Who You Calling Old Hodgepodge

We had to have the “we were here” photo taken! This door is in Stow on the Wold in the greater Cotswold area of England. This door is at the back of the Parish Church of St. Edward built within the 11th and 15th century.

Jo From This Side of the Pond has some ‘old’ questions for us this week. Click over to join in.

1. How would you define ‘old’? At what age is someone old?

I define old as ten years older than me. The older I get the older ‘old’ becomes. I only feel old when I look in the mirror or try to stand up off the couch. 🙂

2. A place you’ve been that’s old? Tell us something about your visit there.

Jolly Old England. Oh how I hope to be able to enjoy that land at least once more in my lifetime. There is something old around every corner…really old. Ancient doors and hall ways. Old majestic cathedrals. Cobblestones and thatched roofs. The oldest pub or Inn in all of England. Many pubs and Inns claim that fame. Old church yards and graveyards and churches.

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3. Something you miss about the ‘good old days’? When were they anyway?

I’ll pick the ‘good ole days’ before computers and cell phones. The days where you had to catch up with a letter or have a long catch up conversation after church or on the phone. When you got information by reading the newspaper. The days when you actually got news during the news hour and not just opinions and made up stuff.

4. In what way are you a ‘chip off the old block’? Or if you’d rather, in what way is your child a ‘chip off the old block’?

I have some chips off both blocks. Our dear mom would get inspirations to do things and have to scramble to gather up the materials and get er done. I do the same. Our dear old pop had to be on time or early to events and made sure to leave the house in plenty of time to get there. My Dear always makes the comment to me when I say ‘time to go’; “okay Moisi”.

photo credit: Jeremy Leffel

5. Old fashioned, Old Testament, old timer, same old same old, old glory, good old boy, old wives tale…choose an ‘old’ phrase that relates to something in your life or the wider world currently and explain.

“Don’t guilt trip me.” It’s the way of some leaders and media and general population right now. It’s divisive and I don’t like it. When my head hits the pillow each night I want to have a clear conscience. It’s most important for me to have a clear conscience before God. That’s the best way for me not to suffer from someone trying to impose a guilt trip upon me.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Speaking of England let’s not forget about the delightful world of Beatrix Potter.

We knew about this shop in Gloucester and were determined to visit it while we were in Gloucester 41 years after I started my collection. We were there in 2014.

There are lots of shops relating to Beatrix Potter and Peter Rabbit in England.

Happy middle of September everyone. Next week…Glorious Fall begins!

Missing Pieces

It’s an interesting phenomena but when the weather is blustery our internet goes into hiding somewhere.

Since I can’t upload the photos I wanted for a post today I’ll go back and post these photos that I uploaded on kinder internet days that I haven’t shared yet. Easter Decor was at a minimum during this Pandemic. Easter was celebrated well but not with decor.

Христос воскрес! Khristos voskrese! Christ is Risen!

воистину воскрес! Voistinu Voskrese! Truly He is Risen!

Our Easter message will always be that Christ is Risen, He is Risen Indeed in English and Russian!

The cutest little Easter Bunny. The photos our daughter in law shares on Facebook upload with no trouble.

Addy painting our presents for Easter, rocks for our gardens.

Jaymison coming back from the family evening walk down the driveway and back again. I can’t get over how big he looks here!

Still trying to upload my camera photos to no avail. Today I took photos of all that is starting to bloom at our Country Bungalow but the uploads failed. I will keep trying.

Monday we worked outside for most of the day. Dear worked on the shop and I pulled weeds and mowed the front acre. Tuesday I’ll mow the back acres while Dear continues working on the shop. The forecast is for a 70 degree day. Time will tell. How are things in your corner?

Cinco de Mayo lands on this Tuesday and our favorite Mexican Restaurant isn’t open for service inside yet. What an COVID-19 mishap! We won’t be having tacos today or Mexican food for that matter. Once El Ranchito is open again we will celebrate!

Quote of the week from Sunday’s sermon: “Sincerity is not the test of obedience.”

Beatrix Potter

On July 28th in 1866 Helen Beatrix Potter was born. She lived to be 77 years old.

Here is my collection of Beatrix Potter figurines to date in the following collages…

I bought most of the figurines in England in 1973 and 1974.

