Jumped the Gun

I spent quite a bit of the morning researching the Anguilla Regatta online. I want that to be a thread through the next manuscript I write so I needed as much information as I could amass. One website gave me a lot of first-person reporting about how they rig the sailboats, how they sail, and how the regatta is integrated into island life. I copied and pasted things and printed them off so I'll have them at hand when I need them instead of having to keep going online.

 

Then I decided to start writing. I rationalized it by telling myself that I've got a book event on every Saturday in November so those won't be writing days. And if they are writing days, they won't produce the required number of words to reach the 50k word goal by the end of the month. So I squeezed out just over 1k words in about an hour and a half. This is not great literature, but it's a start.

 

Both woodpeckers showed up today. First the Downy Woodpecker landed on the suet cakes and almost immediately flew over to the square green feeder for seeds rather than suet. 

 

Then the Red-bellied Woodpecker landed on the suet nuggets but in a position that made it hard to make out. I took its picture anyway. But then it visited the square green feeder and I could see its pretty red head so that's the one I'm sharing with you.

 

I got packed for tomorrow's Authors Among Us event in DePere from 2-6pm. I think the hours are odd and being on Friday I don't have a lot of hope for a big turnout. Keep your fingers crossed that I'm wrong.

 

Today's drawing prompt was Books so that's what I drew. I was just going to make a pile of books but then I thought about having one propped open on top. It's okay. Not great art but adequate.

 

I crocheted some more on the Navy & Silver Crocheted hat after supper. I added a few rounds so it looks more like a hat than the skillet Aunt B thought it was at first.

 

The most necessary accomplishment of the day was swapping my summer shoes, summer socks, and summer shirts for the winter ones. I used an empty laundry basket to haul shoes from one closet to another and to carry socks downstairs and then upstairs. The shirts move from one closet to another staying on their hangers. Since I've worn a sweater the last two days, it was time. And my toes are cold in cotton socks.

--Barbara 

Uh, Excuse Me

Look at what I saw when I glanced out the patio door this afternoon. A squirrel was inside the square green birdfeeder! Inside it! The roof of the feeder doesn't sit firmly on top so I guess it was only a matter of time before one of those darned tree rats figured it out. I chased it out and tried to make the roof fit tightly on the feeder. I don't know how long my fix will last.

 

I was lucky enough to see a Chickadee sit still long enough to have a picture taken. A blurry picture, but you can see what kind of bird it is. They don't usually sit still long enough for a portrait.

 

The leaf blower and lawn mower guy came today. I was surprised he came because it rained last night but I guess they don't care. He made a lot of noise waving the leaf blower around to get the leaves onto the lawn so he could mow them up and he made quite a few passes around the yard. He even picked up the little sticks and stems that were left behind by the fall cleanup crew last Saturday. You see how many leaves there were. Now the lawn looks like a green carpet. There's a tidy pile of grass clippings, leaves, and sticks at the curb for the city guys to pick up next time they come around.

 

Today's drawing prompt was People Watching. First I drew the lawn mower guy which turned out not so great. Then I decided to draw myself from an old picture I found the other day and printed out. The picture is of me and my late friend Lala up at The Clearing when we first met in around 2007. I only drew me. The drawing's not bad.

 

I got to do the school run this afternoon so I made time before supper to draw a gratitude journal page about it. I couldn't figure out how to draw the squirrel in the feeder so I drew it on the feeder. You get the idea, right?

 

After supper I wanted to try painting fir trees with a fan brush like the watercolor teacher showed us so I taped a piece of not-so-great paper to a plexiglass board and tried my hand at it. I decided to make a winter scene with a nice dark blue sky, a snowy field, and fir trees. It didn't turn out too badly.

 

I spent time today setting up the payment account info and uploading The Seaview audiobook to a new site and working my way slowly through everything they want to know. One thing I did was buy some ISBN numbers to add to my audiobooks. I need to figure out if I can change the free Amazon ISBNs on my published books or if I have to republish them. I suspect I have to start over and republish them. Although if I remember correctly only the paperbacks have ISBNs now so maybe I can just add them to the eBooks and audiobooks. Something to look into. There's so much to think about!

--Barbara 

That Wasn't It

On Saturday LC wanted to play on the Wii so we turned it on and none of the controllers worked. Dang. So being a good Meemaw I ordered new controllers. They came today. I put batteries into them and turned on the Wii. Didn't work. I even called Spectrum to wade through the gatekeepers until I got a human tech person to ask if the new streaming box might interfere with the Wii's operation. Nope. So it's the game box thingy. Now I need to decide if it's worth it to get a refurbished unit from Amazon or let the thing go and resell the controllers.

 

One of the squirrels decided to have a suet nuggets snack this morning. You can tell it's morning because the sun is shining. It stopped shining after lunch and then it rained. So I didn't take a walk. Mostly because it looked like it was going to rain again. But also because I didn't feel like it which isn't really a good excuse but it's all I have at the moment.

