The Chapel of St. Andrew ~ Gloucester Cathedral

Gloucester Cathedral is so full of amazing things to see. This first photo is a small view of the Nave of the cathedral. The other photos will be of The Chapel of St. Andrew.

“The frescoes and the decorations in this chapel of Saint Andrew were a labour of love on the part of Thomas Gambier Parry of Highnam Court and were erected by him to the Glory of God”

I will give thee a Crown of Life

Behold the Lamb of God ~ Master Where Dwelleth Thou

The Path of the Just is as the Shining Light which shineth more and more unto the Perfect Day.

You really need some time to take in the beauty and history of a cathedral like Gloucester. You start getting redundant with your adjectives when you walk through all the grandeur.

Back here in the state of Washington we are working hard at keeping our days straight because of the Monday holiday. We hope that Thursday is the last day that the bathroom renovators will be in our bathroom. Time will tell.

The Cloisters at Gloucester Cathedral

We were so happy to be able to go inside Gloucester Cathedral this visit. We visited in 2004 with our daughter Katie for her “graduation gift trip” but we arrived to Gloucester when it was closed. This will also serve as my ABC Wednesday Post for the letter H since these beautiful halls were filmed as part of Hogwarts School. If you haven’t read or watched the Harry Potter books or movies you won’t know what I’m talking about but you can still enjoy these beautiful Cloisters and for ABC Wednesday you can call them hallways!

The cloisters were used in filming a couple of the Harry Potter films. You can read about it here. I know some of my friends have avoided reading the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. My family has enjoyed J.K. Rowling’s writing and the battle between good and evil.

We were amazed with this part of the cathedral and there was still so much more to see.

Thank you to the ABC Team and to Denise Nesbitt for ABC Wednesday!

Have a good first week of September!

Laboring…

Embracing the good ole American way by laboring on Labor Day Weekend. Happy Labor Day to the U.S. of A. and to our Canadian neighbors!

The beginning of the project on this side of the house involved cutting down a great old juniper tree that was being used as a ladder for racoons to get on our roof. This is probably the best photo I could find of the vertical siding that Dear has slowly been changing out for horizontal siding.

This was the beginning of the siding project.

This is a photo of I took on Sunday after church, the day after the work began on the siding. Katie, Andrew and I said goodbye to Dear and we went to a World Concern Food Truck event to raise money to feed the hungry around the world. We promised Dear we’d bring him home a treat from one of the food trucks.

We arrived at the Crista Campus in Shoreline, Washington for the food truck event. Now we had to choose which truck to order from.

Katie and Andrew chose the Cheese Wizard and had some gourmet cheese sandwiches that they raved about.

I had the Cod tacos from another truck. I didn’t take a photo of the crepe we shared for dessert with fresh strawberries and lemon curd.

For Dear I chose a Shawarhma sandwich wrapped in pita bread. When we got home Dear had made a lot of progress.

This was the stopping point for Sunday. Dear will continue laboring on Monday. The area above the large header board and flashing will be filled with shingles, like the shingles you can almost see on the peak above the large window.

Are you laboring, camping, or just taking it easy this last long weekend of summer?

InSPIREd Sunday ~ Roslyn, Washington

Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Roslyn, Washington.

Roslyn is that city made famous for the T.V. series called Northern Exposure. We enjoyed a little road trip there. It’s just off of I-90 going over the Cascade Mountain range in Washington State. Since I referenced Northern Exposure here’s a photo from Roslyn that you will recognize.

Thank you to Beth and Sally for hosting InSPIREd Sunday. Click on over to see some pretty church spires from around the world.

Wow! We’ve had five Sundays in August this year. It’s labor day weekend so of course we are laboring. How about you?

Onward, Christian Soldiers ~ Hymn

Onward, Christian Soldiers

Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war,
With the cross of Jesus going on before.
Christ, the royal Master, leads against the foe;
Forward into battle see His banners go!

Refrain

Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war,
With the cross of Jesus going on before.

At the sign of triumph Satan’s host doth flee;
On then, Christian soldiers, on to victory!
Hell’s foundations quiver at the shout of praise;
Brothers, lift your voices, loud your anthems raise.

Refrain

Like a mighty army moves the Church of God;
Brothers, we are treading where the saints have trod.
We are not divided, all one body we,
One in hope and doctrine, one in charity.

