The Joys of Being A Grandparent

This weekend I had the joy of having four of my five grandchildren visit me. While here the two oldest ran around playing so nicely and then: the oldest boy, Andrew, came running to me to tell me his cousin, Julia, had spilled too much soap on the counter top. His father reminded him that its not nice to tattle on others. (I remember doing something like that.)
It was today that made me happy to be a grandparent and not the parents. My granddaughter, Julia hid my wallet. I left there house without knowing this. I got all the way home to discover no wallet. Driving back to their home, I prayed the whole way it was there. Her mom, Joanna, had looked everywhere for the wallet but couldn't find it. When I got there, she hadn't found it. I looked. Then asked if she had asked Julia. "No" Well, I went back to her room where the girls were playing and asked. She didn't say anything. I took the baby to change her and in walks Julia with my wallet. She was so cute. She looked up at me and said, see I tricked you. I hid your wallet. Her mom scolded her, all I could do was give her a big hug. I said thank you to God for it being there and could only reward her with kindness for having found the wallet.
I have the fortune to enjoy the children, but the discpline is left to the parent.

Friendship and Laughter

Sitting here after knitting with the ladies. It's like the old time quilting bee, where women would sit around one large quilt and sew the layers together. We don't sew layers of fabric together, we sew friendships. We learn how others knit and about their lives. We share one each others concerns , worries and joys. It is usually fun and full of laughter. I look forward to these nights especially the socializing and the friendship. Thanks.

Retirement?

Last week was busy. I managed to complete a Christmas hat and scarf for grandson. Now I want to make a matching sweater. It will need me to go buy yarn. I guess this will require me getting out of the house and off my bottom.
I also was able to sit for the grand kids again. On Tuesday I was able to sit for the grandsons and on Wednesday and Thursday, the granddaughters. Andrew and William's pictures were quickly taken and are added here.
I have officially applied for Social Security. It was painless with the exception that I am not working and have no money to waste on crafts. I will need to work a little.
Visiting a dear friend in Fresno was part of the weekend. Hal drove down with me on Saturday. I awoke with a headache and to thunder. I checked the Doppler and found we wouldn't have lightening south of Modesto. Well, we found lightening to follow us as south as Merced. I do not like storms, wind or lightening. I would have considered not going if I felt threatened. I had a good visit. I wish there was more that I could do, but pray is the only source I have while not there.
Football season is upon me. I am an avid 9er fan and will tolerate other teams, especially the Packers. I spent yesterday making jewelry and watching the 9er's win their first of many games. (I have high hopes.)

Week with Grandchildren

Wow this week has been a great one for grand kids. Monday started off with a visit to grandsons, Andrew and William. I was able to play with William while Andrew worked diligently on a picture of a panther. He had some trouble, but manged to work through it. Then on Wednesday I went with my granddaughters and their mom to the Fountains. There I watched for the first time my youngest granddaughter walk. She didn't have a diaper on so every time she fell down she would wince. Then yesterday, I was paid a pleasant visit from them again. Julia had her mom call me to ask if they could come over and make those ice cones with different colored juices. Then she proceeded to tell me that Jazlyn still had to get dressed, but that she was special and didn't need help to get dressed that she could do that my herself. While here I was able to almost complete the "Easy Hat." I ended up having to frog back a little ways, but I finished it before the 10 o'clock news.
Today comes Jenna. She is in the fourth grade now. Last year I went to Sunnyvale before school start to take her to the doctors and spend some time with her. (She lives between two parents, so I don't get to see much of her.) I plan on picking her up from her mom sometime before 3PM and then doing something special with her. I do want to help her make a bracelet or necklace. I am looking forward to it. Her dad and Ruth will drive up tomorrow with the dogs to spend the weekend with her. Have a happy Labor Day Weekend!

Some new pictures of what's knew with with me. Today I hope to almost complete the onesies quilt. I just want to do a good job quilting it. Speaking of quilting, I have many quilting friends that live in the Auburn area and some near the fire area. I am concerned for them. I haven't heard anything bad yet, so as they say, no news is good news.
The grandsons were so cute yesterday. Andrew is such a perfectionist. It took him an hour to complete a picture. He got upset and through a tantrum. I had him come and sit with me for a while and he was able to continue his drawing. The other grandson just finished his nap and I was able to give him his lunch. We played together while Andrew drew his panther. William played in a tunnel and we played pick-a-boo for the longest time. Good times.

