Friends

My flashback this week is all about friends and family in Persia in the late 30’s and in the 40’s. These two friends got into trouble for applying lipstick before they took this photo. My mother on the left and our friend who we always called Aunt Zena on the right.

The same friends over 60 years later in California. Aunt Zena on the left and my mom on the right.

Most of the people in the following photos immigrated to the U.S.A. from Persia. Unfortunately my maternal grandfather died before he could immigrate. My maternal grandmother came to the states as a widow.

My mom is sitting down on the left. I need help identifying the other girls in this photo. I think some are Katkovs and the girl on the left is Vera (Leleland). Hopefully someone who sees my post that knows our extended family and friends can help me out with some names.

This is my mom on the left, her sister who died young, and her brother Paul.

My mom and my Uncle Paul

My mom and her cousin Luba

My mom on the right with her cousin Luba on the left and the two gals in the middle are Vera Leleland and Lyda Hamzaeff (married last names).

Nicolai, Aunt Nina, my mom and Uncle Paul

The Katkov and Shvetzov families in Persia. My parents and sister had left Persia already for America. My maternal grandfather is sitting on the right next to my maternal grandmother with my cousin Alex standing between them.

My Uncle Paul’s wedding day with my Aunt Nina and her family and friends. All the people in this photo are single except for my aunt and uncle. It was a tradition for the bride and groom to take a photo with their single guests and family.

Here we are in March already. We’re fighting off a cold bug at this old house. Dear is down for the count and I hope I don’t have to join him.

Have a good week everyone!

Joining Many…

…in praying for the troubling situation in the Ukraine. Personally the Mennonite Girls Can Cook have an ongoing relationship with The Good Shepherd Shelter that is located in the Ukraine.

All of our author royalties from our first book have been designated for the shelter and we’ve been able to build a greenhouse where they are already growing food year round for the shelter.

We also are waiting news of a pending adoption of an orphan from the Ukraine. We just don’t know how the tensions and uprisings and invasions will effect the shelter or the adoption process but we do know the God who loves orphans. We know that He knows and He is sovereign. Praying for a peaceful resolution and that the country will be able to move forward without more bloodshed.

‘Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus ~ Hymn

‘Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus

’Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,
And to take Him at His Word;
Just to rest upon His promise,
And to know, “Thus says the Lord!”

Refrain

Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him!
How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
O for grace to trust Him more!

O how sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to trust His cleansing blood;
And in simple faith to plunge me
’Neath the healing, cleansing flood!

Refrain

Yes, ’tis sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just from sin and self to cease;
Just from Jesus simply taking
Life and rest, and joy and peace.

Refrain

I’m so glad I learned to trust Thee,
Precious Jesus, Savior, Friend;
And I know that Thou art with me,
Wilt be with me to the end.

Refrain

Words: Louisa M.R. Stead, 1882.

Farewell February!

To send you off I’ll share some favorites from your last week. It was a nice mix of busy and quiet. Thank you Susanne for keeping us thinking about things we should be grateful for.

1. Last Friday Katie and I met Dear downtown and enjoyed a Happy Hour meal together and then a short drive to the Seattle Home Show. We had a good time talking to different vendors and seeing some new home products at the show.

2. On Saturday morning we met Judy and Elmer for breakfast at a restaurant close to their travel route. We had a good time enjoying some good food and carefree conversation. We sent them on their way in some sloppy snow.

3. We’ve had some nice dry sunny days in a row this week and I was able to get out and do a little trimming and cleaning up of some beds. I’m always grateful for some extra light in the day!

4. Although this photo isn’t from this past Sunday, this group was together with us for brunch here at our home and we had such a wonderful time getting caught up with each other and sharing the latest greatest. The food was good, too. Dear made his Swedish Pancakes and we had fresh strawberries and bacon to go with the fresh off the griddle pancakes.

5. A new look for our living room windows. Little changes are good every once in a while.

My bonus favorite this week is that our son Dan is arriving on Friday with his girlfriend to spend a couple nights and several meals with us. It’s been fun stocking the refrigerator and making one of Dan’s favorites for his time here this weekend.

What are your plans for the weekend?

Sloppy or Neat?

I was a little tired of the window coverings in our living room so I went from sloppy to neat and I think I’ll enjoy the new look. Nothing major but a nice change for my eye.

