It Has A Name

That purple sage/salvia stuff that's growing up on my retaining wall but I haven't been sure what it is. Now I know what it is. It's May Night Salvia. And it is a sage. So I was right about it even if I didn't know its proper name. Somebody posted it on Instagram and I saw it and recognized it. A few of the Stella d'Oro lily plants burst into bloom today. The flowers don't look particularly happy because it's about 90 degrees with 60% humidity which doesn't seem too high but, trust me, it's hot and muggy. Tomorrow's supposed to be worse so I'm planning on staying indoors all day tomorrow.

 

Today I went over to Zambaldi because DS and DIL1 were selling Korean Beef BBQ Rice Bowls for supper. Yes, please! Oh, it was so good and so much. I'm stuffed. Too stuffed to even eat a little ice cream. But it was too delicious to leave any so I ate every morsel and grain of rice. I had a root beer too. Worth every penny.

 

I spent most of the day writing on Christmas at Seaview. I'm up to 16,847 words and 58 pages. The words aren't pouring out quite as much as they were but they're still coming easily. I broke it apart into chapters/days to see where I needed to write more. One of my chapters/days had only two pages so I added some words there and will look at it again tomorrow to see what else I can add. This little notebook is where I keep track of the characters in my novels. I write down the names and nationality of each one. It's really handy. For this story I'm going back to previous Seaview stories to add characters from them and make sure I'm spelling their names right.

 

This male House Finch had a lovely time digging into the orange half. I haven't seen an Oriole in days but then I'm pretty much chained to the laptop most of the day pounding out words. I'll keep the grape jelly and orange half filled, just in case.

 

Today's drawing prompt was Bugs. I dug out an old watercolor of bugs that I like and drew some of them with markers and a fineliner. I like the painted bugs better but these aren't bad.

 

That's really all I have to say about today. I'm thrilled that Aunt B commented on yesterday's blog. I've really been missing her. It's great to have her back.

--Barbara 

So Quick

I looked out the patio door and saw a movement way back toward the retaining wall. It was a big-ish gray bird with black stripes down its back. It moved and I saw the red on the back of its head. It was a Flicker! It's a real ground feeder and it was searching through the grass for insects or worms. I managed to take six shots, not one of them clear, but this one shows the bird the best. I'm always thrilled to see one.

 

This morning I drew the gratitude journal for yesterday. I had to think hard about what to draw but ended up drawing the concert and getting to the car before the hard rain. Some days it's a challenge to think of things.

 

A Cardinal stopped off on the platform feeder for a snack. He didn't pose as nicely as the one did the other day but you can kind of see him.

 

I spent most of the day, when I wasn't on Zoom, writing. I can't stop. The words are flowing, pouring out of me, and I'm having a wonderful time. Today I hit nearly 13k words and 44 pages since last Saturday. That's over a NaNoWriMo pace. Speaking of which, I heard that the NaNoWriMo organization is closing due to financial concerns and their stance on AI . I'm so sad to hear it but I can do it on my own without the group, I guess. I've done it enough times that I know what to do but it was fun to be a "winner" on their site.

 

The Sparrows found the filled feeders and made short work on the round feeder. This was in the morning and by the time I last looked at suppertime, the feeder was about half empty.

 

At Friday Night Knitting tonight, I got to the crown decreases and that's where I screwed up. I didn't read the direction that said to end on Round 1. I ended on Round 2 and that messed up the pattern of ribbing. I thought I could fix it without having to take out a round so I kept going. Now I have to take out three rounds. The moral of the story is to stop when you realize you've made a mistake and don't keep knitting because you'll just have to rip it out. Grr.

 

Aunt B called today. She said she's home and doing better. Whew. Still sounds growl-y from having a ventilator inserted for a few days but is feeling much more herself. She needs to get stronger and has PT and OT helping. I was so relieved when I saw it was her on the phone. I'm sure I was babbling with joy when I answered. Pretty soon she'll be back commenting on the blog and life will be back to normal. I'm so glad.

--Barbara 

Rained Out

I joined DS and the grandkids and the other grandparents at the Botanical Garden's weekly concert this evening. It was an acoustic band that played music from my heyday. We brought our suppers and found a spot in the shade where we could listen and enjoy the evening. It started to cloud up about halfway through and then began to thunder and lightning. Time to leave. Dang. And it was good music I could sing along to.

 

I filled the birdfeeders this afternoon and the Sparrows were the early birds that got the worms, er, suet nuggets. All of the birds like them. It doesn't take the birds and squirrels long to empty that feeder.

 

The round feeder of seeds is emptied first. It's kind of frustrating to watch them toss seed out so they can get what they want. The squirrels, bunnies, and ground feeding birds make short work of the fallen seed.

