Barn Collective

I might have shared this one before and I wonder if it’s still standing since fires are burning out of control in this part of Northeastern Washington.

The rest of my selection are paintings that my Mother-in-Law painted. She grew up in Kansas and taught in a one room schoolhouse in Kansas. I think she saw lots of barns in her lifetime!

Linking up with Tom at Backroads Traveller for the Barn Collective.

We have been getting texts, watching the news and searching for news on the fires that are burning in Northeast Washington too close to our son and daughter in law and their friends for comfort. Because of all the fires raging in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana resources are at their limits. When this northern part of Steven’s county where our son lives called to get help they were told there was no help left to send them. Homeowners have been doing what they can to try to save their homes. We thought our son’s friend’s family had lost their home to the fire that swept through his property but we were happy to learn that the house did not burn down but all their out-buildings a truck and tractor were lost. We will get more details when it’s safer to return and assess all that was lost. This area is in a State of Emergency and are awaiting a declaration as a Disaster Area. It’s my understanding if they get a Disaster Declaration they might be able to get some national help with the fires. This is the worst situation that people who have lived in this area for years and years have experienced.

This is a photo I found on line of the Marble Valley Fire in Addy, Washington. Our son’s friend’s home is on that hillside and our son and daughter in law’s home is about 5 miles away.

I love the prayer a dear friend has prayed for this situation…

“will be praying for Dan and Jamie’s situation — that God will hold his hand over them … keep them safe from the fire and may the fire be blown out by an angelic host .. since everyone else is busy ! “

And I’m also praying for all the firefighters that are probably exhausted and the poor homeowners who have lost everything in this fire. For our son’s friend (who was one of his groomsmen) and his family as they walk about their property and make plans to replace what was lost. Even though their home did not burn down there is probably some smoke issues that need addressing. Praying that the winds stay calm and more help will arrive and that the fires get under control. If you pray could you add your prayers to mine for this area? Thank you!

Oh Happy Day!

What a wonderful Wednesday this is for our family. We woke up to news from Kiev that finally all the papers and legal documents were in order and my dear Sister-in-law will be traveling home with their new son, our new nephew ( the initial trip to the Ukraine and applying for the legal papers was at the beginning of July). My brother Leonard and niece Hope are anxiously waiting for that plane to land later this week with Mandy and Andrew on it. Home at last and a forever family for little Andrew (5 yrs. old). Hope met her new little brother during the initial trip in July. When I get the OK, I’ll post a photo of their family. We are thanking the Lord for his love and care in this grueling process which started way earlier than July…

More good things happening here…

Last night we got together to celebrate Josh and Laura’s 13th wedding anniversary. Josh and Laura are a wonderful couple and such a blessing to our family, Laura’s family and friends.

We are really enjoying the fact that for the first time since they got married Katie and Andrew are living in the Seattle Area.

We are also grateful to God for watching over our son Dan on an assignment away from his home for a month. He’s back home now safe and sound and we rejoice with that news. So all of our children are in the state of Washington for now. Very good news.

On Sunday Dear and I were at a local elementary school getting it spruced up for the coming year. Dear was spreading bark and I was suppose to help a teacher in her classroom along with a couple other volunteers. When I got to the classroom two young ladies walked up with their name tags on and I was surprised to see the name Ellen on one of them. I do not encounter many other gals named Ellen. The other Ellen commented “No way, I never meet Ellen’s” and then she said, “We have the same t-shirt on, no way!” These were t-shirts from a 5k “Stop Human Trafficking event from 2 years ago. Well at that point we decided we needed to document this strange occurrence in both of our lives!

Fun times!

Another fun random thing is that our Seattle Sounders Soccer Team is celebrating their 40th Anniversary this year just like Dear and I. Yep! I bought Dear a t-shirt with this logo on it just because…

This is my happy day, happy post with so many things that are making me rejoice. What’s giving you a reason to rejoice today?

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Philippians 4:4-8 ESV

Fresh News

Do you need a fresh new sandwich idea? Click over to the Mennonite Girls Can Cook Blog for this sandwich combination.

I still can’t show you our finished bathroom…because it’s not finished. OYE! In fact after they wrap up today and clean everything up they will still need to come back in a couple weeks to finish up because of some boo boos. Part of the flooring needs to be redone and of course it’s on back-order and 2 cabinet fronts need to be replaced. We have come to the conclusion that we are not good candidates for hiring out work. In the meantime, I have found some nice accessories to go in the updated bathroom like that brushed nickel soap dispenser above.

Other news from this old house…apples are falling off the tree.

And these beauties are brightening up the yard and deck.

What’s new at your place?

Hither and Yon…

hither and yon, from here to over there, especially to a farther place; in or to a great many places:

That pretty much sums up the state of affairs with our family right now.

Our oldest, Josh, and our DIL Laura are in Cabo right now with my nephew David and his wife Kristin.

Our middle son, Dan, is working 2500 miles away from his home and his girlfriend is counting the days until he’s back where he belongs.

