And It Rained

But I took DS's advice and mowed the lawn at 10am instead of 6pm like I was planning to and, while I got very hot, very tired, and very very sweaty, the job is done. In the afternoon it was clouding over and getting dark so that's when I went out to take flower pictures because I forgot earlier. The day lilies on the side of the backyard are blooming with enthusiasm. I'm surprised they aren't blurry because the wind was really blowing when I took this.

 

Dad's rose is blooming on more canes than just the first one now. This flower was standing up so pretty and proud. It was waving around in the wind too but my camera is fast enough that it captured it clearly.

 

I saw a flash of white on the suet nuggets feeder and saw a Hairy Woodpecker on there. They look just like Downy Woodpeckers only bigger and their beak is much longer. I doubted myself for a minute but then the next guy showed up.

 

He's a little blurry and rumpled up because he'd gotten rained on but it's a Downy Woodpecker on the suet cakes. Much smaller than the Hairy. Much.

 

Because it was raining I chose Water as today's drawing prompt. But I didn't draw rain, I drew three glasses with water in them. I'd have used watercolors but my sketchbook pages won't tolerate it so colored pencils it is.

 

I spent some time figuring out how to and then writing an elevator pitch for Horizon. I can't figure out why it doesn't sell so I thought maybe I need a new pitch. Now I have to memorize it and we'll see how it goes in July at the Art Garage book fair.

Then I took the manuscript analysis I got yesterday and read through it, not skimmed it like I did yesterday, and started working to fix the yellow tagged places that were "concerns." I avoided the red tagged "major concern" places. I'll tackle those once I get the easier fixes in place. I read the green tagged "working well" parts a few times just to feel good about them.

I'm glad I mowed even though I purely detest doing it. Now I don't have to dread it for at least a week. I'll keep doing it until I really physically can't, not just until I don't like it. Which I already do. A shower is very nice when I'm all disgustingly sweaty. That's one good thing about it.

--Barbara 

More Work To Do

I've been thinking that the manuscript I've been workshopping the last few months with cda (not the Christmas one) was almost ready for publication. Well. I decided to spend a credit I have with ProWritingAid for a manuscript analysis and the news isn't all good. It's good in some places where the analysis says "working well" and has green labels, some places that need a little work are labeled yellow and say "concern," and then there are the places of "major concern" with red labels. Guess I'll be going over the comments tomorrow to see what and where (and if) I can fix things.

 

There was a squirrel melted on the patio this afternoon and I took its picture. I'm sure they get hot wearing fur all the time and the concrete patio feels cool when they press their bellies to it. Makes me giggle when I see it.

 

Today's drawing prompt was Family so I drew my grandchildren from their school pictures framed where I can look at them all the time. I'm not so good at drawing faces but I keep practicing and getting a little better. They don't look like the kids but at least they look like humans.

 

Even more Stella d'Oro lilies are blooming. I love looking out to see all the yellow flowers across the top of the retaining wall. 

 

DS called this afternoon and invited me over for burgers on the grill. He made grilled zucchini and we had cheese on our burgers too. It was nice to sit on the patio and have supper with him and OJ. The girls are away with DIL1's mom and aunt for the weekend. I missed seeing them but was glad for the food and company. The guys went camping with the Scouts last night at a local waterfowl preserve. It sounded like good times were had by all.

I got a call from MW this afternoon saying that he wanted to stop over to buy another copy of Spies Don't Retire. It's the third copy he's bought. He keeps giving them away. I don't mind, I'm happy to sell another book. I asked if he's had time to read it and he said, "More than once." so I guess he likes it.

--Barbara

Bird Day

I saw a flicker of movement on the patio umbrella and when I looked up there was a Nuthatch on it. I picked up the camera and the Nuthatch flew over to the suet nuggets for a snack. It even clung to the side where I could see it. Nice birdie.

 

A pair of Goldfinches landed on the finch feeder and stayed long enough to have their picture taken. I haven't seen many Goldfinches this summer so I was glad to see these.

 

This Robin was very delicately bathing. Usually they're flapping and splashing out half of the water but this bird just carefully dipped its belly into the water, then stood up. It did it again a few times and then flew away.

 

And a House Finch worked on digging out some orange pulp. They're very focused when they're on the orange. They look like they're concentrating.

