Some Finishes and still HOT!

Hello my friends.  I hope you're all enjoying your summer as much as I have been.  I have to say though, that this is one of the hottest summers we've had that I can remember.  It was 102 F on our deck today in the shade.  That's really unusual for us and now we are under a Fire Weather Warning.  We have several fires burning here in Washington State and conditions are perfect for even more.

It was so hot that I even came home from the lake a day earlier than I had planned.  Swimming is great, but as soon as you get out of the water the heat takes your breath away.

I have managed to finish a few projects though and so I'll take you on a tour of my most recent makes.  First is Pipers sweater.  It's finished!  I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out.  This picture was before blocking but it gives you a good idea.  The pattern is the "Wondeful Wallaby".  It's a great pattern and fun to read, but it has you jumping around the booklet quite a bit.  I actually had to go online and find some help from people who had made it before.  Now that I have made one, I think future sweaters would go much quicker.

The pattern doesn't call for a button, but I think I'll add a crocheted loop and a button closure at the top of the placket to keep out cold winds.  I also changed the placket and hood trim from garter stitch to seed stitch.  I think it's nicer for some reason.  I like the way the pattern has ribbing round the neck to draw it in a bit to keep warmer.

I finished a baby blanket that had been on the needles for a couple of weeks.  I would pick it up when I needed mindless knitting.  It's just the Grandma's Dishcloth pattern with size 9 needles and baby yarn.  This will go to the hospital for a new baby.

Closer look so you can see the baby blue color better.

This dishcloth is also about the same blue color but for some reason photographed gray!  I like this pattern.  It has lots of ridges for good scrubbing power.

Also done is a sweater I made for World Vision Knit for Kids.  They provide the pattern and you MUST make this same pattern.  You can choose the yarn.  The sweaters are distributed around the world where there are children in need.  If I make it again I will definitely use a different yarn.  This yarn is just plain ugly and I hated knitting with it.  It was like knitting with plastic.  I think it's Red Heart although the label is long gone.  I'm embarrassed to admit that I"ve had this on needles for almost a year, I hated it so much!  The preference is acrylic yarn for ease of washing.  I may try it again with the crocheted version.  It is the same general style, just with crochet instead of knitting.

I told you I had an angel who has been sending me yarn.  These six skeins are from the box I recieved last week....

and the next two pictures are the box I recieved this week.  Look at all of the sock yarn!

All of this yarn is from Barbara way out on the East Coast.  She also makes hats and sends them to me for the babies at Holy Family Hospital.  Isn't that just the sweetest thing to do?  I'm very grateful for her kind heart and generous spirit.  Thank you so much Barbara.  Now to decide what to make with the yarn?

The next picture is a huge spaghetti salad.  It doesn't look like much does it?  Until you realize the bowl is 7 1/2 inches high and 12 inches across.  Some of you may have the same bowl from Tupperware.  It's HUGE!  There are over 2 lbs. of spaghetti, 7 tomatoes, 2 cans of olives, 2 onions, 2 cucumbers, 1 big green pepper, 1 block of cheddar cheese and 5 bottles of Italian salad dressing in it!

We have two funerals at church this weekend.  One is Friday and one Saturday.  We're providing a meal for the family and friends afterwards for both funerals so I decided to make one huge salad and split it into two bowls for the two dinners.  It's really yummy and I hope the families like it.  Hubby loves this salad and it's perfect for hot weather.  You can also add salami and it could be a complete summertime meal.

We're still waiting on a buyer for Brad and Mandy's house.  There was a promising prospect earlier this week but that seems to have fallen through.  Please pray for a sale soon.  It's hard on all of them to be apart.  Mandy says for the past three days Piper has gone to Brad's pillow on the bed and patted it saying "Daddy, Daddy".  So sad.  She misses her Daddy.  Facetime is just not the same as being there.

And now, it's past 10:30 and I need to find my own pillow.  I washed the sheets this morning from both our bed here at home and the camper and hung them on the clothesline to dry.  It was so hot they were dry in less than 15 minutes!  I love the smell of sheets hung outside and believe it give sweet dreams.  :-)

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

Blessings,

Betsy

Hot, Hot, Hot

My oh my! What a week and a half I've had. Fun times, but very busy.  In the middle of it all I've been working a row or two at a time on Piper's Wonderful Wallaby sweater.  I'm almost to the neck ribbing and then I'll knit the hood. And viola!  It will be done. This is really a quick knit, even though it's taken me almost two weeks.  I really haven't done much crafting at all for that length of time.

Now that it's almost done though, I'm thinking the color is much more boy than girl.  My thought process was that it would be a great fall color for her when she's living in D.C. this fall.  Also, if they have another baby someday, (this is a Grandma talking, remember?), and it turns out to be a boy he could wear it too.  That's why I didn't choose a "girl" color.  I may just have to make her another one.  She loves red so that could be an option. Any thoughts out there?

I think this just looks HaPpY.  That doily looks difficult but it's really not too bad.  It only took a short time to complete.

Look what came in the mail for me from Tammy at "T's Daily Treasures" over on my sidebar. She lives in an exotic locale on the other side of the world. That's my teaser for you. Go ahead. Check out her blog.  I know you'll be glad you did.   I love this beautiful doily and I'm so honored that she thought of me.  I think I'll take it to the trailer where I can enjoy it all summer and then I'll find a place of honor for it at home this fall.