Our youngest, Katie, and our Son in law, Andrew have started their journey this morning from Jacksonville, North Carolina, to the state of Washington. Andrew has started his terminal leave from the Marine Corps after serving over 4 years with 2 deployments to Afghanistan. They will settle close to us so Andrew can finish his schooling.

I still feel like a fish out of water while the bathroom construction continues into the third week. Thankfully the end is near.

My brother and his wife are making their second trip today to the Ukraine to finish the legal work to bring their new young son home to his forever family.

We had some interesting sky views this past weekend. The Blue Angels were in Seattle for our SeaFair and to put on a air show during the hydroplane races. Along with the Blue Angels we had Fleet Week and the Marines put on some great demonstrations. I was able to capture some of the Osprey as they flew over our house on the way to the air show. Besides the great loud noise from the Blue Angels and the Osprey we had thunder and lightning from these amazing skies.

Couldn’t help but quote part of Psalm 19:

The heavens declare the glory of God;
    the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
    night after night they reveal knowledge.
They have no speech, they use no words;
    no sound is heard from them.
Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
    their words to the ends of the world.

So this is some of what is happening in my world. What’s happening in yours?

Laughing at Myself…

…and this random post.

I have this sweet little hanging sentiment in my ~~powder room~~ master bathroom that is the size of a powder room. I am all for laughing and laughing often. We are busy campers at this old house these days. Today I mowed the lawn and did some weed wacking and some weed pulling. I love the way the yard looks after it gets it’s weekly cut. So neat when the weeds are mowed down. I especially enjoyed all the rich greenery around the yard at this time of year. My lavender is blooming already and I’ll have to take a photo soon.

On Thursday we have our end of small group barbecue. Of course we are suppose to get some good rain on Thursday. The first real rain in many days. We’ll be eating inside instead of on the deck. After that event the rest of our main floor bathroom will be torn out. The tub and shower surround are gone already. I’ll post some updates soon…maybe.

On Thursday World Cup begins. I’ll be watching a lot of soccer. Since the opening game Brazil v. Croatia is on at 1:00 Pacific Time I’ll be able to watch and still get organized for our barbecue. On Saturday my niece and her new hubby arrive for 4 days and good thing my sister isn’t doing a bathroom renovation and has a room and bathroom all ready for them. My sister lives across the big road from us. Very close as the crow flies a little farther if you are walking the meandering roads. We’ll be busy showing my new nephew by marriage Seattle since he’s never visited here before. I could go on and on but I’m probably boring you already so I’ll just stop.

Do any of you use Cloud Feedly to organize your blog visits? I haven’t been able to log in to my feedly to see if anyone has posted something new. I checked on the internet and they have been attacked overnight. I hope they are back on line soon!

Here’s what I read online: Not only has Evernote been struck by a DoS attack overnight, but now RSS news aggregator Feedly reports that its cloud-based service is suffering from a distributed denial-of-service attack that could impact users’ ability to catch up with the latest updates from their favourite websites.

Very inconvenient when I’m in the midst of busyness already, Oye! If I haven’t visited you in the last few days blame this feedly attack!!

Old Manor House…

…a luxury Bed and Breakfast in South Warwickshire, on the edge of the Cotswolds. This 16th Century home was our favorite. This great house is seven miles from Stratford Upon Avon and just one and a half hours from London.

We had a very good experience here and if we would travel back to England we’d book more than a night at this lovely manor to explore the area.

16th Century homes have some very unique features. Josh and Laura got the duck your head room!

Loved the windows…

One of the fun highlights of our time here was meeting Geoff and Joan, an older couple who were staying at the Old Manor House while we were there. We had a lovely time talking and getting to know their interesting history.

It was so interesting to learn that Joan was one of the “Call the Midwives” that served after World War II in the London Area. I asked her if she had seen the BBC series and she said that she really has enjoyed it and how accurate the show is.

I didn’t get a photo of our hosts but did get one of their adult son who was helping out while we were there with breakfast and taking care of a new litter of pups.

Speaking of breakfast…it was a delicious version of the traditional English breakfast.

We highly recommend the Old Manor House. Tomorrow I’ll share photos from our short walk to “The Halford” where we enjoyed our Sunday Pub Dinner.

Back on the home front…

My niece Michelle shared these words from my dear old Pop on Sunday when they visited him…
“You know, it’s hard without your Baba. I have tears. But God is with me. And so I get up and go on again. God is love. And when His love is in you, you feel His comfort. I’m thanking Him for all He’s given me. He is good.”
Today when I talked to him on the phone he said, “I’m not going to lie, it’s hard.” We talked about how great it is that he has good memories. “Yes, he said, God has been good to us.” By the way today he went to “Staplers” (Staples) to buy a board so he could put together a jigsaw puzzle Ryan and Michelle bought him…
Thank you for remembering him in your prayers!!

Happy Workers…

I love workers that smile and we had 4 of them at our house yesterday.

