Monday, March 30, 2026

Back At It Again

I'm wearing my Traveling Woman Shawl and really enjoying it.



I have a good start on the Summer Sorrel top, though, and it's fun to knit. every few rows or so there is something different to do.



The chart makes it easy to follow. I'm using a crochet hook to bring the dipstitch through the rows below (usually 6, but that varies over the short row section). It's hard to keep the yarn from sliding off the needle, and the crochet hook makes it easy. A purled M1 stitch is cumbersome, too, but I don't have to do that too often.



Charlie can drive again now. I drove him to his physical therapy appointment, and he drove home. He is starting to walk with us on the trail now. He can't take one of the dogs yet, though. They might pull him over. He's disappointed that it's taking so long,, but I can actually see improvement every day.



I'm happy to have the double leash that fits around my waist. It makes it easier to walk both dogs together. Occasionally they get tangled up, but not often, and when they do, they usually can untangle themselves.



There was another MadroƱa Vineyards pop-up meeting Tuesday evening. It was fun to see everyone, as usual.

We had the big No Kings protest on Saturday. I wanted to take a sign this time, but I didn't get to the store to get supplies. I was able to put something together using things I had, though. I printed the text using a word-processing program and our printer. I glued the words onto one of the envelopes I use to send out my books. The stick is one of the lease sticks I use for weaving. 



"Antifa" is short for "Anti-Fascist." We fought Fascism during World War II, so our parents or grandparents who fought in the war were "Antifa." Some people try to make people think that Antifa is an actual organization, but it's just an adjective. I've even heard someone say that Antifa was Fascist, but that would be like saying that the library is against books. Anyway, I've been anti-Fascist all my life, so I can claim to be "Antifa" since I was born.

On the back, I included QR codes for other activities people could participate in. Several people took photos of that side of my sign, so they could use the codes to find out more about these activities.



Friday night I joined a group that planned to play and sing at the No Kings protest on Saturday. I knew some of the people, but there were some people I had never met before. Several people from our church choir were in attendance.



The event started at the pavilion at Drake Park, as usual. We had some singing groups that led the participants in a few songs. 



The group I was in was one of the last to perform.

There were a lot of people there. It seemed like more than last time, but it was difficult to get photos of the crowd without having a drone.



After the rally at Drake Park pavilion, everyone marched to Peace Corner. Between the dogs and staying with Charlie to make sure someone didn't knock him over, we were among the last to reach the street, and it was too crowded to push through to get photos of all the participants lining the streets. I haven't heard any estimates of how many people were there this time, but it seemed like more than last time.



After the event, some of us went to Bend Brewing for a beer. We sat outdoors, because we had the dogs with us. (The dogs got a lot of attention, which they enjoyed.)



Saturday night, we stayed up and watched 1776, the musical based on the writing of the Declaration of Independence, which we've seen many times before, starting with the stage production back when we lived in Ponca City, Oklahoma. The community theater put it on. It was 1976, and they had picked the show because it had been 200 years since the Declaration of Independence was written. I got some knitting done.



There were a lot of other things going on this past week: medical appointments, Charlie's physical therapy, grocery shopping, etc. I was doing most of the driving, but now he will be able to drive himself.

I've been polishing stories for the new book, reposting important notices on BlueSky, walking the dogs most days and doing the usual cooking and laundry. We have a busy week coming up, with grooming for Dusty tomorrow, Dusty's teeth-cleaning appointment is Wednesday and Sandy gets groomed on Friday. And it's Holy Week, so we have services every day. The choir sings on Good Friday and then again for the Great Vigil on Saturday and two services on Easter Sunday.

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 RetoldOur 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: Almost done with my Traveling Woman Shawl, and ready to cast on for a new project.

What's on my iPhone: Just finished The Strange Case  of the Alchemist’s Daughter by Theodora Goss on the AudiobooksNow app. Picking out a new book to listen to.

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

What's in The Doll's Storybook: This week's story takes us back to when Mariah was a new member of the family. Jolena and Mariah lie on a towel in the grass and look up at the sky. They wonder where the stars are. Mandy comes to the rescue to explain why we can't see stars in the daytime in Stars in the Sky.


