Smoke Gets in Your Eyes

And lungs. The wind shifted overnight and smoke from Canadian wildfires blanketed Wisconsin and nearby states. It smelled like a campfire outside all day and I'm sure people with lung problems were suffering today. It was hazy and quite a bit cooler, probably because the smoke filtered out the sunshine.

 

I went out to pick up a plastic bag that blew into the backyard and saw that these yellow & rust day lilies are blooming. They're very pretty but I noticed when I looked at the picture on my phone that the whole photo has a yellow cast to it. I suppose that's from the smoke.

 

A male House Finch discovered the orange half and had himself a snack. Later on one of the squirrels was up there slurping up grape jelly and then came back after I chased it off to work on the orange. I want it out there for the birds. The squirrels? Not so much.

 

Today's drawing is Delphinium. It wasn't so fun to draw because I was sure I kept making the petals wrong. I did a lot of erasing but the dark blue and purple coloring hides a multitude of sins.

 

The cleaner, MB, came today so now my house is clean and smells good. There are vacuum tracks in the living room carpet and the bathroom is sparkling. It was perfect timing because I'm hosting knitting tomorrow evening. Can't forget to go get beer tomorrow. And put out the pretty fingertip towels with fish embroidered on them. I wish I had some nice placemats. Maybe I'll swing by T.J. Maxx tomorrow to see what they have.

--Barbara 

Even Hotter

It was so hot today that very little wildlife was moving outside. I saw a baby rabbit on the patio in the morning and I saw the mother rabbit lounging in the grass once there was shade in the backyard. She was barely moving, just extending her neck to reach the nearest clover patch.

 

Once the backyard was in shade I went out to take a picture of the dark pink day lily. It bloomed last week too, but by the time I noticed it the flower was gone so I'm glad I saw it today, even though it was still 90 degrees out there. 

 

This morning before it got too hot I went out and refilled the birdbath, the grape jelly, and the orange half. I thought maybe a squirrel would come to partake of the sweet treats but, nope, no takers on this hot day.

 

For the third day in a row, I taped a couple of small pieces of watercolor paper to a plexiglass board and copied some insects out of Ink & Wash In the Garden. Today we have a grasshopper and a dragonfly. Maybe tomorrow I'll paint and draw on bigger paper.

 

This morning I met DS at a muffler shop to give him a ride back to the brewery. I went to Meijer to get the one item I forgot yesterday then came home and cooled off. My hair stylist called to say she'd had a cancellation and could I come early? You betcha. So it was back out into the heat and drive back across town to the salon. On my way home I stopped at a different grocery store because they usually have precooked chicken breast which I need for Thursday's chicken tacos. They were out, so I had to buy raw breasts, cook them, and cut them up. Which meant I had raw chicken trash that I didn't want to put into the garbage because it would soon stink to high heaven. Fortunately I got smart and texted my neighbor asking if I could slip it into their trash bin because tomorrow is pickup day. (My bin is empty and it wasn't worth trundling it out there for one tiny package of garbage.) There was room in their bin. Whew.

I got an email from my assistant with the first draft of a Seaview Recipes booklet. I thought that'd be a fun thing to put on my website that people could download. So she's putting them into a booklet. I need to do some editing but she's off for the next few days so there's no hurry. I need to take out one recipe and put another one in. People like recipes, right? 

--Barbara 

It Was a Hot One

I was determined not to go outside today but I couldn't resist taking a picture of Dad's rose that bloomed today. It was just too pretty to miss.

 

Then I had to snap a picture of the purple mums which I haven't cut back (because it's been so hot) so they're breaking out in blooms.

 

I only saw a couple of birds today and they were all on the ground trying to
stay in the shade under the feeders. I looked up from lunch to see this bunny staring in the patio door as if to ask if it was cooler in here. By the time I got the camera up and ready it had turned away but I was able to take a picture of it in profile. It stayed in the shade too.

 

In the "So Much Fun" department, I pulled out Ink & Wash In The Garden and painted some bugs. I've been in the mood to paint or draw some insects lately, so I was happy to find a beetle in the dirt, a bee on a daisy bud, and a ladybug on a dandelion to copy, draw, and paint. For some reason, these little pieces of paper are attracting me. Who am I to argue?

 

I've been trying not to eat sweets as much so I bought a bag of Gala apples to have for an afternoon snack. I reached into the bag this afternoon only to find the apples were wet. Turned out there was a rotten apple in the bottom of the bag, so rotten that it was flat and disgusting. So I washed off all of the remaining fruit hoping it won't rot too. I have to remember to put them back in the fridge before turning in tonight. 

