One offer of salvation,
To all the world make known;
The only sure foundation
Is Christ the cornerstone.
Refrain
No other name is given,
No other way is known,
’Tis Jesus Christ the First and Last,
He saves, and He alone.
One only door of Heaven
Stands open wide today,
One sacrifice is given,
’Tis Christ, the living way.
Refrain
My only song and story
Is—Jesus died for me;
My only hope of glory,
The cross of Calvary.
Refrain
Words: Philip B. Bliss, 1875.
Every Tuesday rain or shine you’ll find Dear and I at our favorite local Mexican Restaurant, La Corona.
We really enjoy their salsa. Did you notice the larger than usual salsa container? Our waitress knows we go through the little one too fast so she brings us a big bowl to begin with. During my season of restraint, I count out 6 chips and lay them on a napkin on the table. That is my portion. I double dip, triple dip, quadruple dip to get as much salsa as I can with my 6 chips. Salsa is cheap in calories…
We have a favorite waitress at the restaurant. This is Liliana. She treats us like family and we appreciate her work ethic and the big bowl of salsa
Here’s my restraint meal. I get one soft corn taco with Chile Colorado for the meat. Instead of rice I get a salad. Instead of refried beans I get the ranch beans. I didn’t want to give up our tradition of going out on our dinner date on Tuesdays so this is a good alternative meal to enjoy without the typical Mexican meal calories! Monday marks 4 weeks of restraint for me.
It’s Friday and for me the week seemed to go slow for a change. I mowed the lawn yesterday and found some mystery meat in the garage freezer. It really is a good idea to label stuff you freeze. We are pretty sure it was pork loin and it cooked up real nice because it was pre-seasoned well. Oye!
Do you have any plans for the weekend?
Their wedding was in Iran (Persia) in 1943.
Here’s what they’ve got to show for all their years together and what they cherish along with the love they have for God and each other.
Add 15 more to this number for the more accurate count of their legacy which continues to grow.
So raise your glasses and toast to my mom and pop for all these years that God has been faithful to them!
Second through fifth photos were all taken by Jeremy Leffel our photographer and good friend at Andrew and Katie’s wedding.
I’m going to participate in Kathleen’s Let’s Dish this week with a table set for Dear’s birthday and a show and tell of what I did with all my pears from my tree.
A combination of lavender and green with the last of the fresh lavender from my bushes for the center of the table. I liked the look of the round shimmery green placemats I bought on clearance at Fred Meyer for 99 cents each. The purple glasses and green glasses are from World Market. The napkins are from Anthropologie but I purchased them at Goodwill.
Now for my pear experiments…
Quartered fresh pears tossed in sugar and quick cooking oats, butter, lemon juice, and a little flour. I topped that mix with pastry shells split and laid on top and baked till the shells were golden.
My first pear tart looked good but the crust was wrong…
My second pear tart that I made for Dear’s birthday dinner was more successful. The crust is a keeper and I’ll be posting the recipe on Mennonite Girls Can Cook in October.
Pear sauce goes a long way. Here it is with buttermilk pancakes. Yummy. We also had fresh cut pears with lemon juice and sugared lightly as a topping for buttermilk pancakes. I finally pulled out those strawberry bordered plates to use before fall is upon us. I bought them at Goodwill.
Last but not least a few cups of fresh pears peeled, cored, and chopped then sugared well for my last addition to my Smirntopf! This will be ready to enjoy at Christmas time personally and as gifts…
Hope your last weeks of summer are going well…
…of the world is right here in the state of Washington, at least that’s what the sign says.
We couldn’t leave without trying some of these oysters from the oyster capital. They were good, plump, and fresh. I’m not the biggest oyster fan and even I thought they were good. Here are more sights from around the small town of South Bend on Willapa Bay.
Seafood processing plants were in abundance. We went into one of the retail shops at this plant and bought some canned garlic jalapeno wild caught albacore. Haven’t tried it yet but I’m thinking it will make a great filling for a sandwich.
We spotted this great building looking up the road from the main drag and drove up to investigate.
A wonderful view from the courthouse. It was worth our stop in South Bend on our way home from the Long Beach Peninsula.
Tuesday I was back to Women’s Bible Study and it was nice to see friends from our last study again after our summer break. Looking forward to the new season and deepening some friendships.
How will you be spending the waning days of summer?
…was a great gift Dear got for his birthday this year.
Dear has been working on a portion of this old house replacing the siding. He has found many interesting flaws in previous work that he had to repair.
Every job can go a lot easier with the right tools. This handy dandy tool called Gecko makes it simple to space each row of siding perfectly.
Sunday on Dear’s birthday Josh and Laura came over for the afternoon. Josh helped his dad with the siding. Laura and I worked on the meal we would have together when the work was done. The work went quickly with two workers.
A few more rows to go and this side of the house will be all done.
We are pleased with the horizontal siding compared to the vertical. It will be a while before it’s completely done and painted.
After the work was done for the day we had a meal together and this Pear Tart was Dear’s birthday cake this year. Everyone gave it a thumbs up. I’ll be posting the recipe on the Mennonite Girls Can Cook blog in October. The kids all got together and gave Dear a generous gift card to Cabella’s. He’ll be spending it soon.
