Birds of a Feather…

We have had birds and more birds pecking about our yard the last couple of weeks. It has been fun to see the many varieties.

This European Starling is a new addition in our yard this year.

They like to stick together and they fly off together, too.

We had a fun time this weekend with a few members of our family. Girls of a feather that enjoy sticking together, too. It wasn’t the whole flock but we take what we can get. My oldest sister Kathy’s two daughters were able to fly to Seattle to stay with my baby sister Lana. Our daughter Katie and DIL Laura joined the girls at Lana’s for a few days of nonstop fun.

Michelle, Melissa, Katie and Laura

Our hostess, Auntie Lana, joined the girls for a photo!

And Auntie Ellen, too.

Between seasons of Downton Abbey we were able to fit in a trip to Country Village in Bothell where we made some fun purchases and after the shopping trip we met up with all the guys for dinner at the Purple Cafe.

There were 10 of us at dinner but I couldn’t get a great shot of everyone. Lana’s husband Steve, Dear, Ryan (my niece Michelle’s husband) and our son Josh joined the girls for a lovely meal out and then it was back to Lana’s for more Downton Abbey…

The guys were very accommodating to the girls this weekend and we appreciate them very much. We only had enough time to make it through 2 whole seasons and the Christmas Special from Downton Abbey. My sister Lana is the only one of us who hasn’t seen season 3 yet and we left the DVD’s with her so she can finish off the series before Season 4 starts here in the states in January.

We said our farewells and our guests headed back to the airport to fly back to Southern California. We all look forward to the next time we can be together.

We are in a foggy pattern here in the Western part of the Puget Sound that has extended up to British Columbia. We are hoping the sun can break through the fog in the next days ahead.

The Year Is Swiftly Waning ~ Hymn

The Year is Swiftly Waning

The year is swiftly waning,
The summer days are past;
And life, brief life, is speeding;
The end is nearing fast.

The ever changing seasons
In silence come and go;
But Thou, eternal Father,
No time or change canst know.

O, pour Thy grace upon us,
That we may worthier be,
Each year that passes o’er us,
To dwell in heaven with Thee.

Behold the bending orchards
With bounteous fruit are crowned;
Lord, in our hearts more richly
Let heavenly fruits abound.

O, by each mercy sent us,
And by each grief and pain,
By blessings like the sunshine,
And sorrows like the rain.

Our barren hearts make fruitful
With every goodly grace,
That we Thy name may hallow,
And see at last Thy face.

Words: William W. How, 1871.

What September Holds…

We are aware of some things that September holds for us and we aren’t naive enough to think we know all that it holds.

My mom’s life is still in the balance.

Here are some things we are looking forward to…

A milestone birthday for Dear on September 9th.

My parents 70th wedding anniversary.

(Technically they have already been married for 70 years since their wedding in Iran was in mid summer but the official date on their U.S. papers says September 13th)

A milestone trip to England with our son Josh and DIL Laura from September 12th thru the 23rd.

We know we’ll be seeing so many wonderful sites. I’m so excited to be going again with a digital camera this time. It will be Josh and Laura’s first time there. EXCITED!

Some of the planned events are:

Going to Old Trafford Stadium in Manchester for the Manchester United ~ Crystal Palace soccer game on Saturday the 14th.

A night in the Cotswolds.

A night in Wells so we can explore the cathedral and walk around the castle moat.

3 nights in Southwest Cornwall doing whatever we decide to do which will include hikes to the beach and St. Michael’s Mount.

Ending our trip with a weekend in London where we have rented an apartment home near Portabello Road. We will try to get in as many landmark London sites as possible and hope to be able to also see a play or musical.

Other things to look forward to in September after our trip are:

Day trip adventures with our daughter Katie while she is living with us for this new season which may or may not include tea. I’m also going to take advantage of Katie’s technical skills to help me hook up our new slide and photo scanner and for her to help me learn to use it!

Starting up our weekly Small group meetings again.

Our Fall Women’s Bible Study at church.

What are you looking forward to in this month of September?

Love Watching…

…my little visitors and other randomness.

We are being threatened with flooding rains today. We’ll see what happens.

Today I’m getting my temporary crown replaced with my permanent one. I’ve been encouraged that this will be nothing like my last appointment so I’m optimistic. While I’m out I’ll take care of getting what I need for my contribution for the Thanksgiving gathering we are having on Thursday at the home of dear friends. Our son Dan made it home from our family Thanksgiving time to 14 inches of snow at his home.

How are your Thanksgiving plans shaping up?

