Harrison Lake Cruise!

The day improved to perfection for our cruise on Harrison Lake. Bev and her husband have the perfect boat for cruising with a crowd on the lake.

 

Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale,
A tale of a grateful trip
That started from this tropic port
Aboard this tiny ship.

 

The mate was a mighty sailing man,
The skipper brave and sure.
Nine passengers set sail that day
For a two hour tour, a two hour tour

 

 

 

 

Oh no! Where’s Julie? It took me a while on the boat to notice she was missing from the boat tour…

 

The weather started getting rough,
The tiny ship was tossed,
If not for the courage of the fearless crew
The minnow would be lost, the minnow would be lost.

 

 

 

The ship set ground on the shore of this uncharted desert isle
With Bev and Ellen
The Skipper too,
Lovella, Betty, Char
Kathy and Marg…the Social Queens
with Judy and Anneliese,
Here on Gilligans Isle.

 

No phone, no lights no motor cars,
Not a single luxury,
Like Robinson Crusoe,
As primative as can be.

So join us here each week my friends,
You’re sure to get a smile,
From ten stranded castaways,
Here on “Gilligan’s Isle.”

Thanks for bearing with me in using the good ole Gilligan Island theme song in describing our trip. We were never stranded or in danger and were even treated to wonderful snack on board the “minnow” that Kathy and Marg put together for us. Cheese, fruit, crackers and refreshing drinks were served on board. Another memorable experience with the Mennonite Girls!


 

My Home Away From Home ~

Three of us girls at the MGCC summit were from out of town and we were graciously hosted by Kathy and Bev. Bev was my hostess and her home was my home away from home. We arrived to her house late on Tuesday in the rain and darkness so I really wasn’t sure of my surroundings. When I woke up on Wednesday morning this beautiful view greeted me.

 

Bev and her husband are in the middle of renovations on their home of 35 years. They have a wonderful piece of property.

 

On Wednesday evening after our cruise on Harrison Lake (photos to follow soon) we had a wonderful barbecue meal at Bev’s house.

 

 

Bev had also created a lovely place card for each of us with a personal Bible verse written on the inside. We sensed a confirmation from the Holy Spirit that the verses were meant to affirm each of us personally.

My verse was Proverbs 3: 3-4 ~ Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favour and a good name in the sight of God and man.

We started our meal with a yummy shrimp cocktail. Then we enjoyed some barbecued pork loin, baby zucchini, roasted potatoes with carmelized onions and corn on the cob. Bev’s helpful husband barbecued the meat and the zucchini and made sure our glasses never went dry. I just have to interject here that all the Mennonite Girls husbands really contributed to making our time together memorable by helping out with babysitting, dish washing, photo taking and letting each of us take time away from our normal responsibilities at home. And they did it with joy!! The Mennonite Girls Can Cook have fabulous husbands!!

 

 

 

 

Bev kept talking about Mt. Cheam and whether or not the clouds or mist would clear enough for me to see it. On my last morning at Bev’s I think it showed up. Is this Mt. Cheam Bev?

A Taggin We Will Go…

 

Thom was tagged and then he tagged 8 of us with a contest attached. I had till Wednesday to post and people had to guess how many of the 8 of us would post. It’s been ages since I’ve participated in a Tag so I decided to go with it. Thank you Thom!

1. Why did you start blogging? I started reading blogs and enjoyed them and I was sending out emails to family members regularly so my brother decided a blog would be a good platform for me. He brought his computer to a family gathering and made me start a blog. I’m glad he did because I’ve met some of the greatest friends blogging.

2. If you could travel anywhere in the world with no restriction of costs, where would it be and why? Great Britain and Ireland. I’d take my time going to every part of these great places. Since money is not a restriction I’d hire a sight seeing Chauffer to drive us wherever we would want to go. And why…I love the history, authors, and old architecture in this part of the world.

3. Did you have a teacher in school that had a great influence on your life? If so, what? I had a few great teachers that influenced my life in a positive way. The thing that is similar about them is that they believed in me and enjoyed having me in their classrooms. (I have plenty that thought I was a pain in the neck!)

4. If you could spend the day with a famous person, who would it be, and what would you do? It would be fun to spend a day choosing a menu, going to a local market to buy the ingredients, preparing the food, and eating it with The Naked Chef Jamie Oliver in London.

5. Toilet paper – over or under? Definitely over.

6. Name one thing in your life that you would do over if possible. I would love to delete some former boyfriends out of my life and memory :0)

7. Tell about your pets – if any. We don’t do pets at my house.

8. Do you live in a small town or a large town. (You don’t have to name the town.) Smaller then Seattle but larger then a bread basket.

 

Brunch at Judy’s

After a full day on Tuesday and a good rest we came together again for a beautiful brunch at Judy’s Front Porch.

 

 

 

Another beautiful table setting greeted us.

 

 

 

I just love it when bloggers get together for an event. You see serious camera action happening everywhere!

 

Judy is a great hostess with a calm easy style.

 

The food was all so good. Besides the savories she shared 3 wonderful sweets with us, too.

 

 

CHEERS!

 

The view from Judy’s back porch was quite spectacular.

