Outside my Window... it is dark, cold and wet.

 
I am thinking...about a major step i am about to take.  Should be life-changing!

From the learning rooms...i am learning to be a businesswoman; something i never imagined myself to be.

I am thankful for...my good health.  Many people my age can't say the same thing.

From the kitchen...well, . . . at least the dishes are washed.  

 
I am wearing...a black turtleneck, denim dress, black shawl and slippers from China.

 
I am reading...Winter's Tale and How We Love by Kay and Milan Yerkovich; a very interesting book.

I am hoping....for some warm, sunny days this week so i can get somethings done outside.

 
I am creating...slipper socks for me and maybe some animal hats for kids.

I am hearing...the tree frogs outside.  They are terribly noisy!

 
Around the house...the family room is very messy.  It needs a good straightening ~ probably tomorrow.

One of my favorite things...sittin' and knittin'; lately while watching episodes of Inspector Lewis. 

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week... finishing the slipper socks for me and maybe making a pair of socks for a dear daughters birthday next month, making a gift for a different dear daughters birthday and working on soap stuff with yet another dear daughter.  Doing a bit of work outside although the yard is way too wet and muddy to do much yet.  i am just anxious for spring, i think.  

Here is a picture of me and a date during my senior year of high school.  i just loved that dress!  

 

Recent Travels

i have never thought of myself as much of a traveler ~ i enjoy staying in my own little home too much but in the past 20 years or so i have become a bit of a gad-about.  Actually since my children  have grown up, developed lives of their own and moved to various parts of the world i have needed to travel, so i have.  Recently, however, i needed to travel for another reason.  Due to some of the circumstances in my life i needed to get away for some serious thinking.  Not that i can't think at home ~ i can especially since i live alone now but at home there are always things calling to me to be done and so i wanted to go somewhere neutral to do my thinking.  When i mentioned this idea to my family (who live next door) they suggested Cannon Beach, Oregon.  They have been there a few times and have expressed their love of the place and how beautiful it is.  It is about a 3-4 hour drive from where i live and so i decided to go for it.  A bit of an adventure, as it were. 
Cannon Beach is a small town on the Pacific Ocean.  i had never been to the ocean before unless you count a couple of hours on Daytona Beach, Florida 13 years ago (which i don't).  It is a rather touristy area but at this time of year there weren't too many (tourists) in attendance.  The downtown area is a rabbit warren of little shops of all descriptions.  i had looked online for a place to stay and reserved a room downtown above a couple of the shops.  It was a cozy room with a full kitchenette (off to the side) and only 1 block from the ocean.

i stayed there for 2 nights and it was very comfortable.  Since i arrived after dark, i didn't walk over to the beach until the next day.  It took me a while to find it, which may sound humorous since the ocean is such a big thing, but i did locate it and find the path to get to it.  As i walked down the little stairs and onto the beach it took my breath away.  It was absolutely amazing!  The sheer power and majesty were almost more than i could take in.  That day there was a storm off the coast and the clouds were various shades of gray and white and looking very ominous and the water looked the same.  In fact it was difficult to tell where the sky ended and the water began.  The waves were huge and crashing!  i wasn't able to get any good pictures of that day but i can still see it in my minds eye.

There are quite a few large rock outcroppings in the area that just seem to rise up out of nowhere; a most notable one being Haystack Rock. 

You can see in this picture how big it is by the size of the people walking on the beach.  i understand that at very low tide you can walk out to the rock and even climb on it but the tide was not low enough when i was there.  Another notable sight is the Tillamook Lighthouse which sets out in the water perched on the top of a rather large rock. 

Here is the lighthouse with a boat in the water beyond it.  i went back to the beach my second day there and the water was much calmer and the sky was not as threatening.
The other notable part of my travels was the bridge at Astoria, Oregon which spans the Columbia River on its way to the sea.  The bridge is more than 4 miles along and i was a bit apprehensive when i first saw it.  Not that i'm afraid to cross bridges but i had never crossed one that long before.

The river forms the boundary between Washington and Oregon and it is a huge river!  All in all, it was a wonderful experience and i am looking forward to visiting the area again.
As to the reason for my going there ~ i was able to think and consider options for my life.  i didn't really receive the answer i was seeking until i came home but that was all right.  It was definitely worth the trip!

The Simple Woman's Daybook

Outside my Window... the sun is going down and it is that beautiful dusk color.

 
I am thinking...that even though i got off to a late start this morning, i really have accomplished quite a bit.

From the learning rooms...i am learning to play the Mandolin.  There are now 3 of us in the family playing.

I am thankful for...having Pho with the family tonight!

From the kitchen...nothing much is happening out there.

 
I am wearing...sweat pants, sweat jacket and a long sleeved T with brown slippers..

 
I am reading...The Book Thief a very interesting and well-written book.

I am hoping....to get my craft room cleaned out and organized this week.

 
I am creating...socks for Tammie.  (it's part of her Christmas gift.)

I am hearing...the teakettle warming up preparatory to my making a cuppa.

 
Around the house...it is comforting.

One of my favorite things...rearranging furniture!  i just did a bit in my living room today. 

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week... tomorrow i have Bible Study in the morning with a lunch after, then support group in the evening.  i plan to go in early to do a bit of shopping. Then Thursday is TOPS, and Friday is a craft market.  My daughter and i will take soap there to sell. i plan to make some soap also this week.  

Yesterday was our moms birthday; she would have been 89 years old.  i am sharing an early picture of her and dad going out on the town; probably in the early '50's.

I'm Back!

