The Great Orange Rind Heist

When I opened the patio door drapes this morning, the orange rind was on the patio and it was empty of any pulp. Soon a squirrel came and shoved its head into the rind and started gnawing on it. The squirrel was working hard at getting all of the good out of it.

 

After a while of gnawing away, it picked up the orange rind, scampered across the lawn, and scaled the privacy fence. It sat on top of the fence eating the remains of grape jelly off the bottom of the rind. The next time I glanced out, the squirrel and the orange rind were gone. Evidently it took it back to its lair. Or dropped it and gave up. One or the other. I prefer the lair idea. (Sorry the picture's blurry. It was far away and I knew if I opened the patio door, the squirrel would skedaddle.)

 

I love my new watercolor book. It's like a coloring book, except for paint instead of crayons or markers. I can see I'm going to have a lot of fun with this. And the good news is I've got a flowers book just like it. When I got that first book I used separate paper taped to a board and sketched the flower, then followed the directions to paint it. If I get tired of the In The Woods book, I can switch to the flowers book. Or maybe do one and then the other. Anyway, today's picture is a Caterpillar. Cool, huh?

 

When I finished painting, I picked up a packet of worksheets I printed off yesterday from the website of the author of How to Write a Cozy Mystery. I know that cozy readers have specific expectations so I got the book and worked through planning the sleuth, community, sidekick, law enforcement figure, and world of the book. Since I have a partial manuscript, I didn't have to make up some of the stuff she said to figure out but some of it was new and other questions helped clarify things. It felt good to sit with paper and pencil to write out my thoughts instead of typing them on the computer. I should do that more often.

 

A Robin visited the birdbath this afternoon. I thought it might take a bath and Robins are enthusiastic bathers so they're fun to watch. But it only hopped around, took a sip of water, and flew away.

 

I spent a lot of the day listening to an audiobook that had me in its thrall. I'd listen for a while and then turn it off to do something else, something more active. But soon enough I'd have the audiobook on again. I finally gave up and just listened to The End and then drew a gratitude journal page for today.

 

It feels like I go to the grocery every other day, but I really don't. I only go when I'm out of bananas, which works out to every 5-8 days, depending on how many I buy and how green they are when I get them. I went to the grocery today for bananas and a few other items. At least it gets me out and walking around every few days.

Oh, after my shower this morning I got out a clean pair of capris. When I unfolded them to put them, on a sock fell out of them. A sock that has been missing for about a year. I knew it had to be stuck somewhere. It was a nice surprise to find it and reunite it with its partner.

Do you realize that a week from today it will be August 1? Where does the time go? 

 --Barbara

And It's On The Ground

Look what was looking back at me when I glanced out the patio door this evening. That's right, the juvenile delinquent squirrel was back on the Oriole feeder, rearranging things, and eating as much of the grape jelly as it could reach. It also looks like it's daring me to chase it away.

 

Then it jumped down, leaped onto the perch of the square green feeder from a patio chair, and scooted into the feeder for a seed snack to top it off. Having dessert first before the main course, I guess.

 

Just now here's what I saw when I went to draw the drapes. The orange rind is now on the ground with its sticky bottom full of grape jelly on the patio blocks. I am not going to hurry out to refill that feeder tomorrow.

 

One of the House Finches managed to find some grape jelly that wasn't stuck to the orange rind. There's no way I can keep the dratted tree rats out of the sweet jelly and fruit. I've got one orange half in the fridge and a new jar of grape jelly but I'm going to be stingy with it. I'll get another couple oranges next week when I have to go get bananas. If they're lucky.

 

I went over to Michaels for a picture frame this morning and bought extra stuff. Of course. My big purchase, aside from 2 frames, was this watercolor book. The pages are watercolor paper with pale gray sketches on the left page and instructions and illustrations on the right page. You're meant to paint right in the book.

 

So I tried the first one. Acorns. I had better luck with the acorn cap on the left. I struggled with the crosshatching on the one on the right. It's kind of fun not having to draw before painting, just slap the paint on, but I still need to practice patience to let the paint dry between layers. I have a hard time with that.

 

When I turned out of the frames aisle I was faced with a display of cotton yarn. This Bright Jewels Ombre caught my attention. It jumped into the cart. I had a coupon.

 

Friday Night Knitting was cut short this evening because the California knitters went to bingo at Ikea so they left after only an hour of knitting and the other Wisconsin knitter is out of town so that left just me and I wasn't going to sit on Zoom with myself. I knitted a couple rounds on the Dark Teal Chemo Hat and called it a night.

 

Then in the living room, I caught sight of a tote bag of yarn and couldn't remember what was in it. It was filled with random yarn of various thicknesses and big needles that I'd used to knit Scrap Hats. So I cast on a new one, just because. I only knitted the first round after the cast on but it's a start. What else am I going to knit now that I've finished the teddy bears?

 

I drew yesterday's gratitude journal page this morning and eked out time to draw one for today after supper and before Friday Night Knitting. My big accomplishment today was taking a walk.

