I Colored

Instead of drawing a new picture today I colored in the one I drew yesterday. I liked it yesterday but I like it better now. I used watercolor pencils and a water-filled brush to smoosh the colors around. I tried to blend colors in a couple places. It kinda worked.

 

The Red-bellied Woodpecker was back this morning. First on the suet nuggets and then on the square green feeder. This is not the one with the full red head so it's either a juvenile or a female.

 

I've started Car Knitting Washcloth #19. This is some yarn I bought ages ago in South Dakota and knitted a hanging kitchen towel with right after I bought it. I'm knitting a matching dishcloth with the remainder.

 

I visited DS at Zambaldi Beer this morning. He was brewing Yard Games IPA and cleaning kegs. His assistant has been out with an injury so DS has been doing his jobs too. When I asked him what he wants for his birthday he said, "a nap." I can't buy him that but he did give me another idea of something that I can get.

 

When I got home I saw that the lawn mower/leaf collector had been here. I could tell because of the little pile of clippings he left behind.

 

The autumn leaves are really falling these days. We're having perfect fall weather--cool and sunny with a little wind. It was a little windier today so a lot of leaves fell. This is the tree on the tenant's side of the duplex. It's leaves are just beautiful.

 

In the afternoon I wrote just over 1000 words of the new Seaview Series story. I know I'm not hitting the 1,667 words per day to make 50k words in 30 days but it isn't November yet so I'm not worried. I guess I've got about 5,000 words written so far which is 1/10th of what I need but it's a start.

 

I spent some time trying to figure out signing up and adding my audiobooks to a payment option. I get confused, frustrated, and then I quit. I think I have one of the options kind of figured out but the other one thwarts me every time I try. I asked KM for help and she said she isn't familiar with any of the options one website offers but she's willing to dig in and learn how to help me. She's worth her weight in gold.

--Barbara 

An Infrequent Visitor

Man, I was lucky. I looked out the patio door in time to see a Bluejay visit the cob corn and it even stayed long enough for me to snap two pictures. In one it was just a shadow but in this one you can see its blue crest and fluttering wing. Yay!

 

Naturally a squirrel also visited the cob corn and had itself a little corn kernel snack. I am amazed that it can hang there upside down and eat comfortably. 

 

I got a haircut this morning and for some reason decided it was an occasion to take a selfie. I never take selfies but I did today. I had to turn around to have a halfway decent background but then the light from the patio door reflected in my glasses. Oh well, that's life. And I realized that my smile is crooked. Do I sleep on that side too much? Anyway, I asked JS to cut my hair shorter, more pixie-ish and she did. I like it like that plus it's six weeks until my next appointment so shorter now means less annoying then.

 

After my wellness checkup this afternoon (I am in good shape, all tests came out great, and it takes at least 3 months for a hamstring pull to heal so that's a relief), I worked on early Novel November writing over 1000 words and adding a few names to my list of characters. I'm so glad I started doing that. It's so easy to refer to the list instead of having to scroll back to find the names of people. This little unlined notebook is perfect for the purpose. I'm just getting started so it's a short list. It'll grow.

 

Today's drawing prompt was Inside the Laboratory/Weird Science so I copied some of her drawing. At the time I thought I'd leave it just in ink but all evening I've been thinking of using watercolor pencils to color it in and then use the water brush to smoosh the colors around. Maybe I'll do that tomorrow.

 

We are having cherry Jello for a snack tonight. It's the only flavor besides the citrus ones I like. Plus it's red. Red is my favorite color. But then you all know that.

 

I drew a gratitude journal page today and had to start a new book. I thought I had more things to be grateful for but I didn't. (I just thought of something else I could have put on there. I went to the grocery after the doctor's office and didn't have to worry about paying for my groceries. I'm grateful for Durwood's insistence on investing and saving. Thanks, Dear!)

 

When I asked the doc how long it should take for a muscle strain to heal, he asked which muscle and I told him the back of my knee. He said, "Oh, hamstring pulls take at least 12 weeks to heal, just like for football players." I didn't have the heart to tell him I don't follow football so that's a reference I don't understand. The doc also said I probably won't get dementia because I use my brain so much to write. I'm not sure how valid that is but it was reassuring and makes me want to not stop writing.

