The Days of Wine and Cold Noses

Monday and Tuesday were spent tidying and cleaning the house and getting the fiber studio ready to be used as a guest room.

Wednesday our daughter arrived from Wisconsin, and settled into the fiber studio. (Some people have trouble sleeping in a room where little beings appear to be watching, but I'm happy to report that I didn't have to put sleep masks on all of my characters, who were busy hanging out in the new "guest room," which is pretty much their home, unless they're wandering around the house, getting photographed for stories.

The next day our younger son arrived with his family. While they were visiting, the dolls enjoyed some play time with a real child, our grandson Johan. (It's good that Jolena is limber.)

Johan was fascinated by the loom during their last visit here, when his father helped DH put the loom together for me in the living room. During this visit, I gave Johan a demonstration.

Although I was very busy during the visit, I managed to get a little bit done on the trailer rugs. It's fun to see how the colored warp looks with the fabric-strip weft woven in.

On Saturday, DD, DDIL and I left the boys and dogs with the men and drove to our local yarn shop. DDIL was to pick out some yarn for her birthday, which occurred earlier this month when they were in Hawaii. I wanted to spend some money in support of the local business, so I planned to find some yarn for myself. I had picked Taina by Eevi Kesäkuu to make something "pink-ish" and downloaded the pattern before we left. After much perusing the offerings at Fancywork Yarn Shop, I picked Round Mountain Fibers' Alder Fingering in "Sea Slug Pink."

Before I started a new knitting project, though, I worked some more on my whole cloth quilt.

One more section finished!

We went to one of the two playgrounds near our home each day, so the boys could play and the dogs could get a good walk. Rocky enjoyed riding in the stroller.

The kiddos have more energy than I do, that's for sure.

It was good for them to have a chance to climb and slide and swing to get rid of some of that extra energy!

DH discovered a good way to get Soren to take a nap after an outing: put on a boring (to him) movie and provide a comfortable place to "sit." Soren will watch anything that's on TV, even if it isn't really of interest to his age.

Another day, DD and DDIL walked to Pilot Butte with the Dusty and our granddog, Louis.

Yesterday, Peter and his family piled into the car and headed home. They are only a few hours away, so we will see them again soon.

Karen heads home to Wisconsin tomorrow. We will miss her, but we hope she will be back for Christmas with her husband and children.

Besides the outings with the kids and dogs, we used the barbecue for hamburgers one night and salmon steaks another. The adults had champagne, wine, beer and lots of good food. The boys had some sparkling cider for a special treat with their dinners.

Rocky had a few rough days. Something upset his digestive system, and he had to go out in the middle of the night two nights in a row, but he is over that now. We've weaned him off of the anti inflammatory medication, and now we're cutting back on the pain medication. Dusty was happy to have Louis, our granddog, to play with and take walks with. They are almost exactly the same age.

There's nothing better than cold noses on dogs and lots of good wine to have with dinner.

Where's my blog: If you want to follow my blog, go here and sign up to follow.

What's on my needles: Taina by Eevi Kesäkuu (photo from the pattern) using Round Mountain Fibers Alder Fingering in "Sea Slug Pink."

What's on my loom: Trailer rugs.

What's on my sewing machine: Its cover.

What's in my hoop: Still the Whole Cloth Quilt. A little more progress this week.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: "Veronika's Vocabulary Verses," a tongue-twisting poem.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Still listening to His Lordship's Pleasure by Marion Chesney on the Chirp app. I didn't get to listen much this week. (I wonder why.)

What's in my wine glass: A lot, but the latest is Crystal Range 2019 Barbera, one of our favorites.

What's my tip of the week: If you want a great game that can be played by children and adults, is not very competitive and is unique, try One Night Ultimate Werewolf. We found it hilarious!

Where's my book: Emil: Stories from the Doll's Storybook went to the publisher on Monday. I had the cover kicked back for an issue with one of the layers in the software that should have been deleted before sending. It was rejected by electronic review, but when a real person looked at it, I learned it was OK after all. Whew! Still, I'm getting a proof copy, just to make sure everything is just the way I want it. I should have it in another week or so, and if it's fine, I'll approve the printing.

