Design for Life

St. Paddy's day is always time for celebration at our house. We had a multinational menu with our usual Guinness, this time in a Finnish beer glass, a souvenir from one of our trips to Finland.

I've made some progress on the Hinterland Pullover. Here's how it looked on Sunday.

I've ordered Götz Little Kidz Paul for Zachary for his birthday. It's going directly there, so Pippa is having to act as my model for outfits. I got the pajamas all done but putting on the buttons. I may have to adjust the sleeve length, I think.

I'm planning a shirt and some jeans, and maybe a nice pair of slacks, if I have time. I'll have to send it off the end of the first week of april to get there in time.

We had Rocky in to the vet. He has some kind of a skin lesion that is infected. It doesn't seem to bother him, but the vet wanted to clear up the infection before sewing it up. He thinks he can do it with a local. We have his care worked out as far as taking him out at night and looking after him during the day. He has a little trouble eating and drinking without stepping on his dish and knocking it over, so we got the dogs a raised feeding station. We discovered during our trip to visit the Beaverton grandkids that this worked well, especially for the water, which all three dogs shared from Louis' elevated feeding station. (The black mat is designed to go under a litter box, to keep the litter from getting tracked all over the floor. We got it to give Rocky a little traction on the floor, and it does work for that.)

We have been working on the taxes. DH figured out that I've only lost about $150 on my publishing foray, which was a lot less than I thought. He also was shocked to find that my screwy bookkeeping actually balances.

We had another online get-together with fans of Madroña Vineyards. They had sent us a recipe for chimichurri sauce to go with macaroni and cheese and chorizo sausage, with a special wine, which was sent to each participant. We were supposed to take a sip of the wine with the mac and cheese, then try it with the chorizo added, then add the chimichurri to the whole thing and see how the wine changed. They used Annie's Mac and Cheese, but I made mine from scratch. I used Soyrizo, since we don't do meat. I made the chimicurri according to the recipe, although I cut the recipe in half. It was a delightful party.

Friday night, we had a Zoom date with our younger son and his wife. (They are the ones who live in Beaverton.) They had given us a two-part membership in Flaviar. We got to pick a tasting set. We chose the New World Single Malt. 

It turns out, they are coming to visit the middle of this week, so we can enjoy the tasting together in real life, instead of on Zoom.

I'll be doing the H-word for the next few days, and then I'll be busy with them. Anticipating that, I wrote two stories for The Dolls Storybook, so I don't have to do one this week. I have several ideas for the following week. I'm coming up on 200 stories, one a week, with no breaks.

For some cuteness, Johan had another chess tournament on Saturday. Two losses and three wins, an improvement over the previous tournament. He took second place in his age group. Not bad!

If you have a few minutes and are willing, please go to Amazon and B&N and search for "Emil: Stories from The Doll's Storybook by Peggy Stuart" in Children's. 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 our first book, Mariah: Stories from The Doll's Storybook, it would help if you left 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 Empower Kerchief (a few more rows done in the dentist's office) and the Hinterland pullover (see above).

What's on my loom: Same as last week.

What's on my sewing machine: PJs for Zachary's Paul.

What's in my hoop: Same as last week.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: Caring for Pets––A Poem. The cast of The Doll's Storybook shares what is involved in keeping a pet. Be sure you know what you're getting into and can live up to expectations before getting a real pet.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished Unthinkable by Jamie Raskin. I can really recommend it, especially if you want to know more about what happened at the Capitol on January 6th of last year, coinciding with a long eulogy to the author's deceased son. It was beautiful and gut-wrenching. Now listening to The Sanitorium by Sarah Pearse, a thriller. Both are on the Audible app. 

What's in my wine glass: Ithafa Western Cape Shiraz, 2019. Excellent.

What's my tip of the week: Here's my recipe for Cream of Mushroom Soup à la Morinu. I had planned to take a photo of the soup in a bowl, but it somehow disappeared. This is a high-protein, low-fat version of this creamy favorite.

Ingredients
• 4 T olive oil 
• 1/2 lb mushrooms, sliced
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 carrot
• 4 garlic cloves minced
• 1/4 t thyme 
• 1 t lite salt
• 1/8 t Pepper
• 4 cups water
• 1 2-cup bouillon cube
• 1 t psyllium husks
• 1 box Morinu silken tofu (shelf-stable, found in the Asian Food section, either firm or soft is OK)

• Parmesan cheese for serving

Directions
In pressure cooker pan, sauté vegetables in olive oil for a few minutes until slightly softened. Add water, thyme, salt, pepper and bouillon cube and bring to full pressure. Cook for 2 minutes.
Add tofu and psyllium and blend in blender or use immersion blender. Heat up until just serving temperature.
Top each serving with Parmesan cheese.

Where are my books: The stories in each book first appeared in the blog and they are reproduced with few changes. Emil: Stories from The Doll's Storybook is now available for preorder from booksellers world wide. The link for Book Baby is here. The three stories are Best Buds, Getting What You Want, and The Boys Cook Dinner.

Mariah: Stories from The Doll's Storybook is also available. The three stories in the first book 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. 

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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Dolls Who Don't Get Sick

I've been sewing this week. I finished this blouse for Mandy on Saturday:

I used this pattern. I found the pattern instructions easy to follow, although it's a fairly complicated design. I had a fat quarter of each. Here's the back.