 

Instead of tackling the next drawing prompt I tried drawing my scarab ring again and doing a better job. I think I did. At least it looks more like a scarab instead of a deformed ant.

 

All of the trees I see out my front windows are changing color. They'd look more amazing if it had been sunny when I took the picture but I missed the sunny part of the day. I was afraid that all of the leaves would just flop down brown but they're nice and red, only turning brown when they fall. Whew.

 

 I worked on short stories this afternoon. I keep getting distracted scrolling Facebook and not doing any work. I have to quit doing that. That's not the way to make any writing progress. I printed off the pages of notes I made about the next Seaview book. I tried to set my mind to it today but my brain only made a sound like a needle scratching across a record so I gave up and worked on short stories instead.

 

Just before supper I took out some watercolor paper and my new Kuretaki paints I got from DD for my birthday and painted these sunflowers. I keep painting these hoping for something better to happen. This one isn't bad. I'm happier with the blue and green blending between the flowers and I like the leaves.  One problem is I'm too impatient to let the paint dry between colors. Sometimes it works to my advantage and sometimes it doesn't.

 

While I watched Finding Your Roots on PBS this evening I wanted to crochet on the hat I started on Saturday with LC but thought I shouldn't crochet ahead. So I pulled out another skein of yarn and the H hook and started another crocheted hat. This one is fuzzy which makes counting stitches and finding where to poke the hook a bit of a challenge but it's going to feel so nice when it's done. 

 

I took the recycling out to the curb earlier and it's rather chilly out there. According to my phone it's 46 but feels like 41. I couldn't see my breath so that's good but it's still chilly. I suppose that in the last half of October I should expect it to be chilly. (How many times can I say "chilly" in one paragraph?)

--Barbara 

Too Early

I was not ready to see frost on the neighbor's roof when I put the shade up this morning but there it was. Most of it had melted away but I was just in time to grab the camera and take a picture to document the atrocity that was frost on the roof in October. Too early!

 

One of the squirrels discovered the cob corn this morning and hung there nibbling on kernels long enough for me to take its picture. Why doesn't the blood rush to its head?

 

The Red-bellied Woodpecker showed up a bunch of times today and I was lucky enough to get a few shots of it. I'm intrigued by the way it cocks its tail under its bottom to balance on the perch while it prospects for peanut halves. It excites me to see it. It's so much bigger than any other bird that comes and it's so pretty with its red head and striped back and wings.

 

Today's drawing prompt was Something New and I couldn't think of anything new I had that I could draw. I couldn't think of anything new that I couldn't draw either. So I drew the scarab ring I found when LC went through my rings the other day and started wearing. I wanted some ring to wear on my left hand that isn't my wedding ring. I've tried a bunch of them but none have been right. This one might be right. It fits on my middle finger and I've always liked scarabs. The ancient Egyptians believed that a scarab beetle pushed the sun across the sky. I like that idea. Now that I look at it, it's a terrible rendition of a nice ring.

 

 In the afternoon I drew a gratitude journal page for yesterday. Not my best effort, not by a long shot.

 

Can you tell I'm kind of in a funk? Nothing I do lately satisfies me. I was happy to have LC for company on Saturday and happy to pick up OJ from school and take him to the library today but I'm a little down on myself and I don't know why. I need to perk up because I've got a book event on Friday and have to be up for it.

--Barbara 

Flying Squirrel

Not one of those squirrels with membrane between its front and rear legs so it looks like it has a parachute when it leaps from tree to tree. No, this is a regular, run-of-the-mill squirrel leaping from a patio chair to the square green birdfeeder. It hunkers down on the chair back and then launches itself across the space at an alarming rate and slams into the feeder, setting it wildly swinging. Crazy and acrobatic.

 

Just when I thought I'd dump the nuggets out of the feeder, look what showed up. A Red-bellied Woodpecker landed on the feeder, chased away all of the Sparrows clinging to the feeder, and had a nice long snack. It's like the Woodpeckers have ESP. Every time I think I'll dump the nuggets and take down the feeder, a Woodpecker shows up.

 

In the afternoon I got out my watercolors, taped a half sheet of paper to a plexiglass board, and did a sketch of the still life I drew yesterday in pencil and marker. It's okay, except the oranges are flattened looking and didn't turn out the way I wanted them to.

 

So I got out the other half of the piece of paper and did another one. This time I made the oranges bigger so there wasn't as much room on the paper for the plate and I skipped painting in any grapes. It's a little better. I feel better about calling them sketches rather than paintings because I painted them fast and loose and didn't take much time with them.

