Into the Woods...Again!

After the kids' visit, we had just a couple of days to get ready for our last camping trip of the season. I put the clean sheets on the bed, which is a challenge because the bed is surrounded on 3 1/2 sides by walls. That means tucking sheets under the mattress while kneeling on it. 

We got it done, though, and loaded everything we needed, mostly food. Fortunately, the drive wasn't too long. We drove to LaPine on Wednesday. We found Jim already there and in his camping spot. (He drove up from Florence on Tuesday.)

We were across the road from Jim. We had to camp at South Loop this time. The other loops are closed for the season. South Loop has full hookups, but they turned off the water on Thursday, so it's basically just power. We could use our electric space heater and the convection/microwave, so at least we had that.

Thursday was our only whole day with Jim. We got in some hiking, a total of 6.44 miles during the four days we were there.

We like to start out at the off-leash area, so the pups can get their wiggles out before we start hiking.

If we're the only ones on the trail, we let the dogs off leash for a short time. 

Dogs are allowed off-leash at the river's edge. It's hard to swim when you're on a leash. The water level was pretty low. 

There were sand bars out in the middle, but in some places the water was deep enough to swim. There wasn't too much current out in the middle, so it was pretty safe to let them swim.

While we were camping in LaPine, we got the news of the school shooting in our city. The school that was involved is less than a mile away from our home. Some of the victims were known to members of our church. We have to work together to find a way to stop this from happening.

We came home on Saturday. I finished the Gracie Cardigan I started last week. This will be for the doll we're giving our honorary granddaughter Elsie. Here it is, blocked and ready to have the button sewn on.

I followed the pattern until the divide for the sleeves. Then I worked the left front, then the sleeve stitches as I came to them, turned the work and knitted back across the sleeve stitches. Then I turned it again and bound off the sleeve stitches, using the first stitch of the back to finish the bind off. I worked across the back, worked the stitches for the other sleeve and worked those the way I did the first sleeve. After that, I worked the right front. When I worked back on the wrong side, I picked up a stitch at each edge of the sleeve and passed the first picked-up stitch over the second one. By doing this, I didn't have to cut the yarn for the whole project and the base of each sleeve was tidy.

The pajamas I ordered for Elsie's doll came on Tuesday. I tried it on Jolena, who looks the most like Elsie's doll Emily. I wanted to be sure the fit was OK. I thought the slippers were cute.

The preclue for the Rose City Yarn Crawl Mystery Knitalong arrived in my emails on Wednesday, while we were still home. I had a look through my yarn stash and found some yarn that should work for the project. 

I've been checking on my new book's listing on Amazon and other booksellers' websites. I found this on Amazon: "90 days free of Amazon Music with purchase." I thought that could be taken to mean you could be free of Amazon Music, which I am, but of course, I already have a copy. LOL! I wonder if AI writes their promotional content.

The kids left some of their veggie share with us, including eggplant, broccoli, cauliflower and one poblano chile. I made a nice stew with it with lots of cumin. oregano and cilantro. I also used onions, garlic, canned tomatoes, a carrot, a celery stalk, black beans, some TVP, bouillon cubes and some of the leftover cooked brown rice. It was tasty.

Charlie had bought a set of puzzles. The kids started it, but couldn't finish it before they left to go home. Charlie has been working on it. It lives on our kitchen table.

Sunday was very busy. The Diocesan Convention (Diocese of Eastern Oregon) ended their meeting in Prineville with a worship service. The choir from Trinity went along to sing. Some singers from other churches joined us. It was inspiring and, after the school shooting in our community, therapeutic. My friend and fellow choir member Julie, who often drives me to choir practice and to church, gave me a ride to Prineville. She's also in the bell choir. We went back to Trinity after the Prineville event and attended bell choir practice. I think I'm on the verge of getting the hang of it. 

For some cuteness, here's Soren, who is....

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 Mandy's Little Science Lessons: 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 Speculoos Sweater, but also the gauge swatch for the 2027 Yarn Crawl Mystery Knitalong. Finished the Gracie Cardigan.

What's on my iPhone: Finished Wildwood by Colin Meloy and looking forward to seeing the film on October 23rd! Downloaded The Girl in the Spider's Web by David Lagercrantz

What's on my sewing machine: Doll clothes.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: In The Hair-raising Adventure Part II, this week's story from The Doll's Storybook, Emil and Billy get their wigs, but will a wig make Billy into a real boy?
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What's my tip of the week: We often reuse bread bags and bagel bags. I've found I can flatten them for storage by folding them longitudinally, then smoothing any air bubbles, starting at the bottom of the bag to the top where they can escape, folding again the same way and repeating the process once before folding the bag once horizontally.

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

Book #7 is available in BookBaby's Bookshop right now. Amazon, B&N and other booksellers has it available for presale. The release date is October 27th.

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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Don't Fence Us In

Work on the new fence continued on Monday. Here's John, working on the gate. We still have to install a metal post that will go down into the walkway to keep the gate closed.

We have been able to sit on the bench in the evening with the dogs, and the weather was pleasant through Saturday.

We didn't leave them unattended in the yard, so when Sandy escaped (as he did several times) we were able to retrieve him. Here you can see his escape route. We anticipated that this place would be a problem, so we had blocked it off with wire fencing. We have a temporary solution, blocking it now with an old baby gate and a large work bucket, but we're working on a permanent solution.

