A Long Day

I am woefully out of practice being "on" all day. Having to be smiling and alert for seven straight hours was tiring. It didn't take long to get my display table set up. It was very roomy--8' long--so I had plenty of room for my palm tree and poster. I even figured out how to twine a string of fairy lights around the poster to illuminate it. Unfortunately the batteries don't last for seven hours so they faded at about the same time I did. And I get to do it all over again tomorrow. Oh, I sold 3 books which also made the day longer. More sales would have sped things up.

 

Being gone all day didn't leave much time for watching wildlife. After supper this squirrel climbed up to the suet nuggets feeder. Another squirrel leapt from the patio chair over to the round seed feeder but dropped off before I could take a picture.

 

I drew today's prompt just before coming back here. It was Lamp. Once again I'm featuring my inability to make the sides of a drawing match. I tried but it's out of whack. Oh well.

 

I almost ran out of tropical key fobs to put in the books I sold, so I spent some time stringing hang tags and key fobs together after supper. Five of my eight books get the tropical fobs so I need to have a good supply. Then I came back here and ordered more tropical fobs and the bowls of soup fobs that go on Better Than Mom's. I'd rather have too many than run out. Plus I've got another Seaview book coming--eventually.

 

The hardest part of being away all day was not having time to write. I came back here after supper but couldn't focus. Maybe I'll take a notebook and pencil tomorrow. Nah, that'd be wrong. I need to pay attention to the people walking by. You know, if I'd sold a book to every second person I gave my spiel to, I'd have sold a lot more books. They take a card or a bookmark and say they'll be back and don't come back. One lady who'd had an extra helping of beer said she preferred audiobooks which is fine. She said she'd buy one when she got home. But will she remember?

--Barbara 

Socking

Tonight at Friday Night Knitting I finished knitting the leg of the Regia Summer Sock so it was time to start the heel flap. I'm impressed with myself that I figured out how to knit it without shifting to Double Pointed Needles. Hopefully I can continue on the Magic Loop circular needles if I can wrap my mind around how to do it. Maybe I can YouTube it.

 

I had a good show at New Perspective senior complex today. I sold 7 books, well, actually 6 books because I gave one copy of Christmas at Seaview to the ladies who bought The Seaview Series. I'm so glad I printed up these business card sized tallies to keep track of sales. I can just stash them in an envelope and have the info at hand when tax time rolls around.

 

Here's my display. I got a lot of compliments on my little lighted palm tree with the flamingo sunglasses holder beneath it. I repacked it all and replenished the books I sold so it's all back in the car ready for tomorrow and Sunday. 

 

There was a trio of Sparrows sharing the suet nuggets this morning. I was impressed that they tolerated each other.

 

Yesterday's gratitude journal page was a simple one.  I finally got smart and walked while I waited in the after school pick up line. I go early so I have a lot of time to wait so I walked down to that stop sign and back. I'm not the only one. The mom in the black pickup truck who parks behind me takes her wiener dog for a walk then too. Plus I got to spend a little time with LC and OJ. I do love those few minutes a couple times a week.

 

Today's drawing prompt was Shell so we drew four different seashells. I like the first three but I don't think the fourth one turned out right. Maybe next time.

 

Speaking of time, it's time for me to sign off and go to bed. I've got my alarm set for 7 o'clock which will come mighty early for one used to sleeping until 8.

--Barbara 

Uh-oh

I looked out the window of the bedroom when I opened the shade this morning to see this. The leaves of the dogwood shrub on the corner of the house are changing colors. Yes, the leaves on the big trees on the curve of the court are changing. Yes, I walked through crunchy brown leaves last week in front of the neighbor's house. But this is right here, right in my yard. Autumn.

 

When I looked out the back window this morning I saw a pop of yellow again. Another late blooming Stella d'Oro lily flower. All of the other lily plants are done blooming and the leaves are yellowing and drooping, yet here is this one plant pushing out blossoms in September. Yay!

 

The bronze mums have started blooming. I didn't crop the picture so all you see are the flowers because I wanted you to see all of the buds on the rest of the plant. If they all bloom at the same time it'll be amazing.

 

Right next to the Stella d'Oro lily is the pink sedum. There was a nice bee on one of the flower clusters and between the time I raised the camera and pressed the shutter, the bee flew away. So you get to see the flowers without the bee. Oh well.

 

The gratitude journal for yesterday was an easy one to find things to put on it. I tried drawing the Chair Pose for my yoga gratitude and I put starting planning cozy book #2 on there too. Also three, count 'em, three Bluejays!

 

Speaking of cozy book #2, it now has a name--Not Fair. I read that cozy readers like word play
and puns in titles, so I'm trying to be clever. I couldn't resist starting to write it. I managed to write four pages, maybe five, before giving up and stopping because I need to save something for Novel November (used to be NaNoWriMo, but they disbanded) since I said I'd write 50,000 words in November. Three Cheers for Murder isn't 50,000 words now and I think it's mostly done. I wrote 1,077 words today so I only need 600 more words to make the first day's goal. Let's see, 600 words divided by 38 days until November 1st equals 16 words per day. I can do that.

