Can you say Hot?

Goodness it's hot here!  103F yesterday with more of the same forecast for a few more days.  I came home from the lake Monday but we drove out to water the grass and plants last night after a dinner meeting Hubby and I went to.  

I think I may have neglected to show you the beautiful hats Barbara sent for the babies at the local hospital.  Doesn't she do beautiful work? I love the rainbow of colors.

Sunday afternoon we played in thelake to try and beat the heat. Here's a picture of Hubby getting ready to catch the frisbee. He and Larry start playing frisbee and before you know it they have a half dozen or more kids joining in. Great fun!

See that dot in the middle of the lake?  That's Hubby and Paul canoeing across the lake. They are FAST!  It only took them about 10 minutes to go across and   back.  It's not a tiny lake. This photo is zoomed in to give you an idea of how far it is.

Pipers sweater is coming along.  Most of the parts are done now.

The sleeves.

The back.

Left and Right fronts.  You can see by the needles that I'm working on the button band.  Hopefully it will be finished today.

I've been out and about running errands this morning.  We had a bucketful of pennies, dimes and quarters. We just empty our pockets and throw it in-when it's full I take it to the bank where they put it in the machine counter.  Then I deposit it in savings.  It was almost $50.00 this morning! Not bad for spare change.  They don't take a cut like those coin  machines you see at the stores either. We get to keep it all.  Yeah!

Then it was off to the car dealership to get the key fob battery replaced for Hubby's truck.  They were very nice and less than 5 minutes later I was on my way.  Next up is an appointment in an hour to get a canopy/topper, (whatever you call it in your part of the country), put on the truck.  We're looking forward to a few weekend camping trips in it yet this year.  I'm ahead of schedule so I found a McDonald's close to the installer.  I have a diet coke, my knitting and a book so I'm all set!

Please pray we get a break from the heat and some gentle rain here in the Northwest.  There are fires burning everywhere with new ones popping upevery day from the heat.  I don't remember having such high temperatures here for so long a time in the 20 years we've been here.

I hope you're all having a wonderful day wherever you may be.  Remember to be a blessing to someone today.  It will make your day a precious one too.

Blessings,

Betsy

Sunny Friday

Happy Friday to you all!  It's a gorgeous sunny day here in Spokane and that is truly a blessing.  Wednesday was a terrible storm that knocked out power to over 38,000 people.  Many are still without phones or electricity.  We never lost either one, but the winds howled all day yesterday at over 35mph.  In my infinite wisdom I had chosen yesterday and today to have a yard sale.  So far I have made a whopping $47.25!  Now I am reminded of why I don't do garage sales.  I have had no customers this morning at it is 9:00-unusual.  If it doesn't pick up I'll take everything except furniture to the Goodwill at noon.

Monday night Hubby had customers from Pretoria, South Africa in town so we took them out to dinner.  He has stayed with them several times when he was in S. Africa.  Such lovely people.  Here we are at Clinkerdaggers a beautiful restaurant on the Spokane River at the Spkane Falls.  In the spring you get wet sitting at these tables from the force of the falls from snow melt in the mountains around town.

From left to right-Hubby, Me, Beulah, Johan.  We had a wonderful time with them.  I've heard so much about them and it's nice to put faces with their names.  I think we have made some friends for life.  They want us Togo see them and take a photography safari.  No shooting animals with guns, just cameras. It sounds great, but with kids living all over the place, most of our traveling is to see them, with Hawaii thrown in every few years for fun!  :-)

The view of the small Falls from the table. The bigger falls are almost vertical and HIGH.

Monday was Beulah's birthday and I didn't find out until about 15 minutes before leaving for dinner.  Thankfully I had a set of three washcloth made and bundled. Instant gift.

The next few photos are pictures of the garden at the lake.  Carrots and lettuce.  The deer have been helping themselves to the lettuce with regularity but there still has been enough that I haven't bought any in over a month now.  You can see a bit of the green beans there on the right. There are three rows and we've had beans for dinner several times too.

Lots of different squash!  And corn in the background.

I thought this squash blossom was pretty with water in the middle of the blossom.

Cherry tomatoes.

I know compared to most of your gardens this one is far, far, behind in production but as I've said before, we have a short growing season being so close to Canada.  It was 41F this morning for goodness sakes!

My view Tuesday.

Flowers behind the camper.

Tiny little flowers.

Bigger flowers.

Tiny again!

I don't know the names of any of the flowers.  I just water and enjoy them.  I know.  I know.  It's sad isn't it?

I'm working on the sweater for Miss Piper and just finished the back this morning.  I'll do the left front next.  It's a work of love so she can feel Grandma snuggling with her way over in Washington DC.

