End of Summer?

Hello Again! Here it is, another Thursday and I have a busy day planned. I've already driven in from the lake, picked up two prescriptions at Walgreens, washed two loads of laundry and now I'm trying to catch up on computer "stuff". I'm having my yearly mammogram this morning, "joy"! Then I have an eye appointment this afternoon. I'm also trying to get a bit organized in case my daughter calls and tells us our new granddaughter is on the way. We want to be able to pretty much "drop" everything and go to Portland when that happens. Since I'll be there several weeks, I need to take more things with me than I usually do. There has been a definite nip in the air lately here in the Inland Northwest. It was in the 30's this morning at the lake and we didn't have the heat on. I had a very difficult time getting out of bed. Last weekend we turned the furnace on in the camper for the first time. At about 12:45 a.m. we were rudely awakened by the carbon monoxide detector. We opened all the windows and hubby waved a rug in front of the sensor for awhile until it shut off. We were afraid we would wake up everyone in the campground! Hubby decided the problem was probably that the furnace had never been on before and the paint, etc. needed to burn off and it gave off fumes. So, Saturday evening when it started cooling off again, we opened all the windows and both doors and turned the furnace on at 85 degrees! It ran and ran but I think it's better now. We were able to sleep on Saturday with the furnace on and we didn't get awakened again. A few pictures of the beauty around me at Loon Lake.

Well. Blogger has again made changes on me! I can't see the pictures as I write this so I'm not sure what order you're seeing them in. The pictures are of the pot of posies by my camper door. There are also sunflowers and wild roses lining the road that we "live" on. The beach changing room and the cabins remind both hubby and I of the resort in the movie "Dirty Dancing". Have any of you seen it? The ducks and the bird, I'm not sure what kind it is were trying to stay warm early one morning. They were sunning themselves on the swimming dock. I usually go out and take a walk in the early morning before the resort wakes up. The final photos are of the baby blanket I've been knitting. It's not for anyone in particular, but I'll put it in my gift closet. I do know that several girls at church are expecting their first girls. Both have two boys each and are very excited to be expecting girls! One of them will most likely be the recipient. Well, I'm off to my first appointment. I hope you have a wonderful Labor Day weekend if you're in the U.S. and if you're not, have a lovely weekend anyway! :-) Blessings, Betsy

Finished Shawl

Good Thursday Morning to you again my friends.  This week has passed much like the last one except for my Portland trip.  Oh, what a wonderful time we had.  Jenny took lots of pictures and I'll have her help me download them on the computer tonight so I can show you some of them.  We talked all the way to Portland and all the way home!  The shower was great.  The ladies decorated in an airplane theme.  There were white plastic tablecloths with runways added down the middle with yellow tape.  Plastic airplanes were waiting for take off!  Hundreds of paper airplanes were strung along the ceiling with puffy tissue paper clouds amongst them.  The baby's name will be, (is), Piper, after the plane her daddy learned to fly in.  What fun we had.  We each made a page or two for her first alphabet book.  Printed at the bottom was, "The letter ____ is for.  Each of us was given a letter.  I had "G" for Grandma and Mandy had "M" for Mommy.  Then we drew a picture representing the letter.  They will be bound into book form for her. 

We also printed our wishes for the baby on a sheet of paper with "Piper" on it and an airplane in the background.  Those were also given to Mandy to give to Piper some day.  We're getting so excited.  Her due date is four weeks from today!  I can't wait to hold my little granddaughter in my arms.  I talk to her when I'm with Mandy, so I hope she recognizes my voice when she's born.  :-)

I got home about 4:30 on Saturday and we were at the lake by 6:00.  That was even stopping at Applebee's to eat dinner!  Hubby was packed and ready to go.  He has "lake fever" as bad as I do!  I just came home this morning for Bible Study and then it will be back to the lake tomorrow.  Our best friends, Neal and Jenny, (my traveling partner) are planning to bring their camper up Friday and Saturday nights.  Yeah!!

