The proof copy of the latest book has arrived. As is always the case, I found things that needed fixing. That's why I get a proof copy! I thought the cover was perfect. (Veronika was reading from a volume of poetry by Johann Wolfgang Goethe. (She told me my poems are fun, but Goethe's are better.) I can't argue with that.
But I digress. UPS said the proof copy would be delivered on Tuesday by 1:45 PM. Charlie said (based on our canine surveillance team) that UPS never comes that early. I had an appointment with my orthotist at 1:30, so there was no way I would be home by 1:45. It turns out that Charlie (and the pups) were right. I snapped this screen shot at 3:22 PM. It was about 4:00 when the package actually arrived.
As I said, the cover appeared to be fine. The inside pages had a few problems, which is not unusual in my experience. When I switched the Vocabulary Verses from the middle of the book to the end (as recommended by one of my wonderful editors, so the photo credits would be at the end), MSWord decided to make some of the photos square instead of a ratio 4:3 rectangle, which is what I have throughout the book, except for the page with the portraits of all my characters, which are, indeed square. I had gone through and looked to find all the square photos, but I missed two, one of which is pictured below.
On Wednesday, I corrected these two photos and read through the entire inside pages, making a couple more corrections. The new inside pages went in later on Wednesday, and we're set up for preorders to become available soon and delivery to book outlets on October 18th or so. I should have my personal copies in another week.
Our wonderful choir director is leaving us, which makes me sad. Yesterday was his last day, but he found us a replacement, someone who has subbed for him. We had practice for a special Sunday anthem on Wednesday evening, followed by a get together at McMenamin's. Sunday we sang "For the Beauty of the Earth" by John Rutter, one of my favorites. I think it went well.
The pups were due to be groomed on Friday. Sandy's hair grows very quickly. This is typical for puppies, and I expect he will look better for longer as he matures. Dusty's haircuts look good for longer. This was Sandy's first grooming appointment since he was neutered, which occurred the day after his last grooming appointment. The groomer said he was much more cooperative than he has been in the past. I don't know whether the neutering caused that or if it was a matter of being a month older and growing up. At home, we have spurts of Sandy acting like a mature dog and reverting to puppyhood with nipping and cases of zoomies.
On Thursday, knowing they would go to the groomer the next day, I took the pups to the dog park. We walked there and back, and we visited both the big-dog area and the small-dog area. There was a big dog there when we got there, but she and her human left soon after we arrived. Someone had left a toy in the small-dog enclosure, so I threw it a few times for Dusty. We walked around on the very limited trail there, then we moved back to the big-dog enclosure to take advantage of their larger hiking trail. They raced up and down the trail and played with each other.
Dusty and Sandy both seemed to be trying to live up to their names. They were very dusty, sandy and exhausted by the time we walked home. That's a good thing!
We had our first major mishap with Sandy on Sunday (yesterday). I had packed my vitamins for our camping trip in a bag with some canned food. Charlie called me at church and said that Sandy had gotten into the vitamins. I told him how many there were of each, while he tried to find them all on the couch and on the floor. The one I was most concerned about was the Vitamin D capsule. When I got home, we added them all up and found that we had all but 1 each B6 and probiotic. One Vitamin D had been bitten into and had a tiny bubble in it, indicating that some of it was missing. One Fish Oil had been bitten into and was almost empty. I took the bottles of what he might have consumed and went with him to the emergency vet. The Vitamin D was the only one they seemed concerned about. A blood test was normal, but if he got much of what was missing from the capsule, it might take up to four days to show up. We will have to have blood drawn every day for four days. They also gave him some activated charcoal and some subcutaneous fluid, which is under is skin as sort of a sac that could drift around. We still plan to go camping. LaPine is not that far away, and we could take him to a vet there to have blood drawn or come back to town. We will have time to go back to the emergency vet for tomorrow's blood draw before we leave, because check-in is 4:00 PM. They have a direct connection with Trupanion Pet Insurance. The insurance only paid a small amount, and the receptionist at the clinic couldn't tell why (Sunday, and she had never charged Trupanion directly before), but I suspect they paid after our deductible was met. I suspect that the additional blood draws will be covered.
In the meantime, the archeological dig continues to fascinate Sandy. Here's his latest treasure. I wonder if the number 7 means something.
Another activity this week was our biweekly Madroña meeting. It's pretty much a Zoom wine-drinking party. This week the participants decided to exchange email addresses, so we can get together in person if we're going to be in someone's area. One couple lives in Canada during the summer and in the US during the winter. One couple lives in Houston. Another family lives in Minnesota. Most others live in California, from San Diego to Lake Tahoe area. Madroña is located in Camino, California, about 45 miles east of Sacramento. If you're going to be in the area, it's worth stopping in. We have been buying their wines for years, under the Madroña and Rucksack labels. They have great tasting rooms and special events, if you know enough ahead of time, because they sell out of tickets, and space is limited. (Not this week's photo.)
We're planning on leaving today to take "Our Pad" to LaPine State Park, which is not far from Bend. We want to try to use our equipment a lot while we're still under warranty. I've been busy getting the trailer and our menus ready to leave, but one thing I've been trying to do is get done with the colorwork part of the Kultainen käki sweater so I can work on the straight knit section while we're camping. Here's where I was as of Saturday night. I had only one round to go before the colorwork part would be finished and have since finished it. You can just start to see the two almost-complete cuckoos in the top of the center of each panel.
I also got the inner border on Soren's quilt sewn on. The outer border is a Scooby Doo fabric. I think he'll like it, as he's a fan. the background in the little Scooby headshots are almost the same blue as the background setting blocks, although they look green in this photo.
School has started again for the Wisconsin grands. Both are back in regular dance classes. Daphne is a class assistant/helper in one of the classes at the dance studio.
Both kids really seem to enjoy dancing, and the exercise is good for them.
Here are Soren and Johan, mugging for the camera. Soren (on the right) was recently diagnosed with SATB2, which is a chromosome-deletion disorder, and very rare. Communication through speech is very difficult for him, but he has no trouble communicating with the dogs in the family.
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. Now on the straight green stockinette.
What's on my loom: No progress again on the placemats, but I did find the strips of fabric I had cut for them, so will be back on it, now that the book is set and ready to go.
What's on my sewing machine: Still quilts.
What's in The Doll's Storybook: A new story this week, Bad Air. The dolls have noticed all the smoke in the air and no children outdoors playing. Mandy explains about the wildfires miles away and why children need good air to breathe.
What's on my iPad/iPhone: Still listening to Die Unendliche Geschichte by Michael Ende. Not much time to listen this week, with the book and a new blog story, but I'm still enjoying it.
What's in my wine glass: Colossal Reserva Casa Santos Lima 2018, which we've had before and like.
What's my tip of the week: When you measure the inside section of your quilt top for borders, measure across the middle, not the edges, which could have been stretched. Make borders on opposite sides the same length and ease in any fullness. (There shouldn't be much.) I like to put on the two longer sides of border first, because the top and bottom won't be as long. Of course, if you have corner squares, this doesn't matter.
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.
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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