Showing posts with label Stories from The Doll's Storybook. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Stories from The Doll's Storybook. Show all posts

Sunday, June 1, 2025

Where Are My Books?

Interested in the books from The Doll's Storybook series? Here's all the information on each book with links to the stories from the blog that are included in them. (The stories are reproduced with a few changes.) The books are paperback, 8 1/2" X 11" and vary in page length. They are filled with photos of the dolls "in action," and are suitable for all ages. The links after each title will take you to the original stories online, so you can preview them before you decide which ones to buy.



The stories in More Classic Tales Retold: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are Welcoming a StrangerThe RescueUnmaskedFuzzy Town––A Play and Sky Blue.

Our Favorite Verses: Poems from The Doll's Storybook. Poems included are Valentine's DayKeeping PetsBack to School, Victor the VultureThe Week Before Christmas, Insomnia and Veronika's Vocabulary Verses.

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

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

The stories in Mariah are Being LittleBesties, 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, because the publisher gets a cut. Find my books at Barbara's Bookstore as 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.

<a class="blsdk-follow" href="https://www.bloglovin.com/blogs/highfiber-7365001" target="_blank" data-blsdk-type="button" data-blsdk-counter="false">Follow</a><script>(function(d, s, id) {var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if (d.getElementById(id)) return;js = d.createElement(s);js.id = id;js.src = "https://www.bloglovin.com/widget/js/loader.js?v=1";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, "script", "bloglovin-sdk"))</script>

<a href="https://www.bloglovin.com/blog/7365001/?claim=kkvctsdtf4n">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>   

Monday, February 24, 2025

Wrapping Things Up

The Sunday Morning Wrap is finally making some progress.


I've been taking it along when I go for doctor's visits or whenever I go somewhere where I will be sitting for a while. My Ravelry project for the shawl is here, if you want info on the yarn and needle size I'm using.

The Rose City Yarn Crawl Mystery Knit Along is finished. As you may remember from last week, here it was, blocking. It took a long time to dry because it's a tube with the ends joined together, so it's four layers.



Here it is after blocking.



And the other side.


Olivia's winter jacket and boots arrived from Maplelea in Canada this week. The package was held up at the border in Niagara Falls for several days while U. S. Customs officials tried to sort through whether a tariff was required on doll clothes. (No tariff was required, but there may be one on my next order, whenever that is.) Then it went through two other delivery services before it was handed over to USPS. After making it through severe weather across the country it arrived in Bend late on Saturday, after delivery hours, and with the Presidents' Day holiday coming up, so it finally came into my hands on Tuesday. I've been waiting for the jacket to arrive before taking the photos for the story that introduces Olivia.



The jacket and boots are a good fit. I haven't tried the snow pants yet, but they look about right. The mittens, if I need them, will take something to keep the fingers from snagging on the elastic. They're big enough, but the Happy Kidz's fingers must be spread out more than the Maplelea dolls' fingers, and MY fingers are too stiff to hold the elastic open and manage the little finger and the thumb at the same time. I think I could wrap them in paper or plastic wrap, and it would work. Maplelea clothes and accessories are very well made and fit the Götz Happy Kidz pretty well.

The T-shirt quilt was ready to pick up on Friday. I think the backing looks like water, so I chose a quilting pattern that looks like waves and bubbles. I have lots of the backing left, so I'm going to use it for the binding.


I still have the two rows of footprints to appliqué onto the back. I have figured out that I will need to sew the binding on the right side, do the appliqué and then sew the binding down on the back by hand after that. We'll see how that goes.


On Saturday we went to the concert put on by Central Oregon Symphony. (You can watch/listen by clicking on the link.)


Three amazing young people, ages 15-17 performed. The youngest, Emily Liu, played the solo part in a selection from Edvard Grieg's Concerto for Piano in A Minor.


Lily Sullivan, the oldest, played the violin solo in a selection from Johannes Brahms' Concerto for Violin in D Major. Then Jesse Krenz played the cello solo in a selection from Edward Elgar's Concerto for Cello in E Minor. All three were amazing! After intermission, we heard more from Elgar in his Enigma Variations.


