HighFiber

Monday, May 16, 2022

High Fiber–The Usual

Pauly's Stripy Pullover is finished and the pattern published. The free pattern is available here. Specifics on the project (yarn, etc.) can be found on the Ravelry project page here.

It buttons down the back. (Dolls don't like having things pulled over their heads, and this gives the doll's human family member the fun of learning to button.)

I've started one for Pippa, so I could test my pattern. I'm past where I think I would have had mistakes in the writing, so I went ahead and published it. I may make a plain one next (without the stripes).

Voting is like date night! We had decided on all the races except governor, so we watched the debate, then checked out the candidates' websites to have a look at endorsements. Of course, we had heard a lot about them, but there were a lot to choose from! I'm pretty sure whoever gets the nomination would make a good governor.

It's so nice to be able to sit down with a glass of wine and the Voter Pamphlet and other materials, do the research and then mark our ballots. We put our ballots in the drop box on Tuesday.

Rocky went to the vet to have his heart worm test done. It was negative. They looked at the place on his side that had been infected, and it was completely healed, although there is still a little raised place there, nothing to worry about. He goes to the groomer for a minimal grooming appointment on Tuesday, more or less a puppy clip. I've been trying to keep him brushed out. He looks like a bathroom rug.

After his Paul's clothes arrived, Zachary took a photo and texted it to me on his new iPod. The shirt is on backwards but still stylish with his swim trunks and hat.

Here's one where Paul is going on a hike.

Daphne's birthday was Saturday. The doll was no surprise, although she didn't know what the face would be. She seemed thrilled with Laura. (I didn't get what the new name will be. She always changes them.) I'm happy she still likes dolls. Daddy is talking about maybe checking out the duplex that was for sale, so the dolls can have their own house.

The candidate I've been working for in the primary is slightly ahead in the polls. I think she will be great. Voting ends at 8:00 tomorrow night, May 17th.

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. Thank you to the people who have left reviews!

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

What's on my needles: Finished Pauly's Stripy Pullover. Cast on one for Pippa./ A few more rows on the Hinterland Pullover done. No progress on the emPower Kerchief.

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

What's on my sewing machine: More clothes for Pauly.

What's in my hoop: Whole cloth quilt, no progress this week.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: Goodnight Pauly. Pippa discovers that Pauly doesn't have a sleep mask, so she goes in search of one.

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: Fabre Montmayou Cabernet Franc from Argentina. Tasty. I have such a good wine steward!

What's my tip of the week: If you change a sewing pattern in size by printing at a lower or higher percentage, be sure to adjust the seam allowances back to the 1/4" or 5/8" on the original pattern.

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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Monday, May 9, 2022

Incoming and Outgoing Deliveries

The birthday package for Daphne went off on Tuesday and should arrive sometime today. The clothes for Zachary's Paul were in the package, too. My Paul (Pauly, as you may have guessed if you read The Doll's Storybook) arrived on Monday after an adventure I'm calling The Great Train Holdup, because it sounds more romantic than "train mechanical failure." He still arrived within the time frame given me by the vendor when I ordered, but several days late according to the delivery window given me by UPS.

I finally got an update from UPS on Monday morning that Pauly was loaded onto the van and would be delivered between 1:30 and 5:30. He arrived shortly after 1:30, and then I received another text saying he had been delivered. Those were the only notifications I received, although I could keep track on the website using the tracking number.

I quickly had him try on Paul's clothes, so I could get photos before I sent them out the next day. As I guessed, the turquoise and olive T-shirt went well with the pants he came wearing.

This was a pullover I made for Pippa. I thought it would be good on a boy, too, so I sent it along.

The bathing suit works better on a boy. 😆

It may be getting a little warm there for flannel PJs, but dolls are usually just grateful for everything they get, since they can't whine.

The shirt and blue pants work well with the cap, and I had the shoes for Emil's friend, Holly. I can order more, and I think I will, so Pauly can have some different shoes to wear.

