Sunshiny Days!

Hello my friends! We have had weeks of unbroken sunshine and warm temperatures. Perfect for lake living, at least in my mind. Tomorrow is supposed to be the last of the 90+F for awhile anyway and it will be a welcome break. I've even had the AC on at the trailer in the afternoons or it's too hot at bedtime to sleep. Today is supposed to be 98F. Ick! But since I'm home waiting for my new washer to be delivered I have lots of cool air conditioning here.

Yes. You heard that right. The repair estimate for my washer was over $400 and I bought a new one for $600 including taxes and delivery so we thought that was the better thing to do. My washer was only 11 years old and the repair person told me that they are building them to last only 8-10 years now, unlike my first one that lasted 20 years and was still working when we sold that house. The buyer wanted the washer and dryer and now I know why! I didn't get a super fancy one. I just wanted one that does the basics...water level, load size, delicate, normal, etc. So, it's supposed to be here between one and three today and none too soon. We're running out of undies and I almost had to make a trip to the Laundromat!

Here are a few pictures of my week.

This first picture is of the private residents swimming beach. This past week there was a family reunion and there were lots of people at the residents beach. Usually there are 8-10 people there at any given time. When you're swimming, you can see the bottom of the lake the water is so clear.

This is the public beach early in the morning about 6:00 when I was out for my morning walk. In the afternoon when it's hot there are hundreds of people here.

Just another early morning shot of "our" lake.

The resort staff has planted these happy sunflowers all along our road and they just began blooming this week. I love the joyful faces they turn toward the sun all day long. :-) The pansies are in one of my 18 flower pots I have around our trailer. The berries? I don't know what they are. Can anyone help me? Are they edible?

This last picture if the view I have when I'm laying back in one of our zero gravity recliners. The treetops in the blue, blue sky are beautiful to me.

In two weeks our family will ALL be together again if only for the weekend. I am just so excited I'm ready to POP! We're flying Hubby's Mom here from Nebraska on August 6. She'll be here two weeks. Alex, (our son who lives in Tokyo), is flying in on Aug. 7 for a week. Mandy, Brad and Piper, (live in Portland, OR), arrive on Thursday the 8th after work, for the weekend. Jamie, Kyleigh and Caleb, (who live in Helena, MT), will be here Thursday night also for the weekend. It will be the first time since Brad and Mandy were married over three years ago that we'll all be together. I can't wait!!!!!!! This Mama is so very, very excited. I know the time will go way too fast, but I'm determined to enjoy every single minute of every day.

Any of you Mama's that still have their children at home and it seems they will never grow up? Don't be in a rush. Those days go quicker than you think and I never for one minute thought our children would all leave Spokane for other cities, but that's where their careers took them and they made lives for themselves. When "old" people told me to enjoy every day when they were small I sometimes thought those people were a bit "off in the head". A screaming baby, unruly toddler??? Enjoy that? Now I understand and would take every one of those days back again just to have my children close to me.

So that's what our focus is on right now. It will be an interesting weekend too in the fact that it will be the first time we've been together with so many dietary challenges. Kyleigh and Caleb both have confirmed Celiac Disease which means no gluten at all. Piper can have no dairy or soy so that means Mandy can't have it. I need to find some good easy recipes soon.

I haven't made much progress on crafting these past days. I've been reading and just enjoying summer. I know that the long winter days are ahead and I'll get lots done then.

Have a lovely week my friends. I'll be popping in to visit you on your blogs as the week goes by. Hubby got me a hotspot for my phone so I can use my Ipad at the lake now! Very nice.

With all of the tragedies the past few weeks including train and plane crashes, let alone every day trials I thought this is appropriate.

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

BLessings,

Betsy

Works in Progress!!

Happy Thursday to all of you! It's been a very hot and unusually humid past few days here in the Northwest. Now I do understand that to a lot of you, 30-40% humidity doesn't seem bad, but when you aren't used to it, well, it's just miserable. When we lived in Nebraska I would almost get annoyed with the "wimps" who complained about how humid it was!! My goodness how opinions have changed and the mighty have fallen!

