Tag Archives: Stars

A Golden Hodgepodge

Got leaves? We chased down some golden hues of Autumn this past Saturday.

And just like that it’s the last Hodgepodge of October. Thank you, Joyce!

1. What most recently gave you goose bumps? 

There have been a few nights in the last couple of weeks that our night sky has put on an amazing show of stars. With no street lights or big city close by we enjoy stars in such an amazing display it will give you goose bumps. I could never be able to capture the sight in a photo.

‘In the stars His handiwork I see’, did any of you sing that song in the late sixties or early seventies?

The stars, a glorious sunrise or sunset turns my mind to their creator, the one true God.

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. Psalm 19:1-2

And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. Daniel 12:3

Who are these like stars ap­pear­ing,
These be­fore God’s throne who stand?
Each a gold­en crown is wear­ing;
Who are all this glo­ri­ous band?
Alleluia! Hark, they sing,
Praising loud their heav’n­ly king.

2. What does Halloween look like in your home and/or neighborhood these days? Do you participate? 

These days the only trick or treaters we get are our favorites, our Grands. We live in the country on a road that does not have lights and where there are acres between homes. That is not conducive to having trick or treaters. We get special treats for our Grands and always love to see their creative costumes.

Our church has a very popular Harvest Festival with Trunk or Treating and we have had up to 1500 from our community come to enjoy the creative trunk or treats, the smores, hot chocolate and indoor bouncy houses. Our church membership donate up to 500 pounds of candy for this event. We always include a handout with a clear presentation of the Gospel.

3. Pumpkin, sunflower, sesame, poppy, chia…your favorite seed on the list? What’s something you like to make/eat that calls for one of these seeds in the recipe? 

I have been a fan of good sunflower seeds (semechki) since my childhood. Growing up we would stop by the seed man after ‘Big Church’ in Boyle Heights (Los Angeles) to buy packets of ‘plain’ sunflower seeds that came in brown paper packets and pumpkin seeds that came in clearer paper packets.

Boyle Heights — Tucked into a small red box of a building on Lorena Street, A&Z Nut Wagon had been a local source for all sorts of treats, from nuts, of course, to jerky. But after several decades in business, A&Z Nut Wagon closed up for good at the end of February.

There is nothing in my regular repertoire of cooking that calls for seeds.

4. What’s the most (or one of the most) ‘fall photos’ you’ve ever taken? Share it here. Just one. 

I’ll choose this one from 2012 for the color and for the memories. This was taken on a hike on our son’s first property in Chewelah, Washington. Our hike in the Fall afforded us the first views ever of Larch/Tamarack trees and the all encompassing gold this time of year. Little did we know then that we would be moving to this county in 6 years time.

5. Somehow we’re rolling in to November next week. If your October were a chapter in a book, what would the title of this chapter be? 

Twelve Celebrating in a Tropical Paradise

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

After Addy’s first basketball game of the season on Saturday, Greg and I chased down some October Gold. We drove south to Chewelah for lunch and enjoyed the golden treats along the way.

Love the USA Hodgepodge

Hello July and Red, White and Blue Hodgepodge. Thank you, Joyce!

Happy Canada Day to our neighbors to the North!

1. What do you love most about your country? 

Right now, this minute, I’m enjoying hearing all the good things that World Cup Soccer visitors have to say about this great country of ours. They have said over and over that they were lied to by their home country media on how awful the United States is. They are soaking up the amazing variety of landscape and food and convenience and largeness from coast to coast. We are a melting pot of culture and we are unique in how we display our patriotism and celebrate our country, especially on the 4th of July.

On the flipside we are enjoying their songs, their chants, their dress, their celebrations, their loyalty to their teams!

My parents fled communism (Russia) and spent their teen years and young adult years in Iran. They applied and immigrated lawfully to the USA shortly after World War II. In the nineties when they had an opportunity to re-visit the village our pop was from in Russia they saw first hand what they were delivered from. When they came back to the US and got off their plane in the USA, they kissed the ground! They knew and appreciated the freedom and the country they were providentially citizens of. They embraced the USA, learned the language and were good citizens.

2. Your favorite patriotic song? 

God Bless America

“While the storm clouds gather far across the sea,
Let us swear allegiance to a land that’s free.
Let us all be grateful for a land so fair,
As we raise our voices in a solemn prayer:

God bless America, land that I love,
Stand beside her and guide her
Through the night with a light from above.
From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the oceans white with foam,
God bless America,
My home sweet home.”

3. Red, white, or blue? Stars or stripes? Something you own besides a US flag with some combination of those colors or decorations as part of its design? 

Blue as in blue jeans or the color of our home.

Stars are a favorite…

Red, White and Blue stars are outside and inside our home, especially this time of year!

4. What’s one thing you want more of this summer: fun, rest, adventure, connection, quiet, or confidence? Elaborate. 

I’ve already had more fun than I deserve this year and there is more fun planned for October of this year. I’m going with connection. I’d like more connection in the everyday moments with my God and Savior. I’d like more connection in that regard with other believers, too. Good conversations and prompts that cast my eyes on how gracious God is and all that He is doing to make me more like his Son and my Savior.

