Books, Balls, Birds and Boys

They're here! The new books arrived on Monday, right on schedule. I think Sandy was hoping for something dog-related.

I always open these boxes with great trepidation, but I don't know why; they're always beautifully printed.

The book is available from BookBaby here, and Amazon has it listed but with no image of the cover yet. It will be available after December 12th. Barnes & Noble has it listed, also with no image, but it says it is available for preorder here. If you want to encourage big booksellers to carry the book, click on one of the links provided or go to the website and enter the title of the book. The books are stocked based on clicks, like everything else they sell. I just want to add that BookBaby is the only place to buy the book right now for delivery right away. Also, BookBaby, as the publisher, pays 50% of the purchase price in royalties, while third-party outlets only pay 8%. (That's a big difference!) However, every purchase helps, and all the proceeds go to St. Jude, a worthy charity.

On Tuesday we had to go out to pick up a couple of prescriptions, so I suggested we stop at Alpenglow Park to give the dogs a run, since it's pretty close to where we were getting our prescriptions. There were a lot of dogs there. One lady had a Chuckit, Dusty's favorite thing ever. She threw the ball for her dog, and of course all of the dogs who noticed it ran after it.

Can you guess who ended up with the ball? The smallest dog in the pack.

Dusty has occasionally outrun whippets and other fast dogs with long legs. What he lacks in size he makes up for in enthusiasm. He also pays attention to where the ball is being thrown, quickly calculating the trajectory, and often gets the ball on the first bounce. Of course, he brought the ball to us.

We walked on the trail while we were there. A good part of it is within the fenced (off-leash for all dogs) area. Dusty brought us two other abandoned tennis balls, which we tossed into the dogs' play area.

Since we were watching the World Series, I got some knitting in. I finished the Gentle Spirit Tee.

I didn't use the lace wires to block it: I just patted down the sleeve, neck and bottom edging, so it was straight.

I wore it to church on Sunday. I was happy with the fit. I still have a pretty good-sized ball of this yarn left.

Of course, I had to cast on a new project, because I have to have something to work on during our trip this week to Wisconsin. I thought socks would be good, because they're a compact project, and I can use short wooden needles or wooden circular needles. The pattern is Front Range Socks by Lynn Zimmerman. I'm using a ball of Lana Grossa Meilenweit in "Spicy."

I've already made pretty good progress, but I'm packing some extra yarn and another pattern, in case I finish the socks. They don't take up much room.

Friday was Halloween, of course. We put Victor the Vulture in the high window next to the door. I moved a floor lamp into position where it would give him some light.

We had quite a few kids stop by the house. Some of them said they noticed Victor, and I'm sure he had a good time watching the kids come and go. There were some interesting patterns, including The Grim Reaper, which at our age is always scary! We still have candy left.

We didn't dress up for Halloween, but I remembered our costumes from 2009, when the H1N1 "Swine" flu was going around. We dressed up as H1 and N1, with pig noses and signs on our backs that read, "Ban Tamiflu!" We carried strings loaded with cold medicine packages. We wore these to a party with the Park City Mountain Sports Club. Fun times. 

Sunday was All Saints Day, and we sang "When the Saints Come Marching In." It's a fun piece to sing.

The service was broadcast on YouTube. If you want to listen, our piece began about 106:45.

For some cuteness, here's Soren playing ping-pong at his school's "Monster Mash" social. (I can hardly believe he's in middle school!)

Meanwhile, Johan returned home from "outdoor school." He says he's now called "Storm," and his pronouns are "he" and "them." 

I have a lot of difficulty responding to comments to my blog posts because of technical issues beyond my control (my lack of understanding of how things work). Message me on Facebook, Ravelry, BlueSky or Spoutible if you need information.

If you have a few minutes and are willing, please go to Amazon and B&N and search for More Classic Tales Retold or Our Favorite Verses: Poems from The Doll's Storybook by Peggy Stuart". Every click on the page for the book makes it more likely they will keep a good supply in their warehouse and stores. If you are outside the US, you may have a separate website for these retailers. If you have a copy of any of our books, including Emil, Mariah, Classic Tales Retold, Our Favorite Verses or More Classic Tales Retold, please leave an honest review on the websites, especially if you bought from them.

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

What's on my needles: Finished Gentle Spirit Tee. Just started a pair of socks to take on the trip.

What's on my iPhone: Still listening to The Separation of Church and Hate by John Fugelsang on the AudiobooksNow app. Almost finished.

What's on my sewing machine: Put away.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: The stories always come out on Friday, and since Friday this year was also Halloween, we ran Victor the Vulture from Our Favorite Verses. This is one of my favorites!

What's my tip of the week: Like cabbage, cut edges of celery turn brown. That's why, instead of taking one stalk at a time to chop I start from the top, cutting off what I need from the cut edge. Sometimes we get celery that's already cut into stalks. In that case, I cut a little from the top and bottom of each stalk. No waste!

Where are my books: The stories in each book first appeared in the blog, and they are reproduced in print with a few changes.

The stories in Billy: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are Talking About Boys, Changes, Shhhhh!, Staying After and Money in a Jar.

The stories in More Classic Tales Retold: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are Welcoming a Stranger, The Rescue, Unmasked, Fuzzy Town––A Play and Sky Blue.

Our Favorite Verses: Poems from The Doll's Storybook. Poems included are Valentine's Day, Keeping Pets, Back to School, Victor the Vulture, The Week Before Christmas, Insomnia and Veronika's Vocabulary Verses.

The stories in Classic Tales Retold: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are Little Green Greatcoat, The Boy Doll Who Cried Wolf and Lost in the Woods.

The stories in Emil: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are Best Buds, Getting What You Want, and The Boys Cook Dinner.

The stories in Mariah: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are Being Little, Besties, and Distraction.

If you don't get free shipping from Amazon or B&N, buy from the BookBabyBookshop, because 50% of the price goes to St. Jude. Other booksellers pay much less,only 8%, because the vendor gets a cut. My author's page at Book Baby is here. Scroll down and click on any of the books that interest you. Find my books at Barbara's Bookstore as well, or ask your local library to order the books.

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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