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.