May and June 
     

The lilacs were so beautiful this year

            

This ones were blooming here in our circle.. Every time going to the mailbox I came by the purple ones and had to smell them. The white ones were by the clubhouse.

                                      

 

The roses are doing well too. They are such beautiful intricate flowers but it is a lot of work to keep them trimmed.

I think my neighbors don't always appreciate them because the tree rose here in front of my house has so many rose pedals underneath on the ground and they go swirling around with a little bit of wind.

It is just a carpet made of red rose petals. How pretty is that?

The new quilt for Bryce is finished with a pillowcase with dogs on.

It looked like that their dog Tess is on it.

The sad thing is that Tess is no more.

Then in June my car hit this number on the odometer. I found that interesting

 

                                        

                       

                                    March and April

                            Took a few more pictures of the old treasures in this house.
                                                            A few I will put in this blog.    
                                                 We also went on a trip to Ontario, Canada.                        

                                                     

This is our wedding text, Proverbs 3 : 33b.

This plaque was giving to us by the young peoples group we belonged too.

It is still in the bedroom where we can see it everyday.

At that time we did not know what our journey would be. For one of us the journey has already ended and the other still continues on at the journey. 

God has surely blessed us. There were hard times but He has always been there for us to get us through difficult times and gave us so many blessings and enjoyments in life.

This doll here has just about it's whole life been nameless. I got this doll when I was four I think and so it is now then 78 years old. It is still sitting in the house without a name.

I vaguely remember that I gave it a name but don't know what name. 

It has a very sweet face. It also has become in materialistic view somewhat valuable.

Growing up in the Netherlands and having winter, could sometimes be very cold. There was only one room in the house with heat. So going to bed at night our Mom made us a warme kruik. Water was boiled and put in one of these. A knitted cotton bag came around it, otherwise it was to hot on our feet. Now they are on display on a dresser to remind us on our childhood.

This is a bell pull.

The Coat of Arms and a church tower or courthouse building in the eleven Cities of Friesland are embroidered on there.

We lived for four years in Friesland, close by Dokkum.

Tante Bab gave it to me to make. I think it took me almost 10 years to finish.

This three little things are done by my dear friend Hes, who is not living anymore. She made those things with little pieces of flowers, leaves or seeds and dried it and then created those master pieces.

These two were the reason for our trip to Ontario. They were married for 65 years.

My brother Bob and his wife Ninka. What a great couple.

My dear sister Janet and I went and were escorted each by a daughter. 

We had a great time.

This is us as four siblings yet.

A great happy bunch.

Here we are with our sweet sisters in law minus one brother in law. He was not able to come. 

A whole bunch of the next generation with a few of the old in there.

This is my dear cousin Ria. She also lives in Ontario. 

She is five days older then I am and maybe also five inches taller.

Growing up and in the summer when she came by us to the farm and the two of us would go for a week to an Aunt, then we had always a lot of fun. 

It would have been great if we could have lived later in life a little closer.

She has a special place in my heart.

It was still winter in Ontario, but by my youngest brother there were so many cardinals and yellow finches in the trees. 

Then there was trouble with the stove here in my house. The oven gave out. 

Why? I don't know. I really did not abuse it with the baking.

Maybe did not use it enough.

Anyway now I got this nice flat top stove.

and a nice clean oven.

Another quilt top finished for church. You wonder where do they end up sometimes. I hope it will keep somebody warm next winter.

                                                                   
                                                             
                                        January & February 2018

               Not much did happen in January and February as just the everyday things of life.

                It is where and what a person is involved in.  

                I am very thankful God is allowing me to enjoy life yet and be involved in several things.

               

               So while there were no big events to write about I started  to take pictures in those two months of some treasures or heirlooms in the house to let the girls know for later where they came from. Here are a few of them. 

                

                                       This is my little tea service I got as a little girl. There are 2 more cups and saucers with this set. They were very much loved and the two who are not here are not in the shape as the two you see on the picture. The scene on the dishes is a Dutch boy and 2 girls standing by a river and Dutch houses on the other side.

This little glass bottle is from my grandparents. I believe it was used on the table with dinner and filled with vinegar.

This is a coffee bean grinder.

We either got it as a present on our wedding day or I had saved up Douwe Egberts points.

Douwe Egberts is well known for its coffee.

So it is a 1950 product.

This coffeepot was given to my parents for their wedding in January 1919.

So next January it will be 100 years old.

It has no name brand on the bottom, but it is still a treasure to me.

This plate says;

Van het concert des levens krijgt niemand een program.

In English that means;

From your lives concert you will not get a program.

                             
                              December

                                      December is a nice month with all the festivities going on.
                                I enjoy all the different concerts and programs in church and school.
                                                                       

This is a table runner for Ria. 

In reality it looked nicer then on the picture I find.

December I started making puzzles already. 

It was because of some winter weather I think that I started early.

So this was our Christmas tree for the year. Every year we said that it would be the last year for the tree to be up. 

Well now this has been the last year. You can see that this tree looked tired.

The one who set it up this year did a great job with it to make it presentable.

To my regret we never took a picture with the grand kids in front of it.