 

--Barbara 

Now They Did It

For the last couple days the orange half has stayed in its place. I've watched squirrels climb up and eat the grape jelly but they left the orange half alone. Until tonight. Here's what I saw when I went to close the patio door drapes. Somebody moved the orange into the jelly. Hmm. I wonder who that could be?

 

I spent time this afternoon working on a short story. I thought it was done, but added a page and a half and I'm still not sure it's done. Last time I eliminated a character thinking it'd end the story. Nope. His mother showed up today and had to have her say. Sometimes those stories just don't want to quit.

 

In the morning I drew a gratitude journal page for yesterday. I'm putting it on here because I didn't draw one for today because I had to go watch Jeopardy! It's been exciting this week. Every day there's a new champion. Yesterday I got the Final Jeopardy! question and none of the contestants did. Today, not so much.

 

I took the time to make myself a WW snack this afternoon and not just a cut up apple. The dip is made with powdered peanut butter, water, Splenda, and plain yogurt. You stir it all together and scoop it up with apple slices. It's pretty darned good and only 1 point. The original recipe uses honey as the sweetener which makes it 3 points but I'd rather use the points for other things.

 

After supper I finished knitting the teddy bear scarf for Teddy Bear #2. It amazes me how much smaller #2 is than #1 just by dropping down a needle size. The scarves are the same length and there's a lot more tails on #2 and I even redid #1's neck, pulling it in tighter. 

 

A little bunny was having a snack when I was closing the patio drapes so I took its picture. It's wild how quickly they grow. Two weeks ago it would have fit in a teacup. Not anymore.

--Barbara

 

A Taste of Jelly

One of the juvenile squirrels has a taste for grape jelly. It clambered up the feeder pole and perched there looking around, finally digging into the jelly. This one didn't get into the orange half, which surprised me. Its compatriot stayed on the ground looking up in admiration the whole time it was up there.

 

Then the House Finch had a turn on the jelly. I'd rather the birds eat the jelly and orange than the squirrels but I'm not guarding the feeder all day. And I for sure am not getting up at the crack of dawn to shoo away the morning marauders.

 

Today's flower is Calla Lily. I thought they were always white but evidently there are colored ones. These are pinkish with orange overtones. I have to say I like the leaves better than the flowers this time.

 

The dark red & yellow lilies are still blooming all across the top of the retaining wall. I was going to make another stab at painting them today but just wasn't in the mood.

 

I went down to visit DS at Zambaldi Beer He was making a batch of Good Dog Porter, cleaning the hoses and the tank where he was going to put it once it was mashed and boiled. I meant to take a picture of his hops vines because they're growing almost up to the roof and forgot. *sigh* I should have done it when I drove in and thought of it. My brain is such a slide area. 

 

Tonight's supper marked the end of the chicken taco meat. That was a very full little flour tortilla. It had a difficult time staying in one piece while I was eating it but I managed to get it in my mouth and not on my white shirt. Score! 

 

Last night I cast on and started knitting the scarf for Teddy Bear #2. I'm making it the same size and color as the one for the first bear. They're going to the same grandmother but not the same house so it doesn't matter if they match. The bears don't match.

 

In the afternoon, I finished reading through Three Cheers for Murder, the mystery I want to work on after my current project is done. It's pretty much of a mess. I am definitely going to have to rewrite it all using this first draft as a jumping off place. I also need to get back to reading the how-to book I have about writing cozy mysteries. I suspect I've got a lot of learning to do.

And I'm happy to report that my tetanus shot arm is almost completely pain free. Just a little twinge when I move it. Whew. I'm very grateful. 

--Barbara 

All-Squirrel Wrestling

There are these two juvenile squirrels that chase each other around and wrestle all the time. They went at it on the patio but by the time I got the camera up and ready they were on the patio table. I can't decide if they're litter mates or just like to wrestle. But they're fun to watch.

 

I was just quick enough to catch a picture of this Chickadee on the suet cakes. It looks to me as if its starting to fly away but I caught it. Gotcha!

 

More of Dad's roses have bloomed. I came back from my walk (since it's finally cooled down and the smoke went away) and stuck my nose in this cluster of roses. Smelled so good.

 

I searched through all of the flower books I could find, drawing and painting ones, and found a lily in 10-Step Drawing: Florals that I could copy. I'm pretty happy with it. The rust red isn't as vivid as the actual flower but I think it's a reasonable substitute. 

 

And before supper, I drew a gratitude journal page for today. This morning I drew one for yesterday which I didn't think to do until I was back here blogging last night and I didn't want to stop and go do it.

 

I wasn't able to identify the black butterfly out of my Insects & Spiders book so I went online and I think I've found it. I think it's a Common Sootywing Skipper which it said is common in the Midwest (hence the name) and likes nectar so it makes sense that it would be interested in the jelly droplets on the old orange rind.  But isn't that a cool name?

I can't stop myself from reading my Sailing the Seas manuscript and today I found a part that was out of sequence. I couldn't see how to rearrange it so I printed out the chapter and used the old-fashioned way of cut and paste--scissors and tape. That worked.  I got it rearranged, fixed it in the computer, and even cut down a very long chapter into two.

