Not So Far

I saw a squirrel near the new horse head squirrel feeder but it didn't investigate the horse head. I didn't go  out to clip away the greenery underneath it or untie and lower it today. I just wasn't in the mood. Sorry the picture is dark and blurry. It's far away from the patio door and if I open the door the squirrels run away.

 

I did draw the new squirrel feeder on the gratitude journal page for yesterday and also that I got the Covid booster I wanted to get on Wednesday but they didn't have until Saturday.

 

It surprised me to see leaves changing color on one of the trees I pass on my walk. The humidity was much lower today so I walked. I don't walk if the humidity is over the moon, I just don't. But anyway, that tree is always the first one to drop its leaves. They kind of look like they're skipping the colorful phase and going right to brown and crunchy.

 

Dad's rose keeps opening new buds. I took pictures with my phone and see that the focus isn't good. Sorry about that, but now it's too dark to go out to take a decent picture so we'll have to make do with the blurry one.

 

Today's drawing prompt was Pitcher so she drew five different ones and I copied along. They're okay. Not very exciting but pretty simple to draw. I sort of signed up for a watercolor tutorial online but it looked like I had to download WhatsApp in order to join and I didn't want to do that. But evidently I was in the class because I got a replay. Haven't watched it yet but I will.

 

Tonight's supper was the last homegrown tomato in the larder. And it was yellow! I don't think I've ever eaten a yellow tomato before. It was good and juicy. Not quite as sweet as the red one I ate last night but way better than a grocery store tomato. 

 

I cashed in a credit on ProWritingAid this afternoon for a Manuscript Analysis of Three Cheers for Murder. I did it because I felt stuck for what to do to make it cozier and got lots of suggestions which I'll go through one by one and see what I can fix or change. 

In the afternoon I finished putting 2025 and 2026 book purchases and sales on Excel spreadsheets. Then I added up sales for all 4 years I have numbers for. It looks like I've sold 459 books since January of 2023. I didn't keep track of any sales I made from September 2022 to the end of that year so I know I sold a few more but don't know how many. To be honest, I thought I'd sold more than that but I guess not. And I haven't got a clue how many I've sold on Amazon. I wonder if that's something they keep track of. Next I'll count how many books I have on hand and subtract that number from how many I've purchased, that might give a more accurate number. All of this math-ing makes me tired.

--Barbara 

Bring On the Squirrels

I hung up my new, horse head squirrel feeder this afternoon and filled the snout with corn kernels. I think maybe I hung it too high but that remains to be seen. (It's kind of creepy looking, isn't it?) A squirrel found the kernels that fell out when I overfilled it but I didn't see it investigate the horse head. I may have to go out with clippers and trim back the greenery under it. Time will tell.

 

A Downy Woodpecker couldn't make up its mind which feeder to eat from.  Suet nuggets or birdseed? The first time I (almost) saw it, it landed on the back side of the round feeder at the same time a Sparrow landed on the opposite side, so the feeder didn't spin. That meant I got a glimpse of it but couldn't take a picture. The next time I saw it, it was on the nuggets, but the shot of it on the birdseed was better. So that's the one you get to see.

 

The gratitude journal for yesterday was a bit of a puzzle. What to draw? I finally ended up with a weather report, 2 zooms, and exploring Substack to find other writers, which I did and got more subscribers and followers. Very satisfying.

 

Dad's roses are still showing off. It wasn't sunny this morning and the flash was turned off so the rose looks very dark. I don't care, I still like it.

 

Sneaker was the drawing prompt today. We drew a Converse-like high top and a couple of regular sneakers. I kind of like the letters the best.

 

I was going to take down the Oriole feeder but then realized that I had another orange half in the fridge so I took down the jelly dish and put out the orange. As soon as I went back inside, the bees that are clustered around the leaky Hummingbird feeder flew over to the orange and got busy sipping the good juice. 

