Robert Plant and Alison Krauss CD?

Ok, Ok, this post has absolutely NOTHING to do with knitting! I just had to tell you about my new 'favorite' CD! I am a big Alison Krauss & Union Station fan! I love her music, Union Station's, and Ron Block's. I get updates through my email about her new releases. I got one last week about a new cd with Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss??? That sounded like an unusual combination to me! But I really like Alison's music, so I looked for the CD and got it.
It's different from anything I have heard, but I love it!!! The unusual combination of Robert and Alison WORKS!
It's my current favorite CD! If you like Alison Krauss, you need to give it a try.
Ok, enough about my music!!! Gonna go listen some more!

GiGi the Chihuahua

I have been bringing up box after box of "stuff" from the "dungeon" so Momma can go through it and weed out some STUFF. She has a bazillion holiday decorations that she wants to part with.

I have been checking the animal shelters in the area, looking for the 'perfect' small dog for Momma, since she had to have Bella put to sleep last spring. Momma has been so lonely without Bella around. Last Saturday, I decided to be adventurous and drive to San Mateo and 'brave' Hwy 101. It wasn't too bad, actually. I had my trusty MapQuest map printout and I had no trouble finding the Peninsula Humane Society, out at Coyote Point, on the bay. I found a few little dogs that I was going to 'interview' to see if I felt that their little personalities would be what Mom needed. The lady behind the desk said that the ones I had asked about probably wouldn't be a good match for Mom....but they had a little chi that she thought might be good. So I met 'Gilda', as she was named at the time. I fell in love with her!!!! What a sweet, tiny, timid little dog!!! I called Momma, and asked her 'how much do you trust me?' - LOLOLOLOL!
And so I adopted Gilda, and took her home to Momma...who also fell in love with her.

She is no longer named Gilda... Momma named her GiGi - and she is as sweet as can be!!! She is only about 4 or 5 lbs, so not too heavy (good so she doesn't hurt Mom's legs anymore than they already are) GiGi has learned how to use the doggie door to go outside and do what she needs to do, and she has only had a couple of accidents, so she seems to be house broken. She is playful, but gentle with Mom. And I think GiGi must think she is in doggie heaven, because Momma has been feeding her small meals 4 or 5 times a day (GiGi was very skinny when I got her) and meals consist of cooked chicken breast, rice, carrots, and some Pedigree canned food mixed in. Needless To Say, GiGi finishes all of her food. :o)

Mom asked me if I would make GiGi a sweater, so I did a search online and found a great site with free chihuahua sweater patterns. I crocheted a little sweater for her using a pattern called "Summer Breeze". It's finished, except for the final finishing touches of a ribbon, a couple of buttons, and a couple of bows. I will post a picture when I get those touches added, andd then I will have GiGi model it. It turned out really cute!



Momma has a Dentist appt today, so time to go get her there.

Been a while...

It's been a little while since I posted last. I am in California right now, helping my Mom for a while.

I got to meet the Sweet Peas last week, and they are adorable! Bianca Lazetta and Ruby Christine are just as sweet as can be! I got to take my sweaters and things that I made over to give to them. I made another trip over there today to see their Mommy and them, and take all the things that Mom had made for them too. The babies look adorable in all the hand knitted gifts.

I finished the last Five Hour Baby Sweater I was working on for Mom. I also made one of the Knit Dress Dishcloths that I got the pattern from on MonthlyDishclothKAL@yahoogroups.com. It turned out so cute! I used the new Sugar and Cream Stripes cotton yarn. I used the one in the Pinks colorway. It wouldn't be hard to adapt the pattern to make it for a barbie dress.



I started a "Grandmother's Favorite" dishcloth for a little break. You know the CO 3 st, K1, Yo, K across one? Super simple, mindless knitting!!! LOL

I am also working on another pair of the Lacy WoolEase Socks, this time I am making a pair for Mom. She really liked the pair I had made for myself, and wants me to make a pair for her in a pinkish rose color.

I will post pictures as soon as I can. My Mom has a Mac computer, and I don't, so I am not to good at doing things on hers. It may have to wait until after I get back home.

It is a beautiful sunshiney day today, so I think I may take advantage of it, and go outside for a bit.

Hugs!

Time for reflection...

Our Pastor at Oakbrook read this poem on Sunday after his sermon, and he didn't make it through without tears, and this poem brought tears to my eyes too. So, instead of a knitting post today, I thought I would print this poem...hopefully it will touch someone else the way it touched me. Its a gentle reminder that once we have been saved by Christ, we shouldn't forget those that are still lost without Him.

