December 20

Happy Monday! It’s a bright sunny day here and it’s even a little bit warmer today. I believe it is supposed to be 40F today. Thank you so much for the wonderful and heartfelt comments from yesterday‘s blog. Sometimes things happen don’t they, and it’s good to have friends to share with. It’s so difficult at this time of year anyway when you’ve lost a loved one, but to have it happen so close to Christmas really has to be difficult.

Today for my advent I received candy. I’m going to have to ask Mandy where she got this candy, because it is delicious. And my snowman for today is actually a card that Debbie sent me in a past year. She has the blog Araignee’s Tangled Web on my side bar. She makes the most beautiful cards and is so generous with them. I mounted this one inside of a shadowbox frame and it sits where I can see it from my knitting chair.

The ornament I would like to share with you today as one that we bought at Canterbury Cathedral when we visited there in August.  It is a bit blurry because for some reason my hands are shaking a little bit today. The colors are so vibrant and pretty.

On the back.

I finished a pair of mittens Saturday night and started a pair for Piper. I have one of her mittens done and the cuff finished on the second. The lighting is horrible for some reason. I apologize.

I saw this beautiful quilt online this morning and fell in love with it. Oh, to have the talent to make some thing like this! Isn’t it sweet? I don’t know which snowman is my favorite unless it’s the ones with the red truck. I love red trucks too.

Photo credit to Hollyhill Quilt Shoppe

This morning I was up bright and early and then got absolutely nothing accomplished for the first couple of hours besides going back to bed and reading. It was pretty nice though. After that I threw in a load of sheets to be washed and went to the grocery store for Dennis‘s mom. She did not go with me today because of the new variant that’s making its rounds. After getting to Walmart I was very glad she stayed home. There were children everywhere, running all over the store. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like it, especially at the store that usually very calm and quiet. I’m completely done with everything for Christmas. All I really needed to get at the store was milk and coffee and coffee creamer for Dennis. Somehow I ended up spending $97! I ended up getting Christmas cards for next year because there weren’t very many left and I was afraid there would be no after Christmas sales this year. I also had one last gift to pick up. Mom was the one who needed to get quite a bit. We were supposed to go to the store last Thursday when the storm was predicted so we decided not to go.

Yesterday Dennis and I went to the hardware store and finally found two pendant lights for over the bathroom sinks. I had wanted to just keep the old ones, but the contractor finally talked me out of it. Since they have been in the house over 60 years he thought that they needed to go. I wanted to just paint them to match the brushed nickel hardware that is being installed but he doesn’t think that the paint would stick to them. He’s probably right but I feel like money is just running through our fingers at this point. I thought it was a way of saving a few dollars but I guess electrical fixtures are not the way to try to save money. We looked at both Lowe’s and Home Depot and couldn’t find anything that either of us liked. I just wanted a plain and simple pendant. We finally found one that I liked at Menards. I never thought it would be so hard to find a light since I’m really not picky at all.

I hope you’re all doing well. I’m excited to have Piper and Lizzie come spend the night this week so we can get some cookie baking done. I have waited many years to be able to have a grandchild close enough to bake cookies with at Christmas time. This is the year!

Have a wonderful Monday my friends.

Blessings and love,

Betsy

December 19

There are just a few days left to Christmas. Are you all ready? I must be honest, this has been a particularly rough week for Dennis and me. Amongst the joys of spending time with family and friends, we have experienced three deaths this week in our family back in Spokane. When I was a teenager and I worked in a nursing home with the elderly, we always said that death comes in threes. Seriously. It always came in threes. This week was no exception.  None of them passed from Covid. Just thought I’d put that out there right away.

First was a wonderful gentleman named Glade, who was a member of the church in Spokane. We had known Glade since our very first week of living there. He was a wonderful Bible believing man whose wife died several years ago. Glade was in his 90’s.

Then, on Thursday, our adopted mom Pearl died, with her daughter Debbie holding her hand. Pearl was Neal and Debbie‘s mom. They also have a brother Ralph. As you all know from previous posts, Neal and his wife Jenny are our very best friends. I have also grown close to Debbie over the years and we have spent time with Ralph at different family gatherings. Pearl has endured the last two years of almost constant lockdown in a Spokane nursing facility. Those lockdowns are super hard on people and places like that. She wasn’t even allowed to leave her room for the longest time. Her mental state declined and her physical state followed quickly. Pearl treated us like her very own kids and we loved her like a mother. She was a wonderful, wonderful lady and will be dearly missed by many. Pearl was 87 years young and had a huge smile and a bigger heart.

