Green Spring!

Finally!  Spring seems to  have arrived to stay here in the Inland Northwest.  I have lots of pictures this week so hang on tight and here we go!

This first photo is the beautiful view from the highway on our way the lake to open up the trailer on Saturday.  The snow is still on the mountains but it's gorgeous in the lower elevations.  We're actually supposed to hit 80 on Friday but then back into the 50's on Sat. & Sun.  Well, we've had a gorgeous week so far so I will NOT be complaining at all

 We moved the final bits and pieces from our house out to Jeremy & Alicia's new house on Monday evening.  Here's my handsome Hubby with his truck.  It's sure been used a lot this week.  Three loads to the lake and several to Jeremy & Alicia's house.  Their moving van brought the furniture from the old house yesterday and now the unpacking begins.  They are about 35 minutes north of us, in the mountains.  They have 10 acres with the option to purchase another 10 acres that adjoins their property.

 

 The view as we left their driveway Monday evening.  Such a stunning sunset.

 Out the front door is this gorgeous view.  I told Alicia I'm going to bring a rocking chair and just sit on the front porch and rock and knit.  This field was full of deer on Monday evening.

 Happily, they have a 7 foot fence around the yard to keep the deer out.  There are already raised garden beds, a dog run, a big play area and this fire pit, all within the fenced area.  We put the fire pit to good use on Friday evening when we took a load of boxes to the house for them.  We roasted hot dogs and made s'mores while listening to coyotes howl in the "not so far off" distance.  Seriously, they were pretty close and scared the boys a bit. 

We stopped in Deer Park, WA for a hamburger after taking a load of things to the lake on Sunday. 

The ZIPS hamburger place has recently been remodeled and I think these metal sculptures that are used throughout are beautiful.  Each is a bit different and there are at least 15 of them.  Moose, Buffalo, Elk, Deer and Bear are depicted. 

We saw a herd of Elk off of the road when we were driving to Alicia and Jeremy's on Monday night.  There must have been at least 50 elk, but I couldn't get a good picture of them as they were quite a ways from the road.  We were on the Elk/Chattaroy Road so it is appropriately named!

 I also got a new gift for myself.  Two sets of Knitters Pride zing dpn's.  Oh my!  If you like to knit with dpn's you have GOT to get some of these.  I bought two sets so I could knit socks two at a time and thus avoid the dreaded second sock syndrome. 

 I have used my Knit Picks dpn's for years, but have been disappointed in the quality of them.  One end will be nice and pointy and the other end is dull and rounded.  These Zings are so great.  Not quite stiletto sharp, which is dangerous for me, but very, very close.  And with tax and shipping, both pair were under $13.00 which I think is a wonderful bargain.  I bought them online from WEBS if you're interested, and no, I don't get anything from recommending them.  I just think you'll like them too.  :-)

Here are my socks this morning.  Both are finished through the heels and one is halfway down the foot.  And look! I can even take photos outside now!

I have another cozy memories square on the go.

 When I was at Michael's yesterday they had these sweet little tea light candle holders on sale, two for $4.00.  I think they will work great on the outside coffee table at the lake.  The wind won't be able to blow them out and I love the blue color.  They are like mason jars and have a screw on metal lid with a bail that lifts the tea light out.

My lake sign on the house.  Soon, my friends, as in very soon, as in two nights away, I will be in my trailer at the lake sleeping if all goes as planned.

 My favorite place to sit and read my Bible in the mornings when I'm home and the weather is good.

Well, it's been another week and the update on my back is that the chiropractor says it's doing great, but I don't see a lot of difference.  My absolute best friend in the world Jenny, is a massage therapist, but doesn't do it for a job anymore.  Anyway, she has set up her massage table in our bedroom and comes and gives me massages.  For free!  Is there anything better?  She comes to our house and give me massages.  And not only on my back.  Oh no!  She also gives me FOOT massages!  Oh. My. Word.  It is lovely.  It is heavenly.  It is WoNdErFuL! 

She is the best of friends. (and not only because of the massages).  Seriously.  I am so very blessed.