What's my tip of the week: If you have an iPhone, there is an app included called "Health." You can use it as a pedometer.


Just open it up and click on Walking + Running Distance. Check what it says for that day before you start your walk/run, then look again at it when you return. Other phones undoubtedly have similar apps.

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 Billy: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are Talking About Boys, ChangesShhhhh!, Staying After and Money in a Jar.

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.

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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Monday, March 23, 2026

Getting Out With Care

Well, it's done! The Traveling Woman is blocking.



Here's what it looked like right off the needles. I have quite a bit of yarn left over, although the bind-off used up a lot of what I had at that point.



Most of my time this past week was acting as chauffeur for Charlie, who still can't drive. He started out the week leaving the walker downstairs and just taking his cane upstairs at bedtime. He took up my place on the couch occasionally, and the dogs discovered that his lap was just as cozy as mine.



They still spent nap time with me, though. 



Charlie has been using his walker less often as the week went on. Monday I took Dusty to the vet for his echocardiogram, which he needed prior to his dental appointment coming up. Charlie stayed home with Sandy. I had a dermatology appointment on Tuesday. Wednesday I drove Charlie to the dentist in the morning and then to his physical therapy appointment in the afternoon. These excursions also could read as "more knitting time," which is how I was able to finish the Traveling Woman Shawl. On Thursday, both dogs went to the vet, Sandy for his annual exam and immunizations and Dusty for a preoperative check on the little lump between two of his front toes. The lump will be removed during his dental appointment. Charlie went along. He didn't bother to take the walker. He managed the stairs just fine, although I had to manage both dogs.

Friday we went to Costco and a couple of other grocery stores. He managed with just his cane. It was a lot of walking, but once he's in a store, he can push a cart, which is stable enough. At Costco we found a new dog toy for the pups. They have very durable toys there, and it was reasonably priced. It looks like a dragon and is about 12" tall. They love it!



By Saturday, he was comfortable enough with just the cane that we were able to walk on the sidewalk around the block.




Sunday afternoon I drove us all to Alpenglow Park, so the dogs could play in the off-leash area. There were about 15 dogs there and several people with Chuck-Its, so Dusty got plenty of exercise.



We finished up the outing with a walk on the paved trail inside the off-leash area.



Beside chauffeuring duties, I did the usual laundry, changing the sheets and a little cleaning, and of course, cooking. I'm starting to put up meals for Charlie for when I go back to Wisconsin next month. Charlie doesn't like to cook, so I hope to have a week's worth of easy meals ready for him so he can just heat them up. Last week I made lasagne and put up two servings for him in the freezer. This week I made Black Bean Soup, Italian Tuna Pasta and Enchilada Casserole. I'll continue that activity this week. Any prepared meals he doesn't need while I'm gone will be good for camping.

I'm ready to cast on the Summer Sorrel top, which should be handy this summer. I also started working on my new book. I'm hoping to be done with chauffeur duties soon.

(If you're wondering why Charlie is disabled, see last week's post.)


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 RetoldOur 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: Almost done with my Traveling Woman Shawl, and ready to cast on the Summer Sorrel top.

What's on my iPhone: Still reading The Strange Case  of the Alchemist’s Daughter by Theodora Goss on the AudiobooksNow app. 

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

What's in The Doll's Storybook: Billy wonders why a doll who isn't good at something would say he was in The Science Lesson at School.


What's my tip of the week: I use small amounts lime juice (about 2 tablespoons or the juice of one lime) in some of my recipes, so I like to keep it on hand, but I don't like the kind that comes with preservatives. I've found bottled lime juice that is only juice. It will only keep for 60 days after opening the bottle, so I pour 2 tablespoons in each compartment of an ice cube tray, freeze the juice and then pop the cubes into a plastic bag for storage in the freezer.

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 Billy: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are Talking About Boys, ChangesShhhhh!, Staying After and Money in a Jar.

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.

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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Monday, March 16, 2026

Messing With Our Heads

The second Melt the ICE Hat is done, and I like this one better. I think it's because I used fingering yarn. 


The hat is softer, and it stays on my head better than the one I made out of worsted yarn.


