It's Tuesday...

Hello and happy fall to you all.  This is what it looks like in my neighborhood.  Most of the trees have begun to turn and drop their leaves already.  It seems a little early to me this year but it is pretty isn't it?

We've had a yummy roast in the crock-pot the other night. A sure sign that fall is here.

Dennis' sweater is finished.  It is a little big, but that's how he likes it.  Yes, it was supposed to be a Christmas gift, but I never can keep secrets from him.  :-). This way he'll be able to wear it soon.

I finished a pair of socks yesterday.  These are for Alex for Christmas.  Yes, he'll wear them.  The wilder the better!  This yarn is a dream to knit with.  It's Knit Picks Felici sock yarn in the Dark Side colorway.  I almost want to be selfish and keep them for myself, they're so comfy.

I've made four more dishcloths with this pattern, all in different colors.

And yesterday I began a new shawl for myself.  Those of you who know me, know that I love, love, love purples and lavender.  This is my third shawl in this pattern which is called the Random Act of Color available on Ravelry.

Here is my start as of ten minutes ago.

And this is one in the same pattern that I finished already and showed you a few months ago.  The other is made of the same colors and already wrapped for Christmas.  This one is promised too. It's a fun and fairly fast knit, but does require lots of counting.

On the way to the lake.  We got run over by a train!  This is just down the hill from our turn off to the park and this is the train that runs right behind our trailer.

It's been one of those weeks again.  If you're tired of the Betsy saga I'll say goodbye now, but if you want more of my adventures stay tuned!

Friday night we were at the lake and I put my jacket on to take Chloe for a walk.  Well, there was something, I don't know what, in the sleeve that bit or stung me in my upper arm.  Long story short.  My throat began closing, a trip to Urgent Care, a ride in an Ambulance to the emergency room and lots of drugs and observation later, I was sent home.  That was Friday.  Sunday morning I was back in the emergency room because of a reaction to the drugs they gave me.  Suffice it to say, I still feel awful.  My arm is swollen and I feel shaky from the inside out.  Generally awful.

Can you believe it?  Who does this stuff happen to?  I feel like a cloud is following me around everywhere.  We're supposed to begin closing up the trailer this weekend and finish next week but at this rate, I feel so icky I don't even want to leave my recliner.  If it weren't for my knitting and crocheting I think I would lose my mind.

I've been watching knitting podcasts and now I've discovered full time RVing podcasts.  That's been keeping me entertained.

Thanks for always listening to me my friends.  I know that I'm not the most upbeat sometimes and I'm sorry about that, but this is my life.  I appreciate you all sticking by me no matter the idiotic things that I tell you.  :-)

I hope you're all having a lovely fall and enjoying some cooler weather wherever you may be.

"I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust." Psalm 91:2

Blessings,

Betsy

Monday, Monday!

Hello and happy Monday to you all.  It's a cool fall-like day today here in the Northwest.  We had a nice, but rainy Saturday.  It was warm and cozy in the trailer and we watched a few movies while I knitted.  We did decide to come home in the evening though, because we had a potluck at church on Sunday and by being home, we wouldn't have had to wake up extra early to drive home and prepare the food.  After church Dennis mowed the lawn and then we went back to the lake.  I just came home an hour or so ago, just in time to make dinner.  

I do have some knitting to show you.  Here is Dennis' sweater, all done but not washed and blocked yet.  A couple of comments from some readers were: 1) possibly using some design to break up the miles and miles and miles of plain stockinette knitting and 2) knitting in the round to avoid seaming.  In answer to them, 1) Dennis prefers plain sweaters for work and 2) I'm not a good enough knitter to figure out how to change a pattern for knitting in the round.  I'm pretty pleased how this one turned out.  I made him one like it in a different color last winter and it was a learning project. The neckline and seams on this one are much, much better if I do say so myself!  :-)

Another dishcloth was finished...

And another one was begun.

I've turned the heel on my plain vanilla sock too.

I'm looking forward to working on my cozy memories scrap sock yarn blanket now that the evenings are cooling off again.  It will be years before it's finished using the tiny size 2 knitting needles.  I almost regret starting it and have thought about changing to a crochet version.

Here is a photo of the marigolds in the back yard that I took just a few minutes ago.  They are doing wonderfully well with this weather.

I thought I would answer a few other questions that people have asked lately in the comments.  If I miss yours I truly apologize.  Please send me a message or comment again and I'll try to answer as soon as I can.

Do we see Loons at Loon Lake?  Yes, in the spring we do.  I have no idea where they go later on when the lake gets busier though.  I don't know if they don't like the warmth or the business of the skiers and swimmers.