Mariah: Stories from the Doll's Storybook is available from booksellers worldwide. If you don't get free shipping from Amazon or B&N, buy from the BookBabyBookshop. Royalties go to support pediatric cancer research and treatment, and that's 50% of the price when you buy there. Other bookseller take a much bigger cut. The three stories in the book first appeared in the blog and they are reproduced with few changes. The stories (and links to them) are Being Little, Besties, and Distraction.

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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All Warped and Ready to Weave

We finally got the warp wound onto the warp beam and warp roller, so I was able to thread the heddles and sley the reed. (That means it's all set up to weave.) 

I threw a few picks with a dark green after weaving the border with grey. The pink warp is stretchier than the other colors, so it makes a wave in the pattern. That may go away when it's taken off the loom, but if not, it will just be a design feature. These will be rugs for the trailer anyway, so I doubt anyone is going to be that picky. The "decor" in our trailer is in dark and light shades of blueish green with touches of pink/magenta and a little beige, so I think these colors will work well (if anyone cares about a color scheme when they're camping). The fabrics I'm using are black (lots), turquoise, magenta, grey, green and beige.

The doll clothes I sent the grandkids arrived on Tuesday, when Daphne was already out of quarantine and Zachary just had two days to go. Daphne sent me a photo of each outfit being worn by a doll. I'll just show you two. This was our daughter's Baby Ann wearing a hat and overalls I made many years ago:

Here's Rebekah wearing a hat and dress that came with one of the Fisher Price My Friend dolls that belonged to our daughter.

Their mother will arrive here on Wednesday. It will be great to see her again. The last time was Christmas, 2018. We were supposed to have Christmas here in 2020, but you can probably guess what happened. Maybe this year.

As you remember from last week, Rocky had been having a difficult time. He is doing better, as you can see from this photo of Rocky cleaning the oatmeal pot for me.

He'll never be a young again, but he's back to enjoying his life again. We've enjoyed some walks this past week with Rocky mostly riding in his stroller.

Church was supposed to be in-person this week, but the Delta Variant has become rampant in our area, so we're back to using masks and vaccinated people, only those people necessary. However, the choir planned to sing, and sing we did! 

Here we are singing "All Praise to God." I'm on the far left, in black. It went well, and we plan to sing it again with the whole choir when we can get everyone together safely.

The video is here. Go to 49:50 for the beginning of the music, if you like.

Emil: Stories from The Doll's Storybook will go to the publisher today.

Coincidentally, we got this photo of our grandson Johan reading in his bed.

Everyone please stay safe, and get vaccinated if you are able to.

Where's my blog: If you want to follow my blog, go here and sign up to follow.

What's on my needles: Coasters

What's on my loom: Trailer rugs.

What's on my sewing machine: Resewing Velcro onto Pippa's shirts.

What's in my hoop: Still the Whole Cloth Quilt. A little more progress this week. (Yaaay!)

What's in The Doll's Storybook: In "Life on Wheels," Emil and Charlotte learn about a special program for children to learn what it's like to use a wheelchair to get around all the time in a letter from Holly about Come Roll With Me.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Still listening to His Lordship's Pleasure by Marion Chesney on the Chirp app. I've really only just started. I had the music for Sunday's service running most of the time I had a chance to listen, but I always enjoy her novels.

What's in my wine glass: Apothic Dark 2014. O.M.G.! I love this wine!

What's my tip of the week: Maybe this is the second time around for this tip, but you might have missed it. Need some "emergency meals?" It's easy to put aside some TV dinners. This one is all frozen food except for the "gravy," broccoli, corn, hash browns and faux chicken cutlet with some mushroom gravy. You can also use any leftovers, like lasagna, enchiladas, burritos, mac and cheese, etc. To heat up, set oven for 300ºF and cook for 50 minutes to an hour. (It takes an hour at our elevation.) Great for camping, too!

Where's my book: Mariah: Stories from the Doll's Storybook is available from booksellers worldwide. If you don't get free shipping from Amazon or B&N, buy from the BookBabyBookshop. Royalties go to support pediatric cancer research and treatment, and that's 50% of the price when you buy there. Other bookseller take a much bigger cut. The three stories in the book first appeared in the blog and they are reproduced with few changes. The stories (and links to them) are Being Little, Besties, and Distraction.

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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Endings

I did get some quilting done this week. I'm using four needles, so I can keep going, rather than stop and rethread the needle continually. 

