Hello Again!

My goodness it's been a long time since I've been here. I'm still trying to figure out the photo "thing." I really can't justifuly paying for a blog, but blogspot seems to want money to have me post pictures. Maybe I'll delete some old ones??? What have some of you done in similar circumstances?

I just returned from almost a week in Portland, Oregon visiting our daughter. She's 13 weeks along with our newest grandchild! We had a wonderful time. She's still pretty sick but seems to be getting a bit better. We went to IKEA and bought a new duvet and cover for our bedroom. I've wanted a nice duvet since we were in Paris a few years ago. They're so nice and squishy and snuggly!

We also bought yarn for a baby blanket I want to make for the new baby. I've never attempted charts but I think I'm going to try it for this blanket. It's a free ravelry pattern with sheep around the borders and the sun and moon. Hopefully it will turn out nice. I wanted my daughter to choose the colors she wanted and now I just need to muster my courage to begin knitting!

Hubby was in Indiana for business last week so on Friday he flew into Portland and had the weekend with our daughter too. We drove home together yesterday and it's a much nicer drive with company. Especially since I got to knit the entire way until it got too dark.

A friend from church that is in the military is being sent to Tokyo for temporaty duty. He leaves next week and he has offered to take Alex a care package. Since it costs around $75 each time I send a small box to him, we are eagerly taking Mike up on the offer. I have a video, book, calendar and some Easter candy for him so far. We don't want to overload our friend down but it's nice to have "free" shipping!

We hae blue sky and temps around 40F today but there is a winter storm watch for tomorrow and tomorrow night. Possible a foot of snow in the mountains and 4-6 inches down here in the valley. Blah!! I'm so ready for spring. Flowers were in bloom in Portland and it was so beautiful.

Well, I need to get my laundry going. Take care and please know that I love knowing you are all out there in blogland. Please leave a comment so I know who is there.

Blessings,

Betsy

Cloudy Monday

Good Morning Friends!

What a lovely Sunday we had in Spokane. I even took Chloe for a 1 1/2 mile walk in the afternoon. I started out with a jacket on, but that quickly became much too heavy to wear. It was a beautiful cloud-less day. This morning, however, is another story. Very dense clouds with the promise of rain in them. The forecast is for 1/2 inch of rain this afternoon and evening. But, at least we were blessed with a nice weekend.

Friday evening hubby and I saw the movie "Courageous" in Deer Park, WA. We both highly recommend it. In fact, we went out Saturday morning and bought the video to send to our son, Alex, in Japan. We both think he would enjoy it and he likes to get English videos! We also had friends over for pizza Saturday evening and we watched it with them since they were unable to go to the viewing Friday night. We laughed and we cried. Alot. The advantage of the DVD is watching the bloopers and the story behind the movie. It is produced, directed and shot mosting by a church, using members as the actors. This is their fourth movie that I'm aware of, and they just get better each time.

So, I just tried to upload a few pictures and it says I've exceeded my limit. Since I know next to nothing about computers, has anyone else experienced this with blogger.com? I guess my days of blogging will be no more if I have to purchase more space. That is definitely not in the budget!

I was going to show you a lace scarf in progress. I bought a merino/silk/tinsel blend at Paradise Fibers on Friday and started it yesterday. It will take some time to complete, because of the lace pattern. As you all know, there are no distractions allowed when kitting lace, so it will have to be worked on when I'm alone.

I also took a picture of a little burial outfit I made last night. Just the sleeves need added. It'a a beautiful lilac color.

And last but not least, was a picture of yet another blue baby sweater and sockies completed and the hat on the needles. I can work on these sets in church, in meetings, chatting with friends. The pattern is pretty much memorized so I always have a set on the needles. Many of the charities I belong to ask for baby sets so I usually have something to send them.

Tonight is dinner at church with the other Elders and wives before our monthly meetings. It's the start of another busy week for me. Next week I'm driving to Portland, OR to spend a few days with our daughter. I'm going to be a Grandma again in September, and I'm supposed to go the the Dr. with her and hear the baby's heartbeat! I'm so excited. Being a Grandma is one of God's greatest blessings.

Have a wonderful Monday.

Blessings,

Betsy

Same Old, Same Old

Hello my friends!

