VW’s and Smiles Hodgepodge

Thank you to Jo From This Side of the Pond for our fresh Wednesday Hodgepodge questions!

1. Monday was National Apple Day…did you eat an apple or enjoy something made with apples on Monday? Do you like apples? Do you prefer your apples raw, baked, or in cider? Do you have a favorite variety of apple? 

I did not eat anything apple on Monday. I do like apples but don’t have them often. I enjoy them raw, baked or in cider. I like the tart apples.

2. Do you think there’s any truth to the saying ‘an apple a day keeps the doctor away’. Of the following healthy habits which do you find easiest to incorporate into your life and which is the most difficult for you to adopt-

adequate sleep, a balanced diet, plenty of water, eat breakfast, don’t smoke, exercise, limit alcohol,  include fruits and vegetables in your diet, manage stress, limit screen time

There might be some truth to that saying as far as it being a part of more healthy choices.

The easiest for me is; don’t smoke, since I’ve never smoked. Unfortunately I did inhale a lot of second hand smoke in the 60’s and 70’s working in offices where smoking was still okay. The most difficult to adopt is a balanced diet.

3. Who taught you how to drive? Do you enjoy driving? Would you rather be the driver or the passenger?  Do you have a favorite scenic drive near you? 

My brother, Fred, taught me to drive a stick shift. He even let me learn in his VW Bug. I think I taught myself to drive an automatic. While I’m typing the answers here on Tuesday the 22nd, it happens to be Fred’s 75th birthday.

This photo of my siblings and me from 2009 is the most current photo I have of our brother Fred. Left to right; Kathy, Vera, Fred, me, Lana and Steve. My brothers Tim and Leonard are missing from this photo.

The first car I purchased with a car loan and the first car I owned that I actually liked was this VW Bug.

I do enjoy driving if it’s not snowing or raining hard. On a scenic drive, I prefer to be a passenger so I can take photos. On a shopping trip that involves navigating parking lots and getting to several different store destinations, I prefer driving. We are blessed with many scenic drives in our neck of the woods. Driving to Wal-Mart is scenic. Driving along the Columbia River is a favorite!

4. What small habit has had a big impact on your life? 

Smiling. Since early years I have found it easy to smile, especially to smile at people. Smiling has opened up some interesting opportunities and conversations.

5. Tell us about something nice that happened to you recently.

It is so nice living close enough to our grands that we can see them and get that ‘hello’ hug and that ‘goodbye’ hug and any snuggles in between.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

We have been enjoying some beautiful fall colors on all our drives here in Colville.

The golden larches are my favorite!

I’ve figured out my photo issues and I hope my photo platform is slow in making any new changes for me to figure out!!

This is a quote I copied from an article I read this week.

“Discontent makes a wasteland of the greenest garden—-even Eden. But contentment bears fruit in any circumstance.” Andrea Hoglund

Happy Wednesday, Hodgepodgers, Faithful Bloggers, and readers. I’m thankful for you all.

October Delights

Our Colville kids traveled over the mountains to visit the Westside Aunties and Uncles and oh boy did they load a lot of fun into a few days!

Thomas Family Farm in Snohomish was a great destination for a variety of activities!

A Monster Truck ride!

Sifting for treasures.

The epic Apple gun!

Pumping water for the duckie race.

Putt putt.

And some excavating!

Thomas Family Farms for the win!

I was sent many more photos of this packed long weekend that I will be sharing for my memories of the life and times of our family.

O Savior, Precious Savior ~ Hymn

O Savior, Precious Savior

O Savior, precious Savior,
Whom yet unseen we love!
O name of might and favor,
All other names above!
We worship Thee, we bless Thee,
To Thee, O Christ, we sing;
We praise Thee, and confess Thee
Our holy Lord and king.

O bringer of salvation,
Who wondrously hast wrought,
Thyself the revelation
Of love beyond our thought;
We worship Thee, we bless Thee,
To Thee, O Christ, we sing;
We praise Thee, and confess Thee
Our gracious Lord and king.

In Thee all fullness dwelleth,
All grace and power divine;
The glory that excelleth,
O Son of God, is Thine;
We worship Thee, we bless Thee,
To Thee, O Christ, we sing:
We praise Thee, and confess Thee
Our glorious Lord and king.

O grant the consummation
Of this our song above,
In endless adoration,
And everlasting love!
Then shall we praise and bless Thee
Where perfect praises ring,
And evermore confess Thee
Our Savior and our king.

Words: Frances R. Havergal, 1870.

Scotland Travel Journal ~Stirling Finale

The Victoria Arms was our lodging choice for Stirling. We dropped our luggage off here in the morning and when we returned after 5pm our luggage was in our rooms for the night.

After we freshened up we entered our Restaurant destination into one of our phones and started our walk to dinner.

