Holy Cow

Last month, I subscribed to the Sunday Letter Writing Project on Substack. The first prompt I received was to write about your favorite tree, so I wrote a letter to my DD about our family tree. (See what I did there?) The next one was to write one you didn't expect to arrive, so I wrote to the author J.A. Jance telling her how much I admire her writing and her flood of books over her career. I told her that I'm a writer too and a bit about the subjects of my stories. SHE ANSWERED! I got a thick envelope in the mail today with a printout of her email reply. She'd sent it last week when I was at The Clearing and when she didn't get a quick answer, she sent hers snail-mail like mine. I found her email in my long list of unread ones from last week and replied immediately, letting my supper sit and cool. She told me about how she didn't start until mid-life, like me and my characters, and offered to send me a pdf of her poetry book. Yes, please! She answered right back with an apology for her cranky reply and the poetry book pdf. I'm over the moon.

 

Yesterday there was a trio of young-looking squirrels (thin, not-very-fluffy tails) cavorting around on the patio. Today this one with a very bushy tail hung on the round feeder for a long time investigating each and every feeding port to sample the goodies. The young ones did battle with the horse head feeder and finished off the cob corn kernels.

 

Here's the other Red-bellied Woodpecker picture from yesterday. I didn't spend much time at the table today so I didn't see many birds. When I looked at the SD card from the camera tonight I was glad I'd taken two pictures yesterday because there's slim pickings today.

 

Today I gave myself the job of rereading Three Cheers for Murder to see if I'm using dialogue as an info dump, which means to give information as dialogue, or telling rather than showing. People don't really talk like that so it needs to be changed. And I was also looking for descriptions that were too long and unnecessary. Those were two of the comments I got in the roundtable critiques from last week. I got up to Chapter 21 out of 29 and made quite a few deletions and revisions. I stopped where I did because I have a feeling that Chapter 21 will be a real challenge to revise. It's where the antagonist gave too much away in earlier versions so I'm sure I'll have to scale it back even more to preserve a little of the mystery. Although the sleuth is hot on the trail.

 

I did make the time this morning to draw a gratitude journal page for yesterday. I'm trying to make the sun a more interesting shape instead of the same tired circle every time, and I chickened out on drawing a whole person for my walk. Oh well.

 

Speaking of chicken, the other day I shopped at Metro Market instead of Meijer. At Metro Market they have cooked white meat chicken chunks in the deli case which is great for quick meals. I bought some and made curried chicken salad for lunches this week. It's yummy. I'm toasting some low-WW-point bread to use as a chicken salad conveyance device. Lovely.

 

After supper I drew a couple poppies in a jar. I like the dashed arc that suggests the bottom of the jar. For some reason that really pleases me.

 

I contacted my two local, eagerly waiting, male readers today and sold a copy of Sailing the Seas to each of them. It's so satisfying to have them call or email asking when they can get the new book, please! 

I probably could have gotten away with wearing sandals again today but I wore tennis shoes and socks so I could put my orthotic in the shoes. Arch support is a good thing. It was my day to pick up LC and OJ from piano and take them home. I get there a little early so I can walk around the block while I wait. OJ finishes first and plays with the teacher's outside kitty or reads a book while he waits. He asked if there's another one of my books he can read but the rest of them are a little too adult for a 10-year-old to read. He was okay with that.

Lately many more people are reading this blog. I don't know what changed but instead of 20-40 readers, I'm getting closer to 100. Not that I'm complaining, you understand, I'm kind of amazed and confused by it. I hope I don't disappoint.

--Barbara 

Today Felt Like Summer

It was sunny and 80 degrees today, but not too humid, so it felt the way summer is supposed to feel in Wisconsin. Leaves are turning colors and falling so I got to crunch through the fallen leaves on my afternoon walk. You can tell how warm it was because I'm still wearing sandals. But probably won't be wearing them tomorrow when it's supposed to be 63 for the high tomorrow. Maybe I'll still wear sandals. We'll see what my toes have to say about it.

 

The chrysanthemums are blooming at the appropriate time now. Many of the buds of the golden yellow mums opened while I was gone but they stay a long time so I didn't miss them.

 

The bronze ones next to them are blooming too.

 

And the purple ones which started blooming in July (!!!) are still blooming. The early bloomers are browning now but there are still plenty of fresh flowers to be admired.

 

A Red-bellied Woodpecker made repeated visits to the round birdseed feeder, landing one time with its back to me so I could see all of it but moved before I even got the camera into my hands. So I had to snap photos when I saw its head. Four of the six shots showed a headless bird but I managed to get most of the bird on two of them. I'll save one for tomorrow.

 

Today I drew Pussy Willow. It was a little challenging but I think it turned out okay. I thought about painting but couldn't decide what to paint so I just drew and colored.