Anyway, I came home from the lake yesterday afternoon to do laundry and grocery shop. My washer has been making an ominous noise,"ker-thump, ker-thump" when it is in the spin cycle. Last night Hubby was home and heard it too. He's planning to take the thing apart this weekend sometime and see if he can fix it. It sounds as if the drum has come loose from the frame, at least that's my professional opinion! :-) And we all know what that's worth.

These first two pictures are the free flowers and plants I found on my doorstep a couple of weeks ago. They've brightened up considerably since I planted them. It was sure great advertising for the greenhouse as I've had a few other friends have flats of flowers show up at their house too.

The rhubarb is still doing well. I know it's supposed to be a springtime plant, but this workhorse always gives me rhubarb well into August. It's not woody or anything either. One plant gives us plenty of rhubarb to last through the winter.

I think my "July" dishcloths turned out well. I have actually made two of the larger size ones. The small one was the first and then I added stitches and went up a needle size because I wanted a larger dishcloth. A gentleman at our Bible study was admiring it as I finished the other big one last Thursday. He's a veteran and wanted to buy one. Well, that's NOT going to happen. A veteran pay me for a lowly dishcloth? No way. So I gave it to him then and there and he was so happy. I don't think he'll use it though no matter how much I told to. I can always make him another one if something should happen to it. That left me with one large and one small one for the yearly sets, which is okay.

Baby hats as always and I have another almost finished on the needles.

I started this baby blanket last night but I think I want it a bit smaller so it will probably get ripped out today and re-started. I've had this yarn for awhile now. It's Loops & Threads Snuggly Wuggly and oh my goodness it's soft. I wish you could feel it through the screen!

Then we have my poor Pimpelliese. I get this out and work on it for an hour or two and then something else calls my name and it gets put aside again. I tell myself that I don't need it until winter so it's fine. It will be finished at some point.

Lastly is another scarf I started last winter. It was a splurge for me with my birthday money last February. The yarn is Kraemer Sterling Silk & Silver made with 63% Superwash Merino, 20% Silk, 15% Nylon and 2% Silver. I think it will be pretty when finished but it takes much concentration for the lace and so I have to be completely alone to work on it or else I get off on the count. After all, if there is a conversation happening around me I want to be part of it! :-)

Either late tonight or tomorrow morning early Chloe and I will be heading back to the lake. We came home yesterday and it seems as if I have been away for days already. I get so much done in the day or two I'm home, just so I can go back to my "other life" at the trailer. Hubby happily makes the drive back and forth to town every day for work. He likes relaxing at the end of the day in our chairs overlooking the lake. During the week it's so QUIET. Only two or three other people in our entire area. The weekends however, they are completely different. To give you an idea, last year there were 7 trailers in our part of the resort. This year there are 37! Obviously word has gotten out and people are flocking to our little park. I'm happy for them, but missing the peacefulness we've had before. We have even started thinking about buying our own little piece of land but then there are lots of headaches involved in that. Wells, septic systems, electricity, roads to be built and on and on. I think we'll just keep up with what we have for awhile anyway.

We have been going to a Bible study on Monday nights at the lake. There are about 14 people or so there every week and we're studying the seven churches in Revelations. It's amazing the way those churches compare to the way the world seems to be heading. It's nice to have like-minded people around. They are a great group of people and would do pretty much anything to help each other out.

And now I need to get busy and bake some treats for our Bible study group here tonight. I think I'll bake a rhubarb crunch cake. With vanilla ice cream. Oooh yum. I can taste it already.

For those of you that would be willing, could I ask you to keep little Miss Piper in your prayers? She's been having a rough time of it for several weeks now. The medication has stopped working and she has been very sick and not gaining weight. She's only in the 9th percentile for weight and is such a little thing, she can't afford to lose even more weight. Of course, this is really hard on Mommy. Mandy is about at "the end of her rope" so to speak. Piper is up almost every hour at night since she can't lay flat. When you have to work full-time it makes it hard to get through the days. If I had my way, I would be there helping out, but I can't leave Hubby alone indefinitely. He's easy going about me going to help so much, but he really does miss me.

