Good Cookies and Bad Behavior

This week's story was a little time-consuming, because I had to supervise the baking of the cookies for the story. I wanted something with no cane sugar and no butter. I experimented and was happy with the result. (Recipe is listed as "Tip of the Week.")

We have some progress on the deck, but I can't get a photo yet, because the paint and stain needs to dry. We expect to have some issues with trick-or-treaters coming, but maybe it will be dry enough by tomorrow night.

This week has been an adventure, though. We were busy with a lot of things besides the new front deck. Our ballots came on the 21st. We finally got around to filling them out on Thursday.

 

On Friday, we dropped off our ballots at our favorite ballot drop box.

We've had a sign up for our favorite candidate for three weeks, but on Thursday, some people came by with election flyers. We asked for signs and gave them a list of the ones we wanted. They brought them a couple of hours later, and Charlie installed them in the front yard.

Having the signs is part of the fun of campaign season, and we were a bit late getting them up, with all the work on the house being a priority. The next day, Charlie was doing something out in from of the house, when a neighbor came by. The neighbor stopped and told Charlie that all the signs had been vandalized. They looked fine from the back, which was all he could see. Since they were only damaged on the front, he just turned each one around. When he came in, he told me what had happened. 

I went out to look, and this was what I saw. (Obviously, this photo was taken after the signs were turned around.)

I decided to put up a sign that might deter vandals from a repeat performance.

We haven't had a repeat, but when we were driving to drop off our ballots, we did see some other signs in the neighborhood that had been painted with the identical black X. This was apparently a bigger deal than I realized. When we got back home, I sent an email to the folks who brought us the signs. The same thing had happened to them. They decided to leave the damaged signs up and they just added new signs for all the candidates, with a couple of signs that said "No Hate!" Now they have 15 signs in their yard. They recommended putting in a police report, which they had done. Since then, other cases with the exact same X's have surfaced. I called the police. A policeman called me back and walked me through the process of filing a report online. Here's the redacted report.

I don't know if anything will come of it. If there's anything to report, you will be able to read it here.

For something cute for this week, here's a sand cat I found online. Nothing like eating a whole sushi!

If you have a few minutes and are willing, please go to Amazon and B&N and search for "Classic Tales Retold: 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 other books, Emil and Mariah, 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 the Hinterland Pullover (some more progress made) and the EmPower People Kerchief (hibernating). Down to the sleeve divide on Pauly's Wonderland Turtle. 

What's on my loom: Dust, but I still plan to make some placemats.

What's on my sewing machine: Still ready for back of T-shirt quilt.

What's in my hoop: Whole Cloth quilt, still no progress..

What's in The Doll's Storybook: No bad behavior here! The dolls are minding their manners and baking cookies to pretend to eat in Good Cookies.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Still listening to Plan for the Worst by Jodi Taylor.

What's in my wine glass: Gazali Estate Voor Paardeberg Merlot. Nice!

What's my tip of the week: Here's my new go-to cookie recipe.

Jolena's Good Cookie Recipe

Dry Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 3⁄4 cups rolled oats
• 1⁄4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1⁄4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon desired)
• 1⁄4 teaspoon nutmeg (optional)

Wet Ingredients:

• 1 egg

• 1⁄4 cup olive oil

• 1⁄4 cup honey
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1⁄4 cup raisins (or dried cranberries or chocolate chips)

Directions:

In a bowl, mix all the dry ingredients together.
In another bowl, mix all the wet ingredients together. (If you measure the oil first, the honey won't stick to the measuring cup).

Mix the wet stuff with the dry stuff. Add the raisins and walnuts and mix. If the mixture seems too wet, add a bit of flour. If it isn't binding together very well, you may wish to add an egg white.

COOL the dough in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 335 degrees.

Drop by teaspoonfuls onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Make them small if they are for dolls.

Bake for about 15 minutes or until golden on the bottom of the cookie. 

Makes about a dozen cookies or two dozen doll-size cookies.

Jolena adapted the recipe from here.

Where are my books: The stories in each book first appeared in the blog and they are reproduced with a few changes. 

Classic Tales Retold: Stories from The Doll's Storybook is available from BookBabyBookshop and other booksellers worldwide. The stories are Little Green Greatcoat, The Boy Doll Who Cried Wolf and Lost in the Woods.

Emil: Stories from The Doll's Storybook and Mariah: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are also still available from booksellers world wide. The link for Book Baby is here. The three stories in Emil are Best Buds, Getting What You Want, and The Boys Cook Dinner.