 

This morning I turned my hand to painting tulips and one daffodil. I followed the description in my watercolor sketchbook, kinda, and here's what turned out. I made the decision to paint the daffodil yellow instead of leaving the petals white like in the example. Next time I'll leave them white because the contrast is greater and I like the way it looks better.

 

The prompt I chose this evening was Bags. I tried to draw the bag I keep my drawing stuff in hanging on the chair next to my place at the table. Then I drew my purse and a made-up purse. Not bad.

 

When I wasn't doing other things I wrote. I'm up over ten thousand words in my Christmas story and I'm finding things that aren't all sunshine and roses to add to the story. Feelings and stuff. I need to learn to draw them out, not find a solution to the problem so quickly but I'm glad that at least I'm adding a bit of conflict.

Two copies of Spies Don't Retire were delivered this afternoon. I ordered ten. It boggles my mind that they print two copies and send them separately. Wouldn't it make more sense to print all ten at the same time and send them all at once? I can't pretend to understand.

 --Barbara

Rain-ish

OJ had a soccer game tonight. It rained. Mostly drizzle but some outright rain. They play in the rain. Not in lightning but we didn't have any of that so those boys ran around kicking the ball in the rain. I was surprised that more of them didn't fall down on the wet grass but I suppose that's why they wear cleats. There are no photos. BTW, they lost.

 

Not a lot of birds around today. But then most of the feeders are empty. I'll fill them tomorrow or Friday, that'll bring the birds back. I hope. I did catch a shot of a Gray Catbird on the ground and I saw a Wren a couple times but it was too fast for me to take a picture.

 

Another Stella d'Oro lily bloomed and there are buds on the plant getting ready. I should walk down the wall to see which ones are ready to burst into bloom.

 

And the purple sage (?) is still blooming. It's pretty, even if it is purple. That's wild, heart-leaf four o'clocks behind it against the fence. They're a weed, kinda, but I can't reach them to pull them so they get to stay.

 

I only had a few minutes to draw before I left for the soccer game. The prompt I chose was Hobbies so I drew the back of my camera. It was sitting there in its regular place and I guess you could say that taking pictures is a hobby.

 

I think my real hobby is writing. I worked a lot on Christmas at Seaview today and hit 9824 words. Woohoo! One thing I wrote made me tear up a little. Sometimes my characters surprise me and this one did in a very touching way. I'm going to keep working on this as long as the words keep flowing. Not stopping now!

I've had a touch of vertigo the last couple days. I don't know what causes it but I have pills that help. It has to be something with the inner ear screwing up my balance. I'm just glad it's going away.  I don't like it.

I got smart this afternoon when I went out to bring in the trash bin. I rolled it around to the backyard and got the overfull trash bag out of the garbage can back there into the bin without having to carry it through the house. I put it in the bin and then rolled the whole thing back around the house and into the garage. Work smarter, not harder! 

--Barbara 

I Didn't Think It Was Possible

But even more cottonwood fluff was flying around today. I thought yesterday's blizzard of fluff was the ultimate. Turns out, not so much. I tried taking a picture of the stuff flying around but it didn't work. It just looked like a random neighborhood picture so you get the gutter view. You can see how the stuff has collected in the edge of the lawn too. My neighbor is out mowing her lawn and her husband is sweeping the gutter. Me, I'm willing to let Mother Nature take care of it. It's supposed to rain tomorrow so maybe the rain will wash it away. Or it'll turn it into matted globs of seeds and fluff.

 

More of the Stella d'Oro lilies are blooming. There are lots of buds up there getting ready to show off. I hope that they all coordinate so that I can take a picture of a long line of flowers along the top of the retaining wall.

 

I spent more time writing than bird watching today so the only picture I have is this one of a bunny, a Mourning Dove, and a Gray Catbird on the ground. Not very interesting but at least there was a little life in the heat and humidity. I'm happy that it was sunny. Sunshine always makes me cheerful but it was steamy hot when I was out trimming the dead canes on Dad's rose and snipping off the picker weeds in the flower bed on the west side of the house. I wish I'd had thicker gloves or maybe leather ones. The rose thorns are deadly and the pickers on the weeds are thin and slid through to poke me. Ouch!

 

Today's drawing prompt was Ghosts & Goblins so I drew and colored a few little creatures. They were fun to draw and I kind of wish I'd drawn more of them but I was distracted by the need to gather up the smelly trash and get it ready to take to the curb.

 

I officially have enough words for a novelette as of this afternoon. Seventy-five hundred words so far. Twenty-six pages or maybe twenty-seven when I quit for the day. Edited to add: 8025 words!

