Good News

Just popping back in this morning to share the good news that my MRI went well and the results were very good. They called me yesterday and said I had an unremarkable brain scan! Apparently my brain is as unremarkable as the rest of me! Ha! It is very good news, as my doctor was concerned about a possible aneurysm or growth on my brain because of the headaches I’ve had for the last month. Thank you all for the well wishes and the prayers. I appreciated each and everyone of them.  The headaches continue, as well as the back spasms that have returned. It’s always something isn’t it?

Camping World met me at the lake yesterday and picked up our trailer. It’s back at their shop hopefully being “de-moused” as I write this. We still have no idea when we will get it back.

We have plans to go to dinner tomorrow night for our anniversary, which is Sunday. People have told us good things about the Texas Roadhouse, and we think we’re going to try it. They are actually building one only about a mile from our house, but the nearest one that is open is in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. That is about 30 minutes away, so we plan to go to dinner and then walk on the boardwalk around the lake for awhile.

We’re having a beautifully cool morning this morning. I’m sitting here listening to a light rain fall on the roof of the deck. I love that sound. It is supposed to be a short-lived little rain shower but I’m enjoying it.

Only a few things accomplished since my last post.  One pair of mittens for the school children completed with another almost done.

Miss Piper requested a pair of mittens to match her winter coat. These took forever with all of the color changes and I don’t know how I ended up with more blue at the tip of one than the other. I must have been off on my row count somehow. I am considering redoing the top of one of them to match, although I know on a busy little girl, I don’t think anyone will ever notice.

I also crocheted her some hair elastics for her ponytail. They look like flowers when they’re put on the ponytail.

That’s it my friends.  Nothing real exciting. Michaels is having a huge sale this weekend. Most of their yarn is on sale for buy one, get one 1/2 off and then I received a coupon today that’s good until Monday for 20% off your entire order, regular and sale items. I really don’t need more yarn but I’m wondering if I can resist that deal?!

I’m wishing you all a safe and happy Labor Day weekend. For those of you in the path of Dorian I am praying for you and all of your neighbors.

“I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”  Psalm 91:2

Blessings,

Betsy

Disappointed

Life has a way of throwing curve balls at you doesn’t it.? We had planned to be at the lake from today through next Monday. However, we have been up there the last two evenings after Dennis got off work, packing everything back into the truck from the new trailer. Remember the mice? Camping World, where we bought the trailer, offered to pay for a pest control company to go out and exterminate for us, but the problem is that no one goes out that far from town. Since we trapped eight mice between Saturday and Monday night, they have decided we have an infestation in the underbelly of the trailer. Camping World is picking up the trailer tomorrow morning and taking it back to their shop to remove the whole bottom of the trailer and clean it out. We have no idea how long this is going to take or if we will even get it back to use during September before we go to Omaha. We are quite disappointed. It was a lot of work to get it set up on the spot semi-permanently. Dennis and Paul worked tirelessly all day Saturday and all afternoon Sunday. Extra jacks were put underneath for stabilization, the sewer was hooked up permanently, the landscaping was put back in the front. Oh well. It is what it is, as our son-in-law Brad says.

Also, this morning was my MRI. It was to be done with contrast so they had to insert an IV. Eight needle sticks later they finally found a vein. Oh, how I hate getting IVs. Now the waiting game starts to find out what the results are.

On a brighter note I have gotten some knitting done this week. Here’s what has been accomplished.

Two baby hats and two pair of socks for the hospital. The beautiful flower is a house (trailer) warming gift from some neighbors at the lake. I had to bring it home because everything had to be removed from the trailer. Isn’t it pretty?

Two more dish cloths are complete, with another on the needles.

Four pair of mittens for the children. I have another pair almost done. I have been naughty and have procrastinated on these this year. Now I need to become a mitten factory in order to give them a decent amount by October. I figure if I spend most of my time on these mittens I should be able to have at least 60 or 70 pair done by the time they need them.

I also have a pair of socks on the needles for a Christmas gift that needs to be done by Thanksgiving when our family gets together.