I use elastic in the back of the cap instead of ribbon. I think it make the cap fit better. You can see the pleat in the back of the shirt in this photo.

I finished Paul's turtleneck sweater on Monday. Both of his pullovers/sweaters can be worn as cardigans, because they button down the back. (Dolls don't like to have things pulled over their heads, for some reason.)

Of the three T-shirts I purchased, Paul got the turquoise and olive one, Pippa got the blue one and Pauly got the Red one. (The cap is Paul's. I'll be making Pauly one of his own.)

The long-awaited bathing suit that had to go in with Daphne's doll arrived with Paul. Laura was wearing the hat and carrying the bag in her box when she arrived. I actually got two of these bathing suits, so I would have enough for all the girl dolls.

The package went into the mail just before lunchtime on Tuesday, expected delivery today. I signed up for updates and have received them each stop along the way. Laura and all the clothes are almost there as I write this. I have to say I'm more impressed with USPS than UPS. I wonder if that extra "S" gives them something extra.

About UPS, I found this on Facebook:

Maybe their problem is they're hiring children, although the young man who delivered Pauly looked at least college age.

I've started on Pauly's clothes. He needs pajamas first. I thought I would make something with a T-shirt top, because Sunday's snow (!) notwithstanding, it's getting warmer here. I altered a pattern designed for the larger Happy Kidz dolls for this. I'm not altogether happy with it. I think the sleeves are too short to look right on a boy, but it will do, once I have the pants made. The next one will be better.

I had a lot of difficulty with it, not because there was anything wrong with the original pattern, but the color is so dark, I kept mistaking which was the right side of the fabric and ended out picking out several seams. I also think I miscalculated on the sleeve and neck binding. I wasn't myself for several days due to a kidney stone (ouch), so I'm happy I got this far. I plan to try again after I get a few more things made.

I'm making some adjustments to Pippa's Wonderland Turtle to make this striped sweater for Pauly. It doesn't have a turtleneck. The two colors are carried down the edge, with two rows/rounds of each color.

You may remember from two weeks ago, I had decided to give up the separate Facebook page for The Doll's Storybook. It had made the site very cumbersome and not worth the extra time. I had set May 7th for when I would delete it. I agreed to "friend" anyone who wanted to follow the stories on Facebook. It was a real challenge to figure out how to delete it without deleting my personal page, which will now serve the stories as well. After much frustration and considerable gnashing of teeth, I managed to delete it. I've been posting the links to the stories on my personal page, and people seem to be finding them. I've been accepting friend requests from people I don't know, which I have seldom done before, but I trust that somehow it will work out. I changed my banner to reflect the page's new role, using the photo I had used on the business page. My life is already easier, at least where this site is concerned. Facebook isn't nagging me to promote my "business," and I don't have to log out of the business account to get back to my page every time I respond to something there.

We were able to get our yard sign installed in the front. It just took finding the metal stand for it. It's so nice to be able to support a candidate who is honest and ethical, as well as having the education and job experience needed to deal with issues that come up in our part of the country.

On Sunday we sang "My Shepherd Will Supply My Need" at Trinity. St. Luke's had used this piece, and I know I had sung it at least once before, so it was easy to relearn the parts where the sopranos leave the melody. That's what I like best!

We had Mexican food for Cinco de Mayo with leftovers for another night and TV dinners for the freezer. I had made lasagne earlier in the week, and the extras went into TV dinners as well. We're out of lettuce, but I made my frozen corn salad, and we've been eating that.

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

What's on my needles: Besides the sweater for Pauly, I still have my Hinterland Pullover and the emPower People Kerchief on the needles. Both are at the boring, I-don't-need-the-pattern stage.

What's on my loom: Still the trailer rugs.

What's on my sewing machine: Clothes for Pauly.

What's in my hoop: Whole cloth quilt, no progress.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: In Friendly Surprises, Pippa discovers her friend Polly is really Pauly, and he's a boy! Pippa and Pauly are happy to learn from Mandy and Veronika that they can still be friends.

