Good Friday

I just thought I would pop in quickly to say hello and let you all know I survived my nuclear stress test on Wednesday. I have no results yet but hopefully they will find that all is fine.  I must say it is an unpleasant test. I would rather do the treadmill. They had to poke me eight times before they finally got a vein for the IV. But it’s done now thank goodness.

I’m still waiting to see if the referral was accepted for the injection in my back, so no news there.  We are going to leave for the Oregon coast tomorrow and I’m determined to have a good time. I would appreciate prayers that my back holds up for the trip. Dennis needs this vacation desperately.

Neal and Jenny‘s daughter Sheila is staying at the house with Chloe and Frannie. She has house sat for us before and does a wonderful job. I think I am almost packed. It’s amazing how many things you need for a week away. The older we get the more stuff we need to take, as in medications, etc.

Teresa from the “Teresa Kasner” blog over on my side bar, is also going to be at the coast while we’re there. We are staying very close to each other, us in a hotel and Teresa and Dayle in their travel trailer. We have plans to meet up, hopefully several times, while we are there. We both enjoy Teresa and Dayle‘s company very much and are really looking forward to it.

I made a few purchases at Michael’s yesterday. Along with a new sock yarn that I have never tried before, I bought these little artificial plants. They were 50% off and then I had a coupon for 30% off your entire purchase, including sale items. I got two skeins of sock yarn and three plants for $14.22.  I think that was a pretty good buy. The plant on the far right is one I bought previously.

The yarn is bamboo, acrylic and polyester.  I think it should be fun to try this yarn and it’s very soft.

I’m wishing you all a most wonderful weekend. I pray that everyone remembers the reason we are celebrating this Holy Week.  It’s not about the chocolate, the bunnies, or the eggs. It’s about the crown and the cross. Without today, Good Friday, there would be no Resurrection Sunday.

It’s all about this...

And this.

“Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the skull, (which an Aramaic is called Golgotha). There they crucified him, and with him two others- one on each side and Jesus in the middle.”  “ ‘Jesus said, “It is finished.’  With that, He bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”  John 19: 17-18, 30

And then, three days later!  The moment when man knew that what He had promised had taken place.

“The angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know you were looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; He is risen, just as He said He would.’ ”  Matthew 28:5-6

The ultimate price was paid on that cross for each one of us.  On Sunday we will shout and proclaim that He has Risen indeed!! Hallelujah!

Wish you all a very Blessed Easter.

Love,

Betsy

It’s been awhile.

Hello my friends. I am back after a bit of a break. I tried to keep up with your blogs but didn’t comment very much.   I have spent the last seven days playing with my sister. We had a wonderful visit. Since we see each other so rarely, I decided to spend my time with her instead of on the computer. I know you will all understand. We didn’t do anything extra special. We spent lots and lots of time talking, no surprise there. :-). Dennis also took the day off last Friday and we went to the Bavarian city of Leavenworth, here in Washington state.

Here is the picture of Melanie and myself. It was a beautiful day in Leavenworth. The snowcapped mountains just added to the beauty. 

We also drove up Stevens Pass towards Seattle a few miles so we could watch the river rushing down the mountain with snow melt.  There is a wonderful candy shop just a few miles up the pass. Of course we made a stop there and bought chocolate!  No surprise there either! Ha!

There was a beautiful horse drawn carriage giving rides around the town.

Other than that, we just ran errands, watched some videos and movies on television and just spent time together. The week absolutely flew by. I took her to the airport this morning and I have to admit, we both cried as we hugged goodbye. I miss our family. Living in a beautiful part of the country is wonderful, but family is important. It’s worth leaving these beautiful mountains if it means being close to them.

I did get some knitting done while we visited. So far I have 48 mini Christmas stockings done.  I just started the multicolored skein of yarn. I like how they look.

I also made some dish cloths for Melanie and her daughter, my niece Chaela.

Piper had excitement last week too. There was a father daughter dance at school. Don’t they look nice?

We are leaving on Saturday to go to Portland, OR Saturday night and then we will go out to Lincoln City, Oregon on Sunday. Saturday evening we are having dinner with Gracie and Becky who are “GrandmaBeckyL” and “...One Saylors Log” over on my side bar.  Another blogger, Taci, may be joining us. She is “Tacistudio” over on my side bar, but she no longer blogs, although she does have an Instagram account. We will miss Teresa who is “Teresa Kasner” over on my side bar, because she won’t be in Portland that day. However, a little birdie has told me we may still be able to meet up. More on that later.

We will stay in the Portland area on Saturday and go to church where Mandy used to attend when she first moved to Portland. We know several people there too and we’re looking forward to celebrating Easter with them all before we drive out to the coast.

I can’t even express how excited we are to be going to the coast. It doesn’t sound like the weather will be great, but we don’t care! It has been several years since we were at the ocean. We both love to just sit and watch and listen to the waves break upon the shore. It calms our souls. If we do nothing else except sit on our balcony and watch the ocean and have at least one bowl of fresh clam chowder a day, we will be happy people! Ha!

