Great Exchange Weekend Recap #1

Our family had a full fun weekend on both sides of the mountains. I’ll call it the ‘Great Exchange Weekend of July 2025’. Our Son flew West and our Daughter-in-law flew East passing each other at the Spokane airport.

Auntie LoLo arrived to spend the weekend on our side of the mountains and our son Dan took off to spend the weekend with his brother on the west side.

Jamie and the kids waited for Auntie after dropping Dan off for his flight to SeaTac. The kids were so thrilled to have Auntie here for the weekend.

Our westside kids got together after Dan arrived for a meal together. Although it was a ‘brother’ weekend, Katie got to see her brothers. too.

Here in Colville there was hours filled enjoying Auntie Lolo. First up, time spent in the garden unveiling all the incredible produce.

Some of the crop goes right into the mouth.

Checking how tall the vines have grown. “How does your garden grow?”

Speaking of growth our Grands are growing into more independence in their leisure time. They still like to have the company of the adults they love but they can play on their own knowing the adults are close by.

There were many more ‘events’ over the weekend that I’ll need to save for another day.

I’m ever so thankful to Auntie Lolo for all the photos she shares!

Adding the latest from the Hope Fire:

7/21/2025 Hope Fire Quick Facts
🔥 Size: 7,891 Acres
👷‍♂️ Personnel: 1,027
✅ Containment: 45%

Happy Monday to you all.

Garage Sale 2025

It was a long two days in the heat but we made it through with some good profits. Just before we closed the doors on Saturday afternoon we had some large last minute sales.

It was fun to watch these two engage with the public and sell their goods. People were very generous and they made $72.00 over the two days. We were only open for business from 8am until 3pm Friday and Saturday.

The conversation of the day was all about the heat and about the fires. It was fun to meet some neighbors we’d never meet without them stopping at the sale. With so much acreage between homes it’s not easy to meet. We recognized some employees from Wal-Mart.

When the sale was over on Saturday, Jamie’s mom volunteered to load the back of her pick-up with items that didn’t sell and that we didn’t want to hang onto anymore. That was so generous and we are thankful.

Our trees are helpful with the shade they provide.

What a blessing it was to be able to have the sale in the shop instead of everything being outside in the heat.

We are recuperating and it will take a couple days to get back to normal around here.

In other news…

Last Thursday morning while we were getting set up for the garage sale we had the fun treat of seeing a Doe with her two fawns. It is so cute to watch the fawns frolicking. I wasn’t quick enough to get a shot of them while they were on our property. If you look closely you can just make them out in the center of the photo.

Last Wednesday Addy had some dental work done and she was such a trooper. She got an ice cream treat after her procedure.

She was smiling before and still smiling after it was all done.

The fire that is closest to us, Hope Fire, is still not contained. Our community is doing their best to help with support for the fire fighters and with housing animals, etc.

This is an update from Sunday night:

A considerable amount of progress has been made on the Hope Fire. Crews worked diligently to strengthen the control line along the southwest and southeast flank of the fire. Other lines were improved or added, including completion of structural protections on Flagstaff Mountain. Aerial operations are being used to cool down hotspots. Total containment for the fire has been updated to 8%.

I am behind in visiting blogs and hope to catch-up when my brain recovers. Hope all is well with y’all.

 

Huckleberry Season!

It’s Huckleberry season around these parts and our Colville kids found a good spot for picking them. It’s not for the faint of heart.

Steep terrain is a given when picking.

I’m glad they went before the fires started.

Nearly 7,000 acres have burned between Kettle Falls and Northport, Washington, with no containment of the fire as of Thursday morning, fire officials said.

The Hope fire, burning near Northport Flat Creek Road and 15 Mile Creek Road on the north side of the Columbia River, has grown to 6,764 acres with level 3 evacuations, meaning to leave immediately, remaining in effect. The fire is about 15 miles north of Kettle Falls.

Wednesday evening the winds were blowing in our direction so it was very smoky making our eyes hurt. Thursday we did not get that same level of smoke. We saw helicopters flying all day for water drops. We’ve been in the shop working hard getting everything ready for our Garage sale today and tomorrow. That is why you haven’t heard much from me. I hope to catch up with y’all next week.

Have a great Friday!

Better or Worse Hodgepodge

There is always a way to take a photo of our acreage without showing you the close-up of our out of control weeds! 🙂 We got behind and it seems there is no catching up. A couple evenings ago, I was thanking the LORD for this view out our bedroom window. It is His handiwork, not mine. I just water between the rain.

Thank you, Joyce, for more Hodgepodge Questions this week. 

1. What’s an adult problem nobody prepared you for? 

All the technology stuff and apps you need on your phone and those QR thingies to take a photo of so you can do stuff like, parking downtown, checking in for a flight, ordering food at your table. Besides being unprepared for it, I dislike it and avoid it as much as possible.

2. How tuned in are you to all the recent food related health news? Have you gotten rid of your scratched cookware? Did you pay attention to food additives before they made the news? What’s one healthy eating/cooking/food shopping habit you need to adopt? 

Oh no, what have I missed or should I be glad I missed it. Maybe I will learn more when I read all the answers from other hodgepodgers. The one habit we’d like to adopt is to eat less sugary things.

I was a home economics major but that doesn’t mean I’m the model of excellence in all things home economics. One thing I learned in a nutrition class that has always stuck with me is that there aren’t fattening foods, per se. What is ‘fattening’ is the total of what you eat not one individual thing. Does that make sense. Some foods have gotten a bad wrap.

3. What’s getting worse and worse as you get older? How about better and better? 

Worse and worse is my memory and being able to recall the right word or the name of something or your name in a pinch! The struggle is true and real.

Better and better is my assurance of and the hope I have in the one true God who saved me by sending His Son, Jesus Christ to be the substitute for my punishment and the redeemer of my life here and the giver of my life in heaven for eternity.

4. Are you more of an indoor person or an outdoor person? Elaborate. 

I’m a little of both. By outside, if you mean having a stroll through a beautiful garden or around beautiful ancient ruins I’m a fan. I’m not a fan of getting to the top of the mountain by hiking where there are mosquitoes and other bugs and natural prey to contend with all the way. I do enjoy an early morning stroll along the beach. The cool of the morning calls to me. I guess I’m a comfort traveler or outdoorsy person. Strong emphasis on comfort.

From 2006-2009 we lived in Camarillo, California while Greg worked in Thousand Oaks temporarily.  Most Saturdays we would walk the beaches starting before sunrise. We moved back to our home in Kenmore (NE of Seattle) in early 2010.

I enjoy being inside in the morning hours in my robe and slippers getting ready for the day leisurely. I’m not a fan of being stuck indoors, though. I will enjoy strolling through a cathedral, or a museum, or a library. I prefer eating inside.

5. If you had an expert personal assistant today, what would you have them do? 

Since being healthy is all the rage, I’ll take a personal chef who makes healthy food Greg and I would eat.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

We are having a garage sale this Friday and Saturday. Pricing and organizing takes a lot of time. Hopefully we’ll make enough so that we feel it was worth it and at the same time get rid of a lot of stuff we don’t use anymore.

There will be several more tables added and more stuff but this was the start of things for the sale. That pretty butterfly came to visit while I was pricing things.

We have a fire in our area and people are pulling together to help and give shelter to people and animals.

This fire is north and across the Columbia river from us.

Staying safe in Colville. Hope all is well in your neck of the woods.