HighFiber: dog stroller

Showing posts with label dog stroller. Show all posts

Monday, March 28, 2022

Whew!

The H-word* took up most of my attention for the first three days of the week. I listened to my audiobook while I worked. On Wednesday, the Beaverton grandkids arrived with their parents for a visit. I still managed to get in some knitting. The Hinterland pullover is coming along.

The pattern is by Jennifer Steingass. I’m really enjoying it.

The kids arrived Wednesday night. We spent the next few days playing games, cooking, eating, knitting (two of us), enjoying the out-of-doors and each other's company. The adults followed through on our plans to have a single-malt whisky tasting with our set from Flaviar.

Dusty was happy to see is best friend Louis again. They spent hours playing, but also got to go for walks together.

One of those walks took us to the dog park. Because Louis is a bigger dog, we went to the big-dog section of the park. The kids and their mother went off to the kids' playground. When everyone had had enough fun, we walked home again.

Rocky rode in the stroller most of the time on the way to the park, but he enjoyed walking around in the dog park.

Then he got out of the stroller about half-way home to walk the rest of the way on his own, while Soren pushed the stroller.

Speaking of Soren, here's some cuteness. They’re so sweet when they’re asleep!

The boys wanted me to read some of my stories to them. I read until I got hoarse.

Someone in Germany sent me a photo of her daughter with her copy of Mariah: Stories from The Doll's Storybook as well as a photo of just the book. I'm keeping a folder with photos of children reading my books, but I don't post them, to keep their privacy. Being a doll, though, Mariah doesn't need to have her privacy protected.

If you have a few minutes and are willing, please go to Amazon and B&N and search for "Emil: Stories from The Doll's Storybook by Peggy Stuart" in Children's. 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 our first book, Mariah: Stories from The Doll's Storybook, it would help if you left an honest review on the websites, especially if you bought from them.

*Housework, especially cleaning.

Where's my blog: If you want to follow my blog, go here and sign up to follow.

What's on my needles: Still the Hinterland pullover and the Empower kerchief.

What's on my loom: No progress.

What's on my sewing machine: No progress.

What's in my hoop: No progress.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: In Fan Mail, we learn about a letter from Holly, Emil's friend and pen pal, and a real letter from a real human girl who uses our stories to learn English.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished listening to The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse on the Audible app. Downloaded and started The Woman Who Smashed Codes by Jason Fagone.

What's in my wine glass: Fabre Montmayu Reserva Cabernet Franc from Mendoza, Argentina.

What's my tip of the week: Some salads can be made up ahead of time, like slaw, corn, potato or three-bean salad. It's handy to have some in the fridge when company comes.

Where are my books: The stories in each book first appeared in the blog and they are reproduced with few changes. Emil: Stories from The Doll's Storybook is now available for preorder from booksellers world wide. The link for Book Baby is here. The three stories are Best Buds, Getting What You Want, and The Boys Cook Dinner.

Mariah: Stories from The Doll's Storybook is also available. The three stories in the first book 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.

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>

Monday, August 30, 2021

The Days of Wine and Cold Noses

Monday and Tuesday were spent tidying and cleaning the house and getting the fiber studio ready to be used as a guest room.

Wednesday our daughter arrived from Wisconsin, and settled into the fiber studio. (Some people have trouble sleeping in a room where little beings appear to be watching, but I'm happy to report that I didn't have to put sleep masks on all of my characters, who were busy hanging out in the new "guest room," which is pretty much their home, unless they're wandering around the house, getting photographed for stories.

The next day our younger son arrived with his family. While they were visiting, the dolls enjoyed some play time with a real child, our grandson Johan. (It's good that Jolena is limber.)

Johan was fascinated by the loom during their last visit here, when his father helped DH put the loom together for me in the living room. During this visit, I gave Johan a demonstration.

Although I was very busy during the visit, I managed to get a little bit done on the trailer rugs. It's fun to see how the colored warp looks with the fabric-strip weft woven in.

On Saturday, DD, DDIL and I left the boys and dogs with the men and drove to our local yarn shop. DDIL was to pick out some yarn for her birthday, which occurred earlier this month when they were in Hawaii. I wanted to spend some money in support of the local business, so I planned to find some yarn for myself. I had picked Taina by Eevi Kesäkuu to make something "pink-ish" and downloaded the pattern before we left. After much perusing the offerings at Fancywork Yarn Shop, I picked Round Mountain Fibers' Alder Fingering in "Sea Slug Pink."

Before I started a new knitting project, though, I worked some more on my whole cloth quilt.

One more section finished!

We went to one of the two playgrounds near our home each day, so the boys could play and the dogs could get a good walk. Rocky enjoyed riding in the stroller.

The kiddos have more energy than I do, that's for sure.

