Back to Icy

When I opened the drapes over the patio door this morning I wasn't surprised to see that the birdbath was iced over again. It's supposed to be highs in the 20s or 30s but barely above freezing and lows in the teens for the next week.

 

As I started to make my lunch, I noticed this lineup of Mourning Doves on the fence just outside the kitchen window. When I saw them, they were all four hunched up against the cold, but by the time I had the camera ready the one closest to the house had stood up and was stretching its wings. Goofball.

 

I noticed yesterday that the downspout from the corner of the house had blown down the lawn again. There are supposed to be screws holding the bottom part onto the part on the side of the house but, over time, first one and then the other screw has disappeared. I think the pest nerd (that's what they call themselves, really) tripped over it on his last inspection around the house and the last screw got lost. A few weeks ago my knitting pal MW stopped over and advised me to get a threaded rod to put through the screw holes and nuts for the ends. It's been on my mind but I didn't know how big a rod or how I'd cut it to fit so I cast that idea aside. Until this morning, when I thought about cutting out part of a wire hanger, bending one end, and then shoving it through the holes, and bending the other end to hold it in place. So that's what I did. It occurred to me that I'd done a Hank repair. My dad fixed things creatively. I think I take after him. I'm just glad it's fixed.

 

Today's flower was Daffodil. It was easy to draw and color and reminds me that eventually spring will come around again.

 

After the first critique run-through for Monday's Zoom, I spent an hour or so writing the March 1 writing progress email newsletter. It's very brag-y but I'm so excited about the things that happened in February I have to tell about them. My only regret is that I didn't do a special mailing to alert them about the Freebie Friday promo. Missed an opportunity there, didn't I?

I spent some phone time trying to get roommates organized for The Clearing in October. There are a couple people I'd like to room with but don't want to be in the large dorm where there's little room for writing. I think we got it ironed out. October's a long way off but registration is this coming week and places in the Women's Writing Retreat fill up fast.

 --Barbara

Ack!

I told you it'd be back. We woke up to snow. And not the fluffy lightweight stuff. This snow was heavy and wet. And it didn't melt off my driveway like it did across the street so I had to go out and shovel it. There was no way the snowblower could move it so I grabbed the shovel and, well, shoved it off the pavement. I pushed it over to the edge of the lawn and then dumped it on there. It was almost too heavy to lift. 

I was happy to see this squirrel enjoying a suet nuggets nibble this morning. You can see how wet the snow was by the drops on the patio door. Yesterday a squirrel climbed up to the nuggets feeder, took one taste, and bailed. That made me think that they're spoiled but today's squirrel didn't seem to mind so I'll leave them.

 

Today's flower was Hydrangea. I should have overlapped the florets more so that the flower head is fuller but I like the way the leaves turned out. I should probably stop critiquing my drawings so harshly, shouldn't I?

 

At Friday Night Knitting, I worked on the 2x2 ribbing of the Melt the ICE Toque. I decided to try 2x2 ribbing to see if it is less taxing than 1x1. Not so you'd notice but I'll keep going. Ribbing to 6" is a bit of a slog but then the decreases start almost immediately. It's a trade off.

 

This afternoon I worked on wrapping up Seaview 4 and also the series. I can't imagine more story happening in that little bed-and-breakfast that wouldn't be repetitive. So I'm trying to tie up any loose eds and make Rose's life settled and happy. Happily ever after, right? 

--Barbara 

Oops

I forgot that I was supposed to be at a marketing group Zoom tonight after supper so I only got half of the first round of ribbing knitted on the next Melt the ICE toque. That's okay. I'll finish the round tomorrow and add a bunch more at Friday Night Knitting. GBB called and said, "Are you coming?" I won't print what I said just before I hung up, laid down my knitting, and scrambled back here to join the Zoom call. We had a long and lively discussion about marketing and Amazon ads and other writerly stuff.

 

This morning I went down to Zambaldi to visit DS. He was brewing Good Dog Porter and moving finished beers from fermenter tanks to the tanks where the beer is carbonated. He had linked all of his hoses together through a pump to sanitize them all before moving the beers around. DS works long hours and works hard. I'm so proud of him.

