The Fort

The photo above popped up in my memories this week from our first home in the state of Washington. Our kids built this fort in our back yard in the early 90’s.

Do any of you watch the show on History Channel called ‘Alone’?

“The HISTORY Channel’s hit survival series “Alone” is back like never before and taking place in the most dangerous location yet. In Season 8, 10 contestants fight to survive in the Canadian wilderness on the shores of Chilko Lake, British Columbia.”

I’m always impressed with the structures the contestants are able to build with just an ax. They have to cut the trees down all alone…

Flat Stanley in Washington

We’ve been busy on the coast with some fun trips around the area showing Flat Stanley the sights so he can report back to our grandniece, Skylar, who lives in New York.

We were surprised with this bit of history in Bothell and happy that part of the Red Brick Road has been preserved.

Flat Stanley is on a flat tractor just off the red brick road. After we read this history we walked to one of the bridges over the Sammamish Slough in Bothell. The Sammamish River (Slough) connects Lake Washington in Kenmore to Lake Sammammish in Redmond. We wanted to show Flat Stanley the part of this river that Skylar kayaked on a couple years ago.

We walked to where the Sammamish Trail and the Burke Gilman Trail meet.

We continued on to the University of Washington after this stop to see the Cherry Blossoms and beyond for other iconic sights of Seattle. I’ll share my photos from the other stops after we get home to Colville.

I’m way behind in visiting but will catch up when I’m in our Country Bungalow.

Rain…

…from the clouds and from my eyes.

30 years in Bothell/Kenmore. So many memories as we say our goodbye. This iconic sign used to be in another location and our family took a photo by it years ago before marriages and grandchildren. I’m going to track down that photo once we are unpacked to show the before and after. This week has been an emotional week for me. Tears come unexpectedly. We left early Sunday morning for good to Colville. More of our journey and new adventures coming soon. Thank you, thank you to all of my praying bloggy friends for upholding us in this new journey. I thank God for you!

For a Day or a Lifetime…

Besides our mattress (no box springs) these are the only furnishings left in our home for us to sit on. No TV but we still have internet. Today, Sunday, we went to church and said our goodbyes. We went out for breakfast after church since we have packed up all our dishes, etc. After breakfast we put our trailer on “offer up” and immediately got several inquiries on it and sold it within 2 hours. The couple who came to pick up the trailer also took two large “free” items we had on the curb, win win. Less items to take to the dump. We gave a few potted plants and patio decor to our neighbors. Then we made a trip to son #1’s to sit on a couch and watch the Sounders game. We also transported our two top hat blueberry bushes to their patio. We left one of our cars there and came back home via a new hamburger joint in Bothell. We’ll have one more sleep at this old house and then we’ll transfer our temporary residence to son #1’s home.

This was the classic Bothell sign we stopped on the side of the road to climb up to in the 90’s and take this shot for our Christmas photo. Since then a new college has been built on part of this site and the sign was removed.

A new sign has been added recently to replace the old one. I like the old one better. When we moved to Washington in 1988 our first home was in Bothell. Our current home had a Bothell address until the city of Kenmore incorporated in 1998, the year we moved to this old house. We’ve lived in Bothell and Kenmore more than a day but less than a lifetime.

This will be my last post from this old house.

Give Thanks and Make Known

Yesterday I reported that we weren’t slated to get snow but when I walked down the stairs this morning at “oh dark thirty” I noticed that we did get a dusting in the wee hours. Once it’s light I’ll take a photo before it all melts off with the rain that is falling.

Waking this morning my mind was singing these lyrics off an old Acapella cd.

Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name
Make known among the nations what he has done
Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name
Make known among the nations what he has done

Chorus:
Sing to him sing praise to him
Tell of all his wonderful acts
Glory in his holy name
Glory in his holy name
Glory in his name
Glory in his name

Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name
Let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice

I rejoice and give thanks for God’s beautiful creation. I so love autumn, the weather, the colors, the start of something fresh and new.

We live in an area with easy access to walking trails and parks that show off God’s creation.

There’s an old public golf course along the Burke Gilman Trail that the city of Bothell sold off and it is sitting and waiting for developers to change it’s landscape. There was lots of controversy over this sale and I’m sure the folks whose homes have enjoyed the green views are disappointed. In the interim they are allowing the public to walk on the course. We enjoyed our first time doing this last Sunday. The many hazards on the course were left there by Canadian Geese, wink wink.

Old and young golfers are mourning the loss of this course. We met one of them who wasn’t golfing this day but walking his old dog on the course instead.

I’m thankful to God for this guy and all the years we’ve had together so far.

Not linking up today with any memes because it snowed and I have to make potato salad to go with the pork butt that has been in the smoker already for 5 hours and the Sounders won last night and I was at the game and didn’t get home till after 10:30 PM…way late for this early to bed, early to rise person. I hope no grammar police are out today to critique my run-on paragraph! Our Sounders are off to the Western Conference Finals!

Go Sounders!

This is what it looks like here this morning. Yikes! It’s melting fast.

Also…to to Mennonite Girls Can Cook for a yummy white chili recipe.

Beauty from Ashes…

We had a devastating fire in our neighboring city, Bothell, on Main Street.

Several businesses were totally destroyed. Temporary Fences have been put up to keep people away from danger.

The fire started in a section of downtown that was being renovated into new apartments. The crane you see was destroyed in the fire, too. The fire was so intense it hopped the street to destroy the little Bothell Mall.

ATF and other agencies are in town trying to determine why the fire started.