 

The Stella d'Oro lilies are still going crazy. This plant has a lot of flowers, some coming and some going. It's not the only one that's showing off.

 

For today's drawing prompt I went with Something Made of Wood and drew clothespins. They're made of wood and are surprisingly challenging to draw. I was glad I chose a dark brown marker for some of them. The dark color hid a multitude of sins.

 

Tonight at Friday Night Knitting I finished the Evergreen Alpaca Man Hat. I think it looks like a big green gumdrop. Only knitting on it on Fridays made it take a lot longer than it should to knit it but I've been so driven to write that knitting has taken a backseat for a while. I've got to cast on something else because I've got another knitting night next Thursday and I need something that doesn't need much thinking. Maybe a sock.

 

There was a squirrel laying on top of the fence at the back of the yard looking like it had melted but the picture was blurry because he was too far away. Oh well.

I got to pick OJ up from camp again today. Twice in one week! Hooray! The only writing I did today was the July writing progress email letter. I'm so glad I have KM to deal with MailerLite for me. I could probably load it but it'd take me hours and she can just zip and do it. Worth every penny.

--Barbara 

First Draft Done

I spent another day mostly on the laptop and finished the first draft of Christmas at The Seaview this afternoon. Then I reread it and still liked it, with a few minor edits. The speed with which this story came together is mind-boggling. I've never written at this pace before. I liked it a lot but know that it won't continue. After supper I wrote the blurb, the first draft of it anyway. Now I'll let it marinate for a while and, in a week or so, go back and see if I still like it.

 

In the afternoon, the late afternoon when my eyes were blurry from staring at the screen for so long, I went out and filled the bird feeders. Even though I haven't seen any Orioles in a couple weeks I still filled that one because the House Finches like the oranges and grape jelly.

 

Despite my opinion that the patio day lily was days away from blooming, it proved me wrong. When I went out to fill the feeders there it was leaning over the birdseed can in all of its orange glory. The day lilies on the side of the house and the lot line are starting to bloom too.

 

And the Stella d'Oro lilies are still going crazy. This plant had only a couple blooms on it yesterday and today it had a dozen. They're so pretty. I love taking closeups of them. Although I wish there'd been a bee in there.

 

That was my day. I didn't do any art or take a walk, I was too engrossed in finishing the first draft of this novella. It ended up being 28,437 words and 100 pages exactly. I don't know how many book pages that makes but it's enough to print in paperback, I'm sure. So I ordered a cover designed but they asked for information I don't have yet, like how many printed pages it will be so they can figure out the book spine print. Guess that'll have to wait until I've workshopped this with cda and it's closer to being ready to be published. Dang it. I was really looking forward to getting a cover soon.

--Barbara 

Itchy

I have a mosquito bite on the back of my right upper arm that itches like crazy. That's all. I just needed to complain.

Dad's rose is blooming on one cane. There's a little clump of buds and flowers right under my window so I can rise up out of my desk chair and see it. It's so pretty. Thanks, Dad. Another cane has laid down on the ground. It had a flower on it but something, I suspect a bunny, ate it.

 

Out the patio door there's a day lily that's sent up a very tall flower stalk. The buds are slightly pale orange and days away from opening but I thought you'd like to see them. The weight of the buds has bent the stalk enough so that it's not in danger of being beaten up by the wind chimes. Whew.

 

The Bleeding Hearts are just about done blooming. There are a few flowers left on those arching stems but they're fading fast. I like how they change to a pale purple as they age.

 

Remember I got 2 of the 10 author copy books I ordered the other day? Well the last 8 came today, 3 in one package from the USPS and 5 in another from Amazon. You'd think they could get their act together.

 

I chose Something You Used Today as my drawing prompt and drew my keyring. It's hanging on a peg by the back door so that's what I tried to draw. I didn't color it because most of it is black and the rest is silver.

 

Sadly the spate of words that has been my companion for the last 10 days dwindled to a trickle today. I had to stop and think about what I wanted to write instead of having it careening out my fingers almost faster than I could type. I'm closing in on the end of the novella with 26,619 words on 94 pages. This afternoon I sent the first guests off to the airport for their flight home. Next will come the other non-relative guests, then Rose will have to say goodbye to her children and their spouses. It'll be difficult but she's got Iggy to lean on. I also initiated a ticket to have a cover designed for it. Can't wait to see what they come up with.

