In For A Change

Less than an hour and it will be Wednesday. Halfway through the week already! I have no idea where time goes these days. It seems as if we’re busier than ever since Dennis retired. The change I was talking about in the title of this blog is that the weather is going to get much cooler very quickly. It was 84 today and we even had the AC on because the humidity was so high, but that is all supposed to change tomorrow. And we’re also supposed to get rain tomorrow! That’s exciting. Everything is so dry here. 

Here we are a half an hour before the polling place opened for early voting last Friday. It was our second attempt to vote last week. The first time we went, the line was about 4 1/2 hours long! This was along one side of the building and there were two more lines in the front. All in all, it took over two hours to get to the front door and maybe another half an hour to get the ballot to vote after that. But, we have voted and it’s done with. I will be so glad when all of the negative campaign ads from both sides are off of the TVs, radios and videos. We did have a great time while we waited in line chatting with people. It was all very friendly and jovial.

A group of seven of us met at our ministers house last night and we had a delicious chili dinner and carved pumpkins. After the photos were taken, we had homemade caramel sauce and sliced apples.

Lots of concentration went into the carving of these pumpkins.🎃

Here is Curt’s creation. It was supposed to be covering Angie’s face, but I didn’t quite get the shot the way I should have. He hollowed out a gourd and used half of it for each ear and another gourd for the nose. I wish I had that kind of imagination.

Here are all of our pumpkins lit up and lined up. Some of us only did one and some of us carved two. The one in the bottom row on the far right reminded all of us of one of the M & M faces! And look at Amanda‘s beautiful sunflower on the other end of that row. Mine was the boring one with the circles on the bottom row. It was supposed to look like a luminaria, but it just looks like a pumpkin with a bunch of holes in it!😂

Here is a close-up of Curt’s troll pumpkin.

And here is everyone holding our pumpkins, except for Dennis, he took the picture. Bottom to top: Me, Dennis’s cousin Curt, our pastor Jeff, his wife Angie, Amanda, and Curt‘s wife, Barb at the top.🎃

And to finish with the holiday theme, here is Piper dressed in her costume for Halloween. Can anyone guess who she is? She adores Taylor Swift, and that’s who she chose to dress up as this year. Lizzie is her Swifty, as Taylor’s fans call themselves.😂 I think she did a great job. That wig is something else isn’t it?

And here is the progress for this week on Piper’s sweater. All I have left is to finish is the shawl collar that I’m working on now. It needs to be about 6 1/2 inches wide, so I have a ways to go. Then I need to sew some ends in and it will be finished. I keep telling her I’m going to put a brick on her head so she’ll stop growing. She’s now wearing an adult size small, which is the same size that Mom wears. I took the sweater to Mom’s today while I was visiting her and knitted on it for several hours while we waited for the doctor to arrive. She wanted to try it on and now she wants a sweater too! It never ends. 😂

I guess that’s it for this week. Dennis and I got our flu shots on the way home from church on Sunday. I was surprised that for the first time in as long as I can remember, I didn’t get pretty sick from it. The worst I had this time was a small headache and a few aches before bedtime that night. I just took some Advil when I went to bed and woke up fine yesterday. Dennis’s arm was a bit sore during the night, but that was it for him too. We’re very thankful for that.

I hope you all have a great week. If you’re here in the US, don’t forget to vote. I’m praying for a calm and civil election process. I do miss the old days of elections where we went and voted and found out that night who was the winner and everything just carried on from there as normal. Please be kind and loving to everyone you meet. Always remember that God loves each and everyone of us.

Blessings and love,

Betsy

I Will Sing The Wondrous Story

I will sing the wondrous story
Of the Christ who died for me
How He left the realms of glory
For the cross of Calvary

Yes, I'll sing the wondrous story
Of the Christ who died for me
Sing it with the saints in glory
Gathered by the crystal sea

I was lost, but Jesus found me
Found the sheep that went astray
Raised me up and gently led me
Back into the narrow way

He will keep me 'til the river
Rolls its waters at my feet
Then at last He'll bring me over
Saved by grace and victory

Yes, I'll sing the wondrous story
Of the Christ who died for me
Sing it with the saints in glory
Gathered by the crystal sea

Beautiful Days

Happy Wednesday, everyone! We’ve had some beautiful days here for the last couple of weeks. For the next few days it’s supposed to be in the 60s and 70s which is perfect as far as I’m concerned. I thought I would show you the view from where I sit when I’m knitting and crafting. The leaves are starting to fall and I wasn’t as on the ball as I should have been and getting a good picture before.

Piper was here a couple of weeks ago and did all of my fall decorating for me. Didn’t she do a great job? This is under the TV.

