Trying Again

Hello my friends!  Well, Apple has done it again.  With the latest update I can no longer do anything with Blogger from my phone or iPad.  It says that Blogger needs to be updated to work with their systems.  Oh well.  For now anyway, for the first time in several years, it let me upload photos from the desktop.  We're still in business, if only for a short while until the computer decides to not cooperate again.  I am SO technology illiterate.  I need my kids at home again to teach me. :-)

Okay, enough grumbling and moaning. It's been a great week.  Last Friday we went to Coeur d'Alene, ID for a meeting.  We had breakfast at Cracker Barrel first.  It was really good this time.  Look at the goodies in the gift shop.  They always have the best things.  They must have a great buyer for their stores.

Oodles of ceramic gourds, pumpkins and owls.  I love the designs on them.

 A cute turkey shirt.  This almost came home with me.

 Owls were really big in the décor theme.

 I wanted it all and bought none of it!  Aren't you proud of me?

 The trees were beautiful but the clouds were not cooperating with our plans.

 After our meeting we had planned to go walk the boardwalk on the lake around the resort, (resort photo below).  It rained and rained and rained.  So instead....

 ....I found a new to me yarn store called "KnitKnit".  The owner and I whined together just a bit about being the only knitters not at Rhinebeck last weekend.  Okay, okay.  I know there are lots of you knitters that weren't there either, but last weekend, in that yarn store, we felt like the only ones! Ha!  I came home with one lonely skein of yarn.  It's a beautiful black, grey and cream yarn with a very few specks of red from an Indy dyer named "sewhappyjane".  The colorway is "Writing's on the Wall."  Don't you just love it?  Only one skein, because the cost of one skein of this yarn just about sent Dennis into conniptions.  :-)  It will be saved for something very special.  I don't know what yet.

 We had our first fire of the season on Saturday. It was cold and damp outside and the fire felt so good.  We invited Neal and Jenny over at the last minute for a dinner of lasagna, salad and bread with brownies and ice cream for dessert.  It felt like a fall comfort meal and we had a great time.

 I did a test knit this week for Teresa on her hat pattern.  I wanted to make it for an older teen/adult so I added some stitches and a few rows and it fit Dennis and I each perfectly.  I'm going to give it to a very deserving teenager at church on Sunday.  He deserves it and is such a great kid.  It looks brown in the photos but it is really grey.

 I also began a test knit for Taci at TaciStudios.  It will be a shawl and is somewhat larger than this right now, but it's a test knit so there has to be mystery involved. :-)

 Dennis had an endoscopy done on Tuesday and they did biopsies of his throat and stomach.  We won't hear anything for a week or two so prayers would be much appreciated.  We were there hours and hours and hours because they were running late.  It was a typical "hurry up and wait" situation.  I was the only person left in the waiting area for the last several hours.  Good thing I had my knitting with me.

 And then!  I have been trying to meet up with fellow blogger Pammy Sue since she moved here from Texas awhile back and it has just never worked out.  Dennis and I drove right by her house on our way to Canada last week, but she wasn't home.  She let me know that she would be driving to Spokane this week to do some errands and we made plans to meet for lunch on Wednesday.  Well!  We couldn't wait for lunch.  She texted me when she was at Hobby Lobby and I drove right over, (I only live a mile or so from HL).  We had fun shopping and then had lunch together.  She is a wonderful lady and I wish we lived closer.  She's only about 10 miles from the Canadian border, about 2 hours from me on two lane highways through the mountains, so especially in the wintertime travel is not easy.  It was wonderful to finally meet though and we hope to do it again soon when she's in town.

 She gave me a set of Pioneer Woman measuring bowls that I have been wanting since they came out.  I just rarely buy stuff like that for myself so I was very touched that she knew me so well.  Also some teas that will be wonderful with the cold weather moving in.

 I finished a baby blanket for a new little niece that will be joining our family in January.  I just love these blankets.

 I thought I would throw in a picture Mandy sent me yesterday of Piper doing her new favorite chore.  I wonder how long this will last and she'll actually ask to clean the floors! :-)

 I made these Chocolate Chip Pumpkin muffins yesterday and they are Amazing! I used my new measuring cups too. :-) If anyone would like the recipe just let me know.  There are tons of pumpkin recipes out there right now and I don't want to bore you.  They were a hit at Bible study last night and several people took one home for breakfast today.  That's when you know something is good, everyone wants to take it home!  :-)

 Finally, this is a terrible photo, but I finished Jeremy's HUGE socks.  I also have a pair for Dennis about 3/4 completed but I'm taking a break and doing some crochet because my hands are hurting from all of the socks I've made lately.

We're driving to Moses Lake, WA tomorrow to watch Hayden, Alicia & Jeremy's son play in a school basketball game.  It's about 2 hours west of Spokane.  They have no family here, so if you remember from my previous posts we're kind of like adopted grandparents.  He's so excited that we're coming to see him play.  So in the past two weeks we've been north to Canada, East to Idaho and west to Moses Lake.  I think we'll be staying home for awhile after this.  It does feel good to be able to go places again after the past year of babying my back.

I've got to run, I wanted to be at the dreaded Costco when they opened to avoid the lines and I'm not going to make it.  I hope you all have a lovely week and enjoy the end of fall...at least up here I fear it's the end.  We have snow predicted at the end of the week next week.  EEK!

"Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners-of whom I am the worst." 1 Timothy 1:15

Blessings,
Betsy