Grandpa's Little Dividend

As you know, our trip to Oregon was necessitated by the arrival of our fifth grandchild and third grandson.

It gave us an excuse to visit our younger son and his family. Soren (now a big brother) especially enjoyed feeding dog kibble to the pups. (He also fed some to himself. Yum! Dog kibble!)

Here are some of the things I got to do on my "vacation:"

*Did some camping

*Visited new grandson and his extended family

*Got my first pedicure

*Picked up some new Nike Frees

*Visited our niece and got to see my brother

*Watched the sun set over the Pacific

*Learned what "dry camping" was like with no water. (Use wine to flush the toilet? Only if it has gone through us first!)

*Visited a new yarn shop in Beaverton, Nitro Knitters. Next time I hope to pick up more than dpns)

*Found out that eating a dead crab can give your dog a case of the "runs," and I don't mean running on the beach

*Visited the Stitchin' Post in Sisters.

What's on my needles: Cat Bordhi's "Bavarian Twisted Stitch" socks from her book, Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles, which I've named the Johan Socks, and some plain vanilla socks I've named "Puyallup Socks," because I got a lot done on them while visiting our niece in Puyallup, well into the second sock.

What's on my Featherweight: Back to Delectable Pathways, still working on the hand appliqué for the last panel. All of the leaves done. Starting on the flowers. I found it difficult to appliqué sitting in the truck. Too much bouncing. Also, we didn't have hookups most of our  campground stays, so it was too dark to work. Of course, I could have worked on it while visiting the kids, but I was always either on Soren duty or Johan duty. Oh, darn! Well, we all have to make some sacrifices.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Still listening to Dean Koontz's The City. Finished reading Black Diamond Death by Cheryl Bradshaw from Book Bub on the iBooks app. Now reading Joseph Lallo's The Book of Deacon. Just started it, but it seems like it's going to be interesting. We listened to Isaac Asimov's The Currents of Space from Audible on our way west, and then The Man in the High Castle by Philip Dick, also from Audible. Both of these were from a special sale of sci-fi books. I let DH pick. He usually listens to books I picked that I thought we would both like. I find it worthwhile to let him pick. I find that sometimes I discover new authors or genres this way.

What's my app of the week: It has to be the Messages app. With phone reception not strong in the hospital, especially NICU, we were getting most of our information from text messages. An added bonus: All those wonderful photos we got of Johan's adventures during his first week in the world were delivered by text. What a joy, when we couldn't be there in person!

What's in my wine glass: Apothic Red 2012. My new favorite, discovered in Oregon.

What's my tip of the week: If you plan on camping in a campground in Oregon on a weekend in August, be sure to research before you leave to find out where you can stay and make reservations!

Note: This blog post was produced on the iPad and the MacBook, using the iPhone for some photos and some photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for, cleaned or broken. No animals were harmed during the production of this blog post.