Tuesday, November 17, 2015

It's Tuesday!

Hello my friends!  It's a windy, WINDY day here in Spokane.  We're being told that we could have winds up to 80 mph today.  Whoa!  I think I'm going to stay inside my cozy home.  I have to stay home anyway.  The Culligan guy just delivered salt for our soft water tank and the appliance repair man is supposed to be here sometime today.  Neither one would give me a time that they would arrive.  I just have to be here whenever they show up.  Well, one down, one to go!  My oven has been acting up for months.  I set it at 325F and the thermometer inside will read 450F.  Or I'll set it at 400F and it will read 275F.  Thre is no rhyme or reason to it.  I'm hoping it's an easy fix of a thermostat or something.  Just to have the repairman show up to look at it is $80.00.  Parts and a return trip will be extra.  I sure hope they fix it fast.  :-)

We had a dusting of that nasty white stuff last night that people refer to as *snow*.  It's gone already down here in the valley and I'm very happy about that.  My flowers from the lake are still blooming prettily on the front porch.  I just don't have the heart to pull them up until I absolutely have too.
A picture of Sophie on my lap.  Nita asked me to post a picture on facebook of her baby and this is the one I put up.  She's doing very well and I'm going to hate to have her go home when they return from their cruise.  Speaking of the cruise, they missed a port last week because of a tropical storm and last night Nita wrote that things were pretty rough at sea at that point too.  I hope the waters calm a bit so they can enjoy this week.  Sophie is a cutie isn't she?  I took her for a hair cut and bath last Wednesday.  She was sure glad to see me when I picked her up.  She sleeps on Dennis' pillow right under his chin.  I think she believes we're her second set of parents.  She acts like she lives here with no adjustment period whenever she stays with us.
We had houseguests from Wednesday last week until Yesterday afternoon.  Our pastor of 16 years stepped down in June because of health reasons.  His shoes will be hard to fill because he is much loved.  But the man below is a candidate for the job.  This is him and his family who stayed with us for the week while they interviewed and met the congregation.  We had a wonderful time and even though they were strangers when they arrived, they became friends very quickly.  I loved having them here.  Childrens voices in the house were wonderful!  The house is way too quiet today.  Dare I say that I hope this is the man chosen by the Elder's to fill the postion?  How fun to have a full house again.
I must say that I am tired.  On Thursday night we had 23 people here for a potluck dinner.  As we went to bed that night I told Dennis that I can tell the past year has really sapped my strength.  I would have done this with no hesitation a year ago.  But...and it's a big but, I never would have been up to hosting six people for a week even a couple of months ago, and although I'm tired, I did it!  And I had a good time doing it.

So far today I have cleaned 3 bathrooms, washed, dried and folded 4 loads of laundry, remade 3 beds and vacuumed the house.  I'm done. While I wait for the repairman to arrived I'm going to knit.

And this is what I'm knitting. Some of you may remember two years ago when I made 70-80 pairs of mittens for the first graders at a low income school here in Spokane.  Last night I was asked to do it again.  Gosh!  I don't have much time if it's already snowing.  I think I've learned my lesson.  I need to make them all year to have them ready when the cold hits.  I've decided this will be an annual thing for me and this school.  So far this is all I have.  One mitten made last night and another begun.  I'll be knitting away on these until I have all 75 done!  Each pair will keep a little pair of hands warm.
So, I better get busy!  I've been trying to keep up with your blogs while we had guests.  Please forgive me if I missed yours.  Hopefully I"ll do better...at least until I go see Piper and her parents in a couple of weeks.

My prayers are with the people of Paris, Beirut, Russia and all of the other places that have had terrible attacks by the cowards known as ISIS.  May God be with all of the families and loved ones affected by these awful events.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

Blessings,
Betsy

14 comments:

  1. Hi Betsy. We have rain and high winds today. Your porch flowers are so pretty. I do not have much colour now in my garden but plenty of leaves to pick up! Sophie is super cute so nice she has fitted in so well with you. You have done so well with all of your guests I do not know how you do it. I would be so stressed.Your mittens are fab what a lovely thing to do. Afraid I can not make them or I would help you. Take care keep warm.
    Rosezeeta

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  2. Betsy, I have missed you. You are the best of the best. Rest now my friend.
    Meredith

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  3. Sounds like you had a good time with your house guests and amazingly were able to host a pot luck dinner. Mt thoughts and prayers are also with all those affected by recent events, I pray for the world to be at peace. A wonderful thing that you are doing for the children.