On Sunday, the Bishop came to our church. We had some special music, and it was fun. Here are Jo (violin) and Suzanne (piano) practicing before the service.


We had an unexpected event during the Bishop's sermon. A little boy came and sat under the altar. It took his mother, our priest and another parishioner to get him to leave. The Bishop said, "All are welcome," which was the subject of his sermon.


I made more carob brownies during the week. Since I'm forbidden chocolate for the time being, I find I have a real craving for it. I made some Spotted Angel (a casserole with silken tofu, yoghurt, eggs, rice, onion, zucchini, black beans and cheese) and some stir fry using soy curls, which are actually pretty good. One batch of brown rice made enough for the Spotted Angel and to go with the stir-fry.



It's time to make bread again. I will do that 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 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 RetoldOur 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: Still working on the Sunday Morning Wrap and finishing up the Rose City Yarn Crawl Mystery Knit Along.

What's on my loom: Still in its corner under the windows.

What's on my sewing machine: The binding for the T-shirt quilt.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: Since it’s Black History Month, I thought it would be good to rerun Being 
Colorblind. I originally published it in 2020, and the dolls were wearing masks until they got home. I didn't want to have the masks distract from the story, so I took new photos. The story has also been edited slightly. I always find things I want to change when I rerun a story.


What's my tip of the week: Our recycling service doesn't take the plastic jar lids from things like peanut butter and mayonnaise, and I hate to throw them out, so I wash them and use them for coasters under oil, vinegar, salad dressing and other things that sometimes drip and make a mess in the cabinets or on the counter.

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


The stories in More Classic Tales Retold: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are Welcoming a StrangerThe RescueUnmaskedFuzzy Town––A Play and Sky Blue.

Our Favorite Verses: Poems from The Doll's Storybook. Poems included are Valentine's DayKeeping PetsBack to School, Victor the VultureThe Week Before Christmas, Insomnia and Veronika's Vocabulary Verses.

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

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

The stories in Mariah are Being LittleBesties, 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, because the publisher gets a cut. 

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.

<a class="blsdk-follow" href="https://www.bloglovin.com/blogs/highfiber-7365001" target="_blank" data-blsdk-type="button" data-blsdk-counter="false">Follow</a><script>(function(d, s, id) {var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if (d.getElementById(id)) return;js = d.createElement(s);js.id = id;js.src = "https://www.bloglovin.com/widget/js/loader.js?v=1";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, "script", "bloglovin-sdk"))</script>

<a href="https://www.bloglovin.com/blog/7365001/?claim=kkvctsdtf4n">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>   

Monday, July 17, 2023

Packing for...?

We've been getting ready to pick up our new trailer in Eugene. I made a couple of dishcloths and a nylon scrubby. Unfortunately, the pattern I have for the scrubby is no longer available, but I found this one, which looks to be almost the same. I used a much finer nylon net this time, and I found it easier to work with.

I'm adding this dish mat, which is the second one I made two years ago. How I made it is on the project page on Ravelry. I'm keeping the red one here at home.


You can see we're going with grey and turquoise as our main colors. I like these two colors, alone and separately, and we thought they would go well with the grey cabinets and the rag rugs I made last year for the trailer. Most of our bedding needed replacing anyway, so we got new sheets (only our third set in 23 years!) a new duvet cover (replacing the first one we got 23 years ago), which came with pillow shams. The mattress cover was also original and was starting to have holes in some places. We're keeping the original quilt for now, because it's a good cover on the bed to protect from muddy paws, but we're adding a fake fur throw, which Sandy loves. We can put the bedding into black plastic trash bags and hope they don't get mixed up with actual trash. 

We have inexpensive bath and hand towels, but I used those to pack our kitchen things, which includes our dishes. It mostly fits into five small boxes. This is greatly pared down from what we had in our old fifth wheel. It doesn't include our clothes, toiletries and personal items. We will only take enough clothes for a few days, because we have to fit everything into the truck. We'll tape up the boxes, put them in the bed of the truck and hope it doesn't rain.

