December 17th

It’s Thursday night and we had our normal Thursday night Bible study via  ZOOM. I think I’ve told you before that we have had Bible study on Thursday nights in our home for the last 42 years! Very few have been missed, unless Thursday falls on a holiday, or we are on vacation. Since March we have been meeting via ZOOM.  It’s not the same, but it’s still good to see peoples faces. We even do a version of our potluck that we used to have every couple of months. Instead of actually eating together, we just share what we had for dinner that night!

I was asked what the pattern was for the dishcloths that I’ve been making. It’s a free pattern, so I will go ahead and share it with you here as I don’t think I’ll be stepping on any toes.  I used size 7 needles, but that can be adjusted depending on how loose you want the stitches.  I also used Hobby Lobby’s “I Love This Cotton” yarn. It is soft and it stays soft after using it and wears well.

Waffle Weave Dish Cloth

Size 7 needles

Larger size 8 x 6 1/2”   Cast on-41

Small size 7 x 5 1/2“    Cast on-32

You can make the cloths larger or smaller by adding stitches in groups of 3 for the pattern.

K 3 rows for the border 

Row 1 - Knit

Row 2 - K3, Purl to last 3 sts., K3

Row 3 - K3, (P2, K1) to last 5 sts., P2, K3

Row 4 - K3, (K2, P1) to last 5 sts., K5

Continue these four rows to the size that you would like.

K 3 rows for the border. Bind off.

Enjoy!

I received a package in the mail from Sherri in Las Vegas. She makes mittens for me to donate every year and she made this ornament that is very appropriate for this year!

It’s a roll of TP!  How much more realistic for 2020 can you get? Thank you Sherri! It sure made me smile.

Day 16 stocking with yummy candy and lip balm.

Four more pair of mittens done.

I had a nasty migraine today. I get what are called octicular migraines where I see flashing lights, sort of in a zigzag line like those old kaleidoscopes we played with as kids. Then I lose my eyesight entirely for anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour. Today it was about 35 minutes. After that comes the headache. I’ve been struggling with the headache off and on all day. I had just gone to Nita’s house to pick up our mail.  Something didn’t seem quite right, so I went straight back home. Within five minutes of getting home the jagged lights started. I’m so grateful I wasn’t driving. It’s been quite a while since I had one of these headaches. I think it’s been at least a year.

I did wear the Bluetooth headband to sleep last night and I slept for 8 1/2 hours! I haven’t done that since I don’t know when. I really don’t think that it had anything to do with the migraine. There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme nor reason as to why I get them. I used the headband as an eye shade and and I listened to rain and waves all night. It was wonderful. I’ll try it again tonight and I’ll let you know how it goes and the details about it.

I hope you all have a lovely Friday and feel calm, relaxed and in the spirit of the Christmas holiday.

Blessings,

Betsy

December 16

It was a quiet day here today. I did get an Amazon package in the delivery box at the gas station on the corner. Those Amazon boxes are wonderful for picking things up. Completely no contact. You just push the buttons on the machine with the code they text to you, the door opens automatically and there’s your package!  Jeannie at “Jeannie Gray Knits” over on my side bar was telling us about a Bluetooth headband she bought from Amazon on a post earlier this week. She wears it to help her sleep and she said she’s sleeping so much better than she has in a long time. So I emailed back and forth with her and I ordered one on Monday.  It arrived today! Shopping like this can be dangerous. I have it all charged up and ready to try tonight. I’ll let you know how it goes.

In other news, here are the goodies from my stocking this morning. More candy!

And I finished a dish cloth last night for myself too! Every once in a while I do make something for me.💜

I showed you a long distance picture of the card that Connie from “The Far Side of Fifty” made for me, but I wanted to show some closer up pictures because she makes these and colors them by hand. They are true works of art.

Here is the inside.  So beautiful. The glitter adds just the right amount of sparkle.

Here is the card from Debbie who is “Araignee’s Tangled Web”. She also makes all of her own cards and puts so much work into them. Isn’t this cute?

Look at the inside! I would have never thought of anything like this. Debbie lives very close to the beach. I envy her her walks along the boardwalk.