What do I do when I make mistakes when knitting?  I just take it out, or tink it. (Which is knit backwards.)  It's really not hard and I have to do it all of the time!  :-)

Is crochet easier?  Well, crochet is fairly easy for me, but that's because I've been crocheting since I was 7 years old, almost *gasp* 50 years!  I've only been knitting for about 10 years.  Crochet has lots and lots more stitches to learn, whereas knitting is made up of knits and purls and variations thereof.  I'm of the firm belief that if you can crochet, you can definitely learn to knit.  :-)

Does our trailer stay at the lake year round?  Yes it does!  And it's SO nice not to have to find a place to store it.  We pay a yearly, (seasonal), fee and we can leave it there all year.  The sewer stays hooked up although we do disconnect the water and winterize the trailer.  We can go up in the winter and walk in to spend some time there.  If the snow gets too deep  they will even shovel the roof for us for a small fee.  One year we got a call while visiting Mandy in Portland and there were several feet of snow on the roof.  They just wanted to know if we wanted it shoveled and we say yes!  It's not unusual for that area to get 5-6 feet of snow in the wintertime.  We can pull it out and take it somewhere else for a weekend or vacation but we haven't felt the need to do that with the nice setup we have where it is.

Where is the lake?  It is in Northeast Washington State, 26 miles north of our home which is in Spokane, Washington.

How did my doctor visit go last week?  It was with my primary care doctor for my physical.  All went well, although I have to have a mammogram and bone scan.  They let me out of the mammogram last year because I had just gotten the pacemaker and it would be too painful. On a downer though, the cardiologist's office told me last week I still can't fly for now.  I'm praying that will change soon so I can get a Piper and Mandy fix!  My primary care doc shared some scriptures about patience and trials in life.  I appreciate him for sharing prayers and scripture with me.  It's one of the reasons I like going to him.  Dennis had his physical at the same time in the room across the hall from me and everything was good with him too.  Good news for both of us.  Now if we could only get this tachycardia thing under control maybe I could get my wings back and go visit my kids.

I hope all is well with you and you have a wonderful week with pretty fall trees wherever you may be.  Our trees have started changing color already.  Does that mean a severe winter?  I hope not!  You all know how I feel about snow!

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes."  Romans 1:16

Blessings,

Betsy

Adventures

Hello my friends.  Remember last week when I showed you the photos of all of the hard work Dennis, Paul and Lori were doing?  Well here is the fruit of their labor.  A nice gravel area for Paul and Lori's grill and a parking place for the golf cart.  That's our camping trailer.

Another view.  I think they did a great job and it will help with a lot of the mud that seemed to plague this area.

Earlier in the week I painted my toenails while watching knitting podcasts and starting the second sleeve of Dennis' sweater.  My nails looked terrible from the gravel and dirt roads at the lake and since I had my annual physical on Wedneday, I thought I should attempt to make them look a bit nicer. :-)

The front of the sweater is complete.  Actually, the front, back and both sleeves are done.  Tomorrow I'll work on putting it all together.  It's supposed to rain all day so hopefully we'll be shut in the trailer and I can knit and we can watch movies.  Fun!

I started a new sock too!  Since this picture was taken I added another stripe and have the heel halfway turned.  Don't you love this yarn?  It's Knit Picks Felici yarn in the colorway "Dark Side".  I just love it and the colors make me happy.  I'm using the Yarn Harlot's, plain vanilla sock pattern and I'm very happy with how it shows off the yarn.

I also finished a baby blanket for a friend.

Dennis had today off, so we went out to breakfast and then headed out to the lake.  After we dropped Chloe off at the trailer we kept heading north.  We went through the little town of Chewelah.  Then we went on to Colville and ate lunch at a fancy place called "McDonalds".  Ha!  Actually we like their ice tea very much so we bought a burger to go with the tea because it was 86 degrees and we were thirsty!

Isn't the scenery here gorgeous?  

I couldn't capture the absolute beauty of the mountains all around us.  And these photos were only a very few miles from our lake.  We are so blessed with so much gorgeousness.  

Smoky the Bear had his picture on these signs all along the highway along with the message, "Only you can prevent forest fires."  As you can see, the fire danger is still very high up here.

We went as far north as several miles past Kettle Falls.  I wanted to keep going and drop in on fellow blogger Pammy Sue, but realized that would be very rude of us, so we turned around, drove back towards town and took a picture of the town sign instead.  :-). I believe that when we tuned around we were only about 15-20 miles from Canada.  Since our passports were at home we would have had to turn around anyway as we had run out of highway in the U.S.!

At a place called the "Trading Post" in Kettle Falls we found this really neat antique store. The prices were unbelievably cheap.  An example was a gorgeous solid wood rocking chair that was better made than anything you would buy now for only $50.  A beautiful pie safe for $60.  If we had taken Dennis' truck it would have been full and we don't even need any furniture!  There were rooms upon rooms upon rooms of beautiful things.

And then I found this.  Crochet thread for $1 each.  I bought several colors and was only charged 25 cents each.

Lots of yarn and knitting needles.  I didn't succumb to the yarn fumes and left it there. 

Dozens of quilts and quilt tops too.

And fabric.  Oh. My. Goodness.  The fabric.  There were shelves of it.  One piece I picked up was only 10 yards of cotton for $5.  So reasonably priced.

I loved this vintage fabric but left it behind.  Now, looking at the picture again, I'm kicking myself for not buying it.

