Barn Collective

So I’m going outside the box again with my Barn Collective post. This is a piece that my mother-in-law painted years back that I really enjoy. My mother-in-law passed away in 1997 and we have reminders of her around our home. She grew up Kansas and she was a school teacher in a one-room school house. She lived with us after my father-in-law passed away in 1985.

Head over to Rose Street Reflections for The Barn Collective #15 to see some actual barns.

Rescue the Perishing ~ Hymn

I can remember driving to church on Sunday mornings with the radio tuned to a station that played a service at the Rescue Mission. This was the theme song that I remember so well being sung each week.

Fanny Crosby (1820-1915)

Sometime after [this] hymn became known I was at a ser­vice one even­ing and a young man told the sto­ry of his con­ver­sion. Poor and hun­gry, he had walked the streets for want of some­thing bet­ter to do. He heard the sing­ing at a mis­sion; he went in; and be­fore the serv­ice was con­clud­ed his heart broke in con­tr­ition.

“I was just rea­dy to per­ish,” he said to me, “but that hymn, by the grace of God saved me.”

Rescue The Perishing

Rescue the perishing, care for the dying,
Snatch them in pity from sin and the grave;
Weep o’er the erring one, lift up the fallen,
Tell them of Jesus, the mighty to save.

Refrain

Rescue the perishing, care for the dying,
Jesus is merciful, Jesus will save.

Though they are slighting Him, still He is waiting,
Waiting the penitent child to receive;
Plead with them earnestly, plead with them gently;
He will forgive if they only believe.

Refrain

Down in the human heart, crushed by the tempter,
Feelings lie buried that grace can restore;
Touched by a loving heart, wakened by kindness,
Chords that were broken will vibrate once more.

Refrain

Rescue the perishing, duty demands it;
Strength for thy labor the Lord will provide;
Back to the narrow way patiently win them;
Tell the poor wand’rer a Savior has died.

Refrain

InSPIREd Sunday ~ Washington National Cathedral

This cathedral, officially the Cathedral Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, had its beginning in 1893. The foundation stone was laid in 1907 in the presence of President Theodore Roosevelt, and the Cathedral was completed in 1990 – 83 years later – when the “final finial” was placed in the presence of President George H.W. Bush.

Built of Indiana limestone, the Cathedral is the sixth largest in the world. Its design is unique and not copied from any earlier building. The building is shaped like a cross, with a long nave – a tenth of a mile- and two shorter transepts.

The Cathedral’s architectural style is Gothic, characterized by great height and the use of pointed arches, boss stones, ribbed vaulting,  large windows, and flying buttresses.

When visiting these wonderful historical sites there’s always something you miss or at least I miss. I tend to learn more about the site when I finally get ready to post about it on my blog. Although I did notice these Gargoyles, I totally missed the fact that Darth Vader was one of the Gargoyles on the Cathedral! Here’s an explanation.

In the 1980s, while the west towers were under construction, Washington National Cathedral held a decorative sculpture competition for children. Word of the competition was spread nationwide through National Geographic World Magazine. The third-place winner was Christopher Rader, with his drawing of that fearful villain, Darth Vader. The fierce head was sculpted by Jay Hall Carpenter, carved by Patrick J. Plunkett, and placed high upon the northwest tower of the Cathedral.

You would need binoculars to see it so I don’t feel too bad about totally missing it!

I guess I’ll have to visit this marvelous cathedral again. I have posts on the interior of the cathedral and the Bishop’s Garden here, here, and here.

Thank you to Beth and Sally for hosting InSPIREd Sunday.

Reflections

I’m joining Weekend Reflections with these photos I took along Lake Washington in Washington State.

This past Tuesday I met up with my Senior group to walk the Burke Gilman Trail along Lake Washington. It was a beautiful sunny morning. We spotted two eagles that I’ll post later.

I’m headed into a busier than usual weekend with a birthday dinner for our son and big game. If you don’t know yet the whole state of Washington is rallying around the Seattle Seahawks as they play the Greenbay Packers on Sunday. You can’t go anywhere in this state without spotting someone sporting their Seahawks gear. Our 8 A.M. church service on Sunday will be fuller than usual so people can be home in time to prepare for the game. I’m more of a soccer fan than a football fan but I’ll join in the fun and “root root root for the home team”.