 

In the afternoon I stirred up a double batch of lemon-lime jello to have for a bedtime snack. I know I've said it before but this is my favorite flavor. So cool and citrus-y. I mix one 4-serving box of lemon with one 4-serving box of lime sugar free jello and it lasts me almost a week. Yum.

 

I decided I wanted to paint black-eyed susans with bees this afternoon. I painted them before and really liked the way it turned out so I wanted to do it again. This is okay. I realized only after I'd taken the paper off the board that I forgot to spatter a little brown paint over it all. For some reason I don't understand, spattering finishes the painting. I like the bees. I'll take another stab at it.

 

I was supposed to go to lunch today with a couple of former neighbors for fun and to talk about the June watercolor class at The Clearing. I'm signing up and last year DT wanted to come along but she'd just had both knees replaced and thought it'd be too strenuous. I'll sign up for a single room next Tuesday and then can switch to a double or triple if one or both of them decides to come along. We cancelled today because MK has a fever and sore throat and didn't want to share. We appreciated that so we've rescheduled for next Thursday. 

I did a little writing on the manuscript this afternoon too. I tried to wrap up the story and maybe figure out a way to end the book and the series. I don't think I'm there yet, but it might be getting too long. 

--Barbara

Whee!

This morning I hopped in the car and zipped down I-41 for 53 miles to Oshkosh and Caramel Crisp Bookstore. Yesterday I got that check and note in the mail, then I called to find out when Jen, the manager, would be in, and she was in today. So I went. Part of me was a little nervous to drive on 41 because it's a very busy highway but once I got going I was fine. (I wasn't smart and had on my winter jacket. I got so hot that I turned on the a/c but I wasn't foolish enough to try to take my coat off at 70 mph.) Jen was very complimentary about my books, said they sell fairly well, and I came home with 11 fewer books than I left with.

 

See how much the snow has melted? This little smudge of snow is about all that's left on the patio and, in melting, lots of fallen birdseed is uncovered which made these three Sparrows very happy. You can also see all the rabbit raisins from a winter of them visiting. I went out and took out the broken birdbath heater. The more I looked at it, the more irritated I got, so I tossed it. It'll freeze solid again, I'm sure of it.

 

This House Finch decided to make a liar out of me by spending time on the square green feeder. As far as I know, they prefer platform feeders, but evidently when one isn't available a hopper feeder will suffice.

 

Two separate shipments of copies of Anneke's Legacy arrived today. The first one had 8 and the second one had 10. One copy arrived yesterday and one is scheduled to arrive on Friday. It's confusing when I ordered 20 on the same day that they don't print and collect them all and ship them together.

 

Since I now have my own ISBN numbers I can put myself down as the publisher and I had my assistant, KM, make a logo that I can put on the title page of each book. Pretty cool, huh? 

Today's flower is one I've never heard of. It's a Banana Flower. You can see the tiny bananas on the stem under the flower. I wonder how big the flowers are in real life.

 

When I got home from my jaunt to Oshkosh I went to the grocery for bananas, clementines, and a few other things. I don't remember Mom going to the grocery more than once a week, but I seem to go more often. *shrug* It was so warm this afternoon that I didn't wear a jacket to the store, just my long-sleeved tee shirt and a sweater. I'm confident that these moderate temps won't last. It is still winter and I live in Wisconsin. Cold will come back. Probably snow will too.

--Barbara 

Birdies!

Just when I was getting ready to do yoga this morning I looked out and saw this Downy Woodpecker on the square green feeder. I'm wondering why none of the birdies are eating the suet nuggets and suet cakes lately. Might they be spoiled? Whatever the reason what few birds are showing up are on the square feeder. That's okay. I'm just glad to see them.

 

Then Chickadees came. There were two of them but this one is the only one that stuck around long enough to have its picture taken. It sat there on the perch working to crack open a seed, pounding it on the perch. I hope it succeeded.

 

I happened to see DS's Facebook post this morning that he'd gone to vote. I'd completely forgotten so I was glad he reminded me. I drove right over to the polling place to cast my vote in the lone race on the ballot. It was a race for county supervisor and I cast my vote for who I hope turns out to be the right guy.

