Tag Archives: Red White and Blue Decor

Three Cheers for the Red White and Blue!

It’s the last Wednesday in May and time for Wednesday Hodgepodge. Thank you to Jo From This Side of the Pond for the questions and being the hostess with the mostess.

1. It’s National Wine Day (May 25)…do you like wine? Red or white? Dry or sweet? Do you have a favorite?

Yes, mostly red and mostly dry. We aren’t regular drinkers of wine but when we had it more often we enjoyed merlot from Chateau Ste Michelle Winery in Washington State. We moved to red blends more recently.

Have you ever been to California wine country? Or any other wine region?

We’ve been to California wine country North of Napa/Sonoma, Central Coast California and in the Santa Ynez area northwest of Santa Barbara. We also used to live close to Woodinville where Ste Michelle and other wineries are located. Chateau Ste Michelle was one of the favorite places to take our out of town visitors. The grounds are gorgeous and the free tours are fun.

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Our niece and her hubby in 2016 at Chateau Ste Michelle.

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What’s a dish you make that calls for wine? 

Sangria. LOL Seriously though a yummy mushroom sauce that calls for white wine and cream. Oh and this memory popped up when I searched sauces on my blog.

Sat. July 5-Chipping Campden 016This was my proper pie with all the trimmings.  The description from the menu: Chicken, Ham and asparagus short-crust pastry pie (with top and bottom), white wine sauce, new potatoes and peas. It was delicious. We had a fun conversation with our waitress on “proper pie”. She was appalled when she ordered pie at another establishment and it came to her with no upper or lower crust but just a round piece of pastry propped up along one side of the filling. It was cute when she exclaimed “how can they call that pie?!”

This was in Chipping Campden (Cotswolds, England) at the Eight Bells.

2. What’s something you’ve whined about lately? 

Oh boy. I’m trying to eliminate whining in my life. I’ll go with our internet connection and connectivity. It’s a Country hazard!

3. Last time you were ‘wined and dined’? Tell us about it. 

I’ll go with Mother’s day when we were visiting our kids on the West side of the mountains.

4. Three cheers for_____________________.

…the Red, White and Blue!

5. This will be the last Hodgepodge in the month of May. Somehow next Wednesday the calendar rolls into June. Before we go though, sum up your May in twelve words or less. 

A little bit of travel, sunshine, good eats, rain, and loved ones.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Hope you all have a good Memorial Day Weekend and that you can pause and remember those who died for our freedom and protection.

Stars and Stripes Hodgepodge

Time to celebrate the Hodgepodge again. Jo From This Side of the Pond asks the questions and we ponder them for answers.

1. It’s been said the best things in life are free…are they?

There has been a price that has been paid for the best things in life like salvation in Jesus Christ.  We didn’t have to pay for that but Christ did and our new life in Him costs us. “Take up your cross daily and follow Him.” When we are faithful and obedient to the Word of God there will be a price to pay.

On a National note there is a cost that has been paid for our freedom. It is good to be free but we can’t forget to be grateful for the sacrifices made for our freedom.

What are some of those things? The Free Things…

*There are good things that are free like hugs, a sunset, smiles, lovely views, etc. etc.

2. Stars or stripes?
Mostly stars but I do enjoy stripes, too.
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Red, white, or blue?
How about all three…
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Apple pie or home made ice cream?
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I do enjoy ice cream but unfortunately it doesn’t like me anymore so I’ll go with apple pie!
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Do you like hotdogs?
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Yes, give me a good Hebrew National Hot Dog, Nathan’s or better yet a Chicago Dog!
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I love a good Chicago dog (see above) and all the things they put on it but can’t get one of those locally, sigh.
If so, what do you like on yours?
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I enjoy hot dog relish on mine. Side note: Hot dog relish has been scarce in my area grocery stores.
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3. One thing on your summer bucket list?
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To make it to the “Coast” for some visits.
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Any plans to make it happen soon?
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No…people are way too busy right now.
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4. What’s your summer anthem? Yes, you need to have one
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A few came to mind like Summer in the City and Schools Out for the Summer but since I don’t live in the city and I’m not in school anymore I’ll go with, You Are My Sunshine.
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5. What’s something you love about America? If you live outside of America, tell us something you love about the place you call home.
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So much to love about America if you ignore the crazy politics going on and the absurd redefinition of basic biology.
I love how you can travel from shore to shore, north and south and see so many different topographies and enjoy small and large towns, seashores and deserts, mountains and plains, regional dishes, amazing architecture, historical sites, iconic landmarks, etc. etc.
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We are in the middle of planning a road trip from Washington State to North Carolina for a wedding in early October. So far some of the diversions along the highways we will travel will be Deadwood, Mt. Rushmore, Wall, Badlands, The Ark Encounter, Kentucky Bourbon Trail, A Shaker Village, Pigeon Forge, and Asheville. After the wedding, Lord willing, we plan to journey to Dallas to visit my brother’s family. We’ll go through Nashville and Memphis on our way to Dallas. From Dallas home we are waiting to see weather patterns before we make those plans.
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6. Insert your own random thought here.
Hope you all have a good 4th of July weekend here in the States and to our Canadian neighbors, Happy Canada Day on the 1st.

“Baba, Where’s My Rag”?

Our Father’s day table this year was Red, White and Blue inspired by Flag Day. There were 11 of us counting Addy and JJ. Addy’s chair is not in these photos. At all the meals we’ve had at our house when I set the table with napkins and napkin rings I’ve added one for Addy too, on her highchair tray. For this meal I overlooked doing that. Baba fail! When Laura helped Addy into her highchair Addy looked around at the table I had set and said, “Where’s my rag?”. I hurried to grab her a napkin ring and napkin. I love that she calls a cloth napkin a rag.