Rob Roy McGregor (1631-1734). On our way to dinner we came across this statue of notorious Scottish outlaw Rob Roy, who joined the Jacobite rising of 1689 with his father when he was just 18 years old. His father was jailed for treason for two years. When he was finally released, his wife, and Rob Roy’s mother, had passed away. Rob Roy hid out in the Highlands under the patronage of John Campbell, the 2nd Duke of Argyll, and he built a house in Glen Shira. His fortunes began to rise again as he became a cattleman, but he lost all of his money and cattle due to a duplicitous chief herder and was declared an outlaw, his family thrown out of their house which was then burnt down on the orders of his principal creditor, James Graham, 1st Duke of Montrose. This began a blood feud between the two which lasted until 1722, when Rob Roy was forced to surrender and was imprisoned until 1727. He was released in part because of the success of Daniel Defoe’s biography of Rob Roy, The Highland Rogue, and he died in 1734.

We made it to Brea.

We all enjoyed our choices for dinner and dessert!

Laura found some interesting signs in the facilities…

and…

We enjoyed conversation with the mom and adult daughter seated next to us who happened to be from the United States, too. The mom enhanced our conversation by complementing a subtle feature on Josh’s hat.

We had a lovely walk back to our lodgings in the moonlight. We retired to our rooms for a much needed rest. Sunday September 15th was complete.

On Monday the 16th of September we enjoyed our breakfast at Victoria Arms before we packed up and ordered a taxi to take us to Enterprise Car Rental Agency in Stirling.

Looks like another beautiful day, Thank You LORD!

Scotland Travel Journal ~ Wallace Monument

On Sunday the 15th of September our sight seeing would end at the Wallace Monument. We could see it in the distance and were hoping for a tourist bus to take us there. We walked down into the center of town and stopped for a coffee and a snack before we found out that the Tourist bus had ceased operation at the end of August.

At the central bus stop in town Josh found out from a bus driver that we could take the #10 bus and it would get us up to the monument. After many stops along the route we were dropped off right at the parking lot for the Monument. We opted to wait for the mini shuttle van to take us from the parking lot up to the Monument.

We ventured inside and bought our tickets for the climb.

Greg and I made it to the Hall of Arms. Josh and Laura made it all the way to the top, 246 steps, in a narrow winding staircase!

The Arms of Great Britain

We all made it to the Hall of Arms and watched the video available.

The Arms of Sir William Wallace.

In the hall of heroes Laura and Josh spotted one of our heroes on this trip, John Knox.

At the Royal Chamber you could design your own coat of arms for your battle shield.

Find out about William Wallace here.

Laura found this little figurine along the way.

It was very windy at the top.

You can read the historical account of this battle and the history of this time here.

We were blessed with spectacular views on this beautiful day.

We took the tram down to the cafe and gift shop and I talked Greg into letting me photo him at the taking of Stirling bridge photo op. Josh and Laura made it down the 246 steps and took one of the last shuttles back down to the parking lot. We had ordered a taxi that arrived soon after. The taxi took us back to our lodging for the night and we finally checked into our rooms. We were surprised that the taxi ride cost us less than the bus. We had a dinner reservation at 6:00 so we freshened up and got ready to walk to the restaurant.

I’ll save our photos into town, dinner, and our Inn for another post.

Truth for Today #119


Thursday October 17th

On Thursdays my posts will include verses that stood out in my readings from the Bible during week. One, two, three or maybe more. If you have a verse/verses that you read during the week and would like to share, leave it/them in the comments and I will add it/them to the post. Let’s dig deep in God’s Truth again this year!

The verses that you share are appreciated and so encouraging, I’m thankful for them and for each of you! 

Deuteronomy 29:29

The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of the law.

Psalm 119:12-16

Blessed are you, O LORD; teach me your statutes! With my lips I declare all the rules of your mouth. In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches. I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.

From Vera:

“Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.”
‭‭Joel‬ ‭2‬:‭12‬-‭13‬ ‭

From Willow:

Psalm 98:1: “Sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things; his right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him. The LORD has made his salvation known and revealed his righteousness to the nations”.

From Karen:

I bet most people know the shortest verse in the Bible is Jesus wept.

Reading in 1 Thessalonians 5:16 today I came across another 2 word verse but the words are longer.

Rejoice evermore. 🙂

A Significant Hodgepodge

If it’s Wednesday it must be time for the Hodgepodge. Thank you, Joyce for the questions!

1. How did you meet your significant other? If you don’t have a significant other, tell us how you met your best friend. 

We met at a church where this Christian singing group was performing. Greg was in the group and my best friend became a part of the group. I went with my friend to her first performance with the group and met Greg there. Later when they needed to replace an alto in the group, I auditioned and became part of the group. We are on the far right in both of these photos while on tour in England. The sign that got chopped off in the photo above says Jesus is Alive Today. In England we sang in schools during their religious education classes. In the evening we would sing in a church or community center. Our relationship blossomed during our 70’s Christian Rock band tours of England.

Here I am being mobbed for my autograph by young girls at one of the schools we performed at.

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During our tours in England we’d have a holiday week after 3 weeks of singing at least 3 times a day across parts of England. This photo of Greg is from when we were on holiday at the end of our concert series.

2. It’s Department Store Day (October 16)…do you still shop in department stores? If not do you miss that kind of shopping experience? Do you have a favorite department store? Any fun memories of department store shopping when you were a child? 