 

This evening I finished knitting the last two legs of Teddy Bear #2. Then I folded it together and clipped it. Next I'll embroider on the eyes, nose, and mouth before stitching it up, stuffing it, and knitting it a scarf. I like the way I sewed the ears on the previous bear so I'll remember how I did it and do it again. 

 

Today is DD's 45th birthday. I looked in the archives for a picture of her to share with you and came across this one of her when she was less than a year old with my dad. They sure look happy to be together, don't they? 

 

It's supposed to be even hotter tomorrow but I have to go out. DS needs to be picked up at a muffler shop and delivered to the brewery and I have a haircut appointment. It's a good thing I'm a tough old broad. And that my car's a/c works just fine.

-- Barbara

Ended On a Happier Note

OJ had his final soccer game of the season in the broiling sun and high temps of this morning. His team held it together and the game ended in a tie, which is way better than a loss. OJ was smart. After the game, he upended his water jug over his head. He was wet, but cooler.

 

This afternoon one of the baby bunnies was grooming itself just outside the patio door. It looked so cute. Now that I don't have a garden for them to munch on, I don't mind them so much, although I do wish they wouldn't scrape out a burrow in the hill in the backyard.

 

One squirrel got creative this evening. First it climbed up on the suet nuggets for a snack but there's nothing left in that feeder but crumbs. Then it moved over to the grape jelly and finished it off.

 

Next it did something I've never seen one do. It moved over and started eating the orange half. It ate all the pulp out of the orange and then knocked it down onto the grass so it could finish the job. It took one bite of the rind but then gave up and scampered off.

 

After lunch I pulled out the drawing things and drew this picture of Jasmine. I like the way it turned out.

 

I didn't really want to do anything this afternoon so I sat down to watch TV and knitted on Teddy Bear #2. I finished the second set of arms, knitted the backside, and then started the first of the final legs. It occurs to me that I can't be knitting on it on Thursday when my friends come over because the bears are for someone's grandchildren-to-be so I have to knit on something else. I've got a hat in the works. That'll be fine for group knitting.

 

Last week I was looking through a box of things from KA, the watercolor teacher, and found a stack of business card-size pieces of watercolor paper. Couldn't figure out what they're for but I've been thinking of them and pulled out a book called, Ink & Wash Florals. After supper I drew three flowers on three little pieces of paper and then painted them. I like them. They're a tulip, a cosmos, and a snowdrop. I'll paint more.

 

After the soccer game, I went to the grocery. Might as well go, I was already hot and sweaty. No sense going home to cool off and then going out again, right? Anyway, I got all of the things I'll need to make chicken tacos for Thursday night's knitting night. I'm looking forward to eating them. They're so good, plus they're easy to make. I'll chop some scallions, shred carrots and radishes, quarter grape tomatoes, and put out a bowl of shredded cheese and another one of chopped salad for toppings. I even splurged on a small container of lite sour cream. Decadent. But I can't forget to go get beer from Zambaldi on Thursday.

Tomorrow is my DD's 45th birthday. I can't believe she'll be that old. I vividly remember the day she was born and it just can't have been that long ago, can it? 

 --Barbara

Game Day

OJ had two soccer games today. One at 10 A.M. and one at 4 P.M. It was hot, in the mid to high 80s, humid, and sunny with a slight breeze that was so appreciated by both the spectators and the players. Although I suspect that the players didn't notice it because they were running and sweating. DS took along his canopy tent for shade for the team in the second game. I'm sure the players appreciated being able to sit in the shade when they weren't playing. They didn't win either game. In fact, they got creamed both times, but they played hard and didn't give up. They have one more game tomorrow at 10 A.M. and then the season is blessedly over.

 

Early this morning a Downy Woodpecker landed on the suet nuggets feeder and stayed long enough to have its picture taken. There must have been a lot of birds visiting all day because when I got home after the second game I saw that the nuggets were nearly gone already.

 

 A male House Finch landed on the birdbath and then went right to the grape jelly for a snack. It wasn't facing the sun so you can't see how bright its head and breast were, but the reddish color was impressive.

 

Today's flower is an Iris, and a French Iris at that. I feel intimidated when I turn the page and see such a complex flower, but if I get over myself and take it one step at a time (there are 10 steps), I can do it. The French Irises on the retaining wall didn't bloom this year. I don't know why. I see the leaves but no flowers came.

 

I spent the time between games at home cooling down and reading the mystery manuscript. I didn't have any brilliant insights but I did make sure the city name was spelled the same through the manuscript, which is a good thing. And I started making chapter breaks. In one place I made a note about what has to go there but I wasn't in the right frame of mind to act on the note. I'll get there.