Not having Pauly arrive in time for last week's story caused a fortuitous change in the ending, which worked out better, I thought. The "gender reveal" ending became a separate story.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Still listening to The Woman Who Smashed Codes by Jason Fagone on the Audible app. I haven't gotten too far yet.

What's in my wine glass: Baksteen Breedekloof Shiraz 2020 from South Africa.

What's my tip of the week: I have one of those sinks that's huge on one side and small on the other. It takes a lot of water to fill the big side, and the small side is too small for my big pots and bowls to fit, so to save water, I fill the big pot or bowl with hot water and detergent in the big sink and wash all the small stuff in it, then dump the soapy water into the sink to wash the outside of the pot or bowl. I'm convinced it saves water.

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.

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Monday, May 2, 2022

Hit Reset!

I hope no one is doing Keto or has to eat gluten-free breads, because this week brought another one of these, this time with caraway seeds. It's a reset because...well, the bread gets eaten up.

I made another loaf of the Dutch-oven bread to have with a French lentil soup I made with the last of the celery root.

I neglected to mention last week that I had ordered a Paul for my stories. This one has been having some adventures. Originally, UPS gave me a delivery window of last Monday before 7:00 PM. I thought that was awfully quick, but I signed up to get updates. When time passed with no updates, and then Monday passed with the same delivery window on the UPS tracking page, I tried to get in touch with UPS. They said they hadn't received the package yet. I started to worry that the package had fallen behind something after clearing Customs in La Mirada on Saturday just after lunchtime, and poor Paul was in his box, in the dark under a table or something. I contacted the vendor, who contacted Landmark (original shipper), and by some miracle, the package started moving again, still in La Mirada. It seems to have taken a day and a half for someone to walk it across the hall! The new delivery window was changed on the UPS site to Friday before 7:00 PM. It didn't really matter to me when Paul arrived, but I had ordered a bathing suit for Daphne's Laura, and I wanted to include it in the package with the doll. I needed to send it off soon to get there in time for her birthday. The next thing I heard was my package was in Los Angeles, getting a new label and apparently (as I later learned) boarding a train. This train had some kind of mechanical failure on Thursday. (Which I now refer to as "The Great Train Doll Holdup," which might be a little misleading, but sounds entertaining, at least.) Paul arrived in Portland on Friday, but too late to get to Bend in time to be delivered before the weekend. As I write this, I have a new window, today, Monday, May 2, before 7:00 PM. We'll see. At any rate, I have no doubt that Paul will reach me eventually. If I have to send the package off before he (and the bathing suit for Laura) get here, I'll just have to mail the bathing suit separately. I had to hit reset! (In case you've forgotten what Paul looks like, here's his stock photo.)

Laura came out of her box, so I could wash her hair and get her to model her new clothes. I don't have a Laura, and it's nice to see the clothes on the actual doll. The hair was very dry and stiff, but I used some human shampoo, followed by a human conditioner. (That's a term that conjures up questions in my mind...can humans really be conditioned?) The hair came out soft and manageable. Here she is with her clean hair and her jammies, which I finished on Tuesday.

Because of my flu a few weeks ago, I was behind on my knitting. Jolena had an extra sweater, so I gave it to Laura. Here she is with a purchased T-shirt and the jeans leggings I made for her last week. The hat is the one that she was wearing in her box. It needed pressing, though, as did the skirt she was wearing.

Here she is wearing the leopard-pattern leggings with another purchased top. The shoes came from Maplelea in Canada.

I was not entirely thrilled with the impression she would make in her original outfit, although the clothing items are serviceable, so I decided to make her a dress to wear in her box during her trip to Wisconsin.

I picked out some quilting cotton that I thought looked nice with her sweater. The pattern was Simplicity 1484. I used the pieces for the blouse View E, left off the sleeves and ruffle and added a skirt (improvised). The lace leggings are from the same pattern.

She was supposed to be on her way to Wisconsin right now, but I had to hit reset again.

