A Week in Portland

We had a good week in the Portland area. Monday's medical appointment went well. The doctor is going to consult with other specialists in the field before making a recommendation on whether the procedure he does will help with Charlie's tremors or not. Meanwhile, we got in some great family time and a little knitting.

The second sock is at the heel. They should be ready to wear soon. As you can see, they are not identical. Sometimes, when I'm using a self-striping yarn, I pull out the yarn for the second sock until I get to the exact place in the patterning where I started the first sock, so the stripes will match. This time I decided to just start the second sock at the point where I had cut the yarn loose from the first sock. They go together, but are not the same. Sometimes that's fun.

In spite of the rain, we walked the dogs each day, but on Thanksgiving Day Peter, Charlie and I took the three dogs to one of the off-leash areas nearby. The big grassy off-leash area was closed for the winter, because it gets muddy, but this smaller one was available. It's carpeted with astroturf, so the dogs don't get muddy. It was good to let them run for a bit, because we would be leaving them for several hours while we went to have dinner at Peter's in-laws' home.

There was a lot of food, of course. Everyone brought something. We contributed to the salad with stuff we brought from home. We also brought a homemade peach pie, which I had ordered during Trinity's fundraiser for Condega, Nicaragua, which was held in September. The lady who volunteered to make the pies even dropped it off at our house the day before we left to go to Portland. It was delicious. (The desserts are not in this photo, and neither is the turkey.)

They had set up tables in the living room in front of the fire and in the kitchen eating area. We had a great time, and it was great to see members of Alexa's family. We only see them every few years.

I took copies of my new book to the grandkids and their cousins. I had signed each one. Elsie brought me her copy and asked me to write her name in it, because she said her name was in the other books I had given her, so I did.

Soren finished eating and lay down on the couch to fall asleep. His mother reminded him there was still dessert, so he perked up. He stayed awake until he had eaten some pumpkin pie (his favorite) and then plopped down again.

The kitties had to be shut up in the master bedroom while we were there, because our dogs aren't used to cats. I know they were glad to be let out again after we left.

It was a busy week for Peter's family, and we are grateful that they allowed us to come. There were parent-teacher conferences, appointments with speech therapy and dentist and wrestling after we had come home.

My cold has reached the final stage where there's nothing left but the cough. I didn't know whether I was still contageous or not, so I wore a mask all week when we were in the house except when I was in the bedroom. I had trouble sleeping because of the cough. I tried several types of cough medicine. Nothing helped as much as I hoped. 

We had good weather for the trip home. There was no snow at the pass.

When I let the dogs out on Sunday morning, I discovered that we had had our first snow of the season.

Our basil plants held up very well during our trip to Wisconsin, so before we left to go to Portland, I just watered them thoroughly, let them drain in the sink and then replaced them on the windowsill. I didn't bother with putting the pots into plastic bags this time. They were fine.

Sunday I pulled a container of Mexican Stew out of the freezer to thaw for supper. Then I made a cute little loaf of bread to have with it.

I cut open an avocado, removed the pit and filled the pit cavity with salad dressing for a quick, easy salad. We need to buy groceries today.

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 or B&N and search for Billy: Stories 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, More Classic Tales Retold or Billy: Stories from The Doll's Storybook, 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: Still the Front Range Socks. 

What's on my iPhone: Still listening to Nobody's Girl by Virginia Roberts Giuffre on the AudiobooksNow app. Not much progress, as we were visiting.

What's on my sewing machine: Put away.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: This week we look back on Pippa's arrival, beginning with the announcement that a new doll would be arriving. Here's Big News.

What's my tip of the week: Like milk in your coffee or tea? Don't want to bother with a carton of milk when you travel? Powdered milk works well as a substitute for liquid milk. A small container of powdered milk keeps safely in the car for when you need it.

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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