Beastly Hot

I had to go outside to take pictures of my weedy retaining wall for the guy I was trying to hire to send a crew to come and weed the thing. Mercy, it was hot out there. Humid too. He quoted me a price, I agreed, and they're coming on Thursday morning to do the job. I just hope it's a little cooler and not raining. Also they'll haul away some water-ruined wood that's leaning on the wall in my garage that has a habit of falling onto my car every once in a while. I suspect I'll be glad I found these guys. They've gotten rave reviews on Nextdoor.

 

The roses don't mind the heat. They're out there perky as ever and spreading their beauty to all.

 

I decided to try drawing a Rose today. It turned out okay. Even the coloring is okay. Maybe I'll try painting a rose tomorrow. That should be a challenge. I think I've got a painting lesson online and one in a book to help me not make too big a mess of it.

 

A Downy Woodpecker landed on the suet nuggets and stayed on my side of the feeder long enough for me to take its picture. Naturally the camera focused more on the Oriole feeder between the Downy and me but you can still see the bird and it's beauty.

 

Then a couple House Finches landed on the grape jelly. When I took the picture I noticed that another House Finch was on the orange half. At first I thought this was a polygamous relationship, but then I realized that the third bird was probably a juvenile from this year's nest tagging along with Mom and Dad hoping for a handout. 

 

One of the young squirrels leaped from a patio chair to the top of the square green feeder. It looked at all four sides, trying to figure out how to access the seed that was so temptingly near and yet inaccessible. It finally dropped off without ever getting to the goodies.

 

I got smart today and wrote an email page telling my newsletter subscribers about the two sales promos I'm in this month. I've put them both on my personal Facebook and my author Facebook pages and will do it again, probably Sunday, but I need to share the links with my subscribers to fulfill the requirements of the promos. Then I shipped it off to KM so she can send it out. Her help is worth every penny. I have a meeting scheduled with her on Wednesday morning so she can help me figure out the last step of getting BookFunnel and Square totally connected.

Then I listened to the end of an audiobook and they directed listeners to the author's webpage for a recipe from the book. That reminded me that I have recipes published in the back of Open For Business so I sent KM an email with the six recipes attached asking her to make a page on my site for them. People like recipes, right?

The Hummingbird feeder needed refilling yesterday so I did that. I still haven't seen one but something's sipping the nectar. I looked up how much a feeder with a camera attached is. Um, nevermind. It'd be great to have but not for that much money, especially not since I'll be paying the weed guys in three days and they won't be cheap.

--Barbara 

Survivors

Dad's roses are the ultimate survivors. They were bowed after Wednesday's storm but most of the flower petals are undamaged and none of them fell to the ground. I was sure those delicate flowers would be trashed but they made it. Look at that rosebud just opening. Isn't it gorgeous?

 

A few of the Stella d'Oro lily flowers ended up on the lawn but since the flowers only bloom for one day it wasn't a big deal. The buds survived and they're opening just fine. If you look closely at this open flower you can see the black ant crawling around in it.

 

The more I looked at yesterday's watercolor, the more I realized that it wasn't done. So I retaped the paper to a plexiglass board and added leaves on the tree. Much better. I started with a sea sponge but it was too wet so it just made little puddles. I sopped those up and shifted to a deerfoot brush which reminds me of a stenciling brush, and that made the dots and splotches I wanted. NOW it's done.

 

After refilling the Hummingbird feeder, I got out the drawing things and drew Autumn... Harvest, maybe? Anyway autumn things like leaves and acorns and corn, also a pie.

 

The orange day lily patch is blooming. There are actually two patches that are doing a fine job of decorating the west side of the lot. They bloom a lot earlier than the day lilies up on the retaining wall. I don't mind, it spreads the flowers out more.

 

The pair of House Finches visited toward evening. She was on the grape jelly but he stayed up on top of the crook. He never flew down for a snack, but flew away after she did.

 

I belatedly discovered that having a Roku TV means I can watch movies on Roku for free. So I watched a movie tonight. It was the original Twister. I enjoyed it again. One thing about rewatching a movie is that it makes it easy to knit while you watch. You don't have to pay such close attention to the movie and you can knit something fairly uncomplicated while you watch. I made it through the second set of Teddy Bear #1's arms and am into the second belly. Or is that its butt? Whatever. The wide section between the arms is the front and back of the head. It's a fun, quick knit.

