Monday, August 11, 2025

Into the Woods

We backed into our site at La Pine State Park on Monday a little after 3:15 PM, the first to arrive. Jim had expected to be there by 3:00 PM, but he was a little late leaving Florence. 


The kids had a longer trip down from their home in the Portland area, but they had their tent set up well before suppertime. Our site was right next to an overflow parking area for two cars, so they parked there. It was convenient for lugging stuff to the campsite. 


We had a lot of activities during each day, including time for the guys to play a card game at the big picnic table.


The dogs were interested in the little ground squirrels that scampered about or came to beg for scraps. (We didn't feed the squirrels, but I'm sure they found some crumbs.) 



Sandy likes attention. I think that's what he's begging for in this photo, because Daddy wasn't eating, which is the other thing we do that interests Sandy. 


We got in a lot of hiking, mostly through the woods. During the four days we were there we hiked over 10 miles, total. That would have been too much for me all at once these days, but it was a number of shorter hikes with rests and other activities in between.


Several times we started out at the big off-leash area adjacent to the campground. Dusty had some competition for getting the ball in Louis, who is pretty fast. Dusty's a good sport, though, and likes a challenge. (He also goes nuts when he sees someone has a Chuck-it!) The boys did most of the ball-throwing, so we could just watch and enjoy. Keeping track of three balls in this huge area was a challenge, though. W
hile the two older dogs competed for one ball, we threw another ball in a different direction for Sandy, because he won't go after the ball if he sees Dusty is going after it.


I caught Dusty in mid-shake in this photo, taken at the river where the kids threw sticks into the water for Sandy, the only real water dog in the family. The others got wet, but didn't really swim, and a drink or two is always appreciated.


We visited the McGregor Memorial Viewpoint again, so the kids and Jim could see it. We each found a place to sit in the shade and eat our sandwiches. Well, Jim doesn't pack sandwiches; he has something like granola bars to take on hikes. We all ate, though, even the dogs.


From there we continued on to the trail through the Cougar Woods that leads to Big Tree. We stopped to admire the very old and fat Ponderosa Pine and then walked on to the riverbank nearby. We spent a little bit of time there, watching occasional kayakers float by.


A lady was swimming in the river near us. The dogs went to the water to get a drink.


We did a little bird watching. Although I didn't see them I heard there was an occasional osprey (aka "Sea Hawk" or "River Hawk") flying over or chirping in the woods.


Sandy, as always, was drawn to the water.


After we got back to the campsite, everyone was ready for a rest. Louis just plopped down in the dirt by the table.


Dusty and Sandy prefer the bed in the R-Pod, where Sandy's Lamb Chop was waiting.


I think Soren hadn't planned on falling asleep in the middle of reading all about the Eurasian red squirrel, but he did.


Here's the screenshot from Tuesday's long hike, captured from the Walk for a Dog app from WoofTrax.


We had a few mosquito bites, and I fell on one of the trails through the campground, doing a face plant in the dirt. I was worried about my front teeth, but they were fine. the fat lip only lasted a couple of hours. The red rings under my eyes were almost gone by the next day, and all I have left as I write this is a tiny scab on my forehead that's hidden by my hair. 

Also of note, you may remember I baked a rather funny-looking carob cake for Jim's and Alexa's birthdays. It was pretty ugly, but it was delicious. Jim had baked some brownies, and I had one, even though I'm supposed to avoid chocolate. (Camping is a vacation, right?) When I got out of the shower at home after the trip, I weighed myself. I had lost more than three pounds. I should go on TikTok and tout my "Cake and Brownie Diet," although I suspect it was all the hiking and other activity that did it.


Before we left to go camping we took Dusty to the vet to have an odd lump between his toes looked at. Our groomer had discovered it during the last grooming appointment. The vet aspirated it and sent it off for cytology analysis. We got the good news when we got back that it's benign. However it was pretty red by then, so we're planning to have it removed. It probably got irritated with all the running and hiking we did, and he sometimes licks it, so we think it's bothering him, and we do a lot of camping and hiking, so it's better to have it off.



I didn't get a lot of knitting done, but some progress, so I'm getting close to the end of my The Love of Spiders Shawl.



I didn't take the quilt along on the camping trip. It would have almost filled the R-Pod! However, I worked on it a bit while at home and am almost done with the third corner.

I missed Summer Choir Monday night, so I will have some catching up to do with the music. Our recital is next Sunday, so I'll have to spend some time on it this week. Also on the schedule is washing the trailer sheets and the usual cooking and other chores. It's going to be very hot for a few days, so it will be good to be indoors. I just hope when it cools off again, the air quality will still be good enough to walk with the pups.


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: Almost done with The Love of Spiders shawl by Melanie Berg. No progress on swatching for Gentle Spirit Tee

What's on my iPhone: Still reading The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles. Haven’t made much progress. Listing to music for Summer Choir.

What's on my sewing machine: Still waiting on something new.

What's in my hoop: My whole cloth quilt. Still filling in the rest of the border.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: Unmasked! is a retelling of the story of "The Shoemaker and the Elves," with the characters from The Doll's Storybook playing the elves. An old woman is making face masks for the local hospital, and the dolls decide to help.