Pulls and Knobs

February 006-001

Floors installed 008-001

These first few photos are before shots of our pulls and knobs. I had to look in my archives to find the before photos. I was a bad blogger and I forgot to take close ups of the before shots. These pulls were nice and functional but they had too much detail on the surface that allowed crumbs and flying flour and sugar to gather in the nooks and crannies.

We decided to go with these cup pulls and knobs to match the metal on the pulls. No more nooks and crannies for food to get stuck in…

Our first project of the New Year is complete. Do you have any projects you are going to tackle this year?

California Signs

Dear and I lived in California from 2006 until 2010. These are some signs from our day and weekend trips while living there.

This was our go to Mexican restaurant in Camarillo, California.

Between Santa Barbara and Santa Ynez we stopped at the Cold Spring Tavern for breakfast. I got a kick out this sign.

I saw this sign in San Francisco.

This sign was from Willow and my weekly walks in her neighborhood.

Most Saturday mornings we’d arrive at this beach and have our beach walk. We miss our walks here.

I’m linking up to Signs Signs hosted by Lesley.

All of our children were born in California and this week we will be celebrating our oldest with a dinner together on Saturday. Our second born son will be celebrating this week with his fiance who has a birthday this week, too, in Eastern Washington. Our January is full. I’ll be traveling next week to California to celebrate our niece Hope’s 7th birthday and one of my brother’s birthdays. I’ll share photos from all the fun times we manage to enjoy! Is January full or quiet for you?

Appetizers!

A is for Appetizers!

We love food at this old house and sometimes our meals out are all about the appetizers. Bruschetta is something we like to order and it’s interesting to try all the different styles of it. We also like flat breads with tasty toppings. The top right photo is a favorite of ours, fried Polenta with a creamy mushroom sauce from Nell Thorn Restaurant in La Conner, Washington. The top left photo is from Eureka at University Village in Seattle. Those are Oso Buco Riblets and their take on Bruschetta. The bottom left photo are 4 plates of appetizers from Canlis in Seattle, Washington. The Flat Bread on the bottom right is from Seasons 52 at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, California.

Join in with ABC Wednesday in this new year. We are at the beginning of the alphabet again and our thanks go out to Denise Nesbitt the originator of the meme and to her team of bloggers that help keep the meme going.

Barn Collective ~ Pole Barn Wedding

I’m going outside the box this week with the Barn I’m posting for Barn Collective. Our nephew got married under a pole barn in Nuevo, California and it was a wonderful rustic setting that they made cozy using lots of hay, burlap, lights and candles. There are two pole barns side by side and one was used for the ceremony and the other was used for the reception and dancing.

One of my nieces before the wedding begins.

My nephew (the groom) built all the benches with help from my brothers and his friends.

Two of our kids with their cousins.

The groom, our nephew Levi with my brother Steve (Levi’s father) in the background. Steve is a pastor and he performed the wedding ceremony.

The bride and groom.

The flower girls and ring bearer. The flower girls dropped bird feathers along the burlap runner.

My parents with all but 5 of their grandchildren along with 2 great grandchildren.

To see more Barns visit Amy at Rose Street Reflections for Barn Collective #14

InSPIREd Sunday ~Port Townsend

Trinity United Methodist Church in Port Townsend, Washington. You can read about it’s history here.

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Port Townsend, Washington. The history and heritage of the church can be read here.  Click on InSPIREd Sunday to see more posts from around the world. Thank you Beth and Sally!

These photos were taken in June of 2011. Dear and I took a ferry/road trip over to the Kitsap Peninsula, across the Hood Canal Bridge and onto the historic city of Port Townsend. We enjoyed a day of exploring including going to some garage sales. Posts on our time in Port Townsend can be found here, architecture of the town here, and some yard art here.

On this Sunday we had a very inspiring church service that featured Michael Franzese, a former crime family boss who quit the mob and lived to tell his story. Looking forward to reading his book called Blood Covenant. Seattle is all abuzz with the Seahawks win against the Panthers on Saturday. One more game to determine if they are in the Super Bowl again. I’m suffering from the after effects of a crown and not the kind you put on top of your head. Hope all is well in your corner of the world.