Thankfully Crafting

Dear Friends and Family and Guests,

 During our more frequent Fall rainy days, Mt. Hood collects more and more snow to the delight of skiers, snowboarders and those of us who just enjoy admiring the mountain when storm clouds lift.

 Although we had steady rain this morning with a few flashes of lightning and a rumble of thunder, our neighbor's tree I can see out of one of my windows is a wonder, glowing with golden light, a beacon in the storm...

 Even in the waning days of Autumn, there are still many trees in our neighborhood that are a joy to behold...I wish I could show them all to you.

 However, outside or inside, we are doing a lot of celebrating in our household this month:  My oldest granddaughter, Hayley is now ten!  My youngest daughter Elisabeth is now 34 and she and her husband Gary just celebrated their fifth wedding anniversary!

 On her birthday Elisabeth got stained glass making supplies and she made this lovely tree and has been mending three little stained glass pieces given to me which have suffered damage in the last forty years during our many moves. [her husband Gary admired her efforts...really he did!]

 Elisabeth was taught by one of Gary's aunts how to make quilted ball ornaments and then she coached me to make one, which was fun.  I found a Youtube tutorial for making a similar pattern HERE if you want to give it a try.

November 23, 2017, is our USA celebration of Thanksgiving.  It also happens to fall on my granddaughter, Sarah's second birthday!!  I found a set of 24 little board books for her which I have wrapped and put in a little pink plastic basket for her, but I also crocheted this little book bag for her in which she can carry a few of her little books should she wish to do so.

My youngest son Tim grew a wonderful crop of tomatoes this year.  I have the last of them in a basket on my dining table and they are so good I wish I could share them with you!

I have much for which to thank the Lord, even though, or perhaps especially because, I find myself an imperfect human being in an imperfect world, and yet miraculously, I am loved and can love and creatively pursue life, and I pray that you find this true for yourself as well.

Have you found yourself thankfully crafting?

Gracie xx 

☀️ Summer Celebrations❣️

Welcome to our Summer Blueberry Tea celebration!  My granddaughters, Molly, Rosie, and Joy helped me fill Cookie Bear with ginger cookies. Cookie Bear, who is about 46 years old was made for me by my last college roommate, Ginger. He has traveled back and forth across the USA thanks to all our moves. Each girl wanted him to look at her, so they kept turning his head around.  Molly was our hostess and decorated the sea chest for the event.  She chose blueberry flavored tea which was delicious, and Cookie Bear is looking at her in this photo.

 We are celebrating that my youngest son-in-law, Gary, has been honing his woodworking skills.  He did not make this swing, but he finished it and figured out a way to hang it on two trees which we think is pretty clever.  The swing faces the pond, which is now in its dry season.  The pond looks like a big bowl of green salad now and as summer progresses it will probably become more golden in color.

 We have three Hydrangea bushes.  We hoped we could coax all three to be this purple-blue hue, but so far just two of them are co-operating.  However, we are celebrating that two of the bushes have made it through their first year here and we hope the third will enjoy blooming here, too.

 We did not knowingly plant this Daisy plant but are celebrating its choice to bloom on the berm because we are fond of Daisies.

 On July 4th we celebrated the USA's birthday with an indoor/outdoor picnic. Our menu included hot dogs and hamburgers, salads, chips, white cake, and fruit. I had strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries with frozen vanilla almond milk on top...patriotically yummy 😃

 At nightfall, we had a few little fireworks.  Some of my young granddaughters could be heard celebrating by saying, "Happy Birthday, America!"

 This summer we are celebrating that nearby Mt. Hood received a good snow pack in the winter. It still has lots of snow on its slopes and we so enjoy being able to see it during our warm clear summer days.

My good blogging friend, Teresa and I met at a restaurant to celebrate that I finally finished my Ruby Shawl!  Teresa was first to use the pattern and encouraged me for years to finish my shawl...what a dear and faithful friend!  In spite of all the challenges I faced in crocheting it, I am so glad I did.  Teresa is wearing the new shawl she just finished.  Isn't it gorgeous! If you haven't already visited Teresa's blog, click HERE.  You will be linked to it, where you can learn more about how she made her shawl. You can also search her blog to enjoy seeing the many beautiful things she has knitted, crocheted, painted, beaded, photographed, and you can enjoy the good narratives about them and her life adventures.

Thanks to all of you who have encouraged me to finish the shawl and to interact with you through blogging!

Tonight my youngest son, Tim, and I plan to head to the airport to get my oldest sister, Carolyn.  Then in a few days, we plan to head to the airport to get my older sister, Margaret.  Next week we three sisters [ages 75, 73, and 66] plan to drive from Portland, Oregon, toward Omaha, Nebraska, to visit my niece, Trina's family who live on a farm near there.  Then we plan to fly from Omaha to Boston, Massachusetts, to visit more family members. From Boston we plan to fly to Detroit, then from Detroit Margaret plans to fly back to Burbank, California, while Carolyn and I plan to fly back to Omaha and drive back to Portland.

I am so excited!  My mind is full of lists I have not stopped to write down, but I hope I am remembering to do all I need to do!

Thanks for visiting with me here.  I love your kind comments.  My communication with you over the next six weeks is apt to be sparse, but I will be wondering..." what are you celebrating this summer?"

