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.

Interrupting My Reflecting…

…because of the glorious sunshine!

Dear and I headed out in the sunshine for a walk on the Burke Gilman Trail. This trail runs along Lake Washington.

The seagulls and ducks were excited because someone had thrown some bread on the end of the dock.

This bird is not a seagull or a duck and a lot larger. Couldn’t identify what it is. It didn’t have a white head like a bald eagle.

We walked off the trail to check out this small preserve.

I believe Lake Washington is the 2nd largest lake in the state of Washington.

It was windy enough to make waves on the lake.

Our walk and this day was just ducky! Everyone we encountered was smiling and expressing jubilation over the wonderful sunshine.

Hope your week has been just ducky, too.

Closer to Home

…and what’s been going on here at this old house. I’ll start with the latest and work back.

We switched out our old fireplace insert for a new one with no brass and a larger window, quieter fan and more efficiency. We are happy with our choice. While the installers were at my house on Wednesday I scrubbed down all my kitchen cabinets and scrubbed my hardwood floors.

No I don’t have my Christmas Tree yet, but can you believe all the Christmas merchandise in the stores already? I digress…

I posted this photo to show you the 3 bookshelves full of books that on Thursday while I waited for the Inspector to sign off on the fireplace insert I dusted. Yep, each and every book and all the shelves. My wrists and arms and knees are calling for a couple days off now! And speaking of Christmas our mystery tree this year is going in a new spot and I’ll show you that in December!

I received a package from bj (Sweet Nothings) in Texas because my name was drawn on her giveaway. She has such a good sense of humor and I enjoy visiting her blog.

A few Saturdays ago Katie and I met some friends at the Seattle Center for the Northwest Tea Festival. We enjoyed sipping tea samples and then we all went out for lunch at a Thai Restaurant close to the center.

These girls have been friends since elementary school.

My new getting out and exercising plan is continuing nicely. Some views from my walking trail…

On a overcast morning I thought this boat and it’s reflection was very cool and look at these great looking mushrooms!

The following week these same mushrooms had spread out to a huge flat top and I didn’t have my camera with me. Epic fail…

After exercise class this morning Katie and I are headed to University Village for W Day in honor of the University of Washington homecoming. We’ll be wearing some vintage sweatshirts from when Dear was in Pharmacy School at the University of Washington. There are special offers and discounts available from merchants if you are wearing purple or UW-licensed apparel.

Katie and I look a little different now but we’ll both be wearing a sweatshirt like the one I’m wearing here at Disneyland back when the University of Washington went to the Rose Bowl and played Michigan on January 1, 1992. Dear was able to get tickets for the Rose Bowl game and we decided to take a family trip to California and enjoy a day at Disneyland with the kids and time with family for Christmas. Fun memories…

Hope you all have a good weekend!

Good Fences ~ Log Boom Park

I’ve started walking with a group from the Senior Center on Tuesdays and Thursdays on the Burke Gilman Trail starting at Log Boom Park in Kenmore, Washington. I was a little early last Thursday and walked out to the lake to take some photos.

The trail runs close to Lake Washington going west from Log Boom. If you walk in the opposite direction the trail continues along the Sammamish River that runs between Lake Washington and Lake Sammamish. The trail is a great place to walk or ride a bike.

It was a lovely peaceful morning at the northern edge of Lake Washington.

This morning I’m headed out again to the trail in the misty rain to walk. I’m relieved by this coolness after being in 100+ Southern California. I’m enjoying my latest activity boost with walking on Tuesdays and Thursdays and my exercise class on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Got to keep at it!

I’m linking to Good Fences #26 hosted by TexWisGirl from Run*A*Round Ranch Report. Thanks for being such a great hostess for your link-up.

I Love This Time of Year…

The beginning of the traditional school year is a favorite time for me. I’ve been absent from Susanne’s Friday’s Fave Five for a while but I wanted to chime in with some things this week that make my favorite’s list.

My exercise regiment has been totally non-existent for quite a while. It’s been hit and miss at best. Today I hope I’ve found some things to remedy this problem in my life. So here are my five…

1. I’ve had a hard time finding a regular walking buddy since I’ve come back to Washington. If you are part of Susanne’s weekly fave five you know who Willow is. Well…she used to be my walking buddy when we lived in the same city in Southern California but since I moved back to Washington in the Spring of 2010 I’ve been without a regular walking buddy. Boo hoo. Today I joined up with a group from the Senior Center who walk every Tuesday and Thursday rain or shine on a great walking trail close to my home.

What a beautiful day it was to walk and a nice bunch of ladies. We saw this wonderful view of Mt. Rainier at our turning point on the trail.

2. After being encouraged with being out of doors and walking, I showered and headed to the Senior center to sign up for an exercise class that meets Monday, Wednesday and Fridays. I’m excited about my daily exercise commitment.