 

In the mail there was an envelope from Caramel Crisp Corner Bookstore with a check in it. There was also a note saying that they're out of copies of The Seaview and I know they don't have Spies Don't Retire or Christmas at Seaview or Anneke's Legacy. So I'll drive down to Oshkosh tomorrow morning and fix that. I deposited the check immediately. I noticed that the sale was made in August. It's February. I'm curious why it took 6 months to get the check here. But I won't ask.

 

This afternoon I worked on writing more on the manuscript. I've been stuck for more than a week. So, in the meantime, I reread it and did a little editing, but today I decided I needed to just dive in and write more. They're not fabulous words but they move the story a little and that's what counts.

 

I got a text from my plumber that he finished reading The Seaview and said he was proud to know such a good writer. What a huge compliment. Made me feel all warm and fuzzy.

And my cleaner came today and was excited to buy a copy of Anneke's Legacy. So that's two sold this week. Yay!

I realized when I edited the photos just now that I didn't draw or paint today. But I did fold the basket of socks and clean laundry so that should count for something.

--Barbara 

Warm & Sunny

That was Green Bay today. The sun shone all day and it got up to 55 degrees! I wore my winter jacket when I went out today out of habit but probably could have worn less. I did crack open a window at lunchtime to let in some actual fresh air. It smelled very nice. The birdbath thawed out. I probably should have gone out to remove the broken heater but I just didn't. I would have had to put on boots to cross the patio snow that's the last to melt and I didn't want to. It was that kind of day.

 

Today's flower is Hibiscus. I like the way it turned out. I like the leaves and the tiny little bud below the flower petals.

 

I had a zoom critique session with cda this morning. We each had sent over 20 pages and it took us 2 1/2 hours to get through them both. Next week we'll start half an hour early so cda's husband gets lunch at noon as expected. 

I got to do the after school run and pick up OJ. He asked if we could go to the library because the audiobook he got last week had a glitch and wouldn't play. So we went the few blocks up the street to the Brown County Library where he found another audiobook and a couple of paper books too. Then we went to the car wash because it was so warm and my car was so filthy and salty and road dirty. I swear it felt lighter when I drove out of the place. 

This evening I spent some time looking for a pattern to knit but didn't find anything I want to tackle. I looked at a sweater pattern that looks awesome but complicated and a shawl that I started and had to stop because it needed more concentration than I had then, and still don't have. I guess I'll just cast on another red rebellion hat since I weighed the hat and the remaining yarn and I have enough for one more hat.

Oh, I went on the BookBub ebook site which is also the Chirp audiobook site and just for fun I went on my Chirp dashboard to look at my promo results again. Well, I've sold more copies of the three audiobooks from the promo but not for free or $2 each but full price! Not many, four or five of each but that's way better than I've ever sold before. Woohoo! 

--Barbara 

Another Hat Finished

Last night I lost motivation when I was this close to being done with the Melt the ICE Hat. So I picked it up tonight and finished it in a jiffy. I really like the way it turned out but it'll be a while I knit 6" of 1x1 ribbing again. That was a slog. DD agrees. She's knitting the red hats too. I have to weigh the hat and then weigh the yarn that's left. I might have enough to knit one more hat out of this yarn.

 

This morning I drew a gratitude journal page for yesterday. My knitting drawing isn't to scale but it's better than nothing. I was so glad to finish the laundry too. Still haven't folded it, though. Baby steps.

 

In the afternoon I spent a couple hours rereading the manuscript and making small edits. I kept hoping I'd find something to change or rearrange but I didn't. Am I missing things? Am I too close to it? I don't know but I'll keep going. I'm too stubborn to quit. Then I read and reread the pages cda sent me to critique for tomorrow morning. I like to go through at least twice. I always seem to miss things the first time through.

 

Today's flower is a Sunflower. I wasn't so sure about drawing something with that many petals and the flower head was interesting to draw. I tried to follow the directions but might have gone off track. Oh well, it looks like a sunflower. I like the colors of the petals and the leaves. 

 

Then after supper I drew a gratitude journal for today. Look at me! Twice in one day! I'm really enjoying having a bowl of my "pretty" soup for supper. It's very tasty and very filling.