It's Friday morning and it has been just a normal week for me.  Knitting group and nursing home visits.  I managed to finish the cuddly baby blanket and it will have a Tah-dah!  moment soon.  I also finished a baby sweater and will work on a hat and sockies today.  One more set of pink and brown and I think I'll set aside that particular pattern for awhile.

I did take 57 hats and several burial outfits to the hospital on Tuesday morning.  The nurses oohed and aahed over all of it and asked me to please make more of the tiny things for both the burial needs and the micro-preemies that survive.  I think I'll try to work on those next week.

I also started a scarf from a "Pattern with No Name" from Ginny's blog "Small Things".  It's a beautiful simple lace pattern that is supposed to use fingerling weight yarn.  I started it with Caron Simply Soft in the Soft White colorway as that's what I had in the house and I wanted to see the pattern take shape.  I think it's a little too thick though and hope to get to the yarn shop today to find something else.  The scarf is supposed to be for me, but I usually end up giving everything away.

We've had several snow events this week.  I snow-blwed about 6 inches on Wednesday and it snowed some yesterday too.  We've had more snow in the last week than we have all winter!  That darn groundhog!   It's supposed to be near 50 degrees this weekend though and lots of that nasty white stuff will melt away.  Yippee!!!

Tonight hubby and I are going to grab dinner at some fast food place because we're going to see the movie "Courageous".  It's being shown at a sister church about 35 miles north of us at 7:00.  That doesn't leave a lot of time from when hubby gets home to get me and make the drive.  With all the snow we recieved this week, they have even more, so we want to leave lots of time.  Traffic is also very heavy on that highway in the morning/evening for commuters.  Lot's of people work in Spokane, but live in the smaller towns around here.

This is the basket I'm beginning to put together for my secret sister at church for March.  A green basket, shamrock towel, mug and socks.  I'm also going to get her a skein of green yarn since she likes to crochet.  What do you think?

 First thing, excuse the bad pictures.  I'm such a bad photographer, I don't even know why I try!  Today I'm showing you my entry-way.  It's a split-level house, so not much floor space there.  We bought this wall hanging on clearance at the Oregon coast.  I love it and the saying on it.  It's about 3 feet square, so it's pretty big.

 I had to take two pictures closer up so you could read what it says.

 Okay-this picture is really bad.  The lighting is off this morning, another cloudy day and it was the best of the batch!  I picked up the faith, friends and family plaques in Montana and my best friend gave me the cross for my birthday this year.  It has scriptures ingraved on it about worrying.  I'm a worrier and she knows it.  Under these plaques is a table I'll show you sometime.

 And here's my little Chloe baby. still sleeping away this morning!

  No huge plans this weekend.  We have to prepare the hospitality lunch at church on Sunday so I'm off to the grocery store right now.  Then I have knitting group this afternoon with some of the nicest ladies I've met in a long time.  Most are in their 70's and 80's. I've only been going to this group for about a month but I'm really enjoying visiting with them all.

Have a wonderfully blessed weekend and I'll see you all again next week.

Blessings,

Betsy

It really did snow!

On Friday in the grand saga of my life, the big question was if we should attempt to drive to Montana to visit our grandbabies.  We decided not to go, which I think was very wise.  The biggest reason however, wasn't because we were being smart at not attempting to drive through the blizzard, but was because hubby was detained at work.  That was very good for us though because look what we woke up to Saturday morning at home where snow was not even forecast!

When it was all over, hubby snowblowed about 9 inches of "flurries" off the driveway and sidewalk!  This wasn't even in the mountains!   There is another winter storm watch posted for tomorrow and Wednesday for just north of us.  (about 10 miles north and to the Canadian border is all)  We'll see how many "flurries" we get then. We've had such a mild winter until now.  That old groundhog was right after all.  Boo!

So, we stayed home and watched movies all day Saturday, snuggled in our cozy house with the fire going full blast.  I completed another blue baby set that I forgot to photograph.  After awhile they all look the same anyway, don't they?  I also started another baby blanket in a new pattern using Bernat "Pipsqueak" yarn.  I have never felt anythig so incredibly soft.  This is definitely going to be for one very special baby.

When we realized that we were going to be home for church yesterday, I came to the realization that I needed to make something for the potluck after services.  I had watched the "Pioneer Woman" on the food network on Saturday morning, so I decided to try out her meatball recipe.  Instead of her barbeque sauce, I just poured a jar of Prego over them and they were a hit!  Here are a few pictures.

