Assembling a Small Gift

I meet my friend for brunch today and before she leaves I wanted to give her a small parting gift.

It has always been more meaningful for me to give handmade gifts whenever possible and I think a wash cloth would make the perfect gift.  It is small enough that it won't take up much room  amongst the many things my friend has to move to her new temporary home out of town. It is also practical and she is a very practical person.

First I have selected a white knitted dishcloth with specks of light green and teal blue accent colours.

This is a close up view of the cloth.  I quite like this yarn and I should have bought more skeins of it but I only bought one.

 I added a nice smelling box of Dove soap.  This one is a green colour with a fresh scent.

 For ribbon I used a contrasting and complementary teal blue yarn to wrap the face cloth around the soap.

I hope she likes it.

Though I often don't give gifts anymore, from time to time I do like to remember someone with a gift. Thank goodness our Heavenly Father is not as inconsistent as I am when it comes to giving gifts and remembering us.

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

James 1:17

Update:

My friend loved the gift. She shrieked with glee when she realized it was a washcloth and said she has been using only slivers of soap the last few days so the gift is handy right at this moment.  It gladdened my heart to know it was something she can use right now and that it is helpful to her.

Today I am Thankful

Stephanie at her blog post here asked what is it that we are joyful about today. This blog exists because of my desire to be joyful each and every day over the small things. Today I will give a short list of things on my mind right now to be joyful about:

1.  I am happy that though my mother is not well physically she is still here on planet earth. Whenever it is her time to go I will miss her terribly and so I do what I can right now to visit with her and be there for her despite the challenges. No photo of my mama is posted here as she wouldn't like that.

2.  I am grateful that I connected with an old friend I haven't seen in ages. She is retiring early and leaving the city and I am sad about that but we will get together for brunch tomorrow before she moves into the next chapter of her new life.

3.  I am happy I have a new hobby, knitting. I am so glad I have finally learned how to knit and I am on my 3rd pattern for dishcloths. I hit a snag with trying this new pattern but I believe I've figured it out and will try it out over the next week.  I made 6 dishcloths while I was away. I still have to weave in all the ends so they are not quite finished but here they are.

4. I am happy that I am going to take swimming lessons. I have a real fear of water after almost having drowned 3x. I have taken lessons previously and have learned a little but haven't been in the water for a long, long time. I start my lessons on Tuesday. I need to get to the store tomorrow to buy some plastic thongs so I don't slip.

5. One of my goals for 2010 is to crochet a doily which I haven't done for many years. I started a new pattern the day before yesterday and I hit some snags getting going but at last I think I've got it, lol! I hope to make some progress on it this weekend.

6. I am grateful that while I was away recently my brother tried to plant the rest of my garden. He didn't do a good job, lol but at least he tried.  I hope the strawberries and the corn do come up. If they do I will post pictures later.

7.  I am happy to be seeing the nurse practitioner today. She will help me with dietary issues and give me a glucose monitor as I've very recently been diagnosed with diabetes.

8. I am happy I finished reading the book "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society" and will get to start a new book soon. So many possibilities.  I think I will be reading "The Shack".

9. I am happy to see my small garden growing; that is those things I planted before I went out of town. It has been raining an awful lot and it is just nice to see something growing and blooming rather than being drowned in all the rain.

 

10. I am happy I have such nice blogging friends.

Give thanks in all things. Life is short and choosing to be happy and grateful makes us realize how much we really do have. God bless you all.

Update:  My friend Jan requested I post this blog to Simple Joys Saturday in case you are confused about why it is posted on a day other than Saturday *smile.  Please join Jan and others here and  let us know what gives you joy.

Blue Monday, June 14, 2010

Due to travels and busyness, I am late with my Blue Monday submission. I hope you like the flowers. If you look closely enough you can see a bumble bee.  Gotta love them too since they make the wonderful honey.

For more Blue Monday photos see here

Skies Over Kamloops ~ June 11 , 2010

Such a beautiful sky.

Wait.
Look again.

Looks like a storm rolling in.

I tried to capture the sun as it was peeking through the massive cloud cover.

Have a look at more sky photos here.

Blue Monday on June 7, 2010

This restaurant called Senor Froggy's has lovely teal blue topped tables and wonderful wall plates with various shades of blue. The food is not bad either!  The food is Mexican themed and there are several types of salsa of which you can have as much as you want.

Drop in at Smiling Sally's blog and have a look at more beautiful blues.

New Library

For some time now I have been eagerly awaiting the completion of the new library on the North Shore of the City of Kamloops where I often visit.  I like to use the library when I come to the city and the old library had few spaces to sit and read.  It also had a long line of people to use the out of date computers to access the internet.

Last time I visited was in April and at that time I read that the library was scheduled to re-open in it's new location on April 18, 2010. I had an opportunity yesterday (Friday) to have a quick peek at the new premises.

Here are the comfy leather chairs and fireplace that are in the front area, just to your right as you enter the library.

Here is a view of the entryway to the library.  The check out desk is just beyond the seating area to the upper right as you view the photo.

 I love the sense of space in this new library. There are rows and rows (or stacks and stacks) of books.

 Here is a lengthwise view of the new space.

Last but not least, here is a photo (a rather poor one) of the computer area. Compared to the old library which only had 6 computers for public use, this new library is a dream.  There are now 20 computer stations. The computers are brand new so they have USB ports for file sticks, etc. They have also increased the time for use of the computers from 30 to 60 minutes once per day.  There may also be wifi access if you bring your laptop as most of the province's new libraries have that feature but I didn't enquire yet about this aspect of service.

I was taking surreptitious photos in the library as a lot of public places here do not like you to take photos. However as I left the library, one of the librarians was asking me if I was taking photos. I said of the fireplace. I thought she was going to chastise me. Instead she said she didn't want to get in the way as she was re-shelving books. That was a nice change!

I love libraries because I love books and reading. I also love using the internet. Until recently I did not have a wireless stick to use with my laptop so the library was the only place I could catch up on my email. Wifi has only been available on this side of town relatively recently and I really can't get out much once I am visiting mom anyway so it is more convenient to use the wireless stick. The library internet access will come in handy when I have more photos to upload and more time to get out to the library. Otherwise it is nice to have back up access to the computer. As you can probably guess, there isn't any computer access in my mother's apartment.

Please drop by Jan's new meme, Simple Joy Saturday by clicking here and tell us about your simple joys.

Under a Vancouver Sky: Skywatch Friday ~ June 4, 2010

The following photos were all taken within a few minutes on my walk to a small hospital for laboratory tests.  It always amazes me how quickly the weather can turn to something dramatically different. It really rained that evening and it has been doing a lot of raining since.

 

 

 

Click here to have a look at more wonderful sky photos from around the world.