 

I spent part of the afternoon reading the manuscript on the Kindle and making notes. Then I filled the square green feeder and the tube feeder and put cob corn out. All summer the chipmunks ate the corn, not leaving any for the squirrels but I think maybe the chipmunks are hibernating already because a Mourning Dove cleaned up the spilled seed on the patio.

Most of the time I listened to an audiobook and stared into space. Very restful.

--Barbara 

Happy Saturday

I had a good day today. I got up early because the landscaper said they'd be here between 8am and 9am. They arrived just before 10:30am. *sigh* But at least they came, I paid them, and they did their thing cutting down the pampas grass on the corner, trimming the shrubs and Dad's roses, and cutting down all the weeds and flowers across the retaining wall.

 

It was a lucky shot to catch one of the Juncos taking a bath. I've never seen one even take a drink much less hop into the water and splash around.

 

LC and I had a crocheting date today. She learned to do the double crochet stitch. Not without some struggle and ripping out but eventually Meemaw found the right words to help her conquer the new stitch. The pattern calls for using two colors of yarn but I figured that learning a new stitch and following a pattern was enough for one session so we used variegated yarn to make our hats fancy. We did five rounds before LC needed a break. When you're concentrating so hard you tend to grip the hook really tightly and your hand and brain get tired.

 

So she took a tour through Meemaw's jewelry, mostly earrings and rings. The rings were very popular as you can see. 

 

I crocheted along with her and this is my hat beginning. The yarn colorway is Fiesta and I think it's aptly named.

 

Today's drawing prompt was Something Old so I tried drawing myself. Yes, I'm old and I've been feeling old lately so I went ahead and drew me. Some days I look better than this. Some days not so much.

 

 At our last writers guild meeting GBB mentioned having QR codes so that people can purchase an eBook immediately. At the last book event a customer said she only read eBooks so she'd look online. I was sure if I'd had a way she'd have bought one then and there. So I asked KM to work something up. And she did. I got it sent off to Office Depot this morning and picked up the little poster this afternoon. If it helps one person buy a book that way it'll be well worth the six bucks it cost.

 

The coolest thing happened at lunch today. LC and I went to Home Town Cafe for lunch of burgers and in the booth next to us was an older couple. When the man moved I saw the woman's face and she looked familiar. Turned out she was in the knitting guild with me years ago so we talked for a couple minutes. We're both still knitting but she asked what else I was doing and I said that I'd written 6 books. She said, "I love to read! I'll have to look you up on Amazon." I said, "I have them in my car if you've got $15." She did so we went out to the car and she bought a copy of The Seaview! Very cool.

--Barbara 

Falling Leaves

When I turned around at the corner stop sign to walk back home I saw how much the trees at the curve in the court had lost their leaves. There's a constant drift of leaves past my house but my little tree's leaves haven't turned yet and neither have the leaves of the huge maple in my neighbor's side yard. That one waits until the last minute to shed its leaves.

 

I got an email from ACX, the audiobook production arm of Audible/Amazon, that my six audiobooks had been switched from exclusive distribution to non-exclusive distribution as I requested. That lets me find other outlets for my audiobooks. So I started uploading them to BookFunnel which is one distributor, and got the 3 Seaview Series books done. There's another outlet called Chirp. I started the process to upload through them but have to wait 24 hours to load my payment accepting setup. I'll do that Sunday. This is exciting stuff!

 

There was a big flock of Sparrows vying for seats at the square green feeder and on the suet nuggets too. I took a couple pictures even though they're not the most photogenic of birds.

 

A Downy Woodpecker visited the suet nuggets, the suet cakes, and then the birdbath for a drink. I was grateful it stayed long enough to have a picture taken on the birdbath. They don't stop there often.

 

The Red-bellied Woodpecker was next. It's either a female or this year's juvenile since its red head stops before the beak. I was just in time when I snapped this picture because they always fly away as soon as they find a peanut half and there's one in its beak. Lucky shot!

 

Today's drawing prompt was Still Life. I don't have a lot of different fruits on hand but I did just buy a 5# bag of little oranges so I put three on a plate with a few grapes and got drawing. It's all right.

 

At Friday Night Knitting tonight I finished the thumb of the first Llama Mitten and got all the ends woven in.

 

Then I cast on the cuff of Llama Mitten 2 and got this far before the ball of yarn ran out. Don't worry, I've got a lot more of this yarn (at least 3 balls) but I was hoping to get through the cuff before I needed another ball. 

 

This morning I went over to St. Mary's Hospital lab with my bloodwork order and had blood drawn. I have to tell you the phlebotomist was absolutely fantastic. I didn't even feel the prick when he inserted the needle, he hit the vein the first try, and it hardly bled when he removed the needle. AND even better my hemoglobin is 13.6. Hooray! 

