Monday, October 7, 2024

Pulling Things Together

The excitement builds around the new book. The proof copy is on its way and should arrive tomorrow. Yaaay!


Having fully recovered from Covid (I think), my vacation from cooking duties is over. I needed easy things to fix. We get the frozen cheese pizzas from Costco, sprinkle on some Penzey's Frozen Pizza Seasoning and then decorate it with vegetables. We have some Field Roast faux pepperoni, so I added that. Most of the same vegetables went into the salad.


The next day I made a huge pot of stew. I used Trader Joe's Meatless Grounds with black beans, canned tomatoes, mushrooms, carrots, potatoes, onions, garlic, celery, cabbage, peppers and fresh greens (thrown in at the end) seasoned with a 2-Cup bouillon cube and plenty of Penzey's Arizona Dreaming and a little salt to taste. I made my Easy Corn Salad to go along with it. We used that for salad for the rest of the week.


The weather is cooling off, so instead of iced tea, I've been having hot cocoa. I mixed equal parts of cocoa powder and powdered milk. About 3 tablespoons of this mix with hot water or milk and sweetened with honey works well. It's best to mix it in the blender when adding the liquid, because the cocoa powder can make lumps, even if whisked thoroughly with the powdered milk.



I put together another batch of granola and baked more bread.


We walked three days during the week. It would have been more, but the air quality reached into the unhealthy range the other days, so we had to stay indoors. I'll be glad when fire season is over.


Again, I managed to knit a few rounds on the second sleeve of the Oregon Autumn Cardigan. The arrow on the first sleeve shows where I am on the second one, which is still on the needles. You can see I don't have far to go before starting the border motif.



Meanwhile, in Wisconsin, Kitty Katy is growing like a weed. She has taken an interest in the kids' doll clothes. She also likes to attack feet. She's a very affectionate kitty who loves to cuddle. Four-leggeds can add a lot of joy to a family. (You may recognize a jacket I knitted for one of Zachary's dolls.)


For some further cuteness, here's Peter helping Soren with his math homework.


Meanwhile, Johan is up at bat.



And Miss Daphne is eating popcorn again! 



There are a lot of people in need right now, between the hurricane's destruction and winter approaching. I received this plea for help: The Friends of Pine Ridge Reservation needs afghans, lapghans, hats, scarves, slippers, etc. for Native elders and baby blankets, booties, hats, sweaters, sleep bags, etc. for Native babies. If you would like to donate, you can get a shipping address from the website.


If you would like to donate to help deal with the aftermath of Hurricane Helene but want to be sure you're giving to legitimate entities, the Episcopal Church provides help to those in need (scroll down to information on donating). Be cautious about donating to a GoFundMe account unless you know the people heading it up personally.


Prayers are always welcome. If you need help or want to help, contact FEMA. Please, please don't waste FEMA's time with unfounded rumors of what you think they may or may not be doing or sharing these rumors with others. There are plenty of people who need hand-holding right now and responders are very busy.


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 "Our Favorite Verses: Poems from The Doll's Storybook by Peggy Stuart". 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, Mariah or Classic Tales Retold, 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 working on the Oregon Cardigan.

What's on my loom: Still in its corner under the windows.

What's on my sewing machine: Still its dust cover.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: This week's story from #TheDollsStorybook is Storytime in Bend, which appeared in January 2020, but has been updated.


What's on my iPad/iPhone: Started listening to Dean Koontz's new book, The Forest of Lost Souls, but stopped to listen to a book recommended by a friend, January 6: A Novel, by Normal Brewer. Also reading a physical book, In the Shelter of Each Other by Milree Latimer.

What's in my wine glass: Barefoot Merlot 

What's my tip of the week: A lot of the same vegetables that go into salad can top a pizza, go into stir-fry or soups and stews, go into sandwiches or just be cut up to eat as a snack.

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 DayKeeping PetsBack to School, Victor the VultureThe Week Before Christmas, Insomnia and Veronika's Vocabulary Verses.
The stories in Classic Tales Retold: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are Little Green GreatcoatThe 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 hereThe three stories in Emil are Best BudsGetting What You Want, and The Boys Cook Dinner.
The three stories in Mariah are Being LittleBesties, 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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