A Feast for the Eyes, Ears and Stomachs

I spent most of last week cleaning house for our visitors and the appraiser, so I wanted to take some photos while it was clean. Here's the living room.

(I just noticed the pillow is slipping off the Carolina rocker, but...oh, well!)

Here's the dining room.

The kitchen hasn't been this clean since we moved in.

Here's the kitchen eating area. (We need to get some chairs for this table.)

A couple of shots of my "fiber studio," still a work in progress.

I had the dolls sitting around for the enjoyment of our visitors. (They're free-range dolls, after all.)

The master bedroom.

The guest room.

This was the view out the guest room window when I got up Wednesday morning. "Red sky at morning...."

That white structure in the lower left-hand corner is our 5th wheel's roof.

I managed to get some more kimchi made. (You can see I've already been into the first jar.)

I finished my second washcloth for the "Washcloths for Africa" effort. The yarn was some I bought in Finland years ago for a pullover. The pullover didn't need as much as I bought. (That's better than the other way. I bought plenty, because I knew it would be hard to get more in the days before Ravelry.) The brand is "Holiday," and it was made in Belgium by Gustaf Werner AB. It's a little thinner than the Sugar 'n Cream I've used for washcloths and dishcloths. I think it's DK.

I washed and dried the first one. I had to show it to the iron, because the edges curled up, but it blocked nicely with steam. It's darker than it appears in this photo. It's also Sugar 'n Cream, and the color name is "Teal."

I've started one in Sugar 'n Cream in "Warm Brown," and it's almost done. I worked on it while watching the American League Playoffs. My beloved Red Sox weren't in the matchup, so I cheered for the Astros, since Houston is one of the cities we've lived in. I hope to make a couple more washcloths after this one before I have to send them off.

This week's story was about how Emil has discovered he can learn to do a lot of things, but he's the only one who can communicate with animals. This was one of my favorite photos, where Mandy is teaching Emil to knit.

For a knit-along (also a crochet-along and sew-along) in one of the doll groups on Ravelry, I made some capri-length leggings for Charlotte. The theme was "Go Pink Day," for breast-cancer awareness and to remind everyone to get their mammograms. Some of the dolls had been shopping, and Charlotte found a pink ducky.

I also released the pattern for the twinset she's wearing in the photo. It's free on Ravelry and found here.

We went out to eat with DBIL on Thursday at the home of someone in the meet-up groups. It was a potluck, and I was busy, so I took my Italian Pronto. There were only six of us, but we had a great time, and DH and I met three new people. We will see them again soon. I didn't take any photos, but I hope to remember to do that next time.

The Central Oregon Symphony had a performance (three performances actually, at three different times) at the Bend High School. The tickets were free. We went yesterday. We heard Brahms Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 15, with Ednaldo Borba at the piano. He was amazing. After an intermission, the orchestra played Haydn's Symphony No. 104 in D Major, the "London." I used to have it on vinyl, and it was nice to hear it again. It made me laugh. I loved the venue. The acoustics were perfect and we could see over the heads of the people in front of us. It was fun to see people I knew from church. Here are the musicians, warming up before the performance. (One of the violinists was our host for the scotch-tasting event a couple of weeks ago.)

Also this past week, on Thursday, Soren and Johan's school had a "fun run" to raise money for a track at the school. Soren is a good runner, so this is an important asset to have at his school.

Johan ran, too. He claimed to have run 1500 laps. He may have been exaggerating, but I don't know for sure.

We managed to keep up our two-mile walks each day for another week. 

I'm looking forward to another busy week ahead!

What's on my needles: More washcloths for Africa

What's on my sewing machine: More costumes (clothes) for the dolls.

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

What's in The Doll's Storybook: "Talking to Animals," where Emil realizes we each have different gifts.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Rachel Maddow's Blowout. I'm just getting into it, so I can't say much about it, but since DH worked most of his career in the oil and gas industry, I think it will be of interest.

What's in my wine glass: Terrain Vineyards California Red Blend, 2016. I think this was the same bottle as last week

What's my tip of the week: You've probably thought of this yourself, but if you wash your sheets as soon as you strip the bed, you can have them dry in time to put them right back on the bed, thus saving the time to fold them.

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.

In the Pink Again...Almost

"Think Pink" days continued through Friday. You may remember that Mandy made mittens for Dolly and surprised her with them on Monday.

On Tuesday, Vroni and Mandy decided they need some exercise, which is part of a healthful lifestyle, important for cancer prevention. Park City is a great place to enjoy the outdoors, with lots of hiking, biking and snowshoe trails, as well as the ski resorts, but there are two problems. 1) Mandy’s coat wasn’t finished yet, and it’s too cold to go for a hike without one, and 2) This is what the locals call “mud season.” (Actually, there are two mud seasons. Other places call them “spring” and “fall.” The snow melt causes the mud.) All the girls have snow boots, but no wellies, and I’ve ruled out running their…um…running shoes through the dryer, so I ruled out a hike, even if they all had coats. “Let’s go to the Fieldhouse!” I suggested. Little kids go there to run around in the indoor field and jump around in the blow-up castle, but older young people and adults can walk or run on the track. The girls have the proper attire for that, as well as their new pink water bottles. A cardigan is all you need to hop in the car and out again.