Tomorrow morning the landscapers are coming to do fall cleanup around the yard. I called this morning to ask to be put on the calendar and he called back about an hour later, laughing, because he'd already put me on the schedule for tomorrow. Good thing I know that. Sometimes I sleep until 9 so I'll make sure I'm up and decent before 9 when he guessed they'd arrive.

--Barbara

Finally

After more than a week's procrastination I managed to force myself to sit down and draw a gratitude journal page after supper today. I don't know why I don't do it more often but I don't. It doesn't take very long but sometimes I just can't think of what to be grateful for which is pretty terrible. I'm going to do better because there's so much to be grateful for in life.

 

One thing to be grateful for is that the Red-bellied Woodpecker came back today and stayed long enough for me to take her picture. She drove off a Sparrow that tried to join her on the feeder and I'm impressed with how long her beak is. I don't know if you can see it in the picture but it's got to be an inch and a half long. Really.

 

Before I took an afternoon walk (see the above gratitude journal page) I spent some time reading Anneke's Legacy on Kindle and making a few notes. I found a place that looks like a chapter break but I'm afraid that there's not enough of the next scenes to make another chapter. More study is needed.

 

Today's drawing prompt was The Four Seasons. I went with the current season and drew a pumpkin and shock of corn stalks. The stalks aren't very good but I feel they're recognizable.

 

I called the doc's office this morning to get an order for a blood test before my physical appointment in about 10 days. The lab person at their practice has left so I have to go across the street to the hospital lab for the test which meant I needed a paper order. I went over to pick it up on the way to the grocery after lunch and mine was the only car in the parking lot. I didn't remark on it to the receptionist but it was kind of spooky to be the only one there. Maybe it was just a lull? I don't want the clinic to close. It's the last independent one in the city and I like it because people know who you are, you're not just a number.

--Barbara 

The Last Class

Tonight was the final beginning watercolor class at the tech school artisan center. MK, DT, and I met in the parking lot at 4 and walked across the street to a restaurant for a bite to eat. I had a chicken fajita burrito which was excellent and an original churro which was divine. I'm so glad we have people from other cultures opening restaurants so we can try new things. The third time painting that sunset sky with the leaves over it was not the charm. I like the practice one I painted at home better. This time I didn't get the sky and water colors vivid enough.

 

Then I used the back side of the painting I did in last week's class to start another painting. It's stone steps with trees around them. It isn't finished and I'm not sure what to do with it to make it so. Maybe if I stare at it a while.

 

It was a woodpecker day today. First a Downy Woodpecker landed on the tube feeder and had a lovely time tossing seed onto the ground where the chipmunk couldn't fill its cheek pouches fast enough.

 

Later on a Red-bellied Woodpecker female visited the square green feeder a bunch of times. The first time I noticed her she was on the back side of the feeder so I had to wait to get a halfway decent picture. Then she came back and landed on the side so I could see her better. Good girl. And if you look real hard you can see the red smudge that gives her the name.

 

At lunchtime the pest nerd came for the last interior inspection of my program. From now on I'm in charge of removing any deceased mice that I find. Ugh. He'll come back quarterly to check the outside bait boxes but he says he thinks that they've filled all of the access holes so no more should be coming in. I hope he's right. Soon after the pest nerd left, the lawn mowers arrived. I love watching him speed around the lawn, turning on a dime, and cha-cha-ing to corral the leaves which he then picked up with the other mower with the bins on the back. 

 

Today's drawing prompt was Under the Sink. Can you imagine? What a crazy thing to have to draw but I did it. It's not bad.

 

 

My friend MW heard about a writers residence opportunity at William Faulkner's home and stopped over last night to tell me about it. I looked it up online today and it sounds like they're looking for southern writers and Mississippi writers in particular. I'm neither of those things. Oh well, guess I don't get to go to Mississippi.

Last night I got a call from DD saying that her dog had gotten sprayed by a skunk and since she was in her workshop which has ventilation to the outside she thought she got some on her too. Yuk. I wonder how many showers you need to take to get that smell off?

I spent a little time reading Anneke's Legacy on the Kindle this afternoon and found a couple places that could benefit from a little enhancement. Just the sort of thing I hope for when I email the manuscript to the Kindle. And I emailed the first draft of the blurb to cda for critique on Monday afternoon.

I watched part of a video about Anguilla's Sailing Regatta's history. I hope that there's also info about how the regatta is run and stuff like that because I want to have a character in the next Seaview book take part in the races. There was a book published about the Regatta in the late 1990's but I can't find a copy anywhere online. When I tried to call the number on the website, a recording told me that I didn't have enough money in my phone to make an overseas call. And I don't have time to fly down there to pick up a copy before November 1. Drat. Because on November 1 I'll start writing the next manuscript. Since NaNoWriMo disbanded or went out of business, ProWritingAid, the AI app I use for punctuation and grammar advice is hosting Novel November which is the same idea with a slightly different slant.

--Barbara