One Pretty Lily

Man, it was a hot one today. Humid too. So I didn't go outside much. I went out to fill the birdbath because it was nearly empty and I took a lily picture. Well, I reached out for the mail, too, but that hardly counts.

 

Another plant has buds on it but it won't flower until late next month. It's sedum and it has fleshy leaves and clusters of flowers that the bees love. One of the sedums blooms pinkish and the other is more bronze-ish. I like the bronze one better.

 

I spent most of the day back here at the laptop making a timeline outline of Three Cheers for Murder to see where I need more story. And there's a lot of room for improvement. One thing I discovered was a glitch in the time sequence so I did some cutting and pasting to rearrange the parts and a lot of making sure the day designation was right. I realized that it's been nearly 30 years since I wrote this and it's holding up pretty well. I'm glad I've got the how-to book to help me whip it into shape.

 

After I finished with the manuscript for the day, I decided to paint. Really paint, not coloring book paint, so I taped paper to a plexiglass board and started. I didn't really have a plan, I just wanted to paint a sky and water which turned out pretty well. The foreground is so-so. Next time I'll have a plan. That seems to work better.

 

I was lucky enough to catch two Sparrows on the round green feeder. At one point there were about five birds on there but as soon as I even thought about picking up the camera, they all flew away. Sheesh. Twice now I've seen a squirrel land on top of the feeder and try to figure out how to get down to the goodies. Both times it leaned over too far and fell off. Oh, too bad.

 

I even made time to draw a gratitude journal page. I think I'm most grateful that I didn't have to go outside in the hot and humid much.

 

Is there some kind of rule that every bag of apples has to have one rotten one?  The first bag I bought had one that was so rotten it was flat and squishy. Ick. This bag had one with a rotten core. I thought I could cut away the rotten parts but that didn't work. I like apples. I like having one for a snack in the afternoon. I don't like rotten apples.

The lawn mowers came and we decided together that the grass wasn't really long enough to mow so they went away. The lawn looks okay and it saved me money. A win-win.

--Barbara 

Figured It Out

It only took a squirrel a couple of days to figure out how to get up to the grape jelly. When I first saw this squirrel it had its back feet holding onto the top of a crook and was leaning across to the jelly dish with its nose buried. By the time I got the camera up and ready, it was where you see it. In the dish. It sniffed the orange but went right back to gobbling the jelly. One bad thing. By repositioning the feeder post and not being able to bury it as deep in the ground, I can't see if there's any jelly left in the dish or not. I'll figure it out.

I was quick enough to catch two Chickadees. Too fast to have a sharp focus image but at least you can see both of them.

 

This morning I signed up on a site called Booksprout where other members will read and review your books. I have to read and review theirs in exchange. Reviews sell books, so any way I can get more is a good thing. We'll see how this goes.

 

The dark red & yellow day lilies are still blooming every day. I went out this evening to take their picture because taking a picture in full sun is just too bright. it washes out the color.

 

This is a hosta flower stalk. I never think of them as having flowers but they do. Not very flashy but still they have flowers.

 

Today I drew and colored Foxglove. It turned out way better than I thought it would when I turned the page and saw what I had to draw.

 

And I even drew a gratitude journal page before coming back here to blog. I'm most grateful today for reading about a feature of the genre in the book and having an idea that I ran with. Before I knew it I had over three pages of narration and dialogue, plus a few ideas for further ways to extend the idea. The way things are shaking out, I suspect I'll be rewriting this manuscript using what I have now as the framework and hanging new ideas on it. I'm leaving Sailing the Seas alone until cda and I are done critiquing it. It came to me last week that this is the last run through so I need to stop fiddling with it and just be patient to hear what she has to say.

 

I started knitting the body rounds on Scrap Hat #5 tonight. There are only six rounds but I think I might add a couple more just to make the hat cover somebody's ears better. I don't have to worry about running out of yarn. I have a big bag of all sorts of leftovers I can add. And there's more downstairs. Much more.

 

 --Barbara

Learning

Today I read the next part of How to Write a Cozy Mystery. I learned a few things. Mostly how much I don't know about this genre. But I'm learning and willing to change my manuscript to fit the genre. The only part I'm not so sure I want to follow is to have the murder offstage, as it were. Then I started tucking the new parts into the old part, switching things around, and fleshing out other parts. One surprising recommendation is to have three, four, or five books written and ready to be published so you can get them out in quick succession. Would I have enough patience to do that? Finish a manuscript and not publish the book right away? I don't know.

 

On August 1, the BookFunnel promo I joined the other day kicks off, so today I posted the link on Facebook, both on my personal page as well as my author page. I also wrote an email to be sent to my email list on Saturday telling all my readers about the promo. As of today, there are 8 books in the promo so maybe I'll sell one or two this time. That'd be nice.

 

I tried and tried and finally caught a picture of a Sparrow on the new green feeder. At times there were a few Sparrows on the new feeder, but they'd fly away when I moved my hand toward the camera. Usually they're not so camera shy. Maybe it's the new feeder making them nervous.