Granddaughters Play

I spent some time yesterday with my granddaughters, Julia and Jazlyn. Their mom called me and asked if I'd like to join them a Wacky Tacky and I of course said "yes." It's an indoor play gym, like McDonald's or Burger King has except it is on a much larger scale (warehouse size). When they stepped in, Julia was ready to go. She is only 3 yrs, but has the ability of a 6 yr. old when it comes to climbing and gymnastics. Her sister on the other hand is only 14 months and is not walking yet. She crawls. I could see she just didn't know what to do at first. Her mom took her up and sat with her awhile, then I sat with her. It took a little while but she started trying out the wheels and stairs. When she got down on the floor, instead of crawling on her knees, up she went to her feet and hands. Julia went up and down the slide over and over again. Jaz joined in with Mom. It was fun to see them play together.

Time on my hands

This will be the second time I've type this out. I think I need more instruction on this site.

Sunday was spent traveling to the Bay Area. We visited our daughter,Ruth, her husband, Jon, and our grand dogs. I brought a potato salad and we bought some KC. The salad was delicious. The recipe was given to me by a knitting friend over a year ago. I finally got around to making it. I've had a lot of time on my hands lately. It seems that there are a lot of teachers that were fired from the district I worked in and are now given jobs over the loyal subs that served them over the years. I really am not too bitter, but... So I have time to clean and cook. Oh no! calories galore. At least the potato salad was shared by others. I finished my cat quilt top and am now working on a oneies quilt top for my oldest grandson. His mom wants me to use the oneies that were made for him by those who attended the shower. It is going to be a challenge, but I'm up for it.

Traveller

Here it is the last of July. Three weeks ago I started traveling. I've been to Washington, Georgia, and Oregon with flight stops in Utah, Arizonia, and N. Carolina. In Washington, Hal and I visited my sister, Kathy and her husband Duane. We were there 8 wonderful days. It's fun just to sit in their dining room and watch the birds eating the seed Duane puts out for them and watching for the other wild animal that pass the house. There may be an occasional deer family, or the annoying turkeys that come up on the porch and eat the seed droppings and poop all over the porch. They are beautiful birds, but messy and the scare away the other birds. Duane and Kathy have a ministry helping out with the food pantry. Every Monday morning Duane drives into Spokane to pick up food and take it back to their food pantry. He also orders the food, collects food from the local stores and sets up tables to lay out the food on for people to see what they have. Hal goes with him on Mondays to help him. Kathy and I get to sit and visit. It is rather nice. The other days we are there, Duane tries to show us some other the area in north-east Washington. This time he drove around Lake Roosevelt. On the way Kathy and I saw a moose on the side of the road. He also took us north to a little quilt shop in Evan , Washington. From there we headed north to look for a lake he wanted to fish at. We were 30 miles from Canada. We ate at this little restaurant. The food was the best, especially the bread. It tasted homemade. As we were sitting in the diner, it hailed. When we were finished the hail had stopped and there was no signs of it anywhere. We continued the quest for this lake. We began our climb up into the mountains and low and behold there was what I thought snow, but Duane and Kathy quickly spoke up and said no, "That's the hail we had down at the diner." We finally found the lake and continued on our way home. The domestic animals, horses, cattle, sheep were seen as well as a lonely deer.
Our flight to Georgia left early on Wed. Both Duane and Kathy drove us to the airport a little over an hour from their house. This was our first experience with a hub port. Hal and I had to run to get to next plane clear on the other side of the airport. We landed in Charlotte, N. Carolina, another Hub run to the plane to get our last plane to Augusta, Georgia. My sister Dottie and her husband John met us. It was our first time in Georgia and we didn't know what to expect. Dottie and I were to visit my brother in Tenn., but I didn't want the drive. I also didn't realize that my sister was going to take off from work. It was great to be with her. This was the longest visit I had with her alone for along time. I've always had to share her with her family, or John's family. She took us to see the Savannah River in Augusta. I saw some turtles close to riverbank. Dottie showed me the sign that said to stay away from the alligators. They also took us to Savannah. The trees are as beautiful as the pictures. I saw Paula Deans restaurant, but didn't eat there. We went to church at the catholic cathedral. It was large, but also reminded be of a couple of churches I had been to with my friend Mary, St. Paul's, in S.F. and a little catholic church in Petaluma. The priest was delightful. He message reminded me of what I heard the week before at Kathy's church. On our way home for Savannah, we stopped at a Cracker Barrel. Great experience and food. The fried chicken we delicious as was the sides that I was unable to finish. Our visit was too short. We left there at a decect time on the following Wed. I do want to go back to Georgia.
My family is up so I will continue the rest another day.