Then, just this morning as we arrived at our Sunday school class, we received a text that our longtime minister in Spokane had died. We knew it was eminent. Mark went on hospice on Monday when he had to stop dialysis because of various reasons. How fast things happened once the dialysis stopped! I can’t even begin to put into words what Mark meant to both Dennis and I. We were such great friends. He had the biggest booming laugh and the best sense of humor. And his singing voice? All I could think as we were singing in church this morning was that now Mark was singing with the great angelic choir and how wonderful it must sound to him. Mark had the biggest heart of anyone I know. And I seriously mean anyone I know. He would give the shirt off his back to anybody that needed it. His compassion knew no end. My heart breaks for his wife Karen and their three daughters. He was just one year older than my Dennis. Much too young to take his servant heart away at a time when this world needs it the most. 

You know how people always say nice things about people when they die and make them sound like they are a saint? I am not exaggerating any of this about Mark.  He was truly one of the kindest, most sincere and loving people I have ever known. He will be deeply missed.

So, life is not all a bed of roses here this Christmas. We also have two family members that are fighting Covid, although they both seem a little better than they were earlier in the week. We believe it’s the new omicron variant and yes, they have both been fully vaccinated and boostered. This is their second round of Covid. They had it a year ago last March, when this whole thing first began and now they have it again. It makes you wonder what anybody really knows about this virus doesn’t it?

So, with a heart that is rejoicing that all three of these wonderful Christian people are now in heaven with their Lord and Savior and rejoicing that their pain and time on this earth is over, my heart still hurts for their families that are left behind. Especially at this time of year.

I only have one photo to share with you today and that’s of my Advent stocking contents. I have had this sweet little snowman since before Dennis and I got married and the candy was a welcome gift this morning. I needed chocolate.

I’m so happy that we have more than this life to look forward to. I know I will see all three of these wonderful people again someday. I’m sorry if this has been a downer of a post, but I am just trying to keep it it real here. Real life does happen sometimes doesn’t it?  I did get a little knitting done today so far, but very little. It’s not even worth showing you about half of a sock cuff.

Wishing you all a wonderful remainder of your day and I’ll try to be more cheerful tomorrow. 

Blessings,💜

Betsy

December 18

Happy Saturday!  It’s really late and I’m very sorry. We have had company today, my sister Melanie, and niece and nephew, Chaela and Tim.  Mandy and Piper came over too. We had a great visit.  We FaceTimed with Alex and we tried to find some lost eye drops at Mom’s, (they were in her purse), where it was suggested to look several times. The day was just, poof! GONE.

We did finally get our internet back on late yesterday. That is a huge relief. It’s amazing how much we rely on it.

Yesterday I walked to school with Mandy and the puppies to pick up Piper. Mandy got her booster yesterday so took the day off work. She is really not feeling well at all today. Anyway, Piper and I went shopping and found some lovely gifts for her Mommy. Then I took her to a coffee place and got her a “hot chocolate, almond milk, no whip”. She said it was delicious. She’s allergic to dairy, so it’s always great to find a place that serves things she can have.

A nice young man saw us taking the above selfie and offered to take our photo. Those ornaments are huge. The biggest one is about 12 foot high.

We even found matching Christmas sweaters for the puppies. At Aldi’s for $5.00 each. The lady at the bank told me about them when I stopped there before picking up Piper. She loves Zoey and I have to take her to visit every few weeks so they can see how much she’s grown.

Piper used her allowance to buy the girls scarves for Christmas. Her other Grandma’s friend made them. Aren’t they cute?  I just can’t get over how cute they are together. Best friends.

My Advent for today is more yummy candy.  The two snowmen are some of my favorites. It seems I say that a lot. I do really like my snow people.

I hope your weekend is a good one. It’s cold here but no snow so I’ll take it. 😍 Spokane had had a LOT of snow this weekend.

Blessings and love,

Betsy