Autumn

Lovely, lovely October

Ere, in the northern gale,
The summer tresses of the trees are gone,
The woods of Autumn, all around our vale,
Have put their glory on.

~ William Cullen Bryant

Hoping to see more views like this one above soon. Our family and friends who had to evacuate their homes are back now safe and sound and they did not have any damage just a lot of smoky air. I’ll be sporadic on the internet the next several days. Cheers!

Directional Hodgepodge

1. On a scale of 1-10 how would you rate your sense of direction? 1=can’t find my way out of a paper bag and 10=if I’ve been somewhere once I can find it blindfolded ten years later.

When I drive somewhere I’ll never forget how to get there again. When I’m in the middle of a large city I need help knowing which way is what when looking at a map. I always depend on Dear or our daughter Katie to point me in the right direction. I’m not afraid to ask directions. So I’ll say 5!

I would be lost in the London Underground without these two getting me on the correct train!

When was the last time you looked at/used a map you could hold in your hand? (phones don’t count!) 

I love maps and look at them frequently, especially when planning a road trip. I looked at a map last week.

back east, down south, out west, up north

Choose one of these directional expressions and tell us why you chose it.

I’ll choose “Go West Young Man” even though it’s not on the list because I wrote a paper about Horace Greeley when I was in junior high school and he was credited with popularizing this phrase. He was a newspaper editor and author. Greeley favored westward expansion. (1811-1872)

2. Did you do more talking or listening yesterday? Is that typical?

Hmmm…I think it was 50-50. When I wake up in the morning Dear has been up for a few hours already and he is ready to have a listening ear and then I have to remind him I really can’t listen to a technical description of how the gears work in a starter and why the car didn’t start up this morning before I’ve had my morning coffee. When I’ve been up for a while I might take over on the talking.

Describe your yesterday in one word.

Staging: We have a realtor coming over Wednesday morning to check out our property and give us an assessment and suggestions on selling our home.

3. Time, money, water-power-resources, opportunity…which one on the list are you most guilty of wasting? What might you do to change that?

Oh boy, you are hitting us hard this week. I’ll say water-power-resources. I have a long way to go to be a conservationist.

4. Did  your family take regular vacations when you were a kid?

The simple answer is no. I was in college before I took my first plane trip with a friend.

Tell us something you remember about a family road trip from your own childhood.

We did take a few road trips and those were always north from Los Angeles to Central California, San Francisco and Oregon. The black and white above is from Crater Lake. We always visited friends or family and stayed in their homes when we traveled unless we were camping. We had a few camping trips to Big Bear and a camping trip to San Clemente State beach.

I remember getting up in the “rear package shelf” of the car to look up at the sky as we drove along. When in 6th grade my teacher noticed I had trouble seeing the black board and suggested to my parents to get my eyes checked. I was nearsighted. When I got my first pair of glasses I was amazed at how clear things were when driving in the car.

5. If you could grow anything you wanted, what would you grow? Why?

I would love to grow avocados (tree). I enjoy a variety of dishes that are great with avocado and a favorite treat is avocado on toast.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Speaking of road trips, we are tripping over to this little girls house soon.

Looking forward to some cuddle time and seeing all she’s learned since our last visit together.

Linking up with Joyce From This Side of the Pond for Wednesday Hodgepodge.

Thank you for visiting here today and for your comments. I do appreciate each one.

Our World Tuesday

Last Thursday October 5th we picked up our daughter and drove a couple blocks to Magnuson Park for a walk. Dear and Katie always have lots of information to exchange with each other.

Magnuson Park is a 350 acres park on Sand Point at Pontiac Bay, Lake Washington, in the Sand Point neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. The park is the second largest in Seattle, after 534 acres Discovery Park in Magnolia.

Established in 1900 (military use 1922-1975).

I have three previous posts about this park here and here and here.

 

There were a great variety of reflections to take photos of on this fall day.

On our way back to the car we walked out on the dock and I took this photo of our shadows on the lake surface.

Sharing a little bit of Seattle with Our World Tuesday. Click away and see other parts of our world.

Speaking of our world we got word that family and friends had to be evacuated in Anaheim Hills, Orange Park Acres, North Tustin and East Orange areas of Southern California today due to fires. Praying for containment and for all who are fighting the blazes. Also for those who had to leave their homes. There are fires in the Northern part of California in Santa Rosa and other parts of the wine country. Sure hope there’s containment soon.

The Barn Collective

On our way home from a short road trip up to La Conner for lunch we took some back roads to the interstate. This is one of the barns we saw in Skagit County. And then we saw some fall friends just hanging out.

The fall colors are showing nicely here and there.

Ugh…my lower back has decided to go on strike and keep me from too much activity. Didn’t get to church this morning. Hoping to get some good relief soon. Hope y’all are doing well.

Linking up to the Barn Collective with Tom The Backroads Traveller. Thanks Tom!