It looks rather nice. The wood will eventually weather to a grayish color.

The Portland kids were coming on Thursday, so we spent a good deal of time during the early part of the week straightening up, cleaning and putting the sheets on the beds, and then making a large casserole for when they arrived. We had a luncheon to attend on Tuesday, and Wednesday we took Dusty to the vet for his annual physical.

One of the first things the boys did after they arrived was let me read them my new book (which they already have at home). It was fun to hear what their answers to the "Reader's Challenge" questions were.

Johan helped me practice the bells. He reads music and plays the French horn fairly well. I gave him one bell and I played the other one. We went through the piece I have to learn. Then we switched bells and went through again. We got a lot of them right. There was no bell practice this week, because so many people would be missing on Sunday.

On Friday we all went to Good DogTrail off-leash area and hiked a little over three miles with the three dogs (our two and our granddog Louis). Here you can see Sandy and Dusty, but that isn't Louis in the water. Maybe Louis is camera-shy. I didn't find any photos of him from this trip. I didn't realize that until after they had left on Sunday.

Sandy loves going into the water, and it was warm enough on Friday to be pleasant.

Sandy and dusty really loved chasing sticks. Louis not so much. He seemed more interested in the other dogs who came and went while we were enjoying the little beach on the river.

It was nice to have a place to sit down right there at the beach. It makes a good break at more or less the hike's halfway point.

We spread out a bit, and Sandy kept tabs on everyone, running back and forth along the trail, from the first person to the last. I thought about how I could make a jacket for Sandy that had a pocket in it where my phone could be fastened in securely. Then, when I started the Walk for a Dog app, the mileage would be Sandy's, not mine. It would be interesting to see what his mileage was. It had to have been easily three times mine or more.

We met a couple of ladies who were intrigued with our poodles. One of them said she was interested in getting a miniature poodle and asked for the name of the breeder we got them from. I was happy to tell them about Ash's Mystical Poodles. When we left them, the one woman was looking up Marie's website on her phone. I wonder if we will have another Mystical Poodle in Bend. We had one, but the family has now moved to Eugene.

We had a tuna hot dish Thursday night, Poblano Chili Soup on Friday night and a stir-fry with rice on Saturday night. I didn't have to do all of the cooking, which is always nice. I basically just made the casserole for the first night and then put salads together, while Peter and Alexa did the rest. Our visitors brought a lot of vegetables with them and left some behind.

We also have leftovers.

We played "Screw Your Neighbor," one of our favorite card games. Johan is old enough now, that he can make reasonable plays without help.

We had some Madroña wines with our dinners, and a couple of times we had some scotch, which the kids bought because of the name.

Elsie's Christmas doll has arrived at the Portland Stuarts' home. Her name is Emily. I had her shipped directly there, because the box takes up a lot of space in the car, and they had four people and a dog. Here's a photo.

She needs more clothes that just what she comes with, so I'm putting together a wardrobe. I cast on for a little cardigan.

Here's a photo of the things I've collected to send for the doll. To go with the cardigan, there's a purple T-shirt, sparkly silver tights and a piece of fabric to use for a pleated skirt. The red pinafore and blue blouse came with the Ayelet doll (my Olivia). I added some shoes and tights to go with it. The T-shirts will go with the stretch capris I plan to make out of the dark navy fabric with the dots on the far left, so just two things to sew. Every doll needs some pajamas or a nightgown. I have ordered pajamas with slippers. That should be here soon.

LAIKA's "Wildwood" is getting good reviews so far. The film comes out on the 23rd. It's rated PG-13, and reviewers are saying, as impressive as it is, especially considering that it's stop-motion, not computer animation, this is not a show for small children. For one thing, it's too long for young kids, but besides the scary topic of kidnapping and going into a creepy forest world, there's the depiction of war and death. Here's a trailer:

https://youtu.be/bJQGtSeLPII?si=kw7OCugPYeI2xMOG

For some cuteness, here's Daphne in a number from her show choir performance. It's both singing and dancing. She has regained her normal weight and has been able to add back physical activities like marching band and tap. Soon she should be able to go back to ballet.

On Saturday, we took the dogs to the playground near the senior center. They went two other times, but I didn't go along. I went to church on Sunday, and it's starting to get cold here.

The plan is to go camping at La Pine on Wednesday. Jim is planning to go on Tuesday. Our visit will overlap with his. We're taking the electric space heater, as we will have electricity. They turn off the water on Thursday, so we will have to fill up Wednesday and then use the dump station on the way out. 

It will be time to winterize when we are home again. 

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 Mandy's Little Science Lessons: 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 Speculoos Sweater and the Gracie Cardigan for Elsie's doll Emily (name subject to change when she reaches her new home).

What's on my iPhone: Just finished listening to Wildwood by Colin Meloy. I'm still picking out the next audiobook.

What's on my sewing machine: Doll clothes.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: We look back at the days when Billy and Emil first got their wigs in A Hair-raising Adventure, this week's story from The Doll's Storybook.
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What's my tip of the week: We're coming up on the end of Daylight Savings Time. I've been trying to stay up a little later and sleeping later, so it won't be such a big change. 

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

Book #7 is available in BookBaby's Bookshop right now. Amazon, B&N and other booksellers has it available for presale. The release date is October 27th.

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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