New and Old

Vilai sock #1 is coming along. I just passed the heel turn and the gusset, and now it's just straight down the foot for a bit.

As usual, there was a lot of the usual cooking during the week, including another batch of granola. This loaf of bread was cut into before I got a photo. It was tasty. I used my Dutch Oven bread recipe cut in half and baked it as an oblong loaf. (It's gone now!)

We have an assignment for this week's Madroña pop-up party meeting. We're supposed to make pesto and then do something with it. I'm thinking of using the pesto as a base for pizzas on pita bread or naan. Our basil has been doing well, but I didn't think we had enough leaves on all the plants to be able to make even a small recipe of pesto, so Charlie picked up a new plant at Trader Joe's. It's probably looking around at its new home and wondering if it was going to like it here. I'm going to use walnuts in place of pine nuts, because we have some we have to use (a Costco package!) and they make a good substitute. 

We cleaned the front porch. I swept the floor and the corners of the ceiling. Charlie got out the pressure washer and washed it all down. It looks better. A few spiders got evicted, but carefully, so they can make new homes, preferably a little further away from our house.

We've been planning to tear up the "grass" in the front, because grass doesn't do well here unless you're willing to dump chemicals on it, and it takes a lot of water...not good in a desert climate like ours. This week we finalized the plans for what to put where and Charlie put out flags to indicate the borders of features.

He drew up plans for the entire front, so we could get quotes. We plan to put our park bench on some kind of rock/stone clearing, put in natural walkways to the bench and across the landscaped area to the trailer driveway, move some of the big rocks out from under the huge fir tree, have a couple of mounds for plantings and some sort of edging where needed. Instead of grass, we plan to have bark/cedar.

While we were out in the front yard, talking about what to do, I spotted a butterfly on one of the flowers. Jolena and Mariah would definitely identify it as a butterfly and not a moth, because they have learned the difference from their discussion with Mandy, a story from The Doll's Storybook.

I worked on my workroom closet some more. I the papers I found this poem, written for Charlie back in 1991

With it was also one I wrote for Karen. She would have just turned 18.

Then I came across this photo of Jim and Charlie. I'm guessing it was taken about 1943. I remember rescuing it from my in-laws' home when we went through all their things in preparation for selling the house. 

It still needs some work, but at least it's possible to walk around in there.

We walked almost every day, because we're having a cooler spell and the wind is blowing the smoke in a different direction.

Johan seems to be over his jet lag. He's taking an online class in cartoon drawing. He seems to have some talent for art, and he likes drawing things like dragons.

Also this week, Miss Daphne passed her driving test at the DMV, so now she's a licensed driver. That should make things a little easier for Karen, because she can get herself places, run errands and take Zachary to places he needs to go.

David's sister Debbie is visiting Karen and David to help David go through papers and boxes of things, as he's no longer able to do that. She brought her little dog Teddie, shown here, getting acquainted with Katie.

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 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. 

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

What's in The Doll's Storybook: Billy has a bad dream and comes to Veronika to get reassurance. She explains what dreams are all about and investigates what might have caused the nightmare in "What Dreams May Come."

What's my tip of the week: Basil does well on a windowsill where it gets bright light for part of the day. They like to have their roots kept damp and need to be harvested regularly. (Just don't take all the leaves at one time.) If you want to "make" some fresh plants, as I have, just cut a stem from one of the plants, remove the bottom few leaves to use and stick it into a small glass of filtered water. When it has roots, you can plant it. I use yoghurt containers filled with potting soil. I fertilize occasionally with Schultz Instant.

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 in the works.

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.

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

Payoffs

The workroom cleaning is coming along slowly. I've just been working on it a little while each day. What's taking so long is the closet. I should have gotten a before photo. It was like Dagwood Bumstead's closet. (For those of you too young to remember Dagwood from the comic strip "Blondie," which originated in 1930 and was originally drawn by cartoonist Chic Young. Dagwood had a closet packed so full that everything fell out whenever he opened it.)

A lot of the stuff in my workroom closet have been there ever since we moved. Some of it I realize I don't need anymore, and some of it I had forgotten about entirely. One such item was an afghan I had been knitting at some point and then put away as something else caught my fancy. I bought the yarn in New Zealand when we were there in 1996. The pattern booklet was printed in 1981, but I bought it when I started the afghan (whenever that was, I think about 1999). Well, there it was, in a drawstring bag, one right-side row halfway finished, and the attached skein about three-fourths used up. The design was meant to be much bigger, but I didn't know if I still had more of the yarn (probably not), and I wasn't inclined to knit another two feet of this pattern, so I decided to finish the row and bind off. It was supposed to have long fringe. (I should mention that the pattern booklet was put out by a yarn manufacturer, so, of course, each project takes tons of yarn. I decided to cut some 6" yarn strands, count how many I had, and then figure out how to make a short but even fringe. I did the math, and it worked out to exactly one strand every other stitch on the cast-on and bound-off edges. It took a while, because the afghan was 220 stitches across, and I had two of those to do.