I also got a box in the mail today with 6 skeins of beautiful yarn from Barbara waaaaay back east. I wanted to show you a picture but my camera battery died.  I'll give you more info next post and show you a picture. I'll also tell you about sweet Barbara and her generous heart.  Don't forget to come back and visit again.  :-)

This is my big brother Roger and his wife Rachel.  This was his first visit to see us since we moved to Spokane almost 21 years ago.  He lives in Iowa so it was a long trip for him.  I never knew Roger well as he is quite a bit older than I am and was away in the Navy before I was old enough to know him at all.  We talked more in the past few days than we have in our entire lives and we learned a LOT about each other.  A few tears were shed. There were lots of hugs and I was truly sad to see them leave this morning.  They just bought a new truck and camper and promise to return soon.  Roger was a trucker for over 40 years and I'm amazed he's still enjoying pulling that 28 foot camper all around the States after all the driving he's done over the years.  They were in Arkansas last month visiting Rachel's family so it seems they are enjoying retirement.

This is their truck and trailer.  Sorry about the blurry picture. I took it through the screen in the window.

This is his toy too.  He carries it in the back of the trailer.

And this is what we did yesterday.  Yep.  That's me squinting into the sun on the back of that motorcycle.  We took a ride up to Mt. Spokane.  It's been over 30 years since I've been on a motorcycle and I had a blast!!!!  Fun times!  I guess I'm not as old as I thought.  :-)

See those clouds In the picture above?  They aren't really clouds at all, it's smoke from a wildfire just a few miles away.  In fact, Hubby and I looked at a house just last month that we wanted to buy but it sold before we could make an offer. That house and all neighboring areas have been evacuated.  This is a reminder to me of why we always decide to stay in town instead of buying an acreage outside of Spokane.  There are way too many forest and wildfires.

This is Nikki, Roger and Rachel's dog.  She was a wonderful houseguest and got along well with Chloe and Mandy's cats who are staying with us.  She was a "found" dog who was wandering the street so we're not sure what she is but she is REALLY smart.  She sure loves her Mom and Dad and really likes to ride in the truck on her pillow.

I snatched this recipe from Jennifer at Thistlebear blog. (Also on my sidebar).  It's really easy and light. Both Roger and Rachel are diabetic so I used sugar free whipped cream.  Just slice up an angel food cake and lay in the dish. Cover with whipped cream and decorate with sliced strawberries and blueberries.  So good and easy for a HOT summer day which we have been having.  90's all week and 102 forecast for the weekend.

Sorry this is so long for you to read.  Hopefully things will calm down a bit for a little while.  I'm looking forward to playing in the water at the lake this weekend to cool off.  I hope you all have similar plans to keep cool where you are.

Blessings my friends and I pray you all have a safe and wonderful weekend.

Betsy

My week with Piper.

Hello friends!  After a weeklong internet absence to play with the most precious one year old around I'm back to visit with you.  Grab a cup of tea, coffee, or a diet pop and sit back and chat a bit with me.

Are you ready for some Piper pictures?  You've come to the right place. Here we go on a full stop tour of this most precious little girl.

So sweet.

She was saying "yay!" After we finished singing a song.  Piper and I sing a lot together and she has definite favorites.

Playing in the sunshine on the patio.  This little wagon cost less than $5.00 and has been through three Grandkids now.  Not a bad investment.

Miss Piper gives the best massages. Seriously. She puts lotion on your legs and arms and rubs just right.  She even massages each toe.  Please don't look at the messy room, just concentrate on her serious and earnest face.  I'm not kidding, she could give those girls that do pedicures a run for their money!

We went to the lake for the fourth and had a barbecue with Neal and Jenny.  Paul, Lori, Larry and Nita all went to the big barbecue that the resort put on but we grilled burgers here at the trailer and had all the "fixings" too.  Watermelon, potato salad, baked beans, chips.  Way too much food.

Piper was all dressed for the day in her American Sweetheart outfit that Grandpa bought for her.  She definitely took a liking to the golf cart.  We went on lots of rides around the park.

A fun thing that lots of people do here is decorate their boats and carts for the fourth.  There is even a boat parade.  I took pictures of it but they didn't turn out for some reason.  One boat was decorated like a tiki hut but most had lots of flags and buntings.

How do you like our golf cart? We had fun driving around in it.

Cupcakes I made for everyone.  Red velvet cake, whipped vanilla icing and sprinkles.  Yum.

Piper loved this little chair that Lori has here for their granddaughter.  It's the perfect size.

Our picnic table all set and ready for the food.

Mandy and Piper returned to Portland today with their dog, but left the two cats with us.  She didn't want to make that drive again with the cats.  :-)  We're praying that the house will sell quickly so that they can join Brad in Washington D.C.  They are all really missing each other.  As soon as the house sells I'll go to Portland to help her with a garage sale, (and see Teresa, Gracie and Taci of course.). Then they will come stay with us until a new house is bought.  I will probably fly with them for the move to help Mandy with the two cats, dog and Piper.  The company is packing them up and moving them and the cars while they fly to DC.

I am NOT looking forward to them living so far away, but I also know that their little family needs to be together more than they need this old Grandma around.  Although, I have to say, Piper and I seem to have a pretty special bond.  Maybe because I've been around her so much and even when I'm not with her in person we FaceTime every day.  I love, love, love that little girl and she gives Grandpa and me the BEST kisses.

On the crafting front I've finished the first little cross stitch animal and will show it to you in the next post since I forgot to take a picture of it.  I also started a "Wonderful Wallaby" sweater for Piper for Christmas.  If it turns out well I may attempt them for Kyleigh and Caleb too.

Hubby and I are back at the lake tonight.  My brother and his friend are on their way here for a visit.  They're traveling from Iowa and have made it to Yellowstone today.  I'll probably be heading home tomorrow or Tuesday to be there when they arrive.  He has never been to see me in the almost 21 years we've lived in Washington.

Thanks for visiting and I pray that you'll have a wonderful and happy day today.

Blessings,

Betsy