And So It Snowed

Last night it was raining when I left the Writers Guild meeting. This morning when I got up it was snowing. It snowed most of the day. Fortunately the pavement and the ground isn't too cold so the roads weren't slick when I had to be out. You can see the early-ish morning snow cover behind the suet cakes feeder with the Downy Woodpecker on it.

 

Later in the day the snow was a little thicker behind the squirrel on the suet nuggets feeder. I like the way the squirrel spreads out so that it can get the best grip on the feeder for maximum nibbling efficiency.

 

By the afternoon the snow was piling up more and this little bunny made tracks in the wet snow on the patio. I don't know what it found to eat because the snow covered all of the fallen seed and it was kind of in a snow puddle anyway. It's wet and sloppy out there. I'm glad I'm in here.

 

Today's watercolor video was all about brush strokes. We used every brush she had in her supplies list to make marks on the paper--round, flat, angled, and oval.  I'm getting a little better at not pressing so hard on the brush when I paint small lines.

 

Then she switched to another piece of paper to make blue sky fades with the mop brush. (My brush sheds bristles and it's very annoying because it wasn't a cheap brush.) I did that on a second sheet of paper but then she switched to yet another piece of paper to paint leaves. I didn't want to switch papers since I hadn't painted much on the sky sheet so I just painted leaves over the skies. I'm mostly happy with the leaves. 

After supper but before Jeopardy! I drew gratitude pages for yesterday and today. I skipped day before yesterday and had a hard time thinking of things for yesterday but did all right thinking about today's things to be grateful for.

 

Tomorrow morning I'm driving away for a few days to a writing retreat. I'll be home on Sunday so there won't be any blog entries until then. I went to the grocery this afternoon after my haircut to get deli meats and cheeses for lunches this weekend. I might have also bought a few extra things, like dark chocolates and kettle chips. I love kettle chips.

In the afternoon I started packing for the weekend and then worked on the next manuscript. I incorporated cda's comments from yesterday's Zoom and worked a little on a new scene. I have to think about my characters and how I want them to interact later in the book. It's so much fun when I'm typing along and it feels like the story takes over and words come fast. That didn't happen today but I have hopes for the weekend.

--Barbara

Not My Day

I spent the whole day thinking it was Monday. I had a Zoom with cda this afternoon but we usually meet on Monday. It's Tuesday. I have Writers Guild on Tuesday. I was a half hour late. Sorry, Guild-ers, I plead brain fog.

 

I saw a Robin this morning. It wasn't one of those plump summertime Robins but it was still a Robin. I know that some Robins overwinter here and I don't know if this was one of those or a new arrival. Whichever it was, welcome!

 

And I saw another Goldfinch. This one looks yellower to me than the previous one. Don't you think its throat looks yellower?

 

One of the squirrels figured out how to cling to the new suet nuggets feeder. It's a lot more spread out than they used to be but then the holes are bigger too so I suppose it thought it had hit the jackpot.

 

I spent a bit of time working on the next manuscript. My Zoom submission was the second 20 pages of it and I got lots of good comments, lots to think about.

 

Did I tell you that my writing website email address stopped letting me in? I tried getting on the other day and contacted GoDaddy but the wait time was 90 minutes so I ended the call. I tried again today and it seems my account was closed in the middle of February. Don't know why since I have auto renew selected on my account page. I only had to wait about 20 minutes for the tech to get back to me once the auto answer computer voice passed me on to a live human. He restarted my account but I haven't been able to get in yet because it takes a while to take effect. *sigh* Don't you love computers?

--Barbara

I Had to Get a New Feeder

I came home the other day and saw the suet nuggets feeder laying on the patio. The hanger and the top were still hanging from the crook but somehow the feeder fell. It still had part of the lid on it but wouldn't go back together. I went to the birdseed store today hoping for the same kind of feeder but all they had was this one that's twice the size of the old one. It takes almost a whole bag of nuggets. 

 

This squirrel sat up on the crook for the longest time gazing down at the new feeder. It tried to figure out how to grab onto it but ended up jumping down, ricocheting off the suet cakes feeder, and landing on the birdbath for a drink. I don't know where it went from there. While I hung the new feeder I also filled the rest of them since I was already outside anyway.

 

While I was doing yoga this morning the male Red-bellied Woodpecker visited the suet cakes but took off as soon as I stopped a pose and picked up the camera. Then when I was just finishing a Flicker hopped across the backyard pecking away at the brown grass. It flew away before I laid hands on the camera. Finally I managed a picture of this Downy Woodpecker on the suet cakes. Three attempts, one success.

