Thinking of Him

Five years ago today my beloved Durwood died. Some days I can't believe that it's been that long and other days it seems hard to remember when he was here. I miss him every day, not with the crushing pain that marked the early days, but there are so many things I want to share with him. He was one in a million.

We had a rainy day today. It didn't pour rain, it just plain old rained for most of the day. It slacked off in the afternoon but never got out of the 60s and it felt damp. We really need the rain.

 

Some people say that Cardinals are the souls of our departed loved ones. I don't believe that but a Cardinal visited in the rain today.

You can see how wet it was by how bedraggled this House Finch is. Sometimes I wonder how they can fly when they're so wet.

I finished another draw through 20 Ways to Draw a Tree. I try to choose a different figure on each page every time and I'm having fun going through the books.

I also got another three chapters to review from Harry at Book Publishing Solutions. Woohoo! 

Tonight after supper I sat down and finished the Pink Lemonade Dishcloth. I made it too small because I have too much yarn leftover. Next time I should make the cloth with all of the little balls of yarn left. It would be colorful!

And so I started another project. It's supposed to be a cowl but I'm not a fan so I'm making a scarf. I think. I love the yarn but I'm not sure that this is the right project for it. Only time will tell. It's early enough that I can rip it out without too much pain.

That's it for my day. Not a barn burner but I feel like I accomplished a few things.

--Barbara

Wait Your Turn

I saw this Downy Woodpecker hanging out on the Slinky this morning waiting its turn to get onto the suet pellets. There was a Sparrow up there pecking away and the Woodpecker was very patient and waited until the Sparrow left before fluttering up and having a snack.

Today I drew out of 20 Ways to Draw a Jellyfish. I think that might be my favorite book to draw out of... no, I really like all of the 20 Ways books. I can't pick a favorite. Today's drawings are a scallop, a seagull, a sea urchin, a sunfish, and a clam. I like the seagull and the urchin the best today. I wonder, do I pick the darker pictures as favorites more than the lighter ones?

After I mowed the backyard weeds and the grass that's growing downstream from the downspouts, but not the barely-grown grass that the public service guys painted the other day, I went to the grocery for ingredients and made a batch of Spicy Roasted Red Pepper Soup. Instead of roasting the red peppers myself I cheated and used pre-roasted and peeled peppers out of a jar. Well, jars because I used a jar and a half. I asked permission to snip a stem of fresh basil from my neighbor's plant. He's got a bumper crop of basil and won't use it all so I get to have a little. It's so fragrant and tasty. The soup's pretty good too. I tried this little bowlful and will let it meld overnight for the flavor to develop.

I took the day off from writing and working on ads. My shoulder's a little touchy from all of the computering I've done over the last couple weeks so I thought I'd give it a break. Instead I mowed and then walked all around the Meijer superstore because I sit too much and need to get my legs in better shape. It's always something.

--Barbara

Hummmmm

I was lucky enough and quick enough to snap some pictures of a visiting Hummingbird this morning. Of course I had the patio door open so I took them through the screen which means that they're a little, let's say, soft focus. I was thrilled to see her and she came back a couple times when a flying Sparrow spooked her into leaving.

Drawing was fun today. I dived back into 20 Ways to Draw a Tree and found a dragonfly, a tulip, a sprig of grains, a bee, a seed head, and a moth. The dragonfly's my favorite today.

Then I pulled out Drawing Cute to find an apple and avocado on the next page. OJ asked why the apple is frowning and I told him it's because there's a bite out of it. He agreed that would be bad if you were an apple.

The tiniest Stella d'Oro lily bloomed today. The plant's leaves can't be taller than three inches and the stem of the flower isn't much taller but the flower is just as pretty as the other, taller flowers.

And that's it. I had an idea for the new Horizon cover I ordered from GetCovers about 10 days ago. The ones she showed me have been okay, not fabulous, so I suggested that we discard the painting woman on the cover and go with a couple looking into the sunset. I even found an example that I shared with them. I look forward to seeing what they come up with next.

--Barbara

More Woodpeckers

Or maybe it's the same ones but the feeders were rich with Downy Woodpeckers again today. This one that landed on the suet cakes is an older juvenile male because you can see that he has a rust colored patch on the back of his head.

This one is either too young or a female because it doesn't have a colored patch. Also this one is out of focus.

We had a doozie of a rain shower this morning. It was raining so hard that the drops made bubbles in the birdbath. It was at the same time that the Public Service guys were back spraying lines and planting flags because evidently the TDS Metrocom people are coming back to dig again. I thought that they were done digging last winter but evidently there is more to do. Oh goodie. I just hope they don't cut through my power cable again.

My drawings today come from 20 Ways to Draw a Butterfly or Things With Wings. They're an eagle, a mythological bird (I think it's a phoenix), a goose, and a modern airplane. They're all okay. I like the eagle and the goose. The plane isn't my best work.

I drew the next animal in Dr. Seuss's Book of Animals. It's a Yuzz-a-ma-tuzz. I don't know what that is but I like the way it looks. Sorry that the pencil marks are so faint but all of its hair/fuzz is white so it all blends in. I suppose I should have colored in the background, that would have made the creature pop. Oh well, next time.

