Showing posts with label hail. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hail. Show all posts

Monday, April 13, 2026

Making a Splash

The Summer Sorrel hit a milestone of sorts this past week: The yoke is finished. The rest of the body  is reverse stockinette down to the ribbing.



Oh, no! All the rest of it is purl stitches? Actually, the rest of the sweater is knit inside-out, so it's easy.



Spring has finally sprung. We have blossoms on our cherry tree.


We have a flowering tree in front, right about on the property line with our next-door neighbor. I think it's a weeping cherry blossom tree. It has been blooming for several days. We went out and clipped a few branches and put them in a vase.


The next day we had extreme winds, rain and tiny hail. 


Now the neighborhood is strewn with tiny white and pink petals from all the flowering trees. The flowers are still on our cherry tree, though. I guess it was a little more sheltered in the backyard.

Between the bad weather and Dusty's bandaged foot, we didn't get much walking in, but we did manage a couple of short walks when it was dry. Here, Sandy is checking our Dusty's leg-lifting technique. Sandy lifts his leg when he's marking during a walk, but if he just has to pee, he squats like a girl.


I take both dogs, even when Charlie comes along. He's still a little unsteady as a result of the procedure he had over a month ago, but he's making steady improvement and is back to driving, even if I'm going along.


As we were walking, we came across a little bird pecking on a tree. I tried to get a photo, but the bird was so busy, he's just a blur. I think it's a red-breasted nuthatch, based on the coloring of the feathers.


One of the important activities of the week was the return to Earth of Artemis II.



We watched the splashdown. It brought back memories of the Apollo missions.


It was great to see them exit the capsule in good shape.


The TV transmission has improved a lot since the Apollo missions, as have a lot of technology. The Apollo astronauts had to use slide rules for any calculations needed during the voyage. When Neil Armstrong exited the LEM on the moon, we got Timo (then a toddler) out of bed and took photos of him watching human beings walking on the moon for the first time. He doesn't remember it, because he was only 19 months old at the time, but he says he remembers Apollo 13.

Sunday afternoon we went to the concert given by the Central Oregon Chamber Orchestra. I took my knitting.



Two of the pieces they played I remembered from back when I had a large collection of vinyl LPs: Prokofiev's Classical Symphony and Haydn's Symphony No. 101, "The Clock."



One of the pieces, "Celestial Threads," was new, and the composer, Chris Thomas, was onstage, playing the cello in all of the pieces. It's heavily influenced by Korean poetry, read in Korean before the piece was performed.



The piece was written to highlight the voice of mezzo-soprano Charlene Chi. She was amazing!

Some time this week was spent on the trusty laptop, working on the stories I've selected for the next book. All the stories are related to science and/or nature. I made granola, regular sourdough whole wheat bread, and some banana bread, because we had three bananas that needed to be used. (Recipe under Tip of the Week, below.) I chopped up some walnuts to go in it, because Charlie had bought a huge bag of walnuts at Costco when I told him we were out of walnuts for granola. I'm throwing the walnuts into salads. They give them a nice crunch.



We had National Pet Day on Saturday, so in honor of the celebration of our non-human live-in friends, here are two of my three grandkitties, Olive and Mango, doing what they do best.



Besides all that, I had an endoscopy, Dusty went back to the vet to get a new bandage on his foot, the choir participated in a memorial service for a parishioner and Zachary turned 14!




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 RetoldOur 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: Still working on the Summer Sorrel top.

What's on my iPhone: Fnished The Strange Case  of the Alchemist’s Daughter by Theodora Goss on the AudiobooksNow app. Now listening to The Friend of the Family by Dean Koontz from Discount Audiobooks and played on the BookPlayer app.

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

What's in The Doll's Storybook: Do you know how to tell the difference between a butterfly and a moth? Mandy knows, and she teaches Charlotte and Jolena how they can tell the difference, too, in On the Wing, this story from The Doll's Storybook.


What's my tip of the week: Here's the recipe for my banana bread. I made it with honey this time, because the only maple syrup we have open is the special batch from our Wisconsin/Madroña friend.


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

The stories in Billy: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are Talking About Boys, ChangesShhhhh!, Staying After and Money in a Jar.

The stories in More Classic Tales Retold: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are Welcoming a StrangerThe RescueUnmaskedFuzzy Town––A Play and Sky Blue.

Our Favorite Verses: Poems from The Doll's Storybook. Poems included are Valentine's DayKeeping PetsBack to School, Victor the VultureThe Week Before Christmas, Insomnia and Veronika's Vocabulary Verses.