Above the fireplace

The little table by the entry

On the kitchen island. Please excuse the groceries sitting next to the green pumpkin.

The table centerpiece

The diamond Painting I did two years ago

I have been knitting away on Piper‘s first of two requested sweaters along with Zoey‘s help. It has to have the pockets put in and 6 inch shawl collar made along with the other sleeve. The older she gets, the longer it takes me to make her a sweater! My little girl isn’t a little girl anymore. The pattern is the Pure Comfort Cardigan and I think it was a free pattern on Ravelry. It’s Piper‘s favorite sweater pattern. 

Before I make her the second one though, I need to make one for “baby J”. She requested a sweater on Saturday when we talked. She wants it to be pink, blue and purple! I have the pattern picked out and I showed it to her on FaceTime and she approves. For a two-year-old she knows exactly what she wants! 😍I want to have it done for her before Thanksgiving because they’ll be here that week and it will save me shipping it. The cost to ship even a small package to London is astronomical, so we try to avoid it whenever possible. Any gifts purchased for the three of them during the year are bought through Amazon UK account and then we give them their Christmas gifts when they’re here for Thanksgiving.

Not a lot has happened since I last spoke to you. In book club, we finished “Mansfield Park” by Jane Austen. Next month, we will watch a montage of different films of the book. In December is the Christmas tea. And January we will start Jane Austen‘s “Persuasion.” You’ve probably figured out that it’s a Jane Austen book club. 😂 Mandy goes to it with me as does Barb and a couple of other ladies I know. There are actually about 45 women and a couple of men who show up every month for the book discussion. I’ve enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would.

I hope you’re all having a lovely week and enjoying the weather wherever you are. Please continue to remember the victims of the hurricanes here in the US. I understand the Philippines is being absolutely drenched with rain right now and it’s up to peoples chests in single level houses. Plus the wars and rumors of wars all over the world. There is definitely a lot to be praying about. 

Blessings and Love,

Betsy

Sweet Hour of Prayer

Sweet hour of prayer! Sweet hour of prayer!

That calls me from a world of care,

And bids me at my Father’s throne

Make all my wants and wishes known.

In seasons of distress and grief, 

My soul has often found relief,

And oft escaped, the temptor’s snare, 

By thy return, sweet hour of prayer!

Sweet hour of prayer! Sweet hour of prayer!

They wings shall my petition bear

To Him whose truth and faithfulness 

Engage the waiting soul to bless.

And since He bids me seek His face

Believe His word and trust His grace

I’ll cast on Him my every care

And wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!

I’m Still Here!

Hello my dear friends. I'm still here. I dropped off the face of blogland for awhile. I'm not sure why, except it's been a busy time. I didn't have internet for a short time while camping and I have been very tired. But I'm back and hope to be a better friend of you all. :-)

Last week we went to Lake Anita State Park in Iowa for 4 days with our cousins and great friends, Curt and Barb and our pastor and his wife, Jeff and Angie. To say we had a wonderful time would be an understatement. The weather was sismply amazing and a true gift from the Lord. See that blue sky? It was like that the entire time. The leaves were beginning to change and we had cool, (cold) nights and nippy days with just enough warmth to be enjoyable. We were very grateful for our heaters during the night. This is what we did a LOT of. Talking and relaxing and eating. Eating a LOT! :-) From left to right, Jeff, Curt and Dennis. We all take the responsibility for various meals and then we all chip in for "extra's." So much FUN!

One day we went into the town of Atlantic, Iowa and got ice cream at a very cute shop called Udderly Delicious. It was so good and lots of unusual flavors. An employee got off work while we were sitting outside at a table enjoying our ice cream. She sat at the table with us and told us the history of the shop and we learned a lot about the town too. So much fun!

This is the "tree in the middle of the road" outside of Anita, Iowa. The story goes that surveyors stuck a stick in the ground to mark the middle of a future intersection. When they returned to begin road construction, the stick had sprouted limbs and leaves so they left it in the middle and constructed the road around it. Unfortunately, time is beginning to make it's mark on this gorgeous tree. There are signs of big limbs breaking recently. We speculated that the big tornado that came through Omaha continued on it's destructive path through Iowa and would have come very close to this tree. We enjoyed it on this day though and hope it still stands for a long time to come. It was so quiet while we were there. We wandered around on the roads and not one car came by while we were exploring.

Angie was taking a photo of something at the base of the tree. We also found an abandoned cemetery just a couple of miles away from the tree and spent some time exploring the very old gravesites. It's fun to wonder what their lives were like over 150 years ago. They had to be very strong people to live here so long ago with the extremes in weather that we have.

