Better

Well, the chills and aches are mostly gone. My knees are still a little achy but that seems normal now at my age. So 36 hours is about the length of the post-vaccination malaise. Such a relief. Sorry to be a whiner but I felt purely awful yesterday and even though I expected it I felt pretty sorry for myself.

You remember that I filled the birdfeeders a couple days ago, right? Well, the Starlings and the Sparrows have managed to empty them all, especially the Starlings. They're too big to sit comfortably on the perches of the feeder and they're almost too heavy for the perches not to throw them off. This one is madly flapping its wing to stay in position to root through the seed tossing all of the millet out onto the ground to get to the sunflower seeds and peanuts.

The chipmunks and the Mourning Doves reap the benefits of the Starlings' litter. You see how the ground is covered by little white seeds? The Doves and the chipmunk have a field day hoovering up those little seeds. I can watch the cheek pouches of the chippie bulge more and more as it eats.

Here's the other variety of fern that's opening in the back bed. It's kind of hard to see in front of the day lily leaves. I don't remember its name but I like the color of its stems and the delicate fronds.

And the Oriole came to visit a couple times today. I am enthralled by the dramatic orange and black color of the males. He even came this evening so that JB could admire him.

Today's watercolor is a bird feeder. How appropriate is that? This is out of my new book, Ink & Wash, that DD sent me for Mother's Day.

Then I pulled out my sketchbook and a pen to draw out of 20 Ways to Draw a Butterfly. Just a few winged creatures. Although I kind of like the vulture in the lower left. I think it looks like a Dr. Seuss drawing.

I had two fun writing Zooms today. One was my regular every-two-weeks Novel critique group and the other one was with two friends to organize a three-person critique group. I'm excited for the new group. I'm hoping that it works out and we can help each other get our books tidied up and ready for publication.

--Barbara