Sunshine! Bright Sunshine!

Good Morning! Or should I say good afternoon? My goodness, it's almost 11:00! I've been so busy that I lost track of time. I've been busy vacumming, cleaning bathrooms, dusting, etc. I've kind of let things slip this week because I've been busy with my crochet hook.

I've been making more burial buntings for the hosptial and I find it's just much easier to let everything go and get them done in one "fell swoop". This is a photo of two more in process which will give me a total of eight. I think that will be all for this time as I just can't make anymore right now.



I've also been busy making a few doilies. I enjoy these and haven't made any for awhile. It sure feels strange having that cotton thread in my hands after using yarn for so long!


I have them blocking on a towel this morning and then when they are dry, they'll be starched and ironed and ready for use!



Hubby and I made a trip to Walmart last night for this little purchase. I still have to open it and make sure it works. We had a little white toaster oven that we purchased about 15 years or so ago to use in our little pop-up tent camper. It was a workhorse. Since the kids have all moved out, I find myself using it several times a week. It's much easier to use than heating up the big oven for just a baked potato or garlic bread, etc. for just hubby and I. I tried to use it to broil smashed potatoes on Monday and it wasn't working right. Last night I tried to make garlic bread and it wouldn't turn on at all. Hubby took it apart when he got home and pronounced it dead. Since I only paid about $20.00 for it so long ago, I think we got our money's worth out of it. Anyway, off we went to Wally-World and bought this beauty. It's huge compared to my little one, but I'm planning to take it to the trailer this summer and use it outside to keep the trailer cooler. It's big enough for a round cake pan and a much larger baking dish than my previous oven, so the possibilities are endless. I'll let you know how it works at a later date.



I realized as I was dusting picture this morning that I don't think I've ever shown you a photo of my son Alex, who lives in Japan. So here he is. These are pictures of pictures, so please forgive the blurriness. These were taken in Tokyo a couple of months ago. How I miss that boy. He used to sit on the end of our bed at night with his guitar and sing us to sleep. I miss that. Children do grow up and move away and I realize that, but I have days when I REALLY miss my kids. Not one of them ever gave us a spot of trouble or worry. They were all great students and we knew they loved and appreciated us. Now just why did they all move so far away?

I think I'm having a bit of a melancholy day. Blame it on the burial buntings, the fact that it's the Thursday of Holy Week, or just the fact that I'm missing my babies.

Anyway. Thank you to all that offered words of wisdom on the placing of photos on blogger. It's still not putting them where I want. I have to copy, move, delete and paste to get them where I want, but with a bit of persnickity tweaking, it seems to have worked better this morning. :-)

Have a lovely, lovely day everyone and please take a moment to remember why we celebrate Easter. It's not the big meal, bunnies or the egg hunts, althought they are FUN! It's because Jesus died for us to give us a chance to live with Him in Heaven some day.

Blessings,

Betsy

And...There Is A Winner!

Congratulations to Melissa of "Random Thoughts of a Crazy Woman" fame who's name was drawn in my very scientific drawing. Melissa wins the doily and sheep stitch markers!

Melissa, could you please email me your address so I can get your prizes sent off to you?

To the rest of you. Thank You, Thank You for reading my little blog. I'm so very happy to have "met" you all through this wonderful world of blogland. Please keep reading, and if you can, leave me a comment so I know you're there. :-)

Thanks for taking part in my little giveaway. And as a little FYI for future giveaways. Don't let the part of the world you live in stop you from joining in the fun. I'll happily mail gifts to anywhere in the world. After all, I have a son in Japan, I'm used to high postage prices!

Blessings,
Betsy

Monday, Monday!

Anybody else remember that song? Monday, Monday! I don't remember any of the other words right now. But the big news is that my blog giveaway ends tonight at midnight so be sure to add your comment to the previous post so your name can be entered. I'll be back tomorrow with the winner of the doily and stitch markers! And a great big ThAnK yOu! to everyone who stops by my blog to visit, whether you commented or not. I do so appreciate you.

And now onto my regular blog post....I feel like I'm in a newsroom! :-) We've had a busy, but relaxing few days here at the Queen house. Thursday morning I took stock of my freezer, realized my rubarb will be coming up again very soon and that I still have 3 gallon size bags of it frozen so decided to make some yummy rubarb cake for our Bible study group to enjoy. Hubby picked up some vanilla bean ice cream to go with it, and my goodness it was good! I'm not a huge fan of rubarb, but I like it made this way and hubby likes it any way I make it for him. It was a hit with everyone. The first two photos are before baking and the last one is when it was hot, bubbly and ready to eat. Yumm!