What's my tip of the week: I really enjoy my convection oven. I use it for all my baking where the pan(s) used are small enough. I've found that my bread bakes more evenly if I put it on the rack, rather than on the turntable, but it browns more on the backside than the front, so I turn it halfway through the baking time. The oven goes off at the end of the baking time, so if I set it for half of the time, it's done before the bread is, so I set it for the total baking time and then set the timer on my stove for half of the time. When that goes off, I rotate the pan and it finishes baking.


Where are my books:
 The stories in each book first appeared in the blog, and they are reproduced in print 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: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are Being LittleBesties, and Distraction.

Coming in a few months: Billy: Stories from The Doll's Storybook.


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 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.

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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Monday, August 4, 2025

Yarn Chicken!

You may remember from last week that I only had 5g of the bright lime green yarn left and was afraid it wouldn't be enough to make it through the last two rows of green in my The Love of Spiders Shawl, so I ordered some Knit Picks Stroll in a color I thought might work. (It's hard to tell online.) Well the yarn came, and it's lovely, but a much lighter shade than what I was trying to match. I decided to have a go at using what was left of the original yarn. I worked halfway across the first row and weighed what I had left: 4g. When I got to the end of the row, I had 3g left, so I knew I would have enough. The tiny ball of yarn in this photo is what I had left. Next to it is the skein of sock yarn I ordered from Knit Picks. 


The designer had explained in the pattern notes that it would take 5 g to work those two rows. Because I tend to knit loosely, I thought it would take more. I remember hearing in a Knit Picks Podcast episode that yarn could weigh more or less and still be the same amount, depending on the humidity of the place it was in. We live in a high desert, so the humidity tends to be a bit low. Drier yarn would weigh less, so the 5g was plenty. I should have thought of that, but now I have this lovely yarn to do something with.

Here's what it's looking like with the next row partly worked.


The quilt is coming along well. It's hard to tell from the photo, but the third corner is just to the left of the quilting hoop. We'll be camping this week, so I don't expect to get much done on it, but I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.


Tuesday we had another Madroña pop-up meeting/party. It was fun seeing everyone.


I discovered a couple of weeks ago that I only had two copies of Mariah: Stories from The Doll's Storybook left. I decided to order some extra copies. On Friday ten copies arrived. They're now assimilated into my stash of books.


While getting ready to vacuum the family room, Charlie stacked the beanbag chairs, one on top of the other. It didn't deter Sandy from snuggling down with his Lamb Chop in the one on top. I didn't see how he got up there. It must have been interesting.


The air quality has been excellent since the fire to the north of us was completely extinguished. We managed to walk every day. I took the dogs out right after breakfast each day if it was going to be hot. Several other people have either asked if the dogs are poodles or poodle-mixes, but no one else has asked what breed they are. This was our usual route.



We've started having thunderstorms in the afternoon. Saturday the power went off for several hours, late in the day. I had some pulla rising on top of the stove, when it went off. Even our gas oven won't work without power! I didn't want to have the Pulla dry out while it was waiting for the oven, and the big plastic bag I use to keep it in while rising was open at one end, so I covered it with a damp dish towel. By the time the power came back on that evening, the towel had stuck to the loaves. They were also broader and flatter than normal. They weren't pretty, but it was too late in the day to start over, knead them and let them rise again. So I baked them as they were, and this is what I got! And this is the pretty one!



The towel was a mess, too. I picked off all the dough I could. Then I put the towel into the laundry. Fortunately, the rest of it washed out.

More difficulties: I was baking a carob cake on Sunday and forgot that, while we don't live high up the in the mountains anymore, we also aren't at sea level, either. I should have used less baking powder and an extra egg, but I didn't, and the cake spilled out of the pan and onto the bottom of the stove. The middle sunk in. Not pretty. I hope it tastes good, though. It's sort of a pudding cake. The little bits I picked off the edges of the pans were delicious.



I made a butter cream frosting for it. It's been a long time since I've baked a layer cake.

This was Sunday afternoon's storm. We've had hail here before, but some of these little balls were over an inch in diameter. I had just finished loading the R-Pod with our clothes and other things we wanted to take with us, other than filling the refrigerator, which I always do at the last minute.



We're leaving today to go camping at La Pine. Next week's blog post should include lots of photos of our adventures (hopefully not too exciting) with the two Oregon grandkids, their parents, Charlie and Charlie's brother, Jim.

I have plenty of the dark blue sparkly yarn, A Skeiner Darkly's "The Infinite," so I don't expect any more yarn chicken games.


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 Love of Spiders shawl by Melanie Berg and swatching for Gentle Spirit Tee

What's on my iPhone: Still reading The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles. Haven’t made much progress, because I'm listening to music for Summer Choir.

What's on my sewing machine: Still waiting on something new.

What's in my hoop: My whole cloth quilt. Still filling in the rest of the border.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: Emil finds out that The Writer's car isn't working, so she can't take him to the store to buy a birthday present for Mandy in Making Do.


What's my tip of the week: We often buy bagels and then freeze them. A friend just recently turned me on to this trick for freshening them up after they've been in the freezer. Let them thaw, then dip them in warm water. Wrap each bagel in foil and bake 5 minutes at 350ºF. They will be soft, but you can still slice them and put them in the toaster if you like.

Where are my books: The stories in each book first appeared in the blog, and they are reproduced in print 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: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are Being LittleBesties, and Distraction.

Coming in a few months: Billy: Stories from The Doll's Storybook.


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 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.

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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