It was good for them to have a chance to climb and slide and swing to get rid of some of that extra energy!

DH discovered a good way to get Soren to take a nap after an outing: put on a boring (to him) movie and provide a comfortable place to "sit." Soren will watch anything that's on TV, even if it isn't really of interest to his age.

Another day, DD and DDIL walked to Pilot Butte with the Dusty and our granddog, Louis.

Yesterday, Peter and his family piled into the car and headed home. They are only a few hours away, so we will see them again soon.

Karen heads home to Wisconsin tomorrow. We will miss her, but we hope she will be back for Christmas with her husband and children.

Besides the outings with the kids and dogs, we used the barbecue for hamburgers one night and salmon steaks another. The adults had champagne, wine, beer and lots of good food. The boys had some sparkling cider for a special treat with their dinners.

Rocky had a few rough days. Something upset his digestive system, and he had to go out in the middle of the night two nights in a row, but he is over that now. We've weaned him off of the anti inflammatory medication, and now we're cutting back on the pain medication. Dusty was happy to have Louis, our granddog, to play with and take walks with. They are almost exactly the same age.

There's nothing better than cold noses on dogs and lots of good wine to have with dinner.

Where's my blog: If you want to follow my blog, go here and sign up to follow.

What's on my needles: Taina by Eevi Kesäkuu (photo from the pattern) using Round Mountain Fibers Alder Fingering in "Sea Slug Pink."

What's on my loom: Trailer rugs.

What's on my sewing machine: Its cover.

What's in my hoop: Still the Whole Cloth Quilt. A little more progress this week.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: "Veronika's Vocabulary Verses," a tongue-twisting poem.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Still listening to His Lordship's Pleasure by Marion Chesney on the Chirp app. I didn't get to listen much this week. (I wonder why.)

What's in my wine glass: A lot, but the latest is Crystal Range 2019 Barbera, one of our favorites.

What's my tip of the week: If you want a great game that can be played by children and adults, is not very competitive and is unique, try One Night Ultimate Werewolf. We found it hilarious!

Where's my book: Emil: Stories from the Doll's Storybook went to the publisher on Monday. I had the cover kicked back for an issue with one of the layers in the software that should have been deleted before sending. It was rejected by electronic review, but when a real person looked at it, I learned it was OK after all. Whew! Still, I'm getting a proof copy, just to make sure everything is just the way I want it. I should have it in another week or so, and if it's fine, I'll approve the printing.

Mariah: Stories from the Doll's Storybook is available from booksellers worldwide. If you don't get free shipping from Amazon or B&N, buy from the BookBabyBookshop. Royalties go to support pediatric cancer research and treatment, and that's 50% of the price when you buy there. Other bookseller take a much bigger cut. The three stories in the book first appeared in the blog and they are reproduced with few changes. The stories (and links to them) are Being Little, Besties, and Distraction.

<a href="https://www.bloglovin.com/blog/7365001/?claim=kkvctsdtf4n">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

Monday, June 14, 2021

Out and About

Here's my progress on the Kevät sweater.

Kevät means "Spring" in Finnish, but I doubt I'll "finish" it before Summer, as that season will soon be here. If it doesn't look as if I've made much progress this week it's because I ended up frogging eight rounds. I found out when communicating with my DIL who is making the same sweater that there was supposed to be a repeat of Rounds 1-14, as plainly indicated on the chart...in red. (See photo)

If you can't see the red line between Rounds 14 and 15 on the chart, it's because I printed the instructions in B&W. Here's how it's supposed to look.

I've been having a difficult time reading the chart anyway, because the background for the chart is so dark. Now I've enlarged the chart and printed it again, with the line for the repeats filled in. Fortunately, the top part of the chart starts out the same as the repeated section, so I didn't have more rounds to frog. Now I'm almost back to where I started.

It has been a busy week, with the camping trip to Suttle Lake. We had a good time, although it was very cold at night. We have two new batteries now, so we were able to run the heater as needed during the night.

We took the dog stroller around the lake when we hiked the trail. It's about 3 1/2 miles. Rocky walked nearly 2 1/4 miles of it, although broken up by a couple of periods of riding in the stroller.

Imagine our surprise when we notice another stroller coming towards us! As they got closer, we saw that the stroller also held a dog. We had a nice chat with the dog's two-leggeds.

We returned home on Thursday and spent a couple of days unloading the trailer and doing laundry.

Most of Saturday afternoon was taken up repairing the gate to our backyard. DH needed someone to hold the gate upright while he reinstalled the bolts, which didn't want to go through all three holes...because they weren't lined up properly. It was difficult to line them up, because we couldn't see the hole in the post between the two pieces of wood. Eventually it worked, but it was a very tedious process.

We have ordered a daybed and a smaller table for my workroom, so it can double as a guest room, besides being a cozy place to work. The mattress pads have already arrived.

