Out and About

The Speculoos Sweater is off and running. The orange stitch marker (lower middle right) is the center back. This project is less complicated than the Vilai socks.

I got my flu shot and Covid booster on Tuesday, both in the same arm. The pharmacist recommended doing it that way, because she said that leaves you one side to sleep on comfortably, if you like to sleep on your side. All my joints were aching for about 12 hours. My arm was no longer sore on Thursday. I should be mostly immunized in time for the Condega event next Sunday.

The Condega Celebration is a fundraiser for our church's support of the people of Condega, Nicaragua. I'll be there, selling my books. I'm happy that my new book will arrive in time for this celebration. It's basically a big party with nice things to buy. Charlie is going to attend and see what he might want to spend money on. Last year we bought tickets to a high tea on Valentine's Day. It was a nice outing, and we enjoyed the company with the other participants.

The dogs went to the groomer this week. First we walked with them to the dog park and walked around the trail in the big-dog section, because there were no dogs to play with in either section. When we finished that, there were a couple of dogs in the big-dog section and one little dog in the other. Dusty and Sandy played with the big dogs for a bit and then we went to play with the little dog, so he wouldn't be lonely. After a while, another little dog arrived, and it was time for us to continue on to the groomer. After we dropped them off, we walked home, cutting back through the park, crossing 15th Street and then going the rest of the way back the way we had come.

Charlie didn't want to walk with us the next day because he had some gardening to do, so I took the dogs by myself. When we were a short distance from the usual turnaround spot, it started to rain. Fortunately (for me, but not the dogs) I was wearing my waterproof windbreaker. Instead of turning around and heading home, we continued until we reached Bear Creek Rd, where we usually turn around. It only rained for about five minutes or so. I stopped to take a photo of the dogs on our way back. I wanted to get them immortalized while their haircuts were still fresh.

We walked past the construction site, as we often do, because the area where we can let the dogs off-leash is adjacent to it. I noticed that they had put in the walkways to the front doors of the little houses and had added some bushes and a few small trees.

I don't know how much longer we'll have access to this place, but for now, it's great for the dogs to run.

We walked again on Sunday. I discovered that the construction company had started building some fences surrounding the development.

During our walk on Saturday, we came across a big box labeled "FREE SQUASH." I peeked in. There was one left, so I took it. I've been trying to identify the type of squash. It seems like a winter variety, although the peel isn't excessively thick. It looks a bit like a cross between a zucchini and a green winter squash. It will be interesting to see what it's like inside.

I baked some bread on Saturday. I prefer this bread for sandwiches over the whole wheat bread from the store. It's made with sourdough starter and whole wheat flour.

On Sunday, the choir began singing again. We'll be singing most Sundays from now through June. We had a big back-to-school celebration, with a blessing of the backpacks. The children brought their backpacks up to the front to receive a blessing. Charlie came to the service because our anniversary is Tuesday and his birthday is Saturday, and we could get a blessing for our anniversary, and Charlie could get a blessing for his birthday. Here's a screenshot of that moment from the video of the service. (Those are my Vilai socks!)

The first box containing my new books is expected to arrive today, and the other two boxes should arrive tomorrow. I'm excited to open the box! If you have one of my books, please leave an honest review on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or the BookBaby Bookshop, if you have the time. It helps others decide whether to buy or not, and the royalties go to support pediatric cancer research and treatment.

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. As I said, 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: Working on the Speculoos Sweater.

What's on my iPhone: Still listening to Wildwood by Colin Meloy, getting close to the end. I'm looking forward to the movie October 23. Here's the trailer:

What's on my sewing machine: Getting ready to make clothes for Elsie's Christmas doll. She and her brother are my honorary grandchildren, because she's the cousin of two of our grandkids and doesn't have grandparents.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: Mariah is feeling bad because she thinks she did something wrong. A talk with Veronika puts everything to rights. This week's story from The Doll's Storybook is Bear.
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What's my tip of the week: Aluminum foil can be washed (if needed) and reused, even the "everyday" thickness if you buy good-quality foil and handle it carefully. After it has tears in it, it can be recycled. I wash it regardless.

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 on its way to me and should arrive today. Yay!

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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Tails or Tales of Summer

The second Vilai sock is coming along. It's easier than the first. Maybe because I have a few of these pattern repeats under my belt.

We were pestered for several days this week by a fly we named "Houdini." He couldn't do what most of our self-respecting fly visitors do and bang himself against the window until he died on the windowsill or try to get a drink from the dogs' water dish, fall in and drown. No, this fly wanted to hop onto our bare arms, necks, legs or whatever part of our bodies he could reach, or investigate the countertops in the kitchen or tease the dogs (although they did find that entertaining). Usually we don't see or hear from them, but Houdini was different. Whenever I tried to swat him, he saw me coming and flew away. I put a piece of apple (because I noticed he was attracted to our apples in a bowl on the kitchen counter) in a big jar and was ready with the lid to put on as soon as he flew in, but he ignored the treat in favor of my open laptop, maybe wanting to check his social media accounts. His folly, though, was investigating a piece of used paper towel on the counter near me. I had the flyswatter within reach, so I moved slowly to pick it up, checked my aim and whack! We would notify the next of kin...if we knew who they were and how we could reach them.

