The Trials Continue

Monday was busy. If you read last week's blog post, you'll remember we had a phone call from the driver of the van that held all of our household goods except for the 700 lbs. that had been left behind because they didn't fit on the van. He said he had been caught as being overweight in Brigham City (the van, not the driver) at the weigh station and had to wait for another truck to come and offload 2500 lbs of our stuff. He said he still expected to be here about 9:00 AM.

Well, he rang our doorbell at 9:15 Monday morning. He and his partner unloaded all of the things that belonged to us. The front of the van contained household goods belonging to another family moving here from Park City. The reason they couldn't fit all our stuff on the van was because that family went over their estimate by 4,000 lbs.

I was happy to see my 1982 Maytag washer and dryer come off the van.

I do not want to have to replace those two. We still have to hook them up. We need someone to extend the gas line from the back deck up to the laundry room, which is upstairs.

It wasn't too long before another van showed up with the 700 lbs. of our stuff that had been left in Salt Lake City.

I'm afraid we had the road rather constructed for several hours. They moved very quickly to put everything where we wanted.

There was a little damage. One of the posts on our bed had been broken off. DH thinks he can fix it himself. We had been looking forward to putting the top onto our bed for the first time in 18 years, but it will have to wait.

The box spring emerged before too long, and the mattress we had bought to replace the old one was soon in place. Mr. Bear turned up in one of the boxes the next day.

The trunk with all the quilts was in this part of the shipment, and it was a relief to see them. We're still missing a lot of things, like the blender container and lid. I managed to tidy one corner of the kitchen. The rest of the house was a total mess.

We played "match up the Tupperware" on Friday. 

The reason we have so much is, most of this was in the freezer as we began to try to use up all the food so we could move it. We may need it again. Excess will be stored in the garage.

Tuesday my new sewing table arrived. We still don't have it put together, because it was rather crowded in my fiber studio, and after I got it organized enough to bring the pieces upstairs, we still were busy with more crucial issues, such as getting the wine fridge into the broom closet (under-the-stairs storage, aka "Harry Potter's Room").

Part of what needed to be done was putting my yarn stash away in the Billy bookcases. I got that done, and here's the proof:

Besides putting the sewing table away, I also need to get some shelves for the part of the closet that doesn't already have shelves. Then there's the new cutting/light-table unit I plan to get, a kitchen cabinet drawer unit for my plexiglass top and cutting mat will go.

Our ballots had come in the mail the week before. We knew how we were going to vote in most cases, but we spent some time Wednesday evening figuring out the other issues and candidates.

DH made a mistake on his ballot, so we went to the Deschutes County Courthouse to get him a new ballot. They told him just to cross out what he had marked and mark his actual choice, and then we put our ballots into the ballot box. (In Oregon, you can mail in your ballot or place it in any of the ballot boxes conveniently located around your area.)

The shelf pins we ordered came, and we were able to install the shelves that had been just sitting around the house.

I managed to get some knitting done, both sleeves and part of the body of the cardigan for Billy, who still hasn't shipped. I knew there would be a delay because he/she was on backorder. Lotte consented to be my model for size.

She was very patient while I knitted and watched my Red Sox win the World Series. I don't think she likes baseball as much as Vroni and Mandy.

We're still waiting for news on the offloaded 2,500 lbs.

What's on my needles: Making progress on the Comfy Cardigan Set for Billy. Kisu Cardigan and the Coastal Skies Shawl are in a holding pattern.

What's on my Sparrow 15: Still sitting in my future sewing room, although it has moved about in the room, as has my Featherweight, as I worked on putting stuff away and organizing.

What's in my hoop: Still the Spring Flowers quilt, also in a holding pattern.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: "Scary Things," for Halloween. I'm scheduled through November 2nd. 

What's on my iPad/iPhone: The Ladies of Ivy Cottage by Julie Klassen. I'm a little bit into  the story now, as I was able to listen while knitting on Saturday and Sunday.

What's in my wine glass: Trader Joe's Charles Shaw (Two Buck Chuck) Red Blend 2016. Very nice. Being able to walk into Trader Joe's and buy it is also very nice. You can't buy wine and regular beer in Utah grocery stores.