After a dinner of pizza, Dennis and I took a mile walk along the lakeshore and then came back to our site and sat outside and watched the sun set.  This was our view. Isn't it pretty?

I just stepped outside to try to get a photo of the full moon rising above the trees. I couldn't get a clear picture, but I think this one is pretty anyway.

We had a wonderful day exploring theses little towns so close to us.  We used to do this kind of thing all of the time on weekends.  Now we tend to go to the lake and stay put because we like it so well.  Today was a fun change.  I hope you enjoyed taking our little day trip with us.

I also hope that you all have a lovely weekend and are enjoying the last of summer.

"Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it." Proverbs 4:23

Blessings,

Betsy

Another weekend is coming....

Hello my friends.  It's late Thursday evening and I thought I would do a quick post because Dennis is off work tomorrow and we're going to the lake as soon as we wake up.  I don't usually post when I'm there because of the Internet limits.  I came home Tuesday morning because it was only in the lower 50's and raining.  I had lots I could do at home including washing the summer bedding from the trailer.  I put the fleece sheets and down comforter on the bed out there for fall.  I think we're going to need it this weekend. :-)  

This is what I worked on last weekend.  The back of a pullover crew neck sweater for Dennis.

The front has been started too.  It does get boring though.  What seems like miles and miles of plain knitting.

So...I took a break and made three dishcloths.  There is a another round one that I finished that I didn't photograph.

And this one was just begun.  I will start back on the sweater tomorrow.  I promise. If it stays so cool he'll need it soon.

My sister sent me this picture yesterday.  It was all of the Brownies, Girl Scouts, Senior Scouts and Cadette Scouts in the small town I grew up in. Do you see me?  I'm the little blonde brownie in the third row from the front, on the right end. I'm peeking over the shoulder of a girl with a sash and beret.  Isn't it fun?  I had forgotten all about this day until I saw the picture.  My sister is on the left toward the back.

Today was crazy hair day and crazy clothes at preschool for Miss Piper.  She had to face-time me and show me her craziness!  Goodness I love this little girl.

It's past my bedtime so I'm going to close now but didn't want to leave for the weekend without sharing with all of you first and saying hello.  I truly feel you have become my friends.

Someone asked where the lake is that we have our trailer at.  It's 26 miles from our house, in the mountains of northeast Washington, north of Spokane.  The lake itself is Loon Lake and our trailer is at Granite Point Resort.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend full of the joys of late summer.

"You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand." Psalm 16:11

Blessings,

Betsy

Labor Day

Hello Everyone.  I hope you all have had a great weekend.  We did, although there was some "laboring" going on around here.  Dennis, Paul and Lori spent most of Saturday removing grass and putting 2x4 frameing along the edges between our trailer, (on the left), and Paul and Lori's, (on the right).

The purpose is to make a parking area for the golf cart and also a nice place for their grill.  This area is usually pretty wet and never gets direct sunlight to dry out, so pea gravel will be put down on Thursday and it will be all done.  It already looks nicer so I know with the gravel it will be good.  These guys are always busy.  Next Saturday they're planning on putting a sprinkler system in for Nita and Larry.

Nita and Chloe were supervising.

I was in charge of moving the golf cart into the spot to see if it fit the way the guys planned.  Sophie was helping me.  :-)

This praying mantis sat on Dennis' finger for the longest time today.

Here are some of the ladies a few minutes ago, sitting in their chairs in the middle of the road.  They do this every year to celebrate the end of summer crowds.  Most people have already left today to get the kids ready for school tomorrow.  Only us "old" people are left up here.  Dare I admit it's nice that it's quiet?  I love having all of the kids around though.  The one thing I don't miss when the crowds are gone are the few people who get drunk and noisy at night.  They make it miserable for everyone else.

Our anniverary was September 1 and we got our wedding pictures out to look at for the first time in several years.  Just look how handsome this guy is.  The styles were a bit different 38 years ago weren't they?  I was also a "BIT" skinnier back then.   Dennis looks the same now as he did then, minus the mustache and sideburns!

Here I am with my Mom.  She's been gone 27 years now.  Gosh, I miss her.  She had the best laugh.  That's what everyone remembers about her and my sister laughs just like her.  My dress is hers.  She wore in in 1944 to marry my Dad as a war bride.  The veil was new though.  The lace on hers had disintegrated.  Isn't she beautiful?  She was a wonderful woman, inside and out.  At her funeral, it was standing room only and the parking lot had people waiting to get in.  I have never heard anyone say a bad thing about her.  She loved people and they knew it.

Piper found a way to take her doll on the swing with her.  Quite ingenious. 

We're planning to stay at the lake until Wednesday, although lots of rain is predicted for tomorrow so I may go back early.  We'll be back Friday morning.  I do enjoy it here in the fall.  The trees changing colors, watching the Candian geese fly south.  It's all fun.  We've had to turn our furnace on the past few evenings already.  Last week the A/C.  This week the furnace.  Welcome to fall!

I hope you all have a wonderful week and I'll be back soon.

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

Blessings,

Betsy