Led Astray But Still Fun--Mostly

Well, this first photo is just to show I've made a bit more progress on the Hinterland Pullover. Just a little less than two inches to go before the bottom ribbing.

On Monday, we drove out to the coast to visit my BIL, Jim, in his new digs in Florence. I thought I might get a lot done on this project during the trip, but it was not to be. (I did get a few more rows done while we Zoomed with our daughter on Sunday, though.)

I worked on another project (a sweater for Pippa) for part of the drive, but I had to help navigate, and then Rocky became stressed, so I had to comfort him. We ended up going way out of our way to the north on the way there. It took an extra two hours, including stops for us and the dogs.

We followed Jim's directions to his new home. It's a manufactured home in a gated community. The house was a real mess when he bought it. It was covered with some kind of black moss, as were the statue, wishing well and bench out in front. He pressure-washed the outside of the house and the other things. Then he had the house repainted, a new back deck put on and the house reroofed. The landscaping was also a mess, of course. He spent a lot of time on that, as well. Inside, he needed to do a lot of repairs and pull up old carpeting in the great room. I think it looks nice on the outside now, and he will get the inside in shape with a bit of time.

Monday's supper was a simple but tasty meal, with a bottle of bubbly to go along with it.

Here's a look at mine. Some salmon, a wild rice dish and three-bean salad, all prepared by our host.

Tuesday, we went to the beach, but it was "blowing up something fierce," as they used to say in the old movies. Not exactly gale-force, but too strong for the beach to be pleasant, so we put the stroller back in the car and drove in to Old Town Florence. We took the stroller out again and strolled up and down the main street. We saw the RV campground where we plan to stay in August, if we can ever figure out how to get there more directly than by going almost to Portland. (More about that later.)

On Wednesday, we took the dogs to an open area near Jim's home so they could run. The houses are built on dunes that have become compacted over the years. The trees and bushes seem to have really deep roots. Dusty loves chasing a ball. 

This is Rocky's idea of "going for a run." He seemed enjoy it. New smells and feeling the sun on his back were undoubtedly pleasant.

On Thursday, the wind had died down enough that it was pleasant on the beach, at least during the morning. The guys (two-legged and four-legged ones) enjoyed a walk on the beach, and Dusty got to chase the ball a bit more.

I was surprised that Dusty didn't chase the birds, but he was happy just going after the ball.

My main objective in going to the beach was to get some photos of Pippa and Pauly on the beach. Even though the wind had let up a lot, there were still gusts that gave me problems. Pauly seemed to know how to keep his hat on, but Pippa's hat went flying several times, and I had to chase it down the beach. I also had to chase the bag I used to bring the dolls in, along with the two plastic newspaper bags I had them in to protect them. The angle of the sun was still fairly low, so I had to deal with my shadow when taking photos with the sun behind me and the bright sand causing the dolls to be backlit when I took photos from the other direction.  The photos are pretty much OK with some editing, however.

We came across this empty crab carapace when we were walking back up the beach to where we were parked. I think it's a Pacific Rock Crab, but you really need the legs and underbelly to identify it for sure. (It found its way into the story.)

Friday we drove home. We tried to go a different way, but somehow missed a turn without realizing it and got off the road we planned to use. I asked Siri for help, and she directed us from there. Again Rocky was unhappy, so it wasn't a pleasant trip. It was better, though, than it was for someone. We passed this wreck. I've been trying to find out what happened to anyone who was in this car. No snow or ice at fault, so I can only guess it was either the driver's negligence or another vehicle (now gone) was involved.

This is where we were when we encountered the flipped-over car, on Hwy 58. This road brought us back to the main road through Bend, but we got on it quite a ways south of town. We think we have our mistake figured out for our trip next month with the trailer. (Fingers crossed.)

I'm planning on asking the vet about Rocky's distress. Maybe he was car sick because he can't see where we're going, but he never threw up. If his ears hurt from the elevation changes, they stopped when he got out of the car, so maybe not that. It's puzzling. He has always been a good traveler.

For some cuteness––or maybe some silliness––here's Johan, ready to go to PE camp. Not silly, you say? Just give him a few minutes.

This week's plan is for a partial bathroom remodel in our master bath. This shower stall is going to be removed and made into an additional closet. The workers will just rip this one out, and we will hire someone else to finish it as a closet. My plan is for cedar lining.

Where will we shower, you ask? We're having the big soaking tub removed and replaced with a classy new shower stall. Here's the "before" photo:

The piece of tile broken off is from the asbestos test, required by state law. The person who removed it also drilled a couple of holes in the wall to test other places around the existing tub. Apparently they found no asbestos, because they are ready to go (we think). It's costing us extra to use this space instead of the existing shower, but we think it will be a much nicer shower, especially with the window. Stay tuned for updates!

If you have a few minutes and are willing, please go to Amazon and B&N and search for "Emil: Stories from The Doll's Storybook by Peggy Stuart" in Children's. 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 our first book, Mariah: Stories from The Doll's Storybook, it would help if you left 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: The Hinterland Pullover, Pippa's Seattle Sweater and again no progress on the emPower People Kerchief this week.

What's on my loom: Still the Trailer Rugs, no progress this week.

What's on my sewing machine: Maybe a bathing suit for Pauly is needed..

What's in my hoop: Still the Whole Cloth Quilt.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: In The Balancing Trick, Veronika shows Billy and Jolena how The Writer fills out a check and keeps track of the checks she writes.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: We finished listening to The Last Bookshop in London by Madeline Martin. We started it when we drove up to Beaverton in February. We didn't have too much trouble figuring out where we were. It was a great book! Still listening to The Woman Who Smashed Codes by Jason Fagone on the Audible app. I'm a little closer to the end of it. It's good, too.   

What's in my wine glass: Arriccio Merlot 2019. Pretty good!

What's my tip of the week: We often use olive oil in place of butter on our bread, sometimes mixed with a little granulated garlic and some herb mixture like Penzeys "Justice" seasoning, a little salt and maybe some pepper. It's great for dipping, but it can be messy if you pour it on. I like to mix it up first in a small jar, then put it into the fridge until it solidifies. Then you can spread it nicely. You have to leave it refrigerated until you need it, then put it back in the fridge, though, because if you leave it out, it will "melt" (or return to its liquid state).

Where are my books: The stories in each book first appeared in the blog and they are reproduced with few changes. Emil: Stories from The Doll's Storybook is now available for preorder from booksellers world wide. The link for Book Baby is here. The three stories are Best Buds, Getting What You Want, and The Boys Cook Dinner.

Mariah: Stories from The Doll's Storybook is also available. The three stories in the first book are Being Little, Besties, 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. 

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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