It also doesn't include food, other than coffee, tea and a few other shelf-stable items, along with any leftovers from our fridge that might spoil if we left them. We'll use an insulated bag with cold packs from our freezer for cold stuff, and then we'll grocery shop for what we need when we get custody of the trailer and know how much will fit into the fridge, which is 6 cu. ft., which I think is smaller than what we had in the fifth wheel.

How about that old 5th wheel, which we sold on June 28th? It's still sitting on our RV pad. The gentleman who was supposed to pick it up had his tow vehicle break down. Sound familiar? He lives in Portland or Salem. It's taking some time to get it fixed. (Looking for parts, is my guess.) The registration and insurance on the fifth wheel runs out this month. We were going to give him the tow hitch, but he will have to get here and get it installed. We will need a place to put the new trailer. We're still trying to work things out. Right now, we don't know when we'll go to pick it up.

Health issues (mine) interfered with my activities this past week. I had an infected toe, which took me (limping) to urgent care. The day after I went to urgent care, I discovered that I had a UTI, which sent me to see my regular doctor (still limping). Now I'm on two antibiotics and no longer limping, but it took a lot of time getting it all sorted out. I did manage to get the blocks for Soren's quilt organized according to the arrangement I worked out last week. I have each block labeled with a pinned sticky indicating where it goes. 

Sandy continues to grow, tipping the scales at 17 lbs. as of Friday. He is now six months old. Minis grow faster and finish maturing sooner than standards, so we still have the expectation that he will be under 25 lbs. when he stops growing. He made us look good at training class on Sunday, in spite of the fact that I was unable to practice loose-leash walking with him during the week due to the toe, which continued to hurt when wearing any kind of shoe for most of the week. Dusty keeps Sandy exercised when we can't walk (or maybe it's the other way around).

Here's Sandy and his friend Snowball having a bedtime tussle in the upstairs hallway.

Sandy brings Snowball to bed with him at night. I think Snowball will have to go camping with us when we go.

Soren has been enjoying summer school. Here he is, off on the bus.

Johan, who turned nine this week, learned how to use a power drill, when the family put together a new shed for tools and things in the backyard. Useful life skills!


Useful in a different way, is Zachary's hiphop class. (He's the one in the white shirt.) I think he's very good!


I only got a couple of rows of the Kultainen käki sweater done, with the dish cloths and scrubby taking up my knitting time and all the other things, including another new story in The Doll's Storybook this week. (More info on that below). Here's how it's looking.



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 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 "Classic Tales Retold: 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 any of our books, including Emil and Mariah, 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 Kultainen käki cardigan and the EmPower People Kerchief (hibernating), but also the dishcloth.

What's on my loom: Still the rag placemats, no progress.

What's on my sewing machine: Still ready to put the quilt blocks together.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: Nico has a problem in "The Secret," this week's story in The Doll's Storybook. Pauly thinks Veronika can help.



What's on my iPad/iPhone: Still listening to Die Unendliche Geschichte by Michael Ende, not much progress there, either. 

What's in my wine glass: Another Madroña El Tinto, always a favorite.

What's my tip of the week: If you need to save on space and keep food for a trip cold in an ice chest, use frozen food you expect to use up in the first few days as "ice." (Be sure it's food that is safe to cook thawed.)

Where are my books: The stories in each book first appeared in the blog and they are reproduced with a few changes. 
Classic Tales Retold: Stories from The Doll's Storybook is available from BookBabyBookshop and other booksellers worldwide. The stories are Little Green GreatcoatThe Boy Doll Who Cried Wolf and Lost in the Woods.
Emil: Stories from The Doll's Storybook and Mariah: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are also still available from booksellers. The link for Book Baby is hereThe three stories in Emil are Best BudsGetting What You Want, and The Boys Cook Dinner.
The three stories in Mariah are Being LittleBesties, 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.

