Good Fences

A fence out of season that I missed showing earlier. This is a shot from the beginning of October. It’s a fence put up to block the view of a large construction project at a popular shopping area (University Village) close to the University of Washington in Seattle. It’s a nice reminder of a different season. The next photo shows our privacy fence when we had a light snowfall.

The contrast of seasons. Are you still enjoying Winter?

Thank you to TexWisGirl who is a great hostess for a weekly meme! Click over to Good Fences #95!

Signs, signs…

This was a sign at the grocery store I frequent and it was enough to motivate me to buy the ingredients and throw them in the slow cooker the next day. I didn’t go wide enough on my photo to show a little tag sign that said “Take a photo”. I thought this was a smart marketing idea. They also positioned the sign over a case full of the ingredients just as you entered the store.

I changed the method up a bit and added some ingredients and it turned out good. What I did differently…

I seasoned the meat and seared it on all sides. I put all the vegetables including 2 stalks of celery cut into thirds into the pot, set the seared meat on top of the veggies. I mixed 3/4 cups beef broth, 1/4 cup red wine, the Worcestershire, salt and pepper together and used this liquid to de-glaze the pan that I seared the meat in and then poured all this liquid over the beef and veggies in the pot. I left out the cornstarch and water but after 6 hours I took the meat out of the pot and I added a mix of 2 Tablespoons flour and a couple tablespoons of water (mixed well) to the pot mixed it in well and let the pot stay on high for another 30 minutes. Then I put the pot on low and added the meat back to the pot and let it sit till we were ready to eat. We had good crusty bread with the pot roast.

Since this is a food post I’d like to share two other recipes that I posted recently to Mennonite Girls Can Cook Blog.

Chile Relleno Breakfast/Brunch bake. Click to see recipe. The second time I made this I added a layer of cooked Chorizo on top of the chilies before baking and that was a nice addition.

Today on the Mennonite Girls Can Cook Blog I posted this simple Tuna Noodle Skillet meal.

Hope you are reading this post on a full stomach!

Thank you to Lesley for signs, signs. Click over to join in!

Aunt Anna and the Amiable Guinea Pig

Have you guessed yet that we are at the beginning of the alphabet again for ABC Wednesday #18 (Rolling On) a meme created by Mrs. Nesbitt and now administered by Roger and the ABC team. I was in my archives and saw my very first post for this meme was for the letter D posted February 12, 2008!

Today I’ll be combining two memes with my letter A post. A new meme is starting today hosted by Tom the Backroads Traveler called Tuesdays Treasures where you can share all things old, old and lovely or old and junky!

My Aunt Anna and Pop and my Amiable Guinea Pig are old treasures that are old and lovely. I’ll save junky for another week!

When I first visited Jolly Old England in 1973 and 1974 I started a collection of Beatrix Potter figurines. This is the Amiable Guinea Pig!

He is featured in Appley Dapply’s Nursery Rhymes book by Beatrix Potter originally published in 1917.

There once was an amiable guinea pig,
He brushed back his hair like a periwig-
He wore a sweet tie,
As blue as the sky-
And his whiskers and buttons were very big.

Now for real treasures…

…my Aunt Anna and my dear old Pop. Aunt Anna will be 91 in April and my Pop will be 93 in May! Aren’t they cute? They are having lunch at a favorite Armenian Restaurant in Montebello, California. A town I grew up in. I graduated from Montebello High School in 1968! Armenians cook their lamb the way my Russian family enjoys it. I didn’t take the photo since I’m way up here in Washington state but I’m glad my niece thought to take it and share it on Facebook.

Aunt Anna and my pop are the only surviving siblings in their family. My paternal grandparents died several years ago and my father’s other brothers and their spouses are all deceased. My Aunt Anna survived her husband and all three of her children and a granddaughter, too. She has had a rough life on this earth. Aunt Anna is in a care facility and she still has one granddaughter that stays in close contact with her. Three years ago the doctor gave my aunt a few months to live…guess she showed him!

My Pop lives with my oldest sister’s family and they are close to the care facility where Aunt Anna is cared for. I’m glad my sister thought to invite my Aunt Anna and pick her up to join them for lunch at Golden Skewers! A thoughtful daughter and niece and sister, too!