First you brown them in a skillet with canola oil in batches of 8 or 9 meatballs, then...

You bake them for about 35 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

I ended up with 26 meatballs. My huge, enormous, stupid mistake?  I put them in the oven on cookie sheets-with NO SIDES!!!!  Can you guess what happened?  Yep.  Grease from the meatballs is now all over the bottom of the oven and the house filled up with smoke.  Yuck.  Yuck.  Yuck.  I need to wait for a halfway warm day when I can open the windows and clean the oven.  Soon.  Before I bake anything else in it.  I cannot believe I didn't even think about the fact that the grease that comes out of hamburger would have to go somewhere!   Oh well, live and learn and the meatballs were very good.  An ingredient that the Pioneer Woman used in the meatballs that I never would have thought of was milk.  It made them super moist.  Then they're dredged in flour before browning.  I think the recipe is on FoodNetwork.com/pioneer woman.  Not sure if I have that website correct but they did say the recipes from that show were available online.
Today I've vacummed, done laundry, caught up on my Bible reading and played with Chloe.  I have baby hats for the hospital in the washing machine to be delivered tomorrow.  I think I have about 45 hats done for this delivery.  This afternoon I'm going to work on my baby blanket with the wonderfully SOFT yarn.  I've got my chores done and now I can play.  A roast, potatoes, carrots and onions is bubbling away in the crock pot so my wifely chores are complete.  I love to find extra time to play with my yarn.

The skies are blue, blue, blue today so I may take my Chloe-baby for a walk in a little while.  She's been cooped up with no long walk since last Wednesday.  We could both use the exercise.

Have a wonderful Monday everyone!

Blessings,

Betsy

Snow, Snow, Snow!

Hello and happy Friday to everyone!

It's snowing again and it's NOT a welcome storm.  We were planning to go to Montana to see our grandbabies, (their parents too of course, but that's just a nice cooincidence.   :-))  Now, because of all the snow we're not sure we'll be able to go.  I have the car all packed and Chloe was excited to see her bed being loaded into the car.  Road trip!  She know's we're either going to our daughter's house or our son's house and they both have dogs that she loves to visit with.  They are just like little kids.

Anyway 12-18 inches of snow is possible on the passes this afternoon and evening and again on Sunday when we would be coming home.  I'm waiting on a call back from hubby for a final decision.  I took him to work at 5:00 am this morning and was going to pick him up since his workplace is on our way towards Idaho.  Plan B would be that I still pick him up, but we go out to eat instead of driving 325 miles in a blizzard.  I love my grandbabies, but I personally think it's just plain silly to take our lives in our hands.  My son just called and told me to take a tranquilizer, have Dad drive and I'd be there before I woke up!  Nice plan except I don't take any medicine I don't absolutely have to so I have no tranquilizers on hand!  So I'm not sure what our weekend will have in store now.

I've done a little more sewing.  I made a couple of dresses since most of my clothes are wearing out.  I'm known in our circle of friends for wearing dresses almost all the time.  I just find them so much more comfortable than pants.  Warmer too.  You can wrap your legs up in a skirt for warmth and it's kind of like covering them with a blanket.  There's a pocket of air for insulation that isn't there with jeans or pants.  I don't know how much more sewing of clothing I will do though.  Those two plain no-frill dresses cost about $30 each for material, thread etc.  I went to Walmart this morning for a few things and saw a dress that I liked much better for $20!   I think I'll be checking out Walmart first from now on. Not the best quality but I can change my wardrobe a bit more often.

Here's a picture of Mt. Spokane this morning as the storm was moving in.  Isn't it beautiful?

 I thought you might be interested in this console/buffet table I got a few years ago from a thrift store.  I was looking for a piece of furniture for this specific spot, and just as I walked into the store this was being wheeled out from the back room.  It had just been donated from an estate sale that morning.  The guy took one look at my face, didn't even stop, just asked me where my car was and he'd load it up.  I hadn't even taken a close look at it but he said he had shopped enough with his wife to know the look on my face!  Isn't that hilarious?  The great part was I had a coupon for 50% off anything in the store, so I got this beautiful piece of heirloom quality furniture without a scratch on it for $75.00!!!!!

