Looking at Things

Sandy had a very busy week!

We have discovered that he likes to look out of windows, especially the one next to the front door. Saturday I heard a flapping sound and went to see what Sandy was getting into. (It's always Sandy, and I try to keep track of him.) The window shade was down, covering his view of the street. He was hitting it and looking in my direction. He was very happy when I raised the shade. He's really beginning to communicate well.

He also likes the window in my workroom. He has a really good view from the window sill, which he can reach by jumping up on the day bed.

Sometimes, though, he likes to steal something from there, like Mandy's pajama bottoms (a favorite) or one of the quilt blocks I've just finished. I was keeping the door closed when I wasn't in there, but he has learned how to pull on the door handle to get in. We had to get creative.

Sandy does the same thing with the bedroom door. He likes to go in and wake Daddy up, so I put a stool in front of the door, right under the handle, so he can't get to it easily. I have no doubt he will soon figure out how to climb up there to reach the handle, but maybe by then he will have learned that it's one of his rules about things not to do. He's responding better to "leave it" now, which I take as a good sign. Puppy training class starts on Sunday, and I can't wait!

Dusty is very possessive with balls (all of them are Dusty's), but he's happy to share other toys, even if Sandy removes all the stuffing. Fortunately, Sandy doesn't swallow the fluff or the squeakers, and he doesn't often even remove the stuffing at all. This was a bird, and he removed the insides, perhaps so he could pose for this photo, where he's pretending to be a working bird dog. I think he looks very proud of himself.

We've had some nice weather, so we have walked almost every day. We get off the main trail when we can, because they have become overrun with eBikes, which often exceed the speed limit and don't bother to provide an audible warning of their approach.

On Friday we went to the Deschutes River, parking at the Riverbend Park, next to the off-leash area, and taking the Deschutes River Trail, Old Mill Reach, up and over the river and back to the parking area.

Here's a look at our route, as recorded in the Walk for a Dog app.

After we dropped off my pack at the car, we walked to where the restaurants line the river. A lot of people, dogs and birds were out, enjoying the sun. We came across this lizard, who didn't mind that I stopped to take a photo but ran off when Sandy noticed him.

We looked for a restaurant with outdoor seating, so we could bring the dogs in. We picked Greg's Grill and ordered drinks: beer for the two-leggeds and a dish of water for each of the dogs. We had stopped several times during our hike to have water, and the dogs always had to taste the river water when we had access to it, but they were happy to have the water just the same. Water from different places always tastes a little different, and they think it's interesting. Dusty is an old hand at al fresco dining, but this is only Sandy's third time, and the first time in Bend. They don't look very happy in the photo, but they got a lot of attention, which we could tell they enjoyed.

We had a nice view of the river. It was warm, but pleasant in the shade. We have learned that Sandy doesn't like to get too warm, so I bring a spray bottle with water. (It's also helpful if he decides to assuage his excitement by biting my shoelaces.)

We had a nice lie-down when we came home. Sandy has taken over Rocky's old spot.

Later, I got up and went to my workroom to get some work done on Soren and Johan's quilts. Sandy was still relaxed, but he followed me there. This looks like some strange creature, but his front legs are still attached.

On Friday Sandy weighed 15.2 lbs., a gain of .6 lb. in spite of having a lot of hair removed by the groomer on Tuesday.

On Saturday, we left Sandy in his crate for about three hours. We took him out to the backyard before we left, and made sure he went potty and had a drink, then we put him into his crate with Snowball and a chewy, gave him a treat and closed him in. We were going to a beer-tasting event, something we had purchased during a fundraiser last fall for Trinity Episcopal Church's Condega effort. It was fun, and interesting to learn about the different beer varieties, three of which were nonalcoholic and surprisingly good. This was my favorite of the nonalcoholic options.

Sandy survived very well, but he was very happy to see us when we got home, as was Dusty. Eventually, we will be able to leave him out of his crate, but he isn't ready for that yet.