FEELS GOOD

Doesn't feel good when you complete a major project? It does for me. That shrug was time consuming and itchy. The fibers of the yarn tickled my noise.
Today I was able to complete a quilt top. I went to a Linda Ballard retreat earlier this year (January) and was so frustrated that I made a preemie quilt with the initial completed squares. I sat down with the rest of the fabric and squares to decide what to do. I added some simple squares and the results are a cute children's quilt.
I also started a new entrelac scarf for a birthday gift. I don't think I would use the yarn again. I used the yarn because my sister is allergic to so many things I didn't want to chance it. The yarn is so nice to work with, but not for the scarf.

Trips, Friends, and UFP

Last week at this time I was traveling home with my friend Lynn from Clovis. We went to visit a dear friend. Her daughter is moving to Kanasa and we wanted to visit before she left. We spent part of Tuesday shopping at Quilter's Paradise there in Clovis. We both got into trouble, she buying patterns and dish towels to make and me buying fabric for a snail trail quilt made with cats. That was an expensive visit. I can't wait to get started on the quilt, but wanted to finish some knitting I've been working on along with a blouse I was making when Lynn came over. Lynn and I spent Wednesday quilting her quilts she brought over and I made a handbag. I can't wait to show it off. I want to finish it off with a toggle for the closure.
Friday I spent completing the blouse. It looks more like a duster. You know the type our mothers wore when they were home cleaning the house. I chose seersucker fabric and I believe that was what caused the duster look.
Sunday was spent trying to figure out a shrug I started in March. I purchased the pattern at Stitches in February. It looked so easy on the mannequin. The pattern was a struggle for me. Then I fell on May 10 and gave me an excuse to stop and let my hand heal. Well, wanting to being other project for traveling, I needed to get it completed and that I did. I am so excited to say that. I went to bed on Sunday night ready to start my sleeves and I finished those today!!! Now I will purchase a closure and block it.

Summer Break

Hurray I made it. I worked 41 days and the only breaks I took were weekends and holidays and I even worked after the fall. Boy, I am looking forward to summer. Hal and I will take a little break together in July. We are hoping to visit my siblings. We haven't bought our flight tickets yet, so it's still a maybe. Next week Lynn and I are going to visit a friend ours in Fresno. It will be a quick trip, so I'll be back in time to sit for my grandson. My little pleasures of vacation. I am hoping to complete two blouses before I leave for Fresno and start working a quilt. I also want to finish this blank id blank shrug.

Happy Mother's Day

Falling when one is a child is just part of growing up, but what is it when an adult, senior at that, falls and in PUBLIC? Does it mean that it is just a part of growing older or clumsy, or is it getting younger? Well, I only know that it hurts, it's a little embrassing, and I'm fortunate that I didn't break anything. I was eating out for lunch at Burger Hut. I went to get the condiments and my foot caught the edge of the stool and down I went. I landed on the hamburger, my right hand, right knee, and right foot. Ouch! I was awarded a new hamburger and able to walk out of the place with dignity.

Happy Mother

May!!

Wow, It's already May. I can't believe it. I started working a long-term position and will work it until June 3rd. I'm working for a 3rd grade teacher whose doctor put her on medical leave until she has her baby. I did this for her when she had her son 2yrs. ago. He was born earlier than expected and was born on my birthday! Working has put a cramp on my creative time. I want to do so much, but have little energy left after the end of the day.
This weekend I spent with my grandchildren. On Saturday Hal and I went to see the boys. Andrew was singing for his school (it was nice to watch him with the other children and he sang well too)and they served a spaghetti dinner. It was a long day. The school held an action after the dinner and I won a gift certificate. I gave it to Brian since it was for Shushi. When we got back to Brian's I watch William take a few steps. It won't be long before he is steady on those feet and running. Heather and Brian will have their hands full then.
Sunday was spent with the girls. Eric and Jonna had some friends over to help them remove a dead tree from their yard. I took the girls to McDonalds. It was a nice walk and it didn't rain. Julia behaved, no clothing removed. Jazlyn fell asleep and my chest after both her dad and myself tried to put her to sleep. She actually rocked herself to sleep in my arms struggling.