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  4. Found your blog thru Pammy Sue over at Scotty's Place. Have enjoyed reading some of your posts. I'm a 69 yr old who has been married for 45 yrs! Glorious years! I love in South Georgia, just north of Tallahassee, FL. I'm a doily addict and crochet some almost every day as my relaxation! Look forward to following you. Linda of Lindacrochets

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  5. What a true blessing you always are to everyone sweet friend. I hope you get a little time to rest up a bit and do the things that you love to do for a while. Oh that red mitten looks so pretty and I know it will truly bless who ever is blessed enough to receive it. Blessings always sweet friend.

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  6. Hi Betsy, I'm glad you enjoyed your company. You are so nice and generous! I hope they hire him if you had such a good feeling for he and his family. I'm glad to see you making more mittens for the poor little people in that school. We're in the middle of a terrible wind and rain storm.. our power was out for 3 hours today! Thank goodness it's back on for the evening. Good thing too is our generator. ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

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  7. Betsy, you have such a good heart. I can't imagine doing all the stuff you do each day. I get worn out and my back hurts just reading it. I hope you continue to recover and get back to your old self. I am so glad I started reading your blog and we have become friends. It's really windy here and tonight we had a little excitement. I kept hearing something like someone pulling something heavy across concrete. I thought someone had broken in and was trying to steal things in the basement. Turned out to be power lines arcing at the National Guard Amory behind my house. It was so strange the sound it made. We are suppose to get heavy rain tomorrow night.
    Take care of yourself and get the rest you need. I have not doubt you will get all those mittens done in a snap.
    Hugs,
    Sharon

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  8. Betsy, you outdo yourself and thankful you had it in you to host a family for a week. They look like a nice family! It was quite windy here and rainy this afternoon. Right before I got off work the rain was just pouring. It calmed a bit when we left but was able to walk over the puddles in the parking lot. I also bought a lined sweatshirt as Coastal Farm to wear to/from work and at work if I need to. One that's light enough to be seen in the dark when walking in parking lots. Nice of you to knit mittens again! Take care and sleep well. Hugs and blessings!

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  9. Your especially busy week does sound like it was fun. We have had lots of wind and rain today, so I imagine Mt. Hood is getting a good deal whiter, but it's not cold enough down here in the valley for snow yet....I like snow as long as I don't have to shovel it :) Your mitten project is a challenge! I wonder how many pair you will complete before you head back East. Has your back been letting you get better rest at night? xx

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  10. Glad you survived the windstorm. I read your comment on Teresa's blog. We only got an hour or so of high winds last night around 8:00. It pushed your warmer temps up here and melted all our snow. We had one limb break off and land on the roof. Don't think there's any damage, but we'll see after we get it removed. It's a big limb!

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  11. I didn't get to finish my comment because my phone misbehaves when I use it for commenting. Oh well. We'll see if this works. I need a new one.

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  12. Sorry to hear of your damaged roof Betsy. We had some wind here too and a branch broke off hitting the power line. Made me SO happy we took down the pine tree in front!
    Sophie is too cute:)
    Blessings,
    Aimee
    PS: Hope all went well with the oven repair!

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  13. So sorry about your roof! We heard that the place where my husband got trapped had the strongest winds in our county - 126 mph! Yikes! Love your mittens and the story with them, what an incredible ministry that is!

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  14. Dear sweet Betsy, just read back through the three post on your blog I missed..
    ....praying for you as you knit, and knit... that your loving hands will be amazingly blessed.
    You're truly amazing already in what you do, and so glad you're starting to grow stronger.hugs Shaz in Oz.x

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