Wordy Wednesday

 

Saw this desk plaque at Hobby Lobby and it fits my current mood.

Patriotic Shelfie

 I was hesitant to break out the 4th of July stuff but I needed to do something creative.  I had that vintage sheet music that I just needed to display. The sheet music was found in the free box at the library. Tatertots and Jello has the Sea to Shining Sea graphic that went perfectly. I repainted the little sailboat it was my oldest son's .  The flag is something my husband makes on the side. It is made of basically all recycled materials from the brass to the wood.  The only thing I bought was a frameless frame for the sheet music. All the other items I had on hand.

Need more inspiration check out these below

A Wonderful Thought a patriotic mantel

Yellow Brick Home - Chair Spindles as Farmhouse Flags

Vintage Patriotic Printables  - Average but Inspired

LeCutlivateur -vases with flags is genuis and very doable

My Weathered Home - love love her displays

Weekly Roll

 Linky Love

The Queen Mary Drama - I toured the Queen Mary when I was a teenager and when the Spruce Goose was also located next too it.  My Dad is an aviation nut so we went mainly to see the Spruce Goose

The Abandoned Titanic Manison The mansion is trying to be saved. There is a instagram as well -Lynnwood Hall

Inappropriate Thoughts

IT'S DARN HOT!

I am glad we have AC. That is an investment we made last year.  I am grateful as our 2 story house turns into a furnace.  People in the Pacific Northwest don't usually have air conditioning nor do a lot of businesses have air.  I do not enjoy the heat. 

Trek for the Treasure 2021

Once again my oldest son and I are doing Trek for the Treasure.  The theme this year is "The Quest". Our team name is Tortoise and Hare. I will let you guess who is the Tortoise. A couple weeks ago we did our first hike/walk.  This year they offered a lower intensity hike series. The first hike was a walk and pretty low intensity. I have come to expect a little more. Our whole family went on the hike/walk. We did a little geocaching along the way. The Burlington Dike Trail runs along a frisbee golf area and a large park and the Skagit River. We had to have our picture taken by a hole in a certain tree to qualify for the clue.

My Oasis

 During the summer I usually set up an outdoor space for me. This is where I retreat from all the people in my house.  Our house is scheduled to be painted but our painter is MIA.  I decided to set it up anyway.

There is nothing new in this picture except plants. I like the plastic rug as the concrete gets quite hot and the mat feels good on the feet. Folding chair because normally we get a lot of rain.  Plants are Bunny Tails, Geranium, and Mini Dahlia.  Most of the day this is pretty shaded too. Its a nice place to read or hang out. It is really the only private place in our yard that can't be seen from school playground or the neighbors towering house.

Grew these bunny tails from seed. They are so soft.

Wordy Wednesday

I was reading a Facebook post by Beth Moore- Living Proof Ministries this past week. Beth Moore is a well known author and bible study teacher. I have done a lot of her studies. Some things jumped out in her post. So I pulled one quote for my letterboard.

Weekly Roll - Father's Day Edition

 

My Dad way out on the beach at Semiamhoo in Washington.  The tide was way out. 

My Dad and Mom with the graduate

Happy Father's Day! 

Inappropriate Thoughts

I listen to many crime podcasts. I don't know why I am so interested in crime. I like being an armchair investigator. I literally googled if any cases were solved with the use of Psychics. Below are two cold case podcasts that  I have been listening to 

Your Own Backyard - about Kirsten Smart (spoiler)

Hide and Seek 

Linky Love

The Mystery behind the Photo of the Logged Old Growth Tree

Happy Father's Day to my husband too.  I feel so lucky to have a great partner in parenting. 

My husband's mini me at Whatcom Falls Park.

My husband with my other son.

What I Read June

I am linking up with Modern Mrs Darcy's Quick Lit. Check what everyone else is reading

 I have been on a roll of reading in part spurred on by The Summer Reading Guide by Modern Mrs Darcy. I have been working my way through the Guide. I am at the mercy of the library hold list.

Sparks Like Stars by Nadia Hashimi

Sitaria is raised in Kabul and has privileged a very life. All of that comes crumbling down when the Soviets invade. The story has many twists and turns as she escapes Afghanistan with  help. Later she is confronted by her past. This book has a great story. I could not put it down.  It is beautifully written.

This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger

In the summer of 1932, on the banks of Minnesota’s Gilead River, Odie O’Banion is an orphan confined to the Lincoln Indian Training School, a pitiless place where his lively nature earns him the superintendent’s wrath. Forced to flee after committing a terrible crime, he and his brother, Albert, their best friend, Mose, and a brokenhearted little girl named Emmy steal away in a canoe, heading for the mighty Mississippi and a place to call their own.

Over the course of one summer, these four orphans journey into the unknown and cross paths with others who are adrift, from struggling farmers and traveling faith healers to displaced families and lost souls of all kinds. With the feel of a modern classic, This Tender Land is an enthralling, big-hearted epic that shows how the magnificent American landscape connects us all, haunts our dreams, and makes us whole. (Amazon Review)

One of the locations in the book the flats in Minneapolis is area that my husband's ancestors lived so I have been part of the my genealogy research.

I guess this read was timely though 2 of the main characters are not Indian. They did attend a Indian School. This came out while I was reading this. 

Mass Grave of 215 children in Canada - This happened at a Indian Boarding School

The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah

Kristin Hannah books always make me cry. This book will make you shed a few tears. I thought this was a decent book with a good story line. I think I read it over the course of one day. The setting is the dust bowl and I think the part of the story set in Oklahoma is probably the strongest part of the story. 

The Library Hold Life

 I get most of my books from the library. I requested books from Modern Mrs Darcy's Summer Reading Guide when it first came out. I tried to avoid books with a long hold time but that is hard when you live the library hold life.  The first book to come was Sparks like Stars. This one is a good one. My review will be coming soon.

This is my summer Russian roulette reading experience. I also checked out, no wait, a backlist summer read from the 2019 reading list This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger.

Some other's I put on hold from the list- I can't wait to see what book I receive next.

Broken by Jenny Lawson

Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry by Joya Goffrey

The Comfort Book

The Last Thing He Told Me ( long hold time)

While Justice Sleeps by Stacy Abrams (long hold time)

The Gift of Time - Class of 2021

I have never really liked when people said , "Oh you are giving him the gift of time by waiting until he is 6 to start Kindergarten." At the time it felt like a huge life altering decision and perhaps we had failed as parents.  However looking back for this kid, it was the absolutely the right decision for so many reasons. He stands at the finish line of his public school career.

I also received the gift of time this past year. I spent a lot of time with him as he learned at home. He worked out of my home office. We had some great discussions and they weren't discussions we would of had if he hadn't been home. I got to see a different side of my son. That was a real gift and something definitely a positive that came out of this year.

Hats off for Class of 2021. Go out and be great! This class is great at pivoting. That is a skill that will serve them well.

Weekly Roll

 

I stumbled across this documentary. It is so fascinating. The documentary is about 30 minutes long. Another article - Cave of One's Own

Inappropriate Thoughts

I am a fan of Shannon Martin, Christian writer and thinker. We don't agree on everything but she always makes me think. The following is from her instagram shannonwrites. I thought this is what I exactly what I am feeling as I go out in the world.

Seattle Aquarium

 My youngest turned 19 and he wanted to do something special. He requested to go to the Seattle Aquarium. 

It was my first time to the Aquarium. We reserved our tickets because of  Covid there is a timed entry. Masks were required.  We visited on a Saturday and it was a popular destination.

They have a male and female octopus. The one picture above is the male octopus. 

Of course the otters were the show stealers.