Another sign that Sandy is growing up: This morning the dogs had been playing. When they stopped, Dusty looked at me. He kept picking up something tiny, spitting it out again on the floor, looking at me again and yawning. I picked up the tiny thing.

I could tell Sandy was losing teeth (as he should, at his age), but I don't usually find a puppy's tooth to save. I have one molar of Sunny's in Rocky and Sunny's memory book. I reassured Dusty (the yawning is a calming signal) that he hadn't hurt Sandy and Sandy was OK. Then the dogs went back to playing. All is good.

We're clearing out the things in the 5th wheel in preparation to trade it in on a new, smaller, trailer. I've gone through all the kitchen and bathroom stuff and picked out the basic necessities, based on our new arrangement. Four each of dishes and cutlery, basic pans, a modest supply of paper products, shelf liner and extenders, two tablecloths (one for the outdoor picnic trailer and one for inside), and kitchen and bathroom towels. That stuff filled up four small boxes. We're going to have to replace our sheets, but the pillows, duvet, its cover and the quilt we put over the bed to protect the duvet cover from the dogs' feet are still OK. 

We had dishpans in the bottom of the hanging locker (closet) for additional storage of shoes and other things (such as rain gear for four people), which we are going through. In a cabinet designed for a TV (the old boxy kind...remember those?) we had a collection of maps and brochures from our travels. It was like going back in time looking through them. It was as if they were in stratigraphic layers. 

This one might actually be of use, although it was left outside when it rained and got a little damp. It may not be too much out-of-date.

We are aware that whenever we couldn't find something we needed in the trailer, we either bought a new one or we picked up one from the house. We were certainly carrying around a lot of stuff we didn't really need. A smaller trailer will prevent that!

In other news, the cast of The Doll's Storybook had a new addition this week. Tuesday this doll arrived, Götz Hannah-Zoé at the Ballet. (I bought her from Gotz Dolls USA, Inc., but they have everything taken down right now, because they are moving to another warehouse.)

The wig for the doll arrived the same day. By the end of the day, the doll had undergone a gender reassignment. This is Nico, and he already has appeared in one of our stories.

Besides the ballet outfit (which will go to Daphne for one of her dolls), he had a long-sleeved shirt with pink trim, pink and silver sandals and overalls with a big pink flower. The flower was easy to get off. The shirt with the pink trim and the sandals will be put to good use. All he needed was a shirt, which was supplied from Billy and Emil's clothes hamper, and some shoes and socks, which we have in plentiful supply.

You will notice that he doesn't have elbow joints. He doesn't have knee joints, either. This is a real disadvantage that we will have to work around. I needed Nico for some planned stories coming up in which a new character was a must, and he was my only option for more diversity. (See link below for his first appearance.)

The quilts for the boys are coming along. Some of these will be for Soren's quilt and some will be for Johan's. When I get closer to the number I need, I'll divide them up according to how well they go with the blue or green paint samples I have for each boy's room. There will be no two blocks alike, and in some of the blocks, it's hard to make out the star in the middle because of the busy fabric or lack of contrast. I think this makes a quilt more interesting, and it's a technique quilters from long ago employed. It has fallen out of vogue, however, which I think is too bad.

I'm using the Disappearing Hourglass block. I've used this block once before. For that one, I matched up the lights and darks so the actual block seems to be where four blocks come together. It was fun to make.

I've decided, though, for these quilts I'll set them on point and use the plain setting blocks to emphasize the color from the boys' rooms. To get this overall pattern, you really need coordinated fabrics and well-defined light and dark contrast.

The placemats are coming along slowly. I'm up to 6 1/2", so not even halfway through the first one. This is just an activity for me to do to take a break from quilting or knitting and writing, rather than something that needs to get finished right away.

I've finished another row in my sweater, but it isn't enough to make it worth taking a photo.

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 or Spoutible if you need information.

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 any of our books, including 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 Kultainen käki cardigan and the EmPower People Kerchief (hibernating).

What's on my loom: Placemats, some progress made.