 

Part of the day I spent watching a how-to video about setting up an account between BookFunnel and Square so I can sell eBooks and audiobooks direct to customers on my phone. First, I added all my digital and audio books to Square. Then I followed the instructions on setting up and linking accounts. Where things went awry is when it came time to set up the delivery part. I watched the video a few times, rewinding and rewatching, but gave up and scheduled time next week with KM, my assistant so she can help figure it out. 

Then I sat down and pounded out the July writing progress email letter, added a couple pictures, and then emailed it to KM so she can upload it to my newsletter mailing service which I can't figure out without grinding my teeth and spewing profanity. It's much simpler, and less stressful, to just have her do it.

It wasn't too hot this afternoon so I took a walk up to the stop sign and back. It's getting a little easier and my breathing recovers a bit faster so I'm encourage to keep up. Not for the next few days, though. It's supposed to be beastly hot and I'm not going to walk in that. Not unless it really cools off just before sunset.

--Barbara 

Promising Sign of Life

I went out to see what, if anything, I could salvage of the rhubarb that got pounded by hail the other afternoon. It wasn't pretty, but I started at the edge and went stalk by stalk, cutting off the shredded leaves and the broken pieces, and then cutting the good parts into sections. I cut and cut, filling the bowl until it got to eight cups, which is enough for a double batch of rhubarb sauce. When I was about halfway through the mess, I saw two tiny leaves that survived the onslaught of frozen water. Yay! (they're the wrinkly, lime green ones in the middle)

 

I got through about two-thirds of the stalks so I left the rest to be cut another time. Maybe tomorrow because it's supposed to be in the 90s for the upcoming week. I can cut it and freeze it to be cooked at a later date.

 

Here's the bowl of rhubarb sauce that will grace my breakfast yogurt for the next few weeks. It makes me so happy!

 

The orange day lily plant that's in with the ferns survived the hail and opened its first flower today. I haven't gone around the yard to see how the other day lilies fared. I might do that tomorrow too.

 

I drew while the rhubarb sauce cooked. I added 5 minutes to the cook time to allow for the greater volume of... fruit? Does rhubarb count as a fruit? I don't know. Anyway, I drew undersea stuff. I like them all, especially the red crab, but then red's my favorite color, just like it's yours.

 

After supper, I got out my little paint set and small paper, used masking fluid to mask out a birch tree, and painted a little landscape that I made up. I was waiting for it to dry so I took a walk. That worked, plus the sun was lower in the sky so I didn't get too hot walking. That worked too.

 

When it was almost too dusky to take a decent picture, the pair of House Finches visited the grape jelly. I took one shot but the flash went off and made a glare on the patio door, so I switched the flash off and tried again. I've tried to keep an eye out because I thought I saw a Hummingbird speed off from the nectar feeder yesterday. For the longest time the birdie juice stayed at the same level and now within the last few days it's gone down a lot. I want to see one again but I'm just glad they or it seems to be back.

 

I worked on short stories again today and again today one got longer and longer. I'm trying to decide what's too long but have come to no conclusion. I guess the story's over when it's over. Tomorrow I'll get on Substack to schedule a couple more stories. I like to have five or six of them lined up, that way I don't get caught scrambling to post a story. And tomorrow I need to write my July email writing progress letter. I'm relieved that I thought of that just now because last month I didn't remember and ended up dashing it off on the 1st to be sent on the 2nd. Careless.

--Barbara 

Oh, Hail No!

I didn't think I had much hail damage and then I went out to fill the bird feeders this afternoon and saw this. The ferns got beaten up pretty badly. I don't know if they'll perk up or not, this has never happened before.

 

Then I turned around and saw the rhubarb. Or what used to be the rhubarb. I'll go out tomorrow to see if I can save any of it. I hope so because I love my rhubarb sauce on yogurt in the mornings.

 

The squirrel was back in the feeder this morning. I don't know if it's a boy or a girl squirrel, I just know it's very determined and stays in there a long time.

 

I worked on that short story from yesterday, made a few tweaks and refinements, and called it finished. Then I got out my little travel watercolor set with the short brushes and 4x6 pad of paper to paint something small. I couldn't think of what to paint so I did tulips because they're so easy, just three brush strokes, a stem, and a few leaves.