Sunday WE WENT TO A REAL IN-PERSON PARTY!!!! It was an end-of-the-year get-together. It was for the choir members and their spouses. It's strange to have a party to celebrate the end of a year like the one we have had. There were people I had only met during Zoom sessions and others I hadn't seen at all for a year. Everyone was vaccinated, and it was outdoors, so it was very safe. Our hosts both sing in the choir. The husband has a Finnish Goshawk, which he brought out to show off. He uses his bird to hunt rabbits, but since the bird only weighs about 1 1/2 lbs, he doesn't bring back the local rabbits, which are 7-8 lbs. each. He just tags them and flies off, sort of like keeping score or like the falconer's version of catch-and-release. This was the only photo I took during the delightful afternoon and evening.

Our peonies are blooming. We brought this one inside to keep us company.

Where's my blog: As you may know, the entity that notifies people when a blog they follow posts will discontinue notifications in July. This motivated me to link my blog to Bloglovin', as I did some time ago with The Doll's Storybook. If you are following my blog want to continue following after July, I recommend you go here and sign up to follow.

What's on my needles: Still the Kevät sweater (see above), the Brioche Shawl Feathers shawl and the new dish mat.

What's on my sewing machine: Waiting.

What's in my hoop: Still the Whole Cloth Quilt. No more progress this week.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: "Best Buds." Billy and Emil are best friends, but they enjoy the company of the girls, too.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished The Black Moth by Georgette Heyer on Chirp. While we were camping, we also listened to one episode of The Cisco Kid, complete with commercials from back when we were kids. Just downloaded The Rose Code by Kate Quinn, a new author for me, from Audible.

What's in my wine glass: Radford Dale Nudity 2018 Syrah Voor Paardeberg with no added sulfites, very nice!

What's my tip of the week: A basil plant prefers 80-90ºF, some direct sun every day and standing water around the roots to be fully happy, but as long as the temperature doesn't go below 50ºF or the plant is put into an insulated bag or box or covered up with a blanket (with something holding the blanket away from the leaves), it will survive.

Where's my book: Mariah: Stories from the Doll's Storybook is available from Amazon worldwide. Also available from BookBaby, Barnes & Noble and other booksellers. Royalties go to support pediatric cancer research and treatment. The three stories in the book first appeared in the blog and they are reproduced with few changes. The stories (and links to them) are Being Little, Besties, and Distraction.

<a href="https://www.bloglovin.com/blog/7365001/?claim=kkvctsdtf4n">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

Monday, May 17, 2021

Spring. Finally!

Things are waking up at last. The lilacs are in full bud, with a few blossoms beginning to open.

My in-house gardener has begun to accumulate plants for outdoors. Chard is one of my favorite vegetables, and the marigolds are lovely. The other plants are zucchinis, a staple at our house.

We've actually had these hanging baskets for several weeks. DH brought them into the house when it was cold. Now they can stay out all night.

We did SIX WALKS this week! DH joined us when I could get him out of the garden. Dusty runs along beside the stroller. It's much easier to keep him going, maybe because he likes running next to something that rolls, sort of like chasing a ball. When we go on the trail, I let Rocky out of the stroller in a few places to sniff around and stretch his legs, and then when we get within 1/4 mile of home, he can walk the rest of the way. If we go around the block, We just keep moving.

You may remember my Brioche Shawl Feathers shawl is in hibernation because I lost a game of yarn chicken. I tried to contact the company twice to see if they would sell me a smaller amount but never heard back, so I finally bit the bullet and ordered two new skeins of the yarn. It will probably be several weeks before I can knit the last few rows of the project, and I will have a lot of yarn left over, but I'm sure I can find a use for it.

Needing something to knit while I'm waiting, I cast on a dress for Pippa. I used a pattern I've used before, Top Down Trio by Jacqueline Gibb, a pattern designed for 18-19" dolls with a choice of three different skirt options. Pippa is much smaller, but I used thinner yarn and smaller needles and got it to work. Anyone interested in doing the same thing can find my modifications here.

It was part of a KAL in the Goetz Doll Lovers group on Ravelry, Formal Garden Party. We are making dresses.

She's very patient when she has to model for photos. I think she looks cute with her bear, though.

I needed something to knit (again), so I CO another dish mat, like the red one I made, but this time in grey.

Unlike the case with the red cone, I was able to get the cone out of the center of this one so I'm using one strand from the inside and one from the outside. This way the leftovers will be all in one continuous strand. I got rid of the tangle that came out of the middle, so now I'm working on this only when I need something portable and mindless to work on.

