Sweater Solo

Hello friends and Happy Friday! 

It's been a week since I last posted and would you believe that all I have worked on is this sweater?  It's taken an extraordinary amount of time.  It doesn't look very long here, but to give some perspective, that ribbing at the bottom is 5 1/2 inches.  The rest is solid knitting and purling.  It's the purling that always slows me down.  That being said though, I love this pattern so far.  I did change the back from a lace design to solid for warmth.  I still have to knit about 6 inches around both fronts and neck.  Then sleeves and pockets.  I won't finish anytime soon.  Admittedly, I didn't knit much over the weekend and have been busy a lot this week, so I haven't knitted as much as usual.  I am enjoying it though, and can see myself making another if the pattern continues to go so smoothly.

Tomorrow it will be three weeks since these carnations were bought at Trader Joes.  I can't believe how long their flowers last.

My little Easter tree.  It makes me happy.

Did I show you this last time?  Sorry about the glare, I am most definitely NOT a photographer and don't pretend to be.  I crocheted these flowers a few years ago and they spend a lot of time on the island in the spring and summer.

As you may remember, we drove to Missoula, MT last Friday to spend the weekend with our son and grandchildren.  This was our absolutely gorgeous drive there through two mountain passes.  It's a three hour drive for us and one and a half hours for Jamie and the kids. In that three hours we're in three states, Washington, Idaho and Montana.

At the bottom of 4th of July Pass. (Sorry about the bugs on the windshield. It's a hazard of highway driving.)

Up, up, up we go.  It was SUCH a beautiful drive that day.  The snow is still fairly deep up there. This photo was close to the bottom of the pass.

Then, after a short drive through the valley we headed up Lookout Pass.  At the very top is exit 0, the state line of Montana.  Did you know that on the west side of the continental divide the rivers flow west toward the Pacific and on the east side, they flow south and east?  When we first moved here it was so strange to me.  It seemed as if the rivers were all flowing backwards.  It's really very disconcerting.  Now I'm used to it, and when we go home to Nebraska, it seems to me that those rivers are flowing backwards!

Now, on the way home, things changed drastically. It was 59 degrees in Missoula and I was in flip-flops.  As we started up the pass, this is what we found.  Snow.  Lots and lots and lots of snow falling.  The temperature dropped to 15 degrees.  I'm sure glad I didn't have to walk in my choice of shoes!  I also always keep a crocheted afghan in each car.  That came in handy too.  Thankfully, although it was piling up next to the road, nothing was sticking on the highway yet.  A co-worker of Dennis' drove through the pass about 2 hours later and had to stop and chain up.  It was good we left for home when we did as we didn't take chains with us!

Icky, icky snow!

This is the inside of the hotel we stayed at.  The kids, (and adults), just love it.  Two swimming pools, 5 hot tubs, ping pong tables and an amazingly huge breakfast.  Every thing is centered around this courtyard with a waterfall.  You can see it from every room.  We really enjoy this place.

Here's a picture of our keycard so you can see if there is a location near you.  It is a wonderful place to go for a night away, especially if you have children.  The employees have always been super helpful and nice.  AND, you get warm chocolate chip cookies when you check in.  Coffee and hot tea are in the courtyard 24 hours.  We really like it here and have stayed 3-4 times now as the price is extremely reasonable.

When we got home, we had an email from the management at the lake that there was flooding happening.  Although we knew there was absolutely no danger to our trailer since we're up on a hill, we drove up to take a look for ourselves.  We have never, ever seen the lake even close to being this high.  This cabin is normally about 25-30 feet from the lake and they have had to sandbag several others besides this one.

These trees and rocks are usually on high ground far from the water.  This is normally where I walk every day.  Some trailers closer to the lake are threatened by water and lots of homes around the lake have basements full of water and it's up to their front doors.  Many of these people are year-round residents.  It's sure been a crazy spring.

We had overnight guests last night so I haven't had a chance to check blogs since early yesterday.  I always feel that I'm missing important things with my friends when I don't read your blogs.  I think I'll go do that now. :-)

I hope you are all having a lovely day and enjoying a lovely spring.

This verse has really caused me to stop and think.  It was in a devotion I read a little over a week ago.  I's important to set priorities on who we are trying to please/impress in this life.

"Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of GOD?  Or am I trying to please people?  If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ."  Galatians 1:10

My goal is to live my life based on Jesus and not on the whims of this world.  Who are you trying to please?  Just a thought that I've been thinking about a lot lately.

Blessings,
Betsy