The photo below is Addy in her chair at her house but she has an identical one at our house. I did not take photos of everyone around our Father’s Day table or the delicious food we had. Blogger fail. Since Addy’s question was the quote of the day I wanted to include a photo of her in this post. In the future I will not forget Addy’s rag.

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When Addy saw this banner (bunting) she said, “how cute”.

Reminds me of the song we used to sing…

The Lord is mine and I am His

His banner over me is love

He brought me to his banqueting table

His banner over me is love

I’ll keep our red, white and blue décor up through the summer.

It is staying light so late here in the northeast corner of Washington State. It was so light when we hit the sack at nine. Today we are heading to Spokane for an appointment. We’ll do a little shopping while we are there, too. Colville has a Wal-Mart, a Country Store, a North 40, a Builder’s supply, an Outdoor Sports store, a couple small décor stores, a few furniture stores, a Do-It Center, and a small independent Sears. When we go to Spokane we like to hit the Home Depot, Costco, Trader Joe’s, Hobby Lobby, Fred Meyer, At Home, T.J. Maxx and Total Wine.

More and more we are learning to do without the Spokane stores that we don’t have in Colville. I’m learning to appreciate Wal-Mart. When we lived on the Coast (Seattle area) I very rarely stepped foot in a Wal-Mart.

Today is the last day of Spring! Yikes! Enjoy the day dear bloggers and my other friends who visit here.

Flying Proud Hodgepodge

Welcome to Wednesday Hodgepodge where Joyce asks the questions and we come up with some answers.

1. The Hodgepodge lands on June 14th this week, Flag Day in the US of A.

Do you fly your country’s flag at home?

We fly the U.S. flag and the Marine Corps flag at our house. They will be flying proudly on Flag Day.Sometimes, often, or every single day?

When Andrew, our son-in-law, was in Afghanistan and serving in other parts of the U.S. we flew the flags more often. Now we fly them on special days like Flag Day, Memorial Day, Marine Corps birthday, Fourth of July, Armed Services Day, 9/11, Veteran’s Day and Election day.

This is a blue service star flag/banner. It is issued to families who’s sons or daughters are deployed in harms way. Both times when Andrew was in Afghanistan we kept it in our window until he came home safely.

Have you ever visited the city of Brotherly Love (Philadelphia)? Did you make a point of seeing The Betsy Ross House?

No and No but if I did visit I’d want to see her house.

Have you ever made a trip to Baltimore? If so, was Fort McHenry on your itinerary? (where Francis Scott Key was inspired to write The Star Spangled Banner)

No but I enjoy singing the The Star Spangled Banner at every Sounders home game with 40,000 other people and I always am thankful for the Marines and others from different military branches who hold the flag and wave the flag with respect.

2. Red flag or white flag? Which have you encountered most recently? Explain.

Do you mean Red flag warning or white flag of surrender or parley? I see danger, it’s part of my makeup. This makes me very uncomfortable at pool parties or watching little ones at the beach. I might as well have a red flag flying from my head at these venues. I’m sure we’ll be seeing red flag fire danger warnings in Eastern Washington this year. And as far as the white flag goes I don’t surrender easy except for when it comes to sticking to a diet.

3. Are you a stay in the car listen to the end of a song kind of person? What kind of person is that?

No and I don’t know.

4. What are some of the traits or qualities you think a good dad possesses? In other words, what makes a good dad?

I think a good dad cares for, supports, guides and prays for his children.

What’s an expression you associate with your father?

“I praying for you, pray for me. I’m thanking God for everything.” My pop who is 94 still gets down on his knees every night and prays for all his kids, grandkids and great grandkids. Every time I call him on the phone he reminds me he’s praying for me and asks me to pray for him. His English is still sketchy.

5. What’s one rule you always disagreed with while growing up?

My mom was a somewhat legalistic Russian Baptist. Somewhat to say she wasn’t as legalistic as many of my relatives and other Russian Baptists. No drinking, no dancing, no smoking, no playing cards, no going to movies. My parents let us go to movies.

I disagreed with the no dancing and no playing cards. I wore my parents down on a lot of the rules. I went to school dances. One other rule we had growing up was no whistling in the house. Did you know that whistling invites evil spirits into your home? And no, I don’t believe that but it was something passed down to my mother and father.

Is that rule somehow still part of your adult life? Is that a good or bad thing?

I’m still adhering to the no smoking rule and it’s a good thing.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

In about 2 weeks we’ll be seeing our little granddaughter in person again. Our Son and DIL text us photos that we really enjoy. Here are the latest. Addy was 12 weeks old on Monday. The first year of life has so many leaps of development.

Getting so strong and holding herself up.

Sitting pretty with her mommy’s baby shoes on.

Just can’t get enough of these. Sweet Addy May. Looks like she can give you a good left punch.

Click over to From This Side of the Pond on Wednesday to see more Hodgepodge answers.

Hooray for the Red, White and Blue!

We’re getting ready at this old house for the 4th of July.

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Now all we need are our guests and the food. Maybe I should do a little dusting, too.

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In the midst of all the getting ready our kids are moving out of our basement to their new apartment. We moved some major items today so they’ll now be using one of our guestrooms until they move everything to their new location. Although tiny their new flat has a wonderful view of the tops of trees and sky. This new location is just 3 miles from the University which will be nice for our son-in-law’s commute. I think they’ll be happy to be on an upper floor instead of the basement.

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We’re hoping the sun makes an appearance in time for our gathering. We’re having pulled pork sandwiches with salads, beans, corn on the cob, and other goodies. My sister is bringing the dessert. Are you celebrating or laying low?

On Monday head over to the Mennonite Girls Can Cook Blog to see my Strawberry Pudding Cake.

Have a wonderful 4th of July everyone!