 I love the detailing of the wood on the doors.  I don't know what kind of wood it is but I've never seen anything like it before.  The color is off in the picture below, but you can see the details of the doors.

 And a few pictures of my cactus.  I have never seen it bloom as often as it has this past year or have as many buds.  I just counted 15 buds this morning.  I've never had more than two at a time before.

And I think that's it for today. I 'm going to go to the nursing home for a quick visit before we head for the snowy mountains if that's what hubby decides.  Personally, I'm for dinner out and a quiet weekend.  Everyone thinks we will be gone, so we can sleep in and do next to nothing tomorrow if we want.  I'll let you know next post how it all turned out.

Blessings.

Betsy

Projects Done!

Good Morning!

It's been a productive week around here.  I finished 6 of the rainbow baby blankets so I think I'm ready for any new little ones to arrive.  Now I need to get started on some sweater/hat/bootie sets to go along with them.  Here I have them folded up, but you can see that there are six of them.  I changed the brand of yarn for the four on top.  I can no longer get the colors to make them like the two on the bottom since it's been discontinued.  I think I like the new ones better though.  What do you think?

I also made a candle jar color out of the scraps from my Crochet Along blanket.  I love how bright and cheery it is, especially at night with the candle lit.

Isn't it wonderful?  Hubby hasn't commented on it yet so I'm not sure if he just plain hasn't noticed or he doesn't like it and doesn't want to tell me.  It's just double crochet until the top row where I decreased and then did a round in single crochet.  I got the idea from Lucy at Attic24 but adapted it a bit to fit my jar.  It slips right off when the candle is gone and I can reuse it on another!

My newest Valentine decoration is in the next photo. I had a 50% off coupon at Michaels on regular or sale priced items. This heart wreath was marked down to $4.99 because of a scratch that is on the back. You can't even see it! So, I got this gem for $2.50. It's about 16 inches across, quite large. I think that was a great deal. The new ones are $9.99 normally.

I recieved this cactus as a throwaway about 15 years ago.  It was one small leaf on a stem that I just stuck in some dirt.  It's huge now!  I still don't know what it is.  It blooms at odd times every year and never the same time.  So I don't think it's a Christmas Cactus or an Easter Casctus.  Does anyone out there know what it is?  It usually bloom about twice each year. It has one open flower right now and another bud ready to bloom.  Beautiful.

I got my hair cut yesterday and I think I'm going to like it.  IF, and that's a big IF, I can duplicate the way the hairdresser fixed it.  I've found the older I get, the thinner my hair seems to be.  I have as much of it as ever, but it doesn't seem as full.  If I can fix it decently I'll try to get a picture.  She left it long enough that I can still pull it off my neck in the summer when its hot, but short enough to make it feel thicker.

Tonight is Bible study and we have a full weekend of birthday parties and we need to find hubby some good walking shoes.  He took Chloe for a walk last night and came home with a wet foot.  When we looked at the bottom of his shoe there was a huge hole, at least an inch across is just gone from the sole.  He detests buying shoes and now he has no choice.

I'm praying that God will stop the snow and freezing rain for awhile around here.  We're supposed to go to our grandson's 5th birthday party in Montana next weekend, but the passes have been closed most of this week.  Yuck!  I'm done with winter and ready for spring.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend and enjoy your lives to the fullest!

Blessings,

Betsy

Good Morning Wednesday!

Good Morning friends! I can't believe I slept until 7:30 a.m. this morning.  That's very unusual of me and I now feel like I have lost part of my day that I can't get back.  I'm feeling a little better every day, but still very tired and sluggish.  So...I've spent my days crocheting.  I joined my first ever CAL, (crochet along) with the Lucy group on Ravelry.  That's ALL I have worked on for two days and this is all I have to show for it.

It is very slow going because I'm ending each round a different color and finishing it as I go so I won't have thousands of ends to weave in when I'm finish.  It's supposed to be baby blanket size when finished, although I had intended to make it larger to use as a throw on the sofa.  However, after some pushing, hubby finally confessed that the colors aren't his preference.  Too bright.  Too Lucyish. The picture doesn't actually show how bright it is.  So, now I've lost my drive to finish it although I will push on.  It's not in my nature to leave a project unfinished.  However, it is destined to remain a baby blanket and will probably go to one of my charity groups.  I'm estimating at least 20 hours in this blanket already and at least that much more to go.  And I was very excited at the start.  However, as I worked on it, could see it's brightness, I didn't think it would fit in our home.

