Winter is Coming

Good morning everyone. Although it’s busy around here, it’s becoming normal busy with appointments and fun things here at the building. We have been getting involved with various things. Tomorrow they’re having a Thanksgiving day feast that the management is cooking for all of the residents. It is also to honor all of  the veterans who live here. After the lunch we need to be at Piper’s school by 2:00 for a Veterans Day program there.

I have been getting involved with some of the craft groups. Last week we made the fall door hangers that I showed in my last post. It’s now hanging on mom‘s door and she really seems to like it. In the picture below you see a mat for the homeless. A group of about 10 to 15 ladies get together weekly and cut plastic bags into strips and roll the strips into balls. Then they are crocheted into a 3x6 foot mat for sleeping. This keeps people off of the damp ground when sleeping outside. Crocheting with plastic grocery bags is hard on the hands, so I just do a little bit every day.

Yesterday we got together and made these 3-D Christmas cards. After putting them together, we put some sort of craft moss in various colors wherever we wanted it. You can see here that I put some on the trees and the clothes.

This shows the 3-D a little better. It was a lot of fun. Next week is Christmas wreaths and at the end of the month will be another 3-D card with a shaker bubble on it! I’m really enjoying the fellowship with people her. Everyone is so friendly and BUSY. I’m sure there are some people that just pretty much stay in their apartment so I never see them, but the people that we’ve met are always on the go.

Dennis and I went to watch a matinee the other day in the movie theater. They also have Bible studies, exercise classes and cooking classes galore. None of those have been held at a time when we were able to attend though. They have things planned throughout December for Christmas. Christmas light tours, going to the symphony, etc. There is a big group going down to Branson, MO at the end of November to take in some concerts and the Christmas decorations there. It can get very expensive if you took part in everything. Our life is busy enough without doing everything that they offer here! There are some people though, that you seem to see at everything.

This is a sweater that I’m making for Piper for Christmas. It’s the wonderful wallaby and I have just finished fusing the pouch to the body of the sweater. She requested this color because it’s Aunt T’s favorite color. (Alex’s wife). She just loves her new aunt and her wonderful British accent. 😍 I am using Hobby Lobby “I love this yarn” and it feels so good to work with the yarn  after crocheting with plastic bags. I have used this with other “wonderful wallaby” sweaters for Piper and Mandy and it seems to be very hard wearing and very easy care.

 I have finished the heel flap and turn and I’m now beginning the gusset on Mom’s Christmas socks. These are my take-a-long project for when I’m in the car or at appointments, so they’re not progressing very quickly.

The house closed yesterday! Hallelujah! It is a relief because housing prices are dropping quickly here. Ours decreased $7000 in less than a week. If we had had to put it back on the market for any reason we would’ve lost a whole lot of money. I’m so glad we sold now and didn’t wait until spring as we had originally planned. God is good and everything went very smoothly. Now, we can rest in our apartment for the foreseeable future. If a condo becomes available at the place we’re very interested in, we might change our minds. But hopefully it will be at a lower price than we would have paid now because of market shifts.

I hope you are all doing well. Thanksgiving is coming quickly and with it our London family. I cannot wait to get my hands on little baby “J”. They are staying with Brad and Mandy and Piper. It’s so close that it will be almost like them being here with us. We plan on spending most of the time there visiting with them all.

Yesterday was 76°F. Today the high is supposed to be 34°F. That is a huge temperature swing. Lows are predicted to be in the low teens for the next week. I think winter could be here to stay. Spokane had 6 inches of snow earlier in the week. I know other parts of the country north of us have already seen their first significant snowfall while we’ve been running around in sundresses and flip-flops. Meanwhile, our friends in Florida are dealing with another hurricane today. My prayers are with you all, especially Cindy from the “delighted hands” blog. We just spoke with Dennis’s brother who lives in Miami, and he said that the sun is shining there right now and there’s a very light breeze! Weather is crazy!

Take care and may God bless each of you today as you go about your daily living. He is always there to help you and to guide you through any decisions or obstacles you face. My prayer is that each of you would know Him in a very personal way.

Blessings and love,

Betsy