I had lunch today with two of my old neighbors from when the kids were kids and we were stay-at-home moms. We went to a place where ladies who lunch were there in droves. The crush was made even crushier because today was the first day of their "20% off everything" sale in the attached store. They are not shy about pricing. We looked around but didn't find anything we couldn't live without.

Tonight was OJ's soccer game. It was the "late" game that starts at 7 o'clock. It rained on the drive over. It sprinkled off and on during the game. And it rained on the drive home. I drive over a really tall bridge there and back and I don't like it much in the rain. The game was a tie. At least it wasn't scorching hot.

-Barbara 

Bearable

I saw a baby Robin this afternoon. You can tell it's a baby because of its speckled breast. It wasn't chasing an adult around peeping to be fed. It was doing its own searching through the grass for something yummy to eat. Like maybe a worm.

 

I went out to take a picture of the Stella d'Oro lily with the most flowers on it. Look at how many there are! It's literally covered with blossoms. So pretty, even if they're only blooming for one day each.

 

There are some pretty weed flowers growing in my lawn. To be frank, my lawn is at least half weeds. I should probably contract with a lawn service to get some weed and feed spread on it, not spray because I don't want the over-spray to affect the flowers, etc. but granules that will stay where they're put. Although I'm afraid if they put on weed killer my lawn will look like it's got the mange. I know this isn't a clover but it kind of looks like a clover. I refuse to pay for the plant ID apps I found on Google Play so I don't know what it is but think it's pretty.

 

What I did most of today was write. I can't stop, you guys. It's completely nuts. I'm up to 25,182 words and 90 pages written since Saturday, June 14. The story's winding down. I'm on the last day of Christmas week and it's the day everyone leaves for home so I'll have some emotional goodbyes. Right now people are making plans to meet in the States to continue friendships made during the week. Oh, and I posted a question on an author FB page asking if I can publish a paperback with this few pages and the answer is an unqualified YES! One respondent recommended making it 5x8 instead of 6x9 so it looks like more. Great idea! I'm having so much fun. I'll be sorry when it's over. (This is an early picture. I was too busy writing to take one today.)

 

It wasn't until I took out the trash for tomorrow's pickup and was closing the house to come back here and blog that I realized I'd forgotten to draw anything. So I opened up my sketchbook and found this prompt of Words, Texts & Letters. I just used a fine liner pen to draw the alphabet. It isn't much, it's in black and white, and it didn't take long, but I like it. And I enjoyed it. Those are shapes that I know.

 

We had a real Wisconsin summer day today. It got up to 76 degrees and while the humidity was still pretty high it was nice enough to have a walk after supper tonight. Ah. 

--Barbara 

Another Rose

I only went out in the heat of the day today to take a picture of another one of Dad's roses. It was still so hot until late afternoon when thunderstorms rolled by and the temperature dropped about ten degrees. That made a huge difference.

I spent a lot of the day writing after a morning critique Zoom with cda. There were a lot of looooong sentences in the piece we critiqued today. I'll have to put my mind to cutting them down so readers aren't so breathless when they get to the end. By the time I logged off of Word this afternoon I had 20,965 words in 74 pages. In the afternoon I used my laptop stand so I could stand up and write. It's not the most comfortable position to write in but I have to keep working on it because I sit too much. I feel an urgency to get this story written and edited so I can release it in the early fall for the holiday season. Hopefully it'll be long enough that I can publish it as a paperback in addition to an eBook.

 

Today's drawing prompt was Chose Your Colour (the author's British). Naturally I chose red so I gathered up a few pottery items I have that are dark red and drew them. I didn't have the perfect colored pencils but this isn't too far from real life.

 

A House Finch landed on the orange half and enjoyed a few pecks of the orange. Then it hopped down to the grape jelly for dessert. The Sparrows on the suet nuggets feeder behind it weren't disturbed at all.

 

 OJ had a soccer game this evening and the rain, thunder, and lightning held off for his game. I don't think it did for the 7 o'clock game though because I drove home in rain and toward lightning in the distance. I love watching him play. He's not the most experienced but he tries real hard and Meemaw thinks that's what counts.

--Barbara