Thank you for all being patient with me. I don’t think I’m going to have a chance to actually read each and every post I’ve missed, but I have read a lot of them and I will try to keep up again from here on out.

A referral has been sent to another neurologist regarding my back so I’m in a holding pattern there. Tomorrow morning at 7:00 I have a nuclear stress test on my heart. I don’t anticipate them finding anything wrong. I think it’s an over abundance of caution on my cardiologist’s part.  I am glad that he is concerned and takes preventative measures rather than waiting until something happens though, so I won’t complain.

Larry had knee replacement surgery this morning. After I took my sister to the airport I went to the hospital and sat for a couple of hours with Nita until he was in a regular room. Once I knew he was doing alright I left to come home and get some laundry done. She just texted me and said they have decided to keep him overnight.

Everybody needs to get healthy quickly because May 1 we are allowed back up at the lake. We are planning to open up the camper that first weekend in May. I must admit, I’m getting excited to be back in my little trailer.  It’s been such a cold and gloomy spring that I haven’t been as anxious to get out there as I normally am. Hopefully the weather will clear up once May arrives.

Wishing you all a wonderful Tuesday afternoon. Thanks for being patient with me.

“Then Jesus declared, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”  John 6:35

Blessings,

Betsy

April Showers

After a run of several warm sunny days, April showers have set in for the next week or so. That’s OK. It means spring is here and everything is getting watered so that in May we will have beautiful flowers. :-)

I was supposed to go today for the consultation for the Botox injections in my back, but I had a phone call yesterday telling me that she doesn’t do them. What?! I have waited four weeks for this appointment and the day before, they realized what I was going in for? Crazy! Considering the injections person works for the Doctor who prescribed the injections, it’s even crazier. He doesn’t know that she doesn’t do those injections? So now I have been referred out to another doctor for the actual injections. I wonder how long it will take to get an appointment there?  Just continuing on with this saga......

I have been busy though. I ended up taking 18 dishcloths to the church kitchen on Sunday. I have made two more and have another on the needles. I made a magic ball with all of the tiny, tiny leftovers. It makes some interesting looking dish cloths.

I also started a scarf called the “quick lace scarf,” by Kristen Mangus. You can find it on her blog “goodknitkisses.com” on the March 15, 2019 post.  Vicki over at Stitchy McFloss on my sidebar told me about it.  It’s an easy 20 row repeat with worsted weight yarn.  I added 2 stitches to each side of the border and I also slip the first stitch in each row to try to minimize curling.

A closer look at the pattern. Sorry about how washed out everything looks this morning. It’s pouring down rain and the skies are very dark which makes the lighting very bad.

I went to a baby shower on Sunday and I had a blanket, sweater and hat that I had knitted for her, but somehow I lost the baby socks! I have no idea what happened to them, so I plan to knit a new pair today to give to her next Sunday.   Thankfully, they are a very quick knit.

One of the crafting podcasts I watch is called “Makers Haven.”  It is by a young woman called Amber Crawley.  She knits and dyes yarn along with homeschooling her children and she has recently published a book. I read it yesterday in just a couple of hours. It’s a fun and entertaining fictional book. She’s now working on the sequel and I’m looking forward to reading it when it is published.  I found it on Amazon and if you like light, fictional reading I think you would enjoy it.

Our church hosts a community Easter egg hunt every year. I always volunteer to fill eggs with candy and Monday I filled 147 eggs and taped them shut. It doesn’t sound like much, but it was a very time-consuming endeavor.

There was a family wedding in Omaha on Saturday that we weren’t able to go to, but Mandy sent us some pictures. Here is Piper with two cousins teaching her how to “clog.” She had the time of her life and had to be carried out because she was so tired at the end of the evening.

Mandy and her Grandma, Dennis‘s mom. Mandy was the first and only grandchild until Jamie came along several years later. She and Grandma have always had a special bond, and I’m glad that they are living close to each other again.

It’s hard to miss all of these fun family events but maybe someday we’ll be closer and able to take part in them.

Sorry for the blurriness of this one but I just love the expression on Piper’s face.  This is Grandma, Dr. Kayla, as Piper calls her, (a niece), and Miss Piper.  Kayla is the one who helped me so much with my back when we were visiting Omaha last summer.

Live on Nebraska is the organ procurement organization in Nebraska. For the month of April most of my family have posted photos of my nephew Brian who died unexpectedly earlier this year.  They are trying to bring awareness of the need for organ donor‘s. This is a photo of Brian, on the right, and his older brother, my nephew Doug, in their firefighting gear. When Brian passed, his organs were able to help save the lives of four people and improve the quality of life for over 100 others.  We are all proud of Brian and the way he lived his life so selflessly, even in the end with this final gift. Would do you think about doing the same?

Wishing you all a wonderful and blessed week. 

“And do not forget to do good and share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.” Hebrews 13:16

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”  Matthew 11:28

Blessings,

Betsy