 

I finished going through the roundtable critiques from last week. Lots of good comments, lots of helpful insights. Man, I wish I had that group to present to and get help from all the time.

--Barbara 

The October Wisconsin Squirrel Report

Today's first squirrel sighting was this young one sitting on top of the patio umbrella. It wasn't looking down on the feeders so I wasn't sure what it was doing up there. Maybe just being up high.

 

Then I saw this one hanging onto the round feeder nibbling seeds and peanut halves from the ports. It moved around until it was hanging on sideways so it must have checked out each port for goodies.

 

The best squirrel action was this evening. I watched a squirrel running along the top of the retaining wall and when it got up to the hanging horse head feeder, the feeder was turning and it turned to look at the squirrel. The squirrel startled so hard it fell off the top of the wall. It clung to the edge and pulled itself up, then looked around as if to see if someone saw it. I'm sure if it could talk, it would have said, "EEK!" Too funny. Unfortunately it happened so fast and is too far away for a clear picture so you get to see the feeder without a squirrel.

 

Yesterday at the craft show, GBB looked up "magic wand" on her phone (I don't know why) and an "adult" site popped up. She said that was definitely not what she was looking for. But the booth behind us had these jeweled plant sticks that look like magic wands so I asked how much they were and was told $6 or 2/$10. I thought about getting a couple but the booth owner offered 2 for free since we'd been giving her info about how to publish a book her daughter wrote and illustrated as a child. That was nice of her. Not surprisingly, I chose a red one. I gave her my card and said she could email me if she wanted help with self-publishing. 

 

Since one of the other classes at The Clearing last week was oil painting, I was motivated to paint today. I pulled one of my framed first watercolors off the wall and tried to paint it again. It isn't great but it isn't terrible either. I like the way the sky and the birch trees turned out. I'm getting better at birch trees.

 

I spent a lot of the day slogging through the emails I got over the last week. There's no internet service in the rooms at The Clearing, so I used my cellphone's hotspot every day to save my writing to the cloud and sort emails. It's a good thing I have unlimited data. During the week, I'd delete the emails that I knew I didn't need or want to read, but that left a lot of them to read today. Plus I had to pay the bills that came during the week. 

Finally this evening I pulled out the copies of Chapter 1 of Not Fair to go through the comments made during my roundtable critique session last week. Lots of helpful comments and suggestions. I deleted a bunch of unneeded verbiage and added character details that were missing. I was assuming that people would read the first book first so I wouldn't have to give all the character details in the second book. Wrong. My other booboo is giving too much exposition in the form of dialogue. It isn't natural sounding. Another thing to watch for in Book 1.

I was going to take a walk today but I never got around to it. Bad girl. I did get my writing things put away and the crate and suitcase hauled downstairs and put away, so that's something. 

DD called this evening after getting IT tucked into bed, so I'm late blogging. It was so good to talk to her. I really like her. Isn't that lucky?

--Barbara 

Back Home!

I made it. Last night I left The Clearing right after the end of the Friday night Show & Tell and drove straight home. In the dark. Watching every mile for deer crossing the road. I got home, unloaded the car, reloaded the car with book sale needs, unpacked so I could find my phone charger, and finally got to bed around 11 pm.

 

The West High Boosters Fall Craft Show started at 9 am, so we had to be there to set up around 8. There was a guy in the parking lot telling us what booth we had and which door to use. They even had students with flatbed carts to help us move our stuff into the gym. Big help since I had to haul my own chair in addition to the regular books, display rack, and bag of other display items. The sale was pretty successful. I sold four books--two novels and two novellas. However it didn't occur to me not to wear red. The school colors are purple and white. Red and white are the colors of their crosstown rivals, but I don't think it affected my sales.

 

However those four books can't hold a candle to the seventeen (17!!!) books I sold between October 3rd and 9th. Since I received the first author copies of Sailing the Seas on Saturday morning before I left for The Clearing, I called OtherWorlds Books & More in Sturgeon Bay and asked if I could stop in on my way through town. The offer was accepted so I drove into town and sold four books to the bookstore. While I stood there talking to the owner and getting paid for the books, a customer picked up a copy, read the back, and said, "I'll take this." !!!!! I did a modified happy dance when I got into the car to continue my drive up the peninsula. The members of my class were eager to look at my books and one of them, an old friend, wanted the whole Seaview Series to gift to a friend who is having surgery with a long recovery. That was a big, profitable surprise.

