It's Tuesday!

Hello my friends!  It's a windy, WINDY day here in Spokane.  We're being told that we could have winds up to 80 mph today.  Whoa!  I think I'm going to stay inside my cozy home.  I have to stay home anyway.  The Culligan guy just delivered salt for our soft water tank and the appliance repair man is supposed to be here sometime today.  Neither one would give me a time that they would arrive.  I just have to be here whenever they show up.  Well, one down, one to go!  My oven has been acting up for months.  I set it at 325F and the thermometer inside will read 450F.  Or I'll set it at 400F and it will read 275F.  Thre is no rhyme or reason to it.  I'm hoping it's an easy fix of a thermostat or something.  Just to have the repairman show up to look at it is $80.00.  Parts and a return trip will be extra.  I sure hope they fix it fast.  :-)

We had a dusting of that nasty white stuff last night that people refer to as *snow*.  It's gone already down here in the valley and I'm very happy about that.  My flowers from the lake are still blooming prettily on the front porch.  I just don't have the heart to pull them up until I absolutely have too.

A picture of Sophie on my lap.  Nita asked me to post a picture on facebook of her baby and this is the one I put up.  She's doing very well and I'm going to hate to have her go home when they return from their cruise.  Speaking of the cruise, they missed a port last week because of a tropical storm and last night Nita wrote that things were pretty rough at sea at that point too.  I hope the waters calm a bit so they can enjoy this week.  Sophie is a cutie isn't she?  I took her for a hair cut and bath last Wednesday.  She was sure glad to see me when I picked her up.  She sleeps on Dennis' pillow right under his chin.  I think she believes we're her second set of parents.  She acts like she lives here with no adjustment period whenever she stays with us.

We had houseguests from Wednesday last week until Yesterday afternoon.  Our pastor of 16 years stepped down in June because of health reasons.  His shoes will be hard to fill because he is much loved.  But the man below is a candidate for the job.  This is him and his family who stayed with us for the week while they interviewed and met the congregation.  We had a wonderful time and even though they were strangers when they arrived, they became friends very quickly.  I loved having them here.  Childrens voices in the house were wonderful!  The house is way too quiet today.  Dare I say that I hope this is the man chosen by the Elder's to fill the postion?  How fun to have a full house again.

I must say that I am tired.  On Thursday night we had 23 people here for a potluck dinner.  As we went to bed that night I told Dennis that I can tell the past year has really sapped my strength.  I would have done this with no hesitation a year ago.  But...and it's a big but, I never would have been up to hosting six people for a week even a couple of months ago, and although I'm tired, I did it!  And I had a good time doing it.

So far today I have cleaned 3 bathrooms, washed, dried and folded 4 loads of laundry, remade 3 beds and vacuumed the house.  I'm done. While I wait for the repairman to arrived I'm going to knit.

And this is what I'm knitting. Some of you may remember two years ago when I made 70-80 pairs of mittens for the first graders at a low income school here in Spokane.  Last night I was asked to do it again.  Gosh!  I don't have much time if it's already snowing.  I think I've learned my lesson.  I need to make them all year to have them ready when the cold hits.  I've decided this will be an annual thing for me and this school.  So far this is all I have.  One mitten made last night and another begun.  I'll be knitting away on these until I have all 75 done!  Each pair will keep a little pair of hands warm.

So, I better get busy!  I've been trying to keep up with your blogs while we had guests.  Please forgive me if I missed yours.  Hopefully I"ll do better...at least until I go see Piper and her parents in a couple of weeks.

My prayers are with the people of Paris, Beirut, Russia and all of the other places that have had terrible attacks by the cowards known as ISIS.  May God be with all of the families and loved ones affected by these awful events.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

Blessings,

Betsy