This first picture is of Mt. Hood as we drive down Interstate 84 on Friday.  Look at that blue sky.  Quite unusal for my trips to Portland which usually include lots of rain.

 Here is my completed shawl.  I think it's a bit small though and I may buy one more skein of yarn to make it bigger.  It's made with Caron's Simply Soft yarn and although it is an inexpensive yarn, it washes up easily and looks nice through lots of washings.

 The flowers are sitting right by the stairs into the trailer along with our little fountain.  (I have the shawl draped over the fountain in the photo's.)  It's quite cozy at night sitting there looking at the lake and listening to the fountain bubble.

 Here's one of Chloe being shy.  She was sitting up looking at me until she saw the camera and down she went!

I've got to run now.  A friend that lives in Oklahoma is stopping by to see me for a few hours this morning.  Dennis baptized both her and her husband and performed their wedding a few years ago.  She's about our daughter's age and is also like a daughter to us.  She will be back on Sunday evening for a cookout with us and a few other friends.  Meanwhile, the washing machine is calling my name! 

Take care and I'll see you again next week!  Please leave comments if you can so I know you're there.

Blessings,

Betsy

Portland or Bust!

Happy Thursday to you all!  It's been a week already since I last posted and that's hard to believe.  This summer is just flying by.  Most of my time has been spent at the lake this past week.  I went out last Thursday evening and came in on Saturday for a "Grandma Shower" the ladies at the church gave me for our daughter.  They watched her grow up and wanted to send gifts with me and thought it would be fun to have a party at the same time.  It was wonderful.  Hopefully I'll get some pictures to show you later.  I know lots were taken but I didn't have my camera.  Then hubby and I went back to the lake until Sunday morning when we came home for church.  In the afternoon it was back to the lake and I just came home this morning.  It is truly a paradise on earth for me.  I get lots of Bible study, reading and knitting accomplished along with lots of walks.  Chloe didn't want to come home this morning.  She hid in the trailer when she realized I was putting things in the car!  Here are a few pictures to show you why I feel as I do.

The first two pictures are the swimming beach for the public.  The resident's beach is a little further down and located in a cove that is private.  It also has a dock to dive from and is where hubby and I go to swim in the evening.  We usually have it all to ourselves.  I took these about 7:00 a.m. so they look deserted, but come about 10:00 the place is filled to overflowing with people who come out from town just to swim and picnic.  It's nice having a separate beach, I don't feel so underdressed around a lot of people that way.  I find that since I've begun to cover my head, my feeling about my clothing are beginning to change as well.

 These two are taken just a bit further down the beach from the swim area.  Beautiful isn't it and only 27 miles from our front door!

Tomorrow my best friend Jenny and I are leaving bright and early in the morning for Portland.  It's our daughters baby shower tomorrow night at her church.  It will be a quick trip because Jenny and I are helping to host a lunch at the church after services Sunday morning.  So six hours drive on Friday and then six again on Saturday.  However, we've made this drive together before and it never seems like six hours!  We talk the entire trip and it goes FAST!

I put some laundry in the washer and headed up to church when I got home this morning.  There I defrosted the freezer in the kitchen, (what person in their right mind bought a freezer that doesn't defrost itself?)  I also drained the baptistry, scrubbed it out and refilled it.  I need to get more hot tub chemicals for it soon.  I got the car washed, filled it with gas for our trip, stopped at the grocery store and Costco and now I'm home.  I've paid bills, picked green beans and blanched them.  They are currently in the freezer on baking sheets.  All I have to do now is transfer them to ziplock bags when they're frozen solid.  They taste so good in the middle of winter.  No salt added and as fresh as the day they were picked!  I should have enough for about 8-10, two cup bags with this batch.

I still need to get the ironing done and then sweep the floor and get things ready for Bible study tonight.  Busy, busy.  That's what I get for being lazy all week.  I cram everything into one day so I can play the rest of th e week! :-)

I did finish my shawl but forgot to take a picture of it.  I'll try to remember that next week.  I'm now working on a baby blanket from a pattern my daughter gave to me.  She makes them for gifts a lot.  I think this one will go to one of the girls at church that is expecting her first little girl.  She has two boys and is excited to be having a girl this time.  Please pray for her husband as he is currently in Afghanistan.