Photobucket replaced all my photos with ugly black and grey boxes and they are holding my photos hostage until I pay them lots of money. I’m slowly going through all my posts and trying to clean them up and replacing some photos. Such a bother.

Dinner and Desserts…

Yes I said desserts, plural, as in more then one! These Mennonite Girls know how to treat you.

 

Anneliese set a beautiful table with a place card that had a special verse chosen for each of us. This was our first dinner together and Anneliese served us some great chicken in a tasty vegetable sauce, rice and salads.

Every Day I will praise you…Psalm 145:2

Sweet Anneliese!

 

It was a dark and rainy day so my photos are dark. The dreary rain didn’t dampen our spirits or our time together.

 

Desserts were a bread pudding with a lovely orange anglaise and flan!

 

After our two desserts Julie gifted us each with these trivets/potholders with each of our names on it.

There will be more posts of our time together in the Fraser Valley of Canada because I want the time documented here on my blog.

Today is Labor Day here in the U.S.A. and Canada so I hope you are all having a restful day enjoying a day off from work.

Photobucket replaced all my photos with ugly black and grey boxes and they are holding my photos hostage until I pay them lots of money. I’m slowly going through all my posts and trying to clean them up and replacing some photos. Such a bother.

Blue from Canada~

I spent 3 wonderful days with 9 other girls from the Mennonite Girls Can Cook Blog last week in the Fraser Valley of British Columbia. These mosaics are just a little glimpse of our time together.

We spent a few hours at Minter Gardens.

The 3 of us girls from “out of town” were hosted by Bev and Kathy. This was my room at Bev’s home.

 

We were treated to a wonderful boat cruise on Harrison Lake by Bev’s husband. It really was the perfect day to be out on the water.

Thank you Sally at Smiling Sally for hosting Blue Monday.

 

The Farm Markets Welcomed Us…

We have two farm markets that advertise on the Mennonite Girls Can Cook blog and it was so much fun for the 10 of us to overwhelm them on Tuesday afternoon. We were treated to special greetings and great tours. I wish they were close enough to me so I could shop there regularly.

 

We started off at Neufeld Farms where we were greeted warmly with this great sign that an employee made.

There were so many things I would have loved to buy here if I only lived closer.

At Lepp Farm Market we found another willing employee to take on all our cameras for a photo shoot!

 

We were treated to a great tour that showed us all the wonderful local products that you could buy and enjoy.

Bev bought these baby blossoming zucchinis for us to enjoy at a BBQ at her home on Wednesday Evening.

It was so fun to hear that this great store started as a little corner corn stand!

Oh and our first day in British Columbia it rained all day long with no let up at all! After shlepping about in the rain we headed to Anneliese’s house for our first dinner together. Post coming shortly.

Great Is Thy Faithfulness ~ Hymn

 

Great Is Thy Faithfulness

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be.

Refrain

Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Refrain

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

Refrain

Words: Thomas O. Chisholm, 1923

During our Mennonite Girls Can Cook Summit we enjoyed some hymn singing together. We sang this great hymn and Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow before each of our meals. We found out that 9 out of 10 of us were altos!

Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Words: Thomas Ken, 1674

We Met in Abbotsford…

The Mennonite Girls Can Cook came together for the first time at the Abbotsford Airport in British Columbia with quite a splash. These gals added a little color and extra historical meaning to our get together. Oh the fun and laughter these two generated.

It took me 2 hours to drive to Lovella’s house with an easy border crossing. Lovella, Anneliese and I drove to Abbotsford Airport together to meet the other girls and wait for Betty and Charlotte to arrive from Manitoba.

From the airport the ten of us headed to Lovella’s for High Tea.

She put on a beautiful spread for us and we had a great time getting acquainted.

On our way off to visit our farm store advertisers we received these great business cards for MGCC from Lovella.

Lovella’s High Tea set the stage for 3 wonderful days of eating, laughing and praying together.

Photobucket replaced all my photos with ugly black and grey boxes and they are holding my photos hostage until I pay them lots of money. I’m slowly going through all my posts and trying to clean them up and replacing some photos. Such a bother.

Oh Canada!

Growing up I was immersed in a Russian Community that used cousin, aunt and uncle loosely. We always had more “relatives” then a proper genealogy record would prove. I just inherited 9 girl cousins from Canada. Our cousin connection comes from our love for each other, similar upbringing, blogging, and recipes that our ancestors brought out of Russia and Germany. I will be sharing the wonderful bonding experiences we had during our 3 days together soon.

 

Here are the Mennonite Girls (MGCC) minus me and I now know first hand they really can cook! Starting in the back, Judy from My Front Porch, Marg from Home Again, Lovella from What Matters Most, Julie from Pearls in A Nutshell, Betty,  Anneliese from For Everything a Season, Bev from Kaleidoscopes, Kathy, and Charlotte.

Here’s the same photo with me in it. I borrowed it from one of my cousins who happened to post this same photo spot on her blog. Thanks Judy!

Thank you girls for all the good food, laughter, prayers, and fun we had! Till we meet again…

Photobucket replaced all my photos with ugly black and grey boxes and they are holding my photos hostage until I pay them lots of money. I’m slowly going through all my posts and trying to clean them up and replacing some photos. Such a bother.