While they were getting ready, the girls decide to stop at the library, which is very close to the Fieldhouse, so they could get some books for Dolly, who was feeling better but still in bed.

All the girls love dogs, and Dolly really enjoyed the big picture book, Sorry, I Pooped in Your Shoe, although it’s a little difficult to turn the pages wearing her new mittens.

Mandy was rather annoyed when the nozzle came off of her special water bottle. She showed me when we got home:

"Get out your glue gun, Mum!"

By Wednesday, Dolly had stopped coughing and was feeling “in the pink” again. She was out of bed and dressed.

The theme for Wednesday was diet and food, so the girls decided to have a tea party to celebrate Dolly's recovery and the fact that no one else has caught the cold. They had a discussion about what they should serve at their tea party. Mandy wanted to know what Dolly wants to have, since it’s in her honor.

Dolly says that she thinks they should each bring their favorite party food. Mandy made a list.

Dolly said she liked chocolates.

Gabi said cookies.

Mandy added raisins as her favorite party food. 

Vroni said, “Well, unlike chocolates, cookies and raisins, MY favorite party food requires actual cooking...but I know how.

Vroni  put on a makeshift apron (the girls keep giving their actual aprons away) and assembled her supplies and the cookbook.

She spent at least five minutes slaving over a hot microwave to produce her favorite party food: popcorn.

The girls set the table. Gabi said they needed another chair. “I’ll get it when I get the package of cookies,” she said.

Mandy started putting raisins on a plate, and Dolly opened the box of chocolates, a gift from when she was sick. Vroni said she would pour the tea.

Tea! we all forgot to make the tea. Oh, well. Pretend tea is good at a pretend tea party.

On Thursday we received word yesterday that our new addition, Charlotte Anne, would be leaving for the US on Friday, along with her dog. Her immigration paperwork is in order and her pup had his rabies certificate and health certificate, so they could both fly together and enter the US with no problem. Vroni and Mandy were so excited, they stayed up way into the night, talking and planning.

Mandy was working on a sock for Charlotte Anne, and Vroni had planned to read in front of the fire (in honor of Diwali and the light at the end of the tunnel), but it’s hard to talk and read at the same time. At one point, while I was still up, Mandy came to me with a mistake in her work. (I guess it’s hard to knit and talk when you’re excited.) "Put on your glasses, Mandy!"

They were still jabbering when I went to bed. I guessed they would sleep late the next morning, and they did. Mandy didn’t wake me to fix her knitting again, so I knew she had it sorted out.

I wished Charlotte Anne a safe trip and hoped that she wouldn’t think all those shoes are just for her. Or that her puppy wouldn’t chew on them!

Friday came around, and the girls and I talked about what we should do for the last day of THINK PINK, which was a day of celebration. The girls decided we should post a photo of each of them. I handed them my album—um, iPad—so they could go through the photos and decide together what to post. Here are their selections: 

Dolly looks so young here. That photo was taken almost two years ago.

Gabi has had several pink items, including the jacket for her Everyday Play dress, but this is her favorite.

Mandy has a lot of nice clothes with pink somewhere in them, but this outfit was the closest thing to a best pink outfit. It reminds her of all the fun they had outdoors over the summer.

Of course, Vroni has her lovely Dirndl, but everyone has already seen that during “THINK PINK” days, so here she is in her best Sunday wrap dress, also a favorite.

Of course, the “Cotton Candy Gracie” (made with slightly longer sleeves) has made the rounds among the girls, because they all love it. 

I’m glad the girls have been having fun, because I had to sit them down and tell them that, Charlotte Anne is now bringing two horses with her, and because of the horses, she can’t just hop on a plane. It means her arrival will be delayed perhaps two weeks.

After a few minutes of glum silence, Mandy left the room and came back with the belt for her new coat.

“Here,” she said. “You only have to sew the buttons on and attach the belt now. Please finish my coat so I can go outdoors and play.”

We all looked at her…

“Well,” she continued, “I’ve learned two things in the past 10 days: Waiting is long, and life is short. Stay well and get a mammogram once a year. And live it up!”

I think Mandy’s right. We really should “THINK PINK” all year long. Celebrate life!

Mandy did get to go outdoors for a bit. Here she is in her new coat.

It was nice of her to be so patient for the photo shoot, because she was really anxious to run off and play. 

She was outdoors for all of 30 minutes when it started to rain, which later turned to wet snow. Mandy says, "I guess you have to take the bad with the good."

I didn't go to Common Threads this week because of my cold, but I'm much better, so I hope to be able to make Vintage Stitchers on Thursday.

I've changed my disclaimer (below) to indicate that no dolls were harmed, either. My regular blog will be back next week.

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.