The stories in Classic Tales Retold: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are Little Green GreatcoatThe Boy Doll Who Cried Wolf and Lost in the Woods.

The stories in Emil: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are Best BudsGetting What You Want, and The Boys Cook Dinner.

The stories in Mariah: Stories from The Doll's Storybook are Being LittleBesties, 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, 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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Monday, July 11, 2022

Bangs, Pokes and Stitches

Except for Monday, it was a quiet week at our place. Monday night, the July 4th fireworks display at Pilot Butte took place, as usual. It could be seen from the street, but while Charlie went out to watch, I stayed in with the dogs. Rocky had no problem, undoubtedly thankful for being nearly deaf, but Dusty got behind the rocker and wouldn't come out. In this photo from last year, you can see the butte. (Not my photo, taken by Ralph Klinke for KTVZ Channel 21.)


Most personal fireworks are outlawed within the city limits, so it was only a couple of hours of doggy torture.

We got this nice photo of our Soren and Johan providing the slices of bread for cousin Leo and cousin Elsie on July 4th.


Soren's birthday was the next day, although like me, he was born just a little after midnight, just avoiding a major holiday. Unlike many kids, he's always happy with whatever he gets, but this gift really seemed to hit the spot!


We had another...um...online wine party with Madroña Tuesday evening. They are every two weeks. I should get a photo next time. I always forget. I made some progress on my pullover.

Remember our hailstorm from July 2nd? The shredded barbecue cover?


We now have it covered by a very substantial tarp.


Rocky's incision after his lump removal is healing nicely. I used a flash to take the photo, because his hair is so dark. I thought the stitches were black, but they're purple.


Here's a closeup. He will get his stitches out next week, but it looks completely healed to me.


Rocky gets one kind of eye drops in both eyes twice a day, another kind in both eyes twice a day and in the left eye four more times a day. I have my timer set. He gets a vetprofen once a day and his thyroid and blood pressure medication twice a day. Dusty's medication is also twice a day, so I do them at the same time. I use little cups, the way they do in the hospital, so I don't get them mixed up. I tell them, "Here comes Nurse Ratched!" 

Besides the pullover, I did get some knitting in. I cast on a sweater for Pippa, Map Dot Seattle by Sharisse Dunn, in support of the KAL she sponsored in honor of her birthday. My project page is here. You can see I haven't made much progress yet, but I expect to be able to get it knitted up this week. It's designed for the larger dolls, but I'm using thinner yarn and needles.


Part of my time this week was spent getting my Tdap shot/booster. It's reformulated from the old DPT we used to get. Aside from the initial owie, I've had no pain or any side effects. The pertussis component was optional, but I thought why not? No one wants diphtheria or tetanus, with a 10% fatality rate. Whooping cough (pertussis) is very contagious, and it's especially dangerous to young children. Even if I don't get sick, I sure don't want to be guilty of passing it along to someone. When I was growing up, we had tetanus and diphtheria shots. I remember kids I knew coming down with whooping cough and being out of school for weeks. We had no vaccine for pertussis, chicken pox, both kinds of measles and polio. I was in the pharmacy for quite a while waiting to get my shot and pick up our medications.

I've been working on the next book. It will be a little different from the first two. It might have more pages. I'm reading through the stories I plan to use, checking for bad wording or typos. I checked on the sales, and they continue to trickle in. Every time the royalties reach $50, St. Jude gets a check. 

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: Still the Hinterland Pullover, some progress made, and the emPower People Kerchief, no progress again. Also, as I mentioned, a little jacket for Pippa.

What's on my loom: Still the trailer rugs, no progress.

What's on my sewing machine: Still waiting to get the back to the T-shirt quilt done.

What's in my hoop: Still the Whole Cloth quilt, no progress.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: Our hailstorm last week inspired "Marbles from the Sky," in which the dolls learn how hailstones form.


What's on my iPad/iPhone: Still listening to The Woman Who Smashed Codes by Jason Fagone on the Audible app.  

What's in my wine glass: A white wine, ESPIRAL, Vinho Verde, from Portugal.

What's my tip of the week: Like spinach and chard, arugula can be cooked and is quite tasty, whether in a stew, soup, quiche, on pizza or just cooked together with other vegetables like carrots or squash. It's good raw in salads, too, of course.

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 hereThe three stories are Best BudsGetting 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 LittleBesties, 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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