The birthday dinner setting.
Thank you Josh and Laura for the gift of “help” that you shared with us.
I’m happy to report that all my pears have been taken care of. I washed and cut the final bunch today. I made 3 pear desserts, some pear sauce, a pear topping for pancakes, a batch of sugared pears went into my Smirntopf. Dear took a couple dozen to work to share. Josh and Laura took a dozen home to use. I still need to come up with one more recipe to use up the prepared sliced pears. And yes, I’m still restraining myself! Fall Women’s Bible Study starts today and I’m looking forward to it.
Today is 9/11 and I’m still remembering that day. I’ll leave you with this photo from the Sounders game on Saturday…
Praying for our nation and for our Armed Forces with a shout out to our Marine son-in-law, our Border Patrol Agents, and all our first responders. May God protect you all from evil.
…for yet another year. He’ll join me in the sixties next September 9th! Yes, I married a younger man and it’s been one of my best decisions in the last 38 years! Today we celebrated Dear all day. Before I share a few photos from this day I need to go back just a week to share another day of celebrating.
Last Sunday we enjoyed brunch at Palisade on Elliott Bay to celebrate Josh and Laura’s 11th anniversary.
Views from our table looking out on the marina and bay.
Besides our choices for brunch off the menu there was a brunch buffet, too.
Salads, scones, biscuits, croissants, banana bread, and muffins…
Jumbo shrimp and crab…
Banana macadamia nut pancakes made to order…
They even had a build your own Bloody Mary station…
Dear and Josh ordered the Crab Benedict and Laura and I ordered the 2 egg breakfast.
And would you believe they had a dessert bar, too. There was a lot more to choose from than what is on this next plate.
I shared this plate with Dear…
We had a wonderful time and the day was so nice in the Seattle area that when we left our table full and satisfied we strolled along the marina enjoying the water views and seeing the cruise ships docked.
See the Space Needle beyond the ships?
Father and son…
We were surprised to see the leaves changing already.
Last Sunday was a beautiful day to enjoy Seattle or any city in the Northwest.
Today the weather turned on us. The winds kicked up. The temperatures got cool. The leaves were falling and blowing around the yard. I’ll share more from Dear’s day later. Dear’s day was a work day for all of us and I still need to upload the photos…
Hope you all had a good weekend.
The whole world was lost
In the darkness of sin,
The Light of the world is Jesus!
Like sunshine at noonday,
His glory shone in.
The Light of the world is Jesus!
Refrain
Come to the light, ’tis shining for thee;
Sweetly the light has dawned upon me.
Once I was blind, but now I can see:
The Light of the world is Jesus!
No darkness have we
Who in Jesus abide;
The Light of the world is Jesus!
We walk in the light
When we follow our Guide!
The Light of the world is Jesus!
Refrain
Ye dwellers in darkness
With sin blinded eyes,
The Light of the world is Jesus!
Go, wash, at His bidding,
And light will arise.
The Light of the world is Jesus!
Refrain
No need of the sunlight
In Heaven we’re told;
The Light of the world is Jesus!
The Lamb is the Light
In the city of gold,
The Light of the world is Jesus!
Refrain
Words: Philip P. Bliss, 1875.
During our time in and around the Long Beach Peninsula we saw some things that made us pause long enough to take another photo.
This store was a hoot with quite a variety of junk stuff to sell and strange things to see. Your kids would be able to find a souvenir here.
You don’t see many cities that fly all our military flags. I was impressed!
Along many of the roads to the peninsula and on the peninsula there were tsunami escape routes clearly marked.
There was a great combination of goodies at this shop. We made our only purchases beside food here. A copy of Pilgrim’s Inn by Elizabeth Goudge and a part we needed for an old glass door knob set.
It was fun to see this in the front window of a specialty shop in South Bend. We stopped in South Bend for fresh oysters on our way home.
Happy Saturday to y’all.
…at the Pacific Ocean is always a treat. I’m sure it’s a treat on the East coast, too.
We had an evening walk on the beach before we headed back to the room to enjoy Sunset from our deck. On our way back to the room we spotted this group of horses with riders headed for a beach stroll. Maybe next time we’ll enjoy riding horseback on the beach…
“How fine has the day been! how bright was the sun, How lovely and joyful the course that he run! Though he rose in a mist when his race he begun, And there followed some droppings of rain: But now the fair traveller’s come to the west, His rays are all gold, and his beauties are best; He paints the skies gay as he sinks to his rest, And foretells a bright rising again.” Isaac Watts
The first ones up before sunrise were the fishermen. We were up early, too, and took a rainy walk before it started pouring and we headed back to our room. The rain didn’t last long.
I’ve got a couple more posts from our time to the Long Beach Peninsula and back again. This weekend is going to be full with work on the house, soccer, a going away party, church, more work on the house and we’ll culminate Sunday celebrating Dear’s birthday barbecuing with Josh and Laura. Life is rich! Hope your Friday and weekend go well!
The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b. 