It's over!

Summer is officially over.  The lake trailer is closed up for the season. The first two photos are what it looked like last Friday.  The second two are after we closed up for the season on Saturday.  I like the first two better. :-)

Mandy, if you're reading this, don't show Piper the next two pictures!  

I made this little poncho for Miss Piper and hope she can get some wear from it before it's too cold this year.  I did make it big enough that she should be able to wear it next spring too.  The pattern is one that Jennifer from the "Thistlebear" blog on my sidebar made for her daughter's birthday.  I used the same yarn she did, just in a different colorway because Piper loves, loves, loves pink.  I hope she likes it.  I made it on a whim and it only took two evenings!  Jennifer has all of the pattern information on her blog.  If you don't follow her, you should check her out.  I'm sure you would enjoy her posts.

 As part of Piper's birthday present, (She's 6 TODAY!), I made her a hat, scarf, mittens and wristwarmers.  I have already shown you the hat and wristwarmers earlier, but just made the mittens and scarf.  The yarn is from Hobby Lobby and is super soft.  I used about 1 and 1 1/2 skeins of "I Love This Yarn."

 I also started this blanket for Neal & Jenny for Christmas.  It's made from Caron's Big Cake yarn and I have four skeins.  It's knitted on the diagonal and is 38 inches wide.  I'm using the pattern "Make a Long Story Short Blanket" off of Ravelry.  I bought all of the yarn that Michaels had in this colorway so I really hope it's enough for a decent sized blanket.

We sealed our patio and sidwalk this morning.  Doesn't it look pretty and shiny?  We really wanted it done before another long winter with 3 foot of snow sitting on the concrete, but it has to be almost perfect weather with temps in the 60's or low 70's and on a day Dennis was off of work to prep the area, etc.  Finally today worked!

 Sorry this one is sideways.  But we love how it turned out. 

Last Friday at the lake, Burlington Northern Railroad replaced a bunch of ties on the track right behind our trailers.  It was very interesting to watch the entire process.  There were 17 different vehicles/tractors involved in the pulling out the spikes, removing steel plates, removing the old ties, replacing with the new ones, and then reversing the entire process.  I'm usually not that interested in this kind of thing, but I really did learn a lot by watching.  It is all done very quickly because there are two trains that use this track daily.  There were hundreds of ties replaced within a couple of hours!

 

 And look!  This tractor has a porta-potty and a water container on the back of it.  Look how dry it still is here.  We still have several fires burning around us.  In fact, I took my new car in for an oil change this week and the cabin filter was completely clogged with soot!  So much smoke in the air earlier this year.  I'm so glad that has cleared up finally.

As I said before, today is Miss Piper's 6th birthday and as I type this they are on an airplane flying from Chicago to Omaha.  They have been in Bavaria for the last 10 days.  Here she is in picture Mandy texted to me this morning while they were waiting to board the plane.  I can't wait to talk to them and hear all about the trip.  From the photos I recieved, it looks as though they had a great time.  Piper even got to wear a dirndl while there.  If I know Piper, I'm sure that she was thrilled with that.

We're leaving next Friday to drive back to Omaha for a week.  We have decided not to camp our way back because snow is already falling in parts of Montana and we would rather not be that cold!  Call me a wimp, but I'll give in and pay for a hotel if it means staying warm all night.

Piper's birthday party will be held while we're there so she'll get to stretch this birthday out for awhile.  I'm looking forward to seeing my sister and family while we're there.

We have a new housesitter staying here with the animals while we're gone and we're really hoping that all works out well.  Ellen has always stayed here when we traveled, but she's dealing with some health issues and she doesn't think she would be able to do our stairs right now.  It's hard to leave someone else here, but I'm sure it will all be fine.

One last bit of news is that my middle brother was sworn in as a police chaplain for the Council Bluffs, Iowa police department last week.  I am so very proud of him. It is a volunteer position.  He worked as an ambulance driver all of his life until his back gave out on him.  Then he worked for the 911 center in the records room until he retired two years ago.  Throughout his career he has always met with officers and prayed with them and just listened to them talk.  I don't think most of us realize the horrors that our officers see and face.  We just hear the bad stories about a few bad apples.  Most of them are there to serve and protect us at any price to themselves.  Lynn is there for them.  And they appreciate him.  He has continued to meet with them since his retirement, this merely makes it official. I am so proud to be his little sister.  He has such a HUGE heart for people.  I know he'll never see this, but I want everyone to know how much I love him.

I hope you all have a lovely week and are enjoying the weather.  Our leaves are turning very, very early this year and many of our trees have already shed their leaves.  Last year we still had leaves in November.  I have a hunch this is a warning of what our winter will be like.

"So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." 2 Corinthianss 4:18

Blessings,
Betsy