Spring Has Sprung!

Spring has sprung,

The grass is riz.

I wonder were the flowers is.

The vernal equinox arrived right on schedule this past week. We've had grass for a while, however, even with the snow, and we know where the flowers "is." They're still waiting to open. The bulbs will be putting up their leaves and the bushes that produce flowers are already budding. Meanwhile, the grain is well-developed in my Field Cardigan.

Just a few more rows to go and the sheaves of grain will be finished and it will be straight stockinette stitch until it's time to start the ribbing. I've learned that this is not the project for listening to an audiobook or watching a movie.

We had a nice, traditional St. Paddy's Day with faux corned beef (made from regular tofu), cabbage with potatoes, carrots and onions, and Irish soda bread.

Here's the recipe I used for the faux corned beef. The brine was used to cook the vegetables (not shown in this screenshot). I adapted the recipe from Monica Davis' The Hidden Veggies.

One of our friends from the Madroña pop-up parties shared her recipe for Irish soda bread, and I decided to give it a try.

 It was easier to make than the recipe I usually use. It has raisins in it.

I had a frozen pie shell in the refrigerator freezer that broke up when it was knocked about, so on Saturday I decided to make a quiche just to use it before it was nothing but crumbs. It was like putting together a 3-D puzzle. My recipe uses silken tofu in place of some of the eggs. This is the first time I've baked a quiche in the new convection oven. I think it may have been too high in the oven, so it browned on top more than usual. I think next time I'll just put it right on the turntable instead of the circular rack. It tasted great, though.

I managed to get out with the dogs every day this week. Most of the time Charlie came along. I tried to get a photo during one of these walks, but the leash that connected my belt to Dusty's collar sort of stole the show. The snow was gone by Sunday.

This is the route we took most of the time.

On Friday we braved the off-and-on drizzle to go to Alpenglow Park, where the trails are paved and thus less muddy. It wasn't a very long walk, but the pups had some well-deserved off-leash time.

I worked on a new story for The Doll's Storybook and reedited one of the old ones (see below).

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 More Classic Tales Retold or 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, Classic Tales Retold, Our Favorite Verses or More 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 Field Cardigan.

What's on my iPhone: Finished How We Learn To Be Brave by Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde. Now listening to Jan Karon's These High, Green Hills, which is the third book in her The Mitford Years series.

What's on my sewing machine: Still waiting to do some repairs.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: In "Finding Your Purpose," Billy discovers he has a talent for photography, and it's fun.

What's my tip of the week: I have an electric toothbrush, and it's boring to just stand there with the toothbrush doing all the work, so I've been using the time to give my legs some exercise. I do gentle squats while brushing the top teeth and heel lifts while brushing the bottom.

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

The stories in More Classic Tales Retold: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are Welcoming a Stranger, The Rescue, Unmasked, Fuzzy Town––A Play and Sky Blue.

Our Favorite Verses: Poems from The Doll's Storybook. 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.

The stories in Emil: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are Best Buds, Getting What You Want, and The Boys Cook Dinner.

The 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, because the publisher gets a cut. 

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>