That’s about it for us. Our entire weekend and week so far has been tied up in the new trailer. Many, many times we have wondered what have we done? Right now we would happily take our old trailer and it’s small space back. Unfortunately, that isn’t an option. I know when they get this problem taken care of it will be a beautiful trailer that we will love as much as our old one. It really is frustrating though, when we are limited on the amount of time we can spend at the lake using it.  We used to be able to go out as soon as the snow melted and stay until it snowed again in the fall. Now they’re pretty strict on the May 1 through October 1.  Our thought is we may not be able to use it at all this year. It depends on how long they take to get it back to us. We’re leaving for Omaha the third week in September. We will have to either winterize it before we leave or the first weekend we’re back.  Oh well. Enough of that. First world problems and all. Ha!!  I know many people have a lot more pressing issues, it’s just a bit disappointing.

Our 41st wedding anniversary is this Sunday, September 1. We’ll have to think of something fun to do since we won’t be camping. There is a dance that night at the resort that we may go out just to watch the fun.  Or maybe will actually go out to dinner. We very rarely do that on our anniversary because it almost always falls on Labor Day weekend.  Whatever we do, as long as I’m with Dennis, everything will be wonderful.

I hope you are all having a wonderful week enjoying the last bit of summer.

“Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and splendor, for everything in Heaven and earth is yours. Yours, Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all.”  First Chronicles 29:11

Blessings always,

Betsy

Busy!

My goodness it has been a busy week in our lives. First of all I have an MRI scheduled for Wednesday to find out about the headaches. Second of all, the back spasms came back with a vengeance on Friday. Not fun. I have to go to the neurologist tomorrow because he’s concerned that the shot only worked about three weeks this time. I believe he is thinking the steroids they put me on for my non-existent sinus infection negated the affects of the Botox injection. Ugh!

But we also have exciting news! We got a new camping trailer. We have been watching for almost 3 years to find a good deal on this floor plan that we both liked. Last weekend I was on craigslist and found one for an amazing bargain price. We went and looked at it on Monday and bought it. It has only been used one time before the people decided they wanted a fifth wheel trailer instead. He did not like towing this big trailer.  They had put virtually every upgrade possible on this trailer. We got it for about half of what a new one would have cost with none of the upgrades. When they say there is major depreciation on new camping trailers, they aren’t kidding! Even when they’re only used once! It’s a 2019 Grand Design Reflection travel trailer. An unbelievable bargain.  We were thrilled to find it.  Here, let me show you some photos. Please excuse the mess as were still moving in and my back is not letting me do much.

A verynice gentleman from the dealership delivered this trailer and picked up our old one. My goodness he was a pro. Even in the tight quarters of the campground he put it in place on the first try.

I love my kitchen. After eight years of having literally one foot of counterspace, I have lots now. Since we’re planning to live in this after retirement, we wanted to have it be comfortable. The kitchen has both a regular oven and a microwave/convection oven combo.

Four chairs came with the trailer but two fold up and we have them stored under the bed. They look just like the regular chairs but can be stashed away when not in use.  The tablecloth is one that my mother embroidered over 70 years ago. It’s one of the few things I have that belonged to her and I always keep it on the table in the camper. (But we never eat on it!)

There is a theater seating reclining loveseat on the left that has massage, heat and lights built into it! Just so fancy! The sofa in the back makes into a queen size bed in case we have guests.  Out that back window is a panoramic view of the lake. You can just make out the boat dock in the brightness of the window.

The bedroom has a huge closet with sliding barn doors. Behind the doors are a separate washer and dryer, along with loads of hanging clothes space and shelving.

There is another closet on the other side of the bed with some drawers.

This is the washing machine. On the other side of the closet is the dryer. We didn’t want either one and would have preferred the storage space for when we’re living in it, but they wouldn’t give us any credit by taking them out. Neither one has ever been used and we might try to sell them.

A nice TV in here and there is another in the bedroom. We have been told the fireplace will keep the entire trailer warm.  That is a big pantry to the right of the fireplace. I think that’s one of the things that excited me the most!

I tried to put some little things out to make it feel more like home. Do you see my pretty Piper there in her ballerina outfit?

I didn’t take any pictures of the bathroom because it was so small it was hard to get a picture. It has a nice size shower with sliding glass doors and quite a bit of counter space for a trailer.