Refrain

What the saints established that I hold for true.
What the saints believèd, that I believe too.
Long as earth endureth, men the faith will hold,
Kingdoms, nations, empires, in destruction rolled.

Refrain

Crowns and thrones may perish, kingdoms rise and wane,
But the church of Jesus constant will remain.
Gates of hell can never gainst that church prevail;
We have Christ’s own promise, and that cannot fail.

Refrain

Onward then, ye people, join our happy throng,
Blend with ours your voices in the triumph song.
Glory, laud and honor unto Christ the King,
This through countless ages men and angels sing.

Refrain

Words: Sabine Baring- Gould, 1865

Gathering Moments ~ Hidden August

For my August Gathering Moments – a month in photos post I decided to share what didn’t make it on the blog already. Linking with Cheryl at Thinking About Home on Saturday.

Glimpses of the unfinished bathroom. We hope this project will be completed soon.

We purchased some new patio furniture that does not involve cushions. I also wanted some chairs that rock and roll. We are pleased with these pieces.

It’s been a nice relaxing time for Dear and I to watch more of Inspector Morse after visiting Oxford in July. We put the dvd’s on hold at the library and as they slowly become available we watch them. I’ve also been reading the Louise Penny Inspector Gamache series and just finished How the Light Gets In…so riveting. Now I’m splurging and ordering the new book that was just published this week because there are already too many holds on it at the library. In the meantime I checked out Surprised By Oxford from the library. It’s a Memoir written by Carolyn Weber. Here’s one of many praises for the book , “Carolyn Weber’s brilliantly written account of her conversion to Christianity at Oxford will inspire her fellow believers and provide intriguing food for thought for sceptics. It is honest, entertaining, and refreshingly free of superficial cant. I warmly commend it. Don N. Johnson, Senior Pastor, Montecito Covenant Church.

Katie and Andrew had fun dressing up to attend Katie’s 10 year high school reunion. They enjoyed their time in downtown Seattle last Friday.

I forgot to take a before before photo (yes, I did mean to say before twice) of this part of the house but then I found an obscure photo from the winter. Dear took the vertical siding off this part of the house and will be replacing it with the horizontal siding you see on the other side of the chimney. He’s out there working right now while I type away. This might be interesting to Vee’s John who is the master of siding.

We had to move a few of the rounds of wood from the part of our yard closest to the street when we realized someone was helping themselves to our wood. To make sure most of the wood didn’t go to a thief we invited the boy scouts to take what was left to split and use for a fund raiser. Look at that early sign of fall appearing on our dried out summer lawn. The last of the purple in the yard is still hanging on.

The new siding project will be taking most of our time this weekend. I am thinking of stealing Dear away from that project to go to a Food Truck event at World Concern here in the Seattle area for lunch on Sunday after church. Our Daughter In law works at World Concern.

What’s better than spending a Sunday afternoon enjoying delicious food from Seattle’s favorite food trucks? Knowing that you’re helping feed hungry families at the same time! Worldwide, hunger kills more people every year than AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis combined, but with your help, World Concern makes a lasting impact in the lives of the poor in Africa, Southeast Asia, and Haiti.
On Sunday, August 31 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., 10 of Seattle’s top food trucks will rally to fight global hunger at World Concern’s 3rd annual Mobile Food Fight for Hunger in Shoreline.

The very best thing about August is how it has brought our families together. The State of Washington is now the home of all our children. We have received the beautiful photos of my brother’s family bringing their new son home from the Ukraine. Mandy and Andrew arrived in Dallas this afternoon to the waiting arms of my brother (papa as Andrew lovingly calls him) and Big sister Hope. Oh what a happy day!

Bourton on the Water

I must keep moving along with my England travels before Fall is upon us!

Day 8 of our English holiday was a travel day with stops in Bourton on the Water and Gloucester. I ran ahead showing the outside of Gloucester Cathedral before showing you our first stop which was “Venice of the Cotswolds”.

It was a charming little village to stroll through. We did indulge in a treat from “Bakery on the Water”. So many wonderful baked goods to choose from. On our way back to the car park we strolled by Birdland and I saw a bird I had never seen before in person.

A Stork!

Here we are at the start of Labor Day Weekend. Dear will be home earlier than usual today to beat the traffic. Our plans as usual are to labor on this weekend. It’s so American don’t you think? Dear has started a siding project. The weather does not sound like it wants to cooperate with this outdoor project. I’m throwing a hunk of meat in the oven for sandwiches to last us for the weekend projects. For those of you that kind of keep up with the goings on at this old house I wanted to let you know that the bathroom is not completed yet. It’s usable but needs the last cosmetic touches and boo boos fixed. I really do hope that I have a completed bathroom to show by the end of next week!

