to rest
Gonna go to the place that’s the best
When I lay me down to die
Goin’ up to the spirit in the sky
Goin’ up to the spirit in the sky
That’s where I’m gonna go when I die
When I die and they lay me to rest
Gonna go to the place that’s the best
Prepare yourself you know it’s a must
Gotta have a friend in Jesus
So you know that when you die
He’s gonna recommend you
To the spirit in the sky
Gonna recommend you
To the spirit in the sky
Norman Greenbaum, lyrics.
The tributes that Dave’s brothers, sons, and nephew spoke were all good to hear. It was very evident that Dave coached people he loved on and off the field. I know our sons were blessed by Dave’s coaching.
Sarly and Jamie worked hard going through a lifetime of photos of Dave with many tears and joyful laughter as they prepared a photo tribute with songs that had us all laughing and crying. So thankful for the boxes of tissues on each table.
At the end of the open microphone time this little one above wanted to pray for her Papa. I don’t remember her words exactly but she took the microphone and assured us that her Papa was okay and she loved him. (this photo was from Thanksgiving 2012 so Rae is almost 4 years older now)
Dave’s Uncle closed this time in prayer and we had time to fellowship with Beth and her sons and other old friends.
Our sons with Jamie and little David Daniel, named after his grandfather and our son Daniel.
Beth and our son Daniel.
Our whole family including my sister Lana and hubby Steve.
Our sweet smiley little warrior, David Daniel…triple D!
Dave’s brother Bob, correct me if I’m wrong, came up with these center pieces along the theme of golf since Dave was passionate about this sport.
Gold Mountain Golf Course was a beautiful setting for Dave’s Celebration of Life since he spent many hours on these grounds with his golfing buddies.
Dave would want you to know that he had a friend in Jesus who saved him. His hope in an eternal future with Jesus carried him through. This same hope will help Beth and Dave’s sons , daughter in laws and grandchildren walk through their grief while they remain on this earth. I hope that you dear readers have prepared yourselves for the inevitable and that you, too, have a friend in Jesus who died for you so that you might have life with Him and peace with God. We’ll see you later dear Dave Pinkerton!
“Prepare yourself you know it’s a must
Gotta have a friend in Jesus”
On our many trips to our son’s home in Northeastern Washington we have seen this horseshoe creation as we zoom by Ritzville, Washington. On one of our more recent trips we stopped for breakfast in Ritzville and got a close up of these creations. It’s a roadside treasure.
At our son’s property we get to see real horses at different times of the day.
These lovely creatures are being boarded on the property across the way from our son’s home.
H is for horses and horseshoes. I’m linking up with ABC Wednesday started by Mrs. Nesbitt and carried on by a helpful team.
I’m also linking up to Tuesday’s Treasures with Tom the Backroads Traveler.
So much to share from the weekend and I need some time to put my thoughts and photos together. Our kids from the east of the state have been with us this weekend and are leaving sometime today so I won’t be joining in memes since I don’t have time to visit.
We’ve had a change in our hot weather pattern and I’m enjoying cooler days. I’m a heat wimp. Hope all is well in your neck of the woods.
Let Us Love, and Sing, and Wonder
Let us love, and sing, and wonder,
Let us praise the Savior’s name!
He has hushed the law’s loud thunder,
He has quenched Mount Sinai’s flame.
Let us love the Lord, who bought us,
Pitied us when enemies;
Called us by his grace, and taught us,
Gave us ears, and gave us eyes.
Let us sing, though fierce temptations
Threaten hard to bear us down!
For the Lord, our strong salvation,
Holds in view the conqueror’s crown,
Let us wonder, grace and justice
Join and point to mercy’s store;
When we trust in Christ our fortress,
Justice smiles, and asks no more.
Let us praise and join the chorus
Of the saints enthroned on high;
Here they trusted him before us,
Now their praises fill the sky.
Hark! the name of Jesus, sounded
Loud, from golden harps above!
Lord we blush, and are confounded,
Faint our praise, and cold our love!
Words: John Newton, 1774.
We have an attic that is easy to access with a drop down staircase. We keep holiday bins up there, luggage, old files, Katie’s stuff, and some of Dear’s parents memorabilia. We also have our kids old toys that we drag down when we have little ones visiting.
Looking down from the attic to our main floor.
The space has a very low ceiling and a wood floor that gives us splinters when we crawl around up there. We decided to organize and to put some inexpensive outdoor/indoor carpeting on the floor.
The process begins. Wiring also needed to be moved and tucked away.
The new carpeting installed and the bins organized.
An inexpensive project that will make our lives easier every time we head up those attic stairs to access our seasonal stuff.
Do you have an attic? How do you access it? In the meantime Dear is busy on another outdoor project and he had some interesting company today.
Can you see the wild bunny?
Update on our attic space. Many of you suggested this would be a fun place for kids. Here’s the first kid to enjoy our newly carpeted attic space. She and Andrew are here today waiting for the arrival of our kids from the East.
Her Awana shirt still fits from her elementary days!
Happy Saturday everyone!
The sign under the horse says Mountain House Stables.
While spending time with our son and daughter in law in Eastern Washington I took some photos on our son’s property and along some back roads close to them. Close is a relative term when you live in the country.
This fawn visited our son’s property with it’s mother the first day we arrived.
I’m linking up with TexWisGirl for Good Fences #127.
We are catching up with the regular things we do in the city at this old house. We have a busy last weekend of August coming up. Our eastern Washington kids are coming on Saturday. Dear and I are going to a Chinese wedding reception Saturday night which will be a first for us. I’ve been reading up on Chinese wedding customs so we don’t do something that would offend. We are looking forward to this new celebration experience. On Sunday our whole family will be attending a Memorial service for our dear friend Dave. Joy and sorrow seem to always go hand in hand. How’s your summer winding down?
…our oldest kids flew to the big city of Los Angeles.
While they were there for a quick weekend with friends to enjoy a special concert together they managed a getaway to see my pop, their Dzeda.
They also managed to get all these cousins together for brunch.
Beautiful girls. Two of my nieces with our dear daughter in love, Laura.
We are all back in our own homes again. Home from the big city and home from the country.
This country scene is from our middle son’s neck of the woods.
On our way home today we stopped at the scenic overlook of the Columbia River just before you get to Vantage. A selfie was in order. This is about halfway in our trip.
It’s good to be home after six days away. Watering was the first thing on my list to do and now I will relax till tomorrow. We are finishing up listening to a Bruno Chief of Police novel. On our trip to the country we finished Louise Penny’s The Cruelest Month.
Hope all is well whether you are in the big city or the quiet country.
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.
The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b. 