Out and About

The Speculoos Sweater is off and running. The orange stitch marker (lower middle right) is the center back. This project is less complicated than the Vilai socks.

I got my flu shot and Covid booster on Tuesday, both in the same arm. The pharmacist recommended doing it that way, because she said that leaves you one side to sleep on comfortably, if you like to sleep on your side. All my joints were aching for about 12 hours. My arm was no longer sore on Thursday. I should be mostly immunized in time for the Condega event next Sunday.

The Condega Celebration is a fundraiser for our church's support of the people of Condega, Nicaragua. I'll be there, selling my books. I'm happy that my new book will arrive in time for this celebration. It's basically a big party with nice things to buy. Charlie is going to attend and see what he might want to spend money on. Last year we bought tickets to a high tea on Valentine's Day. It was a nice outing, and we enjoyed the company with the other participants.

The dogs went to the groomer this week. First we walked with them to the dog park and walked around the trail in the big-dog section, because there were no dogs to play with in either section. When we finished that, there were a couple of dogs in the big-dog section and one little dog in the other. Dusty and Sandy played with the big dogs for a bit and then we went to play with the little dog, so he wouldn't be lonely. After a while, another little dog arrived, and it was time for us to continue on to the groomer. After we dropped them off, we walked home, cutting back through the park, crossing 15th Street and then going the rest of the way back the way we had come.

Charlie didn't want to walk with us the next day because he had some gardening to do, so I took the dogs by myself. When we were a short distance from the usual turnaround spot, it started to rain. Fortunately (for me, but not the dogs) I was wearing my waterproof windbreaker. Instead of turning around and heading home, we continued until we reached Bear Creek Rd, where we usually turn around. It only rained for about five minutes or so. I stopped to take a photo of the dogs on our way back. I wanted to get them immortalized while their haircuts were still fresh.

We walked past the construction site, as we often do, because the area where we can let the dogs off-leash is adjacent to it. I noticed that they had put in the walkways to the front doors of the little houses and had added some bushes and a few small trees.

I don't know how much longer we'll have access to this place, but for now, it's great for the dogs to run.

We walked again on Sunday. I discovered that the construction company had started building some fences surrounding the development.

During our walk on Saturday, we came across a big box labeled "FREE SQUASH." I peeked in. There was one left, so I took it. I've been trying to identify the type of squash. It seems like a winter variety, although the peel isn't excessively thick. It looks a bit like a cross between a zucchini and a green winter squash. It will be interesting to see what it's like inside.

I baked some bread on Saturday. I prefer this bread for sandwiches over the whole wheat bread from the store. It's made with sourdough starter and whole wheat flour.

On Sunday, the choir began singing again. We'll be singing most Sundays from now through June. We had a big back-to-school celebration, with a blessing of the backpacks. The children brought their backpacks up to the front to receive a blessing. Charlie came to the service because our anniversary is Tuesday and his birthday is Saturday, and we could get a blessing for our anniversary, and Charlie could get a blessing for his birthday. Here's a screenshot of that moment from the video of the service. (Those are my Vilai socks!)

The first box containing my new books is expected to arrive today, and the other two boxes should arrive tomorrow. I'm excited to open the box! If you have one of my books, please leave an honest review on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or the BookBaby Bookshop, if you have the time. It helps others decide whether to buy or not, and the royalties go to support pediatric cancer research and treatment.

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, BlueSky or Spoutible if you need information.

If you have a few minutes and are willing, please go to Amazon or B&N and search for Mandy's Little Science Lessons: Stories 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, More Classic Tales Retold or Billy: Stories from The Doll's Storybook. As I said, 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: Working on the Speculoos Sweater.

What's on my iPhone: Still listening to Wildwood by Colin Meloy, getting close to the end. I'm looking forward to the movie October 23. Here's the trailer:

What's on my sewing machine: Getting ready to make clothes for Elsie's Christmas doll. She and her brother are my honorary grandchildren, because she's the cousin of two of our grandkids and doesn't have grandparents.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: Mariah is feeling bad because she thinks she did something wrong. A talk with Veronika puts everything to rights. This week's story from The Doll's Storybook is Bear.
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What's my tip of the week: Aluminum foil can be washed (if needed) and reused, even the "everyday" thickness if you buy good-quality foil and handle it carefully. After it has tears in it, it can be recycled. I wash it regardless.

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

Book #7 is on its way to me and should arrive today. Yay!