I was happy with how it turned out. It makes a nice, warm lap blanket for cold winter days.

The original design directed the knitter to knit the seven panels separately and then sew them together, but I had chosen to knit it all in one piece, because I hate sewing up. It's easy enough to just switch back and forth between the two panel designs as I worked across the row. 

It's good to get it out of the closet. It had been taking up a lot of room. The payoff is, I have a nice new lap blanket, and I can check off "finish a UFO (unfinished object)" from my New Year's Resolution List. Now that it was done, I could go back to my Vilai socks. It's just a few rows of pattern before it will be time for the heel turn.

We've been reading and hearing in the news about the cyclospora outbreak. It isn't a serious problem in Oregon yet, and we have bought lettuce with no problems since this hit the news, but I thought why not grow some more sprouts to supplement our lettuce, especially in sandwiches. We've had the seeds for several years, but they sprouted nicely. This is what it looked like on Tuesday. By Wednesday, the jar was packed full, so I changed the lid and put it in the fridge. We've been enjoying them.

Whenever I make a big casserole, I've been dividing it up between two 8" square pans. We eat one and freeze the other for camping. This week I made lasagne. The recipe calls for regular lasagne noodles, not the no-boil kind. The noodles cook in the pan with just the sauce and some boiling water added to the pan before it goes into the oven. I had some mushrooms that had to be used soon. The mushrooms and some fresh baby spinach layered with a cheese mixture (eggs, cottage cheese, silken tofu, and seasonings) and pasta sauce, makes a tasty main dish.

Tuesday night we attended the Madroña Vineyards pop-up party meeting. We had Vegetable Tikka Masala with brown rice. Our wine was Doris & Leopold Grüner Veltliner 2023, a white wine, nicely chilled. We had a pleasant visit with everyone. They commiserated with us about our annual fire season, which is in full swing. The West Coast wine regions have been having an unusually hot summer. That has an affect on the grapes.

We've been trying to sneak in some quick walks with the dogs whenever the air quality index (AQI) is low enough. Paul Bush, the owner of the Madroña Vineyards, recommended the app "PurpleAir." I picked it up, and I'm finding it more convenient than looking up my location in my browser. This screen shot will give you an idea of what it's been like.

We've been trying to spend as little time as possible outdoors. Sometimes the dogs and I just go around the block, if Charlie has something he has to do outdoors and can't join us. 

Saturday, however, the AQI was down in the "Good" range, and the high temperature for the day was only going to be 82ºF, so the four of us went on a longer walk, the full length of the Larkspur Trail and then to the woods, which we call our off-leash area, because that's where people let their dogs run.

The fires are mostly just to the north of us. Friends who live in or near Sisters, Oregon, have been told to get their "Go Bag" ready, just in case they have to evacuate. It would be a real mess if Bend ever has to evacuate! I've decided that our "Go Bag" will have to be our R•Pod, so maybe we should stock it up with some stuff that can just stay there: a change of clothes, toiletries, shelf-stable food, etc. Then if we do have to evacuate, we can just grab our jugs of drinking water and anything we think we can't live without. (I hate to think about all my quilts burning up!) It would be too bad if our house burned down just after I finished tidying and cleaning my workroom! Maybe I should leave it until the fire season is over, about October....

Alexa and Johan are back from Paris. Soren was happy to have his jet-lagged brother back home again.

Summer Choir is coming along. We worked on the most difficult pieces Monday night. I think we're getting a handle on them and they will only need polishing. Tonight we'll undoubtedly work on some different ones. 

I've been getting the next book ready. Book #7 only needs proofreading, but while I remember how to use MS Word, I'm preparing the next one. I don't know how much longer I'm going to be able to put them together, so I would like to have several more ready to proofread, just in case.

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 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: Took some time off from the Vilai socks to finish the afghan I started and nearly finished years ago.