 

In between Zooms this afternoon I fired up the Weber and grilled another family pack of teriyaki chicken breasts. I have so enjoyed having that for supper that I decided to do it again. Along with a little steamed broccoli and it's the perfect meal.

Tonight at Friday Night Knitting I knitted to the toe decreases on the Kestrel Sock and then shifted to the Pink Lemonade Dishcloth so I didn't have to think too much. It's Friday night, thinking is over for the week.

Harry at Book Publishing Solutions was saved from my wrath because he sent me the next four chapters to review just before lunch. I spent a couple hours going over them, accepting or rejecting their suggested changes, and sent it back before suppertime. Most of the changes are adding commas. I suck at putting commas in.

--Barbara

A Woodpecker Day

Today was one of those days when I was uninspired. I didn't have much energy to do much and I spent a lot of time staring out at the bird feeders. I did go to the birdseed store for supplies and filled the feeders so that brought these Downy Woodpeckers to the suet offerings. First this one came to the suet cakes and posed ever so nicely.

Then another one showed up on the suet pellets and turned its head just in time for me to snap a profile shot. I saw a squirrel nab a peanut out of the wreath but it was too far away and too quick for me to get a picture.

I did manage to draw a little out of 20 Ways to Draw a Jellyfish. I think that my favorite one today is the little clump of coral in the upper left of the page.

I've added a bunch of rows onto the Pink Lemonade dishcloth. It's the first time I've done the yarn over method of increases and I think I like the tidy row of decorative holes after the edging. I'm not really a fan of pink either but I do like the colors of this yarn.

I wrote a little bit this afternoon, not much, and not very successfully, but I'm always happy to have written. I took a walk after supper tonight just up to the corner and back. I have got to do that every day or I won't be able to walk very far at all. Everything that I do I sit down to do and it's killing me. How did I get so lazy?

I still haven't gotten the second chapter to review from Book Publishing Solutions and I'm getting peeved. It better show up tomorrow or I'm giving Harry a piece of my mind.

--Barbara

My Haunted Microwave

No, really. This morning when I got up there was a beeping in the kitchen. I investigated and found that the microwave was beeping. I opened the door and it stopped. Then while I was eating breakfast it turned itself on and none of the buttons worked so I could turn it off. See what I mean? Haunted. I unplugged it. Then I bought a new one and recycled the old, haunted one. I warned the guy at the recycling center not to plug it in. He thanked me.

I drew out of 20 Ways to Draw a Tree today--a rose, a fossil, a blossom, a stone, and a twig. I think the stone looks like a fingerprint.

Then I drew a couple flowers out of Draw 500 Fabulous Flowers. I like the dark centers with the spots of white.

Even though I have been doing so much writing and computing that my right shoulder blade is sore, I did a little writing today anyway. I had that little plot breakthrough the other day and I can't leave it alone. It's like picking at a scab.

We had an honest to goodness downpour this evening. I heard a sound and thought that the
air conditioner was on but it was the rain. I'm happy. We need rain. It could rain all night like that and I wouldn't mind a bit. Tomorrow too. It's too dry around here.

I went down to Edward Jones this morning for my annual visit with my financial advisor. My investments are doing well, recovering from last year's dip, and according to the plan if my spending stays steady I'll have money until I'm 90. That should be enough. I guess. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

--Barbara

I Caught One

On film, er, on digital, oh you know what I mean. I managed to take a picture of a Bluejay today. This one sat on the crook for at least a minute so I got two shots of it. I wish there was a way to tell if it's a boy Bluejay or a girl Bluejay but there isn't. I'm just happy to have gotten a picture. Usually they don't stay long enough for me to get my hand on the camera much less actually have time to snap one.

The red day lilies are still blooming. There's still weeds out there and a lot of tall ones way back by the fence where I can't reach, and I'm too chicken to climb up and tippytoe down the length of the retaining wall, but there's still flowers which makes me happy.

Today's drawings are from 20 Ways to Draw a Butterfly. I think the duck turned out well and I like the grasshopper too. The upside down winged man not so much.

I cast on another dishcloth this evening using the same Pink Lemonade yarn that I used for the last one. This time I'm doing knit 2, yarn over to make the increase instead of knit 1, knit front and back so that there'll be a row of holes between the edge and the cloth, kind of like a decoration. Usually holes in my knitting means that I've screwed something up, this time it's on purpose.

When I sat down to write this afternoon first I updated the Amazon Ads Marketing page like I do whenever I sit down here and I made another sale today. Yippee! That means I've made three whole sales since I started this ads odyssey and profit is still ahead of ad spend. As long as that keeps up I can be patient.

I heard from my team leader at Book Publishing Solutions who offered to call me to talk about the marketing plans that he'd sent me yesterday. I told him that I wasn't interested if it meant additional fees but relented and said he could call me. He started in on his pitch but I stopped him and told him that my budget would only stretch to the package I'd paid for. I could tell he was smiling and he said okay. He also said that I should get the next chapter to review tomorrow. I can't wait.

Writing went pretty well today. I expanded a scene that I started a few days ago and inched my way closer to The End. That makes me happy.

--Barbara