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, only 8%, 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, or ask your local library to order the books.

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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Stocking Up

 My needles have been rediscovering socks, and I had forgotten how much fun they could be. The pattern this time is Vilai from Cookie A's Sock Innovation.

My preferred method for knitting socks is to use two circular needles, rather than a set of DPNs.

The July knit along in the Goetz Doll Lovers forum on Ravelry continues. A designer has offered four new patterns. If you buy two of them, you can get the other two for free, one for each one of the others you knit and post in the group. A project page is required for each completed project. Since I'm one of the moderators, I'm trying to support the activity in the group, so last week I made one of the projects. This week I set aside my socks to make another project.

The yarn is left over from this year's Mystery Knit Along from the Rose City Yarn Crawl. It has little bits of dark hot pink in it, so I put some hot pink buttons on the back. The pattern is called Dandelions and it was designed by Sharisse Dunn of Sugar Grove South.

It was a lot of fun to knit with some interesting features, including a crocheted connection of the sleeves at the underarm, easy to do, thanks to the photos showing before and after the process. My model for this top is "Pam," Götz Little Kidz Springtime. In my stories she plays a doll character who lives with a little girl who is diabetic.

The shaping gives the top a nice fit.

I've been harvesting the basil, but it's growing back. Not enough to make pesto, though. The Madroña Vineyards pop-up group is considering doing something with a pesto recipe for one of our meetings. I would have to buy some to have enough to make pesto, but these plants are enough to produce a few leaves for when I'm in the mood for a little basil.

We had some mushrooms that needed to be used, so I made my tuna casserole (cream of mushroom soup, peas, egg noodles) but added a bunch of sautéed mushrooms and onions with a little added salt and pepper. I think I'll have enough to freeze for camping.

We needed the weekly loaf of bread, of course. I use my sourdough starter, which is made using unbleached flour, so I add 1/8 cup each of gluten flour, wheat bran and oat bran, and then the rest whole wheat flour.

I've been going over the music for the Summer Choir. Monday's practice went well, I think. I was disappointed when it was time for us to stop. I'm looking forward to tonight's practice.

The dogs and I walked each day this week. Charlie joined us when he could, but he skipped a couple of days because of other things he had to do outdoors before it got too hot, like mowing the plants in the front and back of the house. (I wouldn't exactly call the stuff "grass.") Most of our walks were along the Larkspur trail and some off-leash time in the woods, but on Saturday, we joined the Trinity Episcopal Church's "hike" (really a nice walk) at Alpenglow Park. We made two loops in opposite directions and ended up with almost 1 3/4 miles.

Some folks were giving out "Watchtower" brochures at the park, and we recruited one to take this photo of our group.

We followed up with lunch at Cascade Lakes Brewing, which was on our way home. 

We drove by Jim's old house after lunch. Charlie wanted to get a photo of what the new owners had done to the front yard for inspiration and ideas for what to do with ours.

We've also been watching the FIFA World Cup. The last two games were especially fun to watch. Sandy wasn't all that excited about it.

Alexa and Johan are still in France. Here's Johan singing a duet with a busker at the 

Sacré-Cœur. How much fun is that? They should be on their way home today.

Sandy is storing up energy for the next walk/hike.

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, BlueSky or Spoutible if you need information.

If you have a few minutes and are willing, please go to Amazon or B&N and search for Billy: Stories 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, More Classic Tales Retold or Billy: Stories from The Doll's Storybook, 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: Took some time off from the Vilai socks to make a new top for Pam (see above) and now back to the socks.

What's on my iPhone: Finished Regime Change by Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan on the Audiobooksnow app. Now back to Wildwood by Colin Meloy.

What's on my sewing machine: Still put away until the next project.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: Jolena has come back from Australia, and the boys want to see her photos. The dolls from the ski team got to go to a special zoo in Sydney where all the animals native to Australia are on exhibit. How much fun is that? Back from Down Under.

What's my tip of the week: There are special water dishes or water bottles you can get to provide water to your dog on walks/hikes. I don't have anything special. The dogs and I share the water bottle. I serve their water in a little Tupperware bowl that fits in my pouch. The lid will go back on for a leakproof seal, if they don't drink it all, saving water for the next hydration break. I don't have to throw any water away, which helps when the hike takes longer and the weather is hot.

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

Book #7 is in the works.

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, only 8%, 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, or ask your local library to order the books.

