Snow?

 Hi Everyone! Is it warming up where you are? Not here. We've been SO WARM around here. Yesterday was 66F. Today it feels like 12F. We're supposed to get anywhere from 3 to 12 inches of snow. School was cancelled for today because of the forecast and it is now 12:30 pm and we have yet to have a flake fall. Who knows if we'll actually get anything or not. Personally I hope not, because we want to go camping next week. :-) We were thinking of heading south for a few weeks but that's a lot of diesel fuel and we've had such nice weather around here that we had changed our mind and decided just to go to the state park here. We'll see what happens in the next few days with the weather. We have a funeral to attend on Monday so we'll be home at least until then anyway.

I know Valentine's Day is long gone, but I thought I would share the photos of our 2nd Annual cupcake decorating party with you. Nothing spectacular, just lots and lots of laughter and fun. We first had pizza and then we decorated and then we sat and talked about nothing and everything. A very happy and fun evening and a great way to brighten up the mid-winter blahs.

A plateful of yummy. I baked 72 cupcakes on Saturday morning.

Amanda had 24 of her very own since she has Celiac disease and can't have gluten. She had so many to decorate that she went fairly plain with her cupcakes.

Yum!

Left to right, Dennis's cousin Curt. Our pastor Jeff, his wife Angie. Dennis and Barb, Curt's wife on the left.

Right to left. Amanda, Barb, Curt, Jeff and Angie.

We sure do have a great time together. This is the same group that rides bikes with Dennis in the summer and all of us except Amanda camp together quite a bit too.

***Edited to add that most of the cupcakes were taken to Sunday school the next morning and shared there.

I had my CAT scan yesterday. The "thing" on my adrenal gland must not have changed since last years scan, because after the radiologist looked at the first few scans he determined that I didn't need to have the contrast added. It was nice not to have to be poked for yet another IV. I'm still waiting to hear back from the endriconolgist, (I didn't spell that right), to let me know all of the results of the scan and the bloodwork from last week. I'm feeling pretty optimistic though. No news is good news.

We're planning to go to the first fish fry of Lent at the Catholic Church down the street tomorrow night. We'll go with Curt & Barb and another couple that we've known about 45 years, Tom & Sheryl. We've done this together every year since we moved back to Omaha. This particular church feeds about 1500 every Friday night of lent. It's quite a production and helps pay for the extra's for their school.

We're also hoping to go to the big RV show here tomorrow during the day. We really like looking at RV's although we have absolutely no plans to get a different one. We are very happy with our new camper even though it was technically 2 years old when we bought it. It was brand new, but still on the lot. Sales had slowed down a lot in the past few years. We got an amazing deal on it because they just wanted it gone to make room for the new models. Anyway, back to the RV show. It's always fun to see the new things they come up with.

I hope you're all well and staying warm and dry and we'll all keep dreaming of summer. :-) I'm praying in particular for the people of Iran, Israel and the entire Middle East right now. It seems that things are reaching a boiling point and hopefully the Iranian people can cast out the regime that has been imprisoning them all since 1979. 

Blessings and hugs,

Betsy

When The Roll Is Called Up Yonder

Text and Music by: James M. Black

1 When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound, 
and time shall be no more,
and the morning breaks, eternal, bright and fair;
When the saved of earth shall gather 
over on the other shore,
and the roll is called up yonder, 
I’ll be there.

Refrain:
When the roll is called up yonder,
When the roll is called up yonder,
When the roll is called up yonder,
When the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there.

2 On that bright and cloudless morning 
when the dead in Christ shall rise, 
and the glory of His resurrection share;
When His chosen ones shall gather 
to their home beyond the skies,
And the roll is called up yonder, 
I’ll be there. [Refrain]

3 Let us labor for the Master 
from the dawn till setting sun;
let us talk of all His wondrous love and care.
Then when all of life is over, 
and our work on earth is done,
and the roll is called up yonder, 
I’ll be there. [Refrain]

Warmth!

 Hello and happy Wednesday to you all. I've been hit and miss around here recently and I'm sorry. Monday we had 73F and we decided to play outside most of the day. We went to the cemetery and put flowers on my parents and Dennis's parents graves and then took a long walk around the grounds. It really is a beautiful place. We're planning to order a headstone for Dennis's sister and have it put on the last family plot, next to his Mom's. Karen was cremated, but we would like to have a place to put flowers for her and I know she would like to have it close to Mom's. 

Then we came home and just spent time outside with Zoey since it was so nice. I wasn't allowed to eat at all Monday because of the surgery yesterday so we were also trying to distract me from food. Ha! Look who was in the field behind our condo building. Rusty, our resident fox that the neighbors have named.

In these two photos we watched him catch a mouse and...

...carry it off towards his home. We all like that he's taking care of the mice. Apparently they have been much less of a nuisance this year. We've never had an issue with them but I'm glad he's finding something to eat. Where you see those trees on the far left is the beginning of a big ravine that goes for blocks with trees and a small stream. Lots of wildlife live in in. We've seen the fox, coyotes, hawks, bunnies, etc.