The three stories in Mariah 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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Front and Back

We saw a lot of progress on the front porch this week, in spite of the rain and cold. The grey color is primer. The rails will all be black, as well as the lattice that was supposed to protect the space underneath from animal habitation. We found several different kinds of balls under there. There was a space by the steps that had been open at one point and then was filled with large rocks. Now it will actually be sealed off, so it shouldn't collect any more balls. Spiders, maybe, or our local scorpions (not dangerous), but no squirrels or skunks will be able to set up housekeeping there.

By Sunday, the deck was sanded and the new finials were installed.

Joshua and Vinnie removed the last of the old pergola on Saturday. They hauled off the old posts and other bits of wood.

It's still pretty messy in the backyard, but progress is being made!

We now have a bird bath! This one has a little solar-powered fountain, which keeps the water moving when the sun is out. Obviously, it needs the sun to work. There's no water source for it, so we will need to keep it filled, and maybe thawed in the winter. 

I'm not sure if it was the bird bath that brought the robins, but we had a big flock of them come through late Saturday afternoon. I tried to get pictures of them by zooming in, but this was the best I could do. 

They kept flitting around, so most of them showed up as blurs. These robins didn't look like the usual ones we have most of the time. These have more black on their heads and backs and the red breast is lighter. I looked them up and found out that their visitation is a common occurrence here. They come through Bend twice a year when they migrate. They spend the summer in Alaska or parts of Canada and are on their way south for the winter. They're attracted to the juniper trees, nesting in them at night, and they feed on the berries but need water to digest them. We probably had 50 of them in our yard. As many as four at a time would be at the bird bath, drinking. We noticed that they weren't interested in the puddle of water on the top of the old hot tub. We didn't see any of them on Sunday, so maybe they had moved on.

Honorary granddaughter Elsie says she enjoys reading my new book, proof that it really is for all ages. (You may remember last week's photo of our 12-year-old granddaughter Daphne reading the same book.) I suspect the pictures are of more interest to Elsie than the text, because some of the words might be difficult to read at her age.

If you have a few minutes and are willing, please go to Amazon and B&N and search for "Classic Tales Retold: 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 other books, Emil and Mariah, 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 the Hinterland Pullover (some more progress made...maybe two rounds on the sleeve) and the EmPower People Kerchief (hibernating). Still Pauly's Wonderland pullover, no progress.

What's on my loom: Dust, but I still plan to make some placemats.

What's on my sewing machine: Still ready for back of T-shirt quilt.

What's in my hoop: Whole Cloth quilt, still no progress..

What's in The Doll's Storybook: September 9, 2022, "The Problem With Dogs and Cats." Mariah and Charlotte see a dog chasing a cat and wonder why dogs and cats don't get along.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Now listening to Plan for the Worst by Jodi Taylor, the next volume in The Chronicles of St. Mary's.

What's in my wine glass: Red Blend Portugal from Casa Santos Lima 2020. A favorite, and not just because of the pretty label.

What's my tip of the week: Peeling an onion is easier if you're going to chop it up anyway. Just make a few cuts through the onion with the skin still on first. Cut off the root and the top. Then cut through the middle from top to bottom and pull the outer layer off. It will be flexible, but the skin is stiff. It will pop off or break up and be easy to remove. 

Where are my books: The stories in each book first appeared in the blog and they are reproduced with a few changes. 

Classic Tales Retold: Stories from The Doll's Storybook is available from BookBabyBookshop and other booksellers worldwide. The stories are Little Green Greatcoat, The Boy Doll Who Cried Wolf and Lost in the Woods.

Emil: Stories from The Doll's Storybook and Mariah: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are also still available from booksellers world wide. The link for Book Baby is here. The three stories in Emil are Best Buds, Getting What You Want, and The Boys Cook Dinner.

The three stories in Mariah 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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Putting Stuff Together

Remember the iPhone pouch I was making for our veterinarian's mother? She's a big Nebraska fan, so he asked me to put their logo on it for her. I couldn't figure out how to do it with needle-felting, which was how I made the Apple logo on mine, the one our vet saw me wearing. I found the logo as an embroidered patch at The Patch Collection. They had several sizes, so I picked the size that fit best. I found some fabric in my stash for the lining.

I basted the lining fabric halfway down a piece about twice the length I thought was needed and took it to the vet's office, so he can try it on her phone when he visits her. I gave him a pin, so he can Pin it smaller where it's basted, or pin it together to the right size where it isn't basted. The lining won't stretch, but the outer part of the pouch will. If the lining is too loose, the phone can fall out. If it's too tight...well, obviously, that won't work. (I used my free pattern.) I'm just waiting to get the lining back from our vet.