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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The Last Moment

I'm not quite as far behind as I was the year I wrote The Week Before Christmas, which appears in Our Favorite Verses, last year's new book. At least we won't have a houseful of people this year for the holidays. Still....

It was another crazy week, but I managed to get some knitting done. The Oregon Autumn Cardigan is off the needles.

I still have to put on the buttons (which I've ordered), block and finish off the inside, but the knitting is finished. I found it easier to use three long circular needles for the front/neck band. I put half of the stitches on one needle and half on a second needle, using the third needle to knit with.

While I'm waiting for the buttons to arrive, maybe I can get a small project done. I'm ready to CO an Aran cardigan for a doll for our honorary niece Elsie, who will be getting a Little Kidz Max doll from us. Max is on his way to Elsie's aunt, who will wrap him up. I'll send his clothes along when they're ready. Max is just like Pauly, only blond, so I'll use Pauly as a model.

Meanwhile, the doll I ordered for "The Doll's Storybook" was shipped and should arrive here this week.

It has been very cold. The pups have been snuggling together for warmth.

We did manage to get out to the dog park on Thursday, so the dogs could have some socializing and chase the ball.

We had several errands to do. First of all, we went to our dentists' office. Our health insurance company had given us each a debit card to use for products/services in three categories: dentistry, over-the-counter medications and accessories and "incentive," which was basically to pay us for getting our physicals done. That last category we could spend on anything other than alcohol, tobacco, firearms and gambling, but we could only spend it in certain stores, like Walmart and Kroger. The dentistry and over-the-counter parts had to be spent by December 31st. We hadn't realized how much was on the card, so hadn't spent much, which we learned early in the week. A shopping trip to Walmart took care of most of our over-the-counter purchases and got us stocked up on toiletries, vitamins and first-aid items. The trip on Thursday to the dentists' office gave us a credit there. On the way home, before we went to the dog park, we stopped at a printer to see about getting our holiday cards printed. They thought we could do it all online, but the online services didn't provide the kind of printing we wanted, so I made another trip to the printer on Saturday with my file. The young man who helped us was new, and he sort of messed up the order. The cards were supposed to be 5 X 7, but they ended up 5 1/2 X 8 1/2. I picked them up on Sunday. It was fairly inexpensive, so I said they were OK. I wanted envelopes, too, but now the size I had planned on wasn't going to be big enough. The manager found some that would fit the new size, and gave them to me at no charge because of the mistake. (You may recognize Pauly on the front of the card. The photo is from last year's book.)

We picked up some Asiago cheese to make some special bread for the holidays, Asiago Sourdough Bread. My sourdough starter is ready.

For now, I'm using it to make sandwich bread. Here's the loaf I made a few days ago. It's gone now.

I made the bread in the regular oven, but I decided to try the new microwave/convection oven for some apple crisp. I used the round rack that sits on the turntable, and a glass baking pan. It worked great, and I could see the juices bubbling in the pan as it turned. It makes a great dessert with a little milk poured over the top and a dollop of vanilla ice cream.

My latest book, More Classic Tales Retold, officially came out on December 5th, although BookBaby has had it since they sent me my copies. When people buy my books from BookBaby, much more of the price of the book goes to St. Jude. Here's an example, taken from my accounting page, where I was able to find two posts for the same book at the same price, one from "Print On Demand," which is a vendor like Amazon or B&N, and one from the BookBaby Bookshop. You can see the "Print On Demand" only paid $1.68, while the BookBaby Bookshop paid $8.00.

The kids aren't coming this year. The other grandparents get them. We alternate. This allows the cousins to see each other every two years, which is nice. However, Charlie's brother will be coming. That will be nice.

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 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 need to finish up the Oregon Cardigan. Just starting an Aran sweater for Max, a doll for our honorary granddaughter, Elsie. Max is on his way to Elsie's aunt Alexa. I'll use Pauly as a model. Max is just like Pauly, only blond.

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 Staying Well. Originally written early in the pandemic, the dolls demonstrate how children can keep from catching contagious diseases. They learn about viruses and get to see what they look like if you use an electron microscope.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished Dean Koontz's new book, The Forest of Lost Souls. Now listening to Rubinrot by Kerstin Gier. Still reading In the Shelter of Each Other by Milree Latimer. Didn't get much reading done again during the week.

What's in my wine glass: Maison du Bertrand Vin Rouge Boudeaux 2019. I'll let you know.

What's my tip of the week: Start designing Christmas cards in September.

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.

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