In the Water and Between the Pages

I think our UPS delivery person was as excited about this delivery as I was! I promised him autographed copies of all four books for this three kiddos. I left them on the front porch for him the next day in an envelope with "UPS" on it. 

If you want to get a copy, right now it's only available from Book Baby, or from me personally, but you can preorder from Amazon or B&N for delivery after October 18th, good if you get free shipping from them. If you don't get free shipping, order from Book Baby, because more of the price goes to St. Jude, or from me if you want a signed copy.

Earlier on Tuesday we had our regular vet take a look at Sandy, as recommended by the vet in LaPine last week. Dr. Tucker looked at what the other vets had done and recommended another blood test. (If you missed last week, Sandy had gotten into my vitamins prepared for our camping trip to LaPine Campground and probably consumed a small quantity of Vitamin D3, which is very toxic to dogs. I'm so grateful that our breeder recommended Trupanion coverage for Sandy. It was still an expensive event for us, but they are picking up 90% of all the treatments (blood tests, etc.) needed for this event, other than the vets' exams, which are responsible for. Because we started out at Bend's Animal ER (where he was examined), then moved to LaPine for camping (where he had to be examined again) and then back to Bend (where Sandy was examined again by our regular vet) we had to pay for three different examinations of Sandy, but it's great to know that three different vets looked at him. They were all in agreement as to treatment and monitoring. The results from the last blood test (which was more extensive) were encouraging, and our regular vet consulted with an endocrinologist who felt that the levels were acceptable unless he started having symptoms, which he hasn't.

We had dinner at our next-door neighbors' home Wednesday evening. We brought a loaf of Dutch Oven bread and a bottle of very nice Madroña wine. A very nice dinner it was, too, with portobello lasagne, a lovely salad, our bread and wine and Crème Brûlée for dessert. They are great neighbors. We have a lot in common, and they look after our place when we're out of town...unless they're out of town, too.

Thursday we packed the trailer, and on Friday we drove to Pine Point Campground at Timothy Lake. It takes about 2 1/2 hours to get there from our place, and we definitely will go again. We were planning to meet up with our younger son's family at McKenzie Bridge Campground for this weekend, but our reservations were cancelled due to forest fires impacting the area. We had to scramble to get a new location for our joint camping trip. The problem was needing a site with enough room for a tent and our little trailer and two additional vehicles. We found a group site at Pine Point. It was a bit more expensive but it was so worth it. Charlie and I arrived before 3:00 PM, more than an hour before regular check in. (I think this is a first for us; we're usually late.)

The campsite didn't have many level areas, and the most level one we saved for the kids, who would be camping with a tent. It was clearly a tent site, anyway, and would have been difficult to get into with the trailer. (It's easy enough to level a trailer, but a tent really needs a fairly level space. We were right on the lake, although the trail that goes around the lake (about 13 miles) was between us and the lake. The view was gorgeous, though.

We could even enjoy the view from inside the trailer!

It was nice to know the bed in our RPod 171 was already made and comfortable.

The temperature was nice. There were no bothersome bugs. We got out our camp chairs and sat, admiring the view with the pups.

The "vault toilets" were nice and clean (or so I'm told; we have our own facility) and there was no trash anywhere. The camp host who was on duty when we were scheduled to check in said hi, as she went by on her kayak. When she came by later, she asked us not to feed the ducks or other water fowl (they also have loons). The ducks came up and tried to dissuade us, or maybe they were saying this campsite wasn't supposed to be inhabited yet, and they were supposed to have some time to check out the place for any scraps left by the previous campers. They certainly weren't afraid.

The kids arrived while it was still light enough to set up their tent. We shared a supper of hot dogs (regular and vegetarian), baked beans and homemade potato salad. The next day we did a 4+ mile out-and-back hike in the westward direction. This took us through the area called Meditation Point, where campsites were accessible for backpackers. We found an empty campsite where we could picnic. The pups (Dusty, Louis and Sandy) had a chance to play in the water and chase sticks. We had a great hike. We encountered our first ELOO, a composting outhouse. This may be the wave of the future. Soren and Johan got to take complete control of a dog's leash without our help, and they did very well (mostly).

The kids and dogs had more fun back at the campground. The camp host had provided us with junior ranger kits (including a special button to wear) and a kit to make a hummingbird feeder. Time flies, as it does when we're camping, and this was a short weekend, only two nights. Sunday morning, the kids and dogs played in the water again. We had one of the camp chairs on the beach, so the boys and dogs could learn the finer techniques of throwing things into the water to entertain the three dogs while an adult watched. We took turns watching.

The boys learned there were some rules required.

1) Look and make sure no one (human or canine) is in the way when you throw a stick.

2) Let the dog wade or swim and get the stick. Don't get the stick and give it to the dog.

3) If the dog doesn't see where you threw the stick, you can toss a small rock to land as close as possible to the stick, to get the dog's attention to where the stick is. 

4) When you toss a rock, always look at where you toss it. Make sure no person, dog or duck is there. It will go closer to where you wanted it to go if you look.

5) If you're tossing a stick for Sandy, throw it farther out. Dusty and Louis won't go out where they can't touch the bottom, but Sandy can swim for real.

Louis likes to go after a stick, but he doesn't expect to swim for it.

The kids had a great time, and so did the dogs!

We had a nice, but shorter hike, on Sunday before we left. It was close to two miles, out and back. We had a nice view of Mt. Hood from the trail. You can just make out Mt. Hood in this photo taken on our hike.

We left a little late. (Sorry, wonderful camp host!) We made it home, arriving within a few minutes of the time our son's family arrived at their place.

In other news, Soren had an EKG and an echo cardiogram this week, because, with his SATB2 diagnosis, cardiac problems are common. He was a rock star during the procedures, and everything appears to be healthy.

The Wisconsin grands have been busy dancing. Here's graceful Daphne.

Zachary is amazing at all forms of dance.

Only now he has injured a little toe, so he can't dance for a while and has to wear a special shoe at school.

Happy eight-month birthday to Sandy!

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. About an additional inch finished on the plain stockinette stitch section.

What's on my loom: I didn't any progress on the placemats. But I need to get on it, because I need to make more rugs.

What's on my sewing machine: Still quilts.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: In Being Good, Jolena learns that she already has some good ideas about what a doll needs to do to be good, a rerun from 2018. 

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Still listening to Die Unendliche Geschichte by Michael Ende. Not much progress this week.

What's in my wine glass: Gran Maestro Rosso Puglia, 2019. Not bad!

What's my tip of the week: Parchment paper has great uses in the kitchen. Did you know it could be washed or rinsed and reused?

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

Our Favorite Verses: Poems from The Doll's Storybook is available from the BookBabyBookshop and other booksellers worldwide. Poems included are Valentine's Day, Keeping Pets, Back to School, Victor the Vulture, The Week Before Christmas, Insomnia and Veronika's Vocabulary Verses.

The stories in Classic Tales Retold: Stories from The Doll's Storybook 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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