Central Christian Church in Elkhart, Indiana
Grace Lutheran Church in Elkhart, Indiana.
We saw these two churches and a few more on our Heritage Trail Driving tour while in Indiana the end of September. I’ll add a couple more here that were quick drive-by shots.
First Presbyterian Church in Goshen, Indiana. Goshen is the county seat for Elkhart County and the following photo is the courthouse.
Linking up with Beth and Sally for InSPIREd Sunday.
Up: Wonderful blooming Camillias on my neighbors bushes that border our property. I took this photo on Monday.
Last Saturday while we were having a very lazy day one of the “girls” talked about how she was making muffins so I scrounged around the kitchen and came up with the ingredients for these bran muffins. I’ll be posting the easy recipe on the MGCC blog on Monday. Fresh out of the oven they are the best. The down side…I ate more than one.
While we were in Kettle Falls a couple weekends ago I spent a few hours on Sunday with our daughter in law and her granny. Granny treated us to lunch at TJ’s Tavern in Kettle Falls. This sign is on the outside of the tavern and I had to post it for my Canadian friends. TJ’s is about 32 miles from the border between the USA and Canada.
I love the colors that were so brilliant in this rainbow that showed up outside Dan and Jamie’s place in Chewelah. Rainbows are always a welcome sign in the sky filled with hope that makes me stop and ponder and click a lot of photos trying to capture the glory of it all. The downer: I have been having pain around my left hip that has made me stay home from my exercise classes for the last couple of months. I was thinking the worst but I finally visited my doctor who diagnosed a muscle issue with a course of action that does not involve anything but physical therapy. It was not a joint issue and I am thankful and relieved to hear that news. So while my thoughts were down about that they have been lifted up.
The other down this week was an early morning phone call that my sister was taken by ambulance to a local hospital. Dear and I showered quickly and headed to the hospital to sit with and wait for the all clear from many tests and her release. To see her in pain was a downer but to find out there were no life threatening conditions was good. To find things to laugh about while we were at her bed side was good therapy.
This is a tree on our son’s property. I’m calling it the cyclops tree and it’s the closest thing I have to a Halloween photo for now. Some choose to avoid Halloween but I really enjoy it for these specific reasons. I can give treats to my neighbor kiddies and it’s a joy to have them knock on my door. I meet people in the neighborhood that I haven’t met before. I buy candy we like so if it doesn’t all get given out we reap the benefits. Everyone who comes to my door gets the same love and candy on Halloween.
Even though the leaves have fallen and covered our lawn, planters, walkways, and gutters we are enjoying the color and weather of the fall season. It’s good to have distinct seasons to enjoy.
Tonight, Thursday, I’m headed to a Sounders playoff game against Kansas City and I really hope it will be an “up” experience instead of a downer! HOT OFF THE PRESSES: We won and here is a shot my DIL took last night at the game.
Josh, myself and Laura. It was a tense 95 minutes and a player we have been waiting on to score had the goal of the year for himself and all the fans cheered so heartily for this young man. We were so worked up it took a while to get to sleep.
Thankful to our creator for 1. All the reminders each day of His love and care over us through the ups and downs. 2. Good doctors who can diagnose and help us with our aches and pains 3. Signs in nature that point us to a good creator who is still in control even in the ups and downs. 4. The comfort of good food. 5. Creating our bodies in a way that allow us to work hard in everyday chores and on the sports fields.
So what were your ups and downs this past week that made you thankful?
Linking to Five on Friday, Friday’s Fave Five, and Foodie Friday and Everything Else.
Linking up to Good Fences with TexWisGirl.
Can you believe this is the last Good Fences for the month of October? Here’s an October fence from our own backyard taken on Wednesday. We are in the midst of some very sloppy weather here in the Seattle area! I took this shot from our kitchen window.
Happy end of October to all of you! Do you have a costume picked out for Halloween?
I’m sharing a series of signs seen while in and around Sugarcreek, Ohio, with the Mennonite Girls Can Cook.
We saw the signs that described Sugarcreek as The Little Switzerland of Ohio.
We headed to downtown Sugarcreek for our book signing at The Gospel Shop on Main street.
Sugarcreek is also known for having “the world’s largest cuckoo clock” which earned an Ohio Historical Marker.
All the shops downtown have facades that try to mirror a Swiss Village.
On our travels around this area we passed these smoke stacks several times and I managed to get a photo on one of our drive-bys.
Because of its abundant deposits of clay, Sugarcreek has also become one of the country’s leading makers of face brick. Its history goes back to 1910 when the Finzer Brothers Clay Company was started by the Finzer brothers, grandsons of Swiss immigrants who settled in Sugar Creek. Belden Brick, a company that originated in Canton, Ohio, bought the Sugarcreek company in 1946. Several of the buildings and many of the kilns that are used today were built and installed when the original company was founded in 1910.
I’m linking up to signs, signs hosted by Lesley.
We are a soggy mess here in the Pacific Northwest today. Looks like we’ll have to gather soggy leaves tomorrow. Hope all is well in your corner of the world.
Plain people are Christian groups characterized by separation from the world and by simple living, including plain dressing. This is a very simple definition of Plain People.
This is a photo full post with most of the pictures of Plain People I captured in the Amish/Mennonite Communities in parts of Indiana and Holmes County Ohio.