This is a tablecloth I made several years ago.  I've actually crocheted an identical one for my daughter-in-law.  We don't eat on it, but I leave it on the table.  With only Dennis and I, it gets folded back and we eat off of placements!  Then after dinner it get's put back in place and looks nice again!  Nothing has ever been spilled on it and I hope it stays that way.

 Layed out it all it's glory for you to see!  I measured it for you this morning.  Six feet across!  I can't believe it's so big!

 Some of the detail closer up.  The last ring of pineapples, (edging), was finished at the beach a few years ago.  We stopped at our daughters in Portland, OR on our way to the coast and I layed the last ring down on the floor to see how long it was.  It stretched from one end of her apartment to the other.  At least 30 feet!  I was astounded!

Hubby figured out that it took approximately 2000 hours to complete!  I don't think these will be sold on ebay!

A few last pictures I took today. The fist two are the full winter moon I took out of our bedroom window at 4:30 this morning!  (I got up to use the bathroom and couldn't resist).  Bear in mind, they were taken through the glass because it was 12 F outside and I was in my nighty! :-)

 I thought it was eerily beautiful.

 This is Mt. Spokane from my back deck a few minutes ago.  No snow here but the resorts are happy.  It's okay with me if it stays that way.  We've only had 9 inches of snow so far this season.  Very, very unusual but good for the City's snow removal budget!

And now, dear friends, I'm going to go crochet on that lovely little blanket some more.  My energy bursts come and go and I've been told to try to enjoy this quiet time in my life.  I'm trying but I'm not a patient person.

I'll be seeing you all soon!

Blessings,

Betsy

Almost Christmas Eve.

Ahhh.  How nice it was to wake up slowly this morning.  Dennis is off work until Tuesday and no alarm went off.  We slept until almost 8:00 when he had a call from Nigeria.  It was nice while it lasted.  He's now off to the church for some last minute details for the Christmas Eve service and I'm about to begin pie baking.

I loved the message from you Kaylana.  What a wonderful way to live.  I love travel and meeting new people.  Now that Alex will be living in Tokyo it will be easier to go visit him.  No more bullet train, local train and car to get to him.  I don't remember if I told you that he has a new job beginning in February.  He will be translating at Keio University.  It's the oldest private university in Tokyo.  He won't be teaching anymore, but maybe in the future an opportunity will arise to teach there.  He's very excited, although he will miss the many close friends he's made in his years in Aomori Prefecture.  Sometimes it's hard for me to remember that he just turned 23 last week.  He's accomplished so much in his life already.  Much more than I have!

Jamie, (our son from Montana), his wife Crystal and our two precious grandbabies are arriving this afternoon.  Our daughter Mandy and husband Brad will drive from Portland, OR tomorrow.  Brad is working in North Dakota right now and will fly to Portland tonight.  I wish Alex were here and I would have all of my family in one place.  That rarely happens anymore.  But I will count my blessings and enjoy the family I do have here.

A friend was over last night and he and Dennis got my Ipad all set up for me.  I Love, Love, Love it already.  I wasted almost an hour this morning playing with it!  I've downloaded several book and I'm trying to find some cool knitting/crocheting applications.

Okay-last pictures of Maui.  Thanks for being patient with me and allowing me to post these. It's like reliving my time there.

I love the trees on Hawaii.  The way they frame the ocean.  The first two pictures are of beaches just off the highway.  They are scattered up and down the coast. Just pull over, swim, stand-up paddle, surf or snorkel.  It's wonderful.  Usually picnic tables and grills are there along with the wonderful smelling portable toilets!

 I have no idea what these flowers are.  But I think they're beautiful and purple is my favorite color of all.

 I couldn't decide which of the following two photos to include so I just put them both in.  We were sitting in the Kool Kat cafe having lunch one day in Lahaina.  The building is the Best Western Hotel just across the street from the Banyan Tree that takes up the entire city block.  The ocean and bay is directly behind the hotel.  This is the area that the tsunami from Japan hit last spring but we didn't see any residual damage at all.  I love sitting up in the cafe and people watching.