 

Today's drawing prompt was Boot so I drew a cowboy boot, an ankle boot, a moon boot, and a rain boot as directed. They're okay. If I'd taken more time drawing them they might have been better but I'm satisfied.

 

I spied the Red-bellied Woodpecker on the suet nuggets feeder. On the BACK of the suet nuggets feeder so only its head and tail were visible. *sigh* Why can't it land on the front of the feeder so I can take a picture of all of it?

 

The lawn mower came late this afternoon. It was almost 6 o'clock when he got started and he didn't have a kid with him to do the trimming and blowing so he was here for longer than 15 minutes. This was the first guy who came. He seems to do a better job, takes his time a little more. I think his name is Isiah. Or maybe Isaac. One of those "I" names. Whatever, he's a nice thorough guy.

This morning I repacked my display bag to make sure I have everything I need and loaded it and my book rack, poster, and rolling backpack of books into the car because I've got a craft show tomorrow. Then I have to get home, replenish any sold books, and reload the car because I've got a 2-day book fair this weekend. And my new book hasn't come and won't come because I haven't gotten a shipping notice.

 

I got to do the after school run today and we were almost to their house but had to go back to school to get something forgotten and saw flames and black smoke boiling up on the bridge. I had to pass the spot on my way home after dropping the kids off and saw it was a pickup truck that had a huge fire in the engine compartment. It looked like the whole front of the truck melted and they were still pouring water on it from a fire hose. I'd hate to have been in there when the thing started to burn. Scary.

--Barbara 

Three Bluejays

Three Bluejays showed up around the cob corn today. Three! I managed to take a couple of pictures. They aren't as sharply focused as I hoped they'd be but this one isn't too blurry. At least you can see what it is.

 

Another bird or birds caught my attention this morning while I was doing yoga. This Sparrow was taking its usual, splashy Sparrow bath and this Mourning Dove moved closer to take advantage of the splashing. I figure the Dove felt too dignified to get in the water and flutter around but it wasn't above sharing the splashes.

 

Yesterday's gratitude journal was fairly easy to draw this morning. I always like doing the child pose in yoga and I enjoyed spending a couple hours helping friends get started on Substack.

 

Before lunch I worked on the last two suggestions from the Manuscript Analysis so I think that the first cozy mystery is pretty well on its way to being done. So in the afternoon I started making a list of things for cozy mystery number two. Right away I had a change of plans. The person I thought was going to be the victim is actually a suspect, and the person I didn't realize I was setting up in book number one is the victim. I had a lot of fun brainstorming the possible features of book number two. I added two characters--a husband and a lover--that I think will be interesting to write. I looked up popular dog biscuit flavors, a really scrumptious looking kebab recipe, and a 10-cup cookie recipe to add to the mix. You can find anything on the internet. I have interesting ideas for them all. Oh, I forgot about Mr. Chan's egg rolls. I'll find a recipe for those too. Although I might have one in a cookbook on hand. I'll check the bookshelf in the basement.

 

A Downy Woodpecker landed on the Slinky for a little ride. There were Sparrows hogging the round feeder so it rested on the Slinky for a while before going over to the suet nuggets for a snack.

 

Today's drawing prompt was House Plant. Another oddball thing to draw. I might have to see if I can't find another class of drawing prompts because I'm not getting as much satisfaction out of this series as I thought I would. Still like drawing the letters, though.

 

And finally here's today's Dad's rose, red as ever and smelling just as sweet.

 

--Barbara 

It Was Getting Dark

But I went out and took pictures of Dad's roses anyway. I'll share one with you tonight and save the others for another night. Or two. Can't have too much beauty on one night, now can we? The guy across the street was taking out his recycling bin while I was out there taking pictures and sniffing the roses. He probably thought I was a little nuts, but I don't care.

 

I caught sight of a Red-bellied Woodpecker on the suet nuggets but it hid behind the feeder so all I saw was its head. I decided instead of posting a shot of the suet nuggets feeder with a bird's head peeking around the side, I'd go back in the archives to find a picture of the whole bird. And I did. You're welcome.

 

Only one Sparrow landed on the round feeder while I was looking today. There was a good sized flock of them but only this one flew up to the feeder to toss seed down to the masses.

 

I was gutsy enough again this morning to draw a whole me on the gratitude journal page for yesterday. I'm definitely not as thin as this representation and I wasn't running, which this kind of looks like, but I'll get better as time goes on. I promise.

 

Spice jars. What a goofy thing to draw today. I did a little better in making the sides of the jars closer to each other. I still like the letters the best.

