Getting Nekkid!

Not what you thought? Well, it is what it is. Doggies went to the groomer on Thursday. We decided to have all the hair cut short. Here's how they looked.

Out on the trail during one of our walks since the extreme grooming session a lady walking alone stopped me and asked what breed of dog they were. "They're very cute, and a matched pair," she told me, "but I don't recognize the breed."

"Poodles," I told her. 

"Poodles!" she exclaimed. "They don't look like poodles!"

I had to explain that, yes, they are purebred poodles. This is what poodles look like without all that hair clipped in various designs.

Why did we have all the hair removed, you might ask? Dusty and I both have seasonal allergies, and this is the time of year when it happens. It occurred to me that all that hair around their faces can collect and hold pollen. Sandy hasn't shown any signs of allergies, but the dogs play vigorously together, so it made sense to do them both the same. They are also less likely to pick up foxtails and cheatgrass seeds with less hair. It makes water play more practical, too. If they get muddy, we can just hose them off. They don't need combing or brushing. Sandy loves to get into the water.

Speaking of water, we put some in the wading pool on Saturday. Sandy was squealing with delight or impatience while I was trying to turn on the hose. Dusty could care less about the pool. He loves to chase the ball, but if it ends up in the water, Sandy can get it.

We took turns throwing the ball either out into the yard or into the pool. If you look closely at the photo below, you can see Dusty looking up at Sandy, who had retrieved the ball from the pool. Dusty thought Daddy had thrown the ball into the grass on the other side of the deck behind the pool.

We decided we needed Real ID cards in case we need to fly again soon, so we went to the DMV on Wednesday. Charlie had no difficult signing up for his card, but they turned me down because the name on my birth certificate and driver's license doesn't match my name exactly on my Social Security account. I will need a passport to fly. My current passport expired five years ago in May, so I just missed the window for signing up for renewal online. I had to fill out the form online, print it off and go to the post office. I have an appointment for this morning. I have my passport photos, taken at the Automobile Club (AAA) on Wednesday, my expired passport, my driver's license, my birth certificate, my marriage certificate AND an appointment. Wish me luck!

The whole-cloth quilt is coming along. I'm almost halfway across the second side, filling in all the way to the edge of the quilt. (The last completed corner is on the left; my needle is barely visible in the incomplete section on the right.)

I did get some knitting done during the hours we were waiting at the DMV and while waiting to see my physical therapist. I reached the point in the The Love of Spiders shawl where I need to use the green yarn and decided to stop there rather than risk getting partway done with the green stripe in the border and running out of yarn. It's a superwash wool with nylon mixed in, so I needed something similar, so when I wash and block it all of it responds to the treatment in the same way. I've ordered some Knit Picks Stroll in what I hope is a close match to the green color. It's supposed to arrive on Wednesday. 

I decided to start a swatch for my next knitting project, the Gentle Spirit Tee. It calls for a US 4/3.75mm needle. After a few rows, I could see that it was going to be too loose, so I've gone down a needle size and am continuing on with that.

We gave Johan a gift certificate to Barnes & Noble for his birthday. It gave him a chance to stock up on books for summer reading. He has the grand sum of 5¢ left on his card after this shopping spree.

We will be going camping again in another week. Jim and the Oregon grandkids will be joining us at La Pine State Park. Stay tuned for more fun with the nekkid dogs on land and in the water.

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 Love of Spiders shawl by Melanie Berg. Also swatching for Gentle Spirit Tee. 

What's on my iPhone: Still reading The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles. Haven’t made much progress. Listing to music for Summer Choir.

What's on my sewing machine: Still waiting on something new.

What's in my hoop: My whole cloth quilt. Still filling in the rest of the border.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: In Playing at a Distance, Billy shows Jolena how she can still have fun with her friend who is moving away.

What's my tip of the week: Don't throw out those worn-out bed pillows. A cover using upholstery fabric is easy to make. What home doesn't need more pillows lying around?

Where are my books: The stories in each book first appeared in the blog, and they are reproduced in print 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: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are Being Little, Besties, and Distraction.

Coming in a few months: Billy: Stories from The Doll's Storybook.

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 vendor gets a cut. My author's page at Book Baby is here. Scroll down and click on any of the books that interest you. Find my books at Barbara's Bookstore as well.

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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Life at Home in the Summer

Well, the cover of the new book is ready to go to the publisher, unless I decide to change something. The inside pages are with my three proofreaders. I've decided to reveal the proposed cover, because, well, I just can't help myself. 

It's my biggest book so far. It should be available in time for Christmas.

Meanwhile, I've made some progress on the whole-cloth quilt. I've been spending a little time each evening after supper working on it. I've reached the second corner, but I'm not halfway around the edge yet. When I get about three-fourths of the way to the next corner, it will be the halfway point. It's getting harder to do hand-quilting because my fingers are getting stiff; I'm determined to get it finished while I still can.

