Heads Up!

Here's a new cap for Emil:

I used the same fabric as what I used for the dolls' bean-bag chair. I still have some left after making the cap. The cap is a somewhat complicated project, but if you take it one step at a time, it's not that difficult. Here's the pattern I used: Lee and Pearl Ball Cap and Trucker Hat. The biggest challenge was seeing my stitches, because the color is so dark and the lighting wasn't very good in my workroom because I had the room-darkening shade down to keep out the heat.

I made a lot of progress on my quilt this week, and a few rows on the shawl I'm knitting, but it's getting hard to take photos that don't just look like last week, as both projects are slow-moving, especially with the other things I've had going on.

So what have I been doing? Well, last week I started writing letters to people who didn't vote in the last election, asking them to vote. I'm now up to 60 letters finished, and I'll have to order some more stamps, because I'm working on another 20. I have found a use for all those Gwen Ifill stamps I bought. I can afford to pay for my own stamps, at least so far, but Indivisible Oregon has money to pay for stamps for people who want to write letters and can't afford to buy the stamps themselves. We had a Zoom letter-writing party on Tuesday, which was fun.

We are not asking people to vote for any particular candidate or party, just to please vote, and explaining why we plan to vote. It takes only about five minutes to write each one, because we get the form letter already printed. We just personalize it with our own reason for voting. (I talk about how I do it because I want to have a say in what kind of life my grandchildren will have.) We write the person's name at the top and then sign with our first name and last initial. We address the envelope by hand, as well, using a return address of an office in the state the letters go to, so they will be collected if they are undeliverable.

On Tuesday evening, I spent a couple of hours text-banking. I've done phone-banking before and find it a bit challenging. I'm really better with writing what I want to say, rather than talking, so talking on the phone isn't my favorite thing to do. Text-banking is easier. We have a canned message to send out to a number of people, then we respond to replies. We have standard replies we use, based on the responses, and if someone responds with an issue that needs further help, we just transfer them to one of the staff people to answer. We were texting people who were eligible to vote but had not registered. Again, it's not a particular party or candidate, just asking people to do their civic duty.

Daphne has been at dance camp all week. On Friday, they had a recital, which we watched live on Facebook. The dancers wear masks, unless they are performing a solo. Some of the participants received awards, and she was one of them.

Here she is with her award:

I removed all the hair from the boys' heads and put on their new wigs.

I have The Doll's Storybook stories scheduled through the end of the month. The wigs will make a debut in this Friday's story.

We're getting a little bit from the garden. A few more peas, with tender pods that can be eaten along with the peas, and more radishes.

DH has planted more radishes. They grow very quickly. Remember the Thai basil floral arrangement? It's still looking lovely. I'm amazed that it lasts so long.

We are still attending church services on Facebook or YouTube (it's available on both).

The choir will be performing again virtually in September. We had a meeting on Wednesday to go through the piece we will be singing. This time we will be joined by choir members from several other congregations in Bend. We expect to have about 26 people singing. It will still be some time before we can meet again in person.

What's on my needles: Still the Which Came First Shawl. A few more rows done.

What's on my sewing machine: Overalls for Emil.

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

What's in The Doll's Storybook: Jolena brings the other dolls some face masks to wear. Their teacher wants them to start wearing them to class in Masks. Daphne said she really liked this story, and several parents have tole me it was nice for their children to read about dolls wearing masks.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Still Mrs. Tim of the Regiment. I've been enjoying listening to the story, but I need to concentrate when I write letters, so I've also been listening to music.

What's in my wine glass: Placer Andaluz Tempranillo Syrah. A nice blend.

What's my tip of the week: I find the cap on the cooking spray to be difficult to remove every time I have to use it, so I leave it off, except for the one in the trailer, where I feel it provides protection for the nozzle when we are moving. By leaving the cap off, I can grab it from the cabinet with one hand, spray the pan (which is in the other hand) and put it back in one movement.

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.

Masked Ball

A family friend picked up 82 masks from me on Tuesday. This is what she picked up.

She's a surgeon who works at the local hospital, so she could take them to work. I already had these cut out.

I've been continuing to make masks, which will get picked up when I have a sizable amount, enough to make it worth picking up. I'm using the pattern they provided. They provide the filter and the nose piece or wire. Here is the tutorial I wrote to go with their mask. A link to the original pattern is included in the tutorial, as well as a link to rotary-cutting instructions. One of the preferred fabrics is quilting fabric, of which I have a plentiful supply. I'm up to 115 total for the hospital.

Meanwhile, our total cases for the county is up to 70, as of Friday night when the last reporting period ended. Two more cases had to be hospitalized.

We've been enjoying our sprouts.

We're growing them from sprouting seeds I bought through iHerb.

I have been unable to get more whole wheat flour, which is what I use to make my bread. I'm now down to my last 5-lb. bag, so I have been experimenting with adding wheat bran and wheat germ (toasted) to unbleached white flour to make bread. This one was made with 1 cup of whole wheat to two cups of white flour with my additions. It turned out OK.

I used 3 lbs. of frozen tomatoes to make spiced tomato jam. The recipe made two pints.

The pups are getting shaggy. Rocky needed to go to the vet to get a shot, so I gave him a good brushing. Dusty was really dirty from chasing the ball on the trail, so I brushed him and then gave him a bath. I was regretting having given our old dog clippers to our groomer in Park City before we moved here. I hadn't used them since we lived in Indonesia in the '90s, so why keep them? Little did I know.

Social distancing at the vet's was easier than I expected. We called from the parking lot. The vet tech opened the door. We let go of the leash and Rocky trotted across the parking lot to the door. After being weighed, vaccinated and checked, Rocky was brought back to the door and released into the parking lot. He came right to the car and was ready to get back in. We never got within 12' of another human being, although Rocky did.

I was getting the dolls ready for the photo shoot for Friday's story, dressing, fixing hair and then standing the doll on my cutting surface as I went on to the next. After finishing the fifth doll, I turned around and saw this.

Of course, I had to look to see what they were all looking at. It was the bicycles on the top of my fabric cabinet. The dolls come to life in my stories. Sometimes they really seem like real little people to me.

I haven't done much knitting since starting on the masks, but I have a little progress on Charlie's Kep. (See below.)

In other news, spring has finally come to our place.

Actually, tulips are blooming elsewhere in the neighborhood, but our front yard doesn't get as much sun, due to a beautiful huge fir tree in our front yard. (We need to replace the bushes. They cover the windows in the spring and summer and can't be pruned back anymore.)

What's on my needles: Still Charlie's Kep.

What's on my sewing machine: More masks

What's in my hoop: Still the Whole Cloth Quilt. Another week with no progress.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: Beliefs and Facts. The dolls discuss how to tell the difference between a belief and a fact.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished Right Behind You by Rachel Abbott, then The Man on the Mountaintop by Susan Trott and Smouldering Fire, another novel by D. E. Stevenson and then The Golden Orchard by Flora Ann. Now I'm listening to An Argumentation of Historians by Jodi Taylor, another of The Chronicles of St. Mary's series.

What's in my wine glass: Montevina Skyland Ridge Zinfandel 2016. Excellent!

What's my tip of the week: We're being encouraged to wear face masks these days, but experts have been saying it's more for the protection of those around you than for the wearer. This week NPR reported on a innovation that new research indicates may make home-sewn face masks "match or exceed the filtering capability of medical-grade surgical masks."

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.