 

This morning while eating my breakfast, I nearly choked when I saw what had arrived while I was away. There was a flock of about five Juncos in the backyard. This one visited under the round feeder so I could take its picture. Those birds migrate from the arctic because it's so much warmer down here. Ha! (Although today it got over 80 degrees, tomorrow and Monday too, then it's back to the 50s and 60s)

 

The next time I looked up there was a Red-bellied Woodpecker on the round feeder which was the only one with seed in it. The suet nuggets feeder was empty and the suet cakes looked pretty picked over. It flew away as soon as I snapped the picture.

 

Right away it was replaced by this little Downy Woodpecker. It stayed a little longer but I was running out of gawking time so I had to get myself going and get to the high school to set up for the craft fair.

 

I tried to take a sunset picture last night from the path down to the Schoolhouse for Show & Tell but couldn't find a clear spot so this is all I got. It was pretty orange when we left the Lodge but by the time we got down the path it was fading quickly. You can barely see the orange horizon through the leaves.

 

Fall colors were just starting to pop late in the week. This tree was half vivid orange and half greenish across the street from Kick Ash, a shop and cafe in Ellison Bay where cda and I went to buy granola and a few other tidbits to take home. 

 

It was a great writing week at The Clearing. We have Monday afternoon, all of Tuesday, and Wednesday morning for what she calls Quiet Writing Time. Hours and hours of it. cda and I sit in our room; she edits and I write. We're not especially quiet because we keep interrupting each other to ask a question, make a comment, or read something. But I wrote about 12 pages of Not Fair, the second cozy mystery. One thing I learned when I read the first chapter of book 2 to the class and got feedback is that I probably need to go back to book 1 and make some changes. That's okay. I wasn't sure it was ready to be left alone just yet anyway. We did an editing exercise on Monday morning in class that was a real eye-opener. I only hope I can be as dispassionate and ruthless when I tackle book 1's manuscript as I was with that little free write. I have a bad habit of thinking that what I write is just fine. Not perfect, but fine. I need to get over that. It'll make me a better writer, I think.

I was happy to be back in my own bed with my own bathroom last night. I miss the lovely (too generous) meals and the wonderful group of writers I met, but I'm glad to be home. I think. There's still my plastic crate of writing stuff to be put away but I was just too darned tired last night to tackle it and too darned busy today to do it. I had to go pick up two prescriptions, birdseed and suet nuggets, bananas, blueberries, and lunch food this afternoon so it didn't happen. I'll get to it tomorrow, I'm sure.

After I got home from my errands today, I filled the bird feeders and the horse head squirrel feeder. The birdbath was dry so I filled that too. This morning I had a little birdseed left so I dumped it into the round feeder so the Sparrows and Woodpeckers found it. Hopefully other birds will get the message and the squirrels too.

I'm glad to be home and back talking to you. I hope the latest hurricane didn't hit Fort Myers. 

--Barbara 

Visitor in Blue

The Bluejays were back today. This one came down onto the patio chair to remind me that the cob corn was empty, I think. Their raucous cries caught my ear when I was at my desk so I went out to see what the problem was. I refilled the cob corn and they got quiet. Or flew away.

 

Today we drew Poppies. Well, I drew one poppy because my paper is quite a bit smaller than hers and I skipped drawing a second, smaller one off to the left of the stem. Then she segued into drawing poppies in a vase but I had things to do so I skipped that too. Maybe I'll go back and catch the second half of that video when I get home.

 

Sparrows made themselves at home on the round feeder. They flit and flutter, changing places, hoping to find the best place to eat seeds.

 

The tiny Stella d'Oro lily bud bloomed today. I didn't notice another bud so maybe this is the last of them. I won't be home next week to see if there are more.

 

In the afternoon I took the time to draw a gratitude journal page for yesterday. I like the new sun shape I drew and I'm always pleased at the way I draw my vehicle. Who doesn't love a red car?

 

At Friday Night Knitting, I made it to the crown decreases on the Pale Orange & Tangelo Chemo Hat. I'm about halfway through them and will be done before you know it. When I get home, that is.

 

I finished packing to go to The Clearing tomorrow. I reprinted what I'm taking to be workshopped, thereby wasting paper and ink, but I realized that what I'd printed at first is nearly done and would be more showing off than asking for help. Chapter 1 of Not Fair is a better choice, plus it's three pages shorter. Also I switched out a couple short-sleeved tees for long-sleeved shirts. It's supposed to be in the 60s next week and it's always cooler and breezier up there between Lake Michigan and the bay of Green Bay.

I'll be back here next Saturday. I'll miss you but I'll try to post a few pictures on Facebook so you know I'm still alive.

Oh, and I got the shipping notice for Sailing the Seas author copies. They'll be delivered by UPS on Tuesday. When I'm out of town, dammit. Why can't they have come last Tuesday when I was home and could take some with me to The Clearing? No, that would have been too convenient. I'm not over my frustration. Not by a long shot. Can you tell?