And now I think I've rambled on enough.  I hope all is well with you my friends and that you are having a wonderful spring, (or fall if you're down under).  I am enjoying reading all of your blogs about the flowers blooming and how excited we all are after the very long winter that has stayed past it's time.  :-)

There seems to be so much anger in the world today.  I'm so glad that our blogs are a place of peace and kindness. I remind myself of this verse almost daily. 

"A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger."  Proverbs 15:1

"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16

Isn't that a wonderful promise?

Blessings,
Betsy

Some Surprises

Happy Wednesday!  It's a cloudy day, but at least the rain has stopped for the time being.  I just got home from the chiropractor again.  I've been there every morning this week.   I don't want to complain, but it has been a rough week.  I even missed church on Sunday and I very rarely miss church.  I have been in so much pain and it's moving around my back.  He said that's normal when you start working on one area, another starts telling you that it has issues too.  He even asked if I had ever broken my tailbone, (yes, three times!)  That area hasn't hurt in years but it is now.  So he's working on that too.  It's hard not to get discouraged but I'm trying to remain hopeful.

Now onto happier things.  Alicia celebrated her birthday on Saturday.  She was the recipient of the Beachcomber shawl that I showed in my last post.  She loved it and she wears shawls often so it was  a good place for it to go.

Here is a photo of the sweet family that is staying with us.  We bought a cake and had ice cream for Alicia's birthday.  Alicia and I walked through the new house to inspect it yesterday and then they closed on the house at 8:30 this morning.  The movers will pick up their stuff in Moses Lake, WA on Monday, deliver next Tuesday and they plan to stay at the new house that night.  So we only have one more week with them.  This house is going to be really quiet.   Here is the sweet little family with the birthday cake.

Poor Jeremy got in at 12:30 a.m. this morning from a business trip and his car wouldn't start at the airport.  It's a brand new company car!  He took a taxi home from the airport so he wouldn't wake us up.  I took him back to get his car this morning while Alicia took the boys to school, (an hour of driving round trip from our house.)  Security jump started the car for him and he walked into the closing for the house at exactly 8:30!  Needless to say, they were a bit stressed.  I drove straight to my doctor appointment and walked in 10 minutes early so all worked out well.

Fun surprises arrived in the mail this week.  I got this lovely package from the generous Debra who is "Araignee's Tangled Web" on my sidebar.  She so generously sends out packages of her homemade soaps, lotion bars and lip balm, along with a sweet little card.  I love the lotion bars and have received them before but this is the first time I have gotten lip balm.  Oh. My. Goodness.  I love it.  I keep it right by my chair and use it often.  It's wonderful!  Thank you so much Debra.  You are a sweetheart to all of us.

And then....I got some beautiful sock blockers from Sherri at "Sherri's Needle Crafts" on my sidebar.  These are the exact sock blockers I've been eyeing for quite some time from "Must Love Yarn" but just never felt right spending the money on myself.  And surprise, surprise!  Here they were in the mailbox last week!  I was so surprised and so happy to get them.  Sherri, thank you so much.  It was an unexpected blessing and I just love them.  Aren't blog friends just amazing?

The socks are a pair of  mine that I've been wearing for several months that I just put on the blockers to show you.  I just wash them in the machine and sometimes they go in the dryer if I don't catch them to air dry them.  Even so, they are holding up well.  They are knit with Knit Picks Felici yarn and SO soft and comfortable. 

I finished my wrist-warmers made with Knit Picks Stroll Tweed in the Farmhouse Heather colorway. using Nancy's pattern.  She is "Wyoming Breezes" on my sidebar.  It was a very quick and fun knit and I've already gotten lots of use from them.  It's been very chilly here and they have really helped keep my hands warm.  Thanks for the great pattern Nancy.

Alicia needed some potholders for the new house since she had thrown away her old ones.  She picked out some cotton yarn from my closet and I crocheted her these double thick potholders on Sunday and Monday while nursing my back in the recliner.  The three big ones are about 8 1/2 inches square and I finished the skein with the smaller 5 inch square.  These four potholders used a one pound ball of Sugar and Cream cotton.  I love using mine.  They provide lots of protection against heat with the double thickness and wash so well.

I finally found a few flowers!  Finally.  These are in Nita and Larry's back yard.  Pretty purple...

And a couple of happy daffodils.  Maybe spring will finally be on the way.