Originally, I was going to use the green pinstripe for the skirt, but when I chose this pattern for the blouse, I changed my mind and switched them. I don't think the lines of the blouse would have shown up with the print. I think it's a good blouse to go under a cardigan. 

Here's Mandy wearing the finished blouse and the skirt, which I made earlier in the week.

The skirt pattern is included in the free Cables and Herringbones Cardigan pattern. I've found some mistakes in the cardigan pattern and am working up a revision, but the mistakes are mostly in the written instructions, not the chart. The skirt fabric came from Connecting Threads. It has been in my stash for several years. I picked it because I liked it with the green stripe and the yarn.

I'm finishing up the body.

Then it will be on to the sleeves. It's for a St. Patrick's Day Knit-along on Ravelry in the Goetz Lovers group. I find this kind of sewing satisfies the same kind of creative urge that causes me to make quilts, but it's much less expensive, and the stories have sort of taken over my life otherwise. I like picking fabrics out to put together.

Tuesday was Shrove Tuesday. DH and I went to church for a Mardi Gras supper. We had Jambalaya. (There was a vegetarian version as well as a regular recipe.) After we ate, Father Jed brought all of last year's palm branches and crosses outside to where there was an outdoor fireplace of sorts for the purpose. He set them on fire to make the ashes for the Ash Wednesday services the next day. (That dark thing on his head is a Mardi Gras mask.)

We did FaceTime with DD and her family on Saturday. I got this screen shot. 

The kids have been busy dancing, as well as doing things at school. While we were talking I got to see several of the dolls in their collections. We have a date to do this again in two weeks.

We will have to decide soon if we're going to the Rose City Yarn Crawl. There was a case of the NOVID-19 coronavirus identified very close to where DS2 and his family live. It's still an isolated case at this point, and we know how to protect ourselves. (See "What's my tip of the week," below.) Eventually, it will be here in Bend, and we will have to contend with it. We're stocking up on some non-perishable food items and cleaning supplies, just in case we are both sick and can't get out to the store.

What's on my needles: Maine Memories (no progress this week) and Mandy's St. Paddy's Day Outfit cardigan to go with her new skirt and blouse.

What's on my sewing machine: Just finished Mandy's blouse. I think it's time for oiling and cleaning.

What's in my hoop: Still the Whole Cloth Quilt. Another week with no progress.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: "Rules for Success." Mariah and Charlotte discuss a classmate's changing the rules for hopscotch in order to win. 

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Right now, a plastic sandwich bag, which I can carefully remove if someone touches my phone. I finished Scandal at Battersea by Mercedes Lackey and now listening to Amy Snow by Tracy Rees, which was a Daily Deal from Audible. So far, it reminds me a bit of Jane Eyre, but the story and premise are different.

What's in my wine glass: Kirkland Malbec 2018. Very nice.

What's my tip of the week: With NOVID-19 Coronavirus breathing down our necks, I thought I would devote a little space to what we can do to prevent the spread of the virus, now, while it's still fairly isolated in a few places across the US. We got this from Bend Fire & Rescue:

*Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after going to the bathroom, before eating and after blowing your nose, coughing or sneezing. (Well, they said, "soup and water," but I edited. Eat the soup, though. It may be good for you.)
*Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands.
*Stay home if you are sick, or if you need to go out, please wear a mask. (See comment on masks, below.)
*Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.
*If you have flu-like symptoms, contact your physician by phone for evaluation procedures they may want you to follow, especially if you have been in an area where there is a known occurrence of the virus.
*If you have severe shortness of breath, call 911.

I've done a little research over the last couple of days, and in addition to the above, I've read:
*Masks, like the ones they give you at urgent care, are good to use if you're actually sick, to keep you from infecting others, but wearing one won't keep you from being infected by someone else. If I understand correctly, when a sick person exhales, sneezes or coughs, the virus exits the body in tiny droplets of water. The tiny droplets of water are captured by the mask, keeping them and the virus they contain inside the mask. If the virus is already out in the air around you, any droplets of water they may be in are so small they can go right through those masks, so a special kind of mask is needed. If you are a strong, healthy person, you should not buy one of these special masks, because people with compromised immune systems need them. They are already becoming scarce.
*Hand sanitizers may work on this virus, because they work on other coronaviruses, like the kind that cause the common cold. At the time I'm writing this, however, they have not been tried on the NOVID-19. Don't be complacent and assume they will protect you.
*Smart phones and tablets can be a source of infection. Don't share your phone or tablet with anyone, and wash your hands after touching someone else's device.
*Don't share things like makeup, eye drops, inhalers, etc.
*Pass on passing the peace at church. Put your hands together as you would to say "Namaste," or bump elbows or otherwise acknowledge people, but no handshakes or hugs. Surprisingly, drinking communion wine from the common cup doesn't seem to be an issue, but don't dunk your bread in the cup, in case your fingers accidentally come into contact with the wine. (Communion wine is fortified, so it has a high alcohol content, and the wiping and turning of the cup dries the area where any germs might have been killing them.)
*Don't get overtired or do something that would otherwise create physical stress, like dieting or running a marathon. Pay extra attention to good nutrition.
*If you know you're physically compromised, stay out of crowded places, like movie theaters, concerts or campaign rallies.
Everyone stay well!

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.