I ordered a bunch more author copies of some of my books today. GBB called wondering if we'd need more books since one of the craft/vendor fairs we're signed up for has 14,000 people "interested" on Facebook so what if we sell out. I decided she had a point. I've been stocking up slowly through the summer but thought a few more copies of the most popular titles wouldn't hurt. It takes 2 weeks for them to be printed and shipped so we can't wait until we need them to order them. When I ordered them it said they'd be shipped November 10 but on the order confirmation page it said delivery November 17-21. So cruel.

--Barbara 

Not Frozen

The first thing I noticed when I opened the drapes this morning was the birdbath wasn't frozen. That means the heater is working because all of the neighbors' roofs were frosty so I knew it would have iced over without the heater. I put the white rock on top of the heater so no pesky squirrel knocks it out of the water.

 

The gold mums are still blooming a little. I had the landscapers leave them the Saturday before last so that there'd be a little color in front of the house. The copper ones are fading fast and the purple mums are almost all finished but the gold ones are still making a little show of it.

 

I wondered why the round feeder was emptied so quickly and today I found out why. One of the squirrels has figured out how to hang upside down from its back feet and nibble seeds out of the bottom ports. When this squirrel left another one shinnied up to the suet nuggets and had a snack. I didn't see one in the square green feeder but the top was kind of cocked so I'm guessing one had been there.

 

I got to do the school run today and I finished the last few rows of Car Knitting Washcloth #18. Not that I've knitted 18 washcloths this year, that's from the time I started leaving a bag of knitting in the pocket of the driver's door. And there was the pandemic gap so about 10 years maybe.

Once the squirrels all had their afternoon snacks I went out and filled the feeders. I took down the platform feeder and took its crook out of the ground. Actually I stuck it in the ground closer to the house without the feeder on it because I didn't know where I'd store the big, awkward thing. The squirrels have rediscovered the cob corn so I filled that too. I'm determined to get rid of most of the birdseed and just keep the suet cakes and nuggets for the winter.

 

Today's drawing prompt was Light & Dark. She said to draw squares on the paper, number them, and then fill the squares with tone starting with light and moving to dark. My paper is pretty small so I only had five rows of four squares. I used my mechanical pencil, a #2 pencil, a brush pen, a Micron pen, and a wax pastel. It was an interesting activity.

 

I came back here meaning to write another 1000 words toward the next novel manuscript and instead I wrote the next writing progress email that I'll schedule to be sent on November 1 to my greatly expanded mailing list. Taking part in those free book promos has added over 100 names to my mailing list. Pretty good!

 

This morning I had a Zoom with cda. She sent me a poem that needed a couple tweaks and I sent her the first draft of the blurb for Anneke's Legacy. She helped me polish up the middle of it which it desperately needed. It's funny how other eyes can see things that you miss. 

--Barbara 

Colors in the Sun

It was sunny all day today and the trees across the street just glowed. There was enough of a breeze that the leaves drifted gently down. Naturally none fell when I went out to take a picture but, trust me, it looked like autumn in a movie out there. See all the leaves on those lawns? Makes me so glad that I don't have to rake.

 

The birdbath was iced over when I got up again so I thought I'd put out the heater today.

 

A different Red-bellied Woodpecker showed up today just once. I could tell it's a different bird because the red on his head goes all the way down to his beak. Juveniles and females only have red partway over their heads. And this guy didn't hang on the perch, he stood on top of it and bent to the side to peck for a peanut.

 

Today the squirrel visited the suet nuggets and spent a bit of time nibbling away at them. I keep waiting for something to empty the nuggets but maybe I'll leave the suet cakes and nuggets out for the winter so the birds have some sustaining foods along with the open water in the birdbath.

 

The prompt today was Food Packet. I didn't want to draw something round like a can because I'm not so good at that so I pulled out a popular snack at Meemaw's, Scooby Snacks. My Scooby didn't turn out too badly.

