Applesauce!

Well, it has been a while hasn't it?

A few quick updates:

The basement of the church is dried out, and we are still gradually getting it cleaned up. At least one partition, one door, and possibly a cupboard or two in the kitchen may have to come out. All the metal chairs are rusted beyond usefulness. So, I've been washing all the dishes and whatnot in the kitchen, putting them in totes, and storing them upstairs for now. The folding tables are getting the same treatment. Walls are showing mildew still, and we are trying to get that conquered. The furnace is fixed and running, but the water heater is still kaput. We also decided that while we have everything out and off the floors, once all the destruction/reconstruction is done, we'll be repainting the cement floors, which has been on the "to do" list for a few years.

We have been busy as a family as well. School is going well enough, though the first week was a bit stressful, what with a flood and all. :P Dale has been home from work for about 4 weeks, so I took advantage of that, and got some extra sewing and knitting in and opened up an Etsy shop! It is called PiecefulQuiltzEtc. There are only a few items in there, but I plan to keep adding to it. I am working on some pretty fingerless gloves now to put in, and another baby quilt.

Here is a sneak preview of the fingerless gloves:



I will also be making a pair out of a beautiful jewel toned purple as well. The yarn is Caron Simply Soft.. and it is luscious! I'm very pleased with it.


Also while Dale was off from work we were able to go up north to help his mom stack the 24 cords of wood she got for heat this winter. She has RA, and stacking wood is not in her range of ability. We also bought 12 bushels of apples. In the midst of all this, a tummy bug went through the house, and we had various kids down up to last weekend. It wasn't severe, just lingering. You'd think you were over it, feel fine, then it would reappear again.

Everyone is hale and healthy now, and when/if the rain ever stops we'll be stacking our wood here and doing some end of the season type of yard work. Today however, we started making apple sauce! I'm hoping that since now things seem to be settling down a bit I'll be able to blog more. I have some major sewing/knitting to do for Christmas, and will be jumping in with both feet and hands immediately!

We have had a sunny day here or there and one afternoon while the older children were finishing up their school work, Isaac, Jerusha and I went outside. We raked up some leaves, then they would jump in it, bury themselves, then I would re-rake, make another nice pile, then they would jump in... you get the idea. They tuckered me out, and I even got blisters on my hands!









One knitting project I was glad to finish up were Elizabeth's socks. I think I mentioned before that I was almost done with them, and had her try them on for kicks and grins, and she couldn't get it over her heel! UGH! So I modified the pattern, and now they are being worn proudly by the recipient. I have to cajole, threaten, bribe, beg, plead, sneak them off her feet so I can wash them! There is nothing like hand knit socks to make you feel all warm, cozy, and loved!



Have a blessed day everyone!