 

In the afternoon, I went to the pharmacy to pick up a pair of Rxs, asked if the Covid boosters had come in, and they had. So I got one. When I got home, I went downstairs to repair the pouch pocket on OJ's favorite shirt. It was a quick and easy fix. I spent the rest of the day trying to cut back Three Cheers for Murder (I have too much description) and add in more sleuth detecting. I'm not very good at that last part but I'll try to do better. DD recommended I rewatch The Sheep Detectives movie, which is a classic cozy mystery, to pick up tips. I'll do that tomorrow.

--Barbara 

Not As Hot...

 ... but still I had a melted squirrel on the patio this afternoon. I walked to the shelf next to the patio door to put something away and it sprang up from its melt. It stood there watching me out of the corner of its eye until I moved back from the glass. Then it lay back down and glared at me as if daring me to take its picture. Just as I clicked the shutter, it turned its head or you would have seen a squirrel's glare in full force.

 

A Mourning Dove and a couple of Sparrows were checking out the seed that a squirrel knocked out of the round feeder today. The squirrel was off to the side and didn't seem to be threatened by the three birds nearby.

 

Then a rabbit showed up to see if there was anything worth eating left. It was a popular spot under the round feeder this afternoon.

 

I was most grateful yesterday for my evening knitting with friends. We shared a pizza and a delicious home-grown caprese salad. I brought cheese and crackers from Aldi, which is an excellent place to find such delicacies and KE brought the chocolate cake because we were celebrating two birthdays. 

 

 

In the afternoon, the Red-bellied Woodpecker visited the refilled suet nuggets feeder but didn't pose as nicely as it did yesterday when there were hardly any nuggets there. Not very considerate.

 

Today's drawing prompt was Rose. I was leery of that because a rose is such a complex flower but it wasn't too bad. The first one on the left doesn't look very rosy, I think, but the others are okay. She drew another one but I'd run out of room so I didn't draw that one.

 

At Friday Night Knitting, I added a bunch of rounds in the Tangelo color. I was going to switch back to the Pale Orange but I weighed what I have left of that color and I'm not confident I'd have enough if I switched now. So I'll keep going with the Tangelo until I run out.

 

I spent a lot of the afternoon on Substack reading other writers' stories and subscribing to some of their Substacks. I've learned that if I comment on people's posts, they read mine, and either "like" them or follow or subscribe, so my subscriber number has jumped over the last couple of weeks. All good. The stuff I write isn't high art but people seem to enjoy it so I'll keep doing it, keep reading theirs, and commenting. Little by little I'm building up a readership. Slow but steady. I also posted my September Writing Progress letter on Substack (with a few edits) which has earned a few "likes." Makes me feel good.

--Barbara 

Determined

This squirrel was determined to get at the birdseed. It was poised on the top of the patio chair, coiled, ready to spring. Then it launched itself at the feeder, clung to it while exploring ways to get some seed to eat, and finally gave up. 

 

It didn't leave for long, though. Pretty soon the nice lady at this house refilled the feeders. When she does that, seeds and powdered suet nuggets fall onto the patio table. She leaves them there for any scavengers that come along. There's one now.

 

Before I filled the suet nuggets, the Red-bellied Woodpecker showed up and wasn't deterred by the lack of easily reached nuggets. It spent a lot of time moving around on the feeder until it finally was in a position to stab its beak through the mesh for a morsel. I took eight shots before it moved where I could really see it. Finally.

 

Leaf was the drawing prompt today. I did pretty well until she came to the maple leaf. I can't draw a maple leaf to save my soul. I start out okay and then lose it when I have to draw the other lobes of the leaf. I'd rather draw the plain, smooth sided leaves. Those I can handle.

 

The big news on the gratitude journal page was the new fridge. Also getting the flu shot and my arm barely hurts. Hooray!

 

I stepped out to take pictures of the Dad's roses that have bloomed overnight but first I had to take a picture of the little tiny yellow mums. They're so small, barely the size of a penny. I wish more of them would bloom. It'd be amazing to see the whole plant covered with flowers.