When the workers arrived the head honcho asked me to come out to the truck and make sure the carpeting was what I ordered. I knew it would be a fun time after he tried to trick me and showed me someone else’s carpeting first. Funny guy!

They put a big tarp down on our front lawn for their cutting center. Good thing the sun was shining all day long and things are very dry around here. Mr. Shadow was smiling, too, at the crazy lady with the camera that kept snapping away.

I didn’t realize we picked carpeting that all the vacuum strokes will show up on. Oh well, at least you’ll know we vacuumed just before you arrived at our door. We also picked darker carpet than we had before with a deeper tone to it for a little contrast to the new wood floors. Or maybe we wanted the color of dirt so you wouldn’t know just how dirty the carpets are after a few years?

Do you vacuum before company arrives or after they leave? Maybe you are really organized and have a special day each week when you vacuum? Or are you like a client of mine that I had in the past that vacuumed everyday because she liked having vacuum lines on her carpet? Do tell…

So yesterday was another day that Dear and I plopped down exhausted at the end of the day with no energy left to burn. After the carpeting install, Dear and I worked very hard to get the two guest rooms set up so we could get the mattress sets out of our kitchen area and we got the master bedroom semi organized.

We also had added emotional strain with news during the day that my mom had 3 near death episodes yesterday. It was a rough day for 3 of my sisters and my pop who were at her bedside for these episodes but this is the progression that is expected. These “episodes” are expected but very hard to experience. Just wanted to give you all an update on my mom and to thank you again and again for thinking and praying for her and my pop and all of us as we wait on God’s timing for her homecoming. I love my bloggy friends!

When Panic Sets In…

I’m such a chicken when it comes to clicking on something new on the computer. I held out to switch to a new reader like Feedly or Bloglovin and then all of a sudden my google reader disappeared. I panicked thinking now all my links that I had saved in the reader had disappeared, too. I’m happy to report with two simple clicks I uploaded Feedly and they found all my links in no time flat and now I’m getting used to this new feeder that shows me when someone posts something new.

So…if you are a chicken like me I just wanted to reassure you to go ahead and click and then enjoy learning something a little different but easy to navigate.

Welcome Here!

Everywhere we went in Canada I was struck with this greeting “Welcome Here”. It’s not a greeting used across the board in the U.S.A. but I’d love to start using it at my house. This post is about the places were were “welcomed here” apart from our book signing locations. I’ve already shared about Charlotte’s home and our wonderful lunch there.

We were also treated to a wonderful meal at the home of Betty’s sister, Norma. What fun we had as Norma’s dear husband served us the meal she planned and prepared. (The Photo above is from our Women Refreshed at the Well Lodgings)

Jack and Norma

A lovely table set for all of us with appetizers before our main meal began.

Not only did Jack serve us but he also washed up all the dishes while we had dessert in the Sun Porch. A great example of a servant that we are all called to be…

All Eight of us tried to trick Norma into giving us the recipe for this delicious pasta dish she made but she held her ground and kept her secret…so far. Time will tell if we can replicate it!

We were going to take these great little pudding/yogurt pies home with us to have at our retreat center but it turned out that we had time enough to eat them in the Sun Porch. Delicious! Aren’t they packaged nicely? That little pouch on the side is granola.

We were so glad to be able to spend time with Betty’s sister and Jack. Thank you so much for welcoming us here! Aren’t these sisters beautiful!?

Dear called from France today and it was so good to hear his relaxed voice. Things are a little quiet at his conference since so many travelers were delayed because of air traffic strikes in France. He’s eaten some Octopus and a Risotto dish that he sent me photos of. He sees me take so many photos of food that it has rubbed off on him. Here’s a photo that he took just outside the conference center.

Marseille, France

Tuesday night I was able to do something that qualifies for my bucket list and I’ll be sharing the experience really soon with lots of photos.

I’m watching and praying for many of our blogging friends in areas of extreme weather and in areas where wildfires are raging. May lives be spared and damage minimal. Blessings and remember you are “Welcome Here” anytime…

Ciao Milano

We got back to the U.S.A. yesterday at four in the afternoon. I thought this eagle from the ceiling of the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele in Milan was appropriate for the transition back.

It’s going to take a few days to recover from my latest adventures especially since the incubated bug I probably picked up 10 days ago on our flight back from California has decided to loom it’s ugly head. Ive also come home to lots of news that I missed being off line for just 48 hours. You never know what a day holds.

During this lenten season I’ve been reading 40 Day Journey with Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Here’s part of the reading from today on the subject of living in community…

We must be ready
to allow ourselves to be interrupted by God, who will thwart our plans and
frustrate our ways time and again, even daily, by sending people across our
path with their demands and requests.

It’s good to be home and to be able to communicate with loved ones in both their grief and their joy. I’m looking forward to reading about what you’ve been up to as I sit on the couch with a tissue stuffed up my nose. Blessings!

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage

Tag Archives: News