Now for the downside. They had the trailer parked at the end of the lot by grassy field at the dealership.  Our first night staying here was Friday night. I was just getting ready to go to bed and out from under the kitchen island popped a mouse! Dennis was already in bed and believe you me, he heard me calling for him! Off he went yesterday to buy some mouse traps. Last night we caught three mice! I think there’s more. That’s what happens when campers are kept in grassy areas. I have never, ever had a mouse in the house or trailer before. I must admit, it is quite unsettling. Is there any advice out there? We definitely have to get it taken care of in the next couple of weeks before we close up for the winter. It doesn’t give us much time to get them out of here.

I hope you’re all having a wonderful weekend and are enjoying the “dog days” of summer. 

“You will be in enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.” II Corinthians 9:11

Much love and many blessings to you all. 

Betsy

It’s Friday!

Happy Friday my friends. It’s a beautiful day here in Spokane, Washington. My headaches continue and after a doctors visit on Wednesday, with my own doctor this time, he said I never did have a sinus infection. More tests are being ordered, but the insurance company is dragging its feet as usual. Stay tuned....

Meanwhile the knitting and crocheting has continued. Here are my completed items since Monday.

Another “Which-Way Filet” baby blanket. I love how this turned out with the white stripes in it.  This was made using Loops and Threads Impeccable yarn from Michael’s.  This is such a fun blanket to crochet and is an easy two row repeat. It looks much harder than it actually is.

And three waffle weave dish cloths made out of I Love This Cotton from Hobby Lobby.

Dennis put a new storm door on the front of the house last week. They all seem to come with the retractable rolling screens and I think the one we had before this was the original prototype! The screen never worked right. I really like this door. I love being able to have the front door open and a nice breeze go through the house.

Her is the full front view of the house. I can’t remember if I’ve shown it to you before without snow.  :-) And look, there’s Chloe. She’s never very far from me. She never, ever leaves the yard unless we tell her it’s OK.  She really is the perfect dog.

I love this corner of the front yard. Sometimes Chloe and I go and sit on the grass in the afternoons and watch the world go by.

Look at all the flowers. This is the bush that you can see on the left of the garage doors in the photo up above.

And look who started first grade yesterday! She is getting so big.

I saw this picture yesterday somewhere. It was either on Instagram, Facebook or someone’s blog. If it’s one of yours, I’m sorry for copying it, but it was too good not to share. If it was yours take credit in the comments please!

This is a picture of me. Yarn everywhere I go. They were joking about that last night at Bible study. No one would know who I was if I didn’t have a bag of yarn in my hands.

I hope that all of you have an absolutely lovely weekend.

“Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord himself, is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation.”  Isaiah 12:2

Blessings,

Betsy

Some Finishes

I was able to get some yarny things completed this weekend.  Friday I ended up going to the doctor and being diagnosed with a sinus infection. I guess that explains the headache I’ve had for two weeks! I was put on a Z-pack antibiotic and prednisone. Never before have I had the kind of reaction that I’ve had this weekend from either of those medications. I’m not sure which one. This morning I went to pick up my new glasses and the lady there thought that I had a horrible sunburn because my skin was so flushed. I’ve also been pretty dizzy but maybe that’s my blondeness coming out! Ha! It rained all weekend here. No sunburn for me. I’ve been inside knitting as you’ll see by the following pictures.

First of all I finished the “Which-Way Filet” baby blanket.  I hadn’t washed and blocked it in this photo yet, but my goodness, this was a fun one to crochet. Just a bit different from the normal granny and enough counting to keep your interest going.

Then I made an easy baby sweater, a pair of socks and a hat to match. This will all be going to a baby boy that is expected in October down in Texas.  I should have taken new pictures after blocking but I forgot, and I already have them packaged up for mailing.

I also made eight baby hats for the hospital. These are super simple and take no thought or much time at all.  



I finished this dish cloth yesterday during church. It has been my carry-along project for the past week.

I haven’t watched any news for a couple of days so I have no idea how the fires are doing, but our skies here in Spokane are beautifully partly cloudy today and you can actually see the blue between the clouds. I have the windows all wide open and I’m enjoying the fresh air.