I'm making a little progress on the cross stitch for the new baby. I've had too many distractions this week to get much crafting done.

I did finish another pair of socks. These were made with the Opal yarn I bought from Denmark while we were in London. The pattern is Petty Harbour and was a free pattern on Ravelry.

I've put up the Valentine's decorations for our 2nd annual cupcake decorating party on Saturday. Our normal group of friends that we camp with and did gingerbread houses together, will be here. I'll bake about 60 cupcakes and I bought lots of decorations, frostings and glitter to put on them. We'll provide pizza for dinner and have a grand ole time! :-)

Just a few fun things around the condo.

Some little hearts I embroidered a long time ago.

Outside the front door.

I made this Scandinavian Heart banner many years ago with the pattern from my dear friend Teresa Kasner.  She was a blog friend who lived near Portland, OR that I visited very often. I had four blog friends that lived in the area and we always got together for lunch when I visited Mandy, who lived in Portland for over 10 years. Teresa passed unexpectedly a few years ago and it was devastating to many people. She was very multi-talented and was also very active in the community. She freely shared all of her knowledge and skills with everyone. She designed these little Scandinavian hearts and provided the pattern from on her blog home page to whoever wanted it. I think her blog is still up if you're interested in reading about her. It's named "Teresa Kasner". I would love you to get to know her.

I had the surgery to remove the mass from my colon yesterday. It was 33 cm long! That's 12 inches! I can't believe it. The labs came back about an hour ago and it was NON-CANCEROUS! Praise the Lord! It says they took it out in 76 pieces! The surgeon look young enough to be my granddaughter. My nurse told me that he chose her to take care of both of his parents when they needed a similar surgery. That's a pretty high recommendation. That made me feel better going in. It took a little over 1 1/2 hours and they sent me home right away. That's just crazy to me. I'm a bit wobbly and very tired today but I guess that's to be expected. The GREAT news is that I get to have another colonoscopy in 6 months to make sure it hasn't grown back or turned cancerous. Oh goody!

Next Wednesday I have a CAT scan with contrast to check out a nodule on my adrenal gland that they're keeping an eye on. Labs for that are tomorrow. Who said getting old is relaxing? Ha! I've been blessed though with nothing serious coming of any of it. The Lord is watching over me and I feel it. As Christians, we're not promised that we would have no problems in this life, but a wonderful promise that He would walk through it with us and the promise of life everlasting with Him. That's what I'm looking forward to.

If all goes well with the next tests, we're still hoping to head south with the camper by the end of the month for at least a few weeks. We have to be back by the end of March for Dennis's doctor appointment. Although, it's so warm here, it may be better to just hang out here. It's 57F here right now with more 60's and 70's in the forecast for next week. It's really unusual. We've broken several records for warm weather while so many of you are freezing. March will probably be a humdinger!

Take care my friends. I'm praying for all of you and this crazy world we're living in. I sure appreciate my friends in blogland who bring sanity and love into my life.

Blessings and love,

Betsy

WHO IS ON THE LORD'S SIDE?

Text: Francis Ridley Havergal

Music: C. Luise Reichardt

1 Who is on the Lord’s side? 
Who will serve the King?
Who will be His helpers, 
other lives to bring?
Who will leave the world’s side? 
Who will face the foe?
Who is on the Lord’s side? 
Who for Him will go?
By Thy call of mercy, 
by Thy grace divine,
we are on the Lord’s side. 
Savior, we are Thine.

2 Not for weight of glory, 
not for crow and palm, 
enter we the army, 
raise the warrior psalm; 
but for love that claimeth 
lives for whom He died. 
He whom Jesus nameth 
must be on His side. 
By Thy love constraining, 
by Thy grace divine, 
we are on the Lord's side. 
Savior, we are Thine.

3 Jesus, Thou hast bought us, 
not with gold or gem,
but with Thine own life-blood, 
for Thy diadem.
With Thy blessing filling 
each who comes to Thee,
Thou hast made us willing, 
Thou hast made us free. 
By Thy grand redemption, 
by Thy grace divine,
We are on the Lord’s side. 
Savior, we are Thine!

4 Fierce may be the conflict, 
strong may be the foe,
but the King’s own army, 
none can overthrow;
Round His standard ranging, 
Vict'ry is secure,
for His truth unchanging 
makes the triumph sure.
Joyfully enlisting, 
by Thy grace divine,
We are on the Lord’s side. 
Savior, we are Thine

February!

Hello, good morning and welcome to February. I haven't heard if Mr. Groundhog saw his shadow or not, but I know lots of people are ready for winter be over and done with. We've warmed up around here. It was 43F yesterday. It was also my 66th birthday yesterday. I missed my third Sunday in a row at church yesterday. I don't know that I've ever done that in my entire life. I still have a ridiculous cough and I'm so over it. Even though the doctor told me that I'm no longer contagious, people really panic when they hear coughing in public so I've stayed away from everyone. The antibiotics for bronchitis finished yesterday so I hope I'm almost done with this stuff. I hope you're all doing well and ready for the month of hearts, flowers, pink, white and red and the hope of spring in the air.