What's my tip of the week: Packing tape can leave a lot of gum on furniture, bags and other things. Goo Gone and similar products work for removal with some effort, but sometimes it works better to wrap some of the tape, sticky side out, around your fingers and dab at the sticky residue pulling to the side. A hairdryer can be useful for removing the tape. I've found that the tape comes off of raw wood pretty easily, but oiled or waxed surfaces seem to absorb the glue. Next time (ha-ha) I'll wrap items to be taped shut in paper first.

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.

The Tale of the Three Billy Bookcases Rough

But first, since we have everything else...the kitchen sink:

The faucet had to be in just the right position to shut off, and it wouldn't stay turned to the right-hand sink, which was where I intended to wash the dishes most of the time, since that sink is smaller and needs less water. The new faucet is exquisite, works well and now makes the water-filter faucet look cheap, so we're getting a new one of those.

Remember the Billy bookcases from IKEA? We put together the first one, doors and all, and then realized it wasn't safe to leave it without fastening it to the wall. (They actually tell you to fasten it to the wall and then put the shelves in and doors on, but did we follow directions?) We propped it up with the ladder weighted down with full book boxes and hoped for the best. It was still upright the next day, so DH anchored it to the wall, and then I filled it with my fabric stash.

Fast forward to a few days later, we were ready to put the other two bookcases together. 
Now we have all three put together, a marvel of marital teamwork.

I helped slide the backs on, square them up and held them while the nails were hammered in. Once enough nails were installed, I could take a photo.

We had an audience.

(When you take a group photo, someone always has to blink. In this case, it's always Dolly, because she's the only one who can.

Soon we had the two new bookcases up on the wall. 

Empty, each Billy bookcase stood 1/4" higher than the first one. (I'm a quilter, so I can visualize 1/4" fairly accurately.) We decided that the first one had sunk into the carpeting while sitting with shelves and doors, which are heavy, so we decided to weight down the other two with book boxes and stack the shelves on each side of the boxes before fastening them to the wall. The next day, they still hadn't sunk into the carpet as much as the other, so the brackets went on but not tightly, so they could be adjusted later.

I can turn a screwdriver about as well as anyone, and we did have two screwdrivers of the right type and size, so we set to work putting on the hinges. We had to use a camping lantern to see where the hinges went, because the sun was going down, and the only light in the room is a can light in the ceiling right in front of the closet, and our lamps are all in our (ahem!) shipment. We finished after a couple of hours, and we are still speaking. I snapped this photo Sunday, as I was getting the loom parts unpacked and unwrapped.

The plastic baskets are for yarn to go into the Billy bookcases. I wonder how much will fit.
The boxes in front of the Billy bookcases are full of the screws, heddles and other hardware for the loom, all carefully labeled as I took the loom apart. Here are all the parts, more or less in the locations in which they belong. The light was dimming again, and that's the opposite end of the room from the light, so I had to put off putting the loom together.

I had made reassembly instructions for myself when we took the loom apart, but there was a piece I couldn't identify from the printed copy, so I went back to my iPad to look at the photos I had saved in a folder. I was able then to see the detail needed to identify the part. (You have to love technology when it works.)

I thought at first I would put the loom turned so I could look out the window, but then I realized that A) I wouldn't be able to see over the loom while sitting on the bench, and B) I could see better with the light coming from behind  rather than facing it. It would fit turned 90º, but only when in use, not when warping the loom. I gave up on the idea of having it in the middle of the room, because it takes up too much space, and I really need a work table in addition to the sewing table and cutting/light table cabinet.

Thursday evening, we went out to dinner with DBIL...Mexican food.

After dinner, we went to the local IMAX to watch "First Man." It was very good. We remembered many of the details brought out in the film about the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions, having lived through them as adults. Much of the personal side of Neil Armstrong's life was unknown to the public at the time. I found the film to be both artistic and thought-provoking.

Our ballots came on Friday, along with a postcard from a contractor who claimed to provide "stress-free remodeling." LOL!