We didn’t go to the lake this weekend because I was feeling icky and Dennis had some projects around the house to get done. Since, it also rained most of the weekend as I said before, it was nice to just stay here at home.

I hope you all had a relaxing few days and were able to do all of the things that you wanted.

The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.” Jeremiah 31:3

The Lord loves you and so do I! 

Blessings, 

Betsy

Happy Thursday!

Wow! Two posts in one week. How have I done that? Well, I’ve been home stuck inside because of the smoke.

Dennis and I took a drive up to the trailer last night because we were getting reports that ash was falling.  This is a photo of our grill cover at the lake. It was like snow flurries up there. Needless to say we only stayed about five minutes because we didn’t want to be inhaling all of this into our lungs.  Although we have smoke here in Spokane, so far there is no ash falling here at our house.

These were the billowing clouds of smoke we encountered as we drove towards the lake.

I haven’t watched the news today, but as of yesterday’s evening news, the firefighters hadn’t lost one structure. That is unbelievable to me considering the amount of acres that have been burned by this fire. Much of it is on the reservation and they’re trying to save the sacred spots too. So far they have been successful.

Edit to add: I just looked it up and this fire has consumed 34,200 acres as of 6:00 this morning.

I really don’t think our trailer is in any danger. It has been hovering around 100°F for the last three days, but we’re supposed to have a cool down this weekend with a possibility of rain.  Please join me in praying for the firefighters as they work 12 hour shifts in this horrendous heat and smoke.

Now to a more pleasant topic. Yarn! These are Mandy’s and Piper’s socks.  As I said in my last post, I will finish Piper’s while we’re visiting so I can be sure to get them at the right length. She is a growing girl you know! :-)

Some progress is being on the “Which-Way Filet Baby Blanket.”  I must confess, I have spent a lot of time reading a new book that I received last weekend instead of crocheting.

Alicia ordered me this America’s Test Kitchen cookbook off of Etsy. It goes through all seasons up to 2017. Am I the only one out there who loves to read cookbooks? I usually don’t end up making very many of the recipes, but I sure enjoy reading them. This is an unusual cookbook. Each recipe explains the science involved and why it is such a good recipe. I have barely even made a dent in reading it. This thing is huge. About 3 inches thick!

I hope you’re all having a good week. In reading blogs it seems like everyone is having a very busy summer.  

I’m looking forward to our road trip in September to visit our Omaha family. We will be there for Piper’s birthday. We’re also planning to make a quick two night/one day stop at the Black Hills and go to Mount Rushmore. We haven’t been there in years and we would really like to do the night lighting ceremony again.  Before we moved to Spokane, we went to the Black Hills every year for vacation and then on to Yellowstone National Park. I do miss those days when the kids were small and we did things like that as a family. I know you can never turn back time, but those were some really good times. We didn’t have much money, but that really didn’t matter on those trips.  In those days we could take a two-week camping vacation on less than $300! Isn’t that unbelievable?

“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”  Numbers 6:24-26

Blessings always,

Betsy

The Smoke Has Arrived

A quick post today. I had planned to be at the lake but the smoke drove us home Saturday night. There are several wildfires burning around our state. As of today we are in the very unhealthy air quality index. Remember all of the beautiful pictures I post of the lake? It usually looks like this.

Saturday afternoon it looked like this.  There is a fire about 25 miles due west of our trailer.

Today you can’t even see across the lake.  I don’t have a picture of that. 

At home you can barely see across the street. I have a difficult time breathing in this kind of air and my cardiologists office sent out a text to me to stay inside in the air-conditioning. We’ve had such a beautiful summer so far. I am very grateful to have air-conditioning on these very hot smoky days. Our temperatures are hovering between 95 and 100°F all this week.

I finished a pair of socks for Mandy and have Piper’s about three-quarters done. I’m leaving hers like that until we get to their house so she can try them on and I know they are the right length before I finish the toes. Unfortunately, they are in the bedroom where Dennis is now sleeping. I’ll take a picture tomorrow for my next post. :-)

I just started a baby blanket about 10 minutes ago for an expected little baby boy in Texas. It’s a new pattern to me that I saw on YouTube called the “Which-Way Filet Baby Blanket.”