Pauly doesn't have much in the way of clothing, so I decided to make him one of my Wonderland Turtle pullover/cardigans. I used the smaller size, of course, but there is a larger size for the slim Happy Kidz dolls or the plumper American Girl/Boy dolls.

Tuesday, we had our Madroña Vineyards Zoom "pop-up" meeting/party. The plan this time was for us all to make the same recipe and pair it with different wines to see how the wines went with them. Everyone got this link to start with for the recipe. The daughter of the Vineyard owner said she recognized it as the "TikTok Pasta" recipe, so that's how I saved it in my The Recipe Box app (See my recipe in photo below). I made some changes, the main one being using feta crumbles instead of a block of feta, because of availability, and sliced salad olives...just because. It worked fine, we thought. The recipe calls for roasting the feta cheese with olive oil and seasonings first.

While it's roasting, you cook the pasta. Then you mix the cooked pasta in with the roasted cheese and tomatoes, along with basil and garlic. Some basil leaves decorate the top and then the sliced olives. We used gemelli pasta, and the grooves collected the juices from the tomatoes nicely. 

It was delicious, and we'll make it again! We had a Terra d'Oro Barbera 2016 with it. I thought it was great with every bite, but Charlie thought it was better with a bite of the pasta and cheese but not as much with a bite of mostly the tomatoes.

The greenhouse demolition is coming along. The floor was poorly and cheaply made. Charlie will build a new floor.

With his part of the bathroom closet done, Joshua is working on our front porch/deck. He found the front posts placed directly on the ground, which is not to code. He believes the house was probably inspected before the porch was built, as that often happens. Then it may be expedient to build the porch without abiding by code. It will be up to code when he finishes with it. The bannisters were wobbly, and that will be fixed, too. He is replacing the wood that rotted as a result of coming into direct contact with the soil.

Joshua set up his workshop between where our trailer is parked in the trailer driveway and the fence to the back yard.

The books are starting to go out to friends and family first and our first preorders. I was excited to learn that another check with royalties from the first two books had gone to St. Jude. They have now received a little over $325 from the sale of the books in two years, with more of it coming in the second year. It's good to know that as little as it is, that support will continue after I'm gone, as long as people still buy the books.

This week's cuteness is Miss Daphne, reading my latest book. (I got a kick out of how she texted me, asking when the book would be out. She seemed excited to get it.)

If you have a few minutes and are willing, please go to Amazon and B&N and search for "Classic Tales Retold: Stories from The Doll's Storybook by Peggy Stuart" in Children's books. 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 other books, Emil and Mariah, 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 the Hinterland Pullover (some more very slight progress made) and the EmPower People Kerchief (hibernating). Cast on Pauly's Wonderland Turtle and finished the collar. The pattern is Pippa's Wonderland Turtle.

What's on my loom: Dust, but I still plan to make some placemats.

What's on my sewing machine: Still ready for back of T-shirt quilt.

What's in my hoop: Whole Cloth quilt, still no progress..

What's in The Doll's Storybook: Fall Is for Falling came out October 14th. Pauly sees trees that have turned red or yellow and thinks they're changing their clothes. Mandy and Emil help him understand how leaves change color and fall to the ground.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Listening to Plan for the Worst, Chronicles of St. Mary's, Book 11 from Audible.

What's in my wine glass: Sinfonia vinho tinto from Portugal. Nice enough.

What's my tip of the week: My recipe for TikTok Feta Pasta––Enjoy!

Where are my books: The stories in each book first appeared in the blog and they are reproduced with a few changes. 

Classic Tales Retold: Stories from The Doll's Storybook is available from BookBabyBookshop and other booksellers worldwide. The stories are Little Green Greatcoat, The Boy Doll Who Cried Wolf and Lost in the Woods.

Emil: Stories from The Doll's Storybook and Mariah: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are also still available from booksellers world wide. The link for Book Baby is here. The three stories in Emil are Best Buds, Getting What You Want, and The Boys Cook Dinner.

The three stories in Mariah 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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Change: The Only Constant

Unlike Lake Wobegon, it hasn't been a quiet week at our house. The bathroom continuing remodel, Stage Two, was finished Monday. Joshua finished the floor in the new closet. It's hickory. The cedar paneling will be installed horizontally above the trim.