Well, I better get busy with my afternoon.  I hope this note finds you all happy, healthy and enjoying the summer.  I almost forgot, if any of you are praying people, we have a rather severe fire happening in central Washington.  The last I heard over 80 houses have been burned and lots of outbuildings.  I know any prayers you care to say will be very appreciated.

Blessings,

Betsy

Country Girl





Hello again my friends.  I've come back into the big city today to do laundry and buy groceries among other errands and tasks to be done today.  I've been at the lake since early Monday morning and when I drove into Spokane today it seemed very large and noisy to me.  It's amazing how I've gotten used to the birds and the motorboats on the lake and I don't like the bustle of town.

Hubby has driven out every night to stay with Chloe and I and comes back to the house every day to check on things.  We have Bible study tonight and then Chloe and I are heading back out tonight.  My life is fairly boring for having a blog, so I might not keep writing here.  I don't think anyone could really be interested in my ramblings since I do pretty much the same thing every week.  :-)

I finished the Christmas stocking for Piper.  I think it turned out fairly well.

My friends, could I ask for some prayers for my daughter?  Her visit with the Dr. this morning showed her blood pressure continuing to rise and they are concerned about toxemia.  She has six more weeks to go until her due date.  She is under lots of pressure at work and busy trying to get things ready at home.  I've volunteered to go and stay at their house to help out for the duration and she's going to talk to her hubby about it.  He likes me, (surprise, surprise), so he might even enjoy having me around!  Last time I stayed for a week when they moved into their house, he liked coming home to dinner ready, fresh baked cookies and the household chores all done.  With both of them working long hours, it was a treat.  Dear daughter does very well and keeps a spick and span house, but the pregnancy is taking a toll on her.

I was asked for a picture of our view of the lake and this is taken from our trailer.  Isn't it beautiful?  I love to sit inside and look out at the lights on the lake at night.  Last night I laid back in the reclining chair and tried to count the stars. (I gave up!)  There is supposed to be a meteor shower this weekend that should be beautiful out there where there are no city lights.

 Here's ourtrailer all set up and ready to go.  It's 29 foot long and has a fully equipped kitchen, bathroom and bedroom.  Plus a pull out sofa, (queen bed), and two rocking chairs.  See Chloe on her blanket?  She loves it there.  You can just see the corner of Larry & Nita's screen room where we eat most of our meals.

 This weekend we were able to spend some time with Yoshie.  You may remember her, she stayed with us for 3 weeks last summer and also met me at the airport in Tokyo with Alex when I went last September.  She requested lunch at our favorite mexican restaurant, Pueblo Amigos.  It's family owned by a couple from Puerto Vallarta.  They are so nice and the food is amazing.  Then, after evening church we took her to Cold Stone Creamery.  She was overwhelmed by the topping choices, finally settling on birthday cake ice cream, nestle crunch candy bar, sponge cake and graham crackers.  I had my usual Black Forest mix-chocolate ice cream, cherries, brownies and chocolate syrup.  Hubby just had his favorite strawberry ice cream and no toppings.

She is such an absolute sweetheart and we were sad that she didn't stay with us.  We were in Portland and Missoula though and that was too much time away.

We had dinner at the Thai restaurant in Deer Park, WA again on Tuesday.  Oh my!  The egg rolls were the lightest I've ever eaten. They melted in our mouths.  This is definitely a favorite for us.  We went with another couple from the campground that we've become friends with.

I've been reading through the book of James in the Bible.  A quick read through at first and now I'm going back and slowly working my way through again, pondering the verses.  What a lot of life lessons in that book.  I love my time with just me, God and my Bible.  And at the lake there are no everyday distractions that MUST get done.  I can take all the time I want.  Such a blessing.
Well, I'm off to trim roses, pick green beans, vacuum and iron.  Not a dull moment on my day in town!  See you next week.

