Gorgeous Sunshine

I am so sorry that most of you are in the grip of a horrible freeze with lots of snow. Meanwhile, so far we have enjoyed one of the most mild winters I can remember in Spokane. I took this picture out the back door about five minutes ago.

 Although it is not overly warm outside, I think it’s about 34°F right now, the sun is so bright and warm that everything has melted. Oh, it’s still on lawns and grassy areas, but the roads are all clear and most of it is gone off of roofs. I’m keeping all of you that are dealing with the bitter cold in my prayers. If you can, stay inside and stay warm.

I finished Dennis’s socks Sunday night. They have been in my knitting bag for almost 2 months! They were my carry along to doctors appointments and that was the only time I worked on them. Basically I had the cuffs done as of Friday morning and nothing else. I put my mind to it and finished them. He’s a happy guy as he loves to wear my hand knit socks inside his cowboy boots. Yes, we live in the west and my husband wears cowboy boots. If I had my way I would have him wearing a cowboy hat too, but so far he hasn’t found one he likes. He wore a cowboy hat the entire time we were dating and I loved it.. :-). He also looks great in jeans! :-) The socks sure look purple in this picture. They’re actually a deep, almost eggplant color. They look more blue than purple in real life.

Here is the yarn I used and the pattern was Petty Harbour which is free on (Ravelry).

Last night I also finished another square for my cozy memories nine patch blanket. I will start the border in cream around the square today.

On Saturday Dennis and I went and walked around the RV show for almost 3 hours! I’m counting that as a win. My back was stiff at the end of the day but I was able to do it. Last night however, it was on the verge of spasming again and I have no idea why. Every time I go for physical therapy or to see the actual doctor they ask if I’m getting better. I have no idea how to answer them. We did have a great time at the RV show. Although we have no plans to buy anything now, we like to look at the different floorplans and dream about what we want to do in retirement.

I put my Valentines decorations up today as it’s almost February!  The hearts are a free pattern on my friend Teresa Kasner‘s blog. You can find her over there on my side bar. They are very easy to crochet and she’s very generous in sharing the pattern.

My birthday is on Friday and the plan is to go out to dinner somewhere with Neal and Jenny.  I get to choose as that’s the tradition with the four of us. The birthday person gets to choose where we eat. I think I will choose a German restaurant here in town that I know both Neal and Dennis enjoy and we haven’t been there for a while.

I’ve also been doing quite a bit of reading. Right now I am re-reading some books I read almost 30 years ago when we still lived in Omaha. They are Frank Perretti‘s “Piercing the Darkness” and “An Ever Present Darkness”. I’m finding them quite applicable in light of the world we live in today. Our battle is not against flesh and blood, but about unseen forces in the world. I truly believe that.

I have a neat little book holder. Actually I have two of them. One holds regular size paperbacks and the other holds trade size paperbacks. The clear band that you see allows me to read without holding the book open. There are hinges on the back that you just pull one side of the book up and the page flips automatically. This makes it very easy to read books while I knit or crochet.

You can tell by the yellowed pages and the curled up corners that these books have been well read. Our entire family has read them and I’ve loaned them out to other people. Both of the books have been autographed by the author when we went to hear him speak years ago when we first moved to Spokane.  They are works of fiction, but they truly make you stop and think.  Every time I read them it reminds me how important prayer is.

Tonight is my appointment at the Apple Store. They are going to set the computer up for me and hopefully get it all ready to work. I’m excited. I am happy however, that my iPad has decided to cooperate again in blogging. It sounds like the whole photo issue was a Google problem. What I’m told is that they changed a setting a few weeks ago but they have now “fixed” it.  

I hope you all have a wonderful week. Stay warm, and in the case of my friends down under, stay cool!

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”  Ephesians 6:12

But then we have this verse.

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in Heaven.” 

Matthew 5:14–16

Many blessings to you all my friends, 

Betsy