Have a wonderful long weekend! Are you laboring, too, or are you taking it easy?

Good Fences ~ Oysterville

My fences this week are from a trip Dear and I took a couple years ago to Long Beach, Washington. These fences are in Oysterville, Washington.

The texture that the moss or lichen added to this fence was very interesting but the damage to the wood is probably significant, too.

This is the oldest house in Oysterville. We enjoyed walking through this little town and also reading up on the history.

You can click over to TexWisGirl at Run*A*Round Ranch to see other fences from around the world.

Can you believe we are coming up on Labor Day Weekend here in the States? Got any plans?

Oh Happy Day!

What a wonderful Wednesday this is for our family. We woke up to news from Kiev that finally all the papers and legal documents were in order and my dear Sister-in-law will be traveling home with their new son, our new nephew ( the initial trip to the Ukraine and applying for the legal papers was at the beginning of July). My brother Leonard and niece Hope are anxiously waiting for that plane to land later this week with Mandy and Andrew on it. Home at last and a forever family for little Andrew (5 yrs. old). Hope met her new little brother during the initial trip in July. When I get the OK, I’ll post a photo of their family. We are thanking the Lord for his love and care in this grueling process which started way earlier than July…

More good things happening here…

Last night we got together to celebrate Josh and Laura’s 13th wedding anniversary. Josh and Laura are a wonderful couple and such a blessing to our family, Laura’s family and friends.

We are really enjoying the fact that for the first time since they got married Katie and Andrew are living in the Seattle Area.

We are also grateful to God for watching over our son Dan on an assignment away from his home for a month. He’s back home now safe and sound and we rejoice with that news. So all of our children are in the state of Washington for now. Very good news.

On Sunday Dear and I were at a local elementary school getting it spruced up for the coming year. Dear was spreading bark and I was suppose to help a teacher in her classroom along with a couple other volunteers. When I got to the classroom two young ladies walked up with their name tags on and I was surprised to see the name Ellen on one of them. I do not encounter many other gals named Ellen. The other Ellen commented “No way, I never meet Ellen’s” and then she said, “We have the same t-shirt on, no way!” These were t-shirts from a 5k “Stop Human Trafficking event from 2 years ago. Well at that point we decided we needed to document this strange occurrence in both of our lives!

Fun times!

Another fun random thing is that our Seattle Sounders Soccer Team is celebrating their 40th Anniversary this year just like Dear and I. Yep! I bought Dear a t-shirt with this logo on it just because…

This is my happy day, happy post with so many things that are making me rejoice. What’s giving you a reason to rejoice today?

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Philippians 4:4-8 ESV

Gloucester Cathedral

On day 8 of our trip in England we traveled from the Paxford in the Cotswolds to Ross on Wye stopping in Bourton on the Water and Gloucester. There were two places we wanted to visit in Gloucester, the cathedral and the “Tailor of Gloucester”. More on the “Tailor” at a later time.

I’m linking these photos of the exterior of Gloucester Cathedral for ABC Wednesday. Thank you to Denise Nesbitt and the ABC team.

Here’s a great source for information about the cathedral that I found online. Click on Sacred Destinations to read about the cathedral.Although all periods of medieval church architecture are represented at Gloucester Cathedral, its two main building phases – Romanesque and Perpendicular, are of outstanding interest and importance.

To read about the history of the cathedral and architecture click on this link. The cathedral has some interesting links with America that I enjoyed reading here.

The interior of the Cathedral will take a few posts. This cathedral has so much beauty and interesting history to share.

I posted a recipe of Spicy Dark Chocolate Cookies my sister shared with me over at the “Girls” blog (Mennonite Girls Can Cook) These cookies have a nice surprise with a touch of cayenne and chili in them. Click here to get the recipe.

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage

The Chapel of St. Andrew ~ Gloucester Cathedral

The Cloisters at Gloucester Cathedral

Laboring…

InSPIREd Sunday ~ Roslyn, Washington

Onward, Christian Soldiers ~ Hymn

Onward, Christian Soldiers

Gathering Moments ~ Hidden August

Bourton on the Water

Good Fences ~ Oysterville

Oh Happy Day!

Gloucester Cathedral