So Frustrated

And rained on. This morning I went to Home Depot to see if I couldn't find a way to send the rain water farther away from the renters' patio and window well. I found a short downspout extension but it wasn't long enough. So I asked a guy in an orange apron and he showed me a white fitting that joins a rectangle to a circle. Just what I needed. Then I just had to find a longer hose. He sent me to the Garden department. I wandered around there and ended up at the dark end of an aisle and there was exactly what I wanted. See? Once I cut the strapping holding it together it's pretty long and gets longer when you pull on it. The only problem is that the end of the downspout isn't crimped so it's about half an inch too wide for the fitting and I couldn't squeeze the end of the corrugated hose to make it fit there either. Naturally it was raining a little when I was trying to accomplish this so not only was I frustrated, I was also wet. I'll get the renter husband to help me get it fixed up tomorrow. Of course it has rained a bunch today which needed diverting but that can't be helped. I'm only one little old woman and do what I can.

 

This Cardinal came to the platform feeder and actually tolerated a House Finch to be there at the same time. I'm coming to think that the bully Cardinal has moved on and the current males are more tolerant. Fine with me.

 

There are still lilies! The old fashioned orange day lilies have a few flowers left on them.

 

And the Stella d'Oro little golden yellow lilies are still showing up. I don't think this plant bloomed earlier so it's late to the game but I'm happy to see its cheerful flowers on such a rainy day.

 

The drawing prompt today was Mandala. That took some concentration. I inked all the shapes and will think about coloring it in. Maybe tomorrow.

 

In the afternoon (once I dried off) I worked on the story starts. One in particular about a woman and a whale. Not a Jonah story. I enjoyed writing on it. I also reread a few that I completed last week, decided they were done, and transferred them to a Prose file so they're easier to find when I want to post them. 

 

And I drew a gratitude journal page today. My favorite thing was when the sun came out after a bunch of rainstorms rolled through for most of the day. We even had thunder and a little lightning.

 

Look what UPS brought me today! The Christmas at Seaview bookmarks. Now I have to wait for the author copies to come in about 10 days so I can tuck them inside and have more to give away at signings and fairs. (I love the way the UPS guys play 'ding, dong, ditch' when they leave a package. They ring the doorbell, shout "UPS" and run away. Makes me giggle.)

 

I got a call from DS asking if I'd please pick OJ up from a birthday party in the afternoon. Seems an out-of-town account wanted to meet with him at Zambaldi kind of spur of the moment, and DIL1 was busy so it was Meemaw to the rescue. It was nice getting to spend a bit of time with my grandson. I haven't seen them for about 10 days. That seems long.

--Barbara