One more bit of joy from the moving adventure: Our furniture was supposed to arrive today, but about 700 lbs. of our household goods didn't make it onto the truck. Mind you, the shipment was already delayed because they didn't have a driver. Now they have no idea when our extra 700 lbs of stuff will get here.
Speaking of the stuff that made it onto the van...the van was supposed to arrive today. As I write this, we still don't know when it's coming, but here's what we know so far: The driver departed Salt Lake City Sunday afternoon (!) and had to stop in Brigham City, because the van was too heavy. As of late Sunday, he was waiting there for another truck to come and take the excess. I hope they thought to put that last 700 lbs of our stuff left behind onto the second truck. I'm glad I have these blog posts to remind me of the details when I write this all up someday. It could be an entertaining read. I hope it has a happy ending. Some of my best quilts are either in the van or in the 700 lbs left behind.

My new sewing table is due to arrive on Tuesday by the end of the day.

In the meantime, I have managed to put together a Halloween story for this week's The Doll's Storybook. Writing the stories brighten my life.

I've also been trying to figure out how to arrange for a boy to join the cast. I kept hoping Götz would make a boy in the Happy Kidz line, as they have had boys in other lines of dolls, but it doesn't seem to be on the horizon. However, recently they have produced a new face (at least new to the Happy Kidz line) that I think will work well as a boy:

(My apologies to My Doll Best Friend for shamelessly pilfering one of their lovely photos. Maybe this photo credit and link will make up for it.) The doll is Lily of London, a special winter edition. I think this face could be either a girl or a boy, so when Lily arrives here, she will undergo a gender-reassignment procedure, which will involve a haircut and new clothes and become Billy. But not a bookcase.

We have accumulated several piles of flattened boxes. On Saturday, I posted the lot for free in the local online yard sale Facebook group.

A young man took almost all of it. He may want more, but I can check with him before I list the new batch in the group. We will have more when our household goods arrive. 

In the meantime, I'm enjoying the Halloween humor demonstrated by the locals in my new hometown. This car was ahead of me at a red light. I managed to get a photo just as the light turned green. (I think the electrodes under the nails is a really nice touch!) I blurred the license plate to preserve the driver's anonymity. He really did have a valid plate.

What's on my needles: Still Kisu Cardigan and the Coastal Skies Shawl mostly hibernating, but just CO Jacknitss Design's "Comfy Cardigan Set" for Billy.

What's on my Sparrow 15 and my Featherweight: Still sitting in my future fiber studio.

What's in my hoop: Still the Spring Flowers quilt, no progress this week.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: Being Good came out on Friday. 

What's on my iPad/iPhone: The Innkeeper of Ivy Hill by Julie Klassen. Not much more progress with the story.

What's in my wine glass: This was a week for the Big House, so I'm drinking Big House's Prohibition Red, vintage 2016. Not only is alcohol not prohibited in Oregon, neither is pot. Not that I care to buy any; for me "pot" on the grocery list means "potatoes," or if just one, "potato." (Not "potatoe")

What's my tip of the week: If you have to take apart something that will need to be put back together again at a later date, take photos and write down how you took it apart. Then you can reverse the process to put it back together.

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.

Unboxing Week

This little lad (lassie?) must have a story to tell. This cherub was toppled on its side when we looked at the house and when we moved in.

At some point, the little person decided to sit upright. I don't know if one of the dogs ran past and bumped it, but perhaps the cherub is happy that we are here and fixing things.

Speaking of fixing things, remember last week I mentioned that we were replacing mismatched knobs with matching aged bronze handles? Well, the fact that they were mismatched was only part of the problem. Some of the doors didn't close properly because the latch plates were just slapped on over the door edge and the old hardware.

DH had to use a chisel to carve out the space needed for the new latch plates. All the inside doors and the front and back doors are done. The hardware on the door leading outside from the garage still needs replacing.

The big event of the week was the arrival in Redmond, Oregon, of our U-haul boxes on Saturday. Strangely enough, they first told us it would cost us nearly $1K to have our boxes delivered to Bend from Redmond. However, when we had decided to make four trips to Redmond to pick up the boxes on trailers (with our pickup), bring them back to unload and then take the empty boxes back, they suddenly had a way they could provide that service for half that. Our first two boxes arrived Saturday late morning.

The driver expertly backed them into the driveway, enough on one side that he could put the other two next to them when he came to pick up the first two (by then, empty). Which he did.

Oh, the treasures we found within! The most exciting discovery was our long-lost-and-lamented "parts box," where we had stashed all our screws, shelf supports, keys (!) to the padlocks on our "vaults" with United Van Lines and (most important to DH) all the remotes.

