Back to Normal?

We couldn't walk on Monday because of the air quality, but we had a pleasant last day with our daughter before she left to go home on Tuesday. While she and her younger brother were here, we had them go through some boxes of their stuff. One item that came out of a box was this Steiff bear from circa 1975 belonging to our daughter.

His name is Bye-bye, and new, he was like this one, only a couple of inches larger. He "growls" when you tip him, but the growl is very short now. Unfortunately, Bye-bye has been blind for many years. Our older son decided to remove the eyes when Bye-bye was young. I've ordered these new eyes, and I hope they will work. I hope to have them installed in time for next week's blog post. 

Also in the boxes were her Madame Alexander "Pumpkin," a life-size doll that was as big as she was when she received it, and her Fisher Price "My Friend" dolls. They are all dirty and need restoration. I'm giving it a try. I started with Mandy. I put her in a lingerie bag and added her to a load of laundry, cold water, and set on "delicate," not that she's really delicate. When she came out, I worked some conditioner into her hair. While that sat in her hair for a while, I gave her a nice rubdown with a damp washcloth dipped in baking soda. I think she's good enough, although I might try to get her body suit a bit cleaner.

She is looking forward to playing with the grands when they come for Christmas. (Fingers crossed!)

I've made progress on the trailer rugs. The first one is almost finished.

I've also made some progress on the Taina Shawl. The "Sea Slug Pink" is growing on me.

I put in some time working on the whole cloth quilt and hope to get more done this week.

Rocky spent his birthday on Tuesday with a walk, some special treats and a new toy. We were not able to get him groomed in time for his birthday, because we postponed his grooming appointment so we could divide it up into two sessions. Thursday was the first "half," the shampoo and brushing out. He seemed tired when we picked him up, but not so exhausted as he was after his last grooming, which was all done one one day, along with Dusty's, which meant he had to spend the entire afternoon there. Dusty had his grooming appointment at the originally scheduled time on August 20th, while Rocky grew an extra serving of shagginess. Here's what he looked like when we brought him home on Thursday.

Friday, he went back for the clip. He seems happy to be rid of all the extra hair, and he seems to be able to see better. I think we probably need to trim the hair from his eyes when it starts to get long again. He isn't totally blind, but the extra hair in his eyes must have hampered him enough that he was bumping into things. He seems to know where he's going now. He's off the pain and anti-inflammatory medications entirely now and doing well for a 17-year-old dog. We treasure every day we have with him. This is his birthday photo, three days late.

I ordered two of this peg rack and put them up on the wall in the fiber studio, end-to-end. This will keep the big Kidz out of the way, when I need the space. The pegs are just under 3" apart, and there are seven pegs on each of the racks. Where the racks come together in the center, the last peg of one and the first peg of the second one are just under 4" apart (so Jolena, in the middle, is a bit lower on the rack. I put them up high, so there should be minimal dust. The racks are white.

I bought a third rack to go in our hall for the children's jackets, although we're already using it now. Buying three racks enabled me to have free shipping, so the third one was almost free. We picked out the wood, rather than the white, for the hallway. While the kids were here, we had Johan (the shortest grandchild) show us how high he could reach to put his coat away. This should help minimize the clutter in the entryway when everyone is here for Christmas.

The proof copy of Emil: Stories from The Doll's Storybook is on its way to me. That means that in a short time, the second book in the series will be available from booksellers.

I'm hoping it won't need any further work, but the proof copy will let us know.

Where's my blog: If you want to follow my blog, go here and sign up to follow.

What's on my needles: Taina by Eevi Kesäkuu.

What's on my loom: Trailer rugs.

What's on my sewing machine: Winter clothes repair.

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

What's in The Doll's Storybook: Working Without Pay. The Kidz discuss why dolls and dogs are not slaves, even though they don't get paid for what they do and can be bought and sold.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished to His Lordship's Pleasure by Marion Chesney on the Chirp app. Just started The Deserter by Nelson DeMille and Alex DeMille on the Audible app.

What's in my wine glass: Red Blend Portugal by Casa Santos Lima. One of our favorites, and with a pretty label.

What's my tip of the week: Marks can be removed from vinyl doll skin using 10% benzoyl peroxide (acne cream). You can smear it on where "permanent" marker has been used, cover with plastic wrap and leave overnight, all week or for a month, if needed. It can be reapplied until you're satisfied with the doll's skin. It's good to test on a small area (like the bottom of a foot) to be sure you like the effect. Find out more here or here.

Where's my book: Mariah: Stories from the Doll's Storybook is available from booksellers worldwide. If you don't get free shipping from Amazon or B&N, buy from the BookBabyBookshop. Royalties go to support pediatric cancer research and treatment, and that's 50% of the price when you buy there. Other bookseller take a much bigger cut. 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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