 

I got an email from ProWritingAid about prepping for Novel November that got me thinking about my story a lot. I was squinting out the window hoping inspiration would arrive. It took about an hour before I had an idea to put on paper. I'm usually not a planner when I write. I'm what they call a pantser, meaning I write without an outline, by the seat of my pants. So it was hard to answer the questions posed on this page. Finally I managed to eke out a few paragraphs and that led me to adjust what I wrote afterwards. I did write just over 1000 words so I've got almost 3000 words written toward the 50,000 words I want to have by November 30th. I know it's cheating to start in October but I'm busy on every Saturday in November and there's Thanksgiving in there so I want to hit the goal.

 

At suppertime I realized that I forgot to install the birdbath heater. I was going to do it tomorrow morning but then I thought it wouldn't take that long so I just did it. It was cold and wet and getting dark but I got the job done. *dusts off hands*

 

And I even managed to draw a gratitude journal page for today. That's two days in a row. I'm on a streak!

 

--Barbara 

Temptation

This afternoon I got a text from my knitting pal MW. He said that there was some nice Highland Wool yarn at Goodwill. And he sent a picture. I thought about it. Then I looked in the guest room at the small pile of tosses I hadn't bothered to take for donation. So I loaded the stuff into the car and drove the four blocks to Goodwill. I went right to the yarn, craning my neck to see if MW was still there. I didn't see his car or his white beard so I was on my own. I found two, 6-ball bags of the stuff--one with reds (and one midnight blue) and one with grays--for $5.99 each. That's $1/skein, a bargain since it retails for $5.49/skein. It's a lot thinner than the usual yarn I like to knit with but I can always hold two or three strands together. I'll figure out something to do with it.

 

The Red-bellied Woodpecker has become a regular visitor lately. It landed on the suet nuggets but it was late in the day and the feeder was in the shade so the bird's more of a silhouette. Earlier it glommed onto the perch on the square green feeder and this time it was on the side closest to me so I can show you its beautiful red head and striped back and wings.

 

I had real fun with today's drawing prompt of Words, Text & Letters. I drew a big letter B and then drew flowers around it so that it's white and the rest of the page is colored. I wish I'd have used a darker blue pencil for the background so that the letter showed up better but by the time I thought of that my hand was tired so I left it.

 

And I managed to draw a gratitude journal page today too. I only thought of three things but that's better than no things, right?

 

The yarn temptation interrupted my writing this afternoon so I only wrote about 800 words. Not the 1000 words I was hoping for but better than nothing. I don't really have a firm idea of the story so I'm kind of casting around in the void, just throwing words at the page hoping they'll stick and make some kind of sense later. 

--Barbara 

Saved By a Friend

This afternoon I had a book event from 2-6pm. I had my doubts about how those hours would work on a Friday afternoon and my doubts were proved correct. There were very few shoppers, but my friend, RH, from watercolor class at The Clearing came to see me and bought 4 books. Four! Thank you, thank you, thank you, RH! You saved the day.

 

The squirrel was back. It shoved its nose up under the lid of the feeder and crawled right in. The tail stayed out and it poked its head out to chew seeds but I could tell it was ready to skedaddle if I opened the patio door. And when I did, it ran off right quick.

 

Today's drawing prompt was Something You Used Today so I tried my best to draw the camera I use to take all those squirrel and bird pictures. I have a problem drawing the lens at the correct angle but I'll try again.

 

When I opened the drapes this morning the birdbath was frozen. Not frozen solid evidently because it thawed quick enough when the sun hit it, but frozen enough to have an icy picture taken. The roofs of the houses across the street were all frosty when I opened the shade this morning too. Guess it's time to put out the birdbath heater.

 

I caught the Red-bellied Woodpecker on the square green feeder this morning. Fortunately the squirrel wasn't in the feeder at the time. A couple Sparrows landed on the feeder while the squirrel was in there but I don't think the Red-bellied would be brave enough to land if the tree rat was there.

 

At Friday Night Knitting I finished crocheting the Navy & Silver Crocheted Hat. I made the medium size. I don't know who it'll fit but someone will wear it.

 

I have book or craft fairs for the next five Saturdays. Next week is the Art Garage Book Fair and then there's a string of craft fairs that GBB and I are hoping to sell a few books at. On the 15th is the Girls' Day Out Holiday Extravaganza which was the priciest booth so let's hope we sell more than a few there. Fingers crossed.

--Barbara 

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