Competitions!

It' has been an eventful week. We've been watching the Olympics, especially the Men's Freeski Big Air event, because we know one of the American athletes personally. It was especially exciting, because he took the silver medal on Tuesday.

He has a very amazing backstory, worth looking into if you're interested. We've watched him grow up from just a boy. He's entered in slopestyle, too. The qualifiers were postponed due to weather, but I know he'll give us a great performance.

It was Colby, in fact, who caused my character Jolena to participate in competitions doing just what he does. Here she is coming in for a landing during summer practice at Utah Olympic Park. (They land in a pool at the bottom, which is why she's wearing a bathing suit.) 

I need to get a photo of her doing her tricks in the snow. That will be a challenge!

The new iPad arrived on Wednesday. I was able to set it up easily and load all my apps onto it. I had deleted some, because they didn't work anymore on my old iPad, without the iOS updates I couldn't get anymore. I tried out the camera and was very happy with it. I just held it up and took this random photo. I'm looking forward to using it on the photos for this week's story.

I was making supper, so I tried out the camera again on this salad.

I couldn't believe how realistic it looks, although I don't know if it will look as good in my blog post. (See recipe below.)

On Friday, I had a training session online and by phone with a specialist at Apple. I was waiting to get the iPad before ordering the case, because I didn't want to order the wrong thing. It was harder to work with without a case. It's sort of slippery without the case, and hard to hold, but I did a few things with it. I did have a major chore to do on Saturday, though. I had to gather all my receipts and records for 2021 for my book sales, so we can include all that on our taxes. I'm not making any money, but money comes into my bank account and back out again, and it does count as a donation for tax purposes. (The case arrived on Sunday and is installed.)

I'm almost done with my Rose City Yarn Crawl Mystery KAL shawl. It just needs blocking.

Of course, we had to watch the Super Bowl. One thing I can say is, it wasn't boring!

We met our new doctor this week. We really like her. When we first moved here, we couldn't get a primary care physician, so we signed up for a concierge doctor, because we had to have someone. He helped us with our immediate issues, and we're grateful, but it was very expensive, and since replacing the roof, we decided we couldn't really afford to continue. Also, his office used to be very close, and he just moved it to another location that's far away, by Bend standards. We had our checkups with the new doctor on Wednesday.

We've been trying to walk almost every day. Rocky rides in the stroller a bit, and then he wants to get out about the time we turn around, so he can walk. This was one of our walks. There's a big open lawn about where our route crossed itself at the bottom of the map. We stopped there, so Dusty could have some ball-chasing time. We use the Walk for a Dog app. They make donations to dog-related charities, funded by ads in the app. We get a nice little map and a record of how far we walked, how fast we walked (not fast) and how long we were gone.

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.

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

What's on my needles: Back to the emPower People bandana.

What's on my loom: Still....

What's on my sewing machine: Still its cover. I was hoping to get the quilt pieced already, but I may have to take some time out from all the other things I'm doing..

What's in my hoop: Still....

What's in The Doll's Storybook: In "Kaleidoscope Eyes," Pippa tries on Emil's special glasses and wonders why she can't see properly. 

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Still listening to Unthinkable by Jamie Raskin on the Audible app. 

What's in my wine glass: We're having Madroña Vineyards Lake Tahoe Zinfandel, one of our favorites.

What's my tip of the week: Here's my recipe for a variation on the Caprese Salad. The only ways it's different are that I don't boil the balsamic vinegar and I added cucumbers.

Slice enough cucumber and tomato for the number of servings you need. Arrange them on the plate with fresh basil leaves and fresh mozzarella. Drizzle a little balsamic vinegar and olive oil, then sprinkle some salt and freshly ground black pepper on top. 

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.

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Eye Candy

Now that I have your attention...

My friends from Common Threads honored me with a luncheon last week at Georgette's. I'm going to miss these friends!

Janet brought her project, a top from a kit from Davidene's to show, all done except for borders, etc.

Vintage Stitchers met on Thursday at Julie's. Rebecca is working on her next block from the Borboleta BOM pattern from Hat Creek Quilts.

Barbara had her peacock masterpiece back from the quilter.

If you're a regular reader of my blog posts, you'll recognize this as Marilyn's palette.

It was fun seeing Julie's remodel in progress. Their kids, who have been living with them for six years, are buying their house. Julie and her husband spend most of the time either at Bear Lake (summer) or in Washington, close to St. George (winter), but they also spend some time in Park City. They are taking part of the upstairs and the loft to make sort of a mother-in-law's apartment. They figure they can use it for six years whenever they're in town, and the house will belong to the kids and grandkids.