Living in the country my department store experience is limited to Wal-Mart. I don’t have childhood memories in a department store. When we lived on the other side of the Cascade Mountain Range my favorite department store was Fred Meyer. I suppose Costco is a type of department store or at least it fits the definition. That is a store we always stop at when we travel south to Spokane.

3. Something you’re currently nuts about? 

I love Autumn/Fall. I’m enjoying the change in weather and all the fall color that is showing. I love soup weather.

4. What’s your favorite nut and is there a favorite recipe where this nut is used? 

I enjoy nuts and my favorite nut in recipes is the walnut. Our mom’s Russian Nut Roll (Roolyet) is my favorite.

Our Mom’s Roolyet (Russian Nut Roll)

 

5. On Wednesday we officially reach the ’70 days until Christmas’ mark. Have you purchased any gifts? If you don’t celebrate Christmas then how about Hanukkah presents? 

I have purchased a few things. While in Scotland, I bought a couple of new ornaments for the tree, too.

6. Insert your own random thought here.  

Me and my guy waiting for our charter flight to England in 1973.

My photo sharing site is giving me grief again so it might be a while before I can post more from our travels in Scotland. These kinds of problems are never easy for me to solve. OYE!

Scotland Travel Journal ~Holy Rude

The Church of Holy Rude in Stirling, Scotland is steeped in Scottish History. The church is Stirling’s oldest building after the castle. During the reign of Robert II (1371-1390), and altar to the Holy Rude was established, leading to the church being renamed as the Parish Church of the Holy Rude of the Burgh of Stirling. “Holy Rude” translates to Holy Cross.

From the brochure: This site, a focal point of faith and heritage, witnessed the worship of Mary, Queen of Scots, the crowning of her infant son King James VI and many significant events, including the Scottish Reformation and the Jacobite rising.

See that little stained glass window way at the top of arch. The Angel Window was installed in 1870 and the artist is unknown.

This window, above the Apse, is dedicated to John Cowane, founder of Cowane’s Hospital. The middle right depicts the last supper, the left shows the Sermon on the Mount, and the lower portion illustrates Matthew 25:35-40, reflecting the charitable intentions of Cowane. The Inscription read, “For I was hungry, and you gave me food.”

The coat of arms above the entrance to St. Andrew’s Chapel is a 17th century carving of the Royal Arms of Scotland recalling the era when Scottish royalty frequented the Church.

Mary, Queen of Scots: At nine months old, she was crowned Queen in Stirling Castle’s Chapel Royal after her father, James V, died. She spent much of her childhood in the castle and visited this church. After Mary’s abdication, her son was crowned King James VI of Scotland in the Church of the Holy Rude.

At her 13 month old son’s coronation, John Knox preached the sermon. For the first time the rites were Protestant and not Roman Catholic and the whole of the ceremony was made and done in the Scottish tongue and not Latin.

This is the oldest surviving church in Scotland that witnessed a coronation.

 

John Knox, A figurehead of the reformation in Scotland. Reverend James Guthrie was another prominent Scottish minister during the Covenanting era. His convictions led to the division of the Church’s congregation in the 17th century.

The Church has seen its share of conflict over the centuries.  During the religious and political troubles of the 17th Century, the Church was divided in 2 and had a wall built to create 2 separate churches – the East and the West.  The minister whose activities led to this division, James Guthrie, was hanged for high treason in 1661, and the 2 parts of the church were finally re-united in 1935.

During Cromwell’s uprising, General Monk set up his guns on the Church tower in 1651 for the last successful attack on Stirling Castle.  The Church walls bear the scars of musket shot and cannon-fire from this and other conflicts, including the Jacobite uprising of 1746. The battle scarred walls are indeed a testament to the skills of the stone masons and craftsmen of the past.

King Robert the Bruce

This window was created in memory of the Argylls of WWI and it was fitting for it to be in the Church of the Holy Rude because the regiment had strong ties to this church. This window depicts a Highland soldier surrounded by poppies and figures from the regimental cap badge. Thousands lost their lives in World War I. This window was dedicated in 2016.

The current windows date from the 19th century.

We left the church and walked down into town needing a little snack before we made our way to the Wallace Monument which will be another post. Sunday the 15th of September was a full day of history for us!

Thanks for traveling along with us on this day that we connected more dots about John Knox and the Scottish Reformation and Covenantors in Scotland. We took in Stirling in one day but you could easily spend a few more days soaking it all in.

How Firm A Foundation ~ Hymn

How Firm a Foundation

How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!
What more can He say than to you He hath said,
You, who unto Jesus for refuge have fled?

In every condition, in sickness, in health;
In poverty’s vale, or abounding in wealth;
At home and abroad, on the land, on the sea,
As thy days may demand, shall thy strength ever be.

Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed,
For I am thy God and will still give thee aid;
I’ll strengthen and help thee, and cause thee to stand
Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.

When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
The rivers of woe shall not thee overflow;
For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.

When through fiery trials thy pathways shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.

Even down to old age all My people shall prove
My sovereign, eternal, unchangeable love;
And when hoary hairs shall their temples adorn,
Like lambs they shall still in My bosom be borne.

The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose,
I will not, I will not desert to its foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no never, no never forsake.

Words: John Rippon, 1787.