The community has come together to help support those who have lost their businesses and for the employees of those businesses who are out of work now.

This section of Main street is closed to traffic but the undamaged businesses are still open for business and they are making sure the signs are visible. We have enjoyed meals at Three Lions Pub, Alexa’s Cafe, and the Kozy Korner Cafe. Over the years we have had several breakfasts at the now destroyed Kozy Korner Cafe.

We drove out to Main street on Tuesday to see the damage ourselves. On Thursday the Chamber of Commerce is having a fund raiser on Main street inviting the community to come out to help raise money for the businesses that are destroyed and who’s employees are out of work.

I’m linking up to signs, signs by Lesley.

We are happy at this old house that temps are being downgraded for the rest of this week. We aren’t fans of over 80 degree weather. We are heat wimps. Hope you are keeping cool!

Dark and Foggy

Dear was ready for a walk on Saturday. Dear is a morning person, a very early morning person. I was able to stall him a bit so our walk could at least end in the light. We walked the same trail as Katie and I walked but we headed in the opposite direction.

Since it was foggy and dark for half our walk I decided to leave my larger camera at home and I only took my little pocket camera. Being out so early we were able to hear a lot of birds chirping and quacking.

When Katie and I walked last Wednesday these gopher mounds weren’t here. This cracked me up because it seemed like this particular varmint didn’t appreciate the work the city had gone to in designating this spot to sit and watch the river flow.

Rounding a bend we heard this rooster crow and announce the new day had begun. He was chasing some ducks around and trying to establish his kingship amongst the foul.

We’ve never seen a beaver along the banks but we have seen lots of evidence of their presence.

We always love to see eagles and we were treated to a couple eagle sightings on this morning. I really had to zoom in with my little camera and was happy that you can tell it really was an eagle we saw.

As we walked back to the car we heard this group of Comorants put up a fuss and fly off together. They had all been sitting in a tree together that the eagle we had spotted earlier decided to perch in.

He now had the whole tree to himself.

Beautiful reflections on the river surface always grab my attention.

There is a different kind of beauty in the foggy overcast vistas.

Because of our weather in the Pacific Northwest we have no shortage of moss, ferns, and very interesting bark here.

As we continued back to our car we had one more eagle spotting. I was wondering if this was a second eagle or if it was following us along the trail.

When we got back to our car we decided that a doughnut would be a nice treat on this cold foggy morning. Something to take back home to enjoy with our eggs. I’m happy to say that I didn’t feel guilty about that doughnut or the eggs!

Faithful Shepherd, Feed Me ~ Hymn

Faithful Shepherd, Feed Me

Faithful Shepherd, feed me
In the pastures green;
Faithful Shepherd, lead me
Where Thy steps are seen.

Hold me fast, and guide me
In the narrow way;
So, with Thee beside me,
I shall never stray.

Daily bring me nearer
To the heav’nly shore;
Make my faith grow clearer,
May I love Thee more.

Hallow every pleasure,
Every gift and pain;
Be Thyself my treasure,
Though none else I gain.

Day by day prepare me
As Thou seest best,
Then let angels bear me
To Thy promised rest.

Words: Thomas B. Pollack, December 1868.

Renovations…

…are a great excuse for eating out. Thankfully we can take advantage of the lower priced Happy Hours around town since Dear starts work early and gets home earlier than most. Remember if you don’t drink alcohol you can still enjoy Happy Hours. Usually they just require you to order some type of drink including soft drinks or iced tea, etc.

We have found a new place to us in town that we have enjoyed a few times now.

Main Street Ale House in Bothell. I didn’t take a photo of the jalapeno poppers we had last Wednesday night. They were delicious stuffed with cheese and wrapped in thick bacon. They came with a dipping sauce that was sweet (maple syrup and brown sugary). A great sweet and savory combo.

We actually had a meal in from items I purchased at Costco last Thursday. They had their rotisserie chicken packaged in leg quarters in the fresh refrigerated section 8 quarters for $4.99. I bought those a container of Coconut Curry Sauce, some Naan bread, rice and a Caesar salad. I simmered 4 of the chicken quarters in the sauce to serve with the rest of the sides that I bought. Easy peasy in a kitchen that is not totally back to normal.

What is your go to restaurant or bring in meal when things are topsy turvy at home?

My mom continues to be cared for at home and she has her major ups and downs. My family is continuing to make adjustments to make her as comfortable as we can. Thank you so much for all your prayers and kind encouragement during this time. My family is blessed by it all.

Here’s my mom from Monday night having some ice cream and coloring with my niece Melissa. She really enjoyed this and I love seeing these photos.

A Trail Walk…

Almost a month ago Dear and I drove to the river trail close to us to have a very early Saturday morning walk.

At the beginning of our walk it was just us and the birds.

The mist was lying low.

It was so peaceful.

Finally it was late enough in the morning to see other humans. This was the first time I’ve seen policemen on bicycles on the trail. I was happy to see them. I hesitate to walk this trail by myself because there are so many secluded parts of the trail. When we walk this trail we do a quick one hour walk which ends up being about 3 miles or so. A good start to our Saturday morning. Hope we didn’t spoil the good of the walk with this next stop we made on the way home…

Someone did say that it’s good to have a goal for your walk to motivate you. I don’t think this is what they had in mind, though.

When our floors are done I hope to drag Dear out to the trail again on a Saturday morning. He is a willing victim when we start very early. During the week it would only work for us to walk in the evening since Dear is out the door by 4:30 A.M. on weekdays. Do you prefer to walk in the morning or the evening?

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage

Tag Archives: Bothell