I'm trying to avoid knitting anything interesting, because I'm afraid it will take me away from this project, and I'm determined to finish it this year.

A wildfire started Saturday afternoon close to where we used to live in Utah. For 18 years we lived with the threat of evacuation but without having to leave our home. They have been busy dropping fire retardant on the flames. It's called the Parley's Canyon Fire. 

Both the townhouse where we lived at first and our home for 16 years in Summit Park are in the area evacuated. As I write this, the fire is still raging. We have lots of smoke here in Bend, Oregon, from the fires burning in our state, but we are not in danger. 

The Wisconsin grandkids are doing well. Daphne is symptom-free and has just been waiting out the quarantine (which I think ended yesterday). Zachary is tired, but currently has no other symptoms. He has a few more days to go.

The Beaverton grandkids are back from Hawaii and getting reacquainted with their toys.

Friday Rocky reinjured himself before I got up in the morning, and it has been off-and-on since then. We gave him some anti inflammatory and pain medications, because he was obviously in pain. I've been sleeping on the couch to be close to him in case he needs something during the night. Until yesterday, we managed to walk almost every day this week, Rocky in the stroller most of the time, and Dusty trotting alongside. This was our Saturday walk.

We didn't walk on Sunday because Rocky had a bad day. If he lasts another two weeks, he will be 17. He has been in good health most of his life, and his current problem seems to be joints and muscles, like my health problems.

Much of my time during the week was spent on some complicated photo shoots which will show up in the stories in coming weeks. I'm scheduled now through the first Friday in September.

Where's my blog: If you have been following my blog and want to continue following, I recommend you go here and sign up to follow.

What's on my needles: Coasters

What's on my loom: Still the warp for the trailer rugs.

What's on my sewing machine: Waiting....

What's in my hoop: Still the Whole Cloth Quilt. Quite a bit more progress this week.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: Jolena decides that learning Spanish would be fun, if she's going to continue to go to South America every summer in Speaking in Tongues.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Just finished listening to North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell on Audible (my second time for this very long novel). Now have His Lordship's Pleasure by Marion Chesney queued up to listen to on the Chirp app.

What's in my wine glass: Angela Estate Pinot Noir 2015. Excellent!

What's my tip of the week: Spend time with your pets as they get older. You will be glad you did.

Where's my book: Mariah: Stories from the Doll's Storybook is available from booksellers worldwide. If you don't get free shipping from Amazon or B&N, buy from the BookBabyBookshop. Royalties go to support pediatric cancer research and treatment, and that's 50% of the price when you buy there. Other bookseller take a much bigger cut. The three stories in the book first appeared in the blog and they are reproduced with few changes. The stories (and links to them) are Being Little, Besties, and Distraction.

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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Worried Grandma

We finally got the warp wound onto the warp beam. (No, we didn't. I'm waiting for DH to help me, because with two people, the warp tension will likely be more even. It has been a crazy week, and he has been gardening.) Here's one of our blueberry plants.

Here's our little vegetable plot.

I can start cutting the fabric for the weft. It's all washed and ready to go.

I've been busy, though. If you read last week's blog post, you know that I made a hooded sweatshirt to fit Pippa. I wanted to improve the design and see if there might be an easier way to do some of the construction, so I made another one in grey. On the suggestion of a friend, I made a pair of sweatpants to match.

The only change I made to the sweatshirt was to add 1/4" to the center front (body and pocket), to allow more room for sewing on the zipper.

The only way I can get the hood on is to take out Pippa's twin ponytails and let her hair go straight down her back. I could make the hood larger, but then Pippa would probably look like a mushroom. I doubt she will use the hood much, anyway.

For the sweat pants, I used my pajama pants pattern and shortened them by enough to add cuffs at the bottom. The completed pattern and tutorial for the hooded sweatshirt and pants may be found here. (Scroll all the way to the bottom for the cutting pattern for both the sweatshirt and the pants. I didn't make Pippa's shirt.)

The other (first) hoodie is on its way to Daphne, who tested positive for Covid-19 on Thursday and has to stay home and away from everyone. She had a fever a week ago, but no other symptoms. She is missing dance camp this week because of quarantine, so she's bummed. I also made her doll a bathing suit and a sun hat.

