Just One Bird

I only saw one bird today but what a bird!  I don't know what made me look up from my writing but there was this Cooper's (I think) Hawk on the patio umbrella.  No surprise that there wasn't another bird or rodent in sight.  It stayed for a long time, at least ten minutes, so I got to admire it for a while.  I've been hearing a hawk early in the mornings but haven't seen it, mostly because I'm still in bed when I hear it and I don't leap up and roar out to find it.

I cast on a preemie hat last night and knitted on it a little.  I found this evening that I can knit one round during a commercial break.  Makes for slow progress but I don't mind.

Today's toss was a book about sunken treasure and a bunch of old writing papers went into the recycling bin.

The prompt today said that two cars collide on a rural road.  No one is hurt but the cars are unable to be driven.  There's no cell service, night is coming, and the temperature is falling.  What happens next?  That's quite the setup.  I wrote the dialogue exchange between a man and a woman, one thing led to another, and they got married.  The end.

I had a heck of a time falling asleep last night.  It was after 1 o'clock when I stopped hearing the clock chime.  That meant I wasn't surprised when I woke up around 9:30.  Made for a short morning.

--Barbara

Red

Today's blog entry is brought to you by the color red.  Red lilies...

... and a red Cardinal.  The bird tolerated a House Finch (which has a pinkish-red face and breast) for a minute and then turned and lunged at it to shoo it away.

The echinacea or Purple Coneflower is a shade of red too.  Red violet, I think, fading to pink.

 

In the not-red department is this Chickadee that held still long enough to have its picture taken.  Of course I had only one chance and it's a bit out of focus but I'm happy to have snapped it at all.  Usually I get it lined up and just as I'm going to depress the shutter the danged bird flies away.

Today's toss was a trio of writing books.  I found them in a rattan trunk in the basement.  One of them is dated 2007 and I figured if I haven't looked at them in 14 years I don't need them.  I wonder what else is in that trunk.  I'll dig deeper tomorrow.

The prompt today asked what would be on your tombstone.  Since I plan to be cremated I won't have one but I thought about it and decided I'd like "Tell me a story" on my tombstone, if I had one.  I love listening to stories.  Hearing about people's trips and dives was my favorite part of my job at the dive shop.

--Barbara

I Mowed Again

And it was just as enjoyable as the first time.  I could get used to having quality tools.  This mower cost at least twice and maybe three times what the previous one cost and it shows.  Today I was better at changing directions.  There's a bit of a learning curve since this one is rear-wheel drive and the older one was front-wheel drive.  It makes a difference, I discovered.  I still got all sweaty though.

While I was mowing I spied this yellow day lily trying to hide behind the orange ones.  I knew that there were yellow ones somewhere.  I hoped that some were on the retaining wall but no luck.  Not that I'm complaining, the lilies up there are beautiful.

Here's a row of orange and red ones up there from this morning.

 

 

I keep watching out for Japanese Beetles because last year they decimated my ferns but so far I have only seen a couple of them, like this one on a Purple Coneflower today.  They're not really purple, more dark pink, but nobody asked me.  I'll just call them Echinacea.

 

Today's toss was a knitting machine that I've had for years and never even took out of the box.  Someone gave it to me and it needs a big table and I don't have one big enough that I don't use for six other things.  Maybe someone will figure it out and have space to play with it.

The prompt today said to visit a library or bookstore, pick a book, and write down the title.  Write a blurb about what you think the book is about.  I visited a friend this afternoon and she told me about a book so I used that title, Facing the Mountain, and made up a blurb about a woman rehabbing from a stoke.  It was an interesting challenge.

 --Barbara

Lilies

The two original day lilies burst forth in flowers today.  The first one is salmon pink and beautiful.  It just keeps blooming.

 

 

But the one that fills me with joy is the one right next to it.  It's red, brick red, and (don't tell anyone) but it's my favorite.

The biggest Black-eyed Susan is full of flowers too.  I guess that's what July is all about.

 

The male Sparrow posed for me on the feeder today.  It was focused on picking out just the right seeds from the feeder and tossing the rest on the ground.

The Wren spent a lot of time singing today.  It's favorite perch of the day was on top of the crook.

And the Gray Catbird showed up for a bath.  I've been missing it the last few days.  I was afraid it had found a birdbath it liked better.  I don't know why but I really like the looks of this bird.

Yesterday afternoon I finished the July Toe Cap #3.  I weighed the remaining yarn and I don't have enough to make another one and maybe not even enough to make a preemie hat.

Instead of finding something to toss today I sat here and tried, no, worked on adding to a manuscript.  I didn't get very far but I feel good that I sat and did it.

