While They Are Still Blooming

We and many other people who live in the greater Puget Sound region of Washington have been enjoying the Cherry Blossoms at the University of Washington.

So thankful of the beauty in our region.

Katie and I met up with Andrew who is studying at the U at the end of his day and then I drove them both home. It started raining on us as we headed to the parking garage.

Twenty Nine Years in Washington State and this is the first time I made a special trip to the University to enjoy the Cherry Blossoms. I hope to make it a yearly event while we are on this side of the mountains.

We have had two dry days here this week. Hoping for more to come. Is it dry, wet, hot or cold where you are?

Almighty Hodgepodge

It’s time to ponder Joyce’s questions and find the answers. This Cafe is on the main drag that runs along Lake Washington through Bothell, Kenmore, Lake Forest Park, and Lake City. This is the 522 bus route that goes to downtown Seattle. We haven’t tried the cafe yet but Dear has read many a book on that 522 route to Seattle and back.

1. April is Lawn and Garden Month. On a scale of 1-10 what’s the current state of your lawn and/or garden. (10=a showpiece, 1=send in the professionals). Tell us about any lawn or garden plans you have for this month.

Haha! As I was mowing on Monday of this week the thought came to my mind that we really could use some professionals to come in and totally redo our lawn. We have more moss and weeds then actual grass. I had the thought that it would be great to meet that guy at the big box store who would come up to me and say “can we come and do a yard project for you?” So I’m saying 1!

We have made some improvements on the walkway and planters since this photo was taken but the lawn remains a mess! This next photo is what things look like since 2016.

2. “Many things grow in the garden that were never sown there.”~Thomas Fuller What does this quote mean to you?

I’ll take it literally and say I never sowed those weeds but there they are.

3. What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think about God?

Almighty

THE APOSTLES CREED

I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.

And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord; Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit; Born of the Virgin

Mary; Suffered under Pontius Pilate; Was crucified, dead and buried; He descended into Hell; The third

day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven; And sitteth on the right hand of God the

Father Almighty; From thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit; The Holy Christian Church, the Communion of Saints; The Forgiveness of

sins; The Resurrection of the body; And the life everlasting. Amen.

4. If we were chatting in person, how would I know if you were nervous?

If I was talking too much.

5. Do you like the color yellow? Would I find any in your home or wardrobe? Daffodils, tulips, roses, sunflowers, day lily, black eyed susan…which yellow bloom on this list is your favorite?

Not much yellow in my home or wardrobe. I do like lemons. Daffodils are my favorite yellow bloom.

6. Flip flops or bare feet?

Bare feet. Flip flops don’t agree with my feet.

7. Tell us about any Easter plans, celebrations, or traditions you’ll carry out this month.

This Easter will be different because we are headed east to spend time with our kids and our granddaughter Addy. We will celebrate but not in the usual way. We love Easter and we generally have a baking day before Easter to make Russian Easter Bread, Kulich/Paska and our yummy sweet cheese spread for the bread called Seernaya Paska. Lamb is the protein of choice for our Easter meals. We are going to have a post Easter celebration when we are back on this side of the mountains and we will celebrate our son-in-law’s birthday, too.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

I owe everything that I am and everything I will ever be to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I am so grateful for my robe of righteousness afforded to me because Jesus took on my sins and the sins of the world. I am washed clean by the blood of the Lamb.

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

I’m recuperating today from 2 days of hard labor. Monday was yard day and yesterday after a nice walk with Katie, Dear recruited me to help him finish a shed project at our son and dil’s that took us till 7:30 last night. They are very happy with their spiffy new shed and we were happy to put it together. I’m a bit behind this morning. Hope to catch up with everyone shortly. Happy Wednesday!

Magnuson Park ~ Seattle

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)

On Tuesday March 28th our daughter Katie and I had a stroll in the park.

Katie and Andrew live on the edge of Magnuson Park while Andrew is attending the University of Washington. He is working very hard on an Aeronautical Engineering degree.

We had an umbrella in hand on this day that sprinkled on us off and on.

Hooded Merganser

I think this is a white breasted nuthatch.

Sun steps…

I think this is a ring necked duck.

Katie and I are headed for another walk at Magnuson tomorrow and this time we’re hoping for a sunshiny day.

Linking up to ABC Wednesday created by Mrs. Nesbitt and administered by Roger and his mighty team!