What's on my sewing machine: Disappearing Hourglass blocks.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: In Silver and Gold, Pippa learns that sometimes your friend may make new friends, and that's OK. She also finds a new way to be kind. Nico makes his first appearance in a story.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished White Silence by Jodi Taylor, then Quadrille by M. C. Beaton. Now listening to Die Unendliche Geschichte by Michael Ende, in preparation for the July/August KAL on Ravelry.

What's in my wine glass: Umoya Western Cape Cabernet Sauvignon 2019, very nice.

What's my tip of the week: A refrigerator that has been turned off for a while, such as one in a trailer or RV, can begin to smell bad. When we get back from a trip, I let my trailer fridge dry out completely by leaving the doors open. Then I place an open plastic dish of baking soda in the freezer section and another in the main compartment before closing the doors and leaving them closed.

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. 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.

<a class="blsdk-follow" href="https://www.bloglovin.com/blogs/highfiber-7365001" target="_blank" data-blsdk-type="button" data-blsdk-counter="false">Follow</a><script>(function(d, s, id) {var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if (d.getElementById(id)) return;js = d.createElement(s);js.id = id;js.src = "https://www.bloglovin.com/widget/js/loader.js?v=1";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, "script", "bloglovin-sdk"))</script>

<a href="https://www.bloglovin.com/blog/7365001/?claim=kkvctsdtf4n">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a> 

Contrasts

If you read last week's blog post, you will remember that I finally got the loom dusted off and warped for placemats. Not a lot of progress has been made, but at least there's something new to show, which should give you an idea of what it will be like. After a few picks of grey cotton waste yarn, I started weaving with the turquoise yarn for the edge. There will be a fringe formed by the warp, and the grey waste will be removed at that time. Now the weft, 1/2" wide cotton fabric strips, will make the body of the placemat. I had some commercially cut strips, inherited with my loom. They are cotton batik. The label says "Princess Mirah Designs" from Bali Fabrics, www.balifab.com, but they don't seem to be around anymore. I'm also using fabric strips made from my stash.

When I reach 19" from the beginning of the turquoise, I'll stop using the cotton strips and finish the first placemat with another inch of turquoise, finishing with fringe. I'll have to put in some kind of spacer between the placemats. When I made the trailer rugs, I used cardboard strips.

I'm making quilts for the grandkids' beds, starting with Soren and Johan. They each have one wall in a special color, and I'm using these color samples as my guide.

I planned to use the "disappearing hourglass" and the "disappearing pinwheel" as patterns for the blocks, just because it's fun. There's a tutorial for the first block here, but I came across it first in a Missouri Star video. The second one is also available online.

I had a lot of fabrics that would be compatible with these colors, but many of them are very busy and more medium than light or dark, so the contrast doesn't show up very well. I like to take a photo and switch it to black and white to show the contrast. This is what I was getting. That could make the quilt very interesting, as long as some of the blocks are easy to make out. 

I think the quilting could make the design show up better. I will need to see what I find out about the quilting when I find a quilter to do it. In the meantime, I'm having fun putting things together.

I've started on the colorwork section of the Kultainen Käki Cardigan. My Ravelry page for the project is here. The pattern is for a pullover, but I'm knitting it as a cardigan by adding steek stitches in the center front. As with the quilts I'm working on, there isn't a lot of contrast between the fabrics, but I think it will show up well enough.

In this closeup, you can see three tan stitches. When there are a lot more rows, it should become more obvious. It should go faster, now that the foundation row is laid down.

I had a little help in wasting time this week from Sandy, who snatched my ball of the tan yarn, right from under my nose just as I was starting this row. He would have pulled my knitting out into the yard, but I quickly broke the yarn and let him have the ball of contrast color. When I finally got it back, it looked like this.

You can't really tell, but there was a lot of dirt, grass and other vegetation mixed up with the yarn. It took me half a day to get it untangled. It took forever to find an end, and it turned out that there were four ends, as there was another break in the yarn.

Here's a mugshot of the culprit. (I didn't bother with fingerprints.)