 

I finished listening to the audiobook I got instead of reading the paper book and was lucky enough to find the other title on audiobook on Libby so I downloaded it and started listening. It didn't grab me like the other one did and it's the same author. I'll keep listening. The other day I had a notice that a book I had on Hold was in, downloaded it, started listening to it, and didn't like it at all. I don't know if it was the story or the narrator but it really rubbed me the wrong way. I returned it early. 

I typed up the list of all the craft, book, and vendor fairs we're signed up for so far this year. The Art Garage hasn't scheduled their book sale yet so we'll have to fit that one in. I hope it's in September. We don't have any dates in September. Then I sent the list to KM to put on  my website. I'm so glad I have her to help me. She's a godsend.

--Barbara 

One Wildlife

I got lucky this morning and got the camera up and ready when a squirrel scampered across the patio. It was warm enough that a lot more snow melted today but not off the patio because the sun doesn't reach there. The house shades it. That's okay, it made the squirrel show up better. It jumped up on the birdbath but because it was still frozen the squirrel moved on. I hoped it'd leap up to the suet or square feeder but it didn't.

 

Because I rashly said out loud at Women's Spirit on Zoom yesterday that I needed to do the laundry because I was almost out of socks, I couldn't procrastinate, even though I have more hand-knit socks that I could wear. I told them I'd do it today, or maybe on Sunday, but when I said that people called me on it (you know who you are) so I was stuck. Here's the basket of socks, sports bras, and pants all clean and dry. There was another load of towels, more socks, and undies still in the dryer. And a clothesline full of hand-knit socks drying in the air. I'll wait until those socks are dry before carrying the basket upstairs and maybe folding the clean clothes. I don't want to rush into anything.

 

I sat down to draw today's flower but first I pulled the red colored pencil back out and darkened yesterday's poppy. It looks much more poppy-like, doesn't it?

 

Today's flower is a Bluebell. I like the way the leaves turned out on this one. The flower's okay but I like the leaves, both the shapes and the coloring.

 

 

I sat watching TV tonight knitting on the crown decreases of the Melt the ICE hat #2. It's pretty close to being done but I lost motivation. Maybe I'll pick it up tomorrow and finish it. Or not. If I finish it, I'll have to figure out something else to knit. Part of me wants to cast on a sweater with some wool and silk yarn I've had for years but then I think of how that's a big project and do I want to make the commitment?

 

A friend stopped last week and lent me a couple of paperback books by an author we both like. I started reading one of them and I'm so accustomed to listening to stories instead of reading them that I searched Hoopla and Libby. I found the one I was reading on Libby so I'm listening to that now and hoping that the other one is on there too. But I'll read a paper book if I have to.

I did a little manuscript reading this afternoon once the laundry was done. I made a few minor edits but didn't change much. I'm still trying to figure out how to end this novel and series. Eventually I'll get there.

--Barbara 

Forty-eight Degrees!

That's how warm it got today. 48 degrees is nearly unheard of in Green Bay, WI in February. Not to mention it's Friday the 13th. No black cats in view today. But there was a Sparrow or two at the feeder today. Not a flock but a couple of them. Also lots of snow melting happened today. I have no illusions about the temperature staying this moderate through the rest of the winter. We're bound to get another polar vortex screaming through to freeze us to the marrow.

 

The flower of today's drawing was Poppy. It was pretty simple to draw and I kind of wish I'd colored it darker but this is the way the picture was so I followed directions. I'm a good girl like that. Maybe I'll go back to darken it up.

 

 

At Friday Night Knitting I got to work on the crown decreases of the Melt the
ICE Hat. I'm about halfway to being done, I think. I like it because every other round decreases by four stitches so they get smaller and faster as I go. Pretty satisfying.

 

This morning I unpublished and republished the Open For Business paperback. I didn't have to unpublish and republish the eBook because I could just add the ISBN to the current edition but I decided to upload the re-edited manuscript and I'm so glad I did because it found three typos in one of the recipes I entered yesterday. And I thought I'd gone through them all and caught all the booboos. Nope. Now all of my books are updated with my own personal ISBNs. I found out something interesting on Amazon the other day after posting a question on Kindle Direct Publishing's Community site. It turns out that you can choose Extended Distribution on Amazon which will make your books available to bookstores and libraries without having to sign up with another distributor. That means I don't have to reformat all 8 of my titles to upload onto a different site. So I clicked on each title and checked that box. I'll do more research but I think this is a step in the right direction. Sometimes all the thinking makes me tired. One of these days I'm not going to do any writing work and have a day off. If I can manage it.

