Vacation News...also known as what vacation?

Hello my friends.  Well.  Dennis was on vacation this week but the smoke lingered so we were in town until Wednesday.  And we're back this afternoon.  The cats have loved having us home.  Please excuse my lily white legs.  I do not tan, but that's okay.  The girls love to sit with me.  Frannie is by my feet and Amelia is on my lap.  I always feel very guilty when we're at the lake because they are alone and they are very affectionate cats.

I finished an "Antler Hat" this week.  It matches "The Dudester" scarf I made last week and I also made a pair of mittens to go with them.  It is a set for a Christmas gift and I'm really pleased how they all turned out.  This is Larry modeling it for me with a somewhat goofy look on his face.  That's our trailer behind him.

 I made these five pair of mittens and another pair that I accidentally left at the lake when we came home this afternoon.  So six more pair done this week.  I really need to count them and see how many are finished.  I didn't touch my socks that are on the needles at all.

Our 40th anniversary is next week on September 1, but we went out to dinner on Tuesday to celebrate early since we hope to be at the lake on our anniversary.  How have 40 years gone by?  We went to the Olive Garden and they gave us this free dessert.  The waitress wrote on the plate with raspberry syrup.  Chocolate Mouse Cheesecake  Yum!

We also each had the buy one/get one deal, so we had enough for both lunch and dinner the next day too and it was delicious.  All for less than $40.00 and that included the 25% that Dennis always tips.  Quite a bargain to my way of thinking.  Three meals!  And they were delicious, even if not exactly Weight Watchers friendly.  We took this week off of watching our food intake and decided to just have a good week together.  Monday we'll be back on the proverbial food wagon.  

The skies haven't changed much.  The photo below is how they are still looking around here.  Becasue of the smoke we only stayed at the lake until Sunday morning because the air quality was in the "hazardous" range both Sunday and Monday and "unhealthy" the rest of the week.  We went to an indoor RV place and looked at big trailers on Monday.  We're trying to decide what we want to have when we retire and hope to travel more. 

On Tuesday we drove to Idaho and looked at more campers, shopped at Cabela's, where Dennis got some new boots, and we had the BEST Philly Cheesesteak sandwiches I've ever had.  Who would have thought that a sporting goods store would have such a great cafeteria?  We also went to the Walmart next door because Idaho sales tax is less than Washington.  It was amazing!  Absolutely spotless and employees asking us every few minutes if we were finding everything we wanted.  I felt like I was in an upscale store and it was Walmart!!!  We found lots of goodies there as I was running low on some cleaning supplies, dog food and we found the cutest slippers for Piper for her birthday which is next month.  How did that happen?  She just had a birthday didn't she?

On Wednesday we went to the brand new Costco that just opened and bought toilet paper, kleenex and paper towels.  We should be set for at least six months.  I detest going to Costco and avoid it at all costs.  Then we headed to the lake Wednesday afternoon where I had planned to stay until next Thursday.  However, the smoke sent us home this afternoon.  We both had headaches, running noses and sore throats.  Smoke inhalation is a nasty business.  Once we were home in the A/C, all of the icky symptoms disappeared.  So that was our vacation, staycation, or whatever you want to call it.  We had a great time just being together, but our plans were upset quite a bit.

There was some very sad news in our family this week too.  Sweet, sweet Polly, Mandy & Brad's precious golden lab died.  She had lots of health issues but was the sweetest, most faithful dog you could want to have.  She was Pipers guardian and loved that little girl with all of her heart.  She let her climb all over her when she was learning to crawl.  She tucked her into bed every single night.  She was absolutely the best and I'm crying right now typing this.  She loved her Grandma too.  She always was right there with me when I visited.  And I know that she knew how much her Grandma loved her back.

This is my absolute favorite photo of Piper and Polly.  They were on the way to a Halloween party when they lived in Maryland.  This was the backseat of the truck.  Doesn't Polly look like she's guarding Piper?  Dennis calls this photo the "dynamic duo" and I have had a copy framed in our living room for a couple of years now.

She was ALWAYS with Piper.  I'm going to miss her so much.  These animals sure get to us don't they?  They steal our hearts and take them with them when they're gone.

Poor Piper.  She woke up the morning after Polly died and said, "All of my pets are gone."  Three of them in just a couple of months.  We have the cats and they FaceTime with them.  Yep, they sure do.  And the cats know their voices and come running when they hear them.  But that's not the same as being able to touch and cuddle with them.  Please be thinking of their little family.  Brad and Mandy took it just as hard.  They've had Polly for a long time.

Well, I guess we're home until next weekend unless something drastic happens and the skies clear.  Dennis goes back to work on Monday, but will be happy to commute to the lake if it gets nice again.  On the upside as I said before, the girls, (cats), are very happy we're back home.  Have a lovely week my friends.

"Many are the plans in a persons heart, but it is the LORD'S purpose that prevails." Proverbs 19:21

Blessings always,

Betsy