This little rabbit made her famous with The Tale of Peter Rabbit.

“I don’t know what to write to you, so I shall tell you a story about four little rabbits whose names were Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail and Peter….”

“And that – a letter to a small boy called Noel- was the beginning of the Beatrix Potter Books.”

I started my Beatrix Potter Collection in the summer of 1973 while touring England. I bought the Biography The Tale of Beatrix Potter by Margaret Lane in Oxford July of 1974.

Dear and I bought two full sets of Beatrix Potter Story Collection at Foyle’s in London and had them shipped home to us. One set for us and one set for our first niece born in 1973, Jenna. I suppose technically she wasn’t my niece until Dear and I were married in December of 1974. You can see our set is well used and loved.

The fun story behind The Tale of Little Pig Robinson revolves around our firstborn son, Josh. We would let him pick a bedtime story for us to read to him each night and he caught on real quick that The Tale of Little Pig Robinson is one of the longest tales in the Beatrix Potter collection. He’d request it each night to extend the time before bedtime! Each of our three children are brilliant in their own way…

In the summer of 2014, Dear and I made a 40th anniversary trip to England and on this trip we spent an afternoon in Gloucester and of course had to visit this sweet shop close to Gloucester Cathedral.

We knew about this shop in Gloucester and were determined to visit it while we were in Gloucester 41 years after I started my collection.

There are lots of shops relating to Beatrix Potter and Peter Rabbit in England.

This shop had a lot of fun displays filled with memorabilia.

I’ve enjoyed all these books about Beatrix Potter. The latest book I received was from Josh and Laura, Beatrix Potter’s Gardening Life. The book on Beatrix Potter’s Derwentwater was a great resource for a walking trip we took with good friends in 2006 staying at a farm on the Derwentwater for a few days during our time in Great Britain. So sad that while we were in the Lake District we didn’t visit Hilltop! Maybe on a future trip we’ll take the time to visit.

This was a sweet surprise from my mother when they sorted through my dear Babushka’s apartment after she died. I sent her this postcard trying my best to communicate in Russian from England in 1973. In 1973 and 1974 Dear and I toured England and beyond singing with a Christian Rock Band. I share this here even though it’s not directly linked to Beatrix Potter but it was during the summer where my love for all things Beatrix Potter started!

Hard to believe we are in the last full week of July. Our July has been a wonderful mix of things at this old house. Our last weekend will be full of time with our three brilliant children and their fabulous spouses. Oh and there will be a first at this old house because our kids from Eastern Washington are bringing their dog along with them to our pet free home.

She’s a sweet dog and we are flexible. There will be work, food and sports involved this weekend.

I’m linking up to Foodie Friday and Everything Else at Rattlebridge Farm.

Aunt Anna and the Amiable Guinea Pig

Have you guessed yet that we are at the beginning of the alphabet again for ABC Wednesday #18 (Rolling On) a meme created by Mrs. Nesbitt and now administered by Roger and the ABC team. I was in my archives and saw my very first post for this meme was for the letter D posted February 12, 2008!

Today I’ll be combining two memes with my letter A post. A new meme is starting today hosted by Tom the Backroads Traveler called Tuesdays Treasures where you can share all things old, old and lovely or old and junky!

My Aunt Anna and Pop and my Amiable Guinea Pig are old treasures that are old and lovely. I’ll save junky for another week!

When I first visited Jolly Old England in 1973 and 1974 I started a collection of Beatrix Potter figurines. This is the Amiable Guinea Pig!

He is featured in Appley Dapply’s Nursery Rhymes book by Beatrix Potter originally published in 1917.

There once was an amiable guinea pig,
He brushed back his hair like a periwig-
He wore a sweet tie,
As blue as the sky-
And his whiskers and buttons were very big.

Now for real treasures…

…my Aunt Anna and my dear old Pop. Aunt Anna will be 91 in April and my Pop will be 93 in May! Aren’t they cute? They are having lunch at a favorite Armenian Restaurant in Montebello, California. A town I grew up in. I graduated from Montebello High School in 1968! Armenians cook their lamb the way my Russian family enjoys it. I didn’t take the photo since I’m way up here in Washington state but I’m glad my niece thought to take it and share it on Facebook.

