Frog Jump & County Fair Ribbons

The 2010 County Fair and Jumping Frog Jubilee has come to an end. It opened last Thursday, May 13 and ended yesterday at 8:00PM (I believe, not positive about the closing time). Kathleen and I attended on Friday and we gave a 2-hr knitting demonstration and then had the rest of the day to roam the exhibits and eat. I had entered 7 of my knitting projects and they all won ribbons. Two of them won 2 ribbons each (First prize and Best of Division). My burgundy shawl won 2nd Place, my mint Baby Afghan won 1st Prize and Best of Division, my white Baby Afghan won 3rd Place, my blue and green Baby Hat won 1st Prize, my grape Neck Ring won a 2nd Prize, my green Scarf won 3rd Place, and my lace Shawl with Wooden Beads won 1st and Best of Division. And that's really an accomplishment. I'm very proud of the ribbons I won as it reflects the hard work I put into my knitting. I love to knit but it is still work and it's nice to have that recognition. Along with the ribbons I won $10 for each Best of Division. So altogether I won 9 ribbons and $20. It's just a small county fair but it was fun.

My granddaughters happened upon the comedian, Larry the Cable Guy, walking through the crowd. Now mind you, this is a very small county fair in the foothills of the Sierra Mountains in the Gold Country of Northern California and for reasons probably known only to Larry, he pulled himself away from his television and Hollywood connections and came up to our Jumping Frog Jubilee. Now the really cool part of this story is that he's my grandson's favorite comedian and so my granddaughters yelled to him that their little brother is in the Air Force and would love to hear him say, "Git'er Done!" (If that doesn't make sense to you it's because you don't watch Larry's act on television.) He asked what their brother's name was and of course they yelled Michael. Then Larry said, "Michael, Git'er Done. I'm proud of ya!" And the really, really cool part of this story is that Kayla, my youngest granddaughter, had her video camera with her and caught it all on tape. Then they submitted it to You Tube and emailed the website address to Mikey so he could watch it. I talked to him on MSN later the next day and asked him what he thought and he said it was awesome. It is untitled on You Tube but I'll give you the addy in case you want to see it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v= cTAxY-4qXc. Now hopefully that will get you into the very quick video. It's only a matter of a few seconds long so you've got to be quick. You can hear Jamie, my oldest granddaughter, yell that her little brother's in the Air Force and then go from there. It is only a very few seconds and you can't google or search for it. You have to go in by address to access it. Anyway I think that's just about the coolest thing they could have done for Mikey.

Kathleen and I went back to the fairgrounds today to pick up our entries and bring them home. She won 25 ribbons a gift basket and $65 on baked entries. It rained today on us a little bit but nothing worth noting really. On the way out of Angels Camp we stopped at the Country Cloth and I bought some flannel to go between the front and back of the placemats I'm making my sister for Christmas. They are going to be so pretty! The pattern is just wonderful and I picked out some really nice fabric for them. The focus fabric (the center and corners) is a pretty bed of roses (upclose) and the accent fabric is a pretty mauve pattern. They look great together. I'm planning to use the same pattern to make my other sister a set of placemats only hers are going to be with green fabrics. I'm also in the process of making aprons and pot holders for all the female family members who are on my Christmas list. I've got most of those made except for the pot holders. I will work on them this week. Friday I will take my sewing machine over to Kathleen's house and she will show me how to sew together all the pieces of each placemat. Keep your fingers crossed that this doesn't prove too complicated for me, the novice seamstress. I've only been sewing a couple weeks. But my aprons are coming out so professional looking that I'm hoping I can do the placemats too. If not, I've wasted a lot of money buying and cutting up fabric.

I am continuing with my daily study of the book Know the Words of Jesus in 30 Days. I started the study on the 1st of May and I've read and studied a chapter a day. There are 30 chapters in the book so I should finish it up on the 30th of this month. It's been an interesting study. I hadn't realized Jesus had so much to say in the Bible. I mean, I've read the Bible and have read everything He said, but taking it by itself and going over it all it seems like there's so much that is new to me even though I know that I've read it all before. But then that's why the Bible is called the Living Word; because it just keeps seeming new to you almost every time you read it. And God keeps teaching you new things out of it. There are parts of the Bible that I've read dozens of times and still it seems fresh and new to me. There's always something new to learn. A new insight. A new understanding. And that's why I love the Bible so much. I could study the Bible 24 hours a day for the rest of my life and it would never get old to me. There would always be something new to learn.

I plan to attempt a pot holder (or hot pad) tomorrow and I hope to have better luck with it than I had with the last ones I made. I just really have to pay attention and think things through before I sew. The hardest part is the binding around the edges. And it's especially difficult because I'm sewing it blind. I sew on the front side and I can't see what it's doing on the back until I've already sewn it and and can turn it over. Wish me luck.

I have my knitting group again tomorrow night. That's always fun every week. We're making helmet liners out of 100% wool for the Marines in Afghanistan. I guess I should say, others are making liners. I made one. Others are making several each. I've been working on my green socks and since I'm not knitting all day, every day the way I used to it's taking me longer to knit them. But these socks have been the socks from hell. They have so many mistakes in them and you know what. I don't even care. They're for me and I don't care if they've got mistakes. I just want to get them done. I've knitted and ripped out so many times that I'm to the point where I just want to be done with them. My next pair of socks will be without mistakes. I will care with them.

Well, this is going to be it for this time. I know my blog is boring but it's all I have to write about. My grandson, Michael, is getting all A's in his schooling at Goodfellows Air Force Base in Texas. He's studying to be a firefighter. He says the physical aspect of it is difficult but the rest is mostly just memorization and he's doing great on it. I sure hope he passes his schooling. He is due to be stationed in Alaska after he finishes his training in August. But he'll be coming home on leave before going to Alaska. It will be so good to see him and hug him again. I haven't seen him or hugged him since February 15th. He did so good in Basic. He graduated with honors. Of course, if you've been keeping up with this blog you already know that. Okay this is it for now. Stay close to the Lord and remember that He died so that we might live forever. That makes me tingle all over when I think about living forever. That when I die and leave this life, I will just instantly and effortlessly slip into eternal life. No that's not it. I already have eternal life. I will never die. I will someday shed this human flesh the way a snake sheds it's skin, but I, all that makes me me, will never die. There won't be so much as a momentary blip. A blink of the eye. A snap of the fingers. I will just keep on living. I will be in a new form but I will be alive and I will be me. Isn't that a marvelous hope we have. And this hope is an assured, a guaranteed, future. And I have the Holy Spirit living in me as that guarantee. And I know the Holy Spirit lives in me because I can feel Him. I don't need to take anyone's word for it. I feel Him living in me. What a great God we have. Go in the assurance of His love and the faithfulness of His promise.