Without God’s grace I’d have no hope. Here are parts of Spurgeon’s June 29th evening devotional;

“If the grace of God were to leave the best Christian, there is enough sin in his heart to make him the worst of transgressors. If left to yourselves, you who are warmest for Christ would cool down like Laodicea into sickening lukewarmness:

…Therefore let us cry to God to never leave us. Do not withdraw from us your indwelling grace! 

Lord, keep us everywhere. Keep us when we’re in the valley so that we do not grumble against Your humbling hand; keep us when we’re on the mountain, so we do not lose our balance by being lifted up; keep us in our youth, when our passions are strong; keep us in old age, when becoming conceited in our wisdom, we may therefore prove greater fools than those who are young and silly; keep us when we come to die, in case at the very end we should deny You! Keep us living, keep us dying, keep us working, keep us suffering, keep us fighting, keep us resting, keep us everywhere, for everywhere we need You, O our God!”

5. What was your ultimate, go-to summer activity when you were a kid? Do you still do any version of that today? If you answered yes, does participating in this activity as an adult make you feel like a kid?  

Going to the beach or going to the ‘plunge’, the pool at Montebello high school, was a favorite childhood activity. Did you ever call a pool, a plunge?

As kids, we would walk from our neighborhood in Montebello Gardens (called the Jardines in Spanish) to the high school pool in Montebello where for 10 cents we could enjoy the pools. We would spend a good amount of time in the pools and then have to walk back home. I remember being very thirsty and very tired on that walk back home.

Google maps shows that it was a 2.3 mile walk there and 2.3 mile walk back home!

Our mom never got a license so she never drove a car and our pop worked hard and long hours and always had the family car for his work so as kids we were on our own if we wanted to go to the pool or to the library.

As an adult I enjoy a nice walk on the beach in the cool morning hours and that is something we were able to do just last week!

Cannon Beach, Oregon with Haystack Rock in the distance.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Speaking of stars, here’s a flashback to 2021 and these two stars are my favorites!

If you are from the USA, I hope you are able to celebrate the 4th of July as the 250th year deserves!

If you aren’t from the USA, happy July to you and don’t be afraid to visit the USA!

Freedom Rings Hodgepodge

Sizzling into Hodgepodge Wednesday this week. Thank you, Joyce! 

Today is forecast to be hot, hot, hot. If I do anything outside it will be in the early hours. But now on to the questions.

1. What does freedom mean to you? 

Freedom means I can choose. I can choose what I believe, where I live, where I get an education, where I go to church, what I wear, what I eat, where I work, what I do for fun, where I travel, and all of that without fear of being thrown into prison because of those choices.

I can also choose to give up a freedom for a greater cause like parenting, being a wife, being a friend, being a citizen, being a member of the Body of Christ. As a mother I chose to give up many freedoms so that I could help my children. As a wife I can give up some of my freedom to be a better helpmate. In serving others sometimes you give up personal freedoms, too.

There are national freedoms and personal freedoms.

I don’t want to abuse my relationships by demanding my freedoms to the extreme.

The more I think on this the more there is to say about freedom. There are times that God will take my freedoms away to teach me something I need to learn. Maybe through an illness or a loss. I’ll save those thoughts for another time.

2. How will you celebrate Independence Day this year? If you live outside the USA answer this question as it relates to your own country’s patriotic holiday, wherever that may land on the calendar. 

We will go to an annual party in Colville with many of our church family. We bring our own meat to cook and a side or dessert to share. There are several grills for cooking the meat. There are games to play including an annual corn hole tournament. Fireworks are set off later in the evening.

3. This or that…red, white, or blue? Blue

Stars or stripes? Stars

Watermelon, home made ice cream, or blueberry pie? Watermelon

How do you feel about fireworks?  I enjoy watching them. I’m always reminded of our dear Pop who never bought fireworks that I’m aware of. If we asked, he would say, “Here’s a dollar, just burn it.” His sentiment was that spending money on fireworks was just burning up money that was better spent for something necessary. 🙂

That said, here in Colville we don’t set off fireworks just anywhere because we are in a high fire danger season. Many families shoot off fireworks on New Year’s Eve instead when there is snow on the ground. People in town can set them off without the greater danger of starting a wild fire.

4. What have you purchased recently that made you excited?

I talked about my new riding lawnmower last week. This week I was excited to have the window washers come. Clean windows are exciting and when someone else cleans them that is even more exciting!

5. I’m thankful to live in America (or fill in whatever country you call home) because____________.

…it’s the land of the free and home of the brave.

