Independence Day!

My internet was down over the weekend, so this blog post is a bit late. It was another busy week, busier than usual, in fact. However, I managed to get more blocks made for the boys' quilts. (I'm up to 26 blocks.) So far, the blocks go either with the green paint chip or with the blue, or in some cases, with both. 

I went to Joann's on Friday to pick up some fabric for setting blocks for the quilts. ended up with the green on the left and the blue on the right, both fabrics that read as solid. I had forgotten the paint chips I was using for color selection, but I called Charlie, who was at home, and he took a photo of the samples and texted them to me.

The kids I'm making the quilts for are the ones who came to visit us over the weekend. This same weekend, we had Sandy's first puppy training class, and I had rehearsals for a concert on July 4th. Rehearsals started on Wednesday and were held almost every day. It's a joint concert with Cascade Horizon Band.

We were very busy, but I did manage to get in a little knitting, either at home or while waiting for a medical appointment. The pattern in the Kultainen käki Cardigan is starting to be evident. (That orange strip at the bottom is a removable tape that helps me keep my place on the chart.)

The boys' birthdays are coming up. Soren's is Wednesday and Johan's is a week later on the 12th. We sent their presents and cards home along with the parents.

Sandy is continuing to grow. He's up to 16 lbs. Sometimes he looks almost as big as Dusty. Tuesday our vet let us know that they finally had the canine influenza vaccine in, so I zipped over there and got the puppy vaccinated. We were hoping to get this done before his first puppy class on Sunday, and it was soon enough that he probably had almost complete immunity by then. He will need a booster in a few weeks. As he matures, he's safe in more situations. We can allow to be outside in the back yard by himself now, and he behaves better in general, so I'm expecting to have more free time in the future.

The day after Sandy got his vaccine, a young man knocked on our door and wanted to know if we wanted to sell our 5th wheel and the pickup. We had planned to trade in the trailer for the new RPod, but we wanted to keep the truck. He offered us more than the RPod dealer had offered as a trade-in, and we wouldn't have to tow it to Eugene, where our expected new trailer is. The young man wanted the trailer to live in, and it's a good size for a home for one person. His grandfather was helping him, but let him take care of all the business himself.

They were willing to take just the trailer, and we had almost finished emptying it of our personal stuff already. All it needed was some vacuuming and the tanks flushed out. We have the money, he has the papers, and all he needs is to find a way to tow it to Portland. We had a lot of fun with the trailer, but we really don't need something that big, and it isn't easy to tow around. We're looking forward to a new RV and more adventures while we're still healthy enough. It's like Independence Day!

Our son and DIL take turns running in the morning. They almost always take their dog, Louis. When they are here, they usually take Dusty, because he runs nicely with Louis. They are best friends. That gave Dusty and occasional break from being Mr. Mom to Sandy.

They will leave to go home on Tuesday.

Hope everyone in the US (and everywhere) has a safe July 4th!

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

Happy Independence Day to all who celebrate!

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: I didn't make much progress on the placemats, but there's no rush. I did cut a few more strips of fabric.

What's on my sewing machine: Still quilt blocks.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: In "Where Do Dolls Come From," Jolena wonders about her origins. This story originally appeared on August 24, 2018.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Still listening to Die Unendliche Geschichte by Michael Ende. I'm really enjoying listening to it in German at .7 speed (70% of normal).

What's in my wine glass: Hawks View Winery 2019 Barrel Select Pinot Gris from Willamette Valley. The kids brought this one. It's a nice one.

What's my tip of the week: We will be camping without an oven that can be used without electricity. How to fix frozen dinners when we're boondocking. (I've learned that's what people call dry camping, or camping without hookups.) I froze lasagne in a plastic container lined with heavy-duty aluminum foil. I picked containers that were square (so I can fit more of them in the freezer) but small enough to go into my pressure cooker. I have a rack with a handle, so it can be picked up and removed without getting scalded. (If you don't have that kind of rack, there's a workaround: just cut a strip of heavy-duty aluminum foil long enough to go under your rack and extend over the edges of the pressure cooker. Fold it lengthwise in thirds, and it will be strong enough to lift the rack. It can be folded over itself at the top to make a loop.) I put the water in the pressure cooker, then the rack with the frozen dinner, still wrapped in foil. I brought the pressure up and let it cook for 17 minutes. I let the pressure drop on its own.

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.

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