I was sure it was somewhere, and DH was sure the whole box had been thrown away or picked up by Jose and taken to the dump. It was packed away in another box labeled "to keep."

My Featherweight was in one of the first boxes out of the U-haul box, along with a couple of chairs. All those boxes where I had packed fat quarters on the bottom and yarn on top, so they wouldn't be too heavy (in hopes that someone would transport them to my new fiber studio), showed up. I removed the yarn to shopping bags I could lift easily, left the fabric in the boxes, and carried the stuff up the stairs piecemeal (by me).

Alister was released from his box on Saturday.

Dolly and Gabi turned up on Sunday afternoon, none the worse for wear.

The loom parts were in the last of the four U-haul boxes. All the pieces are in the fiber studio alcove except the castle (main body). It will be a bigger job to get that up the stairs. We may have to get help.

The second pair of empty boxes get picked up today. Our furniture is on its way. They now say about October 26th. That should give us time to try to clear the garage enough to make room for more stuff.

While we were waiting for word of the U-haul boxes, I decided to CO for the Cable Sweater Dress Set from Jacknitss for Mariah. You knit the sleeves first, then the body to the underarms, and then the whole thing goes together and is worked up to the neck. I had to "borrow" the needles I was using for the Coastal Skies Shawl, because this was before our boxes came, and I didn't have the right size needles available. (Now, of course, I have them all.)

It went quickly, but I ran out of the Knit Picks Telemark "Persimmon" while I was working on the hat. Fortunately, I had a remnant of the same yarn in "Curry," left over from Mandy's Cabbagetown Jacket. The color is close, and the shading is rather attractive, I think.

Mariah is holding all that's left of the "Persimmon" in her right hand and all that's left of the "Curry" in her left. If I had used another yarn, l would likely have had plenty. Telemark is a very dense yarn, and there aren't as many yards in a 50g ball. It's a good choice, though, because it has lovely stitch definition.

The Gotz group on Ravelry is having a KAL using this specific pattern. If you finish it and post it in the group with a link to your project page, you get another pattern from the same designer for free and get entered in a drawing for four patterns. The KAL runs through the end of November.

I still would like to add a "stem" to the top of the hat, so it would be sort of a pumpkin costume.

One of the Billy Cabinets has been put together and fastened to the wall. Here's what it looked like in an empty room.

I can work this week on putting the fabrics into this cabinet. When it's full, I should have enough space for us to work on putting together the second cabinet. I'm hoping all the fabric and most of the yarn will fit. If not, there will be "Plan B." I'm determined that my fiber fun will be contained in this one room, at least for supplies, the loom and my sewing machines. One or two of my "little people" will follow me around in the house and into the yard at times, depending on what I'm working on, and my spinning wheel will be in the family room or living room, most likely.

The struggle with the bits and pieces of the house continue to be an issue. I think Master Houdini Wannabe Jellyfingers must have eaten or removed and hidden most of the shelf-support pegs for the shelves in the kitchen and laundry room cabinets. Of course, they aren't the standard kind sold everywhere. I used my needle gauge to determine that they are 3mm, not the typical 5mm.

We finally found replacements on Amazon. You can see how badly they're needed. Here are our everyday dishes in their cabinet. The absent shelf would be handy, I think. (We have the shelf, just no way to keep it up.)

We have been using the Corelle dinnerware from the trailer (and sheets, towels and other stuff). I'm gathering up all the trailer stuff and will be putting it back as "house" replacements become available.

Wednesday night was choir practice, my first at Trinity Episcopal Church in Bend. They are meeting at 6:15 to practice for a special service at the beginning of Advent, finishing with practice for the regular upcoming Sunday service until 8:00 PM. Everyone was very welcoming, and I think the music at the service on Sunday went well. I think the church is a good fit. They have a stitching group that meets twice a month, where you can come and bring your project(s) to work on. There is a prayer-shawl ministry and people are asked to help provide lap quilts for people affected by natural disasters.
I love that children are encouraged to be present during the service, but at the same time have packets of coloring projects to keep them busy. How much I would have appreciated that when I was a child!

I think the house will be a good fit, too. It has presented some challenges, but that may only enhance its charm eventually.

And it's so nice not to have to wait for someone chop wood for the fireplace or put another log on!