Aunt Anna and my pop are the only surviving siblings in their family. My paternal grandparents died several years ago and my father’s other brothers and their spouses are all deceased. My Aunt Anna survived her husband and all three of her children and a granddaughter, too. She has had a rough life on this earth. Aunt Anna is in a care facility and she still has one granddaughter that stays in close contact with her. Three years ago the doctor gave my aunt a few months to live…guess she showed him!

My Pop lives with my oldest sister’s family and they are close to the care facility where Aunt Anna is cared for. I’m glad my sister thought to invite my Aunt Anna and pick her up to join them for lunch at Golden Skewers! A thoughtful daughter and niece and sister, too!

Looking forward to seeing what A’s and Old Treasures you all came up with.

Happy Homemaker Monday

I’m trying something for the first time and joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom for Happy Homemaker Monday.

The weather…..
31 degrees and mostly cloudy and foggy with rain to follow.

Right now I am….

Watching the news while I start this post. The big news that is trending is the shocking win by the Seahawks yesterday in Minnesota. Ouch. And the other worldwide trending news that David Bowie lost his battle to cancer at 69 years old.

Thinking….

About the three birthdays we have this week in our family. Two of the birthdays will be celebrated without us in northeastern Washington state and one will be celebrated on this side of the mountains at this old house on Friday night. Gifts have been sent, cards will be sent and meal will be planned. Birthdays belong to #1 son, #2 son, and # 2 daughter in law.

Our kids minus our son-in-law Andrew. Katie, Josh our oldest with a birthday this month. Top row is Laura our DIL who is married to Josh. Our son Daniel who celebrates his birthday and our new DIL Jamie who celebrates her birthday this month, too. Katie and Laura had birthdays in December.

On my reading pile….

The Songs of Jesus by Timothy Keller and A travel Guide on San Francisco for an upcoming business trip that I’m tagging along on. I need to choose a good read for our plane travel and my hotel stay later in the month.

On my TV…..

The shows I’m watching this month are Biggest Loser, Top Chef, Masterchef Junior, Fixer Upper, and Downton Abbey. On Netflix we have been watching a British series based in Scotland called Monarch of the Glen aired in the early 2000’s. Our daughter and son in law have the Netflix account and since they are living with us right now we use it, too. We DVR most shows and watch them earlier in the evening since Dear and I hit the sack real early. I also enjoy watching Barclays Premier League Soccer games early on Saturday mornings.

Favorite blog post last week (mine or other)….

My posts titled Still Praying and Z is for… were my favorites from last week.

Something fun to share….

This is the Amiable Guinea Pig from my collection of Beatrix Potter figurines that I started acquiring on a trip to England back in 1973. Beatrix Potter is a favorite of mine and her animal characters make me smile so I thought this would be fun to share.

There once was an amiable guinea pig,
He brushed back his hair like a periwig-
He wore a sweet tie,
As blue as the sky-
And his whiskers and buttons were very big.

Blog hopping (newly discovered blog)….

Diary of a Stay at Home Mom is a newly discovered blog. This being the new year and because some of my oldie blogs are biting the dust I need to peruse and make some changes to my blogroll.

On the menu for this week….

Don’t judge but I don’t usually have a daily plan for meals and I’m more of a fly by the seat of my pants cook on most days. I do know that every Tuesday is Tequila Tuesday when Dear and I go to our little Mexican joint for a meal together. Our favorite waitress serves us well.

Generally we have soup on a given night, a good hunk of meat on a given night, and a pasta something dish, a Mexican easy meal, and I’ll throw in some kind of Chicken dish.

Friday this week will be a special meal to celebrate our firstborn son. There will be 6 of us at the table and I’m going with a couple traditional Russian dishes. We will enjoy Lopsha (Russian Noodle Soup) for our starter soup. For the main course I’m making Golubtsi (stuffed cabbage rolls). I’ll throw in something green, too. Chocolate Birthday Cake for dessert.

On my to do list….

I’m a list keeper and I love crossing things off of it. So far today I was able to cross off brush my teeth, just kidding, but I am amazed that I finally ironed and put the fresh linens on the guest bed. Note to self…never buy bedding again that needs ironing.