The prompt today asked what success means to you.  Hmm, success means having lost weight when I get on the scale on Monday morning.  I've been kind of stuck the last month or so and have been bouncing up and down gaining and losing the same two pounds.  I'm not sure what the solution is but I'm not giving up.  That's a lie, the solution is to stick to the plan more closely.  I'll work on it.

--Barbara

Same Old Stuff

Birds and flowers, flowers and birds.  Will it never end?  Probably not.  

 

Another of the red day lilies bloomed today in a big way.  Five buds opened up on the same day.  Whoo!

The next rudbeckia in the row bloomed today too.  There are a few more plants but they're very small with only a few leaves.  I'll bet they won't bloom until next year, if then.

 

The lone Stella d'Oro lily is still sending up one flower a day.  The other ten plants have stopped blooming.

Every day a small flock of Mourning Doves comes to peck through the grass looking for seeds that the Sparrows throw down from the feeder.  I like the doves, they remind me of old ladies the way they're skittish and fly off at the least provocation their wings making old lady noises as they go.

Here are the Sparrows.  Three or four of them sit on the perches and sort through the seeds, tossing the ones they don't want out for the doves, chipmunks, and squirrels.

I cast on a Preemie Hat this evening and knitted it almost finished during Friday Night Knitting.  All that's left is about a half-inch of I-cord so that I have enough to tie a knot in and then it'll be done.

Today's toss was a ream of resume paper.  I was going to toss it but instead I'll give it to the grandkids for art paper.  It won't go to waste, they draw and write a lot.

The prompt today said to write a story where everyone's deliriously happy.  Boring.

--Barbara

Just A Quiet Day

I did laundry today and went to the grocery so I spent time climbing up and down the basement stairs and walking around the giant grocery store.  Nothing too notable about that.

A Downy Woodpecker came to the suet pellets this morning.  I had to buy a different flavor of pellets this time, berry instead of orange, so I wondered if they'd attract a different bird.  Nope, same old birds came for the new pellets.  I don't mind.

 

This purple coneflower, aka echinacea, has a little iridescent spider on the petals.  It's hard to see but it's hiding there right near the center at about three o'clock.

The old-fashioned day lilies are still blooming.  Every morning I go out to see if other colors have emerged.  So far only orange ones.

Today I took the tosses to Goodwill only to discover that they don't take hangers.  Why not?  How do they hang all the donations?  The guy couldn't say so I ended up driving to St. Vincent de Paul where they do take hangers.  St. Vinnie de P takes golf clubs too which Goodwill does not.  Maybe I'll start taking all my stuff there.

The prompt today asked about ten seconds that changed your life.  That was an easy one.  The first time I rolled off a boat into the ocean in scuba gear my life changed.  I was very nervous about doing a backroll thinking that I'd bash my head on the hull but I finally got up my nerve and splashed in a welter of silver bubbles.  When I turned to look down it was like looking into an aquarium.  Durwood and the others were swimming around the coral and sponges and it was like a Cousteau special.  For that hour I was no longer a terrestrial being.  I was never the same.

We knitted in the park tonight.  There were six of us and the weather was perfect.

--Barbara

More Flowers & A Bee

Another little stalk of Butterfly Weed bloomed so I took its picture and saw a nice little bee there sipping nectar or collecting pollen.  Haven't seen a butterfly there yet.

 

One lonely Stella d'Oro lily bloomed.  It's the last one of the long line of eleven plants to flower.  All of the others are done blooming so this sole plant is showing off the yellow flowers.

 

 

The Bee Balm is still going strong.  I can't get enough of the exuberant flower petals.  I wonder if they've got nectar in them and are the reason that I haven't seen any Hummingbirds for the last couple weeks.  I hope so.

More of the Echinacea is blooming now.  The buds are taking their time to open up.

Today's toss was a couple packets of "resume" envelopes.  They're pretty fancy and heavy but I'm not planning to send out any resumes in the foreseeable future.  I have a box of plain envelopes that I don't have to lick.  I'm keeping those.

The prompt today said to start a stopwatch and look away.  Then stop it and write down the time without any points.  Write a story that might take place in that year.  I got 2339 so I wrote a Jetsons-like story of a guy going to work in his commuter pod that joins a sky train.  He longs for the days of ground travel and stay-at-home dads.  It was okay.

Clouds rolled in this afternoon and brought a small thunderstorm.  Now we've got nice steady rain with a little distant thunder, and doesn't sound like it means to stop for a while.  That's okay, we need the rain.  I wish I could send the rain out West to help quell all the wildfires.  So terrible.

--Barbara