Out With the Old, In With the New

First, some sewing!

Some of the events of this week made it clear that we needed more than one mask each, so I made two more. We are happy with this design, because, with the filter, they provide eight layers of fabric, and the ties can be tied behind the head to get a snug fit without interfering with our hearing aids, which fit behind the ear. I plan to make a few more. For the nose piece, I had one more aluminum strip from my BIL, so I used that. Then I made another one by rolling heavy-duty aluminum around a straw, pulling the straw out and flattening it, then cutting it to the right length with rounded ends to make insertion easier. This worked fine.


I made some progress on the Which Came First Shawl. The multi yarn has entered in. The pattern for this part of the design is looking very interesting in the different colors.

The yarn is Blue Moon Fibers' Socks that Rock Lightweight in "Navy," "Hipster Hen" and "Red Dawn." I have been taking my knitting or quilting out onto the front porch/deck while it's still shady out there. I used the puppy pen opened up flat to close off the access to the steps, so the dogs can stay out there with me if they want. Late in the afternoon, when the sun gets low, it's too sunny for me out there, so I come in, but until the sun hits me, it's very pleasant. The hottest day of the week it was still pleasant out there.

I'm really glad the weather has played nice. We had this past week scheduled for replacing the rest of the windows in the house. The men came on Monday to get started. 

Here are some of the windows, ready to be installed.

They finished the downstairs on Monday and did the upstairs on Tuesday, four windows each day. 

They wore masks when they had to come into the house, and so did we. (That was part of our increased mask usage.)

We will have to have our house painters come back to paint the outside frames the same color (off-white) as the rest of the windows.

This is my favorite window. It's in our guest bath. The glass pattern is called "Raindrop." It provides some privacy while letting in the light. I think it looks like rain running down the window.

So that was the "out-with-the-old-and-in-with-the-new" Part I. It was planned over a year ago and done in two batches, so we could avoid having to pay for all of it at once. Nothing unexpected. However, we had another issue come up this week that required an additional but unexpected change. Our over-the-stove microwave quit suddenly. First it was fine, and then there was no power coming to it. We discovered that the circuit breaker had tripped, but after resetting, it kept tripping every time we tried to use the microwave. It's too bad, because the previous owners had installed it new, we think, right before they put the house on the market. So now we can use it as a cabinet, and the light over the stove works, but I have a Post-It note taped over the keypad to remind myself I can't use anything else on it.

DH took his mask and ran over to Costco and picked up a new microwave for us. We tried it several different places, but it's pretty big, and I need my countertop space for cooking, so we settled on the spot where we had the coffee pot and toaster. They have been relocated, and my big Kitchen Aid mixer, the best-looking appliance I have, had to be stored in the broom closet. I don't use it often, so it was the one that had to step aside. Here's the new microwave. It's easier to use than the old one. My only complaint is that the numbers on the keypad are hard to see, but I had the same trouble with the old one. The functions are more useful, and the auto-cook settings are labeled on the front of the inside. It's a Panasonic Model No. NN-SC668S.

Dusty went to the vet on Wednesday, another use of the mask for me.
Later in the week I cut up some of the apples I was sure we wouldn't get through before they rotted and sliced them up to dehydrate. They are deliciously sweet and sort of crunchy and chewy at the same time. We are trying not to go to the store any more often than we have to.

The garden is growing pretty well, considering the nights have been cold and the days not too hot. We've had a lot of flowers on our zucchini plants and hope to be seeing some little zucchinis growing soon.

The radishes are growing well. We got a late start with them, but they don't take too long to grow, fortunately. The peas are getting taller. Either the birds or the squirrels have taken our strawberries before they are anywhere near ripe enough, so I don't know if we'll have any this year. They might do better after they have grown longer in the ground where they are.

Veronika and Mandy got some new shoes from the UK. They are real leather and fit nicely. The dolls can even wear them with socks.

I've never heard them complain about the old shoes pinching their feet, but they probably don't want to bother me with their problems.

What's on my needles: Still the Which Came First Shawl by Cheri Clark, from the kit I picked up at this year's Rose City Yarn Crawl.

What's on my sewing machine: More masks, I hope

What's in my hoop: Still the Whole Cloth Quilt. A little more progress this week. I worked on it for about an hour. It's mindless, so it's good to do while watching TV.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: The Boys Cook Dinner and have an interesting experience they weren't expecting. I sent Daphne a text on her iPod when it came out. She and Zachary read it. She said they "loved it because it was about boys and it was funny."

What's on my iPad/iPhone: I finished listening to My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton and Jodi Meadows. It was a funny story, but I don't think I would have enjoyed it nearly as much if I had read it as a physical book or an eBook. Katherine Kellgren's narration was outstanding, and her over-the-top expression fit the sometimes-sarcastic, often melodramatic writing. I can highly recommend this story. Now I'm listening to Mrs. Tim of the Regiment by D. E. Stevenson, one of my favorite authors.

What's in my wine glass: Landing 63 Heritage Red 2017 from California. We have been getting most of our wine online lately, something we can do in Oregon but could not in Utah. It's nice. Not up to favorite standards, but very nice to drink with food.

What's my tip of the week: I've been making a lot of bread lately to cut down on trips to the store. I use the bread machine set on "dough" to mix it, then shape it into a loaf or loaves to bake in the oven. The bread machine pans on most if not all bread machines don't hold up well if you let water sit in them for too long to clean them. I have learned that I can use almost no water at all if I let the pan sit out, without the paddle, until any little bits of dough have dried completely. Then I use a dish brush to brush out the inside, following up with a rinse and turning upside-down to dry. The paddle can be washed with the dishes.