 

Here's the floral star of the show--Dad's roses. They bloom every year and every year I am thrilled to see and smell them. Thanks, Dad.

 

I had knitting tonight at DM's house and, since Tuesday was my birthday and Saturday is CS's birthday, we had cake with a little ice cream. And KE brought us flowers. Wasn't that nice of her? 

 

I finished knitting the ribbed brim of the Pale Orange Hat and added on a couple rounds of Tangelo, a darker orange, because I don't have enough of either to knit a whole hat. So I'm making stripes. 

 

CS brought tomato salad to share and extra tomatoes for us to take home so I stopped at Meijer to get another box of turkey bacon because I'm running low. It was very odd to be in the grocery at 10 o'clock at night. There's hardly any people in there then. I zipped in, paid, and zipped out because it was raining and late and I was tired. I'm still tired. I think I'll turn in.

--Barbara

Not Safe to Sit In

Today's drawing is Chairs and, I've gotta say, I don't think any of the chairs I drew are safe to sit in. Their legs jut out at odd angles and the bottom one looks like some kind of alien machine. Nope, don't sit in these chairs.

 

The other day a friend asked if I knew how many books I've sold in total. I had to confess that I don't know. That thought has been rolling around in my head and this afternoon I decided to do something about it. I went on Excel to see if any of my past tax prep spreadsheets could help. Not really, so I dug around to find the paperwork I took to the tax accountant for the last four years. First, I'm gobsmacked that I've been publishing and selling books since September 2022. I didn't start keeping track of sales until we got a booth at the winter Market on Military so that info starts in early 2023. I got through 2022 listing the books that I bought. Then I tackled 2023 with purchases and sales, making notes of trades, donations, and books left for consideration in places that never got back to me. I've finished totaling that year and basically broke even. Hopefully the next two years will have better numbers. Then I'll count up how many books I've ordered, how many I've sold, and how many I have on hand. That'll take a while but it'll be worth it. I hope. I'm not very good at Excel; I can make lists and make them add up and that's about the extent of my skills.

 

Dad's rose is still blooming. I'm glad that the overnight rain didn't beat it up or down.

 

Since yesterday was my birthday, the gratitude journal is mostly about me. As it should be. I am not unhappy at the drawing of my head and I really like the melted squirrel drawing.

 

I got a present at Writers Guild last night. GBB brought me some birthday tomatoes. One of them was my supper tonight. So very good. I don't even miss not having lettuce on my BLT. It's just a BT on toast with mayo. I'm happy with that.

 

The other day I got a text from the pharmacy that flu shots are available so I went and got one. I hoped to get a Covid booster too but they're not in yet. Then I stopped at the Maytag store and bought a new fridge which was more expensive than I thought it'd be but then everything's more expensive than I thought it'd be. My current fridge is leaking water from the auto defrost into the fridge instead of out the drain. I've had about four service calls for it and, since the thing is 22 years old, I'm giving up and getting a new one. When I got home I went on The Clearing's website and paid the rest of the fee for my class. Doing those two things made Lifelock have a hissy fit. Every time I spend over a certain amount they text and email immediately asking if it's me. I appreciate their diligence. I do not want to get hacked or scammed or whatever bad people do to sweet little old ladies like me.

-- Barbara

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today marks my 75th trip around the sun. I can't believe I'm this old. I don't feel this old... well, except when I've been sitting here writing for hours and then stand up. Then I feel old. But mostly I don't. This is another HuHot birthday picture, this time with me in the glasses.

 

Look at what DD sent me for my birthday! It's a molded plastic horse head squirrel feeder! The neck of the head is open so you hang it from a branch or a hook (I have a hook) about 10" off the ground, then you put seed or corn kernels (I have kernels) inside on the lower jaw and the squirrels stand up in the head to get the corn and look funny so you can make fun of them. I immediately got the string attached to hang it and went to the birdseed store for shelled corn. Now I'll get it hung up once it isn't 93 degrees out with 80% humidity.