Oh, I got a phone call this afternoon from MW, a knitting pal who is a big fan of my books. When I said hello he asked, "Is the new book here?" "Yes," I said. He said, "I'm on my way." And he was here in about 15 minutes to buy a copy of Anneke's Legacy, the first one I've sold. Yay!

--Barbara 

Pretty Soup

I made pretty soup today. It's called Pulled Chicken Ancho Chili Black Bean Soup. A very long name for an easy soup to make. The hardest part was chopping 2 poblano peppers (flavorful, not spicy), a red bell pepper, and a nice big onion. Once they were sauteed and softened, it was just a matter of opening cans and dumping stuff in. Not only is it pretty to look at, it tastes great too. And a cup of it is zero WW points.

 

Birds came today! It was sunny but still pretty chilly but there were two Sparrows and a House Finch checking out the square green feeder. The House Finch isn't a closed feeder bird. They like platform feeders, which I don't have anymore since I'm trying to cut back on the rodent population.

 

Then a Downy Woodpecker landed on the suet nuggets, but by the time I got the camera up and ready, it flew over to the square green feeder's backside. Dang. So I took pictures until I captured one of its head peeking out. Just to prove it was actually here.

 

I did something smart the other day. I got a Mystery Discount email from Land's End so I clicked on it and my discount was 40% off. So I scrolled the website and looked at the swim dresses because my swimsuit is ancient and pretty ugly. I found a cute one and ordered it instead of waiting for when it's warm because then they won't have my size. It came today. I like it. It's got red on it.

 

The flower today is Passionflower. It wasn't difficult to draw but those filaments or whatever they're called were tedious. I was sure I wouldn't be able to outline them in ink and make them look right but I did. The coloring's good too. But like I said yesterday, drawing and outlining and coloring take way longer than painting a flower.

 

I had a Michaels $5 voucher expiring on Saturday so I stopped to shop. I bought a sketchbook because I can always use another one and a green watercolor marker because I didn't have that shade of green. And I managed to overspend my voucher by only $3.49. Pretty good shopping, if I do say so myself.

Last night I was so proud of myself because I got the Final Jeopardy! when none of the contestants did. (It was Boo Radley.) Not so tonight. Didn't have a clue. Can't win 'em all. 

I spent all afternoon reformatting Open For Business. I'd forgotten that I had to type in all of the recipes I put in the back matter. Copy and paste didn't work, so I had to print them off and type them in. And I didn't make too many typos. The most frustrating part was I'd get a rhythm going and Kindle Create would stop and flash "Do you want to save your work?" halting the cursor and forcing me to stop and Save. I agree I need to save often but not when my fingers are working and I'm getting things done. Sheesh. 

I mailed the pointy red hat I knitted off to a friend in Chicagoland today. She really wanted one and I've got another one on the needles so she gets the first one.

--Barbara

Melting Away

It was sunny today. That, combined with the milder temps the last few days has caused the backyard snow to really melt. It's supposed to get into the 40s in a couple days and maybe 50 next week. Bye bye, snow. I've seen a few squirrels run through the yard but none have stopped for either birdseed or suet. Don't know why.

 

I stopped at Zambaldi this afternoon to pick up OJ's library books and saw the cooler door propped open. DS was carbonating a tank of Brewer For a Day beer and didn't want to forget about it. I got to do the afternoon school run and OJ requested a stop at the library so I picked up his books to return and DS's library card. LC didn't want to come in but I told her I wanted to spend time with her. Instead she spent time in the stacks and found a book to check out. I had a feeling she would. It's hard to resist the lure of books.

 

The flower of the day was Lavender. It was harder to draw than I thought it'd be, or maybe it was just more putzy, but I like the way it turned out. Drawing and coloring take longer than painting. Go figure.

 

I knitted a couple more rounds on the Melt the ICE Hat after supper. I think I'll add a couple more and then start on the crown decreases. This time I'll follow the directions on the official pattern and knit one round plain between decrease rounds. That'll make it taller and even cooler looking.