Blessings,

Betsy

August Already!

My oh my!  Where has the summer gone?  We have a new grandbaby due in just seven short weeks and I can't wait to hold that little girl in my arms.  I think Thursday will probably be my day to post for the rest of the summer.  It's the only day I can sit down at the desktop computer.  I just can't seem to get the hang of posting on my iphone and my ipad doesn't have service at the lake.  And at the lake I've been until this morning.  Wait a minute.  Back up to the start of the week.

Last Friday hubby took a vacation day and off we went to Portland, OR to visit our very pregnant daughter and her husband.  She has forbidden me to post any pictures of her, but suffice it to say, she is so beautifully expecting!  She looks gorgeous.  And, I got to feel and watch little Piper Alice move all around in her tummy.  She is an active baby-just like her daddy.  He never sits down, unless we're eating and then he pops up again, onto another project.  I keep telling my daughter that she never has to worry about undone projects around the house, he's on them like flies on flypaper!  LOL

Hubby and Daddy-to-be painted the babies room, ceiling and all.  The ceiling is white and the walls are a beautiful shade of gray.  Then they put the crib and dresser together.  This was an all day project.  Of course, dear daughter and I went shopping for curtain material at JoAnn's while they worked.  We didn't find anything to our liking so all of us took a trip to IKEA after a lovely dinner out at Sweet Tomatoes.  We found lots of goodies there, but no curtains.  Finally, after a stop at Target we found some beautiful yellow ones that are room darkening and sound deafening.  They match her colors exactly.  Here are Grandpa and Daddy painting.  They are such troopers, painting and assembling furniture all day and then shopping with us that evening.

 Here is their dog Polly lounging on a fake fur rug we bought at IKEA in front of the dresser/changing table.  She likes it!  Polly is such a sweet dog.  She and Chloe are "best friends" and apparently she was very sad when we left Sunday afternoon and took Chloe with us.

This is a fountain that our son-in-law put in.  If you remember, in an earlier post he gave us the little one they used to have because he was building this.  It's beautiful at night, all lit up.  The wiring will be buried eventually.  He just finished the yard this past week and still has a few touch up things to complete.

 He poured and stamped their patio himself.  Didn't it turn out nice?

 The solar lights as it was getting dark.  Beautiful.

 The hot tub isn't hooked up yet.  They just got it back onto the pad last week and since dear daughter can't get in it right now since she's expecting, it's been left to the end of the yard project. 

We got home about 8:30 Sunday night.  We went to the grocery store that night and Chloe and I were at the lake Monday morning.  Hubby came out after work each night for dinner and a walk.  He left early in the mornings to drive back to Spokane.  He says he doesn't mind the commute at all since the scenery is so relaxing.  It gives him time to unwind.  Tonight is Bible Study here at the house and then it's back to the lake tomorrow!  Oh how we're enjoying this place we've found.  We've made some friends there that promise to be lasting friendships.  They are also Christians and we all trek back to Spokane for church on Sunday and then back to the lake.  They are empty nesters like us, (well, they have one daughter at home who is grown) and are enjoying this time in their life.

I started a new project on Tuesday for our little one yet-to-be born.  I had a dream last week that she needed a Christmas stocking since I made her mom and dad theirs the year they got married.  So I was going to ask dear daughter if she wanted me to make one for the baby.  She got a strange look on her face and said she had been thinking the same thing a few days before!  Isn't that funny?  I dreamt it and she thought it!  She wanted the same colors as their stocking just a bit smaller.  They're huge!  You can see them on my project page on Ravelry if you're interested.  Here's the start of Piper's.

Maybe it will be finished to show you in next week's post.

Okay-I have to stop playing here and get down to business on the computer.  Hubby is preaching Sunday night and I need to type up his sermon notes for him.   I get a sneak preview!

Have a wonderfully fantastic week full of God's blessings!

Betsy