Spring. Finally!

Things are waking up at last. The lilacs are in full bud, with a few blossoms beginning to open.

My in-house gardener has begun to accumulate plants for outdoors. Chard is one of my favorite vegetables, and the marigolds are lovely. The other plants are zucchinis, a staple at our house.

We've actually had these hanging baskets for several weeks. DH brought them into the house when it was cold. Now they can stay out all night.

 

We did SIX WALKS this week! DH joined us when I could get him out of the garden. Dusty runs along beside the stroller. It's much easier to keep him going, maybe because he likes running next to something that rolls, sort of like chasing a ball. When we go on the trail, I let Rocky out of the stroller in a few places to sniff around and stretch his legs, and then when we get within 1/4 mile of home, he can walk the rest of the way. If we go around the block, We just keep moving.

You may remember my Brioche Shawl Feathers shawl is in hibernation because I lost a game of yarn chicken. I tried to contact the company twice to see if they would sell me a smaller amount but never heard back, so I finally bit the bullet and ordered two new skeins of the yarn. It will probably be several weeks before I can knit the last few rows of the project, and I will have a lot of yarn left over, but I'm sure I can find a use for it.

Needing something to knit while I'm waiting, I cast on a dress for Pippa. I used a pattern I've used before, Top Down Trio by Jacqueline Gibb, a pattern designed for 18-19" dolls with a choice of three different skirt options.  Pippa is much smaller, but I used thinner yarn and smaller needles and got it to work. Anyone interested in doing the same thing can find my modifications here.

It was part of a KAL in the Goetz Doll Lovers group on Ravelry, Formal Garden Party. We are making dresses.

She's very patient when she has to model for photos. I think she looks cute with her bear, though.

I needed something to knit (again), so I CO another dish mat, like the red one I made, but this time in grey.

Unlike the case with the red cone, I was able to get the cone out of the center of this one so I'm using one strand from the inside and one from the outside. This way the leftovers will be all in one continuous strand. I got rid of the tangle that came out of the middle, so now I'm working on this only when I need something portable and mindless to work on.

We had choir practice in-person on Wednesday. We could only have eight people, vaccinated, masked and distanced, to rehearse indoors with windows and doors open. It was lovely singing in-person with a group, even with masks on. Saturday I went in for an appointment to be recorded for our piece for Pentecost Sunday next week. Then I went to the library. We have learned that vaccinated people will not be required to wear masks in our state, except under crowded conditions, as per the new CDC guidelines. The librarians were still masked, however, when I stopped in there. The person I talked with said she was vaccinated, but they are still bound by OSHA protocols for now.

Daphne had her birthday on Friday. She knew she was getting a doll, but it's always a surprise finding out who the doll is.

She told her mother to hurry and untie her, so she wouldn't suffocate. (I wonder where she gets her imagination.)

Saturday, she went shopping at Target, where she bought some accessories for Lotta, now renamed Rebekah after Daphne's friend.

Rebekah probably thinks she has struck it rich! (The orange thing is a neck pillow on top of a carry-on case full of doll activities to use during a flight. Planning ahead, because the family will come here for Christmas.)

They also went to B&N to use her gift card from her prize in the writing contest. (See how the proud grandma threw that in? Oh, and she also has learned that she will be dancing in Ballet La Crosse's production of Heidi.)

I had shopped for some accessories, too, but I used the Maplea website, for some items I knew I would be needing for upcoming stories. The delivery came this week. The sports equipment was on sale. (I bought two rackets, so they can actually play.) Their stuff is excellent quality, and the details are very realistic.

Here's the rest of what I got.

Daphne tried to read the story that came out on Friday. I received a text that she couldn't view the story. She had received a deceptive website warning. It said the blog was charged with suspect malware and/or computer virus. I checked on it and got the same thing: a bright red screen with a warning that the website I was trying to visit may be involved in phishing. I reported it to blogger. Then I called Apple to see if they could help me straighten out the problem. They had me go back in to the website, but the warning was gone. I didn't know if the warning was down because I reported to them that there was nothing "phishy" in my story or if it was something website-wide, as it also affected this blog. Sunday morning I discovered (buried among spam emails) two emails from Blogger, first saying they had taken down the post "The Survey," for breaking their guidelines, specifically for attempted phishing, etc. It warned that if I violated their guidelines again, my whole blog could be shut down. The second email (which I found first) said they had reviewed the blog post and found nothing objectionable, so they had returned it to my blog. I had to republish it, but it published with the original date of March 5th. Anyway, it got straightened out. I suspect that someone who was trying to make trouble for me filed a complaint.

We Zoomed on Sunday. It was just the Wisconsin family and us. It was good catching up. (Look! I'm working on my quilt!)

Sunday afternoon we took our ballots (school board and other local administrative races) to the drop box in the Old Mill District, so we could walk  along the river with the stroller. We clocked 1 1/3 miles, with Rocky walking about 1/4 mile. He got out of the stroller to dip his toes in the water, as it was warm. This was a good spot under a bridge.

Dusty trotted along, but he stayed out of the water. We made a point to end up at the dog park, though, and he got to run and play with a couple of terriers. (Rocky wandered around a bit.)

It was a taste of summer, as it was quite warm. We saw lots of people wearing bathing suits.

I received my updated report from Book Baby this week: 161 books have been sold so far, either through their store or through other vendors. That means over 200, if you count the 40 books I have sold from home, given to friends and grandkids, or donated. This is only through January 31st, because the reports run three months behind. I think it's selling well enough to make it worth getting the next book ready to go.

Where's my blog: As you may know if you've been on Quilt With Us, the venerable social media platform has closed down. As you may not know, the entity that notifies followers when this blog posts will discontinue notifications in July. Those two things motivated me to link my blog to Bloglovin', as I did some time ago with The Doll's Storybook. If you are following my blog and want to continue following after July, I recommend you go here and sign up to follow.

What's on my needles: Another dish mat, and the Brioche Shawl Feathers Shawl is hibernating until I get more yarn.

What's on my sewing machine: Sleep mask for Pippa and some other items.

What's in my hoop: Still the Whole Cloth Quilt. Actually a little more progress this week.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: "Work in the Workroom." The dolls couldn't stand the mess in the fiber studio anymore, so while DH and I were out for a few hours, they tidied up.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished Hope for the Best by Jodi Taylor on Audible. This writer is so funny at times, I would read her novels even if the plots weren't any good, but they are. And the characters. Zara Ramm is an excellent narrator, too. It makes it easy to keep straight who's talking. Now listening to The Black Moth by Georgette Heyer on Chirp.

What's in my wine glass: Madroña El Tinto. A favorite.

What's my tip of the week: Ask your local library to carry Mariah: Stories from The Doll's Storybook, so children in your town can read it, too. If they buy it from Book Baby, nearly half of the price goes to St. Jude, so that's the best place to buy from, unless they get a discount somewhere else or free shipping.

Where's my book: Mariah: Stories from the Doll's Storybook is available from Amazon worldwide. Also available from BookBaby, Barnes & Noble and other booksellers. Royalties go to support pediatric cancer research and treatment. The three stories in the book first appeared in the blog and they are reproduced with few changes. The stories (and links to them) are Being Little, Besties, and Distraction.

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 or dolls were harmed during the production of this blog post.

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