This week saw a little sewing with the newly-service Elna. I made underwear for the two dolls still needing it. I used a girl's lace-trimmed sock, size large. The cuff was turned into a camisole, using Velcro strips for straps, and the toe became panties, trimmed with fold-over-elastic. I wrote up the instructions in a separate blog post.

Jolena needed a bathing suit for freestyle practice, and so I used the same method to make her one. Here's how it looks from the back, so much better with the fold-over elastic instead of the raw edges.

(The instructions for the bathing suit are also included in the same blog post.)

Now that Jolena had a bathing suit, she was able to participate in freestyle skiing training at Utah Olympic Park. You can see professionals do what the kids are learning here. Here was Jolena after her first day of practice.

She looks tired to me.

I took the girls to watch one day during the week. We used their usual conveyance.

They watched (or in Lotte's case, couldn't watch) from the bleachers as Lena tumbled through the air and splashed into the pool.

I caught some great shots by using the "burst" function on my iPhone.

Lotte came to see us after practice. She says the hardest part is getting out of the pool with her equipment.

My friend Ellen, whose grandson does freestyle and slopestyle said Lena's form was pretty good.

Note: See disclaimer at the bottom. People have asked me how I got the photos, and I said (joking) that DH threw Lena from the upper deck, while I took photos as she fell. We didn't do that. He provided me with some fishing line, which I used to hang her securely below the upper deck. Then as she moved slightly in the breeze, I took photos. I cropped, and in some cases tilted, the photos I liked, then edited out any fishing line if it was obvious.)

Lotte's Viipuri Dress is finished. Lena's yarn has sparkles, and I gave her a ribbon sash. Lotte's is more casual and has a skirt with M1 increases instead of YOs, so the holes aren't as obvious.

Other people are starting to make the Viipuri Dress from my pattern. That's always fun.

Sunday morning I came into the dining room to find the girls had taken over my dining table.

Me: Good morning! What are you ladies up to?

Mandy: We're teaching Lotte and Lena to play cards.

Me: What game are you playing?

Girls (all at once): Strip poker!

(I hope they teach the new girls all their little tricks. They're already down to their undies.)

I don't know for sure who brought strip poker into my house, but Vroni is the only one who didn't arrive her NIB (new, in-box), and she clearly is winning, so I suspect her.

I took the cards away and am setting my alarm for 1/2 hour earlier in the morning.

Not having had much luck getting a response from Götz to use the dolls in a book, I'm working on making my stories into weekly blog posts, tentatively named The Doll's Storybook, perhaps coming out on Friday afternoon. The plan is to have the posts suitable for children, so my grandkids can read them. Maybe I can work on the book idea after we get moved.

What's on my needles: Just finished the second Viipuri Dress for Lotte. Nothing new yet, but the next plan is the Norwegian-style kitty cardigan.

What's on my Featherweight: In storage.

What's in my hoop: Still the Spring Flowers quilt, a little progress done this week.

What's on my wheel: Stanzi is still in hibernation. 

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished The Crooked Staircase by Dean Koontz. It was good, but a cliff-hanger. I know there's another in the series. Now listening to Rondo Allegro by Sherwood Smith.

What's in my wine glass: The last of a huge bottle of Frontera Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot. (I can't read the vintage.)

What's my tip of the week: A recipe, easy and healthful:

Tofu Mac And Cheese

Ingredients

• 12 oz whole wheat macaroni• 1 12.3 oz pkg silken tofu (I like Mori-Nu)• 2 eggs• 1/3 cup Greek yogurt• 1 cup milk• 8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese• Salt and pepper

• 1 cup bread crumbs• 2 tablespoons olive oil• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Directions
1) Start macaroni cooking and set oven at 300°.
2 ) Blend tofu, eggs, yogurt, milk, and cheddar cheese in blender (along with a small amount of salt and pepper) until smooth. Drain macaroni, return to cooking pot and add tofu mixture.3) In a large skillet add butter over medium heat with the bread crumbs and red pepper flakes. Cook until crumbs are lightly browned.
4) Dump drained macaroni/tofu mixture into a 9 X 12 casserole dish coated with cooking spray.
5) Top with seasoned bread crumbs and bake for 30 minutes.

Serve with salad or vegetable.

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.