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.

Windows on the World

Thursday saw the beginning of the installation of our new windows. 

They changed out the most difficult one first (the one over the porch) and then moved on to the master bedroom windows, which would not open.

By late afternoon (as you can tell by the sun shining on the western walls of the house), they were finishing up the windows in our bedroom.

Friday they finished up the upstairs, including the window in my fiber studio, which was badly warped and wouldn't open. (It was a good thing we didn't have to escape a fire!) They also changed out one of the living-room windows, one that's around the corner to the right.

You can see that they are enlarging the window frames, which will change the look of the house a bit.

Today they are working on the other two living-room windows and the one over the sink in the kitchen. I should be able to show those next week.

The gentleman who built the rail to our back deck returned to paint it. I think I only showed it covered with a tarp previously. Here's what it looked like before painting.

We had a lot of rain, which postponed the painting, but a break in the weather made it possible to get it done. Here's the finished job:

We're looking forward to using the deck, now that the weather is warming up. The warmer temperatures have made walking the pups more fun. I try to get out with them every day, usually for a walk, but sometimes for a trip to the dog park, so Dusty can play with other dogs. Rocky likes socializing, too.

Now that the snow has melted, we are using the Larkspur Trail more. There are entrances to the trail across the street and a few houses down in each direction. Here's what it looks like.

There are frequently people walking or on bicycles, usually with a dog or two. Each entrance to the trail has a poopie-bag dispenser and a trash can. We can include the trail with a walk around the block, as we did on this walk.

As an alternative, we can walk further on the trail and not use the streets much at all, as we did on this walk.

I really like using the Walk for a Dog app on my phone. I know how far I've walked, and the app donates to Best Friends (my choice of dog-related charity) based on how much people who have chosen Best Friends walk over time. Every once in a while, I get an email saying that a donation has been made. It's supported by advertising.

Meanwhile, I finished a twinset for Daphne's doll, Marie, shown here modeled by Jolena.

I still want to sew a coat or jacket for the doll, but I will need to buy some suitable fabric first. In the meantime, I cast on a turtleneck for Mandy, who should look good in green.

I'm finally making some progress on the Spring Flowers quilt. Here's what it looked like early in the week.

I started in the middle and have been working toward the outside. When this photo was taken, I only had a little more than half of the outer half-star blocks and plain blocks to quilt. You can see the unquilted areas stretching from the upper left of the photo, around the bottom to right side. As I write this, I have reached the half-star block in the center of the bottom of the photo.

I haven't figured out yet how I will finish the blue inner border and the white outer border. I might quilt in the ditch (as they say) and then do some kind of cross-hatching, but we'll see. It will be nice to get it done.

Holy week was a busy time, because the choir at Trinity was to sing for the Maundy Thursday service, then the Easter Vigil on Saturday night (which starts out somber and ends up almost a party), followed by two services on Sunday. There was a lot of music to learn, and the three services in such a short time was exhausting, but it went well, I think, and I feel like I'm contributing something useful and appreciated.

The Doll's Storybook this week is called Celebrations. It showed Charlotte preparing for Passover with a bit of the story of how the Israelites escaped from Egypt. (Much of the story is too gruesome for dolls or small children, and including all the details would have made the story too long anyway.) I felt that most of my readers are more familiar with Christian traditions, so I focused on Passover. However, the story does show Veronika out in the garden, hiding Easter eggs.

The dress in the photo is what she was wearing when she came to live with me. It was hand-smocked made for her by her previous owner, a gentleman named Simon Purple. Her original factory outfit was still available to purchase separately, so I was more than happy to receive this truly one-of-a-kind dress instead. 

For some cuteness this week, I thought you would like to see this photo of our granddaughter and fellow doll-lover Daphne, enjoying the ballet.

I hope all my readers had a wonderful holiday and a happy Earth Day!


What's on my needles: Wonderland Turtle turtleneck sweater for Mandy in Macaw Palette.

What's on my sewing machine: Still doll clothes for Daphne's birthday doll, Marie.

What's in my hoop: Still the Spring Flowers quilt, with quite a bit of progress made. 

What's in The Doll's Storybook: Celebrations. Charlotte explains about Matzoh, while they fix the food for her Passover Seder, and Veronika hides Easter Eggs.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished listening to Molly by M. C. Beaton. Then listened to The Parfit Knight by Stella Riley, which I really enjoyed. Riley is a new author for me. I found the novel to be entertaining and authentic and included a lot of subtle humor. One of the main characters is blind, which made it interesting from the standpoint of a character with a disability. Both of these novels were included at no extra charge with Audible's Romance Package. Although the predominance of the books available in the package are bodice-rippers and books with a naked male torso on the cover (which indicates to me that the novels are more X-rated than interests me), there are some sweet, funny stories included, and many of them have a "steaminess" rating available, so you can find out ahead of time whether the story is likely to suit your taste. Although I prefer a more balanced diet of books rather than just romance, I'm in the free trial time, so I want to evaluate if it's worth, to see if it's worth it to pay the monthly fee. Besides, I'm listening to as many of M. C. Beaton's novels as I can, because at 4-5 hours each, it's a shame to waste a whole credit for one, so I'm now listening to Sir Philip's Folly by M. C. Beaton (aka Marion Chesney). 

What's in my wine glass: Montevina Skyland Ridge Barbera, 2016 vintage. Nice.

What's my tip of the week: A plastic lid from a large jar makes a great coaster for a wine bottle to protect your tablecloth or countertop, or for that bottle of dishwashing liquid, a bottle of spray cleaner or a steel-wool soap pad under the sink. This one came with a big plastic jar of roasted nuts.

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.