Caught

I got a phone call this afternoon from my neighbor. He caught the woodchuck in his live trap and intends to relocate it in the morning. I'm not sorry to see it go. He showed me a huge hole it had dug under his deck. I didn't know how destructive they can be. And I suspected yesterday that she was making a nest because she kept trotting across the yard with a mouth full of dried leaves. Hopefully it's the only one.

The lilies are still showing off like crazy. The orange day lilies are tall and bright and blooming away.

The red and yellow day lilies are blooming too. They're so pretty and so unusual.

Today's project in Ink & Wash was Poppies. With this one we painted the washes first and then drew on the petals afterwards. I was most impressed with my ability not to press too hard when I was painting the stems so they're nice and thin. Usually I press too hard and they're too thick. Not this time. This time I controlled myself.

A pair of Cardinals flew into the backyard under the feeders. She didn't stay long but he flew up onto the step and then onto this rock so I could take a quick picture.

I got frustrated writing this afternoon so I went out to the table and drew a gratitude journal page for today. My big accomplishment today was getting myself out the door for a little walk. I only walked from here to the corner and back but it's a lot farther than I was able to walk last year at this time so I was happy. I'll extend over time once I build up some endurance. I keep remembering that mowing the lawn is a half-mile. That counts, right?

I shouldn't have been frustrated because I wrote a new, three page long scene and it's conflict. That's a good thing. But I couldn't think of what else to write so I quit for the day. I did listen to the revisions of Island Dreams so now once the producer/narrator lets them know that she's been paid the audiobook will go through their Quality Check and then be available for listening on Audible, Amazon, and iTunes. Woohoo!

I also went downstairs, found some steel wool, and poked it into the gaps around the spigot in the garage which is where I suspect the mouse got in. I hope there are no more mice in the basement. So far the glue traps are empty of critters.

Spent the evening watching the last two episodes of Queen Charlotte, a Bridgerton story. I watched the first episode last year and thought meh. But on the recommendation of friends I tried again. This time I had to ration the episodes to one a night because I didn't want to stay up til the wee hours watching TV. It was one of the better love stories I've seen in a long time. I cried at the end, and I'm not much of a crier.

--Barbara