We had choir practice in-person on Wednesday. We could only have eight people, vaccinated, masked and distanced, to rehearse indoors with windows and doors open. It was lovely singing in-person with a group, even with masks on. Saturday I went in for an appointment to be recorded for our piece for Pentecost Sunday next week. Then I went to the library. We have learned that vaccinated people will not be required to wear masks in our state, except under crowded conditions, as per the new CDC guidelines. The librarians were still masked, however, when I stopped in there. The person I talked with said she was vaccinated, but they are still bound by OSHA protocols for now.

Daphne had her birthday on Friday. She knew she was getting a doll, but it's always a surprise finding out who the doll is.

She told her mother to hurry and untie her, so she wouldn't suffocate. (I wonder where she gets her imagination.)

Saturday, she went shopping at Target, where she bought some accessories for Lotta, now renamed Rebekah after Daphne's friend.

Rebekah probably thinks she has struck it rich! (The orange thing is a neck pillow on top of a carry-on case full of doll activities to use during a flight. Planning ahead, because the family will come here for Christmas.)

They also went to B&N to use her gift card from her prize in the writing contest. (See how the proud grandma threw that in? Oh, and she also has learned that she will be dancing in Ballet La Crosse's production of Heidi.)

I had shopped for some accessories, too, but I used the Maplea website, for some items I knew I would be needing for upcoming stories. The delivery came this week. The sports equipment was on sale. (I bought two rackets, so they can actually play.) Their stuff is excellent quality, and the details are very realistic.

Here's the rest of what I got.

Daphne tried to read the story that came out on Friday. I received a text that she couldn't view the story. She had received a deceptive website warning. It said the blog was charged with suspect malware and/or computer virus. I checked on it and got the same thing: a bright red screen with a warning that the website I was trying to visit may be involved in phishing. I reported it to blogger. Then I called Apple to see if they could help me straighten out the problem. They had me go back in to the website, but the warning was gone. I didn't know if the warning was down because I reported to them that there was nothing "phishy" in my story or if it was something website-wide, as it also affected this blog. Sunday morning I discovered (buried among spam emails) two emails from Blogger, first saying they had taken down the post "The Survey," for breaking their guidelines, specifically for attempted phishing, etc. It warned that if I violated their guidelines again, my whole blog could be shut down. The second email (which I found first) said they had reviewed the blog post and found nothing objectionable, so they had returned it to my blog. I had to republish it, but it published with the original date of March 5th. Anyway, it got straightened out. I suspect that someone who was trying to make trouble for me filed a complaint.

We Zoomed on Sunday. It was just the Wisconsin family and us. It was good catching up. (Look! I'm working on my quilt!)

Sunday afternoon we took our ballots (school board and other local administrative races) to the drop box in the Old Mill District, so we could walk along the river with the stroller. We clocked 1 1/3 miles, with Rocky walking about 1/4 mile. He got out of the stroller to dip his toes in the water, as it was warm. This was a good spot under a bridge.

Dusty trotted along, but he stayed out of the water. We made a point to end up at the dog park, though, and he got to run and play with a couple of terriers. (Rocky wandered around a bit.)

It was a taste of summer, as it was quite warm. We saw lots of people wearing bathing suits.

I received my updated report from Book Baby this week: 161 books have been sold so far, either through their store or through other vendors. That means over 200, if you count the 40 books I have sold from home, given to friends and grandkids, or donated. This is only through January 31st, because the reports run three months behind. I think it's selling well enough to make it worth getting the next book ready to go.

Where's my blog: As you may know if you've been on Quilt With Us, the venerable social media platform has closed down. As you may not know, the entity that notifies followers when this blog posts will discontinue notifications in July. Those two things motivated me to link my blog to Bloglovin', as I did some time ago with The Doll's Storybook. If you are following my blog and want to continue following after July, I recommend you go here and sign up to follow.

What's on my needles: Another dish mat, and the Brioche Shawl Feathers Shawl is hibernating until I get more yarn.

What's on my sewing machine: Sleep mask for Pippa and some other items.

What's in my hoop: Still the Whole Cloth Quilt. Actually a little more progress this week.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: "Work in the Workroom." The dolls couldn't stand the mess in the fiber studio anymore, so while DH and I were out for a few hours, they tidied up.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished Hope for the Best by Jodi Taylor on Audible. This writer is so funny at times, I would read her novels even if the plots weren't any good, but they are. And the characters. Zara Ramm is an excellent narrator, too. It makes it easy to keep straight who's talking. Now listening to The Black Moth by Georgette Heyer on Chirp.

What's in my wine glass: Madroña El Tinto. A favorite.

What's my tip of the week: Ask your local library to carry Mariah: Stories from The Doll's Storybook, so children in your town can read it, too. If they buy it from Book Baby, nearly half of the price goes to St. Jude, so that's the best place to buy from, unless they get a discount somewhere else or free shipping.

<a href="https://www.bloglovin.com/blog/7365001/?claim=kkvctsdtf4n">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>