The Traveling Woman Shawl is going well. I'm making the small size in fingering weight. The pattern has four sizes: extra small, small, medium and large, and it can be made from lace weight, fingering, sport, DK or worsted-weight yarn.


This was a week for MRIs. If you read last week's blog, you will know that, besides the Yarn Crawl, we were in the Portland area so Charlie could get the procedure he's been waiting a year for, to reduce the essential tremors in his right hand, which is the one he tries to write with. The procedure is called high-intensity focused ultrasound therapy. They use the MRI to find the correct part of the brain to treat. He started with a baseline MRI on Sunday at OHSU. Then Monday we went back for the procedure. He already had his hair cut "like a Marine recruit," as he told the barber. Monday morning, they started by shaving off what was left of his hair.


They had a sheet of paper on a clipboard for him to draw on without resting his right hand on anything. It had two spirals, one in each direction, and a couple of horizontal lines, one above the other. He was supposed to try to draw inside the lines of the spirals and between the two horizontal lines. Here's the example OHSU gives for before and after the procedure. The before example is much better than Charlie's. His before result looked like a two-year-old trying to learn to draw––just scribbles. 



The doctors used a device to mark where they needed to insert the screws that would hold another device on his head. They numbed the area where the marks were.


Then they screwed the device right into his head. (Ow!) It reminded us of a medieval torture device. He was brave throughout, though, and didn't scream.


Then a sort of half bubble went over it. Not the kind of headwear for hiking, I'm thinking. Alexa and I waited. 


During the procedure, they stop and have the patient retry drawing the spirals and the straight line. Then they would adjust the area they were treating, then repeat the whole procedure. When they were satisfied with what he could do with his right hand, they were done. The result was near miraculous! He could draw the spirals as well as I expected I could, equivalent to the one in the example above.

One of the side effects, however, is that the patient's leg on the affected side would need to be retrained. That's why they had him bring a cane to the procedure. We went back on Tuesday for a post-treatment MRI and then I drove us home to Bend. On Wednesday, Charlie had PT for his balance and his right leg. The therapist recommended we get a walker for him until he relearned to use his right leg properly. We drove right to the place in town that had them and picked one up.


Tuesday evening was MadroƱa pop-up night again. We had a new person join us. It was good to see our friends again, and we enjoyed a nice Viognier. 


I have to go back to Wisconsin in April, but Charlie plans to stay home this time. Our son Peter will meet me in Minneapolis, and we will drive together to Karen's home. The two of us will look after David, while Karen goes with the kids to their dance competition. In preparation for being gone, I made some lasagna. We had it for dinner that night, and then I packaged up several servings to put in the freezer. Charlie can eat one or two servings while I'm gone, and anything that's left will be good for camping. I still need to cook up some other entrees to leave for him, but there's plenty of time.


I baked some bread so I could use my sourdough starter and feed it. We will eat all this right away within a few days.



Yesterday, we had an oboist and a couple of bell ringers accompany our anthem. If you want to listen, here is the link to the service. We start at about 57:40.



We didn't get much walking in this week, due to the travel and wind, but we did walk a couple of times (the dogs and I) and had a little off-leash time, as we often do. The pups are looking forward to having Daddy join us again, with or without his walker.



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 RetoldOur 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 my Traveling Woman Shawl, and finished the second Melt The Ice hat.

What's on my iPhone: Still reading The Strange Case  of the Alchemist’s Daughter by Theodora Goss on the AudiobooksNow app.

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

What's in The Doll's Storybook: Mariah wants to see how she would look in a hijab (head scarf). The boys and Jolena find her sitting in front of the bathroom mirror. The story is about how we each want to be seen for who we are. This Is Who I Am is a story from The Doll's Storybook.


What's my tip of the week: I use a bread machine to mix the dough for bread and then bake it in the oven. I'm on my second pan, as they tend to wear out when used a lot, and then they leak. To try to preserve the pan, I never leave water in it. I just wash it out and then let it dry. When I'm ready to make bread again, I spray the bottom of the pan before putting the paddle in. My thought is that it lubricates the area where the paddle goes around. 

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 Billy: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are Talking About Boys, ChangesShhhhh!, Staying After and Money in a Jar.

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.

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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