He Giveth More Grace ~ Hymn

He Giveth More Grace

He giveth more grace as our burdens grow greater,
He sendeth more strength as our labors increase;
To added afflictions He addeth His mercy,
To multiplied trials he multiplies peace.

When we have exhausted our store of endurance,
When our strength has failed ere the day is half done,
When we reach the end of our hoarded resources
Our Father’s full giving is only begun.

His love has no limits, His grace has no measure,
His power no boundary known unto men;
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus
He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again.

words: Annie J. Flint (1866-1932)

Saturday’s Critters

On Friday we picked up our friend Beth and headed north to La Conner for lunch.

We had a window seat at Nell Thorn Restaurant and while we were eating Beth saw this beauty out the window and knew I’d want to take a picture of it.

I headed out on the patio area of the restaurant to take some photos. The heron headed down to this dock to get away from me.

We enjoyed conversation and some good food. On our way home we chose some roads less traveled. I’ll share some photos from our drive later.

Hope you all have a good Saturday and Happy Thanksgiving Weekend to our Canadian neighbors!

Linking up with Eileen for Saturday’s Critters.

Keep the Doors Open…

…they will come. You don’t need a fancy house or a paved driveway.

Just keep your door and mind open and available to who God will send your way.

Welcome them in and start the process of knowing and being known.

Cramped quarters can work.

We had our first evening of a new small group season last night. We knew we’d have 7 of us from our previous year returning again but we didn’t know who else might show up for our first meeting. We had 6 new people show up and they found our home without having to call for directions. We were happy to welcome them in.

We are singles, couples, older, younger and in between. A good mix of ages from very different life experiences. The common ground is we want to follow Jesus. It will be good to get to know each other, grow together, and pray for one another. It’s good to be heading in the same direction with others.

Today I’m thankful for small groups also called life groups, cell groups or when we first started with this idea of smaller groups of people meeting outside of the church building we called them fellowship groups or Bible studies. We are thankful to have a home and chairs for people to fill.

The Last Couple of Days:

Dear and I have worked very hard the last two days in our basement. We moved out things we aren’t using to the garage so we had to also work on the garage organizing storage. We moved around furniture and now the room looks like a comfortable bedroom instead of a catch-all room. We pulled out a very heavy office desk system since we don’t use the computer in the basement anymore. We took an extra office chair out to the street with a free sign on it and it was gone by the end of the day. From the garage we offered up a smoker and barbecue to anyone at our son’s business and we have takers for both. Today we’re taking an antique chair frame that we’ve moved around for 30 years (why?) to an antique restorer hoping he’ll just take it off our hands. We are serious about getting rid of stuff. Thankful our bodies are still working today.

Anybody else out there hosting a small group, attending a small group or downsizing?

I’m linking up to Michelle’s Thankful Thursday and tomorrow to Susanne’s Friday’s Fave Five.

Berry Pickin Hodgepodge

 
1.  Have you ever spent time on a farm?
Yes.
Tell us a little bit about it.
When I was young my family stayed with Russian farming friends in Central California. I did not enjoy the fresh milk from their cow. My family would also drive to different farms in southern California to pick fruit for my mom’s canning endeavors. The black and white above is of the whole family picking something, maybe berries of some kind. I can also remember picking sour cherries, about 40 pounds total when we were done. She would cook and can the cherries for a sweetener for tea. A favorite with my Russian relatives. As an adult when we were in England we enjoyed an afternoon on a farm picking raspberries, picture below.
This was in 1973 or 1974. In 2006 we stayed on a sheep farm in England (bed and breakfast) for a couple nights. We enjoyed the farm noises and the walks along the Derwent River that the farm was adjacent to.
Since being part of the Mennonite Girls Can Cook I’ve enjoyed times on a couple farms and at Farm markets in Abbotsford, B.C.
Have you ever grown your own pumpkin? Been on a hayride? Driven a tractor? Milked a cow?
no, yes, no, no…
I’m pretty sure I’ve been on a hayride somewhere but I can’t pull up the time and place.
2. What’s something younger you would like about you now?
 That I’m still smiling even though I don’t look like I did in that Berry picking photo with those cool shades.

3. What are three things you’d like to do more often? Three things you’d like to do less often?

Walk, read, and pray more often. Eat, b***h, jump to conclusions less often.

4. What’s on your nachos?

When I have them which isn’t very often, cheese, jalapenos, and diced Anaheim peppers.

5. What’s the most random thing in your purse or wallet? Does it need to stay there?

A tape measure might be the most random thing and it doesn’t need to stay there but it comes in handy when shopping for certain items that need to fit in defined or tight spaces.

6.  Insert your own random thought here.

Too cute not to share! She’s 6-1/2 months and this is her trusty furry friend Rayna.

Linking up to Hodgepodge Wednesday with Joyce From This Side of the Pond. She comes up with the questions and we answer them.

We are resuming our small group at our home on Wednesday night. It will be fun to see who shows up. Hope you all are having a good week.