A Better Day

Today was The Art Garage National Author's Day Book Fair. There were more customers and more buyers. I sold 5 books to five different people. I had a little more space today so I was able to stand my poster up and not block anyone. It was a good day.

 

When I got home, after I unloaded the car and reloaded the books I sold, I sat right down and got to work on today's words. I didn't get to 1,667 like I was supposed to. I ran out of steam at 1,365 but that's okay. With the pre-writing I did last week I'm ahead of the game. Whew.

 

Just before I left this morning the Red-bellied Woodpecker landed on the suet nuggets and nicely moved around to the side instead of to the back so I could take its picture.

 

And that's all I have today. I didn't draw, didn't paint, and didn't knit. I should have done a gratitude journal page but by the time I was done writing and had supper I was pretty well done for the day. I watched an episode of The Great British Baking Show and came back here to blog. I'll try to draw tomorrow. 

Man, that alarm was loud at 6:45am and it was pretty darned dark. Oh! That reminds me, I have to turn the clocks back before I go to bed tonight. Good thing I thought of that.

--Barbara 

Seventeen Hundred Sixty-Eight Words

That's how many words I wrote from 3 o'clock to 5 o'clock this afternoon. Now, some of the words I used more than once, so it isn't that many separate words, but still I'm pretty pleased with the day's output. Tomorrow's November 1, the official start of Novel November, and I'm happy to be a little ahead of the game since I've got a few things cooking during the month that might interfere with my daily writing.

 

Look at the way the Red-bellied Woodpecker contorted its neck to try to find a peanut this morning. It kind of looks like it hurts but it didn't stay that way for long. Just after I took this picture, it found a peanut, clutched it in its beak, and flew away.

 

Today's drawing prompt was Hobbies. I thought about my hobbies--knitting, painting, drawing, writing novels, taking bird and squirrel pictures--and settled on painting. My paint brushes in particular. This vessel of brushes sits on the kitchen table and only moves into the guest room/art supply storage when company is coming.

 

At Friday Night Knitting I worked on the Iron Pyrite Sock. I got to the toe decreases and am to the point where now I decrease every round, instead of every other round, until there are eight stitches left total. Then the last stitches get joined with the Kitchener stitch which is a fancy dance of a tapestry needle back and forth between stitches so it doesn't look like a seam. It's a smooth join that doesn't irritate your tender toes.

 

I've got the car loaded and my lunch mostly packed for the National Author's Day Book Fair at the Art Garage tomorrow from 10am-2pm. Let's hope lots of people come to look and many of them buy books!

--Barbara 

An Important Cultural Moment

DS made the school run this afternoon then swung by my house to pick me up. LC and OJ didn't know where we were going so they were on pins and needles. We went to the Military Ave. Farmer's Market where the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile was making an appearance! They got to go inside and each got a wiener whistle. After visiting the Wienermobile we walked through the market and got a package of apple empanadas to share. Mm, they were delicious.

 

I was just thinking this morning that the squirrel hadn't been in the square green feeder in a couple days because the level of seed hadn't really fallen. But it wasn't long before I saw this. Yep, there it was comfortably nestled under the cover digging out peanut halves and gobbling them up.

 

At the same time the Red-bellied Woodpecker landed on the suet nuggets and had a little snack. I didn't see if it tried landing on the square green feeder or if it just flew away. I caught sight of the Bluejay down near the feeders before it flew up to the empty corn cobs, poked around, and then flew away. All too quickly for a picture. I don't know why I'm so enamored of Bluejays. Blue is not one of my favorite colors. Maybe because they're so rare in backyard feeder land.

 

I was intimidated by today's drawing prompt. It was Family. In the book, the author had her 4-year-old draw the family's portraits. You can imagine them--heads on stick legs with wild hair. I am not four years old. No, I'm seventy years older than that and I'm reluctant to try drawing people. I've become a little able to draw heads so that's what I drew--nine heads. My family. In pencil, not pen, not markers, just pencil.

 

I drew a gratitude journal page for today when we got back from the market. I was most grateful that DS took the time to pull the patio umbrella out of the patio table. I'm not strong enough to do it myself anymore so I really appreciated that. Then I stuck with my writing this afternoon and made it to 1,667 words, the number multiplied by thirty that equals fifty thousand. I added up the words of the writings I did this week and I'm right around six-thousand-eight-hundred which is a good amount heading into November 1.

 

And after supper I decided to paint. I rifled through the landscape photos I printed off for watercolor class and picked one. It didn't turn out too badly. I especially like the trees on the left side and the color of the water. I'm disappointed that when I painted the headland my brush accidentally touched a wet piece of sky so there's a bit of green in the blue sky. Dang. I'll try again and be more patient to let the first paint dry before I plunge into the next step. I am not very patient when I'm painting.

 

I had fun plumping up my Amazon Wishlist so that people who want to get me Christmas gifts will have some ideas to choose from. It was a little difficult to try to decide what hobby or writing things I'd like when I'm in the habit of just buying things for myself. I'll try to be patient. But patience isn't often my best thing.

I also tried to upload my November writing progress email newsletter to MailerLite and managed to royally screw it up so I had to ask KM to do it for me again. She even made me a lovely video with step by step instructions and between making the video and now, MailerLite has changed their site just enough that I got frustrated, screwed it up, and gave up. Thank god for KM. 

DD texted me some photos of IMM playing flag football. I wish I lived closer so I could go watch him play and cheer for him so I requested pictures to enjoy vicariously. He looks like he's having fun. 

--Barbara 

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