Looking forward to seeing what A’s and Old Treasures you all came up with.

Happy Homemaker Monday

I’m trying something for the first time and joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom for Happy Homemaker Monday.

The weather…..
31 degrees and mostly cloudy and foggy with rain to follow.

Right now I am….

Watching the news while I start this post. The big news that is trending is the shocking win by the Seahawks yesterday in Minnesota. Ouch. And the other worldwide trending news that David Bowie lost his battle to cancer at 69 years old.

Thinking….

About the three birthdays we have this week in our family. Two of the birthdays will be celebrated without us in northeastern Washington state and one will be celebrated on this side of the mountains at this old house on Friday night. Gifts have been sent, cards will be sent and meal will be planned. Birthdays belong to #1 son, #2 son, and # 2 daughter in law.

Our kids minus our son-in-law Andrew. Katie, Josh our oldest with a birthday this month. Top row is Laura our DIL who is married to Josh. Our son Daniel who celebrates his birthday and our new DIL Jamie who celebrates her birthday this month, too. Katie and Laura had birthdays in December.

On my reading pile….

The Songs of Jesus by Timothy Keller and A travel Guide on San Francisco for an upcoming business trip that I’m tagging along on. I need to choose a good read for our plane travel and my hotel stay later in the month.

On my TV…..

The shows I’m watching this month are Biggest Loser, Top Chef, Masterchef Junior, Fixer Upper, and Downton Abbey. On Netflix we have been watching a British series based in Scotland called Monarch of the Glen aired in the early 2000’s. Our daughter and son in law have the Netflix account and since they are living with us right now we use it, too. We DVR most shows and watch them earlier in the evening since Dear and I hit the sack real early. I also enjoy watching Barclays Premier League Soccer games early on Saturday mornings.

Favorite blog post last week (mine or other)….

My posts titled Still Praying and Z is for… were my favorites from last week.

Something fun to share….

This is the Amiable Guinea Pig from my collection of Beatrix Potter figurines that I started acquiring on a trip to England back in 1973. Beatrix Potter is a favorite of mine and her animal characters make me smile so I thought this would be fun to share.

There once was an amiable guinea pig,
He brushed back his hair like a periwig-
He wore a sweet tie,
As blue as the sky-
And his whiskers and buttons were very big.

Blog hopping (newly discovered blog)….

Diary of a Stay at Home Mom is a newly discovered blog. This being the new year and because some of my oldie blogs are biting the dust I need to peruse and make some changes to my blogroll.

On the menu for this week….

Don’t judge but I don’t usually have a daily plan for meals and I’m more of a fly by the seat of my pants cook on most days. I do know that every Tuesday is Tequila Tuesday when Dear and I go to our little Mexican joint for a meal together. Our favorite waitress serves us well.

Generally we have soup on a given night, a good hunk of meat on a given night, and a pasta something dish, a Mexican easy meal, and I’ll throw in some kind of Chicken dish.

Friday this week will be a special meal to celebrate our firstborn son. There will be 6 of us at the table and I’m going with a couple traditional Russian dishes. We will enjoy Lopsha (Russian Noodle Soup) for our starter soup. For the main course I’m making Golubtsi (stuffed cabbage rolls). I’ll throw in something green, too. Chocolate Birthday Cake for dessert.

On my to do list….

I’m a list keeper and I love crossing things off of it. So far today I was able to cross off brush my teeth, just kidding, but I am amazed that I finally ironed and put the fresh linens on the guest bed. Note to self…never buy bedding again that needs ironing.

In the craft basket….

Not a craft person… I do like to be creative in setting a table so I am gathering things to set the birthday table for Friday night.

Looking forward to this week…

The birthday celebration and hearing that our northeast kids got their gifts in the mail.

Looking around the house….

thinking about getting rid of some of the clutter that has piled up here and there after the holidays.

From the camera….

This little plaque is a gift from Marg, my friend from Mennonite Girls Can Cook. Translated from German to English it says God Can! It’s a motto we use with each other when things seem hard or impossible.

On my prayer list…..