     In case you didn't know i had been gone ~ i was.  i just returned last night from spending a lovely week at my sister's house in sunny Colorado.  We had such a good time.  In spite of having a 12 hour tummy bug, it was a very enjoyable visit.  i was able to go with them to the place where they volunteer once a week, shop at some special and unique stores, go to the movies (The Secret Life of Walter Mitty~ which i just loved), and had lunch with a special friend.  Oh, and on Sunday evening, we had a big birthday bash for her 2 daughters who have birthdays close together.  All in all, a most excellent get-away.  Here a couple of pics from my trip ~ my beautiful niece!

 And another beautiful niece (one of the birthday girls) and her beautiful family!

So now, i am back at home, enjoying my Little House in the Big Woods.  Today involved unpacking, making phone calls, doing online banking, more phone calls, and getting ready to go to a meeting this evening.  i may actually sneak in a little nap before the meeting.  :-) 

Outside my Window... it is dark, cold and wet.

 
I am thinking...about the trip i am going to take on Tuesday to visit my sister.  Yay!

From the learning rooms...i am learning how wonderful it is to be loved by family and friends.  i think i have usually taken that for granted but i am not taking it for granted now.

I am thankful for...my upcoming trip!

From the kitchen...we cooked pizzas today and ate them in the family room while watching The Hobbit part 1.  

 
I am wearing...jammies and a fluffy white robe.

 
I am reading...The Awakening Land  (an old favorite) and How We Love by Kay and Milan Yerkovich; a very interesting book.

I am hoping....for a bit of snow while visiting at my sisters.  Hint, Hint!

 
I am creating...socks for Tammie.  (it's part of her Christmas gift.)

I am hearing...the refrigerator running and the clock ticking.

 
Around the house...is silence (except for the above ^).

One of my favorite things...watching past episodes of Downton Abbey. 

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week... tomorrow i will be running a few errands, doing laundry and packing for my trip.  On Tuesday i leave and spend the rest of the week in Colorful Colorado!

Here is a picture of the sister i am going to visit:

 

Heartsease Cottage Journal: 2013 ~ That was the Year that Was!

Heartsease Cottage Journal: 2013 ~ That was the Year that Was!:      i have had this post rattling around in my head for the past week or so.  i want to try to recap the last 12 months which have been d...

2013 ~ That was the Year that Was!

     i have had this post rattling around in my head for the past week or so.  i want to try to recap the last 12 months which have been doozies!
    The year started off with my husband and i preparing for a move half-way across the country ~ from the middle to the far northwest.  i have blogged about this before but basically the move is the culmination of about 3 years of working and waiting.  Our big old house in Kansas took about 2 1/2 years to sell. 

We had been working and planning for this move all that time ~ decluttering, clearing out, etc.  My husband had recently retired and my daughter and her family had been wanting us to come live with/near them for some time.  We had no idea that it would take so long to make our dream come true.  i have always loved the Pacific Northwest, including the climate and couldn't wait to make it my home.  Not to mention, being able to live near 4 beautiful grandchildren who were just as anxious as we were to make the move.  So, in mid January, just one year ago we set out.  All of our worldly goods loaded into a large moving semi-truck and what wouldn't fit there in our pick-up truck with my little car hooked on behind. (Here we are at the carwash trying to clean some of the road crud off before appearing at my daughters house.)  We arrived on January 18th, 2013 to much excitement!

     We settled into a spacious bedroom in my daughters house with all the rest of our stuff being unloaded into a storage unit.  Not ideal, but we thought it would be a short time until we had a home of our own and all of our things about us once more.  We were very naive.  We set to work right away to make a home of our own a reality.  We had visited with some modular home sales lots before and so we made the rounds again only to find that the prices had gone up and up in the past 3 years.  We were priced out of that market.  (Our goal was to use the money from the sale of our home in Kansas to pay cash for our new home.)  We looked at used homes and at one point we spoke to an architect who then drew up plans to add on to my daughter's garage and convert that into our home.  The plans she drew up for us were so cute and we were very excited to have finally found the answer.  But, alas, it was not to be.  Once again the ugly business of cost reared it's ugly head and we were discouraged once again.
     So, we were on the trail again, visiting home sales lots, looking at Craigs List, answering ads ~ leaving no stone unturned so to speak.  During the course of this quest, we did stumble onto a possibility which led us back to the first place we had looked 3 years ago and also earlier last year.  They had a new manufactured home that was roomy (we have quite a bit of stuff), beautiful and ~ the most important of all ~ Affordable!  We were thrilled and immediately put money down and began choosing carpet, etc.  That was around June, 2013 and i happily anticipated being in my new home within the month.  Again, i was very naive.  (i didn't actually move in until October!)  There was clearing of the land to be done, a septic to be installed and a myriad of other things which had to be completed, inspected and checked off before the next thing could be done.    

Before too long, though, my house was set up and (almost) ready to move into.  The house just behind mine is my daughters house where i had been living ~ just a hop, skip and jump away!

 

About mid-August an event occurred which was to change my life and the lives of many, many people in the family forever.  My husband molested my  granddaughter while we were  living in her family's home.  There are no words to express the shock and anger we all felt upon realizing what had happened.  (My granddaughter had been taught what to do in  such a case and immediately called her parents.)  He was ejected from the home immediately and a arrested a few days later.  As far as we knew and as he said this had never happened before.  Since that occurrence 2 more girls have come forward with nearly identical stories.  Both of these other girls are also very close to the family.  Over the past 5 months, i have been moving forward and trying to live as normal a life as possible under the circumstances.  The house project was completed and i moved in early in October.  He has remained in jail since his arrest pending sentencing.  

     In all of the horror and pain of this ordeal, one thing stands out ~ the faithfulness of the Lord.  He has provided everything i need including love and support from family and friends.  Not one person has treated me with anything but kindness and concern.  i am so blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful people.  My future is in some ways uncertain but i know i can count on Him and the people He has placed in my life.