The dogs and I walked almost every day, and sometimes Charlie joined us. A couple of days it was too hot and/or the AQI was in the hazardous range. During one of our walks I got the boys to pose for me at this little garden along the trail.

We've been keeping our eyes on the construction taking place in what used to be a huge wooded area between the trail and 15th Street. They're building rows of little townhomes or quadraplexes in the area closest to where we walk, and they've already built a huge apartment building along the street on the other side. A picture of the proposed development we saw when we were walking along 15th Street a couple of weeks ago showed a pool, so it will probably be a condominium/HOA development. The chain-link fence keeps nosy neighbors and probably ICE out––we frequently hear Spanish spoken on the site.

There is still enough of the woods left to walk through...for now.

This was our route each day we walked, a screenshot from the Walk for a Dog app. Sandy doesn't like the heat, which is always much greater in the sun, so he rushes to get to the next shady spot. Some days this week we were lucky enough to be able to walk early or late in the day when there were shadows on the trail.

On Saturday, we met up at Trinity with a couple of other people for a planned hike in La Pine State Park. I had suggested it last month, and Valerie, who is in charge of organizing the outings had driven down to check out the trail we would use. She elected to take us through the Couger Woods (no relation to Tiger Woods) to end up at the Big Tree, so we would have a destination for our hike. The plan was to carpool down to the Park, but we ended up all riding in Valerie's Jeep, because we were only four people and two dogs. There's a $10 day-use charge, so we saved money by riding together. You pay by using your phone to capture the QR code from the sign at the trailhead, but no one could get it to work except for Charlie, who has a relatively new iPhone. So he ended up paying the fee, which was OK, because Valerie paid for the gas to get there and back.

The Big Tree is a Ponderosa Pine, several hundred years old and worth seeing. We enlisted another visitor to take our photo from each of our phones.

Most of the trail is just dirt, but there is a parking lot just above the Big Tree and the wheelchair accessible walk down the hill to the attraction itself is asphalt. If you don't want to hike but want to see the Big Tree, you can park in the parking lot and just take the short walk down to where the tree is.

Besides the Big Tree, we had some lovely views during the hike, occasionally getting a good look at the Deschutes River. There was a little smoke, but the AQI in the Park area was in the acceptable range, much lower than at home, so we probably wouldn't have walked if we hadn't been driving to another location with better air.

This was our route, out and back. 

On the way back, we stopped at Sunriver Brewing in Sunriver––they have other locations––for lunch. We sat outdoors, so the dogs could join us. (We couldn't have left them in the car, of course, because it was too hot.)

We're expecting company in a few days, so I've been spending some time doing some of the H-word. I thoroughly cleaned our bathroom and dusted our bedroom. A few days later I tidied and dusted the living/dining area and the hallway, including upstairs. Charlie will vacuum. We have offered our friends our guest room. We were neighbors with these friends during our time in Indonesia back in the '90s and have seen them only once since leaving Houston, when they came to stay with us in Park City for a family ski adventure. Although they have their own trailer and could sleep in it, the AQI has been fluctuating, often going into the hazardous range, so sleeping indoors in air-conditioned comfort will likely be healthier. Charlie plans to tidy up his mess in the kitchen eating area and vacuum the whole house, so I'll have to get the remaining rooms dusted. The powder room and guest bath will need just routine cleaning, and the kitchen hasn't been thoroughly cleaned for a long time. It will be a busy week, because we have an extra Summer Choir practice. Our performance will be next Saturday.

On Friday, Alexa took the boys bowling with some of their friends. Soren (he's the tall one) got a strike! He seems to be good at sports.

Sunday evening we watched the Coraline Watch Party from LAIKA.

The Portland Stuarts were having a guys' slumber party to coincide with the Coraline Watch Party. It was great. They gave some background information in the introduction, showed the film in its entirety (with no commercials) and then showed some extra material, like interviews with the voice actors and outtakes from the film. There were also some snippets from their new film, "Wildwood." The trailer for the new film will be out on August 19th. 

We feel like LAIKA is a family business, because Peter has worked there ever since they started with Coraline, which came out in 2009.

Also on Sunday, halfway (or a little more) across the country, Miss Daphne was making cookies.

The new book is getting the final proofing and I have a new quote from BookBaby for it. It was a relief to see that printing costs hadn't increased that much, in spite of the inflation we have experienced almost everywhere. I've started on Book 8. I want to get a few more books put together so that if I become unable to continue, they will only need proofreading and printing. I feel well, but I'm getting up in years, and one never knows. (Of course, we can get hit by a truck at any age.)