 

I didn't feel done art-ing, so I drew this page of Everything Baby. It's kind of silly but I enjoyed drawing these little things and coloring them with markers instead of colored pencils, just for variety.

 

The only other wildlife I saw today was the baby bunny. I probably saw both baby bunnies, one at a time, because every time I sat at the table, I'd see one zip by.  This one took its time. That's how I got the picture. I think the white spots on the patio are from Wednesday's hail.

 

Waiting until 6 o'clock to sign on to the knitting Zoom, I did something I haven't done in over a month. I drew a gratitude journal page. I cleared off a shelf at the end of the kitchen cupboards and made space for the basket of markers, pens, and the journal I use for the gratitude pages. I don't know why I let this slide so often. I have so much to be grateful for. 

 

At Friday Night Knitting, I knitted the arms and most of the head of Teddy Bear #1. The head is so big because it's both the front and the back of the head. You fold it in half. So after four more rows, comes the arms again, then the belly, and finally the legs. Then comes the fun of sewing it up, stuffing it, and giving it a face. For the next one, I think I might go down another needle size to make the holes between stitches even smaller. We'll see how that works. It might be too hard on my hands.

 

 When I got home from OJ's soccer game last night I grabbed the Windex and paper towels, went into the garage, and cleaned the inside of my windshield. What a difference! I went to the grocery store this morning and suddenly realized that the world wasn't foggy, it was clear. I don't know how the glass gets so dirty, I don't smoke anymore and no one else but the grandkids rides with me regularly, and they for sure don't smoke. Anyway, it made a world of difference. I highly recommend it.

--Barbara 

A Different Woodpecker

This one is frequently seen on the ground, according to the Cornell Lab website, and it's a Northern Flicker. I saw it fly over from the roof and land in the grass. At first I thought it was a Mourning Dove, but then I saw the patterning on its back and knew what it had to be. It tracked across the backyard and I kept taking pictures, hoping that one would turn out. And it did.

 

Only one Sparrow took a bath, but I was lucky enough to catch it. In years past, a whole bunch of Sparrows would bathe together and splash out most of the water, but lately it's been just one bird at a time. Evidently communal bathing is out of fashion.

 

I refilled the square green feeder the other day and word must have gone around in squirrel-land, because this one was ensconced in the feeder and vociferously defended its perch when another squirrel dared to come near. 

 

This afternoon I was quick enough to snap a picture of this male House Finch enjoying an orange snack. The female had been there but she flew off as soon as I got the camera up and ready. Oh well. Her loss.

 

One of my knitting friends is expecting two grandbabies later this year. Two! But not twins, both of her children are expecting, so I need to knit teddy bears. I went downstairs to look for yarn I could use and noticed this really soft and fuzzy superbulky yarn. I have two colors of it. Coincidence? Maybe. I'm knitting it on smaller needles so that the spaces between stitches are smaller and the fabric is firmer. Not that it's firm exactly, it is extremely soft and fuzzy. It'll make good bears. I hope. This is a fun pattern. You knit the whole bear in one piece, like a pelt. It gets folded in half, sewn together, stuffed, the face gets embroidered on, the ears get stitched across, and a scarf is knitted to cinch in the neck. I knit them in acrylic yarn and stuff them with polyester so they're washable because we all know babies have no control over their bodily secretions.

 

I took a walk this morning. I'm slowly getting better at it. Then I spent the afternoon working on a short story. This one got long--over 8 pages--so I worked to wrap it up without it sounding like I just slapped "The End" on it and quit. I have a hard time with the "short" part of short story sometimes.

OJ had another soccer game tonight and they didn't win. It wasn't even close but OJ is playing hard. There are no games next week, two the following week, and two on the next Saturday. Then the soccer season is over for another year. I enjoy going. It's nice to sit outside in the evening and watch a herd of boys run around. I even missed the rainy game because I was at The Clearing. Whew. 

I didn't go to bed quite as early as I talked about last night but my light was out before 10 o'clock.

--Barbara 

Oh, Hail!