I had some medical appointments this week, so I did get a little knitting done on The Love of Spiders Shawl. I have several rows of the blue sparkly yarn done past where I was when I took this photo. The directions say the two rows of the main color (the bright green) will take 5g of yarn. I have exactly 5g, but I knit a little loosely, so I'm skeptical about whether that's enough or not. Just to be safe, I ordered what I hope is a close color in Stroll sock yarn from KnitPicks. I checked the websites of the yarn shops around town, and they don't seem to have anything comparable to the green yarn. It only has to be close in color, because it will be all by itself in the blue border, but it has to be similar yarn, both in weight and fiber content. This is super wash sock yarn. I don't want to use a yarn that might shrink when washed, while the rest of the shawl doesn't.

Monday night we had another Summer Choir practice. I missed the one the week before when we were camping. We have some interesting pieces to work on. I miss singing with the choir at church, which is off for the summer, so this is a nice activity. I will have to miss another practice in early August, for camping again.

We had another Madroña Vineyards pop-up meeting/party Tuesday evening. I had a busy day Tuesday, so all we had was leftover mushroom custard casserole, frozen hash browns and string beans with a splash of salad dressing. We had a nice time, though, and it tasted good.

Remember that tablecloth I made for the RPod? I had to buy the fabric already cut at three yards, too much for the tablecloth. I thought it would be good to have some extra throw pillows for the RPod, and it turned out that the large piece of leftover fabric was just the right size to cover an old bed pillow, so here it is. 

I plan to make a couple more, but I want to use a bright turquoise, if I can find suitable fabric. 

Speaking of color, we have this growing out in the corner of our yard where the driveway meets the sidewalk. It's called Liatris pycnostachya, also known as Prairie Blazing Star or Cattail Gay Feather. It grows naturally in prairies, meadows and open woods. It's starting to bloom now. The photo doesn't do justice to the color.

We had very high temperatures this past week, and wildfire season has begun, making our air quality very bad for several days. We didn't get much walking in, as a result. I exercised the dogs indoors by throwing tennis balls up the stairs for them to chase. However, Saturday the air quality was good again and the heat was tolerable, at least before lunchtime. The church had a group hike planned with dogs permitted to Sawyer Park not too far from us, so when I saw that conditions were going to be good, I signed up. Charlie has been recovering from a cold for the past week, so I took the dogs alone. I think we had about 20 people and five dogs, predominantly poodles, as there was one standard poodle along with my two, and a doodle as well. We had a good time.

Dusty hates bridges, and we had to cross this one twice. Rather than drag him across, I unhooked his leash and let him follow me. After we were across, I hooked him up again. I knew he wouldn't run off.

This was the view from the bridge, the beautiful Deschutes River.

Beautiful but potentially dangerous. There are places in the Deschutes River where there are whitewater rapids and waterfalls. On Saturday six people apparently drifted down the river to the south of us and went over the Dillon Falls, which is about a 15' drop into churning rapids. There was one known fatality. Three people survived and are in the hospital here in Bend. Two more are missing, and the authorities have altered their mission from "search and rescue" to "search and recovery," so it isn't looking good for them. They were not part of any commercial whitewater rafting activity. Here is an account in the news.

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 Love of Spiders shawl by Melanie Berg.

What's on my iPhone: Still reading The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles. I'm barely into it so far.

What's on my sewing machine: Ready for covering more pillows.

What's in my hoop: My whole cloth quilt. Filling in the rest of the border.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: In While the Cat's Away the dolls are left alone for a week. They try to decide what to do while they have the house to themselves.

What's my tip of the week: We often grow sprouts for sandwiches and salads. They're easy to grow. Place two tablespoons of seeds (alfalfa or mixed seeds, available from iHerb and other places that sell seeds) in a wide-mouth quart jar with a lid that will hold a circle cut out of screen-door screen material, or you can buy special lids with holes. Cover with cool tap water and leave all day or overnight, depending on when you start the seeds, so 8-10 hours. Then drain, rinse with cool tap water and drain again. You don't want the seeds sitting in water, so find a container that will hold the jar at an angle with the lid down, so water can drain out. (I use a little box that mushrooms come in.) Repeat with the rinsing morning and evening as the seeds sprout and grow. After several days, when the jar is almost full, you can rinse and drain one more time, then remove the sprouts and place in a refrigerator container lined with paper towel, to keep the water from pooling around the sprouts. Eat within a few days.

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: Stories from The Doll's Storybook 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 vendor gets a cut. My author's page at Book Baby is here. Scroll down and click on any of the books that interest you. Find my books at Barbara's Bookstore as well.