<a class="blsdk-follow" href="https://www.bloglovin.com/blogs/highfiber-7365001" target="_blank" data-blsdk-type="button" data-blsdk-counter="false">Follow</a><script>(function(d, s, id) {var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if (d.getElementById(id)) return;js = d.createElement(s);js.id = id;js.src = "https://www.bloglovin.com/widget/js/loader.js?v=1";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, "script", "bloglovin-sdk"))</script>

<a href="https://www.bloglovin.com/blog/7365001/?claim=kkvctsdtf4n">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a> 

Monday, September 12, 2022

Things Come Together

The first sleeve of the Hinterland Pullover is almost done. I had started the colorwork on the sleeves, but I began to think about having baggy sleeves and decided I would probably wear it more if the sleeves were plain, with ribbing, so that's what I'm doing. 



I bought the fabric for the backing for the T-shirt quilt. This is what I picked out. It sort of reminds me of SCUBA diving, which was one of the activities we participated in in Indonesia, so suitable to go along with the T-shirts from those days.




We laid out the quilt top upside down on the floor and played around with the two blocks that we planned to put on the back.




In the end, we decided to put a square in the middle using the dark batik left over from the top. When I cut the tracks of footprints off the two blocks we will have four strips of footprints. We decided to put them in each corner, all running in the same direction, but one on each side and floating just a bit from the edge. This complicates piecing the back, especially, since the fabric has a pattern that is different when the piece is vertical versus horizontal. I wish I had noticed that when I picked it out. However, my diagram shows which way the pattern goes on each piece. Now I have to press the fabric and cut out the pieces with the pattern going the right way.



The nights have been getting cooler. The days aren't too hot, and probably won't be again until spring/summer '23, but our little garden is doing its best. The birds and squirrels got some of our tomatoes and our entire first crop of apples (two).
This little squash is almost ready. 


Choir has started up again. We had a fairly small group this week, as some people are still away or otherwise occupied. It's hard to sing with a mask. I took mine off for the anthem and for the communion piece, but in a couple of weeks I shouldn't need it at all, because the new bivalent boosters are available here now, and we're getting ours on Tuesday. It has been five months since our last booster, so we're having to be more careful again.

The Oregon grandkids started school. Here they are, ready for the first day.



Daphne is going en pointe! This week she was fitted for her first pair of toe shoes.



The proofreading is finally done and my book is off to the publisher. Timing is still OK unless I have some problems with photos, as I had last year. This book has the same format as the first two, but the type is smaller and it has 10 more pages. There are still three stories, but this time the dolls act out the roles of characters in familiar stories.

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 this book or our first one, 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. The new book is going to be Classic Tales Retold: Stories from The Doll's Storybook. Here's the cover.


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 Hinterland Pullover (more progress made) and the EmPower People Kerchief (hibernating).

What's on my loom: Awaiting ?

What's on my sewing machine: Still ready for back of T-shirt quilt.

What's in my hoop: Whole Cloth quilt, still no progress..

What's in The Doll's Storybook: 
This week's story is School Days––a Poem, and it's a poem (no surprise). The dolls show us what they do at home before and after school and think about the coming cooler weather.





What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finishedl listening to Come a Little Closer by Rachel Abbott. Now listening to The Big Dark Sky by Dean Koontz. 

What's in my wine glass: Villa di Mare Nero d'Avola from Italy (Sicily). Very nice. (I couldn't find a vintage on the bottle, but sometimes the type is too small.)

What's my tip of the week: Flu shots are available now, but the height of flu season is January/February. The vaccine looses its effectiveness over time, so we will be waiting a bit longer.

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 hereThe three stories are Best BudsGetting 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 LittleBesties, 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.

<a class="blsdk-follow" href="https://www.bloglovin.com/blogs/highfiber-7365001" target="_blank" data-blsdk-type="button" data-blsdk-counter="false">Follow</a><script>(function(d, s, id) {var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if (d.getElementById(id)) return;js = d.createElement(s);js.id = id;js.src = "https://www.bloglovin.com/widget/js/loader.js?v=1";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, "script", "bloglovin-sdk"))</script>

<a href="https://www.bloglovin.com/blog/7365001/?claim=kkvctsdtf4n">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>