My tetanus shot arm aches when I move the muscle. I knew this would happen and even checked with the tech that "this is the one that hurts, right?" before I agreed to get the shot. But then all vaccine shots hurt at first. Hopefully it'll get better quickly. 

I have enough chicken taco meat for one more supper. I've been enjoying one overfull taco each evening since last Thursday when I served them at knitting. I'll miss them when they're gone. But something else tasty will come along.

--Barbara 

New Lilies & A Weed

I went out this morning to take pictures of the new lilies blooming and took pictures of three varieties of lily. The newest bloomers are these dark red & yellow ones. There's a few plants in a row on one end of the retaining wall and a couple more near the opposite end.

 

Their opposite counterparts are on the west edge of the lot and have been blooming off and on for a couple weeks. These dark yellow & rust ones are pretty, aren't they? I keep trying to paint them but haven't tried this year yet. Maybe that's what I'll do tomorrow. Or maybe I'll figure out how to do them using the ink & wash technique. It'd be great if there was some help in one of the books.

 

And the pale yellow lilies are blooming intermittently. One day I look out and all I see are the orange ones and then the next day there are a bunch of yellow ones alongside.

 

While taking the picture of the dark red & yellow lilies, I noticed a very tall weed growing out of one of the plants. It must have been pretty small when the weeders were here a few weeks ago or they missed it. I pulled it out. 

 

The black butterfly was back on the orange rind this morning. There were drops of grape jelly on the orange rind which is what I think it was after, since the rind is pretty much dried out. Tomorrow I'll go get the butterfly book and see if I can't figure out what kind it is.

 

After the butterfly left I went out to refill the birdbath, grape jelly, and orange half. I had to laugh at the squirrel. It climbed up the crook and perched there looking at me looking at it. We had a fairly long standoff before I took a step toward the patio door and it dropped to the ground and scampered away. So far the orange is still in its place. We'll see where it is in the morning.

 

The male House Finch visited the grape jelly once I'd filled it. He's a big fan.

 

Today's flower is Bird-of-Paradise. It was interesting and challenging to draw, but I loved coloring it and think it really turned out well. 

 

I learned today that it REALLY paid to make a DMV appointment to renew my driver's license. I registered online, then filled out and printed off the form I needed to take along. I got there early, walked to the desk for people with appointments to check in (avoiding a long line of people without appointments), got my picture taken right away, had barely sat down to wait when they called my number. All I had to do was take a vision test and pay. It took about 15 minutes (instead of the usual hour+) and I was out of there before my original appointment time. You'd better bet I'll be making an appointment next time I need to go there. 

On my way home I stopped at the pharmacy for a prescription and was informed that I was due for a tetanus shot. *sigh* Not what I wanted to hear but as long as I was there I went ahead and got poked. Then I went over to the deli and found cooked chicken breast which I went there looking for last week and they were out. I bought two containers and they're now in the freezer so when I want to make chicken tacos or chicken salad or farro salad I've got the main ingredient. Then I went to a different, slightly less expensive grocery store for fruit, milk, and yogurt. Doing my part to boost the economy, although I did find out that the bag o'salad I like best is from the corporate farm that's ground zero for the current bacterial outbreak. Guess I go back to Dole next time.

--Barbara 

Another Early Bloomer

The yellow mum evidently couldn't be left out so it popped open a teeny tiny flower. It looks like another one nearby is about to open too. What can they be thinking? It's the middle of summer. Aren't mums supposed to be fall flowers?

 

Below Dad's rose, the purple mums are blooming like crazy. I guess it's too late to go out and cut them down or, maybe better yet, I'm not going out in the smoke to cut them down. It's cooler and less smoky today but still smells like fire.

 

And Dad's rose couldn't be left out. It was only after I cropped this picture that I noticed the little spider on a petal on the left side of the flower. I think it's one of those jumping spiders but I'm not ready to test the theory.

 

The squirrel was back on the grape jelly and orange half today. I decided I'm not going to try to set the orange back in its holder when the squirrel is determined to move it.

 

And later this afternoon I saw something black on the orange half. I couldn't figure out what it was so I watched it and a wasp flew down by it and the black thing flapped its wings to shoo the wasp away. It was a butterfly! I guess it was sipping the grape jelly off the orange rind.

 

Today's flower is a Snowdrop. It was easy to draw. I'm not thrilled with the shades of green I chose for the leaves but that's not a big deal. The instructions said to use various shades of green but it doesn't look right to me. Maybe I'll go back in and color over them so they match. My inner-Virgo likes things to match.

 

After supper I drew another gratitude journal page. This morning I drew one for yesterday so now I've got a run of 3 days in a row. I'm taking advantage of the impulse while I've got it.

 

I finished knitting the ribbed brim of the Dark Teal Chemo Hat this morning. I was going to start knitting on the hat body but my knitting friend MW called and talked for 45 minutes and the impulse passed.

 

I did laundry today and also ran the dishwasher so the hot water heater got a workout. The only reason I did the laundry was because I got a new t-shirt yesterday and want to wear it tomorrow without the packaging creases so I did it all. The dishwasher was pretty full so that got run and emptied too. I know it sounds like I was a whirlwind today but there was a lot of rest time between loads and activities.

--Barbara