 Our last full day on Maui we went to Fred's, a mexican restaurant right on the beach.  No, we didn't take our pictures in the cut out but I thought it was cute.  If you like really spicey Mexcian food, Fred's is the place to go.  I don't.  Dennis got both of our lunches.  It was highly recommended by people we met in the hot tub at the condo so we decided to give it a try.  The atomosphere was fabulous though.

 Here we are, ready to say good-bye.   Never ready to say good-bye, but at some point reality sets in!

 I bought a starfish all glittered and shells glued on. It was made by school children in Lahaina for a fundraiser for the school.  The little girl I bought it from was the cutest thing!  The sparkles don't show well but it's very slivery with glitter.  And yes, it's a real starfish.

Then, of course, because I collect angels, Dennis bought this one made of native trees and grasses.  It was at a bazaar under the Banyan tree with all of the proceeds going to the food bank.  A worthy cause and she's beautiful.

And,  one last sunset.  Our last night on Maui.  Very sad to go, but maybe next year???

I'll be back next week with Christmas pictures.  May you all have a very blessed Christmas and I pray you'll all have a wonderful time with family, friends or traveling.  Thanks for being my blog friends.  Maybe someday we'll even meet in person.  Wouldn't that be wonderful?  I always say, you can never, ever have too many friends and loved ones.

Blessings to you all,

Betsy

Finally! Pictures!

Whew!  It's been a busy morning.  Of course, when I went to the grocery store yesterday I forgot several items for this weekend when the kids will be here.  Must have been jet lag!  So this morning I was off to the grocery store at 6:30 a.m.  Then I had to shovel the snow out of the driveway when I got home.  I then vacummed and dusted the entire house, wrapped gifts and I just finished ironing 12 of my dear husband's shirts.  I had most of the gifts wrapped before our trip, but of course we  found several new things for our grandbabies and some small gifts for friends.  Tomorrow I'll clean all the bathrooms and finish last minute preparations.  Friday morning I'll bake the pies and the kids will arrive in the afternoon!  I'm so excited to see them all!

Mid-morning by best girlfriend called needing an emergency babysitter for her granddaughter.  Kaydence is six years old and out of school for the holidays and her mom and dad are both working.  Grandma had to work this morning unexpectedly so they were in need of a babysitter.  Kaydence helped me wrap presents and we walked to the mailbox together to mail the last of the Christmas cards.  She liked holding Chloe's leash while we walked.  She's now watching a Christmas video.

So with no further ado....some pictures from our trip.  I'll spread them out over the next few posts so I can enjoy the vacation longer.

Aren't the sunsets beautiful?  This was the view from our condo's lanai every night.  We would eat dinner while watching the sunset.

 Sorry for my husband's slicked back hairdo.  We had just been swimming and our hair was still somewhat wet!

 This is a more natural hair style for him.  But now he's squinting into the sun!  Never can get a good picture.  The one below is me doing the same squint!!!! These two pictures were taken at the black lava flow on the south end of Maui.  I think I read that it was from an erruption in the late 1700's.

 This is the living room of the condo.  Doesn't Dennis look excited there at the table.  We were playing a dice game called Farkle.  I'm standing by the lanai door.  The kitchen is there behind the breakfast bar.  Stainless steel large appliances except for the almond colored range and all the small appliances and dishware you could possiblly need.  There is a washer and dryer down the hall to the left.

 King size bed  and lots of closet space on the other side of the room.

 This is the floor of the shower.  Aren't those little swimming turtles cute?  They look like they're swimming toward the drain!  The walls and ceiling of the shower have the same rocks.  It's beautiful

 A few more pictures of the sunsets!  I took pictures every evening because they were just so beautiful.  It was hard to believe that Christmas was only a week away.  I'm used to snow, snow, snow at Christmas.

This was in Lahaina Town where we had lunch one day.  They had live music in the courtyard playing both Hawaiin music and Christmas music.  They were really, really good.  I wanted a CD of them but they were sold out.  Don't the Christmas decorations look strange with the sunglasses and green plants?

More pictures to come tomorrow.  Please let me know if they are boring to you and I'll try to cut back on them.

Hope your Christmas preparations are all going well and I'll be back soon!  Kaydence is getting restless for her lunch so I need to run.

Blessings,

Betsy