 

Today's watercolor page is Clover. It doesn't look like any of the clover that grows in my yard or any clover that I recognize but it was okay to paint. I like the two-toned leaves but I was too heavy handed painting the veins on them. I have a hard time making thin lines with the pointy tip of the brush. Sometimes I can do it. Not today.

 

Here's the last Dad's rose for a while. When I came back from my walk today it was the only one that wasn't shedding petals.

 

One of the squirrels spent quite a bit of time up on top of the patio umbrella staring at the feeders. I figure it was trying to decide the best way to tackle the problem of how to get back to the grape jelly.

 

I even made time to draw a gratitude journal page this evening. I was grateful it was cooler and less humid today which made my walk much more enjoyable. I confess, I don't go walking if it's too hot and muggy.

 

In good book-selling news, yesterday I looked at the Amazon reports to find that I sold six books that day. Six! One each of four titles and two of another. That hardly ever happens. There's no way I can tell if six different people bought or one bought five and one bought one. I do not care. I'm just happy they sold. 

--Barbara 

Not For Lack of Trying

This squirrel tried its best to get up to the jelly and orange half by climbing the feeder pole, but that's one of the ones I reattached the Slinky to, so it would grab and the spring would sag. It would let go, then try another feeder. Same story. Grab, sag, let go. It went around about four or five times and never got up on any feeder. Oh too bad.

 

This morning I drew a gratitude journal page for yesterday. Sometimes it's easier to do it for the day before than to carve out time in the evening. 

 

After it stopped raining, I went over to the birdseed store to see if I couldn't find a new feeder to replace the one that gets gunked up with wet seed. Turned out it was wet and moldy seed. Yuk. Anyway I found this 3-tube feeder that seems like it'll empty faster and be easier to clean. Some Sparrows landed on it but I wasn't fast enough to get a picture. Next time.

 

Today's watercolor is a Ladybug. It was fun to paint. While I was painting it, I realized that this book is kind of like paint-by-numbers without the numbers. One of these days I'll go back to painting without the sketch to fill in, but for now I'm having fun.

 

I sat down after supper and knitted a few rounds on the Scrap Hat #5. Only two or three more ribbing rounds before it's time to knit a few rounds even for the hat body and then the nine rounds of crown decreases. I should be able to knit faster with big needles and a big handful of yarn, but wrangling five yarns is a bit of a challenge.

 

Once I turned off the TV, I sat down and drew a gratitude journal page for today. Look at me! Two in one day! My biggest gratitude today was getting to give LC a ride to her trombone lesson this evening. DS and DIL1 had an unavoidable meeting so I got to be the designated driver. I don't get to see her often enough so it was a real treat.

 

There are a couple more tiny yellow mums on the plant in front. The purple ones are about the size of silver dollars but the yellow ones are smaller than dimes. Pretty color, though.

 

Every day I have a little mandarin orange with my lunch. They're usually seedless. Today's was not. In an orange barely bigger than a ping pong ball there were 29 seeds. 29!!! Yes, I counted them because I couldn't believe how many I had to spit out. That orange should have gone to Svalbard to the seed vault to preserve the species.

 

--Barbara 

I Refilled Them All

The other night I said I planned to be stingy with the bird/squirrel feeder filling. Well, I haven't seen many birds over the last few days and I miss them, even the bratty little Sparrows. So I filled everything today. It was time to refill the Hummingbird feeder too. I pulled up and repositioned the Oriole feeder. It was leaning forward from the weight of marauding squirrels so I made it stand up straighter. I didn't get it as deep into the ground but it's not going anywhere.

 

The first squirrel I saw, actually, the first squirrel part I saw was this tail hanging out of the square green feeder. I think I need to replace that feeder because when it rains the seed in the ports gets wet and kind of solidifies so the ports are effectively blocked. I'll go over to the birdseed store tomorrow or Tuesday and see what they've got.

 

Then another squirrel was hanging on the suet nuggets and having a lovely snack. That squirrel sniffed the orange but didn't stay long and didn't move over to the jelly. We'll see how long it takes for them to realize that the sweet goodies are back. While I was filling feeders, I reattached two Slinkys on the crooks. Maybe they'll deter the squirrels a bit. Probably not, but I have hope.

 

Today's watercolor is a Fern. It was more tedious than fun to paint. All those tiny leaves and I don't think it looks very fern-y. I like the brownish greenish paint color though.

 

When I was going through my emails this morning, one of them was a Book Funnel sales promo offer. I looked at it and my books qualify for the promo--clean and wholesome--so I signed up Better Than Mom's and Anneke's Legacy. Even though I didn't sell any ebooks or audiobooks in the last two promos I was in, I'm not giving up. It doesn't cost anything to be in them and all I have to do is send the info to my email list and advertise on social media. I can do that.

 

Dad's roses are still blooming a little. The big flush of flowers is past but there are a few still out there looking beautiful and smelling awesome.

 

After supper I sat and watched TV and knitted on Scrap Hat #5. Two of the strands I was carrying ran out so I had to dig around in the bag to find other yarns to add in. One I had to just join by knitting it into the next stitch, leaving a nice tail to weave in at the end, and the other I could tie the two together with a magic knot and have no tails.