Boys need ball caps, I think. Otherwise boy dolls look a lot like girl dolls dressed in boys' clothing, so I used the pattern I had used to make caps for Billy and Emil, reduced the size to 80%, added back a smidge to get the seam allowance back to 1/4" and made this for Zachary's Paul. I had to take out Pippa's ponytails to get the hat on her head, but it fits. There's a dark blue button on top. Maybe my Paul will get here in time to model. Maybe for next week's post.

If you read last week's post, you may remember I was making a turtleneck for Zachary's Paul, using the smaller version of my knitted turtleneck pattern. I can usually finish one of these in less than a day, even with doing other things, but I was doing a lot of other things AND trying to locate my Paul, but it's almost done. There was no rush, because I knew I was waiting for the bathing suit anyway before I could send it.

Saturday we went into town to a coffee shop for a meeting with our favorite candidate, Jamie McLeod-Skinner. One of the first things we did when we moved to Bend was attend a debate watch party at the library (pre-pandemics, remember), meet some new people and watch her debate Greg Walden, who was then our Congressman and was running for reelection. The district we were in, District 2, was heavily Republican, so she had an uphill battle. We were very impressed with how she performed in the debate. Later we went to see her in person, at an event that was a presentation of a number of local candidates. We decided we really wanted her to represent us, but she lost. However, she got more votes than her party had ever received in that district by a lot, and against an incumbent. She went on to run for Secretary of State, but was defeated again by a candidate from Portland. Good experience, however. Since then we've had redistricting, and we're now in District 5. Half of the District is made up of new people, but she is again running against an incumbent, one with support from the national party, in spite of being the only "no" vote on many things the party wanted to pass, such as allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices, something that means a lot to older people like us. Jamie has the support of the local party in four of the five counties in District 5, as well as the endorsement of many organizations we find ourselves aligned with. She has done a lot of good by helping people in the rural area where she lives arrange for housing after their homes were destroyed by fires. She's brilliant but at the same time down-to-earth. She knows what people in rural areas need, and there is a lot of that in our new District. She has had to hit reset many times, but she doesn't give up.

We had an opportunity to get another shot with the candidate and her wife (yes, her wife). We picked up a yard sign and gave her a donation. The Backporch Coffee Roasters had great coffee, too.

When we arrived home after the event, we found this on our front door. If you have a primary coming up soon, check out the candidates and then vote! Everything you need is right here.

Yesterday, Sunday, was May 1st, and that means it was Dusty's birthday. This photo was from several years ago, when we still lived in Utah, but it's a favorite. Both dogs are much grayer now. Dusty, because he's supposed to be silver, and Rocky because he's very old. Dusty is now 6!

Dogs grow old so quickly. If you have one of these furry creatures, be sure to give him or her all the love you have. You won't be sorry!

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

What's on my needles: No progress on the Hinterland Pullover nor the emPower Kerchief this week.

What's on my loom: Still no progress.

What's on my sewing machine: Clothes for Paul.

What's in my hoop: Still no progress.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: A Little Friend. Pippa tells Mandy that there is a new doll in her class at school, just her size, and she is excited that she isn't the only one who is tiny!

See all the stories here.

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: Radford Dale Syrah, 2014. I haven't tasted it yet, but I'm going to do that right now.

What's my tip of the week: Some salad greens can be tossed into soups and pasta dishes. We get Josie's Organics Spring Mix baby lettuces & baby greens in a 1 lb. box from Costco. Well, that's a LOT of salad greens for two people, especially since we like to add lots of other stuff to our salad: green onions, avocado, tomatoes, sweet peppers, mushrooms, cucumbers, etc.! Fortunately, I found this on the inside of the lid.

I've been tossing the greens into soups in the last half-hour of cooking. I've picked out the baby spinach and used it on pizza. I haven't tried the other suggestions, but I will. It's great to have it for salad, but it's nice that it doesn't go to waste, because I can use it in other ways.

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.

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