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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Footsteps on the Trails

We came back from our camping trip to Cove Palisades State Park on Thursday, tired but somehow...rested. That's almost always the case with camping trips. We stayed at the Deschutes River Campground, in the section with full hookups, which was good, because the temperatures got up into the 90s each day we were there, so we used our AC to keep cool when we were inside the trailer.

While we were still setting up in our campsite, Sandy accidentally stepped on the foot-activated vacuum, which gave me a start, but putting everything away on the shelves goes very fast now.

Jim's campsite was at Crooked River Campground, which was, unfortunately, across the river requiring him to drive several miles to get to us each day. We didn't put up the picnic table awning, because it was too hot to eat outdoors until the last day, when it was cool enough in the shade provided by the big trees when we were ready to eat supper.

Deschutes River Campground has a great off-leash area, although there was very little shade. We discovered the exercise yard on the first day, when we were taking a walk through the tent campground. We hadn't brought a ball with us on our walk, but we found a nice stick to throw for the dogs.

After we had been there for a few minutes, some other people arrived with several dogs, which made it more interesting. They got acquainted and played together for a while.

Close to the exercise yard, we discovered the Tam-a-lau Trailhead, which leads to the top of the bluff overlooking the campground. We came back the next day to give it a try. We brought lots of water and a dish for the pups. I also brought some water in a spray bottle to cool us off if needed. We only stopped in the shady areas.

Every once in a while, we would stop to admire the fascinating rock formations. We've seen the basalt with columnar jointing typical of ancient lava flows like this before, of course, having studied geology, but it always makes us pause to consider how the older rocks eroded, leaving a surface for newer lava to fill in.

The ancient lava flows top every cliff in the area. The trail has an elevation gain of 600 feet, but with the heat, we decided to turn around about half way. We still had a nice view, though.

I forgot to turn on the Walk for a Dog app, as I often do, so the beginning and ending locations aren't the same, and the distance covered is slightly less than we actually walked.

We spent some time down at the river. We found this sign close to one of the trails. It explains how the various episodes of lava intrusion happened.

All kinds of small watercraft were out on the water. Jim used his kayak the first full day, when we hiked up the Tam-a-lau Trail. 

There were lots of places where the dogs could get into the water and either swim (Sandy) or wade (Dusty). We threw a ball or a stick for Sandy, and he would bring it back. This photo is fun, because Sandy is obsessed with sticks, while Dusty prefers a ball. The ball was too far out for Dusty, so Sandy got it instead. (Show off!) Dusty had to be satisfied with the stick, which he could retrieve by wading.

We had to be out of our campsite by 1:00 PM on Thursday. We packed up a little early, so we could take the pups to the water again before our drive home. We always take everything off of the shelves and seats and put everything on the bed. It was so crowded, Dusty had to use Sandy as a pillow.

After leaving the campground, we drove to the Crooked River side to try to access the water there. Our permit was valid for parking at the day use areas, so we found a place where there were no cars parked, so we had room for both our truck and the RPod. We walked down to the water, where we sat down to eat our lunch. A flock of Canada geese were hanging out, full-grown as well as younger birds. Sandy was fascinated, but we made sure he stayed away from them.

Sandy went for a swim, while Dusty waded and helped himself to a drink.

I did get a little bit of knitting done. I'm just starting the outer border, which is mostly Color B (dark blue). I'm supposed to need 5g of Color A to finish the border. I have exactly 5g, so I need to decide if I want to chance it or look to see if I have the same color in a similar yarn in my stash. Decisions, decisions!

I didn't take the quilt with me; it would have filled up the RPod. I've been working on it in the evenings, though, since we returned. I'm halfway done with the first side.

We've been walking almost every day. We got in about ten miles during the time we were camping, entirely in short walks/hikes of two miles or less. On Friday we began walking on the Larkspur Trail, adjacent to our street. It's cooler now, but still pretty warm, so the pups like to stop in the canal that actually has water in it, close to Bear Creek Drive, where we always turn around.

It's fun to see the little water bugs rowing across the surface of the water. Occasionally you can spot a tadpole in the water.

Meanwhile, our youngest grandson, Johan, turned 11 on Saturday, and the new book has gone to my other proofreaders!

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 Love of Spiders shawl by Melanie Berg.

What's on my iPhone: Still reading The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles.

What's on my sewing machine: Still waiting on something.

What's in my hoop: My whole cloth quilt. Finished the swags. Now filling in the rest of the border.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: In Gossip the dolls learn about misinformation, thanks to Veronika and a game.

What's my tip of the week: If you have two dogs, you can use one to help you train the other. Both dogs barking? Find a moment when one isn't barking and praise him. The other will notice and quiet down. Feeding both dogs and one won't eat? Praise the other for eating. They notice their brother/sister is getting praised for not doing something or for doing something, and they want the praise, too.

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. Find my books at Barbara's Bookstore as well.

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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