I’m so thankful God led my parents to make the choice to immigrate legally to the United States from Persia. They made the hard journey to settle in the Los Angeles area with our oldest sister Kathy and while our mom was pregnant with our sister, Vera. God led them on that journey and was with them all their 90 and 95 years. They enjoyed their freedom in the U.S. and their abundant life in Jesus Christ. That freedom and abundance is available to all of their children, children’s spouses, grandchildren and great grandchildren.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I love decorating and celebrating the 4th of July, Independence Day in the U.S.A.

the fourth of July 019

Catching Up on Friday

This past week I started and finished this puzzle that our daughter and son-in-law gifted me.

Katie and Andrew arrive here tonight for some frenzy filled activities.

It was a timely puzzle to enjoy while dreaming up a tablescape for our Ladies Tea which will be tomorrow at our church. I’ll take photos of the Tea Table I came up with and post them next week. Addy also has an Irish Dance Recital this weekend and I’ll share more about that in the coming week, too.

I stepped out on our deck to enjoy the night sky this past week.

Living out on a country road we get to see lots of stars.

When I see a sky full of stars, my mind always goes back to that song from the 60’s, He’s Everything to Me.

In the stars His handiwork I see,On the wind He speaks with majesty,Though He ruleth over land and sea,What is that to me?I will celebrate Nativity,For it has a place in history,Sure, He came to set His people free,What is that to me?
Till by faith I met Him face to face,and I felt the wonder of His grace,Then I knew that He was more than just aGod who didn’t care,That lived a way out there and
Now He walks beside me day by day,Ever watching o’er me lest I stray,Helping me to find that narrow way,He’s Everything to me.
Words: Ralph Carmichael
Happy Mother’s Day weekend to all of you in the USA and Canada!

Independence Day 2023

Happy 4th of July, 2023! I leave you with the last verse of the Star Spangled Banner.

O thus be it ever when freemen shall stand
Between their lov’d home and the war’s desolation!
Blest with vict’ry and peace may the heav’n rescued land
Praise the power that hath made and preserv’d us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto – “In God is our trust,”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Best-Laid-Plans Hodgepodge

Dear and me at a courtyard on the campus of Magdalen College (pronounced Maudlin) in Oxford England. (July of 2014)

The phrase the best-laid plans is a translation of a Scottish proverb that was first published in 1786.

The best-laid plans refers to something that has gone awry, something that has not turned out as well as one had hoped. The expression the best-laid plans carries the connotation that one should not expect for things to always turn out to plan. Like many proverbs, the best-laid plans is usually quoted by itself, though it is not the full proverb. The full proverb is, the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry. This is a passage from the poem To a Mouse, written by the Scottish poet Robert Burns in 1786. The verse was translated into English, the original Scottish quotation is: The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men / Gang aft a-gley, / An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain, / For promised joy. Note that best-laid plans is spelled with a hyphen, as best-laid functions as an adjective before a noun. Laid is sometimes misspelled as layed, though layed is not a word. Laid is is the past tense and past participle tense of lay.

And now here are the Hodgepodge Questions on this first day of July!

1. Are you currently making plans of any kind? What kind? 

Currently I am making plans for getting things ready for some summer visitors arriving next week. 

What emotions are associated with the planning process? 

Excitement to be able to share our new environs with some loved ones who haven’t visited with us in our Country Bungalow before.

Tell us about one plan you had to cancel due to the current situation which shall remain nameless. Ha!

We had to cancel our trip to England scheduled for the middle of September. We are very pleased with the cancellation policy of Airbnb. They refunded us our money within an hour. We still need to call British Airways and try to get our money back for our flights. That was a big chunk of change and we hope to have good dealings with the airlines. As you can imagine they are swamped with phone calls. We were going to stay in Oxford. We are disappointed for sure. 

2. Last time you saw stars, either literally or figuratively?

Our country bungalow is in a part of town where there are no street lights and very few lights shine from neighboring properties so star gazing is something we can do most nights when we don’t have cloud cover. It really is amazing to see so many stars and to be able to pick out constellations.

3. Blueberries yay or nay? Blueberry pie, blueberry muffins, blueberry yogurt, blueberries by the handful…what’s your pleasure?

Yes to blueberries. I like them fresh picked by the handful. I also enjoy them thrown into a bowl of cereal/granola.

4. swim against the tide, swimming upstream, in the swim, sink or swim, makes your head swim…choose one of the ‘swim’ idioms listed and tell us how/why you relate?

In the current climate of our country I’m definitely swimming against the loudest tide. I know there is a quiet tide that I’d fit in with but it is being drowned out by all the angry noise.

5. Sum up your June in a single sentence.

A glorious time in June for family to be all together again.

Be happy in your mask! 

Start them young!

6.  Insert your own random thought here.

One of my favorites to quote in good times and bad times, C. H. Spurgeon:

“Visit good books but live in the Bible”

“Let us not fear the enemy until he actually comes, and then let us trust in the Lord.”

“Lord, help us in such a way that we may see that thou thyself art working. May we magnify thee in our inmost souls. Make all around us to see how good and great a God thou art.”

Thank you to Joyce for coming up with the Hodgepodge questions!