In the craft basket….

Not a craft person… I do like to be creative in setting a table so I am gathering things to set the birthday table for Friday night.

Looking forward to this week…

The birthday celebration and hearing that our northeast kids got their gifts in the mail.

Looking around the house….

thinking about getting rid of some of the clutter that has piled up here and there after the holidays.

From the camera….

This little plaque is a gift from Marg, my friend from Mennonite Girls Can Cook. Translated from German to English it says God Can! It’s a motto we use with each other when things seem hard or impossible.

On my prayer list…..

See my favorite post link for a couple specific things on my prayer list. For each month I like to use a notebook page to list all the birthdays and anniversaries in the month and I’ll say a little prayer for each person or couple that is celebrating in that given month. I have my list of people who still need Jesus. I have my praise column. I have my illness and healing columns and there are enough of those that I have them under headings like Cancer, Leukemia, Heart, Emotional, Mental, Chronic Pain. I also pray for some children of broken homes. I have a widow and widower list and a single but would like to be married list. I also have a they need a job list. Now I don’t want to give you the impression that I sit in a comfy chair and pray for hours. I don’t. I like to use this page method so I don’t forget and so I have a guide and list to pray through.

Bible verse, Devotional….

My verse on my Prayer page this month is Psalm 4:1

Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness!
You have given me relief when I was in distress.
Be gracious to me and hear my prayer!

Thank you Sandra for hosting this weekly meme. I better publish it before Monday is gone. It took me a big longer than I thought to crank this out. With all the talk of homemaking I felt compelled to take a break to iron those blasted linens and it took a very long time. I hope to get around to others who are participating sometime today or tomorrow!

Blessings on your Monday!

The First…

…baby expected to arrive in January for Tim and Jess.

The first grandchild for each of these soon to be grandmothers.

The first sweet little dresses!

The bunting says “Welcome Baby Girl!

I think it will be the first time these two sister-in-laws to Jess, my nieces will be aunties, too.

Jess and her mom.

Cousins and more of my nieces.

Jess and our grand niece, Avery.

Jess and her friend Michelle who was also her maid of honor.

The shower favors were hand made candles by my niece Michelle, All Good Things Candles.

We are all looking forward to meeting you Baby Girl!

The Tailor of Gloucester

I started my Beatrix Potter Figurine collection on my first trip to England in 1973. I also bought a complete set of the books that Beatrix Potter wrote and illustrated. We knew about this shop in Gloucester and were determined to visit it while we were in Gloucester 41 years after I started my collection.

There are lots of shops relating to Beatrix Potter and Peter Rabbit in England.

This shop had a lot of fun displays filled with memorabilia.

Here is my “Tailor” and the books I purchased in 1973. Some of them are a little worn. I have 27 figurines. I’m just going to share a couple more for this post.

Here is Pigling Bland. The book to the right of Pigling Bland is Little Pig Robinson and when Josh was a little guy he figured out that this book was one of the longest in the series so he’d ask to have that one as his bedtime story knowing sleep would be delayed just a tad longer.

Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle is one of my favorites.

Of course Peter Rabbit is the most recognized of Beatrix Potter’s beloved characters.

Have you read Beatrix Potter’s books? Who is your favorite character?

Blue Monday ~ Beatrix Potter

I never get tired of sharing my sweet Beatrix Potter collection and I hope you aren’t tired of seeing them. These are the animals in my collection that have a lot of blue on them. I started my collection in 1973 when I was in England and added to them over a few years.

For more Blue or to join in the fun visit Sally our kind hostess here.

Today is a travel day for me so if I don’t get by today I’ll swing by tomorrow to see your blue.

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I posted on my blog from 2007-2015 hostage and replaced them with big black and grey boxes with threats. So discouraging…as I’m slowly trying to clean up thousands of posts!

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage

Tag Archives: Beatrix Potter Figurines

Who You Calling Old Hodgepodge

Missing Pieces

Beatrix Potter

Aunt Anna and the Amiable Guinea Pig

Happy Homemaker Monday

The First…

The Tailor of Gloucester

Blue Monday ~ Beatrix Potter