--Barbara 

Grateful

I realized this morning that I'd skipped drawing gratitude journal pages for the last two days of September, so I knuckled down and drew them this morning. It's a good thing I keep a Bullet Journal so I can look back on the pages to remember what I did. First I did Tuesday's page. I was most grateful for finally getting a haircut.

 

On Wednesday I was most grateful for seeing the Cooper's Hawk on the backyard privacy fence. It's always a good day when I see a Hawk. And I was grateful for having coffee and a muffin with my writer friend, GBB.

 

Today I saw the Red-bellied Woodpecker on the suet nuggets. I'm coming to believe that it has a preferred spot to eat there because it's always on the back side with its head on the right. It reminds me of having a regular seat at the family table.

 

I found another set of drawing videos. They're by the same teacher so they're just line drawings. Today we drew leaves, one separate leaf and then five on a branch. 

 

Tonight was my monthly knitting with the ex-board of knitting guild. KE made ham and cheese sliders, CS made roasted veggies, DM made beer cheese dip, and I bought fancy cookies. They drink wine, I drink water. We talk and talk and talk and we even knit. I thought I was to the crown decreases on the Pale Orange & Tangelo Chemo Hat but I was a couple of inches short so all I had to do was knit and purl around and around. Not much thinking needed. We gifted DM some things for her upcoming granddaughters. I knitted two teddy bears, CS knitted two tiny sweaters, and KE bought Dr. Seuss books for grandma's house.

 

This squirrel tried very hard to break into the round birdseed feeder. I don't know what it thought it would do but it gnawed away at the wires on the top for a long time. Then it turned around and ate seeds out of the feeding ports.

 

I did laundry today. A lot of laundry. A load of undies and socks, a load of towels, and two loads of sheets. Coupled with the two loads of clothing I did yesterday, it was a lot. It had been a long time since I did laundry and it showed. I only took a short walk while I waited in the school pickup line because I spent so much time going up and down the basement stairs.

I worked on Not Fair today and dropped the first body. It kind of feels too early in the story but I guess you have to start things with a bang. I'll double check the how-to book and adjust if need be. It's early days yet.

Man, I'm tired. I'm going to slap some photos on here and hit the hay. Good night.

--Barbara 

Hawk!

I looked out the window over the kitchen sink this morning when I went to make breakfast and there was a Cooper's Hawk sitting on the privacy fence. Naturally it flew away just when I got the camera turned on and was about to focus on it. So I went back into the archives for a hawk picture for you to enjoy. I did not choose the one where it's got a dead bird pinned to the patio to spare your delicate sensibilities. You're welcome.

 

This afternoon I put together pieces of Not Fair, book 2 of the cozies, into one document and discovered that I have Chapter 1 and the beginning of Chapter 2. Eleven whole pages! I'm going to get a lot of the story written next week, I just know it. One thing I have to do is make sure I take notes of the things rolling around in my head so no ideas get lost.

 

DS finally had time to visit with me today while he brewed the next batch of Yard Games IPA. Here he's weighing out hops to put into one of the Brewer For a Day beers that's fermenting away in the brew house. It was good to see him and get to hear about Scouts with OJ and playing trombone with LC. They are so busy. I'm confident that they both just fall into bed at night and are out like a light.

 

Here's today's version of the Wisconsin Squirrel Report. I was entertained watching a squirrel working very hard to get corn kernels out of the horse head feeder. It's too bad I can't take a decent picture because it's sure fun to watch. Then there was this nearby squirrel cozied up to the round feeder eating suet nuggets like it was all for him.

 

Today was the last drawing prompt for this series of videos. It was Telephone which was pretty much fun to draw. I turned off the audio so I wasn't sure what I was drawing on the last one. Turned out it was a cellphone with app icons on the screen. And here I thought I was drawing number keys. I'll have to search out a new series of drawing videos tomorrow.

 

Look at what I did after lunch. I went downstairs to start the laundry (which reminds me I need to go downstairs and hang up the dry things and put the wet things in the dryer so they don't decay overnight) and carried up my suitcase. Then I started packing for my trip to The Clearing on Saturday. Saturday! It's coming at an alarming speed. I printed off 10 copies of the first chapter of Three Cheers for Murder to share with the group when it's my turn for feedback too. I think I try to do too many things at once which is why the laundry almost got forgotten.

 

I met a friend for coffee this morning at a place I thought was a cafe. Turned out it's a breakfast and lunch place. I expected fancy coffee (which they had) and fancy pastries (which they didn't have), but they had blueberry muffins which were tasty and went well with a mug of coffee. It's been a long time since I went out for coffee. I enjoyed it and hope to do it again.

--Barbara