We went to lunch at Culver's after the morning game and DS and DIL1 bought us all paletas (frozen ice pops) at the start of the second game. Mine was coconut. So delicious and white, which was good because if it dripped it would have blended with my white t-shirt. But I managed to eat and lick it fast enough that I only got a drip on my ankle. Don't ask me how. It was crazy at the playing fields today. All of the city league teams played their last games today so every field was in play and there were a zillion cars parked along the streets. There were food trucks and paletas vendors, even a shaved ice truck. Madness!

--Barbara 

A Lily Tour

I went out into the backyard to take a picture of the Stella d'Oro lilies and got pulled along by other colors of lilies. First are the golden yellow Stellas because those are the ones I went outside to look at.

 

Then there's the pale yellow day lily. It's huddled in a patch of orange ones all by itself.

 

Next to it are the old, traditional orange day lilies. These are the ones I dug out of the yard of my parents' house on Liberty Street. They were there when we moved in in 1961. They've been around a long time. Almost as long as I have.

 

On the west side of the house these peach lilies are happily blooming.

 

And finally, tucked into the pampas grass down at the corner of the lot around the streetlight pole are red day lilies. Only one of them was in bloom today but here are about three of them tangled up in all the grassy leaves.

 

GBB was right. It takes more than a little hail to keep rhubarb down. I cut about two-thirds of it right after it got beaten up and left the rest to see what would happen. Well, the shredded leaves have perked up and new leaves have sprouted. It's doing just fine, thank you very much. I'm so relieved.

 

I was lucky enough to catch three Sparrows on the suet nuggets at one time. The one on the right rear is nearly hidden behind the red-orange Oriole orb but he's there nibbling away.

 

Today's drawing is a Rose. I switched to the 10-Step Drawing: Floral book and they have a lot of faith in people because the rose is the first one in the book. Don't want to start with something easy. That would be silly.

 

This afternoon I spent a lot of time on my feet working to beef up the cozy mystery manuscript that I want to tackle next after I publish the next and last The Seaview Series book. I'm hoping to get it out by the fall so I'll have the mystery to play with when I'm at The Clearing in early October.

 

At Friday Night Knitting tonight I made a lot more Teddy Bear #2 progress than I thought I would. I knitted the whole head front and back, and then started on the second set of arms. All that's left once I finish the arms is 12 rows of the behind, then the backs of the legs. After that it gets clipped together, the face gets embroidered on, and it gets sewn up and stuffed. Then I cast on and knit a scarf to tie around the neck.

 

I'm hosting local knitting friends next Thursday night so I searched my recipe file for something to make. I think I've settled on Chicken Tacos. I've got the cooked chicken already in the freezer so all I need is a jar of salsa and toppings. I made a list.

OJ has two soccer games tomorrow and one on Sunday. He's going to be a tired boy by the end of the weekend. Let's hope the soccer field has dried out some since last night.

--Barbara 

Happy Birthday, Aunt B!

Today is Aunt Barbara's 92nd birthday. I called to sing the Happy Birthday song to her this afternoon and she sounded just like she always has. We had a little chat and a few laughs and rang off. I was disappointed in my cousins because she said neither of them sang to her when they called. Get with the program, guys! Birthday calls require a song! I looked for a picture of her and found this one of her with my mom the weekend of DD's wedding. Aunt B is on the right. 

 

I was quick enough to snap a picture of a Chickadee today. Two of them were tag teaming the suet nuggets. The other one was on the side so it was easier to see but this is the one that held still the longest. You take what you can get.

 

For today's drawing I chose a Dolphin. I like the way it turned out and even like the color blue I used to color it in. Even though blue is not one of my favorite colors. 

 

As I was leaving for OJ's soccer game I spied this baby bunny munching away on the clover. It's so tiny, I'm sure it's one of the ones that ducked into the hobbit hole last night.

 

Speaking of OJ's soccer game it rained a lot yesterday and overnight so the field was squishy. Turns out a ball doesn't roll well when it's wet and on wet grass. In places there was a considerable splash when the ball landed and other places the ball would land and just stop, not roll. However, OJ had his best game of the season. He attacked the ball and made some good kicks. One almost made a goal but it squeaked by the goal post on the wrong side. Rats.

 

I read through more chapters of the next Seaview Series manuscript. I didn't find much to add but at least I didn't find any glaring mistakes like I did the other day. Did I tell you about that? I realized Rose had a couple stay over an extra week and then introduced more guests than she had rooms for in the next chapter. Oops. I added a little more action in an arrest the bad guys scene today. More action is always good.

--Barbara