New Things

Back to knitting!! I've actually been pretty busy on the knitting front, just not on the getting pictures from hubby front. However, he did get them to me yesterday, so I will try to catch up, but I will do it in small doses. First are the two helmetliners that I did for our Marine and his buddy, Ben.
I made Alex the black one, which is being modeled by my youngest son, Eric.
This was made from Shepherd's Wool, made right here in northern Michigan at Stonehedge Fiber Mill.This yarn was just simply "Yummy."
It was just buttery soft, and it worked up like a dream. It is 100% wool, which is required by our military. I am trying to think of something to make for me out of it. I made Ben's out of Cascade 220.
It is being modeled by my son Greg. I wanted to see how the two compared. The Cascade is a great yarn, but the Shepherd's Wool won handsdown for softness.
They both turned out great and the pattern was different than anything I've ever done, but not hard at all. It is a very well written pattern. Check out my Ravelry notebook for all the details.
The blue scarf was a quick gift for a friend at church. I had some leftover yarn from this... A beautiful flower motif scarf that I made for Anna for Christmas.
It was crocheted and quick to make. It looks longer than it is. Anyway, back to the blue scarf....sorry. I used the leftover Lion Brand Wool Ease Chunky and size 17 needles. Turned out nice and long, enough to wrap around several times. I made her a dishcloth too, but don't seem to have that picture yet. I'll share when I do. I guess that's it for now, I have lots more to share, but I don't want to bore you all in one post. As usual, thanks for taking the time to read my blog, and I hope you visit again soon.
Suzanne

Sad, sad, sad

No not me, but about what I'm going to show you. My father-in-law grew up in a small farming town in southern Michigan. He lived out in the country, about two miles from his grandparents, who owned a beautiful fruit farm. Grandma and Grandpa Nightliner bought the farm in 1917. They have since passed on, and Grandma sold the farm to a young couple back in 1988. Twenty years ago. We have driven by many times over the years, and watched it go from an old house that was totally fixable, (maybe a new roof at the time and a few TLC cosmetic things) to this today.
Very, very sad indeed. This fall, before our son left for the sandbox, and gets married, by DH decided to take the whole family, including his folks, and visit the farm his dad grew up on (sorry don't have the pics for that yet ). Anyway, on a beautiful day this past fall, we got permission from the new owners, and went and walked the entire property. It was very fun to hear George tell of old stories, where the pigs used to be, where they got in trouble for this and that (there was a lot of that, with 4 boys :). Then on a whim, we drove the couple miles to this farm. There happened to be someone there, doing a few things. We stopped, Jeff explained who we were, and then we got permission to look around.
Unfortunately, because of all the overgrowth, we couldn't go very far into the orchards, but if you looked close, you could tell the different kinds of fruits that they had... cherries, peaches, apples, plums. THe raspberries were long buried by brush. Unfortunatley, the house didn't fair well either. Not sure why someone would buy a house, property, and then for twenty years do nothing. As you can see from these pictures the house was now in disrepair We just found out that it was torn down by the township in December of 2008. The barn and the help houses are in better shape. The side of the house that is collapsing the most, used to be the dining room, and the kitchen was in the back.. They even fought the tearing down of the house, saying that they were going to do something with it. Hadn't done anything for 20 years, why now. I simply don't understand that. Jeff and I almost wish we would have bought it, but you can't go back can you??
Did take this sweet picture of all my kids in the huge, and I mean huge tree in the side yard.
All 3 of the big trees look like this, and Jeff said its because Grandma never let Grandpa trim them. She knew she wanted big, beautiful trees. We were glad we had the time to spend even a few hours there and that we got some nice pictures. Truely the end of an era. Sad.....