Thank you my friends, I appreciate each and every one of you more than you know. My wish is that each and every one of you would feel the love and care of our Heavenly Father.

Blessings,
Betsy

And the Carpets are Clean!

Good Almost Afternoon My Friends!!!

It's a beautiful sunshiny and breezy day here in Spokane today. I came home from the lake yesterday and spent the entire day cleaning the house, grocery shopping and catching up on paperwork that I've let slide while I've been playing at the lake. My main goal was to clean the carpets but I ran out of time yesterday. I did get four loads of laundry done and I hung them all outside. Oh my! They sure smell good from hanging in the fresh air. This morning I was up bright and early and started cleaning the carpets before 6:00 a.m. I just finished them all about 11:30 and oh my goodness they certainly look nice. I had a Bissell cleaner for years and years that I loaned out often. It worked well and had an onboard water heater. Well, I loaned it out one time too many because last time it was returned to me broken in several places. I tried a commercial cleaning company last fall and they didn't do a very good job at all. I paid them more than I paid for my brand new Bissell. It's an updated version of my old one and I REALLY like it! It's much easier to clean than the old one and seems to have even more power. My carpets look just lovely again. Boy, wasn't that interesting for you to read? I get excited about the strangest things. :-)

Now for the 4th of July boat parade pictures I promised you. I thought I took more than I did. We were way up on the hill at the camper and my zoom didn't zoom very well on lots of the photos, but here are a few for you.

I liked the stuffed monster from "Monsters Inc." on the one boat. There were about 30 boats in all. Sorry for the bad representation.

When I was in Portland a couple of weeks ago I was blessed to spend some time with Taci at her house knitting. If you don't know who she is you're missing out. What a sweetheart she is! Here blog is in my sidebar and I invite you to say hello to her sometime. This is the cute little pincushion she made for me.

I gave her a skein of yarn from Hobby Lobby since they don't have one near her.

Here is what I've been up to at the lake. Not a lot but then I've been spending lots of time swimming and reading.

I don't like how the boys sweater turned out with the variegated yarn. The "stripes" don't match very well. It's already been claimed though by a brand new Grandma who camps next to us. I'm going to make matching socks from the same yarn.

The dishcloths are my June dishcloths. I'm falling behind in my Monthly dishcloths. I gave one of May's away so I need to make another May and now July's!

Here is our gazebo all lit up at night. We play cards and games all the time after dark. Hubby did a great job installing lighting all the way around and a "chandelier" in the middle!

Tonight is Bible study here at our house. Luckily I can shut the doors of all the rooms with carpeting so they won't get walked on if they're still damp. Our living room, kitchen and dining room all have Pergo laminate floors, (which I also love). They're so easy to keep clean and the color we chose actually looks like hardwood. Lots of people think they're wood. It doesn't scratch with doggy toenails like wood does. That's important when our grand-dogs visit. :-)

Have a lovely day everyone and I'll be back soon!

Blessings,

Betsy

Sunday Evening Relaxation.

What a lovely, lovely Independence Day celebration we had here at the lake.  I've been here since last Monday with just a quick trip to the vet for Chloe on Wednesday and church today.  Hubby trimmed, edged and mowed the grass today.  I trimmed some bushes and did a few loads of laundry, ironed and paid bills.  Then we were off to the lake!

Now I won't be home again until Wednesday afternoon.  Can you say spoiled?!  That's me!  Hubby has been here since Wednesday evening so it's been extra special to have that time together.  We've been swimming in the lake everyday.  The water is warm and oh so clear. You can see the bottom!