Daddy and Daughter…

Here’s the side by side, Beth! I need to get a newborn photo of Jamie to scan to do a side by side comparison, too.

1 week old sent to us by the kids.

Posting the rest of my random photos until we travel east again to get some fresh photos!

And speaking of random here’s a photo of my dear old Pop with his great granddaughter Ellie taken several weeks ago.

Ellie is about 14 months or so here and Pop is almost 94! We so enjoy the instagram and facebook photos and videos of our dear little grandniece Ellie. Right now our Addy is Pop’s youngest Great Grandchild that we know of.

Continuing on the random theme…Yippee for some random sunshine here in the Pacific Northwest. We had a good church service on Sunday talking about being doers of the Word and capped off with Communion. Came home and had a nice breakfast of eggs and waffles with a couple hot dogs cut up and served alongside the scrambled eggs. Do you ever use a hot dog for your breakfast meat? Nathan’s skinless are my favorite. I donned my grubby work clothes and wellies to pull some weeds while the earth was still moist and weeds were easier to pull. I will also mow the lawn for the first time this year if the sunshine continues on Monday! Here’s a sneak peek at some paths Katie and I walked on last week. I’ll share more as the week progresses.

Linking up to Mosaic Monday with Maggie at Normandy Life.

Trumpets of Jesus…

“Trumpets of Jesus, heralding spring” is how my mom refers to her favorite flower…

This was a comment from one of my Facebook friends on a post showing some daffodils that popped up in my yard. I’m going to embrace that description of daffodils from this old friend of my youth. She, Vera Kushnerov, and her husband Paul worked with the youth in our Russian Baptist Church. Their son Paul shared this story about his mom. Thank you Paul.

When I was in elementary school Vera asked me to write letters to her fiance Paul who was serving in the military. I embraced the idea and was so excited when a letter came to me in the mail from Paul. This experience sparked the habit of writing letters and sending cards to people in my life. I even enjoyed a pen pal for a time. In high school/college the youth pastor and his wife set up a sunshine committee to send notes and birthday cards to others in our group and gave the job to me. I’m sad to say that after the whole internet, email, facebook, instagram forms of communication have overtaken the world my habit of sending a hard copy greeting has gone by the wayside.

Vera is the lovely lady on the left, my dear cousin Valia is on the right and that’s my sister Lana the flower girl. This was the wedding of one of the Menn girls, Manya maybe? Vera is my Aunt Nina’s youngest sister. Vera is my cousin Valia’s aunt and Manya’s aunt, too. Are you all following me? This Russian community stayed real close starting in Iran and continuing in the Los Angeles area.

Last Tuesday Katie and I went to Bonhoeffer Gardens hoping the daffodils would be showing off their color.

Only about half of the daffodils were showing off.

The photo at the top of this post was from the daffodil fields in Mt. Vernon last March when my sisters were visiting. Flowers are a bit behind this year.

Awake and hail with heart and voice
The message of these hours!
With all the wakening earth rejoice;
Be glad with birds and flowers.
Behold the joyous Easter day
That brings the news to earth
Of Easter morning far away,
When life from death had birth.

After Katie and I walked about Bonhoeffer Botanical Gardens we headed back to Seattle and to the University of Washington to walk along the Quad to enjoy the Cherry blossoms. That post is coming soon.

Do you have plans for Easter? What is your favorite flower?

Again the Lord of Light and Life ~ Hymn

Again the Lord of Light and Life

Again the Lord of light and life
Awakes the kindling ray,
Unseals the eyelids of the morn,
And pours increasing day.

O what a night was that which wrapped
The heathen world in gloom!
O what a Sun which rose this day
Triumphant from the tomb!

This day be grateful homage paid,
And loud hosannas sung;
Let gladness dwell in every heart,
And praise on every tongue.

Ten thousand different lips shall join
To hail this welcome morn,
Which scatters blessings from its wings
To nations yet unborn.

Jesus, the friend of human kind,
With strong compassion moved,
Descended like a pitying God,
To save the souls He loved.

The powers of darkness leagued in vain
To bind His soul in death;
He shook their kingdom when He fell,
With His expiring breath.

Not long the toils of hell could keep
The Hope of Judah’s line;
Corruption never could take hold
On aught so much divine.