It was 42F today! Not quite warm enough for a sundress, but I did wear my flip-flops outside to plug in the Christmas lights! I’ll take it. Much of the snow melted today it’s pouring down rain right now, so much more will be washed away by morning. I love the sound of rain on the roof of the trailer. We have had tree trimmers working in and around the park for the past several days. They are cutting down a lot of trees and it breaks my heart. Apparently it is so the Internet will have a more direct signal into the park. The price we pay for technology. Some of the trees were absolutely beautiful.

Although Christmas isn’t being celebrated quite how I had hoped this year, (Jamie and the kids were supposed to be coming), I am still grateful that our family is all doing well during this strange time we’re living in. After all, the reason we’re celebrating hasn’t changed a bit. Jesus came as a baby, he grew into a Man who died on a cross so that we could live in heaven eternally. That’s the entire reason we celebrate, and that doesn’t change, Covid or no Covid.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thursday and I’ll be back again to chat with you again tomorrow.

Blessings,

Betsy

December 15

When Dennis came home tonight I told him the days seem to be just flying by. I honestly don’t know where the time goes.  Today I delivered the two dishcloths to Lori and picked up some food from our freezer that is in their garage at the same time. She stayed in the doorway of the house and we talked from about 20 feet away from each other. How strange that seems. During the summer Larry, Nita, Paul, Lori and us were each other‘s bubble people. None of us did anything with anyone else and Paul was working from home, so we all felt fairly safe together. But since summer was over, we haven’t seen each other nearly as often and so now when we do see each other it’s from a safe distance away. They were very sweet and took our freezer full of food when we sold our house so quickly this summer. Now I go over and make withdrawls every so often. We’re just going to give them the freezer when it’s empty and I’ve told her to use whatever food is in it that they would like. They have a freezer almost exactly like it. We have great friends here! And, she loved the dishcloths.

We had snow most of the day, but then it turned to rain and it all became icky. Now we have about 5 to 6 inches of pure slush that will freeze overnight. Oh well. It’s not going to last long because we’re supposed to have temperatures in the 40s for five days in a row starting Thursday. I’m so excited! Bring out the sundresses!😂

Nita called this morning and said that I had two packages at her house along with some mail that arrived yesterday. Their mail isn’t delivered until about 8:30 at night and with the bad roads, I waited until today to pick them up.  Look at these beautiful Willow Figures that Sam from “Self-sufficient Sam” over on my sidebar sent to me.  Sam thank you so much. They are beautiful.  The one on the left is named  “Angel of Protection” she is holding a bunny in her lap. The one on the right is “Good Health” and she has an armful of apples. I love them so much.  I’m speechless at Sam’s generosity to me.

And then I opened the other box and look what I found! Some of Debbie’s wonderful, fantastic homemade soap. I have been the lucky recipient of her soap for several years now and I love every single bar and use it until it’s completely gone. Thank you so much Debbie. You can find her at “Araignee’s Tangled Web” on my sidebar.  She also sent the cutest card that she made. I’ll share it tomorrow because it’s so dark I couldn’t get a good photo of it.

Here’s my day 15 sock.  Candy and a little flashlight. This is perfect for the after dark visits to the dog park with Chloe.  I’m sorry about the shadows in all of these photos, but it’s dark here so much now that I didn’t get a chance to take the pictures until after it was fully dark. So there are shadows and you can see my twinkle lights reflecting on the counter too.

I finished the crochet along blanket for charity.  I actually think Jane, who is leading the CAL, is still going to add a few more stitches around the outside of the blanket to make it a bit bigger, but it’s the perfect size right now for a toddler blanket. I was called today and told there was a need for toddler blankets at the local crisis nursery so I thought I would just donate this one instead of to a nursing home. I’m not even sure I could donate anything to the nursing home right now anyway.

I think I was long-winded enough in this post so I will close for the day. I hope you’ve all had a wonderful Tuesday and are enjoying your holiday preparations wherever you maybe. We really are blessed. I think all of us have plenty of food to eat, a warm place to sleep and a roof over our heads to stay dry.  So many people in the world can’t say that. My roof may move from time to time, but it’s still a roof, and I’m warm and cozy inside.

Blessings and big hugs,

Betsy