This photo is a drive-by snap of a Barn Sale.
Ending with this school yard photo of the children at recess.
I’m linking up to ABC Wednesday for P is for Plain People with thanks to Mrs. Nesbitt and Roger plus the ABC team.
Since these photos are mostly from farming communities I’m also linking up to The Barn Collective with Tom the Backroads Traveller.
Fall is living up to it’s name in our yard. Dear went out and rustled up all the leaves this morning and then the winds came and there are more leaves than before on the ground. That is the price we pay for the beauty of our changing seasons. It’s worth it.
As I type I’m watching more leaves fall and it’s a lovely sight.
We took a drive a couple of Mondays ago to see what we could see along Hwy 9 and Hwy 20 north of Seattle in Washington state.
We saw some lakes we hadn’t seen before like Big Lake.
It was a beautiful drive for the hours we had until the rain came in.
Along the Skagit River in Rockport.
This afternoon Josh, Laura, and I attended the final season game of the Sounders Soccer Team and said goodbye to a fan favorite player Zach Scott. Winning this game means we are now headed to the playoffs. We are happy fans. We also had a wee visit from our dear daughter in law and her Granny who were on this side of the mountains for a memorial service for Granny’s brother. It was a great afternoon from start to finish.
Linking up to Mosaic Monday hosted with Maggie at Normandy Life.
The Still Small Voice
The still small voice that speaks within
I hear it when, at play,
I speak the loud and angry word
That drives my friend away.
Refrain
The voice within, the voice within,
Oh may I have a care;
It speaks to warn from every sin,
And God has placed it there.
If falsehood whispers to my heart
To tell a coward lie,
To hide some careless thing I’ve done,
I heard the sad voice sigh.
Refrain
If selfishness would bid me keep
What I should gladly share,
I hear again the inner voice,
And then with shame forbear.
Refrain
I thank Thee, Father, for this friend,
Whom I would always heed;
O may I hear its slightest tone
In every time of need.
Refrain
Words: Francis Fagan, 1866.
ht: Cyberhymnal
While we were in Shipshewana Indiana we took a drive on The Heritage Trail to many small towns circling back to Shipshe. We stopped at this church in Bristol to take photos and found out it was a historic landmark.
Linking up to InSPIREd Sunday with Beth and Sally.
We are having a slow Saturday here at this old house. Patio covers are removed and…
…we are just watching the leaves fall. How’s your weekend progressing?
Last weekend Dear and I were visiting our eastern Washington kids. On Saturday while the guys worked hard on a home project, Jamie and I attended a Paint Party. The party was put on by Raggedy Rose Vintage Designs ~ Make and Take Sign Parties. They have a Facebook Page.
First we got to pick our wood board in whatever finish we liked.
We got to choose the stencil with a saying we wanted to add to our board. The equipment was all provided along with great spaces to create. So many paint colors to choose from. The hostesses went around helping us and giving us tips.
After we painted the lettering and symbols we let the paint dry somewhat and then we peeled off the stencil and got to see our final results. When things were good and dry they screwed in a hanging wire for us.
There was a little glare on the photo of this one which is our daughter in laws. Mine is the one at the top of this post that says thankful & Grateful.
Here are the gals with their new creations ready to take home. For a non-crafty person like myself this was not as scary as I thought it would be. Everything was so well organized and things explained well. It was a lot of fun. We got home in time to relax before we enjoyed dinner with the guys.
On Monday we got to enjoy a wonderful double rainbow just out of our kid’s door.
I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. 16 Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”
17 So God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth.” Genesis 9: 13-17
I posted this Russian Beet salad, Vinegrette, that was a family favorite growing up on Monday. You can find the recipe at Mennonite Girls can Cook by clicking here.
On Tuesday we drove the five and a half hours back to our home in Western Washington.
I’m thankful and grateful for God’s goodness and love towards us. For our visit with our kids in Eastern Washington. For enjoying creative endeavors. For Dear and Dan being able to complete a house project together. For God’s provision for our son in giving him a good helper in Jamie, (Genesis 2:18 (ESV) Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”) For the rainbow and God’s promise to us. And on a lighter note…good food!
I’m linking up to…
Foodie Friday and Everything Else at Rattlebridge Farm
Five on Friday with Amy at Love Made My Home
Friday’s Fave Five with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story
While in Holmes County, Ohio, Mrs. Yoder’s was recommended to us for a meal so we stopped here for lunch breaking up our country drive. The food was plentiful and at a good price. Many locals were eating here rather than tourists.
A fun fall display at Troyer Country Market. “The foods in our Amish Wedding line originate from time-tested Amish recipes and have out-of-this-world flavor,” Vogt said. “The Amish Wedding line is all about foods that are naturally good with clean-label ingredients. Read the ingredient list on our jars, it’s what you don’t see on the label that proves what’s really good inside.”
Linking up to signs, signs with Lesley and to Good Fences with TexWisGirl.
We came home from Eastern Washington yesterday. It was a 5-1/2 hour drive and
today we have been working at filling up some yard waste bins with the leaves that fell while we were gone.
Do you have to rake leaves? Dear used a leaf blower that sucks up and mulches the leaves. It’s noisy but it gets the job done. We aren’t done with leaves yet because more will fall from the maple, apple tree and pear tree.
The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b. 