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. I do NOT need SEO services.

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 working on the Vilai socks.

What's on my iPhone: Still listening to Wildwood by Colin Meloy. And the playlist for our concert next Saturday.

What's on my sewing machine: Still put away until the next project.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: What is wool? Where does it come from and how does it turn into yarn? Mandy can explain in this story from The Doll's Storybook. Here's "Soft, Warm and Fun to Make."

What's my tip of the week: When dusting in the house a surgical mask can come in handy, especially if you have allergies. It won't keep out smoke, but it will protect you from pollen and other possible allergens in the dust you brush into the air. 

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 will be coming out in a few weeks.

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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Putting Stuff Together

Remember the iPhone pouch I was making for our veterinarian's mother? She's a big Nebraska fan, so he asked me to put their logo on it for her. I couldn't figure out how to do it with needle-felting, which was how I made the Apple logo on mine, the one our vet saw me wearing. I found the logo as an embroidered patch at The Patch Collection. They had several sizes, so I picked the size that fit best. I found some fabric in my stash for the lining.

I basted the lining fabric halfway down a piece about twice the length I thought was needed and took it to the vet's office, so he can try it on her phone when he visits her. I gave him a pin, so he can Pin it smaller where it's basted, or pin it together to the right size where it isn't basted. The lining won't stretch, but the outer part of the pouch will. If the lining is too loose, the phone can fall out. If it's too tight...well, obviously, that won't work. (I used my free pattern.) I'm just waiting to get the lining back from our vet.

Pauly doesn't have much in the way of clothing, so I decided to make him one of my Wonderland Turtle pullover/cardigans. I used the smaller size, of course, but there is a larger size for the slim Happy Kidz dolls or the plumper American Girl/Boy dolls.

Tuesday, we had our Madroña Vineyards Zoom "pop-up" meeting/party. The plan this time was for us all to make the same recipe and pair it with different wines to see how the wines went with them. Everyone got this link to start with for the recipe. The daughter of the Vineyard owner said she recognized it as the "TikTok Pasta" recipe, so that's how I saved it in my The Recipe Box app (See my recipe in photo below). I made some changes, the main one being using feta crumbles instead of a block of feta, because of availability, and sliced salad olives...just because. It worked fine, we thought. The recipe calls for roasting the feta cheese with olive oil and seasonings first.

While it's roasting, you cook the pasta. Then you mix the cooked pasta in with the roasted cheese and tomatoes, along with basil and garlic. Some basil leaves decorate the top and then the sliced olives. We used gemelli pasta, and the grooves collected the juices from the tomatoes nicely. 

It was delicious, and we'll make it again! We had a Terra d'Oro Barbera 2016 with it. I thought it was great with every bite, but Charlie thought it was better with a bite of the pasta and cheese but not as much with a bite of mostly the tomatoes.

The greenhouse demolition is coming along. The floor was poorly and cheaply made. Charlie will build a new floor.

With his part of the bathroom closet done, Joshua is working on our front porch/deck. He found the front posts placed directly on the ground, which is not to code. He believes the house was probably inspected before the porch was built, as that often happens. Then it may be expedient to build the porch without abiding by code. It will be up to code when he finishes with it. The bannisters were wobbly, and that will be fixed, too. He is replacing the wood that rotted as a result of coming into direct contact with the soil.

Joshua set up his workshop between where our trailer is parked in the trailer driveway and the fence to the back yard.

The books are starting to go out to friends and family first and our first preorders. I was excited to learn that another check with royalties from the first two books had gone to St. Jude. They have now received a little over $325 from the sale of the books in two years, with more of it coming in the second year. It's good to know that as little as it is, that support will continue after I'm gone, as long as people still buy the books.

This week's cuteness is Miss Daphne, reading my latest book. (I got a kick out of how she texted me, asking when the book would be out. She seemed excited to get it.)

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 books. 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 other books, 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 Hinterland Pullover (some more very slight progress made) and the EmPower People Kerchief (hibernating). Cast on Pauly's Wonderland Turtle and finished the collar. The pattern is Pippa's Wonderland Turtle.

What's on my loom: Dust, but I still plan to make some placemats.

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: Fall Is for Falling came out October 14th. Pauly sees trees that have turned red or yellow and thinks they're changing their clothes. Mandy and Emil help him understand how leaves change color and fall to the ground.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Listening to Plan for the Worst, Chronicles of St. Mary's, Book 11 from Audible.

What's in my wine glass: Sinfonia vinho tinto from Portugal. Nice enough.

What's my tip of the week: My recipe for TikTok Feta Pasta––Enjoy!

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 Greatcoat, The 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 world wide. The link for Book Baby is here. The three stories in Emil are Best Buds, Getting What You Want, and The Boys Cook Dinner.

The three stories in Mariah 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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