And now His conquering chariot wheels
Ascend the lofty skies;
While broke beneath his powerful cross,
Death’s iron scepter lies.

Exalted high at God’s right hand,
And Lord of all below;
Thro’ Him is pardoning love dispensed,
And boundless blessings flow.

And still for erring, guilty man
A brother’s pity flows;
And still His bleeding heart is touched
With memory of our woes.

To Thee, my Savior and my king,
Glad homage le me give;
And stand prepared, like Thee, to die,
With Thee that I might live.

Words: Anna L. Barbauld, (1743-1825).

There are so many beautiful hymns for Easter that I’m starting early and will probably go later in posting them. Thank you Jesus for all your sacrifices for us!

Missing Little AMB

Friday March 24th I got some more cuddles in and while we made cookies little Miss was snug as a bug in her little portable cradle.

Rayna rested close to her, too.

Later in the evening we were all relaxing and Gramps and Addy had a little snooze time together. I really enjoy this photo. Too bad copying it from phone to computer gets a little grainy.

I have missed this close up view of her for a week now. Sigh.

On Saturday morning March 25th we packed up the car and sadly said our goodbyes.

Happy our kids thought to take a photo of the 3 of us before we hit the road for home. We said to the kids when we were heading out the door that we wished we lived around the corner from them.

Heading down their driveway…

Still on their driveway looking out at flooded areas of Colville.

Heading into town to connect to highway 395.

Looks like there were a few more newborns in the neighborhood of the animal variety.

Once we connected to highway 395 I took a lot of photos of the flooding in Stevens County as we drove south to Spokane to connect with Interstate 90.

There’s a little town south of Colville that is named after our granddaughter. 🙂

More flooding…

The city park in Chewelah was flooded and there was water over the roadway.

I could share a lot more but this post is getting long.

I’m itching to get back over the mountains to see our sweet little Addy and her folks! We just might have to invite ourselves over for Easter with the promise to cook! I can now really empathize with all you grandparents out there who live a long way from your grands.

We had a dry day yesterday! The weather people said things like…”today you will experience dry pavement for the first time in weeks”. We didn’t get our paws wet yesterday and it was quite a treat! Thursday Katie and I did manage to walk the grounds of Bonhoeffer Botanical Gardens and the University of Washington Quad missing the rain showers. I will share a lot of those photos soon. Here’s a preview of one from the Cherry Blossoms in the Quad.

APRIL FOOLS Y’All! Hope this is the mildest prank you have all day!

Three Days Old…

The view outside the kids windows on day three, Thursday March 23rd. It was nice that the sun was shining this day as this would be Addy’s first appointment at the hospital after being discharged. Later we all ventured over to Jamie’s Uncle Scott and Aunt Rhonda’s home for a birthday party for Uncle Scott.

Addy’s first party gathering. We are all hoping Addy will be sporting a cute dimple like her daddy and mommy.

Four generations here with Jamie’s Granny, Jamie’s mom, Jamie and Addy. Granny’s middle name is May and our Addy’s middle name is now May, too.

Linda (Jamie’s mom) with her brother Scott. Great Uncle Scott got to hold Addy since it was his birthday party but then somehow Addy ended up in the arms of…

Great Aunt Rhonda and Great Granny, too! Addy is blessed with lots of love.

It was a short time at the party then Addy got tucked in her baby car seat and off to home just a couple miles up the road.

Thanks for letting us celebrate with you Scott and Rhonda!

Bonhoeffer Botanical Gardens

A couple weeks ago Dear and I headed north to the Bonhoeffer Botanical Gardens on the grounds of Freeborn Lutheran Church.

Found on 20+ acres located on Exit 215 off the I-5 freeway, 45 minutes north of Seattle. The Gardens contain all of Western Washington’s indigenous trees, shrubs, vines and ferns along with most grass, moss, mushroom, pond, flower and ground cover species.

We had a one hour walk without getting rained on which is a treat these days.

On Thursday I hope to go back with our daughter and see the daffodils that should finally be blooming.

I also want to go back in late Spring to see all the other plants that will be blooming.

Speaking of Bonhoeffer this is a great book about his life…

Taken from the jacket of the book: “Bonhoeffer gives witness to one man’s extraordinary faith and to the tortured fate of the nation he sought to deliver from the curse of Naziism. It brings the reader face to face with a man determined to do the will of God radically, courageously, and joyfully – even to the point of death. Bonhoeffer is the story of a life framed by a passion for truth and a commitment to justice on behalf of those who face implacable evil.”