I Stand By The Door

written by Samuel Moor Shoemaker

I stand by the door
I neither go too far in nor stay too far out
The door is the most important door in the world
It is the door through which men walk when they find God.
There's no use in my going way inside and staying there
When so many are still outside and they, as much as I, crave to know where the door is
And all that so many ever find is only the wall where a door ought to be.
They creep along the wall like blind men with outstretched, groping hands
Feeling for a door, knowing there must be a door, yet they never find it.
So I stand by the door.
The most tremendous thing in the world is for men to find that door -
The door to God.
The most important thing any man can do
Is to take hold of one of those blind, groping hands and put it on the latch -
The latch that only clicks and opens to the man's own touch.
Men die outside that door
As starving beggars die on cold nights in cruel cities in the dead of winter
Die for want of what is within their grasp
They live on the other side of it, live because they have found it
Nothing else matters compared to helping them find it
And open it and walk in and find Him.
So I stand by the door.
Go in great saints, go all the way in
Go way down in the cavernous cellars and way into the spacious attics
It is a vast roomy house, this house where God is.
Go into the deepest of hidden casements of withdrawal, of silence, of sainthood
Some must inhabit those inner rooms,
And know the depths and heights of God
And call outside to the rest of us how wonderful it is
Sometimes I take a deeper look in, sometimes venture in a little farther
But my place seems close to the opening
So I stand by the door.
There is another reason why I stand there -
Some people get part way in and become afraid
Lest God in the zeal of His house devour them
For God is so very great and asks all of us.
And these people feel a cosmic claustrophobia and they want to get out
"Let me out!" they cry, and the people way inside terrify them more.
Somebody must be by the door to tell them that they are spoiled for the old life
They have seen too much.
Once taste God and nothing but God will do anymore.
Somebody must be watching for the frightened
Who seek to sneak out just where they came in
To tell them how much better it is inside.
The people too far in do not see how near these are to leaving
Preoccupied with the wonder of it all
Somebody must watch for those who have entered the door but would like to run away
So for them too, I stand by the door.
I admire the people who go way in,
But I wish they would not forget how it was before they got in
Then they would be able to help the people who have not yet even found the door
Or the people who want to run away from God again
You can go in too deeply and stay in too long and forget the people outside the door
As for me, I shall take my old accustomed place
Near enough to God to hear Him and know He is there
But not far from men as to not hear them and remember that they are there too.
Where? Outside the door.
Thousands of them, millions of them
But more important for me, one of them, two of them, ten of them
Whose hands I am intended to put on the latch
So I shall stand by the door and wait for those who seek it.
I had rather be a doorkeeper, so I stand by the door.

Ravelry!

I just checked my status on the Ravelry website and there are only 262 people ahead of me!!!! I am so excited! I can't wait to be able to join the Ravelry community. It looks soooo cool!
I'm going to go knit - work on my dishcloth KAL and the baby sweater... two 'priority' items to finish.
I have been busy catching up on my housecleaning. I want it done before I have to go to Mom's. I don't want to leave DH in a dirty house.
Next week I will be flying out to my Mom's in California. Her health has not been very good, and she wants me with her when she has some tests run, to find out what is going on, as she has new symptoms. She is a month away from being 86. I will be there for about a month, so the really tough part comes in now...I have to pack. (I am NOT good at that!) and then I have to decide what knitting projects I want to have along with me to work on. Decisions, decisions!!!

Nuttin Much New

Nothing much new going on... I have been working on my Monthly Dishcloth KAL...that's been interesting, because they only give you about 10 rows a day to work on, and a suggested yarn color to use. So, I have no idea what it is going to be yet. It's kind of fun though to see the pattern 'magically' appear right before your eyes. I think I should be able to figure out what it is when I do tomorrow's rows. Maybe. :o)
Today was a "work" day for me. I made the mistake of picking up my Mr. Clean Magic Eraser Sponge. I swear, I become a Woman Obsessed when I am using that thing. (Did I mention I think that they are A-mazing??? LOL) Before I knew what I was doing, I had washed down all of the cupboards in the kitchen, and all the countertops, and some of the walls, and the toaster, and the can opener, the coffee maker, the bread machine......you get the idea!!!! When DH came home for lunch, he was making fun of me! He gently grabbed my hand, and then he TOOK my Mr. Clean Magic Eraser sponge away!!!! (the NERVE!!! the audacity!!!! the horror!!! ) And then he made me sit down and eat lunch with him!!! (and wouldn't let me near Mr. Clean!) LOLOL
After he went back to work, I decided I was going to shampoo the carpets. We only have an 'indoor/outdoor' carpet in the kitchen and a small hallway with berber carpet. My youngest DD, Kim, had given me her "old" Bissell ProHeat Carpet Shampooer. I love that thing!!!! (almost as much as Mr. Clean! - OK - I AM crazy, alright?) So I shampooed the carpets, vaccuumed the hardwood floor in the living room, and then went and knit on my dishcloth KAL for a while.
When DH got home from work, we were going to try and take a nap (he said I looked tired for some reason... :oP) - but Kim came over, and was banging on the door, and when we didn't hear that, she came around to the back of the house, and knocked on the outside of our bedroom wall...which woke up all three of the doggies, which in turn woke DH and I up, ...so no nap. It was alright....she was quite amusing...she had gone to the Dr. today, after I nagged her to death, and she found out she has bronchitis (Mom was right!!!! (that would be me)) and is now taking several prescription medications for the cough,etc. and the medications made her kind of loopy and goofy (actually, she was VERY loopy and goofy...and incredibly amusing :o) . Thankfully, she had come up here with a friend, and the friend was the one driving. LOLOL
So...now its time for supper (hamburgers, baked potato, and whole kernel corn), and a movie ("The Bells of Innocence" with Chuck Norris) to relax with, and then I am going to spend some time working on the baby sweater I am making for my Mom to give as a gift.
TTYS!