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