The big event of the week was Independence Day, July 4th. Our nation is 248 years old now. We had just had the flag out for Memorial Day, so I knew right where it was.
Thursday, July 4th, in the afternoon, the Cascade Horizon Band and Festival Choir (of which I was a part) performed with the band at Caldera High School in Bend. This was our program:
I was able to get a photo of other members of the chorus as the band was warming up.
With 35 minutes still to go before the performance, the house seats were already starting to fill up.
Charlie and I stayed after the performance to help put the chairs and risers away. The audio links to the performance are here.
That evening we watched the movie version of 1776, the musical. We had seen it in person in 1976, four years after it debuted on Broadway. We saw our local community thespians perform the show in Ponca City, Oklahoma, when we lived there, shortly before Peter was born. We have a recording of the movie, which we watch often on July 4th or shortly before or after.
There was more happening this week than the Independence Day celebrations, however. Admidst the rehearsals Monday and Wednesday, we had a Madroña pop-up meeting (wine-drinking party). I've been trying to fix something special each time. For this one, I fixed a Quorn faux turkey roast with stuffing, gravy and roasted vegetables. We also had a fresh salad. We're still eating the leftovers.
It's always good seeing everyone and getting caught up with what they're doing. Paul Bush, who owns Madroña Vineyards with his family, always entertains us for a few minutes with stories of what they go through to produce fine wines, from planting to marketing, but not all of that each time. (Ask me about filtration.) We get different parts of the story, depending on what stage the vineyard is working on. I hope we can get down to Madroña this year with our trailer. It has been a number of years since we were there physically. (Photo from a previous pop-up.)
On Tuesday my T-shirt from DemCast came. I wore it on Wednesday. It's a little long, so I may alter it, but it was the smallest size, so it would have to do.
I also have a mug. I'm helping with DemCast in the effort to combat mis- and disinformation in the news, as well as encouraging voters to show up to vote.
Remember the r·pod shelves? We finished installing the one over the bed. The process left the bed somewhat mussed, with all the climbing around, but the sheets stayed clean.
There wasn't as much difference in height between the windows on each side as there was over the table, but we had the additional restriction of not being able to take up as much space, because we have to get in and out of the bed, so we put the shelf closer to the back (aft) wall and ceiling. The shelf should still be useful for holding things like jammies, jackets, a box with toothbrushes and toiletries and maybe a shallow box with the dog toys.
Charlie wants to get a mattress topper to put underneath the mattress, instead of on top. I don't have any trouble with the mattress, but he weighs maybe 20 lbs. more than I do, and it's enough that he feels the plywood platform the mattress is on.
Summer has finally arrived, and with it the heat. I'm finding I have to go out earlier if I want to get a good walk in before it gets too hot. The dogs and I left at 7:10 AM for this walk. We got back just before 8:00 AM, but it was already getting warm. We went south to the recreation center first, then turned around and went the whole length of the Larkspur trail as far as Bear Creek Road, where the route continues on sidewalks next to the street, so not as pleasant. If you continue on, you can go to Pilot Butte and up the trail to the top, but Bear Creek is a good place to turn around. On Sunday the dogs and I walked the same route, only we did the northern section first, because I realized the southern version had more trees and so was shadier. That gave us shade when it was starting to get warm.
I'm really liking the new two-dog leash. I think we should be able to do real hikes with this arrangement when dogs have to be on a leash. Sandy is always in a hurry to get to the turnaround spot and then to get home. Dusty would prefer to stop and sniff every two feet. Together, they settle into a reasonable pace. Sandy keeps Dusty moving and Dusty slows Sandy down. Another early morning walker pointed out that one of my dogs was the explorer, and the other was the chronicler. That about sizes it up! They move fast enough, though, I think, that it increases my speed and lessens my effort. Watching out for the cheatgrass is the only challenge. I carry a dog comb in my pouch, just in case. It's best to get the foxtails out right away, if you get into them. This is the worst time of year for this menace.
You can tell it's early morning from the shadows in this photo. There's a patch of cheatgrass off to the right.
I need to carry water for Sandy, because he seems to feel the heat more than Dusty and gets thirsty. The dish I use has a lid, so I don't have to throw away the water the dogs don't drink, and I can stick it into my pouch, but I need a way to attach the water bottle to my belt, so decided to make a tote for it. I was off to a a good start on it. (The cotton yarn I was using was left over from the placemats I made awhile back, which I still need to finish up and block.)
I'm frogging the bottle tote now. Back to the Autumn version of the Oregon Cardigan, which is inching along. I decided to switch from magic loop, which I find unwieldy, now that the sleeve is narrowing, to two circular needles. I have no doubt I will still be working on this project when we leave for our trip the end of this month.
With the "Sound Forth" event over, I will start planning meals and fixing things to take with us on our trip.
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What's in The Doll's Storybook: Mandy comes home with a surprise for everyone. Emil has a surprise of his own the the dolls in Some Marmalade, this week's story in The Doll's Storybook.
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