3. I’m happy to be done, done, done, with the Bathroom Renovation company. I’m looking forward to Dear finishing up the bathroom and sharing it with you all in the near future.

4. This new expanded family will be my favorite for a long time. I am really looking forward to meeting my new little nephew from the Ukraine.

5. Celebrating Dear’s birthday with most of our kids was another favorite for sure. It is so good to be together and enjoy each other.

I found a photo I took on September 11, 2001 and wanted to share it here, too. We can never take for granted the freedoms we are afforded here in our country and we can never forget that there are those who would love to destroy those freedoms. So thankful to God for his protection over us and that no matter what, we have a hope in our future that cannot be taken away!

What makes your thankful list this week?

The Winter Trail…

On Wednesday we had a dry day with some sun breaking through the clouds and I was happy that our daughter Katie agreed to join me on a walk on our favorite trail.

We start out on the Sammamish River Trail close to downtown Bothell and heading west it soon becomes the Burke-Gilman Trail.

It was so nice to have a dry day for some exercise. Thirty minutes out and thirty minutes back is our standard plan. That translates to about three miles at our pace.

The reflections on the river were exceptional.

We were dressed for the cold. Katie had her ear muffs and gloves. I walk a little warmer and didn’t need muffs or gloves on this day.

The Canadian Geese were out in numbers and squawking quite loudly.

Part of the trail runs alongside a public golf course with bridges that traverse the Sammamish River.

More reflections in the river.

The best treat during our walk besides the good feeling that our heart rates were being elevated was spotting this eagle!

Ducks and Geese are a dime a dozen, not to mention seagulls and crows, but seeing an eagle is always a very special treat.

I’m still hoping to make walking part of my weekly habit. It is so much easier to get motivated to step out and walk when the weather is dry.

Where do you like to walk?

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 Turkey is Out of the Oven…

Over the years we have learned to adapt to whatever comes our way during the major holidays. Sometimes I make a turkey on Thanksgiving sometimes not. This year I made my turkey today, Tuesday with all the trimmings. My daughter and I very unceremoniously had a plate full of comfort at about 5 pm. After 9pm I’m headed to the airport to pick up Dear and my brother and his wife for the extended weekend. If they are hungry they’ll have a turkey snack before we retire.

On Thursday we are invited to friends for our Thanksgiving Day meal. I’ll bring my yams and an appetizer. Every other year all the married kids have their meal with the in-laws. This is the year that all the married kids will be together with the rest of us so we’re expecting 39 for dinner. My family contributes 9 bodies to the table this year.

On Saturday our oldest son and I will fly to New Mexico to attend our middle son’s graduation from Academy. We will be gone till Tuesday.

So all this to say ellen b. won’t be doing her usual visiting and posting. I do have a couple auto-posts ready but my fingers won’t be hitting the keyboards until next Wednesday.

Hope you all have a great Thanksgiving extended weekend or regular weekend if you live outside the U.S. May God richly bless all your comings and goings…

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.

Friday’s Fave Five ~ NW

This past week has been filled with activity and adventures and fun. It’s time to narrow it down to my 5 favorites and join in with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and share. Thank you Susanne for hosting this great weekly event!

1. It was great to have family and friends over for a 4th of July barbecue!

2. My niece Debbee arrived on Sunday afternoon and the adventures began. On Monday my kids and I went to Happy Hour in downtown Seattle for dinner before the Mariners game at Safeco field. It was “Salute to Japanese Baseball night so that’s why we are saluting! :0)

3. On Tuesday the girls went shopping in the University District and walked around the University of Washington campus then we met the guys for dinner on the waterfront in Kirkland.

4. 3 mornings this week I walked along our beautiful Sammamish River/Burke Gilman Trail while my niece Debbee ran for an hour. She’s in training for her cross country high school coaching job and the Boston Marathon. Her main job at the high school is teaching math.

5. Having a nice day out with my daughter shopping in Bellevue and discovering this great Irish Pub for lunch!

6. I’m adding a favorite this week!! I really enjoyed this great wine ad in a Thai Restaurant my niece and I had lunch in. If you can’t read it too well it says “I finally remembered…red with hunter, white with fisherman. Too cute!

Looking forward to seeing your favorites this week.

Outdoor Wednesday ~ Washington State

My walking buddies and I have been walking this trail along the Sammamish River in Washington every Saturday for years now. I miss a lot of Saturdays these days because I’m living in Southern California right now but when I travel back to Washington we meet again on Saturday mornings at 9:00 and walk our 6 miles. Jody and Jan still walk the trail while I’m in California.

Isn’t this chubby little bird cute? I was so pleased it sat still till I could zoom in and get a photo.

For more Outdoor Wednesday Posts please visit our hostess Susan at A Southern DayDreamer~

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage

Tag Archives: Burke Gilman Trail