What's on my needles: The Kisu Cardigan and the Coastal Skies Shawl are still in holding, but I finished the Cable Sweater Dress Set from Jacknitss. Just making a stem for the hat.

What's on my Sparrow 15: Still sitting in my future fiber studio. My Featherweight is now there, too.

What's in my hoop: Still the Spring Flowers quilt, no progress this week.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: Here's Friday's story, "Stars." I'm scheduled through October 19th. I'm hoping for a Halloween theme for October 26th.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished The Innkeeper of Ivy Hill by Julie Klassen. Now listening to the sequel, The Ladies of Ivy Cottage.

What's in my wine glass:  LAGRANJA 360 Tempranillo. “A magic place in the South where the sun never sets, where it’s always summer, and exquisite aromas of ever-found fruits and flowers fill the shiny rooms of a magic farm.” How can a vegan-friendly wine have a pig on the label? We found it very nice, though. It's one I would like again.

What's my tip of the week: Be kind to people who are different from you. They may be just as anxious about you as you are about 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.

Learning To Bend

Our guest bed and mattress arrived at Jim’s on Monday. The nice gentleman from FedEx brought the bed up to the house and put the mattress into the back of the car. When Jim came home from his trip, we put the bed into the pickup, drove to the house and unloaded both boxes. 

Mariah thought the mattress box must have a very large queen doll in it, because it said "QUEEN" on it, but Jolena knew better, because she remembered the dumpster in front of our old house. Not every box contains a doll!

The men wrestled the mattress (in its plastic packaging) up the stairs and tossed it into the guest room, where we opened it up carefully, and it sort of bloomed before our eyes. We had to let it expand overnight. We opened the bed package still in the pickup and brought the pieces up, a few at a time, to the guest room.

Putting the bed together turned out to be a real team-building exercise. Dusty was the first to appreciate our efforts.

I brought the sheets, pillows, blankets and comforter from the trailer, and we have been sleeping there since the second night.

The mattress for our own bed came on Friday. (The bed is still with the movers.) We had to use a hacksaw to get the cardboard box open, because it was so tightly glued shut. Then I carefully cut the plastic bag open using scissors. Guess what we found inside—a special tool to open the plastic bag! We were beside ourselves with laughter. There was also a sleep mask, so we could have a good night’s sleep. Too funny! I already have three of them, so now I have four. (The best one came from a special friend and is the nicest, so the spare will go into a basket of goodies in the guest bath.) 

We had planned to wait to get a mattress protector for this mattress because we weren’t planning on using it for a while, but...

...so I picked up a second mattress protector. (I guess Rocky thought the guest bed was too small for four.)

We have no window coverings upstairs, so I used some of the leftover packing paper to fashion some "curtains" in the front windows.

The back of the house also has no window coverings, but the backyard has several very large junipers that mask the view from the nearby houses.

The stovetop grates had layers of grease with some kind of hair embedded in the grease. I decided that the Jellyfingers family must have used the stovetop for burnt offerings, probably in hopes the gods of carnivores would teach their Houdini wannabe offspring to stay out of the cupboards. I put the grease-coated stovetop grates into the soaking tub (finally found a use for it) to soak in dishwashing liquid. (If you remember Madge the manicurist in those Palmolive dish liquid commercials, "You’re soaking in it," they were.) The soaking tub is  coming out to make room for a sauna. At least, that’s the plan. 

If we do that, I'll have to find another place to soak the stovetop grates.

Tuesday I started in cleaning the stove. The oven wasn’t too bad, because someone had run the self-cleaning function, but they had failed to wipe the ashes out (that’s how I knew) and they had left the racks inside it. The racks were clean, but the finish was gone, which is why you aren’t supposed to leave them in when you run the self-cleaning cycle. Someone apparently had tried in the past to carve the grease off the inside of the glass with their diamond engagement ring, because the glass was all scratched up, and I don't know what else is hard enough to do that.
After a 24-hr. soak, the grease was softer and easier to see, but it still didn’t come off easily. I ended up using a paring knife to peel off the layers. The finish is missing in some places anyway, and it isn't any worse for my cleaning, although the grates didn't look as good as one of Madge's manicures. At least I can cook on the stove now. The new bread machine worked delightfully well, and I made a loaf of bread using the dough cycle.

