Getting Ready

Good Morning to you all! It's another warm sunshiney day here in the midwest. I have a few errands today. I need to pick up prescriptions before our trip and I'll take Mom along and we'll have lunch at a local family owned cafe. She likes it, the food is great and it's not overly expensive like most places are now.

We leave on Sunday to start our journey to Spokane. We'll stop in the Black Hills for a few days, then to see our son Jamie and his family in Montana, before making our way to Washington. The plan is to take almost a week to get to Spokane, be there for a little over 2 weeks and then a week to get home. Of course it all depends on how Mom does with us gone so long. Mandy will be here, looking after her for us and we will be calling Mom several times a day to see how she is. We're looking forward to four weeks of living in our little trailer and calling it home. We still hope to do more traveling in it in the future, but we'll have to see how that works out. In Spokane, we'll once again be parking in our friends driveway like we did last year. Mooch-docking is what they call it. lol We'll actually be house-sitting for them for a week as they leave for Italy the day after we get there. We're taking care of their little dog, Izzy, who Zoey loved playing with last year. They have a perfect camp spot for us with electricity and water too. They have a huge yard and garden and a salt water pool to play in. Then, we'll have another week with them when they get back home. It's wonderful to have friends that are like family back there. I know it will be hard to leave. I'm already registered for a ladies tea at the church while I'm there. Fun times! We haven't decided our route back home yet. Of course there is the normal way we drive. I-90 straight across Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and S. Dakota. We've done that dozens and dozens of times and would like to see something new. We're thinking of going down to Utah and taking I-80 across Colorado and Nebraska. Or, go across N. Dakota and check out the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. It may be too hot for that though.

I'm not sure how much blogging I'll get done. It depends on internet capabilities. I'll be able to read your blogs on my phone, but it could be the usual commenting issue. I'll sure do the best I can and I'll be able to keep up with your escapades! :-)

Last week Miss Piper and I went to see the new Little Mermaid movie.

It was pretty good and stayed true to the storyline of the original animated movie. Parts of it were really dark though, dark as in it was hard to see different scenes. Even Piper commented on it. I think they were trying to get the idea of how dark it is underwater when you get really deep, but it was frustrating instead. You knew action things were happening and you could barely see them. Still, it was very much worth going to.

Piper and Lizzie spent the night that night and Lizzie was exhausted from playing with Zoey. She gets much more tired than Zoey does. I think she was probably the runt of the litter but she is the sweetest little baby. We all love her so much. I thought this picture was so cute of her. She loves her babies and blankets.

Tuesday I picked Piper up and we ran errands together. Twelves stops in total and she is a trooper and very helpful. We stopped at "Henry's" for lunch. It's a family owned restaurant in Crescent, IA, just across the Mormon Bridge from Omaha. We eat there after church often. Wonderful food for good prices. After lunch one of our stops was the cemetery to put flowers on all of our parents and grandparents graves. She really likes to help with that. She knows that they are her ancestors too, and likes me to tell her stories about them. Especially my Mom.

Another stop was to visit with Grammy. She would literally kill me if she saw this photo, but she won't, so here it it! Ha! We had a good time laughing and talking. I knitted that blanket behind her head for her for Christmas last year. It was made with scraps, holding two worsted weight yarns together and plain garter stitich. It's really fluffy and warm and she likes to cover up with it in the evenings.

I finished the granny blanket but I haven't washed and blocked it yet so it looks a bit wonky. It will go to a nursing home right arond the corner from us.

One sock done and the other past the heel turn. I'll work on these on vacation. It's just a k1, p1 ribbing for 18 rows and the Hermione stitch down the cuff. The foot is plain vanilla. Hermione is another free pattern on Ravelry.

I finally found a fingering weight yarn for the Multnomah shawl that I like. It looks black and white in the photo, but it's really a dark navy and cream. I'm thinking about adding beads around the feather and fan portion, but haven't decided yet. It will be for the kids wedding in Cambridge in September. This is their "fun" wedding since they had to keep cancelling it due to covid and just settled for a registrar wedding. Now they can celebrate with all of their friends and family and they can also show off Baby "J"! My dress is a dark blue sleeveless number. It could be cool in the evening so I thought a shawl might be needed. I've barely made a start on it and I'm getting ready to switch to a circular needle. Multnomah is a free pattern on Ravelry. I've made several of them for different people. I actually made a sparkley one for my niece  Chaela to wear at her wedding.

And now I've got to run. I'll pick up Piper and Mom in a little while. Tomorrow I HAVE to begin packing as I've done virtually nothing. It's hard to pack in advance when you will be using most things up until departure!

Have a lovely day my friends and I'll try to send you updates throughout the month.

Blessings and love,
Betsy