We were pleasantly surprised to see that the light in the ceiling just outside the closet illuminates the closet nicely. It would have been expensive to have added a light inside the closet, but it isn't needed. The other closets have lights, but they're deeper.

Speaking of the other closets, it's impossible to get both of them in one photo without a wide-angle lens. Here's my closet with it's door installed so it opens out. (You may or may not recall that they opened into the closet when we moved in, meaning there was space in the closet we couldn't use.) The other closet door is opposite.

Things are happening outside, too. The old greenhouse is gone, or at least it isn't where it was.

Charlie says he's looking at greenhouses for a replacement. Here are the bones of the old one.

Here's a photo of the old one partially dismantled, so you can see what it was. The roof was broken in, probably from heavy snowfall the year before we moved here, so it was useless. It would be nice to have one, though.

The cover over the old hot tub (a pergola––I looked it up) is mostly down. There are still the three posts closest to the house to take down.

We're not sure if we're replacing the hot tub with another one. We'll see. This one is useless and has to go, though.

We may be starting on the front porch/deck this week. I'll need it for photos for an upcoming story, so I need to do that right away.

I needed a Yarmulke or kippah for Emil for Friday's story. I looked for one designed for dolls, but couldn't find one, so I used one designed for people, but used a smaller hook and then worked fewer rounds before the final round.

Remember my books were supposed to arrive on Friday? I had a surprise on Thursday when one box (of the two) arrived on Thursday. The other box arrived on Friday. I now have books to sell and give to family members and close friends. 

Four copies have already gone to the four younger grandchildren. Book Baby already has copies to sell. Shipping within the US is $5. Amazon and Barnes & Noble have the book available for presale, availablity November 22nd. You may have free shipping with them. The Wisconsin grands were texting me to find out when they could get copies. Their copies should arrive on Thursday.

I had choir practice Wednesday and Thursday evening I went to my first Taizé service. I went to help with the singing. I didn't get a photo during the service, but I took a photo of the list of the songs we sang. The numbers come from the book we used.

We had an adventure Friday night. We apparently have a homeless encampment in the woods near our house. Last night, at 11:30, the doorbell went off repeatedly. A man with a lunging giant schnauzer or schnauzer mix was at the door. The man said he was homeless, and that the dog had come to him, apparently lost. He wanted help for the dog. My husband took the dog and brought him in. The homeless man took off. The dog ("Griffin") found Dusty’s toy bucket and pulled out a cow's ear, frantically chewing on it, while we tried to read his tags. We were able to find a number, called, and the owners, who had been beside themselves, said they would come and pick him up. As Griffin's dad was taking the dog, we saw two police cars in the street. The homeless man had gone to the house across the street from us first, where they had one of those doorbells you talk through. They couldn’t see the lunging Griffin and thought the young man was agitated. It had frightened them, so they called the police. My husband talked with the neighbors and the police to fill in what we knew. I hope the poor man didn’t get arrested for trying to help a lost dog! This is not Griffin, but he looks a lot like him. Griffin had some rather curly gray hairs, although he was obviously a young dog, so we think he had some other breed mixed in.

If you have a few minutes and are willing, please go to Amazon and B&N and search for "Classic Tales Retold: 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 other books, Emil and Mariah, 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 the Hinterland Pullover (barely more progress made) and the EmPower People Kerchief (still hibernating).

What's on my loom: Dust, but I still plan to make some placemats.

What's on my sewing machine: Still ready for back of T-shirt quilt.

What's in my hoop: Whole Cloth quilt, still no progress..

What's in The Doll's Storybook: September 9, 2022, The Doll in the Hat. Pauly wonders about Emil's funny hat, and the dolls take a look at traditions.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Still listening to The Big Dark Sky by Dean Koontz. 

What's in my wine glass: Crystal Range Barbera, 2020 from Madroña Vineyards. Delightful!

What's my tip of the week: We shouldn't always assume the worst of people. Things aren't always the way they appear. Sometimes they live up to our expectations. Sometimes we're just being unjust.

Where are my books: The stories in each book first appeared in the blog and they are reproduced with a few changes. 

Classic Tales Retold: Stories from The Doll's Storybook is available from BookBabyBookshop and other booksellers worldwide. The stories are Little Green Greatcoat, The Boy Doll Who Cried Wolf and Lost in the Woods.

Emil: Stories from The Doll's Storybook and Mariah: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are also still available from booksellers world wide. The link for Book Baby is here. The three stories in Emil are Best Buds, Getting What You Want, and The Boys Cook Dinner.

The three stories in Mariah 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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