 

At the book fair on Sunday I noticed that a bunch of the authors had "gift with purchase" things, like stickers or rubber duckies. That made me stop and at least look at their books so I thought maybe I should find things to give away when people buy a book. First I thought of a palm tree keychain, but the only palm trees I found were tiny charms. Then I found a 64-piece assortment pack of tropical keychains on Amazon. Bingo! These are gifts that go with my three (soon to be four) tropical books.

 

Also on Amazon I found these plastic case keyrings with pompoms. There are 24 of them. I cut up a couple of old, unsatisfactory watercolors to the right size and tucked each little piece into a case. These will go to people who buy a copy of Horizon, which is about a woman who takes up watercolor and is much more successful at it than I am. On Oriental Trading Co. I found some small food keychains/backpack charms that should arrive on Friday. They'll go to purchasers of Better Than Mom's. I'll show them to you when they come.

 

After lunch with grade school/high school friends, I went across town to pick up my taxes. This year I get to pay in to the feds. I guess I'd rather have to pay a little than have them use/misuse my money for a year. Then I drew a gratitude journal page for yesterday. Last night I couldn't really think of what to draw but I didn't have much trouble today.

 

After supper I pulled out the watercolors and painted this. I don't know what to call it. I like it. I like the colors together and I like the rhythm of the brush strokes.

 

I spent some time this morning working on scenes to slot into my new manuscript. I need to get a couple characters more time on the pages. I want to have the bad guy try to make a move on my female main character and get shot down. She also has an old boyfriend who shows up unannounced that she hustles off to the airport but I think he won't go quietly. And I have to have my main characters argue some, avoid each other, date other people, and then come back together. It's complicated but I'm figuring it out. Or I will over the next few months.

Oh, as we were leaving the restaurant one of the women asked if I had a new book because she's taking 2 of mine on vacation and wondered if there was a new one. Not yet, I told her, next month. That made me feel good.

--Barbara

Birdies!

There were lots of birdies at the feeders this morning. I was most excited to see this Goldfinch on the finch feeder (where else?). He hasn't started to turn bright yellow yet but that's coming. March is the month that Spring arrives in, after all. Also next Saturday night Daylight Saving Time arrives but I am not going to break out my annual rant about that. Not yet anyway.

 

Then I saw two Mourning Doves crowded together on the platform feeder. By the time I got the camera up and on they had moved to the sides of the feeder so they weren't bumping into each other like they had been a minute before. And this way you can see them better anyway.

 

I spent the evening catching up on emails from the last few days and there was one from ProWritingAid which is an app I have for tidying up punctuation, grammar, and usage in my writing. They have a new service called Manuscript Analysis and they gifted subscribers with one free analysis so I pushed the button and let 'er rip. It took about 35 minutes but it went through Spies Don't Retire and gave a pretty comprehensive analysis of the story. The big thing that caught my attention was they classified it as a cozy mystery. It isn't. But they were pretty spot on about the rest of the story. It's 27 pages that goes through setting, characters, narrative themes, and a bunch of other things. It pointed out a few scenes that need revision or elimination. I'll take it along next weekend and see if I can't effect some changes, if I agree.

 

Then I spent a productive hour on Publisher Rocket looking up keywords and categories for Spies Don't Retire. This is the page of keywords I found. There are 16. I need 7, so I'm in good shapes. I had a harder time finding categories because Amazon has a limited list of them and my books fit in very few of them.

 

I watched the next two segments of the beginning watercolor class and
painted some circles and triangles. They were supposed to be on two sheets of paper but I used my artistic license and combined them. Tomorrow we get to make a design, not a picture, but strokes and colors. Just in case you're wondering, the colors were supposed to bleed into each other.

 

I met GBB at the book fair in DePere after lunch and we walked around talking to authors, handing out cards, and considering whether we wanted to take part next time. This one isn't free to vend at. It was $40 and I wonder whether people made that back. Thinking about it since there didn't seem to be any books like mine represented.

--Barbara

One!

For the first time since January 18th I sold a book at the Market on Military today. I can't tell you what a change that made in my attitude. Those two February dates with no sales, not even one, were a real downer. But not today! I hurried home after the market, gobbled down some lunch, and went across town to a Book Fair at The Art Garage that my friend, GBB, was at. She said she sold a lot of books today and I think I might sign up for that Book Fair next November. I am not doing the Market next winter. It's too expensive for the return on investment. There's another author event tomorrow in DePere that I might drive down and visit just to see the lay of the land. Lots of book events all of a sudden.

