This and That and Some Travel Too!

I bet you can’t guess where I’m flying off to next week? If you guessed Spokane, you would be right. I’m flying in on Wednesday afternoon so I can drive back with Dennis on Saturday and Sunday. He’s done that drive too many times by himself and it will also give me a chance to say goodbye again to some friends. I want to make the drive with him, but I do not want to say goodbye again. Goodbyes are very hard!

Is anyone up for a tour of my utility room/pantry? Oh,it is so exciting! So elegant. Ha! First up is Kleenex, toilet paper and paper towels. Would you believe I had all of this long before Covid hit? I usually try to keep a stock of all three on hand and in the RV we could not use this kind of toilet paper. We kept it in storage and it’s coming in handy now. Apparently that bucket hanging from the handle is used when the sprinkler system is drained in the fall. Mustn’t misplace that.😀

On the opposite wall is where I keep the canned and dry goods. This is all that is left from what I had before we moved into the trailer. I have purchased a few things since we’ve been here like the boxes of Suddenly Salad on top along with a few other items, but the rest came from Washington with me and also in the U-Haul.

The house came with an extra refrigerator and freezer. The freezer is not turned on yet, but we’re making good use of the refrigerator. That rolled up paper on the top of the refrigerator is the original abstract of the house that we found way in the back of a cabinet. We thought it may be fun to look it over sometime when we have a few minutes or hours.

And a throne! Mind you, it is just the toilet. There is no sink and no place to wash your hands. Who puts a toilet somewhere with no place to clean your hands? Once Dennis is here, he’s going to try to figure out some thing, but with the furnace and water heater also in this tiny room, we’re not sure what we’ll do. Did you notice that the toilet paper holder on the floor is an overturned metal bucket? We are really fancy in this house! No plastic buckets for us!😂

I think I’ve already shown you the China cabinet the previous owners left us and I’ve probably already shown you my grandmothers China, but I just love this. I think it’s my favorite piece of furniture that they left behind. The table and chairs are nice too.

Remember my little $.25 dead ivy plant that I got from Walmart? That is it there in the center. It has just grown and grown and grown. I think it was a pretty good use of $.25!

I finished a pair of mittens while over at Mom’s house today. I also made the first one of another pair and have barely cast on for the second mitten.

The mittens are laying on the blanket that I’m making for Piper. It doesn’t look like it, but it is about the size of a double bed. I have just started the border. This color isn’t showing as the true color.

A close-up of the stitches. I’m using a size J crochet hook and Loops and Threads Soft and Shiny yarn, in the turquoise colorway.

This next picture shows the color as it truly is. It is also showing you the cool ties that I bought from Amazon. I was going to make my own, but by the time I bought the little beads that go inside I could have bought a dozen of these ties! I don’t think I need that many. I’m told I just have to soak them in water for about 20 minutes and they last around your neck for 4 1/2 to 5 hours. On the back of the package are the directions. They are all in a foreign language with not one word of English. I sent a picture of the directions to Alex, because although I knew it wasn’t Japanese, it did resemble Chinese to me. He wrote back to me this morning laughing and said it’s actually Korean!

I’ve spent some time with Mandy, Piper, Mom, my sister, niece and nephew this week. It has been wonderful being around family. I drove around my hometown for awhile Monday afternoon. I stopped for quite a while and looked at the house I grew up in.  It looks so small compared to what I remember! I remember the yard being huge and the driveway really long as we were shoveling it in the winter. The house itself even looks much smaller. Oh the memories that came flooding back as I drove up and down the streets. I remember walks to school and playing with friends on the siren house porch. We would cover our ears when the siren went off at 6:00 every night and everyone would run home because we knew it was dinner time. The innocent times of years ago. That same siren goes off when there’s a tornado warning.

It’s hard to believe that by next weekend all of our belongings will be here in Nebraska and Dennis and I will be on our way driving. The POD has been picked up and will be delivered here next week. We have a week to empty it before they retrieve it.

It’s been very warm here and it’s supposed to be even hotter and more humid by the weekend. Piper is in a parade with her 4H club on Saturday and I’m looking forward to going to see her. Tomorrow I will be going to buy some sunscreen!

I hope you are all having a good week and being thankful for the blessings that we have. I know I am thankful that Covid seems to be waning, at least in our area. I’m still praying for Teresa‘s family every day, as I can’t imagine what they’re going through this year. Teresa loved the summer months and enjoying all of her flowers and the farm yard. It has to be especially difficult for Dayle during this time of year. I miss her blog posts and her texts to me. Please remember Dayle, Travis, Shawn and Amy along with the rest of the family in your prayers.

Much love and blessings to you all,

Betsy