Churches and Barns…

On Saturday we took a drive to the city of Snohomish to shop about in the antique and specialty stores before it started pouring down rain.

We saw some barns on the way…

And while we walked about we saw a couple of churches. I didn’t get close enough to the churches to give you details.

Our daughter came with us on our little drive and shopping excursion and she bought a couple items and we bought one small item. We ate lunch together in the sunshine and came home in a downpour!

I’m linking up with Tom the Backroads Traveler for The Barn Collective and with Beth and Sally for InSPIREd Sunday.

This coming week will be full with travel to San Francisco later in the week. Still taking any suggestions for restaurants and sights to see in San Francisco from any travelers out there. I got some good suggestions already but I’m always ready for more!

Still Whiter Than Snow ~ Hymn

Still Whiter Than Snow

What can be whiter than beautiful snow,
Coming from Heaven to earth below,
Pure and so white as it falleth light
Over this broad world of sin and of woe?

Refrain

Yes, there is something still whiter;
Hearken ye weary, and know!
Tho’ your sins be as scarlet red,
They shall be whiter than snow.

Jesus has died, and now all men may know
That His rich blood for the world did flow;
Saved we may be, and from sin set free,
Washed and made whiter than beautiful snow.

Refrain

Beautiful souls of His saints here below,
What but His blood could have made them so?
All who believe shall His grace receive,
And be made purer than Heaven-born snow.

Refrain

Come to this Savior! He surely doth know
All of your sorrow and sin and woe,
And when you sigh He will hear your cry,
Wash you more white than the beautiful snow.

Refrain

Words: Miriam Stabler, 1894.

What’s New in 2016…

We finally were able to admit to ourselves that we weren’t thrilled with Keurig coffee. We have returned to using a Bunn Coffee Maker now and are enjoying a full bodied cup in the morning. Keurig is convenient but no matter what pods we bought we didn’t get the depth of flavor that we enjoy from our freshly ground coffee.

Dear was unemployed from May 29th of last year and has just signed a contract with a Biotech company that has a product in trials. He is working from home for 6 months for this company as an independent contractor. Being an independent contractor means that Dear does not have any benefits at this time. Here he is in his new at home office.

I was fine with giving up my desk since I didn’t make money from this desk but just spent money paying our monthly bills! Dear is doing a lot of reading and studying about the cancers that his new company is working on fighting. It takes a long time and a lot of research for a new drug/procedure to be developed and brought into the market, not to mention a lot of money. Dear will be attending an Oncology Conference in San Francisco next week and I’m tagging along. I’m hoping the weather will be decent enough for me to walk about the city staying mostly dry.

Any recommendations for restaurants or sights you wouldn’t want me to miss?

Having Dear working at home I have to re-think how my days go and how I’m going to work around him.

One thing we are trying to establish as a good habit is walking each day. Having someone to walk with and ~~nagging~~ encouraging him to do it is a win win situation.

Since I turn 65 soon I have been inundated with all the choices of Medicare supplement plans. Instead of Christmas catalogs I’m getting Medicare mail! I have to choose a Medicare plan soon and we have to come up with a health insurance plan for Dear since he’s younger than me and we lost our insurance when his company was bought out last year and his department was eliminated.

Something that’s not new and seems to be a recurring situation is the fact that I am back in the fluffy state and am getting motivated to de-fluff again.

What’s new in 2016 for you?

I’m headed for the kitchen now to put a cake in the oven for our birthday celebration tonight. Got the table set in a Russian theme and I’ll share that with you next week…

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!

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage

Churches and Barns…

Still Whiter Than Snow ~ Hymn

Still Whiter Than Snow

What’s New in 2016…

Good Fences

Signs, signs…

Aunt Anna and the Amiable Guinea Pig

Happy Homemaker Monday

Prepare

Faithful Shepherd, Feed Me ~ Hymn

Faithful Shepherd, Feed Me

Enrich: