A Marvelous Monday!

 Today I crawled out of bed hours before the sun showed up and hit the road to help a friend by taking her for an early morning surgical appointment.  Eleven hours later she and I were both safely home. I expect as I write this she is in bed recovering. I will soon be in bed myself.

During the day I spent in the hospital waiting room my fingers and knitting needles were flying.  I have been working on a sample shawl, having now used three balls of Big Twist Carousel yarn in colors  Amethyst and Wildflower.  Since more was needed to make the shawl as long on my arms as I desired, I purchased two balls of local yarn from Hobby Lobby in Orange Rust or some such thing.  The name is probably on my Ravelry page....

Anyway, today I spent nearly seven hours knitting and finished the first half, spliced in the second ball of Hobby Lobby yarn and managed another couple rows on the second half of the shawl.  Earlier I think I showed a picture here of my thought on how to make the shawl more rounded at the bottom by using short rows.  Today I put that into practice.  I did short rows in both directions.  This is what it looks like currently:

You can see the spine of the shawl here with the first half rounded by the short row shaping on the right.  Well, the photo is not really very good but I think you can see it.  The part that is more towards the top is actually the bottom of the shawl. I did not want to continue knitting the shawl with a sharp point at the bottom and I think it worked.  Eventually I will be showing the full shawl, including the nice "tree" shawl pins that arrived today, 

So, it was a great day helping a friend.  This time I received my own help by being able to knit for hours with no interruptions or self-guilt-tripping.  So great.  Having gotten so far today, I am inclined to really go to town on finishing the shawl. I now have the goal of completing the shawl by the end of the week so I can wear it to Church on Sunday.  I love the cool temperatures in our church building but sitting for a few hours makes me cold...so the shawl will be a blessing.

To top off a nice day I had just arrived home when one of our grandsons FaceTimed me to say he received the socks I made for him and that he wore them to school today.  He had them on under his braces as we spoke!  So nice of him to call.  How I love all our children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren. It makes me so happy that they like the things I make for them.  That is the whole reason I make those items.

AND ON TOP OF THAT CALL!!!  I saw a note that our missionary elder grandson had sent a video!!!  Is that not the coolest...!. Truly it is.  He sent a sweet two minute video which was the absolute coolest thing.  He actually did receive the washcloth I had woven on our 16" Ashford rigid heddle loom and sent as a Christmas gift.  Earlier this very week our oldest son sent a picture where he used his cloth as a placemat under his healthy-filled dinner plate.  So happy.  So very happy.  I miss our family and friends so much.  These notes and calls and videos take the sting away and make me smile from ear to ear.  If you are fortunate enough to have family and friends nearby, give them hugs as often as you can.  Don't let them wonder if you love them.

The nice thing about moving to South Carolina, besides the no snow and ice on a regular basis, is that the people here are so nice and have taken us in.  The pain of leaving lifelong friends is covered up in the loving kindness of our new friends.  What is that adage: Make new friends, but keep the old.  One is silver and the other is gold.  So very true. I love love love the silver and gold in our lives.  May you all be safe and happy.

Mission: Getting Closer...

The past week has been very very busy.

We continued traveling west, driving another 24 hours.  (Decided that we are too old for 12-hour driving days and hope to cut back to only 3- or 4-hour days when we drive home in a year and a half....)

We attended Church in a very friendly town (Blue Springs, Missouri).  So many people spoke with us and made us feel welcome, inviting us to move to Blue Springs and being part of their family!

We arrived at our daughter's house to spend a week there with her and her son.

We helped her with many projects which were very satisfying to accomplish, the latest being installing a shelf in a closet which badly needed shelving.

We went to Insta Care.  Twice.  (On our second day out from home I discovered a nasty rash behind my left knee. I emailed a photograph to my doctor's office and was told I should contact medical care right away.  On Tuesday the doctor thought it was cellulitis and prescribed an antibiotic.  On Thursday the rash was taking over, not stopped one bit by that medicine.  On Thursday a different doctor (who had served in Brattleboro, Vermont twenty years ago),  was not sure it was cellulitis but prescribed a different antibiotic plus a topical steroid ointment.  Now, on Saturday,  the rash has stopped moving forward and may possibly be improving.  Thank you, Father.

We ordered a new suit for Dear One, along with a second pair of matching pants, shoes, missionary-like socks, and a belt.  We picked them up on Thursday.

On Friday two big fat boxes of gorgeous missionary clothes arrived for me from my sister in North Carolina.  They are just plain fabulous.  I tried them all on.  They all fit.  I have already chosen the outfit to wear to enter the Missionary Training Center (MTC)!  My sister teaches me again what generosity and thoughtfulness, and clear thinking, too, are all about.  She even sent a rain shell!  Not something I would have thought of.  She has read up on Portland, Oregon and weather conditions there.  Such a great example to me always.

We  (grandson and I) went to the library to replenish his library book supply, including the second Harry Potter book.

We went to a farmers' market.

We also went to a hole-in-the-wall place which opened Saturday with the first sweet corn of the year. Our supper tonight was freshly-picked sweet corn and new red rosemary potatoes.  (Recipe to follow!)

We finished our scripture study assignments that we were to read before entering the MTC.

We answered some questions about various "leftovers" back at home and sent some to the attic and some to share with others.

We enjoyed some Pepperidge Farms Thrift Store treats!  Too many of them, actually.

We recognized the blessings of air conditioning!

It has been a good week.  We hope your week has been as good.