Things Are Looking Up…

Just wanted all my kind bloggy friends to know that I’m feeling a whole lot better. For the record, my tooth has not hurt at all and the temporary crown feels fine. All my discomfort involved the procedure. The fear involved with my throat and swallowing affected my whole body. Amazing how powerful fear can be. Once again thank you for your great encouragement to me.

Looks like I’ll be mowing some more leaves but not until next week! Tomorrow I get to go see my ~~therapist~~ hairdresser. Hope your week is going well.

Got Leaves?

It’s good to see that after some storms we had this weekend the maple tree is almost bare of it’s leaves. We only have one more huge leaf raking job till next fall. For the record, that maple tree isn’t on our property but I suppose since we enjoy it during the year we can suffer through the leaf waste during the fall. Do you have to rake leaves where you are? I’m glad our yard waste pick-up allows us to put out as many cans as we want.

Visit Mary at The Little Red House for Mosaic Monday.

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.

FFF ~ As November Begins…

It’s Friday again and time for Friday’s Fave Five. Look back over your week and choose some favorites you’d like to share. Join us at Susanne’s Living to Tell the Story to share your five.

This week is a week of looking forward for me. Looking forward to next week when our middle son is finally back in our home state of Washington. Looking forward to having an early Thanksgiving meal together. But I’ll pause and think back and share my favorite quotes from this past week.

1. From Gumbo Lily’s blog ~

Earth is crammed with Heaven
and every bush aflame with God.
But only those who see
take off their shoes.

~Elizabeth Barrett Browning

2. From my brother and SIL on Facebook ~

“How much greater is the God we have than the one we think we have” -Father Gregory Boyle

3. From Mighty Mom’s Blog ~

“You can get glad in the same shoes you got mad in.”

4. From our sermon on Sunday at Westminster Chapel in Bellevue, Washington.

“Your dreams should be bigger then your memories”

5. My fifth favorite is not a quote. Hip Hip Hooray the elections are over and my phone has stopped ringing off the hook looking for support of such and such candidate!!

I hope to come around soon and see what your favorites were this past week. Blessings…

Ruby Tuesday ~

…is it possible in my oh so blue state? Time will tell if the state of Washington turns a little Ruby today.

For more Ruby Tuesday visit Mary at Work of the Poet.

There’s a Chill in the Air…

…so turn the heat up with Rosemary’s Soup.

We’ve been enjoying this soup since Sunday with some Parmesan shavings on top and good crusty bread. Dear has added a few drops of Tabasco in his and it really warms him up!

FFF ~ A Year Ago…

Thank you Susanne for hosting this weekly event! Click over to Living to Tell the Story to join in.

What a difference a year makes. The photos in my collage are from last October while we were still living in Southern California. An early morning walk at Emma Wood Beach with Dear. A walk at the Blueberry fields with Willow. Tea with Willow in Camarillo while she knits and Tea with my family in Fullerton when Avery was just a wee little baby. Good memories. If you are a knitter there’s an opportunity for you to donate some of your work for a great cause. Click over to Willow’s Cottage for the details. But hurry there’s a deadline.

Now for my favorites from this past week.

1. Monday’s Announcement about the Mennonite Girls Can Cook Cookbook coming out next Spring! We had to keep it under wraps for a long time and it was fun to finally have a press release and to be able to speak about it!

2. Tuesday night Josh, Laura and I attended an international friendly soccer game at Qwest field between Seattle Sounders F.C. and Chivas de Guadalajara a premier team from Mexico. There were so many Chivas fans there and it’s the first time I’ve been at a Sounders game where the opposing team cheered even louder then us. A very exciting game with music and announcements in Spanish. We were horrible hosts, though, because we whooped them 3 to 1.

3. Making an appointment for Katie’s first wedding dress shopping this Saturday. Katie, Laura, my sister Lana, Katie’s Maid of Honor Jamie and I are all going along for the fun. When I called to make the appointment the sweet gal said “Don’t forget to bring your camera”. Now that was music to my ears!

4. I over stressed the muscles in my right arm over the last month and have had a lot of pain and haven’t been able to do the simplest things with my right hand because of it. I asked for prayer at Bible Study and one of the gals there decided I needed to go see her muscle guy at an Athletic Institute and got on her phone right then and there and made me an appointment. This guy worked on my muscles from my back, shoulder, upper arm, etc. etc. and the results are amazing. I’ll be going back because the results are worth it. I don’t even know how much it cost because this gal took care of the fee for me. That was over the top generous of her!

5. Participating in a Bible study on the Book of Philippians has been really good. The main theme of the book is JOY in all circumstances because Christ is with us and because we can have the attitude that He had. That really is the key to everyday life and I like focusing on that every week.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage

Tag Archives: Fall