I have a terrible time with where blogger puts my photos. They always add them to the beginning of my post no matter where I try to put the cursor. I apologize for the hopping around you do to look at them. Anyway, I've had a productive week with my knitting/crocheting for charity. I made several baby hats for the hospital, along with two burial buntings. They asked me to make a few since they don't have any left, but it takes a lot out of me emotionally to make them. While I crochet them, I spend time in prayer for the families who will be using them for their babies and hope that they will bring them a little peace. I need to make a few more, but have run out of white baby yarn and need to get to the yarn store first. I also finished a pair of baby socks and a sweater/hat set for charity. I'm not sure where I'll be sending them. Taci, would your mom like them for the orphanage? I can bring them on my next Portland visit if you would like them.

I also finished the monthly dishcloths for March. A little late, I know, but I was in Portland and knew I had green cotton at home and didn't want to buy more, so I just waited until I returned home. The first one turned out bigger than I usually like, so I eliminated a few rows from the pattern for the second cloth. I like how the leaves look like hearts, don't you?

Then, I decided it was time for a new garland for my kitchen island to usher in springtime! This one will probably be up most of the summer since my brain can't think of any other ideas for a summertime garland! I used Lucy from Attic24's flower patterns and finished this in just a couple of hours last week. The green is supposed to be a vine! HA! Creative on my own, I'm not. But I can follow a pattern and that's just what I do.

Hubby and I also took two trips up to the lake this weekend. He wanted to take his new truck on the highway since he's just been driving around town with it. Saturday we drove up under a blue, blue sky and had a nice walk by the lake. The snow is all gone there and now I officially have "lake fever". We took a few things up that I've bought on sale over the winter, (R.V. toilet paper, plates and napkins.) Then we headed home. By the time we got to Spokane the snow was falling againg. Ick! The lake is further north and no snow there. Of course it didn't last, and yesterday between morning and evening church services we decided to take Chloe back to the lake with us so she could run off leash. It was a beautiful day again, in the 50's F and not a cloud to be seen. When we asked Chloe if she wanted to go for a ride she ran and hid. I think she was remembering the many 6 hour car trips to Portland in the last couple of months. But when Hubby asked her if she wanted to go to the lake, ZOOM! She was standing by the door into the garage and wagging her tail furiously. When we got there she jumped out of the car and ran and ran and ran. She exhausted herself. We were the only people at the resort and it was so peaceful. We took clean bedding and towels and Chloe's new dog bed with us this time. Little by little, we're getting ready for another season of camping. We were tempted to leave the slides out on the trailer, but then common sense took over and convinced us that the lake could get lots more snow and it wouldn't be a good idea. After a couple of hours at the R.V. we headed home. Chloe was happy to take a nice long nap at home after her run. After evening church I had a nice time just browsing on my Ipad while hubby took a nap in his recliner. A nice relaxing weekend.

Today is a bright blue sky again and it's forecast to be in the 60's this week. Whoo-hoo! We haven't seen that since last fall. Is it just me or is everyone ready for spring this year. I know it's only March, but warm weather seems so elusive here. I'm doing laundry and planning to take Chloe on a nice long walk when the temperature rises just a bit more.

Have a lovely, lovely day everyone and I'll be back tomorrow with a winner of the giveaway. Remember to comment on my last post before midnight tonight, to be entered!

Blessings,
Betsy

Giveaway!!!

Hello my friends! As promised, I'm back with a small giveaway to thank all of you, my internet bloggy friends, for reading about the ins and outs of my life and are so sweet about it too. :-). I've reached over 50 followers and I'm very humbled by that.

I'm giving away a crocheted doily, (crocheted by yours truly), and a set of six sheep stitch markers. I love my set of stitch markers and thought it would be fun to share some with you.

There are two ways to get your name entered in the giveaway.

First, just leave a comment on THIS post anytime before Monday, March 25 at midnight Pacific time. Your name will be entered to win both items.

Second, mention my blog on your blog with a link to this post and tell me in the comment section on THIS post.

Thank you all for being part of my life. I appreciate each of you.

Blessings,
Betsy

Home again!

Hello my friends. God blessed me once again with a safe trip home from Portland. I did experience all four seasons in the drive, sunshine & flowers. Wind blowing tumbleweeds and leaves down the interstate and snow when I got close to home. Thankfully it didn't "stick" to the road. It just blew around a lot.

If course I have some pictures of pretty Piper for you! What Grandma wouldn't? She looks just like a princess to me. There's one of her Daddy holding her and Chloe, being her helpful self carried a bib downstairs for Mommy!