The new panels are on the right and the old look is on the left. I blew it and didn’t take clear photos of the old look before I took down the panels to replace them with the new more tailored look.

I went with very sheer panels because we like to have all the light we can come through into the room. The panels were very reasonably priced at Home Goods. I also got a new curtain rod that Dear has not had a chance to install yet. A set of 2 panels cost $14.99. I bought 4 panels, 2 for each side. The new curtain rod was $19.99. So for a little over $50.00 I have a new look. Do you have HomeGoods or HomeSense where you live? I have gotten some great products from this chain.

The old look…

The New Look…

The thing that remains is that I take lousy photos of my front windows. Another thing that is different in the new look is the Blue Service Star flag/banner that you can see through the blinds. Our son in law is still actively deployed and that banner stays in the window until he returns from his deployment.

Have you changed something up at your place during this long Winter?

Outside Again…

It has been ages since I joined in on A Southern Daydreamer’s Outside Wednesday Meme but low and behold I was finally able to spend some time outside yesterday. The sun was shining and the temps got up over 40 degrees. I had a good time walking about the yard and noticing what was budding or blooming.

The first thing I noticed was that my shrubs next to my Hellebore (Lenten Rose) were growing over it.

I headed to the garage to get my nifty trimmers and set out to free the top of the Hellebore from the shrub next to it.

This is always the first sign that Spring is coming in my yard. I love how gentle and humble this pretty plant is.

After I freed and enjoyed my Lenten Rose I moved over to the Camelia Bushes to take a photo of the buds on them.

Hydrangeas are shooting out their buds, too.

I’m really excited about these buds which are only two of many on my lilac bush. Last year I only had one bloom so it looks as if I’ll have more than one bloom this year.

Have you been able to be outside this week or are you still covered in a blanket of snow? I suppose if snow is your general landscape in the winter you know how to go out and about in it and enjoy it to the fullest, too. Looking forward to see if I can catch up with some old bloggy friends that I haven’t visited for a while. What’s new in your outdoors?

G is For…

We have reached the letter G for Alphabet Wednesday. Thank you to the Alphabet Wednesday Team for keeping us going.

How about some Royal Gates? These were taken at Buckingham Palace in September of 2013 which happen to be in Great Britain.

Whenever I see mighty Gates like these I think of Psalm 100 in the Bible. This is the portion I think of, verses 4 and 5.

“Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!

For the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.”

Do you think that there’s real gold in these royal gates? Maybe someone from Great Britain can tell us.

How about a Guinness? Notice the golden harp.

Hope your day is full of good things, good news, good food, and good thoughts!

My First Plane Ride…

In 1970 my best friend and I were able to plan a trip east to see her family and meet up with friends for a wonderful tour including Mackinac Island, New Jersey, New York City, Buffalo, Boston, Connecticut and Washington D.C. This would be the first time I took a trip that included flying in a plane. Here are my old photos from that trip.

I’m really not sure exactly where we started from and where we ended this trip. My friend Heidi and I traveled from Los Angeles. One of the spots we stayed was in Michigan at our friend Faye’s home. Faye’s dad was our pastor at Bethany Baptist in L.A. for several years. When they left L.A. they settled in Troy, Michigan. Faye and Heidi were best friends through high school. We also spent time on the lake at Peter and Ruth Leonovich’s home. Peter and Ruth took the three of us to Mackinac Island for a day.

We had loads of fun riding bikes around the island. On the way to the island there were threats of rain and I remember Pete stopping the car so the 3 of us could do sun dances instead of rain dances. Looks like it worked.

In New Jersey after we visited Heidi’s grandmother and uncles and aunts we were guests at Peter Leonovich’s brother’s home. Al and Babs treated us to wonderful meals and a trip into New York City to see the sights including the Statue of Liberty.

Somehow we also ended up in Buffalo New York with more “friends of friends” who took us to see Niagara Falls and we had the most delicious barbecued corn during a backyard barbecue that I had ever tasted.

Andy Semenchuk was our amazing tour guide to Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Washington D.C.

Boston was beautiful. I remember how shocked I was at seeing how small Plymouth Rock was.