See my favorite post link for a couple specific things on my prayer list. For each month I like to use a notebook page to list all the birthdays and anniversaries in the month and I’ll say a little prayer for each person or couple that is celebrating in that given month. I have my list of people who still need Jesus. I have my praise column. I have my illness and healing columns and there are enough of those that I have them under headings like Cancer, Leukemia, Heart, Emotional, Mental, Chronic Pain. I also pray for some children of broken homes. I have a widow and widower list and a single but would like to be married list. I also have a they need a job list. Now I don’t want to give you the impression that I sit in a comfy chair and pray for hours. I don’t. I like to use this page method so I don’t forget and so I have a guide and list to pray through.

Bible verse, Devotional….

My verse on my Prayer page this month is Psalm 4:1

Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness!
You have given me relief when I was in distress.
Be gracious to me and hear my prayer!

Thank you Sandra for hosting this weekly meme. I better publish it before Monday is gone. It took me a big longer than I thought to crank this out. With all the talk of homemaking I felt compelled to take a break to iron those blasted linens and it took a very long time. I hope to get around to others who are participating sometime today or tomorrow!

Blessings on your Monday!

Prepare

I was thinking about the idea of choosing a word for the new year instead of making resolutions. My friend Willow at Willow’s Cottage chose Simple. Jerrelea at Jerrelea’s Journey chose Rest. I decided on the word Prepare.

: to make (someone or something) ready for some activity, purpose, use, etc.

: to make yourself ready for something that you will be doing, something that you expect to happen, etc.

: to make or create (something) so that it is ready for use

One challenge we heard at the first worship service of this year was not to focus on ourselves but to ask the question, How can I make the world a better place? Now I wonder what will help to prepare my heart for this challenge? Time will tell.

This year there are new things that I need to prepare for, too.

Medicare, banking online, a home office space for Dear, to name a few.

Some other things I’d like to continue to prepare for through the year are hospitality, good meals, organized spaces.

Way back in elementary school I memorized the following verses that have been favorites and a comfort through the years.

John 14: 1-3 (ESV)

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. ²In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? ³And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.

I memorized these verses in the King James Version below.

^{“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. ²In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. ³And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.}

It’s amazing to think that the God of the universe is preparing a place for me!

Do you make New Year Resolutions or do you pick a word or verse for the year? Let me know if you do/did.

The photos that I included in this post are from a week ago when we got a little dusting of snow that came and went during the course of one day.

Faithful Shepherd, Feed Me ~ Hymn

Faithful Shepherd, Feed Me

Faithful Shepherd, feed me
In the pastures green;
Faithful Shepherd, lead me
Where Thy steps are seen.

Hold me fast, and guide me
In the narrow way;
So, with Thee beside me,
I shall never stray.

Daily bring me nearer
To the heav’nly shore;
Make my faith grow clearer,
May I love Thee more.

Hallow every pleasure,
Every gift and pain;
Be Thyself my treasure,
Though none else I gain.

Day by day prepare me
As Thou seest best,
Then let angels bear me
To Thy promised rest.

Words: Thomas B. Pollack, December 1868.

Enrich:

:to improve the quality of (something) : to make (something) better, etc.

Our family has been enriched with the addition of another daughter in law this year. Dan and Jamie are a team that yield new things for our family to enjoy.

Don’t tell anyone but I do not can. My mother canned but it’s not something I’ve tried or am comfortable trying. Jamie does can. Dan and Jamie plant a garden and they have fruit trees on their acreage in the country. They have apple trees. They use their bounty well by canning some of the excess.

Their salsa is amazing and we have gone through 3 of these large jars of it in the last few weeks. We are so happy they shared their canned bounty with us! Their land is not a farm at this point so instead of farm to table we’ll call it land to table!

We appreciate the fact that our son is not alone on his acreage anymore but has a lovely wife by his side to enrich his life and ours!

Signs, signs ~ Seattle

This is the main drive entrance to the Pike Place Market in downtown Seattle. The sign on the lamp post says Pike Up. This is where anyone visiting and televising something going on in Seattle goes to take photos of the fish throwing at the market.

There are lots of one way streets downtown. Here’s a reflection with a One Way sign.

