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 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.
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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