Meanwhile, I'm still showing Christmas things! Ha! I didn't want to show the cross-stitch ornaments I made the family for this year until I knew that everyone had opened theirs. They've been finished since October and here is the revealing photo. 

Tada!!!!

I used to make each person a different one every year, but then I would forget who I gave which design to. Several years ago I decided to make them all the same and just write the year next to the pattern so I wouldn't repeat. It's worked out fine so far. They all seem to love to get them and I love to make them. The backing fabric is different every year. I just buy a package of fat quarters every couple of years and it gives me a choice of what to use.

The finished photo of the "Grace" baby blanket. I do love to crochet this pattern and you see it repeated a lot on my blog. Again, this is Lion Brand Mandala Bebe yarn in the "Diagon Alley" color way. I think my last post changed Diagon Alley to Dragon Alley and I didn't catch it. Ha!

This is the "Christmas Blanket" that I was working on in my last post. I was asked to share the pattern source. I do know that it's a free pattern on the designers blog but I can't find it now. I know I originally saw it on a YouTube video by Elise Rose Crochet. I copied and pasted the pattern into the notes app on my iPad but didn't copy the designers name. I'm sorry I can't find it, but I will keep looking for the website. I apologize. I'm usually better about writing the designers name down.

This was so much fun to crochet. I made it in three days last week and I did make it two rows wider and two rows longer than the pattern called for. It ended up being the perfect size for the back of the sofa to just throw over your legs on a chilly night.

I like how it fits perfectly on the back of the sofa. (Please don't look at the Zoey hairs on the grey sofa. They are impossible to keep off, no matter how much I vacuum.) 

First I made all of the centers and then crocheted the rest of the squares. Then I laid them all out in order and whip-stitched them together. Finally I just did a simple shell border as the pattern called for.

My current project is a cross-stitch birth record wall hanging for our granddaughter that is due in April in London. I think it's really sweet. This was several days worth of stitching. As you can tell, it's a fairytale theme. Perfect for a little girl with the last name of Queen!

We FaceTimed with the kids there for quite a long time yesterday and the Grandpa projects are already being listed out since we left in December! There are shelves to be put up in the playroom and a few other small items. We don't have firm plans yet to return to London, but possibly late spring, early summer. We'll have to see. Grandma will need baby cuddles and "J" is wanting to see us too. It's just that long flight...... Why can't we just twitch our noses like on "Bewitched" or nod like the old "Dream of Jeannie" show and be somewhere else? 

Here is the Mr. Snowman diamond painting that usually visits in January and February. This is my rotating frame that I switch out seasonal diamond painting pictures. Mr. Snowman has been too generous with his snow around the country this winter and I'm tempted to switch him to the spring picture so maybe the cold and snow will let up. Ha! I do wish you could see how he sparkles in the sunlight but I can't get it to show up properly.

The surgery to remove the mass in my colon is scheduled for February 10. I don't know if they'll do it if I'm still coughing, so I would definitely appreciate prayers that I would get over this plague quickly. I really don't want to have to wait another month or more to get scheduled in. I'm not worried about the procedure itself, just that nasty prep that will have to be done again. They said a colonoscopy usually takes about 5-10 minutes of actual surgery time and that we should plan 1 1/2 to 2 hours for this surgery. Not fun although I guess I'll be sleeping through the entire thing. :-)

I hope you are all doing well and digging yourself out if you're in the areas that received so much snow and cold. Dennis's brother just called a few minutes ago and said it was 43F at the time at their house near Miami, FL. It's 10:30 in the morning, well, I guess 11:30 there! That's almost unheard of. And the snow in Pensacola, FL last week! It's really a crazy winter this year. I sure hope you're staying warm, or cool depending on where you are in the world.

Also, keep praying for the craziness that seems to keep creeping into every part of the world like an invasive species. I pray for peace and comfort from the Lord to His children everywhere. Every day I pray that I can be more like Him and share His love with everyone I can. I hope you can feel that love.

Blessings and love,

Betsy

MAKE ME A BLESSING

Music by: George S. Schuler

Text: Ira B. Wilson

1        Out in the highways and byways of life,
          Many are weary and sad;
          Carry the sunshine where darkness is rife,
          Making the sorrowing glad.

 

Make me a blessing, make me a blessing,
Out of my life may Jesus shine;
Make me a blessing, O Savior, I pray,
  Make me a blessing to someone today.

2

Tell the sweet story of Christ and His love,
  Tell of His pow’r to forgive;
Others will trust Him if only you prove
  True, every moment you live.

3

Give as ’twas given to you in your need,
  Love as the Master loved you;
Be to the helpless a helper indeed,
  Unto your mission be true.