Sandy has grown like a weed! I weighed him on Friday, and he was up to 14.6 lbs. Just for kicks, I decided to measure him, too. He's now 15 3/8" at the shoulder, so no longer officially a miniature. As you can see from this photo, Dusty is still taller, but not by a lot. You can also see how much more hair Sandy has, even though they were groomed at the same time. Puppy hair grows faster. They both go back to the groomer on Tuesday. I'll try to get a photo of them then.

Sandy doesn't need as much supervision as when he was younger, and both dogs are now on the same mix of kibble. This has simplified our lives a lot. Sandy found out that, although I'm the one who fills his bowl, Daddy is the person who fills the canister. He thought it was very interesting to watch.

We dismantled the big playpen. We were expecting the Oregon grandkids to come to visit, and all the playpen was good for was keeping Dusty out of Sandy's kibble. Charlie had a difficult time figuring out how to fold the playpen up. It took him longer to do that than it did for me to straighten out my tangled yarn. (It's like one of those raincoats that come in an envelope.)

I did some tidying and cleaning in preparation for the kids' arrival. The chest of drawers in the guest room is useable now, so I put some freezer paper down in the drawers, so clothes could be stored there without coming into direct contact with the wood.

The kids didn't come his week, though. One of them had a digestive upset that would have made travel difficult. They will try to come soon, though. Cleaning the house should be easier, since it has been done so recently. That would be a nice contrast!

We stopped in Eugene on Tuesday on our way back from Florence, to have another look at the trailer we think we're going to buy. We're pretty sure it's what we want, and we put down some $$$ to have a first right of refusal, in case someone else wants to buy it. We mostly just need to figure out if we want to finance it or pull money from savings to pay for it.

We managed to walk every day after our return from Florence. 

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 or Spoutible if you need information.

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 any of our books, including 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 Kultainen käki cardigan and the EmPower People Kerchief (hibernating).

What's on my loom: Placemats, but I had to dust my loom first.

What's on my sewing machine: Disappearing whatever blocks.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: We revisit Jolena's first month after she was released from her box in Adventures of a Busy Doll. It's another rerun, but I'm working on some new stories.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Still listening to White Silence by Jodi Taylor. I thought I had listened to it before, but I don't remember any of it, so I must have marked it "finished" by mistake. It's very good. I love Taylor's snarky dialog!

What's in my wine glass: Viña Crostata Macabeo 2020 from Valencia (Spain), a nice, crisp white.

What's my tip of the week: Puppy kibble make great treats for any dog except the puppy who eats it all the time. It's small, tidy, doesn't need refrigeration and doesn't add empty calories.

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. 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.

<a class="blsdk-follow" href="https://www.bloglovin.com/blogs/highfiber-7365001" target="_blank" data-blsdk-type="button" data-blsdk-counter="false">Follow</a><script>(function(d, s, id) {var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if (d.getElementById(id)) return;js = d.createElement(s);js.id = id;js.src = "https://www.bloglovin.com/widget/js/loader.js?v=1";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, "script", "bloglovin-sdk"))</script>

<a href="https://www.bloglovin.com/blog/7365001/?claim=kkvctsdtf4n">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a> 

On the Road Again

I has been a busy week! Remember those placemats I wanted to make and how what was on my loom was "dust?" Well, I finally managed to get the loom dressed, the heddles threaded and the reed sleyed. (No, Autocarrot, not "slayed." I would have written "slain" if I had meant I killed it.) I plan to weave rag-rug-style placemats, using fabric as the weft.

Also in the category of fiber fun, I finished the ribbing on my next cardigan, the Kultainen käki and have joined to work in the round. Now the colorwork (and the fun) begins!

Monday we went to the dog park. There were no dogs in the little dog park, so we went to the other section. There were about ten dogs there. Dusty had a great time playing with the other big dogs. Sandy had some interaction with them, but mostly watched. One almost knocked me over while playing with another dog. I noticed large bruises on my leg. I'm glad we have smaller dogs.

Sandy is continuing to grow fast, although not quite as fast as before. On Thursday the two dogs looked like this together.