What's on my iPhone: Still listening to Wildwood by Colin Meloy. The movie will be out October 23rd. I can't wait! Here's the trailer:

https://youtu.be/ObRck-pQW8w?si=KlDnIlV70OsOYTLe

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

What's in The Doll's Storybook: Jolena has come back from another trip with the US Doll Ski Team, this time to New Zealand. Of course, she has photos. Here's Skiing with Kiwis.

What's my tip of the week: Iced coffee tastes pretty good during hot weather. I fill a glass bottle with what's left in the pot and as much cream as I need after I have my mug of coffee with breakfast. Then it goes into the fridge when it has cooled down enough. 

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 in the works.

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.

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

Stocking Up

 My needles have been rediscovering socks, and I had forgotten how much fun they could be. The pattern this time is Vilai from Cookie A's Sock Innovation.

My preferred method for knitting socks is to use two circular needles, rather than a set of DPNs.

The July knit along in the Goetz Doll Lovers forum on Ravelry continues. A designer has offered four new patterns. If you buy two of them, you can get the other two for free, one for each one of the others you knit and post in the group. A project page is required for each completed project. Since I'm one of the moderators, I'm trying to support the activity in the group, so last week I made one of the projects. This week I set aside my socks to make another project.

The yarn is left over from this year's Mystery Knit Along from the Rose City Yarn Crawl. It has little bits of dark hot pink in it, so I put some hot pink buttons on the back. The pattern is called Dandelions and it was designed by Sharisse Dunn of Sugar Grove South.

It was a lot of fun to knit with some interesting features, including a crocheted connection of the sleeves at the underarm, easy to do, thanks to the photos showing before and after the process. My model for this top is "Pam," Götz Little Kidz Springtime. In my stories she plays a doll character who lives with a little girl who is diabetic.

The shaping gives the top a nice fit.

I've been harvesting the basil, but it's growing back. Not enough to make pesto, though. The Madroña Vineyards pop-up group is considering doing something with a pesto recipe for one of our meetings. I would have to buy some to have enough to make pesto, but these plants are enough to produce a few leaves for when I'm in the mood for a little basil.

We had some mushrooms that needed to be used, so I made my tuna casserole (cream of mushroom soup, peas, egg noodles) but added a bunch of sautéed mushrooms and onions with a little added salt and pepper. I think I'll have enough to freeze for camping.

We needed the weekly loaf of bread, of course. I use my sourdough starter, which is made using unbleached flour, so I add 1/8 cup each of gluten flour, wheat bran and oat bran, and then the rest whole wheat flour.

I've been going over the music for the Summer Choir. Monday's practice went well, I think. I was disappointed when it was time for us to stop. I'm looking forward to tonight's practice.

The dogs and I walked each day this week. Charlie joined us when he could, but he skipped a couple of days because of other things he had to do outdoors before it got too hot, like mowing the plants in the front and back of the house. (I wouldn't exactly call the stuff "grass.") Most of our walks were along the Larkspur trail and some off-leash time in the woods, but on Saturday, we joined the Trinity Episcopal Church's "hike" (really a nice walk) at Alpenglow Park. We made two loops in opposite directions and ended up with almost 1 3/4 miles.

Some folks were giving out "Watchtower" brochures at the park, and we recruited one to take this photo of our group.

We followed up with lunch at Cascade Lakes Brewing, which was on our way home. 

We drove by Jim's old house after lunch. Charlie wanted to get a photo of what the new owners had done to the front yard for inspiration and ideas for what to do with ours.

We've also been watching the FIFA World Cup. The last two games were especially fun to watch. Sandy wasn't all that excited about it.

Alexa and Johan are still in France. Here's Johan singing a duet with a busker at the 

Sacré-Cœur. How much fun is that? They should be on their way home today.

Sandy is storing up energy for the next walk/hike.

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 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: Took some time off from the Vilai socks to make a new top for Pam (see above) and now back to the socks.

What's on my iPhone: Finished Regime Change by Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan on the Audiobooksnow app. Now back to Wildwood by Colin Meloy.

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

What's in The Doll's Storybook: Jolena has come back from Australia, and the boys want to see her photos. The dolls from the ski team got to go to a special zoo in Sydney where all the animals native to Australia are on exhibit. How much fun is that? Back from Down Under.

What's my tip of the week: There are special water dishes or water bottles you can get to provide water to your dog on walks/hikes. I don't have anything special. The dogs and I share the water bottle. I serve their water in a little Tupperware bowl that fits in my pouch. The lid will go back on for a leakproof seal, if they don't drink it all, saving water for the next hydration break. I don't have to throw any water away, which helps when the hike takes longer and the weather is hot.

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 in the works.

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.

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