My prayers are with the families and the victims of the recent shootings here in the U.S. There are no words and my heart is broken for the families. I fear there is no easy answer. Our society seems to be so angry with each other and looks on anyone who thinks or believes differently than them as their enemies. It seems you have to search for the love these days and that saddens me.  I know that it breaks my Heavenly Father‘s heart to see the anger that inhabits the earth.  I also know many of you feel the same.

I was torn on whether to even write anything because I know we’ve all been bombarded with it over the last few days. I just couldn’t write a post and not mention it. Please join me in prayer for peace in our world.

I used this verse in my last post but I believe it is even more appropriate today.

“Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord himself, is my strength and my defense; He has become my salvation.”  Isaiah 12:2

“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

Blessings,

Betsy

Staycation

We are on a staycation this week.  We never made it back to the lake on Sunday after coming home for church. Instead, after church and taking home communion to the shut-ins, Dennis mowed the grass and then we went out to dinner at Red Robin with friends. We ended up going swimming at Larry and Nita’s house that evening.

I had an appointment with the neurologist on Monday afternoon for another Botox injection but they called me at 7:15 in the morning to cancel my appointment. Oh no!  I was sure that would mean a few weeks before I could get another appointment.  Then she asked if we could be there by 9:30!  I said of course we could. I did not want to wait an extra couple of weeks as the last shot had already begun wearing off.  Dennis went with me and watched and said I actually received about eight injections over my mid-back. Other than some tenderness at the injection sites, I had none of the side effects that I did last time and the spasms have stopped again. Hallelujah! Here’s to another three months of no muscle spasms.  Thank you all for your well wishes and your prayers. I have certainly appreciated and felt them.

Then there was a package to be delivered by Amazon that was supposed to arrive by noon. It finally showed up at 4:00. That meant we didn’t get to the lake until after five but that’s OK. We had a lovely evening and it was so quiet out there both Monday and Tuesday nights. Dennis and I took a walk down to the lake last night at sunset and these are two of the photos I took. I love the silhouette of the children fishing on the dock and the fishermen in the row boat.

Please excuse all of my chins and the squinty eyes. The sun was very bright as it was setting and I forgot my sunglasses.

We came home this evening because we have a very busy day tomorrow. An appointment to have the truck worked on at 9:00 tomorrow morning, grocery shopping and laundry, among other errands and a potluck at our house tomorrow night for Bible study. We may go back to the lake tomorrow night or we may wait until Friday morning. We’ll have to wait and see how late it is before the potluck is over and everything is cleaned up.

We had a lovely weekend with our son and our two grandchildren, Kyleigh and Caleb. I would love to share photos with you but they prefer not to be on the Internet. We spent the day Saturday at the lake where the kids and Grandpa spent hours swimming in the lake together.  We watched a couple of movies on Netflix in the evenings and spent some hours at the mall since they don’t have one in Helena. It’s hard to believe that Kyleigh is going into high school next month and Caleb in middle school. Where did the years go?

A dear blog friend recently celebrated her 15th blogoversary. Debra, from the blog “As I See it Now” over on my sidebar, sent me a gift certificate to Amazon as a thank you for leaving comments on her blog. Wasn’t that sweet? I told her it arrived at exactly the right time because I ordered the flashlights to go into the mini stockings for the veterans that day. I was able to apply her gift card to those flashlights. My friends, I looked everywhere for a deal on flashlights. I talked to store managers and explained what they were for but no one was willing to give me a deal. So that was the package we were waiting for Monday. 100, yep one hundred, flashlights arrived from Amazon and they are perfect! They are about 4 inches long and super bright and then will go in the stockings perfectly.  They also turn on and off with the push of a button so that should be easy for the people receiving them.

I think they will be perfect. What do you think?

I have been knitting, but I don’t have any pictures right now.   I hope you’re all having a wonderful week. I’m enjoying spending all of my time this week with my handsome husband. It’s giving me a glimpse into what retirement could be like in a few years and I think it will be very, very good. :-)

And now it’s time for bed. I’ll be back soon.  Love to you all.

“Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord himself, is my strength and my defense; He has become my salvation.”  Isaiah 12:2

Blessings,

Betsy