 

Speaking of humidity, this is what my patio door looked like when I opened the drapes this morning. At first I was afraid that the seal between the panes had broken but as the day warmed up, the glass cleared. Whew. I do not want to have to replace the patio door since I think I need a new refrigerator. Mine has a plugged self-defrosting drain AGAIN. I used to have the problem about once a year but I had the service guy here a couple months ago for the same problem. The time between the service calls has gotten drastically shorter so it'll be less expensive to get a new fridge than to keep paying $135 every time the darned thing plugs up. It's 22 years old so I feel like I've gotten my money's worth out of it. 

 

Today's drawing is Teacups. I'm enjoying the plain line drawings rather than the complicated flowers and birds I was drawing before. It's like a vacation.

 

Here's the gratitude journal page for yesterday. The best thing was the fleeting glimpse of a Hummingbird. It came to the feeder but the feeder is leaking which draws bees which repel Hummingbirds. But I did see it fly back to the sedum to investigate those flowers.

 

I made more Character pages for my Series Bible today. This time I made pages for the secondary characters around the city with their reasons for wanting the victim dead and their alibis. 

 

I couldn't resist today's melted squirrel. It crept its front paws around until it was almost U-shaped before straightening out like you see here. You can almost hear it say, "Ah." 

 

Somebody signed up to review The Seaview on Booksprout! I'm so excited. She's a newsletter subscriber, read today's newsletter, and signed up. Just like that. Woohoo! Now I just hope she likes the book. Fingers crossed.

--Barbara 

How Hot Was It?

It was so hot today that this squirrel melted. It must have felt cool laying on its belly on the concrete because it laid there for quite a while. Seeing a squirrel like that makes me laugh.

 

While one squirrel was melting, another one was dangling from its hind feet nibbling corn kernels. It has taken them no time at all to strip all the kernels off one cob and get a great start on the other cob.

 

I was lucky enough to see a Downy Woodpecker on the suet nuggets. It was busily pecking away, turning its head this way and that, having a good snack.

 

It took some thought to figure out what to put on the gratitude journal page for yesterday. I spent time working on the outline and then I folded the basket of clean laundry and put it away. All on the same day! Imagine that.

 

I got a shipment of books this afternoon. All of them were in one HEAVY carton. Twenty novels and ten novellas weighs a lot. I could barely lift it off the porch and carry it in to put on the table to unpack it. But I got them all autographed, stickered, and bookmarked so they're ready to be sold when I need them. I have my first vendor show in about a month so I'm ready. Not that I was out of any titles but it takes a couple weeks to get author copies so I don't like to have low stock.

While I sat watching TV tonight I added a few rounds to the Pale Orange Chemo Hat. I don't have enough of this color to knit the whole hat so once I get the ribbing done I'll make a darker orange stripe. It'll look good, I promise.

 

 I read a Substack article about writing a novel series today so I took the author's advice and started a Series Bible. If I plan to write a few books with these characters and this setting (and I do), I need to get things like physical descriptions and character traits down in one place so I don't have a brown eyed sleuth in one book and have the same person's eyes change to green in another one. It was fun to gather all the info for my main characters, brainstorming what they like to wear, read, and do for fun and work. I need to do the same for minor characters that will continue from book to book too. Then I'll reread the article to see what to do next. All this learning is kinda fun.

 

I didn't feel like drawing a flower or a bird today so I opened my library in Creativebug to find a simple drawing class I could restart. The first lesson is Tree, as you can see. I think the one on the left looks like it's in a strong wind but I especially like the one on the right.

 

I'm staying indoors as much as possible. It got up to 90 today and is dreadfully humid. It's supposed to be that way tomorrow and maybe Wednesday. We'll see if I can stay home, although I have a Guild meeting tomorrow night and I'm down to one banana, so maybe not.

--Barbara