The oven reached 400°F, according to my new oven thermometer, and the bread turned out great, which I celebrated with a nice cuppa.

Unfortunately, the lovely scent of baking bread was masked by the smell of burning flesh. I think that will go away, as the oven has now been scrubbed. Unfortunately, while the oven was accurate at 400°, I couldn’t get it lower than 200°, even set at 170º, the temperature I prefer for keeping food hot. I think the stove will have to be replaced eventually.

The bread was yummy, though. So was the tea.

Other things have been getting replaced. The doorknobs were all over the place for style. Brass and round as a ball—

Round but flat in the middle:

Or, as in the case of the back door, round with no finish left at all, severely dented and so loose it was hard to open and close the door. (Sorry, no photo—that was the first to go.) They are being replaced with aged bronze handles like this:

We picked aged bronze because most of the fixtures that are worth keeping and still functional have this finish, and we prefer these handles, because sometimes you carry things from room to room. These handles make the doors easy to open. The front door now has a matchingkeyless lock that has a code. Classy!

All of the fluorescent fixtures that worked made a buzzing sound and flickered,  so we have been replacing them. (DH has been replacing them, with my help when needed.)

I’ve been playing with the layout for my fiber studio. The "Billy" bookcases from Ikea came yesterday. There are three of them. I will use them to store my quilting fabric. I’ve pretty much decided they will take up the wall on the right, but I haven’t decided about the rest of the layout. Still playing. I don’t know what I’m going to have for a sewing table yet, but this version of the floor plan is with the Mod Squad Sewing Cabinets from Connecting Threads, although I think they are out of my price range. The cutting/light table will be some kind of ready-made cabinet without a top, because my plexiglass top and cutting mat are coming with the furniture.

My loom doesn't take up as much space as that square in the middle of the room, but I need that much to pull out the bench and sit.

Dusty discovered the side light by the front door. Both dogs have been using it to check out the neighborhood, especially watching for cats and squirrels.

DH thinks this looks like a Norman Rockwell painting.

We went to a debate-watch party for the Congressional candidates from our new Congressional district Friday night. It was only about five minutes from our house. I was very impressed with Jamie McLeod-Skinner and decided to volunteer for her. The incumbent seemed angry to be there and kept repeating the same things over and over, how much he had done for everyone. I’m so glad Oregon lets us vote by mail, so I know nothing should keep me from voting. I went to a phone-banking session Saturday. What else do I have to do, right?

Sunday was the annual blessing of the animals at Trinity Episcopal Church. We started out in the courtyard. These are just a few of the nice people who came with their dogs.

At St. Luke's this service is always held outdoors in the afternoon, but at Trinity, the dogs, cats and iguanas can come right into church and be part of it all, which fit in with the sermon for this week, focused on inclusiveness.

Throughout the service you could occasionally hear a whine or bark. When we sang the recessional hymn, some of the dogs joined in. (I found out how dogs pass the peace, too.)
I will miss St. Luke's, but I think I've found a good church home.

This week's story from The Doll's Storybook is about the purpose of dolls. It was fun to write. Next week's story is going to be about stars, and why we can’t see them in the daytime.

What's on my needles: Nothing on the Kisu Cardigan, but I managed another row the Coastal Skies Shawl and CO Jacknitss' Cable Sweater Dress Set for a KAL on Ravelry. It will be for Mariah, who has been having to borrow clothes from the others. (I had to transfer my shawl stitches to another needle, so I could use the 3.75mm circular needle for the doll dress. It called for 4mm, but I usually knit more loosely than average, so it should be about right.)

What's on my Sparrow 15: Still sitting in our bedroom at DBIL's house. I think the next time I use it will be on the steeks for the Kisu Cardigan. I think.

What's in my hoop: Still the Spring Flowers quilt. I took it out of the bag and put it back in again.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: Why Are There Dolls, all about why human beings, especially children, need dolls. I'm scheduled through October 12th, but I have a good start on the next story. 

What's on my iPad/iPhone: The Innkeeper of Ivy Hill by Julie Klassen. No progress with the story this week.

What's in my wine glass: Terrain Vineyards "The Pinnacle of Quality" California Red 2015. Amazingly good for a cheap bottle of wine.

What's my tip of the week: Doll clothes make great gauge swatches.

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.