It Was Exactly Right

I always wonder how weather forecasters keep their jobs because they are so often wrong but today the weather forecaster in my phone was exactly right. We had sun this morning and then it started to cloud up around noon. It sprinkled around a bit in the afternoon but the sky opened up and rain came pouring down almost exactly at 5 o'clock. That's when the phone app said it would rain. And it did! We even had a little thunder.

The Daily Practice today was autumn leaves. I had printed off the page of leaves included in the class so I drew a few of them onto my sketchbook page and painted them with watercolor. I used every shade of brown and ocher with a little bit of orange and green thrown in for interest. Oh and I painted one leaf over with indigo to make it dark like one in the picture. I'm happy with the way they turned out.

When I was getting ready to leave to go pick up DS where he dropped off his SUV for service I glanced up and there was a Red-bellied Woodpecker on the suet pellets. I took three shots and the second one was the best even though it's a little fuzzy.

Later in the day I saw a Robin come in for a landing. It hopped and walked over to the fallen seed and upset the Mourning Dove that was there. The Dove puffed up and kept turning to face the Robin but the Robin wasn't intimidated and kept advancing and pecking at the seed.

I surprised myself by using marks that I learned in Mark Making in today's Daily Art prompt. It said to add branches and leaves to the forest blobs printed on the page. I found myself making Vs and lines and scallops. I made a few branch shapes but mostly I just did lines. I think it looks okay.

Today's Gratitude Journal page was fun to draw. I drew sunshine and rain clouds, my cheeseburger and Tater Tots lunch, the pineapple and watermelon I picked up on my way home from lunch, and the page of painted leaves.

DS called this morning and we had a nice chat while he worked his way around to asking me if I could meet him when he dropped off his vehicle and take him back to the brewery. Of course I could as long as I wouldn't be late to lunch, which I wasn't.

I also had a tiny idea of some flaw to give Rose. So I started up a new version of the manuscript and added a few sentences about her worrying about having enough money to stay open if she doesn't get more guests soon. See I keep thinking that I need to do things to her but what I've come to understand is that I need to give her a flaw or a need that she can overcome. I need to make her less confident and less competent so that she can grow and improve through the story. I figured out how to go back in the audiobook and re-listen to the chapter on beats and I'll listen again and again until I get what they're saying. Then I'll listen to the chapter on the genre I think applies to my story until I've figured that out too.

--Barbara