The park provided a great meal for all of the residents on the 4th.  We took side dishes, but they had hamburgers, hot dogs and desserts.  A live band played 60's, 70's and 80's songs and there was dancing on the basketball court. Afterwards there was a huge fireworks display set off in the middle of the lake.  In addition there were big displays by other residents around the lake.  It was amazing!  There was a boat parade that I caught a few pictures of on my other camera. I'll post those Thursday when I can load them on the computer.

Hubby brought my bike up this afternoon for me to ride to the beach during the week.  I could walk but I'm going to try the bike and see if the hills get me.  :-). I didn't ride it at home at all last year because I was here so we thought it may as well be where I am. It's an old-fashioned coaster bike Hubby bought me two years ago.  It has a removable basket I can take into the grocery store and shop with. So cute!

Can you see my toes?  It's a beautiful evening as I sit here browsing the net.  Lazy lady. That's me!

Now it's time for s'mores!!  Yum!

This is the day that The Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Blessings,

Betsy

Heat Wave Anyone?

Good Monday morning my friends. Oh my goodness it is warm here! We're supposed to well over 100F today. Yesterday Hubby and I drove back from Portland, in separate cars, so we were asking each other the readout on our temperature screens in the cars as we drove. At one point both of us showed 104F! Ick. The forecast for today and tomorrow is even hotter. We saw three different brush fires as we drove along. A lot of times those right by the highway are from cigarettes thrown from car windows. I really wish people would think about that before they threw them away. Several homes were threatened by the fires we passed. And those poor firefighters who died yesterday in the southern states. So sad. I will definitely be in prayer for their families.

On a happier note I had a wonderful time with Miss Piper. She's so busy these days that it's hard to get a good picture of her. She's always in motion unless she's asleep. Grandma's mission was accomplished and she's on a great daytime schedule now for the daycare. She's napping in the "big bed", (crib) very well and life is so much better after Grandma visited. At least that's what Mommy said in her phone call this morning. Both Mommy and Daddy are okay with me being there and seem to not like me to leave which is a very nice thing. I feel so comfortable in their home and I know they love me. Hubby drove down on Friday afternoon for the weekend. That was wonderful. While we were there and he had his truck with him we took advantage of the no sales tax and sales and bought a new patio table and chairs for our deck. They aren't assembled yet so no picture. Maybe next time I post. :-)

Not much else to tell you. By the time we got home yesterday we had just enough time to throw a load of laundry in the washer, unpack the car and grab a fast dinner before we went to evening church. When we got home, Hubby mowed the grass while I finished unpacking and then re-packing for the lake. It was 8:30 and still 92F. Needless to say, we both took showers and tried to relax after the heat of the day. At least Hubby did. I ironed for an hour or so. I could have done that this morning but I want to be off to the trailer while it's still relatively cool so I can open windows there. I've already been to the grocery store and have things ready to go.

And now, here are a few pictures of my weekend. How do you like the two dog beds for Chloe and Polly? Not decorator friendly but they sure love them, and each other.

Piper had a bit of a rough weekend with four new teeth working their way in. There were lots of smiles but I didn't manage to capture any on the camera.

The last picture is of a skein of yarn I gave Taci when we met on Friday to knit and chat. It's the "I Love This Yarn" brand from Hobby Lobby. It's sooooo soft. We had a wonderful time talking and catching up with each other. I hope next trip all four of us will manage to get together. Taci gave me the sweetest pincushion but my camera battery was dead. I'll have a photo of it next time.

The drive home yesterday was breathtaking. At one point to the left of me was Mt. Hood in all of it's splendor and to the right was Mt. St. Helens. So beautiful. The sky was completely blue without a cloud to be seen. I could see Mt. Hood in my rear view mirror for over 150 miles! There were stand up paddle boarders, fisherman, kite boarders, skiers, just about any water sport you could imagine on the Columbia River as we drove along it. I love summer in the Pacific Northwest. There is nothing like it.

And now my friends, I'm off to the lake. Have a wonderful week and Happy 4th of July to my U.S. friends.

Blessings,

Betsy