A view from our room on the the Long Beach Peninsula in Washington. It’s nice to see the Pacific ocean again. I took this photo with my cell phone so that’s why it’s so narrow. I’ll be sharing more of our overnight trip soon. We were happy to have the sun shine for much of the day today. We are headed out to dinner now…
Pear trees, especially the old English varieties that would have been the subject of this proverb, take many years to mature and give fruit. You don’t plant them for yourself but for your heirs.
The full version of the phrase, which is a 17th century English proverb, is:
Walnuts and pears you plant for your heirs.
The sense of the altruistic nature of tree planting was also expressed by Thomas Fuller in his work Gnomologia, 1732:
“He that plants trees loves others beside himself.”
ht: The Phrase Finder
We’re thankful to whoever planted the trees in our yard. We have a few very mature trees compared to the rest of the neighborhood because our home was the original home surrounded by acres of land that were sold to a developer who put in houses. An old resident down the hill from us told me that our property was originally a nursery called Primrose Acres.
Look at all those pears we picked off our one tree. I know a small portion of them will be used to finish off my Smirntopf but what to do, what to do with all the rest. I’ll try to give some away. Maybe make some pear sauce. There are lots of lovely tarts and other things I can make but I’ll have to give those baked goods away as I’m restraining myself.
If you live close by and want some let me know.
My mom was set free from the Care Center on Saturday and settled back into her little nest with Pop. They are both so happy that she is back home. Pop lowered their bed so she can get in and out more easily. He’s doing the cooking these days and family members are bringing in food, too. When I called them on Saturday night you could here the lightness in their voices of being together in their little apartment again. God is good.
Dear found this carefully constructed nest while doing some weeding.
Here we are in the last week of August. Do you have any plans for Labor Day Weekend?
Abide not in the realm of dreams,
O man, however fair it seems;
But with clear eye the present scan,
And hear the call of God and man.
Think not in sleep to fold thy hands,
Forgetful of thy Lord’s commands;
From duty’s claims no life is free,
Behold, today hath need of thee.
The present hour allots thy task,
For present strength and patience ask;
And trust His love whose sure supply
Meets all thy need abundantly.
Words: William H. Burleigh, 1871.
On Saturday morning several churches on the East side of Lake Washington joined together to serve our areas schools in getting them ready for the new school year. Our church, Northshore Baptist, participated. We pressure washed, raked, pulled weeds, painted, scrubbed school desks, made posters, put together booklets, organized cupboards and more. When our work day was done we were served sandwiches from Subway.
Workers lined up for lunch.
Here are some more random photos from the day at Moorlands Elementary School in Kenmore, Washington.
Pressure washing walkways and benches was a big order of the day and Dear helped with that task.
We all brought tools to share.
This is the classroom I helped in. Don’t those desks look nice and clean?
The work day completed we packed up our pressure washer and headed out spotting one guy still working away…our head pastor, Jonathon Alexander.
As long as it is day, we must do the work of Him who sent Me. Night is coming, when no one can work.
John 9:4
“To get the full value of a joy, you must have somebody to divide it with.”
– Mark Twain
“There is no more lovely, friendly and charming relationship, communion or company than a good marriage.”
– Martin Luther
We love our firstborn Josh and we love the girl he married, Laura. God in his goodness brought them together and we can’t be more pleased.
Happy 11th Anniversary Josh and Laura!
Photo taken by Jeremy Leffel Photography
Doesn’t this look good? If you’ve followed my blog for any length of time you know I love pretty things on a plate and pretty plates, too. This dessert could be just fine shared with 3 other people. In my studies in Home Economics during a nutrition course I read that there is no such thing as a fattening food. Hear me out on this. It’s the sum of all the food you eat in a day or week or month that can put weight on you or help you to lose weight. One item isn’t going to make or break you, unless of course you are allergic to nuts or shellfish and just one of those could kill you. There’s the whole other subject of what’s healthy but a lot of times what’s healthy for me might not be healthy for you. So why am I waxing on here? I am in a period of restraint in my life until I see a number a lot less than I have on the pesky little flat thing that lives on the floor of my bathroom and is the bearer of bad news. Eventually it could deliver some good news. This will be the last you hear of my restraint until I have that good news down the road…
Hope you all have a wonderful weekend.
Oh dear, how many more of these are there hanging out nearby? This is the first time we’ve seen this one roaming our yard and the neighbors yards in the daylight. When our daughter was living with us before she married and moved to the east coast with her Marine her headlights would capture them as she drove into our drive at night. She also spotted bunny footprints once in the snow.
They are cute little pests. I tried yelling out at this one to “EAT THE DANDELIONS!”
Time will tell if they outgrow their tolerance here at this old house.
Dear is on vacation next week. Before he gets all tied up with completing the siding we are talking about an adventure. So far my brain isn’t coming up with something appropriate. I’m sure by Monday something will kick in. On Saturday we are participating in Community Serve Day. Several area churches team up with volunteers to spruce up our local elementary schools for the new year. We help teachers in their classrooms and clean up the outside areas of the school, too. I’m excited to be going to our kids elementary school. It’s been 20 or so years since I’ve been there. Dear will be pressure washing and I’ll be racking or scrubbing desk tops!
Any plans for your weekend?
This is another regular resident at my friend Beth’s house. I was happy to have my camera in hand when it took flight.
Speaking of taking flight…my mom is being kicked out of the nest at the rehab center and headed home on Saturday. Her doctor wants her to do more moving around and to exercise her right leg more. I think my dad will be relieved to have her home again even though it means more work for him. My siblings, siblings in law, and nieces are setting up some food deliveries for my mom and dad. My mom has not been pleased with the food at the rehab center so things will start looking up come Saturday in that regard. Thanks for all your kind concern for my mom. I’m looking forward to seeing both my mom and dad in September.
We have 3 services at our church every Sunday. One Sunday a year we have Summer Sunday when we all get together for one service at an adjoining property. A member of our church owns this beautiful property and generously lets us overrun it for 3 hours. Bouncy houses are brought in for the kids.
BYOC…Bring your own chair or blanket is the order of the afternoon. Find your spot and settle in.
A jazz band entertained us with good music while we chatted and waited for our barbecue meal of pulled pork, BBQ beans, coleslaw, watermelon to be served. Everyone brought cookies to share for dessert.
Here’s our head pastor taking photos of all of us. He challenged us along our theme of “Love Where You Live”.
The highlight of the afternoon were the baptisms. There were many starting with grade school kids to adults.
The weather was perfect for the evening. During the course of the service we saw someone we used to go to church with years ago. Now we are at the same church again. It was fun catching up.
My Monday started out real good with some energy to get some things done that needed doing. It’s always good for me to be able to check things off my list. Do you keep lists?
Ruffles and Rust/Come Junk with Us puts together some great sales bringing in vendors from all over the state under one roof. This was one of their smaller sales (just the right size for me). I headed over to Bothell for this event on Saturday morning at 9:00.
I ended up buying this burlap wrapped star with the thought to wrap it with lights to put up at Christmas.
I also bought this old milk crate and I have some ideas in my head about how to use it. I guess my purchases were more rust than ruffles!
This boy scout and another scout who were at the sale on duty carried my goods to the car for me. I was parked off site and up the hill and they were more then willing to walk all that way with me carrying my purchases.
On my honor, I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight.
DUTY TO OTHER PEOPLE: Many people need help. A cheery smile and a helping hand make life easier for others. By doing a Good Turn daily and helping when you’re needed, you prove yourself a Scout and do your part to make this a better world.
Be Prepared!
Do a Good Turn Daily!
Thank you Boy Scout Troop #356
The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b. 