Linking up with Lesley at signs, signs.

This photos were taken last Wednesday. We are having a picture perfect day with blue skies and sunshine today, too. Hope your New Year is going forward in a good way.

Z is for…

…Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah.

Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay
My, oh, my what a wonderful day
Plenty of sunshine headin my way
Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, Zip-a-dee-ay

Between Christmas and the New Year we had a wonderful day with plenty of sunshine in downtown Seattle. Our plan was to go to the Seattle Art Museum to see their visiting Impressionism exhibit.

There was a sign that caught my eye and made me happy. It said “please take photos”! Just as long as you didn’t use your flash photo taking was allowed.

We left the Impressionist exhibit as the crowds began to arrive and we enjoyed some other areas of the museum.

This painting above is a Monet that was new to me. The painting below is by Renoir.

Peaches on a Plate…The names of a lot of the paintings made me chuckle.

On our way to the museum we had more beautiful sunshine blue skies.

It was a beautiful day to look up at the skyscrapers!

When we go downtown we enjoy lunch at “The Met” The Metropolitan Grill, a favorite Seattle Steak house.

There were still some nice Christmas scenes we enjoyed on our walk back to the parking garage. Speaking of the parking garage we scored big time only paying $6.00 for 3 hours!

…My, oh, My what a wonderful day!

I’m linking up to ABC Wednesday started by Mrs. Nesbitt and carried on by Roger and other team members! Looks like we made it to the end of the alphabet already!

Still Praying…

There were some major events that started fervent prayers in 2015 that will continue into 2016. I’ve shared some of these but have kept some off my blog. Some things we prayed for in 2015 were answered in different ways and the need to pray has ceased.

These we continue to pray about and I’ll share here in hopes that you might want to pray about them, too. I use the word dear a lot in this post!

This little one is David the Warrior. He is near and dear to us.

This photo collage above shows our dear friend Dave and our son Daniel at Daniel’s wedding and then each of them holding little David Daniel at different stages. David Daniel’s dad, Jamie, was suppose to be in our Daniel’s wedding but his wife and unborn son were in crisis in the pregnancy and there was no way he could be away from them. Dan’s wedding was June 27th and little David Daniel was born shortly after. Here are his mother’s words.

…”After being born at just 1 pound 7oz at only 25 weeks. We spent more than 117 days in the nicu, 3 surgeries 2 hospitals and defying all odds with constant prayer. We are beyond blessed to have brought our miracle baby boy David Daniel home this week. Thank you all from the bottom of our hearts for your love, support and prayers. We are beyond grateful and thankful. There are truly no words to describe this moment of bringing our miracle warrior baby home and to be all together as a family. “

They brought him home at the end of October.

Little David Daniel has had one more surgery (early December) since he came home and is now recovering from that. When God puts little David Daniel on your mind please continue to pray for him and the whole family.

Our friend David is David Daniel’s paternal grandfather. Here is a photo of him and his wife Beth. We have become close friends over the years because of the friendship of our Dan and their Jamie starting in 2nd grade. Dave is having struggles of his own fighting lung cancer. When God puts him on your heart please pray for Dave as he continues his struggle.

After the wedding ceremony a message/toast was read by our Josh from Jamie letting Daniel know that his son would be named after his grandfather David and that his middle name would be Daniel after our Daniel. We were all so touched at this honor for both David and our Daniel. The toast also talked about Daniel’s loyalty to his friends over the years. A very meaningful moment at the wedding!

Our Daniel wasn’t able to meet his namesake in person till just last week. So sweet.

It can get confusing when we talk about Dan and Jamie because Dan’s new bride’s name is Jamie, too.

While little David Daniel was at Children’s Hospital in Seattle he had a special visitor, Russell Wilson of the Seahawks Football team. That was an encouragement to everyone.

We have other prayers that are continuing into 2016 but at the top of our list are these two Davids. Grandpa and grandson. Please pray with us as we pray for them.

Such a privilege and joy to meet this little guy that we have been praying for and will continue to pray for in 2016! Can’t wait to see him running after his older sister!

ht: photos from the wedding that I shared here are taken by Jeremy Leffel

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage