My Civic Duty

I hope that everybody went and performed their civic duty and voted today. I went this afternoon and was disappointed that I was only number 510 instead of 1510 or more. I don't really understand why people don't vote. I like to have a say in my governance.

I noticed a speckled bird on the crook this morning. It's a Starling. I know that they're not a fancy or desirable bird but I kind of like the way they look. I tossed a bunch of suet pellets on the grass the other day and this bird was pretty happy that I did. I think that this is the bird that Grandpa Stephan used to call a Spatze. I'm not sure but I think so.

 

I took a look at the Christmas cactus this morning and saw that there are five or six buds swelling on it. Only time will tell if more than one of them blooms. I'm hopeful

 

The next bird in Draw Like an Artist was a Barn Owl. It isn't as full-bodied as the picture but I think it turned out okay. Its feet are a little better than I usually do.

 

After I voted I stopped down at Zambaldi Beer to see what DS was doing. He was transferring today's brew from the kettle into a fermenter. Lots of hoses and valve opening and closing ensued.

 

This evening I sat watching TV and knitted the last two rows of garter on the Simple Alpaca Shawl and then bound it off. Hallelujah! The shawl isn't as big as I had imagined I would make it but it was such a slog that I'm perfectly happy with the size it turned out to be. It'll be just right for keeping my shoulders warm this winter. Now all I have to do is weave in the tails and it'll be done. I might block it, I haven't decided yet.

Writing went okay today. The words didn't turn out the way I had envisioned them turning out but I like the direction the story went so I'm happy with it. Not as many words today, only 1690, but that's a few more than the daily quota of 1667 so I'm satisfied. I put all of the daily pages into one document this afternoon and the total is over 14,000 words for 8 days. Not bad.

Last week I emailed the woman who was my cleaning lady and asked if she was still cleaning and would be willing to come back. She came today, stayed for 3 hours (because we had a lot to catch up on), bought one of each of my books, and cleaned my house. Oh, it smells so nice and it's so shiny. I'm so glad.

And the cat sashayed across the patio. That's the closest to the house it has ever been. No birds hung around to greet it.

--Barbara