I hope all is well with all of you.  I don't have anything exciting on my needles right now.  I still have a pair of Hermione socks on the needles in my "to go" bag.  I'm also working on another square for the cozy memories quilt.  I need to make some mittens but I am just not feeling it right now.  Maybe because we're all so sick of winter and I don't want to think about another winter coming soon.  :-)

Take care and I'll be back soon.

"My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry." James 1:19

Blessings,
Betsy

A finish!

Sunshiny Wednesday.  Finally.  We've had clouds and rain for many days in a row, and it's supposed to return soon, but for today the sun is shining and I'm going to enjoy it.

Because it's been so cloudy here it was hard to get a good photo of my finished Beachcomber shawl but here it is anyway.  It ended up over 5 feet long after blocking!  I didn't even stretch it out to it's full potential.

 I like the lace sections even though I misread the pattern and didn't do as many repeats as called for.  I discovered that AFTER finishing the picot bind-off and wasn't about to rip it all out.  I think it would have been too big if I had done them all anyway.  At least that's what I'm telling myself. :-)

 The colors still aren't "my" colors and even though I like it finished I know I would never wear it so it's being given as a birthday gift this weekend.  The Cotlin yarn from Knit Picks was very hard on my hands, even after using hand lotion constantly while knitting on it.  Both of my thumbs were bleeding before I finished it.  Although the fabric that results is beautiful, I don't think I'll be using this yarn again anytime soon.

 We had hail last weekend!  That's pretty rare for Spokane.  Especially hail that was almost nickle sized.  Now, when we lived in Omaha it wasn't unusual at all to have large hail and if your cars were outside  much, they usually has some hail damage on them.  That's not the norm here though.  It sounded like it was going to come right into the house it was so loud. 

 It looked almost like snow when it was done.  I didn't get a picture of the end of the storm when the grass was completely covered.

Here's my handsome Alex participating in a festival in Japan.  It's hard to believe that he's going to be 30 in December!  Do all of you Mom's feel that way?  He's the baby!  If he's 30 what does that make me?!  Well, actually it makes me 58 and I can't change that fact.
He's such a good guy.  He face-times several times a week and really seems to want us to retire to Japan and live with him.  That's not going to happen although I love to visit there.  It's nice that he wants us though isn't it?  I have promised him that if my back improves enough to fly that I'll go visit him this fall.  I want to see his new apartment and the town he lives in.  He spends two weeks a month in Tokyo and two weeks in Towada-shi and I've never been to Towada.

I need to clear up a little confusion about the camping trailers.  I think because of the information about the new lake rules and costs, some people thought we are selling our lake trailer. Nope.  We're keeping the big trailer at the lake at least for another season and hopefully longer.  We're selling the little one we bought last year for weekend trips because we've discovered we're just not using it.

So far the calls have been few and far between because the weather has been so yucky.  However, in the past few days we have had several calls from people who want to see it over the weekend.  Hopefully one will want it and we'll be able to  sell it soon.  We've talked to several RV dealers that we trust and all say our price is very good, even too cheap, so it should sell quickly when the weather breaks.

As for my chiropractor visits, I have have great hopes.  I see him again this morning.  I have muscles hurting that haven't hurt for years.  He says that's normal because everything is moving around in my back.  Monday when I woke up my stomach muscles felt like I had done 100 sit-ups.  Well obviously that hadn't happened!  He seems to know what he's doing and I will be so excited to actually be able to move around again without pain.  Thank you for all the sweet thoughts and prayers.  You are all the greatest!

We've had a houseful for over a week now.  After being empty-nesters for over 10 years it's strange to be doing school runs and fixing family dinners again.  It's been good though and everyone seems to be getting along well.  Chloe is exhausted from playing with them.  The house closing is supposed to be April 20 and then they will be here until around the 25th or so while the movers deliver their furniture.  Gosh, the house will seem huge and empty with just Dennis and I!

I almost forgot to tell you all about a fun giveaway Teresa is having on her blog.  She's giving away handmade beads and they are gorgeous. Pop on over an give her a visit.  It's Teresa Kasner on my sidebar.

I hope you all have a lovely day and are seeing some new spring growth in your area.

"Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful." Colossians 3:15

Blessings,
Betsy