One Above

That was the temperature when I got up at 8:30 this morning--1 measly degree above zero. That's cold and it didn't get much warmer all day. We topped out at a balmy 14 degrees this afternoon. Brr. Despite the cold the sun was out and the birds came. I think they wait in the wings until I despair and then they gather and laugh at their pranks. First arrival (that I saw) was a Downy Woodpecker who visited the tube feeder to toss some seeds out on the ground for the Sparrows and Juncos.

Then a male Cardinal came to the platform feeder. He hung around for a while, repelling all comers, until he'd had his fill of safflower seeds.

I was feeling lonely this morning so I texted DS and invited myself to visit the brewery. He was brewing Allie the Red and kegging some Clan Malcolm so that they can fill growlers for the CSB (Community Supported Brewing) boxes that will be picked up this weekend. DIL1 made fudge with Good Dog Porter. It's good, I had a nibble the last time she made it. Today I taste-tested a curry-garlic potato chip they're thinking of adding to their snack menu and a couple of the new beers. And let me tell you, curry-garlic chips and beer make for an interesting atmosphere in a mask when you go from the brewery to the grocery.

I had a lot of fun art-ing today. Mostly I played with watercolors. First I used the five colors that I'd mixed up for the tumbling squares yesterday to paint these fish swimming along, turning from fish-shaped fish into blocks and triangles-shaped fish. It's all part of trying to make the sketchbook have common colors, shapes, and themes.

Then I took the bull by the horns, or the paintbrush by the handle, and I painted the Parrotfish that I sponge painted around the other day. I liked the way the negative fish shape looked and I almost left it that way but the circle punches came today so now I have a way to punch out a zillion circles to glue on as scales.

The circle punches came today! They merit an exclamation mark because they were supposed to come on Monday but were lost in transit. Really lost, as in not coming ever, so I had to reorder them yesterday and then cancel the original order so they don't charge me twice. I'll return the original ones if they do happen to show up someday. I tried to buy craft punches at Michaels or Joann but they were either out of stock or one cost as much as all three of these did, if not more.

Instead of drawing out of a Mark Kistler book I drew the first gratitude page for my Illustrated Life Journal class. She said to make a list of six to eight things that you're grateful for and then illustrate them, adding text. She uses a black pen to draw and then shades it with black and a pale gray marker. I didn't buy a whole set of cool brush markers to only use the black and gray ones so I colored a few things in my gratitude journal entry. This one is for yesterday.

I enjoyed it so much that I made a list for today and drew today's journal entry too. Again I colored a little. The markers are too much fun to resist. And drawing with a black pen isn't too scary. I wish that I had drawn DS in pencil first but I think for a first human I've drawn he didn't turn out too badly.

After all that journaling I remembered that tomorrow is Friday and I need something to knit at Friday Night Knitting so I found a pattern, dug out some yarn and needles, and cast on a hat and knitted a couple rounds. I had to watch a YouTube video to learn the special stretchy cast on but it wasn't too hard. I could even watch TV while I did it.

Today's toss was a pile of old cassette tapes that I found in a drawer. They were from Durwood's hypnosis practice that he closed up years and years ago. I kept the ones with my name on them and chucked the rest in the bin.

DD texted this afternoon that she's all set to try to visit again later this month. Fingers crossed that everyone stays healthy.

--Barbara