 

At the grocery this morning I got the ingredients for making Pulled Chicken Ancho Chili Black Bean Soup. I know it's a long name, but it's really simple, has lots of ingredients, and tastes delicious. And as a bonus, is zero WW points per serving. I would have made it last weekend but CS can't eat peppers and there's two kinds of peppers in it, so I made the Butternut Squash soup which is also simple and delicious.

This afternoon I finished editing Open For Business so I can upload it to Kindle Create, fix up the front and back matter, add the recipe pages, and get it republished with my own ISBN number. That's the last one. I'll do it tomorrow. After I make the soup.

You know, I think that my daily (except Sunday) yoga practice is helping my knees. They haven't ached as much the last couple days. I can't sit here at the laptop all day though. I have to get up and move around or I'm back where I started. Getting old is a continuing challenge.

I had a Zoom meeting with my assistant, KM, this morning and we talked a lot about marketing, in particular she can make TikTok videos for me that I don't have to be in or make myself. Yay! She made a reveal video for Anneke's Legacy to put on Facebook and my website. She also showed me how to look at traffic on my website and FB to see that more people are looking at them. Maybe because they've downloaded my audiobooks? Could be. 

--Barbara 

Another Writer-ly Day

I'm in a rut. I can't stop working on writing stuff. Today I got on a chat with Kindle Direct Publishing (again) because I couldn't find Island Dreams on my Bookshelf which is where you publish or republish your titles. Once I had that squared away, I spent most of the afternoon reloading Island Dreams to Kindle Create (seen here) because it was one of the manuscripts lost when my original version crashed. So I had to redo the title page, the copyright page, the Dedication (to the dive guys who taught us to scuba dive), the "Books by this Author" page and the Acknowledgements.

 

Then I went back onto my Bookshelf page to republish it with the individual ISBNs and my name as publisher. Luckily I had this jpeg (photo) of the cover because that's the only one I didn't have GetCovers design for me. I hired an editing/formatting service which I ended up not liking because I didn't have control over things. But somehow I ended up with a jpeg so I could crop it for the eBook and use the whole thing for the paperback. This is the only cover that I can't change the blurb, author bio, or author photo on. I don't like that either, but it is what it is.

 

It was so warm today (38 degrees!) that a lot of the snow in the backyard melted. The snow and ice on the birdbath melted a lot too. You can see the sled tracks from the neighbors' fun sledding last night. They must start high up on the hill to get up the speed to slide all the way across their yard into mine. Well, it's actually one yard. There's their half and my half. It's a duplex, you know.

 

Before I started all the writing stuff this morning I drew a gratitude journal page for yesterday. I'm posting it because it has the final Freebie Friday totals on it. The free downloads total is 9,415 audiobooks! Takes my breath away.

 

The first shipment of copies of Anneke's Legacy came today. Twenty-five books in one carton is heavy. I gently rolled it from the porch into the house and then picked it up to carry it to the table. Before supper I sat with a pen, bookmarks, and "Autographed Copy" stickers and got them all signed, bookmarked, and stickered so they're ready to be sold. My book storage area is nearing capacity. I don't know where I'll put them if I write too many more books. Not downstairs, that's for sure.

 

Then I decided I wanted to paint instead of draw so I painted this Hydrangea. I like it. It looks kind of like the teacher's example and I like the leaves, especially the two in front. 

 

I had a phone call with GBB this morning about the Midwest Book Review. She's gotten reviews of her two books from them and uses them in publicity. I thought about sending in one of my books but then I read that they don't want your books if you don't have distribution. Which I don't have. Amazon doesn't count because bookstores and libraries can't order from Amazon because they only charge Retail. One of the reasons I'm republishing my books is so that I can widen distribution so they can be accessed by bookstores and libraries. I looked into a national contest too but shied away for the same reason. I'll keep researching.

While I watched Finding Your Roots on PBS tonight I knitted a few rounds on the Melt the ICE Hat but not enough to warrant a new photo. Besides I need to consult the pattern to see where I need to start decreasing for the pointy top.

Yesterday the light over the stove and two of the (many) clocks in the kitchen's batteries ran out. All on the same day! So I had to re-battery the clocks and replace the light bulb. I was happy to have spares so I didn't have to run out for supplies. 

--Barbara