Completed Vest

Completed Vest
Originally uploaded by picking2gogranny

Jolie's Rememberance Quilt

Jolie's Rememberance Quilt
Originally uploaded by picking2gogranny

Migraine Braclet

Migraine Braclet
Originally uploaded by picking2gogranny

Friendship scarf

Friendship scarf
Originally uploaded by picking2gogranny

Vest

March not only came in like a lion weather wise, for me health wise. I made myself sick. I didn't intentionally do it, I just over did it on the activities. I went Stitches West on Friday. Of course who can sleep the night before. I was up by 5:30 and left the house a little after 7 AM with 2 additional passengers and we stopped for coffee and tea and then picked up the 3rd passenger on the way out. The drive was wonderful. The weather and traffic were working together to make for a short and delightful trip. We made 1 pit stop and off we went again. We were in Santa Clara before 10 AM and in the marketplace on time. I was able to purchase my blocking blocks from Coco Knits and my new Namesade bag "Zada." It's grey and the size is between my Jordana Paige and my "Lolli " (Laguna, Namesade). I purchased some patterns and books too. The trip back was just as delightful as going. I did make a mistake and miss the carpool lane going over the bridge. I just hope I don't get a ticket. We will see.

Sunday I spent with my daughter-in-law, Joanna, making a bracket that took 6 hrs. to make. I want to make another one, but not just yet. I need to make some money to pay for my expenditures then I'll see about another class.

NO WAY IT'S FEBRUARY!

Finally it's raning, but you can keep the wind. Hate the wind. I managed somehow to upload pictures to my flicker account. They are the most current of what I have been working on. The most current is the shrug and vest. Thanks to friends, I am working on an entralac scarf. I decided that I would like to make on after seeing the one I wanted to make on Knitting Daily. I downloaded the instructions and went to the LYS found the yarn and asked for help from a knitting pal, Dede. What a saint to put up with me. She came prepared with another pattern in hand, not knowing that I had a pattern in hand. We tried my pattern and quickly discovered it was great to have the picture and would use her pattern for the process. She even came out on Sunday to help me out. I can't wait to post the pictures of it.
Today we are celebrating our youngest son's birthday. He was born on the 15th of Feb., but let's just say that it is easier to celebrate his birthday around the date rather than on the actual date.
Tomorrow is Jolie's Rememberance Day. She would be 2 yrs. if she lived. I made her a quilt and knitted a blanket. Joanna is going to donate them to a hospital for premiees in Jolie's name. I also made the cupcakes and Joanna and Eric are having a little dinner to remember her tomorrow night.

NEW YEAR

January started out quiet. My husband had a cold so we were home bound. I stayed up and knitted. On the 16th, I was off to a quilting retreat with Linda Ballard. I met my friends on the grounds of Bishop Ranch just outside of Healdsburg. It was next to a dairy farm. The views were beautiful, but there were times the smells were not so great. The weather couldn't have been better since we had to move our belongs by wheelbarrow. No, it wasn't that rugged, just that we couldn't park our cars near the buildings. Linda had us making a quilt top that required so many pieces that I became frustrated and make a preemie quilt from the pieces I had completed. Now that I am home, I am able to work uninterrupted and the other pieces will make a nice quilt.
I finished my latest knitting project finally. I started it a month ago and it was a two week project. I will be blocking it and wear it to Stitches West. Pictures will be up soon. Currently, I am knitting a preemie blanket in Jolis memory. I have until her birthday the 17th of February. I wan to give Joanna both the quilt and blanket in Jolie's memory.

Holidays

Before Thanksgiving I dreaded the days that were coming. My anxiety was for not. All has gone well so far. My family was able to be here and we shared some good times together. Christmas was special, especially being able to see the grandchildren playing together. I will cherish those memories. My friends were here too. My friend Mary was here to share a special day with me. My father died the week before Christmas and she shared the day with me. We went to see the movie, "Seven Pounds." I won't say too much, but will say it was a downer. The best part of the day was spent just talking. I forgot how much I missed talking with her. She has good insight and knowledge about life and how to live. Her faith in the Lord is also important to me too. Then there was my friend that lives in Fresno. I tried to visit, but unsuccessfully. I hope to make it before the end of January.
I finished my knitting before December, but as I was wrapping gifts, I couldn't find one pair of socks. I started to panic and decided to make another pair. Well, as you probably guess, I did find those socks and will be giving both pairs for a gift.
Just after before Christmas, I went with another friend shopping at a new fabric store in the El Dorado area. Of course, I didn't get away without a little fabric. We also stopped at a knitting store Sierra Knitters. There they had a bracelet knitted from wire. (I did try it and I enjoy making the jewelry. I made my first, but want to make a few more before I give away any of them.) We decided to go see the movie, "The Day the Earth Stood Still". That was a better film.
Movies seem to be the theme for Holidays. Betty and I went to see a movie on Sunday, "Marley and Me". It was a cute movie and I was glad to see it.