 

There was a big bunch of Mourning Doves and a few Sparrows in the spilled seed and cracked corn under the round feeder this morning. You can see how early it was by the angle of the sunlight.

 

And just before I left for the Market I managed to catch a picture of a Chickadee on the round feeder. It's very rare that they sit still long enough for me to snap a shot but today it did so I did too.

 

I sat down after supper and drew a gratitude page. I was so happy and grateful to sell a book that I almost made it the only thing on the page but then I thought that would be silly. I watched a marketing webinar yesterday and got the idea to order some tropical keychains to give away when people buy one of my island books. I also found some little food ones for the diner book and some frames to put a piece of a watercolor in for the watercolor artist book. I don't know if the little extras will encourage people to buy a book but it's not too much money and worth a try.

 

Also after supper I got out my watercolors, taped two sheets onto a plexiglass board, and played with paint. I'm replaying a Beginner class from Creativebug just to keep my brushes busy. It's fun and easy and I'll keep painting so that when my watercolor class at The Clearing in May rolls around I won't be the absolute worst in class, just almost the worst.

 

Two of us got to the Market on Military an hour early today because a TV crew was supposed to be there to do some short features. Well, they did segments at 6:15 and 6:45 and then got called away to a breaking story. Very frustrating for the market organizers and a bummer for those of us who could have slept an hour longer. And I wore my book-shaped earrings too. Oh well. I guess I'm not destined for fame.

--Barbara

 

 

And The Snow's Mostly Gone

It's been warm-ish the last few days and the snow is melting rapidly. This squirrel was doing its best to hoover up the fallen seed and cracked corn under the round feeder. You may also notice that this is a favorite spot for visiting rabbits.

 

This other squirrel took possession of the suet nuggets feeder and did its best to nibble down the nuggets. It hung there for a long time until the wind really picked up and the feeder started swinging. The Mourning Doves had a wonderful time riding the swinging platform feeder but I didn't get a picture.

 

A Downy Woodpecker landed on the suet cakes and hung there pounding away at the base of the cakes. I can't believe how hard they work to get a bite. All that hammering would give me a headache.

 

It took me until the afternoon to draw yesterday's gratitude journal page. I didn't have a lot to put on it but I was happy with and grateful for every item, especially crocheting with LC. She's really getting the hang of it. I'm so proud of her.

 

The flower today, the last flower of the challenge, was Peony. I'm happier with the paler flower and I like the lowest leaf on the left the best. Now I have to find another class or challenge to paint along with.

 

Tonight at Friday Night Knitting I worked a little on the Llama Gathering Hat. I added a few more rounds to the ribbing and then started the crown decreases but found following the chart too difficult when I was talking and listening. So I switched to crocheting on the pink owl but realized that it was just too big a project for me or OJ. I searched Ravelry and found a much smaller, much simpler owl pattern that I'll make and hope that it's more suitable for a beginner. 

Tomorrow is the Market on Military and so I have to get up earlier than normal so I'm presentable. Fingers crossed I sell a book. The February dates were a bust. Here's hoping March is better.

--Barbara

Slightly Perkier

I managed to shed a bit of yesterday's blahs this morning. I got out my old shovel and made a path from the patio door to the birdbath so I don't slip and slide around out there when it gets cold again. Which it will, I am certain. After all, it's only the end of February.

 

The Sparrows discovered that I'd refilled the feeders and were industriously working to empty the round feeder as quickly as they could. You can kind of see the level of seed has fallen. The squirrels got busy eating the suet nuggets too but I didn't get a picture of that. 

I realized that I forgot to take a picture of the little skeins of yarn I bought the other day. They're only 87 yards each and are acrylic which will be good for crocheting little creatures.

 

Today's watercolor flower is Foxglove. I thought I'd done a terrible job but looking at it now it isn't so bad after all. One more flower to paint and then the 31-day challenge/class is done.

 

I got to spend the evening with LC. We crocheted. Her unicorn head is starting to look the way it's supposed to look. Mine got to the point of having eyes put in. Next it gets stuffed and the rest of the body gets crocheted.

 

I also worked on the bottom of the pink owl that I'm making with the same pattern OJ is using. He wasn't there tonight so he didn't get a second lesson but I'm sure we'll have another chance soon. 

I spent most of today finishing the read-through of Spies Don't Retire. Once I get the blurb where I want it it'll be publication time. That's exciting!

It's late. I'm tired. Good night, all!

--Barbara