 

A couple weeks ago I was complaining at Friday Night Knitting about my king-size sheets getting all tangled together in the washer and the dryer. I got a text from LB a few days later about a possible solution. It's called Wad-Free and is a device to gather the corners of the sheets so they don't wrap themselves around each other. It looks like four old-fashioned garters on a plastic sheet. I'll let you know if it works.

 

I'm having so much fun writing these last four days. I followed my own suggestion today and stopped agonizing about what to write next and just typed. Conflict is still my failing but I've got a couple ideas that I'll explore as the story progresses.

--Barbara 

The Ultimate Fluff

Holy Moses, was the cottonwood fluff flying today. It looked like it was snowing and here's what the edge of the driveway looked like at about noon. There's more now. The fluff flew all day. The edges of the lawns and curbs are white, and the lawns across the street are totally covered with fluff. I'd hate to see what the yards of the trees' owners look like. They must have gobs of the stuff.

 

I went out in the afternoon to pick enough rhubarb to make sauce to put on my yogurt in the morning and the fluff was flying so thick it felt like either I was inhaling it or it was sticking to my face. It's a wonder I didn't have a white mustache when I went inside.

 

It wasn't until I was editing the photos that I noticed the fluff stuck to the edges of this Stella d'Oro lily flower. If you click on it to make it bigger you can see the fuzzy edges of the fluff stuck to the petals. The stuff is everywhere.

 

I saw the turkey today for a few seconds. She was walking on top of the retaining wall and heading back to the nest spot. I saw her head pop up over the day lilies and then I thought I saw the same turkey walk around the end of the fence and leave the yard. I was tempted to go over to see if the nest was uncovered but didn't want to disturb it so I didn't go look.

 

Here's another Spiderwort flower. This one isn't quite as close to the gas meter as yesterday's flowers were.

 

The drawing prompt today was Wildlife. So I drew insects. I even colored them. Bees and a ladybug. They're wildlife, right?

 

And I drew a gratitude journal page for today after OJ's soccer game. The game was pretty good but they didn't win. Every game he seems a little more confident.

 

I only wrote one page of the Seaview Christmas story today. That's what I get for bragging about it yesterday and stopping to think today instead of just writing. 

--Barbara

A Feeder Full

I looked out at the feeders this morning and saw the platform feeder full of Mourning Dove. For the life of me I can't figure out how they get in there without bonking their heads or bruising their wings. They love the safflower seeds I put in there so somehow they manage to cram their big selves into that space. A few times I've seen two Mourning Doves in there. Two! They must be really close friends.

 

Oh, I'm having fun writing. I added 10 pages to the story today. Ten! I don't know where it's coming from but I don't care. I also don't know what I'll do with it. Guess it depends on how long it gets. I don't think it'll get to novella size (20k-40k words) but it might hit novelette size (7.5k-19k words). I've already got 18 pages and 5328 words, so novelette it is so far. I'll shoot for that and see where the words take me. 

 

She's still there. I mowed this afternoon and glanced over at the day lilies as I went past and the hen turkey's still there. I went back after mowing to see if I could take a picture and she made a sound, kind of humming, and I could see her head. I managed to get this picture. You can see the curve of her back between the leaves. She looks a lot slimmer than when she started sitting back there.

 

My Peonies have ducked under the privacy fence between the patios in back and are blooming on the renters' side but not yet on mine. Traitors. I see a couple small buds on my side but no flowers yet.

 

The lone French Iris on my end of the retaining wall is blooming. The flower looks like it's not done unfolding but it's shorter so I got a better look at it.

 

When I mowed I saw that one Poppy is blooming. I was afraid that the landscapers buried them under the new mulch this spring but I guess they're fighting their way through. I miss the drift of them I used to have in the garden but don't miss the garden and all the weeds.

 

One of my favorite flowers (even though it's kind of blue) is Spiderwort. I bought it the first time because it said on the plant tag that it thrived in poor soil and neglect. My kind of plant! It's nestled up against the gas meter which doesn't make the greatest picture but it's a flower so here you go.

 

The drawing prompt I chose today was Furniture. And all I did was look across the table and draw the opposite chair. I like it. I like the chair, in fact, I like all four chairs and the table too. 

 

Can't forget the daily Oriole. I think it's time to refill the jelly dish. What's in there was sticking to the bird's beak as it was digging bites out. Maybe it's drying up?

 

It was rather cool when I mowed this afternoon and it started to sprinkle when I was nearly done but I kept moving and finished the job. It quit raining when I went inside. It's supposed to get warmer this coming week but be rainy. I hope it doesn't rain for OJ's soccer games but if it does I have a raincoat and umbrella. I'm ready. Oh, and I have to remember to refill my water bottle. I'd better go do that right now. See ya.

