All In The Neighborhood…

I’m adding this post to Susan’s Outdoor Wednesday. Click over to A Southern DayDreamer to see more of the great outdoors!

It really is boring walking alone. Good thing I have my camera to keep me going….

The duck flew into my view and landed close enough for a photo session. I’ve been thinking about adding a lilac bush or two in my yard. I really like this deep purple color. The last photo of the mosaic are the blossoms on my Blueberry bush.

Now to some exciting outdoor work that is being done in our side yard.

Pretty soon we’ll have a retaining wall and then eventually this will be a driveway. We’ll have to find a spot for these huge boulders!

Never a dull moment at this Old House. I’ll be showing the progress as we go along.

Have a great Wednesday everyone! Oh I almost forgot I finished my attic project and all the boxes have been gone through and delivered to their appropriate destinations. Yippee Yahoo!

Still Plugging Away…

…and the end is in sight!

Some of you have wondered “Where does she put all that stuff?” I wanted to show you my nifty little pull down ladder that is hidden most days neatly tucked away in the ceiling. Last year we totally emptied that attic and put everything in the basement for sorting through. Since I’ve been back in Washington I’ve been sorting through and everything has one of three destinations now…in the trash, in the garage sale pile, or repacked nicely and back in the attic. Going up and down those stairs heaving boxes up there has been a good workout!

Christmas is up there. Easter is up there. Thanksgiving is up there. Katie’s keepsakes are up there. Suitcases are up there. Rex and Verna’s stuff that we won’t get rid of is up there. Papers we need to keep for a couple more years are up there. You get the drift. See those 3 blue boxes at the top of the stairs…if you ever need wine goblets for a big party or reception call me.

Just a very few more boxes and I’ll be done with this project whoohoo!!  And in other news…

Some big equipment and workers are arriving today to work on this part of our property. The utilities have been marked so we don’t have any unfortunate accidents. Puncturing a gas line wouldn’t be good. We are going to be doing some grading and a trench will be dug along the property line on the right to put in a retaining wall. Eventually this will be a driveway and the area at the top of the photo will be built up and leveled out…

Fun times around the homestead. So today I hope to finish those remaining boxes and then put on my rain coat and mud boots so I can watch some heavy equipment make noise moving dirt. What are you doing?

Today’s Thrifty Treasures ~ Toile Runner

Since Winter is over and Garage Sales have begun again Rhoda at Southern Hospitality has re-instated Thrifty Treasures. Click on over to see the great bargains that people find all across the World.

 

This week I found this great Toile runner that is reversible and the rooster and duck napkin rings. The runner cost me 99 cents and the napkin rings cost me $3.00.  I need to find one more duck! :0)

I’ve been looking for a vase that would work better for tulips  and I found this one for $3.50 at Goodwill. I’d like to buy some irises this week to replace these poor spent tulips in the vase.

I’m looking forward to getting around to see your bargains this week.

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.

Spirit Divine, Attend Our Prayer ~ Hymn

 

Spirit Divine, Attend Our Prayer

Spirit divine, attend our prayer,
And make our heart Thy home;
Descend with all Thy gracious power;
Come, Holy Spirit, come.

Come as the light! to us reveal
The truth we long to know;
Reveal the narrow path of right,
The way of duty show.

Come as the fire and purge our hearts
Like sacrificial flame,
Till our whole souls an offering be
In love’s redeeming name.

Come as the dew, and sweetly bless
This consecrated hour;
May barrenness rejoice to own
Thy fertilizing power.

Come as the dove, and spread Thy wings,
The wings of peaceful love;
And let Thy Church on earth become
Blest as Thy Church above.

Come as the wind, O Breath of God!
O Pentecostal grace!
Come, make Thy great salvation known,
Wide as the human race.

Spirit divine, attend our prayer;
Make a lost world Thy home;
Descend with all thy gracious powers,
O come, great Spirit, come.

Words: Andrew Reed, June 1829

My heart goes out to the people of Poland this morning who have lost so many of their leaders in this gruesome tragedy. May God’s Spirit comfort them in their loss and may their hearts turn to God for comfort and peace.

Friday’s Fave Five! ~ Easter Edition…

Time to sit down, take a deep breath, and consider the blessings of this past week. Now visit Susanne at Living to Tell the Story to join in or to see some favorites. Thank you Susanne for hosting this great exercise…

 

Easter, Easter, Easter! I love Easter. I love that our Faith is defined by what Jesus did on the cross on our behalf. The whole Lenten Season culminating on Resurrection Sunday and now the days leading up to Pentecost are great days to focus and be refreshed. So here are my 5 favorites from this past week…

1. Getting together with my sister Lana G! and keeping our Russian Heritage traditions going by baking the Russian Easter bread and making and molding the traditional sweet cheese spread. I have to get more cans to bake the bread in by next year. Someone at our Easter table let it slip that she might have some in her garage. Along with these traditions watching my daughter color the Easter eggs is always a fun time.

2. The night before Easter I went to the opening Sounders Soccer game. I went to a nearby park and ride that was offering special buses to take fans to Qwest field. My bus ended up being real special as I was the only one on it!! The bus driver and me. I thought of you Thom! This was one of those really big metro buses, too. I had to chuckle. Too bad our team lost…ugh. On the bus trip home there were more people but the bus driver recognized me right away…

3. Easter was such a nice day of celebration for us. We went to a baptism of 2 little sisters we know. So sweet. We came home to get ready to host our Easter meal with my DIL’s family. There were 12 of us and we had a good time eating, sharing and laughing.

4. Whoohoo! I finally got to meet some of the Mennonite Girls from MGCC face to face on Tuesday. Five of the Canadian Mennonites had a field-trip down to the Skagit Valley to see the tulips and we all met up for lunch in La Conner. It was like we were old friends. Each gal is so unique yet so cohesive in the group. I don’t know if that’s the right word but I hope you understand what I mean…

5. Tulips, tulips, tulips! I love tulips. To see these lovelies like the sea before your eyes is absolutely amazing. I praise God for creating tulips and I’m so glad those immigrants from Holland settled in the Skagit Valley and grow them for our pleasure and for their livelihood!

Keep scrolling down to the next post if you’d like to see some tulips in the fields…

 

Have a great weekend everyone!

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.

I’m Not Tired…

…of tulips, are you?

I do believe the pink ones are my favorite. Which are your favorite?

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.

Happy Birthday to My Mom!

We’re both a lot older now! My mom turns 86 today and my dad will be 87 in May. My mother is truly the Proverbs 31 woman. She has always put her children and husband as a top priority in her life. Her first child died at 2 years old and she has raised 8 others sewing clothes for the girls and making 3 meals a day most of our lives except for Sunday mornings. On Sunday mornings because we’d all be in a hurry to get ready for church she’d get a break and we’d have store bought coffee cake for breakfast. Usually it was a frozen Sara Lee variety. Of course there would be preparations under way already for Sunday lunch. Usually we’d bring someone extra home for that lunch, too. Once in the while in the middle of the week my father would pick up a pizza from Johnny’s and we’d even get soda to have with it. (Did I get that right siblings? Was it Johnny’s pizza?)

So today I am thanking our God Almighty for giving us a mother who loves us, sacrifices for us, and loves her husband. It’s a wonderful heritage and we have benefited in many ways from it.

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.