 

I didn't do much writing today. Shocking, I know. In the morning my cleaner came so I chatted with her while she worked and in the afternoon I met with a couple friends to help them get their Substacks up and running. I don't know that I was much help but they seemed satisfied. Then I came across town to the grocery because I was low on frozen meals and stopped at the bank for change for the upcoming book sales this weekend. Unless there's a miracle (doubtful), I won't have my new book to sell this weekend. I blame the cover designer. If they hadn't been out on sick leave, they'd have gotten the cover designed in a week to ten days rather than the three weeks it took, then I could have published the book sooner and the author copies would probably already be here. Oh well, I can't change that now, I'll just have to be patient. They'll come when they come.

--Barbara 

I Remembered How

I realized today that I hadn't made any Amazon Ads for my new release, Sailing the Seas, so I logged onto my campaign manager page and got going. I remembered how to make an auto ad, which means Amazon picks where to display it. You only make one for each format of the title, so one for Kindle and one for Paperback. For me, that's the least productive ad form. Then I made a Category Ad for each format. I can make up to three of those per title and format but today I only made one for each. Those work okay for me. The most productive ad form for me is Keyword Ads. Those I didn't make today because there are a lot more steps to making those. Maybe on Wednesday when my calendar is open.

 

One squirrel was on the ever-popular suet nuggets this morning. It had its body twined around the feeder just nibbling away. I also saw one investigate the horse head feeder but evidently the corn kernels have run out because it was one and done. I'll fill that tomorrow.

 

Paintbrush was the drawing prompt today and my inability to make things symmetrical is on full display. It's especially noticeable on the brush with the number 5 on it. Even when I take my time, I can't seem to make the right and left side match. I like making the letters though.

 

One little Sparrow landed on the birdbath for a drink. I keep waiting for the whole flock of them to take a communal bath like they used to do but evidently group bathing is a thing of the past. Too bad. That was fun to watch.

 

Yesterday's gratitude journal page was fun to draw. I was most grateful for getting those two bins of fabric out of the basement and seeing the squirrel in the horse head feeder.  

 

I spent a lot of time working my way through the Manuscript Analysis pages, trying to make the writing align with the suggestions. I got to the end because so many things toward the end had "Great" next to them which means those things are working well. I still have two comments with flags on them to tackle but I'm happy that I've accomplished that much.

 

This week's flavor of Jello is orange. I'm a sucker for the citrus flavors, a mix of lemon and lime is my favorite, but orange is right up there. Cherry is okay for a palate cleanser. 

 

This morning I called The Clearing to see if I could find out which room we'll have when we go up in two weeks. So far we've got our first choice, but that could change. I hope it doesn't but it could. KS tried to convince me to come back up in mid-October for another watercolor class with my favorite (and only) teacher, even going so far as to offer me a scholarship, but I've got commitments here that I can't ditch so I declined. 

I saw on TV that there are frost warnings for 2 counties in Northern Wisconsin. *sigh* And so it begins. 

--Barbara 

I Saw One

I saw a squirrel going in and out of the horse head squirrel feeder this afternoon. It was moving so fast there was no way I could get a picture even if I was closer. It would stick its head into the feeder making it swivel around, then come out with a kernel in its front paws to eat it on the retaining wall. After a few assaults on the horse head feeder, the squirrel moved down the wall to the cob corn and climbed up there. I guessed it chose that feeder because it holds still.

 

A few more of the tiny yellow mums are blooming. I keep hoping that more and more of them will bloom making the whole mound a vibrant yellow. So far, no luck.

 

Sparrows figured out quickly that I filled the round feeder and wasted no time landing on the perches. In this picture you can see one of them just coming in for a landing. There are a lot more of them in the flock than I thought. I spent enough time up filling the cob corn and horse head feeder that the Sparrows showed up and there must have been twenty of them or more. I love the sound their wings make when they take off. Not as much as when Mourning Doves fly away but still a good sound. I've been seeing Canada Geese flying over, not going south, but they're starting to move around. 

 

A Downy Woodpecker joined the Sparrows for a bit. It chose a time when there was only one Sparrow on the feeder so it could jump around from feeding port to feeding port. I keep thinking it'll land on the nuggets but it likes the seeds these days.

 

Today's drawing prompt was Cactus. They were okay to draw. 

 

The thing I was most grateful for yesterday was getting the new The Seaview Series poster but I was also grateful that I took a couple boxes of tosses to the charity drop-off spot. Today I hauled up two bins filled with fabric and took them to Goodwill. I started out opening them and looking at the fabric, then I realized that was a crazy thing to do. If I looked at the fabric, I'd decide it was too good to donate and just keep it, even though I probably haven't looked at it in over a year. So I closed the lids, humped the heavy things slowly up the basement stairs, loaded them into my car, and took them to Goodwill immediately. I was planning to walk today but figured that hauling those heavy things around took the place of a walk.

 

I got stuck while I was writing again today. It's frustrating when I can't figure out how to implement one of the recommendations from the Manuscript Analysis. I read the parts it wants changed and I think it doesn't need changing, so I move on. Then I think maybe I'm wrong, and go back over it, changing a word here or there but essentially not changing the sense of the scene. I also worry that if I take all the suggestions, the work is less my own. I'll figure it out one of these days.

--Barbara