--Barbara 

Do I Control the Weather?

I had every intention of walking this afternoon but when I went to the door it was drizzling. So I came back here and worked on writing a Seaview Christmas story. I'd found the start of it, just over a page, in the Prose file and had a few ideas that I wrote down yesterday. Today I couldn't stop thinking about it so I dug in and wrote six more pages and haven't included all the ideas I came up with yet. I don't know what I'll do with it. Probably not include it in a fourth book in the series. Maybe I'll figure out a way to give it away to newsletter subscribers.

 

Then I went out to take a picture of this Stella d'Oro lily and it was spitting rain on me. I went back inside and it stopped. Lots of buds on there.

 

I drew a gratitude journal page after supper thinking I'd go for a walk since the sun was shining. Yeah, that stopped and it started raining. I guess I'll walk up and down the hall a few times and call it good. I went to the pharmacy this morning so I had to walk from the parking lot into the store and back. That's kind of like a walk, right?

 

I'm convinced that there are two young Orioles that come to the jelly and orange half. This one is the slim one. The other one's a little plumper and a little orange-r. Still no Hummingbirds.

 

The House Finches are helping eat the orange. They are dedicated to pecking away at it quite a few times each day. The Sparrows are more focused on eating the suet nuggets. And they're not afraid to share.

 

The daily prompt I picked today was Books. So I drew books. I drew a pile of books, an open book or two, and Seaview. I thought about coloring them in but didn't. I just wasn't in the mood.

 

The daylily in the garden bed beside the patio has sent up a loooong stalk with a couple buds on it. I'm afraid if it gets too windy the wind chimes will knock the buds off but maybe it's not a problem. Maybe I'm just looking at it wrong.

 

I had so much fun writing the Seaview Christmas pages today. I got to where I stopped for supper and wondered aloud how I manage to write like that for hours. It just seemed to flow out my fingers without a ton of effort. Watch. Now that I've written that I'll get writer's block and be unable to write for days. Way to jinx yourself, Barbara.

--Barbara 

Close Up

It was another overcast and dreary day, chilly too and breezy. I drove to the birdseed store this morning and was glad that I'd filled the feeders yesterday afternoon because it was just plain uncomfortable out there. But I took the camera and set it to close up and went out to take pictures of the few flowers in the backyard. First up was the French Iris. This one was short enough that I could lean in close and not have to shoot up. I like the contrast of the petals and the bright green of the leaves.

 

This is that purple flower that I can't remember if it's sage or salvia. But I like the flower stalks and the narrow focus.

 

Another purple flower is a weed. There are lots of them on the retaining wall that I couldn't reach when I was weeding and this one on the ground in front of the wall so I could lean over and snap a picture. I should get that app that identifies plants so I know what it is. It's kind of pretty, don't you think?

 

This last yellow Iris flower bud attracted me and when I got close to it I saw that something has eaten holes in the outer petals. There's a bug on it in the picture but I don't know if it's the one that's eating it.

 

A Cardinal visited the platform feeder a couple times today and was nice enough to pose facing out the second time I saw it. Very considerate of him.

 

I was amazed to see these two birds posed together. They're usually too skittish to get that close. The Oriole was on the grape jelly and then hopped over to the orange half just as the Gray Catbird landed on the suet nuggets. The Catbird was lower on the feeder but then it moved up higher so I could fit both in the frame and have them show off well.

 

Today's drawing prompt was Water. The author of Sketchbook Challenge used watercolor (see what she did there?) to fill in a cluster of glasses but the paper in my sketchbook won't tolerate watercolor. So I went and got the big colored pencil case and drew another sunset over the bay. It turned out okay, I think, not great but okay.

 

I worked my way through more of the new manuscript this afternoon. I even used my laptop stand so I could read standing up for part of the time. I'm out of practice typing while standing so I have to do it more often.

 

Tonight at Friday Night Knitting I added a few inches onto the Alpaca Man Hat. One more inch and I'll start the crown decreases. And then I'll have to either finish the Llama hat or find something else to knit. I've got a whole bin of alpaca and llama yarn, I shouldn't have any trouble.

 

I wore one of my new tops today, a red cotton knit sweater-ish thing with short sleeves, but it was so chilly that I had to pile a cardi over it. Not the look I was going for. It isn't supposed to hit 70 degrees until Sunday and they're promising a few rainy, 80 degree days next week too. I guess that means I mow on Sunday. Ugh, that's in two days. Oh well, it has to be done, I suppose.

 --Barbara