That was such a tradition to have a picture with the grand kids who were around for that year,

We still had a great evening with the ones who were here.

First, we  had dinner and then did the gifts by just sitting this time around the dinner table.

After that we played the game 'Cover your Assets'

A fun game.

Then there was this big ice-storm 

Very pretty but it did a lot of damage.

This is the tree in front of our house before 

and below here after the storm.

The ice was so thick it lasted several days before it fell of the branches.

                                     NOVEMBER

   The month of thanksgiving and I was invited to go with the Van Dalen's to
      Sand Point in Idaho. To spend Thanksgiving weekend there with The Leddy's

It is eight hours of driving to Stephen and Lindsey, but it was great

Every time we stopped John got out the little step ladder for me to get out or in the truck.

What a service.

This is the view from their house in the back.

This one too.

Clouds were hinging below us.

A picture in their house. Not done yet but will be very nice when it is finished.

Behind us is the fireplace and the pizza oven.

The two sisters.

We had to say our 'Good Bye's again.

One of the side of the house. They like a deck or so there.

Sandpoint is a nice town. We went there to look around and do some shopping. That evening the Christmas tree in town was to be lighted. We stayed for the program what they had. Very nice but then just before the lighting of the tree we left. It was getting cold and we had a dinner reservation. Afterward we drove by the tree going home. 

 OCTOBER

By plane Yvonne and myself went to Portland to see Marissa run at the National cross country meet. 

What a fun that was.

After the race a picture with grandma.

The Kuik family

Matt and Miranda came from California to watch her.

A picture of Mt Hood

It was such a beautiful day with the sunshine.

Two sisters

Going tp Portland,  you have to go to the biggest bookstore  in the world. 

We spent a few hours there but could well spend almost a whole day. 

To find a parking spot around the store area was hard to come by. I think we circled around the same blocks well more then a half dozen times.

                               September

It was a great month.

Flowers were still so beautiful.

                                                                     

It looked like a beard.

Our pet once and awhile showed up this summer. Sometimes it hopped out of the watering can when I tried to fill the can.

In September we had again some smoky days.

Renee won a price for reading BINGO.at the Public Library here in town.

September was also the month we went traveling. 

Our niece Corina went again with Janet and myself on a road trip. This time we did the Oregon Coast and into California to see the Redwoods and then to Crater Lake in Oregon.
A great trip with so many things to see and enjoy. Oregon is beautiful. We had no specific plan on how far we had to travel everyday. That was very relaxing. There was one night we had a hard time to find a motel room to our liking. Three single persons who each like a bed. But we found one. The reasons that it was so full,  because of all the fire-fighters in the area with all the fires going on.

This is the Tillamook Lighthouse. 

                                                                    

Along the way we encountered this big rocks sticking out of the water. They have a name but I do not remember them. Lets call them 'the watchmen' 

When we were driving South the weather sometimes was quite windy which added to the beauty of it all.

The other two traveling 'diva's'

We stopped at a glass-blowing place. 

The bathroom counter was made of waste colored glass pieces. Looked beautiful.

We did not buy anything. We took some pieces outside out of the flowerbeds.

Instead of bark or rocks they had it filled with discarded pieces. 

We stopped also at a woodworking place.

On the inside we could not take a picture or we did not dare to do that because the man himself was there.

Another lighthouse on the way. It was a little bit of a hike to go to this one and we decided not to do that.

Corina climbing up a sand-dune

Our car did well and we did not have to go to this kind of transportation. 

A different kind of store or studio. He had some pieces of a certain tree and put it with a little bit of water and it starts to sprout out. He also had some very expensive recorders in the store. Well over 30 thousand dollars. He let me play one. To my regret I do not know much anymore on how to play one as only do-re-mi etc. and a little bit of Psalm 42

It is small but it is wild-life.

Here we are in the Redwoods in California.

Giant trees. Magnificent.

This one was done with growing.

The road through some places in that Redwood Park were kind of narrow sometimes.

Part of it is from the covered wagon trail. The Oregon Trail

Visiting Crater Lake and in the visitor Center we met relatives from Maple Ridge, BC.

Surprise! Surprise!

This first picture is on one side of the Lake and 

this picture is the following day on the other side of the Lake

and this one too, It is so beautiful there.

Then we came by I5 again and slept in Roseburg.

There is close by a Safari Park and we checked that out. It took a few hours to go through that. 

Another animal. Have a lot more animal pictures but don't want to bore anybody with that. Some might end up into greeting cards

This is a part where the fires have gone through. This picture does not show it so good.

We need a sunset in here as well.

This was in Seaside,. and that morning we had to say "good bye" to our ocean.

I agree with this bird. You can sit and stare for hours at the ocean. It can be stormy with its beauty and it can be so peaceful.

This is the Lighthouse at Fort Worden.

The birds that morning had a meeting here in the next picture.

This was next to the Lighthouse.

Mount Baker from the ferry.

Some fall colors were coming.

We had such an awesome trip and the best driver you can find, 

We are so very thankful that the three of us can make those trips. 

Who knows what our next one will be. This one I can do again in a heartbeat.