And here are some quotes from Bonhoeffer:

“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”

” Only if we will venture to enter into the words of the Bible, as though in them this God were speaking to us who loves us and does not will to leave us alone with our questions, only so shall we learn to rejoice in the Bible…”

“The church has only one altar, the altar of the Almighty…before which all creatures must kneel. Whoever seeks something other than this must keep away, he cannot join us in the house of God…the church has only one pulpit, and from that pulpit, faith in God will be preached, and no other faith, and no other will than the will of God, however well-intentioned”

These quotes of course are more powerful to read in context and with consideration of the time period that Bonhoeffer lived in Germany. Bonhoeffer is eventually executed just weeks before the end of WWII.

We in the Pacific Northwest are longing for the sunshine and a string of days without rain. Our February and March have had historical rainfall and will go into the books. Our vitamin D3 is depleted for sure. As I type I see a little brightness outside and it makes me smile. I read an interesting article on grumbling a couple weeks ago and I don’t want to go there. I’m just stating the facts of our weather pattern right now. The weather forecasters say that we will have sunshine about noon tomorrow and that’s a good time to shoot for arriving at Bonhoeffer gardens. After Bonhoeffer since our daughter lives very close to the University of Washington campus we are going to stop there before I drop her off at home to see the Cherry blossoms on the quad. If for any chance the forecast is wrong we’ll just try on another day.

Behold the Hodgepodge

1. ‘Beauty is in the eye of the beholder’ What’s something you’ve seen recently that you thought was beautiful?

Our new granddaughter born on March 20th is the latest most beautiful thing I’ve seen.

2. Our culture and beauty…your thoughts?

The nosiest people in our culture usually try to force what they think is beautiful upon us. Beautiful to me is someone who’s inner being is loving and kind and who stands up for what is true and what is right. Someone who will make a stand quietly yet forcefully not giving in to bullying. Being comfortable in your own skin is beautiful to me.

1 Peter 3:3-4 (ESV)

³Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— ⁴but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.

3. Age before beauty, beauty queen, beauty mark, beauty sleep…which beauty-ful phrase resonates with you today? Why?

I’m going with age before beauty in the sense that as my outer beauty fades I will be content in my grey state because of all I’ve already experienced and learned and continue to learn.

Isaiah 40:8: The grass withers, the flower fades,
but the word of our God will stand forever.

4. I read here a list of the top ten ~~beasts~~ animals that scare us the most-alligators, coyotes, black bears, birds (but pigeons in particular), sharks, bats, bed bugs, rats, rattlesnakes, and the black widow spider.

Which ‘beast’ on the list scares you the most? What is the likelihood of you having an actual encounter with that particular beast? Did a movie contribute to your fear of this creature? Have you ever had a real life encounter with any of the animals listed?

Because they are so hard to get rid of the scariest on this list are bed bugs to me. I’ve never experienced them but just the thought gives me the creeps. I have had life encounters with bats, coyotes, a black widow spider and rats in the attic!!

5. Where were you when you last heard a bell ring? Was it alarming or musical?

At Providence Mount Carmel Hospital on Monday the 20th of March when our granddaughter was born the hospital played a lullaby over the loud speakers throughout the hospital letting everyone know a baby had been born. We were in the waiting room and we all cried when we heard the bell toned Lullaby and Good Night over the speakers. It was musical and beautiful.

6. What’s your favorite carb? How’s that for random?

Bread, all kinds of bread, plain, savory, and sweet. I’m so thankful I’m not gluten intolerant.

7. Let’s wrap up another month of Hodgepodging and life with an acrostic. Recap your month using the word MARCH.

March brought
Addyson May into our lives causing
Rejoicing in our family and putting
Colville on the map as our favorite place to visit for the joy of
Holding our precious little granddaughter

Addyson May was born on the 20th. We left our house at 4am to drive 5-1/2 hours to Colville Washington to be at the hospital when Addy was born.

Our son’s response for us when he came into the waiting room to let us know all was well with his fresh wee babe and her mama.

Rejoicing over our first grandchild.

Colville is going to be our favorite road trip so I can do more of this…

Holding her and just watching her breathe and listening to her baby sighs is heavenly.