On Friday, Sandy weighed 13.8 lbs, a gain of nearly a half pound in a week.

Saturday we left for the coast. Sandy is turning out to be a great traveler. He mostly slept next to his friend Snowball, who is always asleep (we think...how can we tell?), and Dusty, who never really relaxes until we stop for the night.

Both dogs had a major break in our trip to the coast when we pulled off in Eugene to have a look at a little travel/camping trailer we had found online after a lot of research and thought might do for us. Our breakdown in March and our three weeks in Winnemucca convinced us that we didn't really need such a large home on wheels. Our existing trailer is really bigger than we need for camping trips. There's so much storage, we don't feel the need to unload everything between trips, so we end up hauling around stuff we don't need. The ceiling is much higher than need to feel comfortable and creates a lot of wind resistance when we're moving. It takes a good-sized pickup truck to pull it. This experience convinced us that we needed to switch to something that could be pulled by our family car. This is what we're considering: the R-Pod 171 from Forest River. 

Here's a look at the floor plan:

Sutton RV in Eugene had one on the lot. (At first they said they didn't have it, but it had just been parked in the wrong place. It turned up in the system and they were able to locate it.) We liked what we saw. It has a more open feeling than most similar trailers with the same amenities. If we get it, we will be giving up a lot of storage and our LP gas oven, so dry camping would leave us with just a stove top for cooking, unless we have a gas barbecue or charcoal grill. When we lived on our boat and left port, we were in the same situation. I baked bread in our pressure cooker, so I think we can deal with that. We would have slightly less used water (grey water or black water) storage capacity, meaning we might have to go to a dump station sooner, although it is rare that we have ever used the capacity that we currently have. We would gain access to areas where a larger trailer would be impractical, and we would have solar power, so we might not need our generator when dry camping. We would spend a lot less money on LP gas to heat the smaller space with a more efficient furnace. It would cost less in gas to haul around, so we could travel more miles for less money. We're seriously considering it.

We arrived at Jim's place late Saturday afternoon. The pups have been enjoying the nice backyard. It was good to be out of the car!

Sunday we celebrated Sandy's 5-month birthday by going to the beach. I don't think Sandy even noticed the ocean. It was windy and cool, but the pups had a great time. Today we will go back and maybe point out the big lake.

We went into town for lunch. It was very pleasant having crab chowder, garlic bread and a couple of beers on the estuary, with the pups lying under the table at our feet.

Sunday evening we had an old friend and neighbor of Jim's over for wine and snacking. It will be interesting to see what tomorrow brings.

My latest book has gone to the proofreaders.

For this week's cuteness, here's Miss Daphne on her last day of school.

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 or Spoutible if you need information.

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 any of our books, including 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: Moving along with the Kultainen käki cardigan and the EmPower People Kerchief (hibernating).

What's on my loom: Placemats! (Well, the warp is on it now, but that's progress.)

What's on my sewing machine: Hoping to start on the boys' quilts soon.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: In Making Lemonade, the dolls find out how to work with what they have.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: I didn't get very far with White Silence by Jodi Taylor. Life has been busy.

What's in my wine glass: Madroña's El Tinto 2020, Lot 42, probably my absolute favorite.

What's my tip of the week: Taking an ice chest with you on a trip? See if some of the things you plan to keep refrigerated could be frozen instead. Water? Cooked oatmeal? Applesauce? Maybe you're taking some frozen food that might thaw before you use it? If so, you can cut down on the need for ice packs and ice, which frees up that space for food.

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. 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.

<a class="blsdk-follow" href="https://www.bloglovin.com/blogs/highfiber-7365001" target="_blank" data-blsdk-type="button" data-blsdk-counter="false">Follow</a><script>(function(d, s, id) {var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if (d.getElementById(id)) return;js = d.createElement(s);js.id = id;js.src = "https://www.bloglovin.com/widget/js/loader.js?v=1";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, "script", "bloglovin-sdk"))</script>

<a href="https://www.bloglovin.com/blog/7365001/?claim=kkvctsdtf4n">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>