 Here are the three of us. Zoey was very interested in the smells out in the middle of farmland, USA.

One day, the other four of our co-horts took a bicycle ride around the lake and we met them at a picnic area with lunch for everyone. My back isn't allowing much activity at all these days, so we were the transportation during this trip. From left to right, Barb, Jeff, Angie, me, Dennis, Curt. We sure enjoy each others company.

Dennis's co-pilot doesn't take her eyes off of the road. I'm not sure if she doesn't trust him or if she just finds lots to look at. :-) lol

Dennis, Zoey and I went on our own to Mahoney State Park this past Sunday and returned yesterday. Another absolutely beautiful camping adventure. It's very dry here as you can see. No campfires allowed, but Zoey enjoyed laying in the sunshine.  There were very few campers there and we had the entire campground pretty much to ourselves.

We cleaned and winterized the camper yesterday, so our camping adventures are over for another season. It was 29F at night on this trip so we needed to get the water lines taken care of. We would have loved another trip or two, but we have to take care of the trailer too.

I don't remember if I showed you this blanket that I finished a couple of weeks ago. Sorry about the blurriness.  I also made another blue one and a pink one since then, using the same pattern. All will be donated to the Open Door Mission.

I finished a set of fingerless gloves too. I have no idea why the one on the left looks smaller in the photo because they measure the same.

I've also been collecting supplies to begin an English Paper Piecing quilt. I plan to do it all by hand, so we'll see if it takes ten or twenty years! I thought it would be a fun thing to have as a take along project. Everything fits into this little box. So far I'm just using cotten that I have leftover from making dresses.

Piper has outgrown two of her sweaters that I made her in January and February and asked if me if I would make her more. Well of course I will! She wears them almost every day, now that it's getting cooler. She went with me last week and chose the yarn for both sweaters. I like to use Hobby Lobby's "I Love This Yarn" for her sweaters because they get washed very often and the yarn holds up really well, it can go into the dryer and is very, very soft.

This is NOT my project, but a photo found on the internet. I would like to make this though. I think the colors are beautiful and I've never made a granny hexie blanket. I think it would make some nice baby blankets to donate and use up some scraps at the same time. What do you think? Is it too old-fashioned for today's mom's?

Dennis's Mom is doing about the same. We notice small changes often and she never gets quite back to where she was before. She definitely has what's called "Sundowners". We get calls every evening around 6:00 and she's very confused. Dennis spent a couple of hours with her when we got home yesterday afternoon, with him getting home around 4:45. At 6:10 she called wanting us to know she was ready to be picked up to go home and how did she arrange a ride? She had absolutely no recollection him being there earlier. We feel blessed that she still knows who we are and is able to call us when she feels confused. Dennis is always able to get her calmed down and realizing where she is but we also know that will change someday soon. She trusts him completely. 

It is a lifesaving thing for us to be able to go camping for a day or two at a time for a break. We were at Mahoney State Park this week which is just 15 minutes from Mom if we needed to get home, but yet we feel like we're able to relax. Even when we went with everyone last week, we were only an hour away so we could get home fairly quickly if we needed to.

I hope everything is well with you all. I have been reading blogs when I could upload them. I was one of the phones affected by the Verizon outage a couple of weeks ago and I couldn't use my phone for a couple of days. That was an eye-opener as to how much I depend on it and what a possible cyber attack could do to the country if it was widespread.

Take care everyone. Remember that in these troubled days around the world, that the Lord is with all of us. He loves us deeply. Enough to give His life for us so that someday we can be with Him in Heaven. I truely believe that we don't know the day or the hour of His return, so we need to be ready at anytime for Him to come and take us home! Won't that day be a wonderful one?

I'll try to be back very soon to visit with you all.

Blessings and love,

Betsy


JESUS IS COMING SOON

Troublesome times are here, filling men's hearts with fear
Freedom we all hold dear now is at stake
Humbling your hearts to God saves from the chastening rod
Seek the way pilgrims trod, Christians awake

Jesus is coming soon, morning or night or noon
Many will meet their doom, trumpets will sound
All of the dead shall rise, righteous meet in the skies
Going where no one dies, heavenward bound

Troubles will soon be o'er, happy forevermore
When we meet on that shore, free from all care
Rising up in the sky, telling this world goodbye
Homeward we then shall fly, glory to share

Jesus is coming soon, morning or night or noon
Many will meet their doom, trumpets will sound
All of the dead shall rise, righteous meet in the skies
Going where no one dies, heavenward bound

Jesus is coming soon, morning or night or noon
Many will meet their doom, trumpets will sound
All of the dead shall rise, righteous meet in the skies
Going where no one dies, heavenward bound
Heavenward bound, heavenward bound