Cheering you on and praying for blessings for you,
Gracie 🤗

Five on Friday: Between Storms

1. This month our worship art group worked on a mixed media piece.  Our facilitator gave us a printed sketch of the back of the heads of three women.  Using our facilitator's work as an example, I cut out the shapes of the three women. I glued them onto a watercolored painted background.  I used watercolor, acrylic paints, and a fiber tipped pen to paint over the three women and write the words.  Our facilitator's idea is that the women are looking with hope toward God from their complicated stances in the world. [Be anxious for nothing. Phil.4:6,
Fear not. Isa. 41:10, Think on lovely things. Phil.4:8, Our eyes are on You. Psalm 141:8]

2. On the way home from the art group I stopped by the Tsuru Japanese Garden in Gresham to get a picture of it at the height of Autumn. I was surprised to see so many oranges, reds and yellows.

3. On 302nd Street  several blocks from home I stopped to admire the deepening coat of snow on Mt. Hood and took a picture so you could admire it, too.

4. Expecting some possibly hungry Bible study members I picked six apples to make an apple crisp for them.  I counted 21 apples left on the tree...not fully ripe yet.

5. Rosie has developed a fondness for the media character, Hello Kitty, so we had fun celebrating her third birthday Sunday afternoon with a Hello Kitty theme for her party.

Thanks to Amy from her blog, Love Made My Home, I am posting this on her Five on Friday link, but next week I hope to be driving to and from Sonoma, California, just north of San Francisco, to take my oldest sister out for brunch to celebrate her 75th birthday so I may not be able to visit with you, but I will be wondering:  Are you between storms in your life?

xx
Gracie

Holly Hike Before the Flood!

 In between rain showers on Saturday, my three oldest granddaughters, their father and I went for a hike around the ponds to collect holly and evergreen branches to make Christmas wreaths.

 This is the first of the two holly trees we came to from which my son-in-law cut branches.

 We noted that the creek running through the property was very full.

 It did not take long to fill our basket.

 Back inside I stopped in my room to admire the pretty painted scarf that Taci's mom made and sent back with her from Brazil to share.  I appreciate her kind and generous gift. It is lovely to have handmade items, including two chickens and sand painting in a tiny bottle that Taci brought back also, and a rock from a special beach Taci visited in Brazil. Thank you, Taci, and "Mom." Your creative love shared, helps the world to be more wonderful!

 I went into our dining room and we had a session of making Christmas wreaths and paper snowflakes on our dining room table.

 On the way home from church Sunday, my youngest son-in-law stopped at an old school along Foster road to show us an interesting tree.

 Somehow it has grown around a brick pillar!

 Sunday night our family friend, Grantie, came over and cooked dinner for us all.  It started raining more steadily and so it was especially good to be warm and dry inside and enjoying a yummy dinner, too.

 I turned on my angel light and lit some candles.

 In the Orthodox Christian church it is the fourth week in the season of Advent so I lit four candles in the wreath on my wooden sea chest.

 In some Protestant churches it was the second week of Advent...anticipating the celebration of Christ's birth and looking forward to His second coming so I lit two candles in the Advent wreath on my table.

It was also the first night of the Jewish celebration of Hanukkah so my daughters and I lit candles to remember the time God made the oil lamp burn in the temple for eight days...longer than they thought it could.

This morning it is still raining.

 There is some flooding in our yard.

 The creek and pond are getting fuller!

 The water project that our property is a part of is helping to control the flood waters.

 However the neighbor across the street from us has water up to his garage foundation!

My raincoat and camera got soaked while I took photos!  I was glad to see our new Christmas wreath with its pretty bow that Grantie masterfully tied for me as I came back inside to create this post for you.

I just got a computer call from the public warning system telling me that Johnson Creek is flooding and to seek higher ground if necessary...and don't call 911 unless there is an immediate life threatening emergency!
Mercy!

As far as I know I am on higher ground, and I hope that others around me who aren't will find a way to safety.  Meanwhile, I will try to get some creative tasks done around here, and I am wishing you a safe and happy day, and God's blessing on you and yours :)

xx
Gracie

A Crocheted Cocoon for Rose

Rose was safely born at a hospital Saturday night, a little before 8:00p.m., and 26 1/2 hours later we welcomed her home :)

The older Grand Girls were sound asleep, but their parents woke them up so that they could meet their new sister and sing happy birthday to her.  Aunt Lissie, Uncle Gary, and Grandma joined in the song as well.

The hat and crocheted cocoon blanket that I made for Rose fit! And the beautiful rosy blanket that Grandma Bev crocheted for her snuggled her well, while big sister Hayley held her for the first time.

Celebration!

Do you have cause for celebration, too?

Gracie xx

High Summer Delights

Since friends and members of our family flew home last week, we have made a flurry of calls and texts  to make sure all landed safely and just to savor the delight we experienced in the time we were together.

Mt. Hood is still Mt. Hood, but a little less snowy.  Grasses are growing, and waving and drying and flowers wild and cultivated are blooming and being plucked during warm sunny days.

Trees are growing in all sorts of fantastic shapes and patterns in the nurseries that surround us.  Sheep and goats rest in the shade.

And little Grand Girls and their mom delight in the cool water spray from the garden hose, while I snap some photos of them, knit one more row on a blue dishcloth, and wave at my youngest little Grand, Joy, and she waves back at me.

High summer delights, indeed!

What are your delights these days?

Gracie xx