New Year

Hi all! Thought I would take a mintue and change everything up for the new year. First up, our son is off. It was a long night of getting him to where he needed to be, saying "Goodbye" and finally falling into bed at 5:00 am this morning. He is truely in God's hands now, not that he never wasn't! Your prayers as always are appreciated.
I'm also trying to recover from a bad fall yesterday. We went out to dinner after church, Alex was still home, so it was a nice time for our family to be together, we had ice yesterday morning, and down I went. I think I wretched my entire body! Everything hurts on every side, most concerned about my left arm. Actually, I had a herniated disk in my neck two years ago,but my arm felt just like this. I have some permanent nerve damage in my left arm, and since yesterday, it feels just like it did two years ago. So, am trying to take it easy today, and maybe tomorrow, and hopefully this disk is not the problem!!
Did a lot of knitting for Christmas, pics still need to come from hubby, maybe I should deny food :) till I get them!! Only kidding! I see from many of your blogs that I am not the only one who is busy. I was so busy over the holidays, I forgot about my blogaversary! It was December 27th! I had great plans, but maybe I'll do something soon!
Guess that is it for now. I don't want to ramble!:) I hope to be posting some pics soon. Thanks for you visit, your patience, and as always I welcome your comments!!
Suzanne

Merry Christmas from Michigan

This is the pier at Grand Haven, which is near where we live. Family has begun arriving, work has stopped, food has been prepared, and the snow is still coming down!! We are settled in for a few days of Christmastime, remembering the reason we celebrate.
"But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you, he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you, You will find the baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth
peace to men on whom his favor rests."
Luke 2:9-14

May you all have a peaceful Christmas and a Happy New Year!
As always, thanks for stopping by.
Suzanne

Merry December!

Well, I sure hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We sure did!! Spent Turkey day with my family at my mom's. We had a wonderful time. Then on Saturday, my DH's family came up to our house. Fun was had by all. We ate way too much, but it all was so good. Monday was quite the emotional day, as our son began his deployment. We sent three crying kids to school and then had to take him. The Lord did bless us with an absolutely beautiful drive, as it had snowed the night before and every limb on every tree was covered. The roads really weren't bad, and we had sweet conversation all the way there. God is Good! Please just keep Alex in your prayers. Thank you!!
I have been knitting a lot, but because everything I am knitting is for Christmas, there really aren't alot of pictures. I will however, be posting tons of them afterwards!!
I hope you like the new Christmas background. The first one I did seemed so easy. This one was a pain in the butt!! Please reward my frustrating efforts with tons of great comments! :) I am only half kidding of course. :)
I did receive the most awesome swap package from Jane. She send some wonderful oatmeal, chocolate monster cookies. A beautiful dishcloth, and cute fish tawashi. She also sent me two boxes of fudge, a cute little chocolate cookbook, and two skeins of cotton for more dishcloths. I feel like I'm forgetting something, but it was a wonderful surprise. OOps, I just realized that I don't have the pics for that yet. I will have hubby send them asap. Sorry. But it was a lovely package. You'll see!
Better go, just wanted to touch base. I have lots of knitting to do. Is anyone done yet??? Kudos to you if you are. Why don't I start this in January?? A question for the ages I suppose.
Thanks for stopping by.
Suzanne

Still Here!!

I everybody, Yes, it is true... I am still here. I haven't blogged in, wow, a week and a half, simply because I have been busy, and I have a ton of pics to share, but my husband has been so busy that he can't email me them!! Don't ask!! :) We so need to get our set up changed, so I can do the pics myself. I have been knitting some, lots of dishcloths it would seem, as I have had two bridal showers, and lots of Christmas knitting. Needless to say, those pics will have to wait. This post will be short, but I did want you to know I'm still here. I have been lurking on your blogs, and seems like some of you are as busy as I am!! :) Nice to know, except that I miss this and all my bloggy friends. I hope to have some pics and at least one more post before Thanksgiving. I also just sent out my goodies for this months Dishcloth swap, so when she receives all that, I will post pics. Thanks for being so loyal, and I;ll hopefully be back soon!
Thanks as always for stopping by!!
Suzanne

Happy Birthday USMC

Being a Proud USMC Family, we pray for those who choose to make a great sacrifice daily, by serving our country. We pray for those in all branches of service around the world. Thank you for serving and for keeping the liberties that my family enjoys safe, may God watch over you and protect you. Thank you, and Happy Birthday!!