The house has sold in Portland, inspection done and now they're just waiting for results of that and then closing.  Mandy has given notice at work and at daycare.  I'll be going over next Friday to stay until they get moved from the house.  The two of them will stay with us until a house is found out east.  I wish it could be for a long, long time, but I know their family needs to be together.  I want to soak up all the time I can with them.

In the lenfth of to me it took to put this blog post togetherI haven't had one customer!  I definitely think I'll be packing things up early and heading to the lake!

Many blessings to you all and I'll be back soon.

Betsy

Around The World Blog Hop

I've been asked to participate in the "Around the World" Blog Hop".  I have never done this before so please bear with me.  :-)

I love to travel.  That's a good thing, because I have children who live scattered around the U.S. and, as most of you know, our youngest is in Japan.  I've been many places including Japan, England, France, Canada as well as all over the U.S.  And although I've met lovely people in all the places I've been, I have met some of the nicest people I know right here through this world of blogging.  There are people who have helped me find yarns and threads when I needed certain materials for special projects.  There are people who donate yarn and finished objects to charities I'm involved with.  There are people who pray for my family and myself.  There are even people I've met "with skin on!"  

Three of these "skin on" ladies live in the Portland, OR area and I visit them everytime I visit my daughter and her family. We usually have lunch together and talk and share for hours at a time.  One of these special ladies is Gracie Saylor (grayseasailor-onesaylorslog.blogspot.com) who is one of the most loving and gentle women I have the priviledge to know.  She lives in a wonderful log home with ducks and a pond, along with her daughters and their families just outside of Portland in Gresham, OR which is in the shadow of the beautiful Mt. Hood.  She does beautiful crochet and knitting, writes, draws and loves the Lord with all of her heart.  She has even stayed the night with me as she was traveling through Spokane.  Please go visit her blog.  I know you'll come away encouraged and blessed.

1. What am I working on?

I just finished a "Wonderful Wallaby" sweater for little Miss Piper, (my granddaughter).  After this photo was taken I added a button with a crocheted loop closure at the neck.

A dishcloth.  I usually have one on the needles as they are nice to have handy for when you might need a hostess gift in a hurry.

And here is another sweater for Piper begun just today.  This one will be a white cardigan.  She has outgrown the one I made for her in size 9 month.  She's 22 months and still wearing it, although the sleeves are getting a bit short.  Her Mom calls it the magical sweater that just keeps fitting!  A white cardigan is perfect with her little summer dresses she wears to church. 

I have also been crocheting around donated squares for a charity that I'm a "square joiner" for.  We then donate the completed blankets all over the world.

2. How does my work differ from others in it's genre?

Most of the patterns that I use are common ones or free from Ravelry, but I give most of what I make away to different charities around the world.  One that is close to my heart is making baby hats, burial gowns/buntings and blankets for a local hospital.  I also make items for the Pine Ridge Indian reservation as well as several other groups.  The biggest project I have undertaken was collecting items for the earthquake/tsunami victims in Japan.  Our son Alex and I ended up taking over 3000 handmade items to the shelters and distributing them to people in need.  It was a very humbling experience and made me appreciate the beautiful home God has blessed me with.

3. Why do I write/create what I do?

I don't write. I'm not a good writer although I do enjoy sharing with you all here on my little blog.  I'm so glad you visit and read my ramblings.  I knit & crochet because I love it and I love to give gifts to people.  Most people seems to like homemade items.  My brain also focuses better when my hands are busy.  I had a stroke when I was 37 years old-17 years ago!!  The part of my brain affected was short term memory and it really helps me to concentrate on things if my hands are busy.  I don't understand it but everyone who knows me, knows that I ALWAYS have a project with me.  Even during sermon time at church!

My Grandma taught me to crochet when I was 7 years old.  I love it and I love to give it all away.

(This is a doily I made for Teresa Kasner, uanother "skin on" friend in Portland, for her piano.)

4. How does my writing/creative process work?

Hmmmmm.  I'm not sure how to answer this one. I find a pattern I like and off I go!!

And now I would like to introduce Taci Simmons.  She is one of the three bloggers I meet in Portland.  Taci lives in a suburb of Portland called Happy Valley and Taci is indeed a happy person.  She is originally from Brazil and is a Social Worker for the State of Oregon.  She is married with two teenage children.  Taci and her husband just moved into the dream home they had built with a view of Mt. Hood.  She has a beautiful giving and sweet spirit and I know you'll feel the same way about her.  The blankets, hats and scarves among other things she creates, are just amazing.

Taci has agreed to post an Around The World  Blog Post next Monday, July 28, 2014.  You can find her at (tacistudio.blogspot.com).  Have you visited her blog?  Please do, you won't be sorry.

I hope you all have a lovely Monday and I'll be back to visit soon.

Edited to add: I'm not sure why this post has Friday's date since it is after 10:00 at night on Sunday Pacific Time and already Monday for most of you.  Blogger must be at it again!!!

Blessings,

Betsy