Because we were from California we had to pose next to Junipero Serra in the National Statuary Room. Turns out the first school Dear and my two sons attended was Junipero Serra Elementary School in Ventura, California.

George Washington’s Mount Vernon

Looking back I’m so humbled at how hospitable everyone was to us. A place to lay our heads, food, sightseeing trips, and transportation everywhere we needed to go and didn’t need to go but these amazing people wanted to treat us to these sights. Thank you, thank you, to Andy Semenchuk, the Al Leonovich Family, Peter and Ruth Leonovich, and the Chechowich family. You broadened our horizons and our world view and modeled hospitality to us! I am forever grateful…

All Booked!

After very little discussion Dear and I decided that the best place to go to celebrate 40 years of marriage would have to be England. The discussion was easy, hitting the purchase button for the flights was a little more difficult but after we did it was full speed ahead to book places to stay. The first spot we chose is a self-catering cottage in a very small village in the Cotswolds. The photo above is the exterior of Fox Cottage. We will spend a leisurely 7 nights here and explore several towns and villages in the area. We’ll venture off as far as Oxford from this spot. “Self-Catering accommodation simply refers to an efficiency in which guests take care of their own meals, laundry and other needs. The accommodation provided has facilities that allows guest to cater for their own day to day needs. Self-Catering accommodation includes a suite with a fully equipped kitchen mainly for guest to prepare their own meals.”

The second spot we are going to stay for 3 nights in in Ross on Wye in Herefordshire. We chose this spot because we really want to visit Hay on Wye which is well known for Used Book Stores. Here’s what wiki says about this town “Hay-on-Wye, is a small market town and community in Powys, Wales, situated on the English border. Often described as “the town of books”, it is the National Book Town of Wales.”

On our way back to a closer proximity to London Heathrow we will re-visit the town of Henley on Thames. Dear and I stayed here in 1973 or 1974 with our Christian Rock Band. We will be staying for one night at the Red Lion that you see here on this old postcard. We hope to visit some of the villages around this area where Midsomer Murders was filmed. We will definitely visit the Argyle in town for a meal.

Our grand finale for two nights will be the Oakley Court in Windsor. Isn’t it grand? We will spend some time in the town of Windsor and if the Queen is not in residence at Windsor Castle we hope to have a tour. From Windsor we’ll make the short drive to London Heathrow and fly home.

Our actual anniversary isn’t until December but we are choosing to celebrate in England in July. The first 2 times Dear and I traveled to England together was in July of 1973 and July 0f 1974. During our trip in 1974 we were already engaged to be married with our wedding planned for December of that year. If anyone has any suggestions for places to visit in the areas of the Cotswolds, Oxford, and Southern Wales please let me know.

Hope you had a nice weekend. I know our Canadian Hockey Fans across the line enjoyed their Sunday. Congrats to Canada on winning the gold.

Ye Ransomed Sinners, Hear ~ Hymn

Ye Ransomed Sinners, Hear

Ye ransomed sinners, hear,
The prisoners of the Lord;
And wait till Christ appear
According to His Word.
Rejoice in hope; rejoice with me.
Rejoice in hope; rejoice with me.
We shall from all our sins be free.

In God we put our trust:
If we our sins confess,
Faithful He is, and just,
From all unrighteousness
To cleanse us all, both you and me;
To cleanse us all, both you and me;
We shall from all our sins be free.

Surely in us the hope
Of glory shall appear;
Sinners, your heads lift up
And see redemption near.
Again I say: rejoice with me.
Again I say: rejoice with me.
We shall from all our sins be free.

The Word of God is sure,
And never can remove;
We shall in heart be pure
And perfected in love.
Rejoice in hope; rejoice with me.
Rejoice in hope; rejoice with me.
We shall from all our sins be free.

Then let us gladly bring
Our sacrifice of praise;
Let us give thanks and sing
And glory in His grace.
Rejoice in hope; rejoice with me.
Rejoice in hope; rejoice with me.
We shall from all our sins be free.

Words: Charles Wesley, 1742.

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage

Friends

Joining Many…

‘Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus ~ Hymn

‘Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus

Farewell February!

Sloppy or Neat?

Outside Again…

G is For…

My First Plane Ride…

All Booked!

Ye Ransomed Sinners, Hear ~ Hymn

Ye Ransomed Sinners, Hear