Here's a look at the bathing suit. It's made from a little girl's sock and trimmed with fold-over elastic. Instructions for Little Kidz and Wellie Wisher size, and the larger Happy Kidz and 18" dolls are included and may be found here.

I ordered this swimsuit and shirt for Zachary's doll Billy a few days ago, and it arrived quickly. Zachary developed a sore throat over the weekend and is now a presumptive Covid-19 case. I had planned to send this to him anyway, because he already had to quarantine. (The set included goggles. They were in the description but not in the photo, which I took from the website, My Brittany's. This is not Zachary's doll.) As I write this, Zachary does not feel sick, other than the sore throat. We are praying he will remain relatively free of symptoms.

Here's what went into the mail today. At least the kids will be able to pretend to be at the pool or the beach. I filled the box with some other doll clothes that were made for the Fisher Price My Friend Dolls, but they should fit Daphne's Rebekah (Lotta Yoga). I don't think Zachary has a doll these clothes will fit, but he might. They play together with the doll things, so I think he will enjoy them.

As soon as the heat wave diminished, the smoke from nearby fires kept us indoors. We are so thankful for air conditioning this summer! On Saturday, though, we were able to start walking again. We all need the exercise, and Rocky can ride part of the way in his stroller.

Daphne is missing dance camp this week, but she has been working on her splits.

Several time zones away, the two other grandsons are enjoying a vacation in Hawaii.

The new book is getting the final proofreading. I will read it through one more time and send it off to the publisher when I get it back.

Where's my blog: If you have been following my blog and want to continue following, I recommend you go here and sign up to follow.

What's on my needles: I decided to make coasters for iced tea and other drinks with ice that make the glass sweat. I will use my favorite dishcloth pattern and just make them smaller. I really need something to work on to take with me when I go places, and the quilt is too big. However, I don't want to start something complicated just now, because I want to finish the quilt.

What's on my loom: Still the warp for the trailer rugs, ready to wind on to the warp beam.

What's on my sewing machine: More things for dolls.

What's in my hoop: Still the Whole Cloth Quilt. A lot more progress this week, though. It's slow, but I will get there.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: Back to School. Our grandson Zachary inspired this story by sending me the photo that was central to the story. The set arrangement was Zachary's, but he had his dad take the photo. I had to get him to answer some questions to put the story together. The Kidz did the rest. (This is his Billy.)

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished The Daughter of Sherlock Holmes by Leonard Goldberg on the Chirp app. Then I listened to Duke's Diamonds by Marion Chesney (also on Chirp) and then listened to J. K. Rowling's The Tales of Beedle the Bard, which is a short work of "fairy tails" on Audible. Now listening to Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South on Audible. I've been getting as many of Marion Chesney's novellas on Chirp when they are available for under $5, because they are usually only around 5 hours each, and paying one credit on audible or buying for just under $10 works out to be more money per hour of listening enjoyment. Chirp has no membership fee. The disadvantage of Chirp is, if it isn't offered for very little, everything is expensive.

What's in my wine glass: Western Cape Vineyards' Cape White from South Africa.

What's my tip of the week: Stickers (as for prices and bar codes) and goo from them can be difficult to remove, but here are some tricks. If the item the sticker is on can handle some hot air, use your hair dryer set on high back and forth over the sticker. This should melt the glue sufficiently to be able to pull the sticker off gently. If the sticker is on something too delicate for this, go straight pulling it off. You can take one corner and gently pry it up, being careful not to let it rip any more than necessary. Sometimes goo is left behind. You can use the sticky side of the sticker to stick back on and pull away quickly, repeating over and over until the goo is removed. If you can't use the sticker because it's in pieces, get a piece of packing tape or even transparent tape and try the same thing. You can also try soaking it in hot, soapy water. As a last resort, you can use Goo Gone on it. (Check the website for a list of things you can use their product on.)

Where's my book: Mariah: Stories from the Doll's Storybook is available from booksellers worldwide. If you don't get free shipping from Amazon or B&N, buy from the BookBabyBookshop. Royalties go to support pediatric cancer research and treatment, and that's 50% of the price when you buy there. Other bookseller take a much bigger cut. The three stories in the book first appeared in the blog and they are reproduced with few changes. The stories (and links to them) are Being Little, Besties, and Distraction. Emil: Stories from the Doll's Storybook is almost ready to go to the publisher.

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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