Today was a stormy day. Off and on. Mostly off but when it was on, it was REALLY on. The most impressive storm involved huge raindrops and penny-sized hail that pounded everything. It bounced off the patio and hit the patio door so hard I was afraid the glass would shatter and the hail on the three aluminum birdseed cans sounded like some sort of percussion section. There was a lot of thunder before the rain and hail and I just heard thunder again so maybe we're in for another round. There are leaves all over the street and the yards that the rain, wind, and hail tore off the trees. It was kind of scary.

 

In happier news, there was a Bluejay hanging around today. I took three pictures of it. The first one it was flying away and was a blur of blue and white. The second one wasn't much better. And here's the third one that finally looks like a bird instead of a smudge.

 

Two Downy Woodpeckers showed up at the same time. One claimed the suet cakes and the other one sat on the birdbath waiting its turn. That one wasn't very patient. It flew away before the other one left.

 

Before any rain came to beat them up, I went out and took pictures of Dad's roses. They really seem to be liking the weather we've been having because they're blooming like crazy.

 

I went out back to pull up the world's tallest thistle (probably not, but it was at least two feet tall), and noticed that the orange day lilies are starting to bloom. I took their picture between rain storms so they're a little bedraggled but not as bad as I'm sure they are now after the hail onslaught.

 

Next to the day lilies, the milkweed is getting ready to flower. I've got a nice patch of milkweed but have never had a Monarch Butterfly move in. *sigh*

 

 Before any of the rain, the lawn mowers came and zipped around mowing, trimming, and blowing. I'm impressed every time how quickly they get the job done and they do an acceptable job of it.

 

Today's drawing is a Frog. I know I've drawn it before but that's where the book opened and I wasn't unhappy with it so that's what I drew.

 

I was right. I finished a short story yesterday and jumped right into another story start. Some of them seem to almost write themselves and others it's like pulling teeth. Today was pretty easy. 

And it's raining again. I'm glad I live near the top of a hill, otherwise I'll bet the street is flooded down at the bottom. I am also extra-glad that OJ didn't have a soccer game tonight. They'd have been playing and would have called the game and we'd have to drive home in that hail storm. No thanks.

Is 8:47pm too early to go to bed? I feel like I just want to crawl in and fall asleep to the sound of rain on the roof. I'll stick it out until at least 9:00pm. Really I will.

--Barbara

Painting Practice

I decided to practice painting birch trees today so I taped a piece of watercolor paper to a plexiglass board, sketched in some trees, land, and water, and got busy. My sky and water are too pale, I think. The color barely shows and there IS color there. I masked out the birch trees and like the way they turned out. That bent one looks weird but I'll straighten it out next time. I don't know what happened there.

 

The only thing the mail carrier brought was a little cardboard box from Journey Arts with three tubes of paint in it. I've bought paint, paper, and palettes from Cheap Joe's Art Stuff over the years and was sad to learn that they went out of business at the end of last winter. I'd gotten a few of my favorite color paints from them and thought I was out of luck. Until about 10 days ago when I decided to google American Journey paints. There they were! So I ordered a tube of Skip's Green, one of Red Hot Mama, and one of Taylor's Flamingo. I mean, who wouldn't want to paint with those last two? 

 

A Robin spent time poking and pecking around under the feeders. I keep hoping to see one pull up a worm but I've only seen that once and didn't get a picture of it, dang it.

 

More Stella d'Oro lilies for your viewing pleasure. I'm waiting for all eleven plants to have flowers on them at once so I can take a long shot of the whole retaining wall.

 

And Dad's roses are still showing off. I took a little sniff tour of them today and can honestly report that each one smells better than the last one. So sweet, so rosy.

 

I cut and pasted a couple chapters of Sailing the Seas, the manuscript I'm working on with cda, and realized that the two chapters together were 42 pages. Waaay too long, especially for "one more chapter" before bed. So I spent the afternoon rereading them and dividing two chapters into four. Much better. Much easier reading. 

 

OJ's soccer game tonight was pretty much of a rout and they weren't on the winning side. But they played hard and will give it their all again on Thursday. We went to Smart Cow which was close to the soccer field for frozen yogurt to console the feelings of the player we love. I think he might have had more toppings than frozen yogurt in his cup. I just had chocolate sprinkles and boba on my chocolate and peanut butter yogurt. I was restrained.

--Barbara