The flowers were waiting for me from hubby when I got home. Isn't he sweet? They were just what I needed yesterday. Let's just say it wasn't the best day I've ever had. Driving 6 hours by myself gave me waaay too much time to think.

Just when you think life is humming along nicely, God throws something in there to see how much faith you really have. It's not my "thing" that I'm at liberty to share, but prayers would be appreciated very much if you would be willing.

Mt. Spokane did brighten my morning today though and the blue sky helps.

And just look at that little hand on Grandma's. Isn't it precious? She was giving Grandma kisses on the cheek before I left. Oh how I'm missing those wet slobbery kisses!

I've just noticed that I've reached 50 followers! I believe that my next post will be about a giveaway so stay tuned!

And now, I need to go to the grocery store and take care of a few other errands. Thank you for being there my friends. I love sharing with you.

Blessings,
Betsy

Old Photos

Happy Friday my friends. I was reading a blog by Mereknits the other day and she had some old family photos posted and how much they mean to her.

I thought about my daughter, Mandy and how much her family history and photos mean to her, so I took a family photo tour of a few rooms here in her home while Piper was napping yesterday.

The first picture is my beautiful Mom who passed away when I was 29 years old. Mandy remembers her, and so does Jamie, but my youngest son Alex doesn't have any memories of her at all.

The next photo is of my parents just before they married in 1944. And then their wedding photo and mine. Do you recognize the dress? Yes, I wore my Moms wedding dress. The dress was falling apart with age by the time Mandy married so she couldn't wear it.

The sweet kissing baby is Mandy and her Grandpa Queen. He passed away about 15 years ago and it was devastating for all of us. He was a wonderful man and Mandy was his princess. He adored her, just like a Grandpa should.

Then you see Mandy and her Daddy, my handsome hubby, dancing at her wedding. And then her wedding portrait. Isn't she gorgeous?

The last picture is of my mother-in-law with her parents and her siblings. Her mother had 16 babies but only 11 survived. I love my mother-in-law. She's our only parent still with us and since I was engaged to Dennis at barely 16, she's been my Mom most of my life!

These are just a few of the pictures she has around and they remind her of the people who came before her and loved her. I apologize for the glare on the photos. The sun was shining on them and I couldn't block all of it.

I hope you've enjoyed this glimpse into our family history. If they are still with you, take time to tell your parents how much you love them, (your children too).

Blessings,
Betsy

The great sweater reveal.

I can 't choose just one so be ready for Piper overload today.

I drove down Friday and had a delicious lunch with Teresa, Taci and Gracie. Since I was 45 minutes early I visited the yarn shop across the street from the restaurant. It was very aptly named The Little Lamb and Ewe. I bought some knit picks cables for my interchangable needles. I am hesitant to buy online right now, so was glad to find them. It is a darling little shop and I hope to visit again. We had lunch at Bocelli's in Gresham. OR, where we exchanged little gifts-a shamrock pin from Taci, a cute sheep button and card from Gracie and a ladybug stitch holder from Teresa.

Such a good time we had! Taci had to return to work and I had to leave to meet my daughter who was working a conference this weekend. That was my reason for coming this time, so I could watch Piper while she worked. Anyway, Gracie & Teresa were able to go to another antique store. I'm jealous. Meanwhile Taci has invited us to knit night Friday night and I'm hopeful I can go. Such fun. I'm not sure when I'll be back in Portland again so it will be great to see them all again.

And Miss Piper's sweater IS too big on her but still cute and she will grow into it way too fast. We're having fun together. I folded laundry this morning and she picked it up and threw it on the floor as fast as I folded! Such fun! She was laughing out loud. Joyful music to a Grandma's ears.

Can you see her little tooth in the third picture? A second tooth broke through yesterday right next to it. Two teeth in one week! And she's still a happy girl. We went shopping and bought her the yellow dress for Easter. She looks happy with it doesn't she? And that's my daughter Mandy with her. A beautiful girl too. :-)

The last picture was Piper napping yesterday in my arms. I know I shouldn't hold her so much and I'm trying to do better this trip, but sometimes Grandma just HAS to cuddle. It more for me than her! :-)

Unfortunately, the only "fly in the ointment" as they say is that Grandpa is sick. This is the man who NEVER gets sick. I shared the flu with him last month and it sounds almost as though it's back again. Coughing, fever and aches. He's at work today though. Without me there he doesn't take care of himself. Please say a prayer for healing for him. Even if I thought I could do anything for him, daycare was cancelled this week for Piper.

Thank you to all who read my blog. I love the thought that I have friends all around the world who care about me and my little life. I'm so very glad to know you all!
Blessings,
Betsy