 

I spent hours working on adding a sidekick to Three Cheers for Murder. I dreamed her up yesterday when I was following the worksheets I printed off, so today I wrote a page about her in her store and talking to the main character. Then I skimmed the manuscript to find the parts that I'd highlighted in red that needed big changes and put them in separate documents to work on at my leisure. I really like the sidekick. Her name is Juno Windsong and she sells crystals, herbs, and Tarot cards in her shop The Queen of Wands. It's next door to The Alchemists, the main character's lotion shop and across the street from another character's bookstore. She'll be fun to write and insert into the story. I also have to dumb down the detective. Maybe dumb down is the wrong way to put it. He has to be a little bumbling so the main character/sleuth can figure out the culprit before he does.

--Barbara 

The Great Orange Rind Heist

When I opened the patio door drapes this morning, the orange rind was on the patio and it was empty of any pulp. Soon a squirrel came and shoved its head into the rind and started gnawing on it. The squirrel was working hard at getting all of the good out of it.

 

After a while of gnawing away, it picked up the orange rind, scampered across the lawn, and scaled the privacy fence. It sat on top of the fence eating the remains of grape jelly off the bottom of the rind. The next time I glanced out, the squirrel and the orange rind were gone. Evidently it took it back to its lair. Or dropped it and gave up. One or the other. I prefer the lair idea. (Sorry the picture's blurry. It was far away and I knew if I opened the patio door, the squirrel would skedaddle.)

 

I love my new watercolor book. It's like a coloring book, except for paint instead of crayons or markers. I can see I'm going to have a lot of fun with this. And the good news is I've got a flowers book just like it. When I got that first book I used separate paper taped to a board and sketched the flower, then followed the directions to paint it. If I get tired of the In The Woods book, I can switch to the flowers book. Or maybe do one and then the other. Anyway, today's picture is a Caterpillar. Cool, huh?

 

When I finished painting, I picked up a packet of worksheets I printed off yesterday from the website of the author of How to Write a Cozy Mystery. I know that cozy readers have specific expectations so I got the book and worked through planning the sleuth, community, sidekick, law enforcement figure, and world of the book. Since I have a partial manuscript, I didn't have to make up some of the stuff she said to figure out but some of it was new and other questions helped clarify things. It felt good to sit with paper and pencil to write out my thoughts instead of typing them on the computer. I should do that more often.

 

A Robin visited the birdbath this afternoon. I thought it might take a bath and Robins are enthusiastic bathers so they're fun to watch. But it only hopped around, took a sip of water, and flew away.

 

I spent a lot of the day listening to an audiobook that had me in its thrall. I'd listen for a while and then turn it off to do something else, something more active. But soon enough I'd have the audiobook on again. I finally gave up and just listened to The End and then drew a gratitude journal page for today.

 

It feels like I go to the grocery every other day, but I really don't. I only go when I'm out of bananas, which works out to every 5-8 days, depending on how many I buy and how green they are when I get them. I went to the grocery today for bananas and a few other items. At least it gets me out and walking around every few days.

Oh, after my shower this morning I got out a clean pair of capris. When I unfolded them to put them, on a sock fell out of them. A sock that has been missing for about a year. I knew it had to be stuck somewhere. It was a nice surprise to find it and reunite it with its partner.

Do you realize that a week from today it will be August 1? Where does the time go? 

 --Barbara

And It's On The Ground

Look what was looking back at me when I glanced out the patio door this evening. That's right, the juvenile delinquent squirrel was back on the Oriole feeder, rearranging things, and eating as much of the grape jelly as it could reach. It also looks like it's daring me to chase it away.

 

Then it jumped down, leaped onto the perch of the square green feeder from a patio chair, and scooted into the feeder for a seed snack to top it off. Having dessert first before the main course, I guess.

 

Just now here's what I saw when I went to draw the drapes. The orange rind is now on the ground with its sticky bottom full of grape jelly on the patio blocks. I am not going to hurry out to refill that feeder tomorrow.

 

One of the House Finches managed to find some grape jelly that wasn't stuck to the orange rind. There's no way I can keep the dratted tree rats out of the sweet jelly and fruit. I've got one orange half in the fridge and a new jar of grape jelly but I'm going to be stingy with it. I'll get another couple oranges next week when I have to go get bananas. If they're lucky.

 

I went over to Michaels for a picture frame this morning and bought extra stuff. Of course. My big purchase, aside from 2 frames, was this watercolor book. The pages are watercolor paper with pale gray sketches on the left page and instructions and illustrations on the right page. You're meant to paint right in the book.

 

So I tried the first one. Acorns. I had better luck with the acorn cap on the left. I struggled with the crosshatching on the one on the right. It's kind of fun not having to draw before painting, just slap the paint on, but I still need to practice patience to let the paint dry between layers. I have a hard time with that.

 

When I turned out of the frames aisle I was faced with a display of cotton yarn. This Bright Jewels Ombre caught my attention. It jumped into the cart. I had a coupon.

 

Friday Night Knitting was cut short this evening because the California knitters went to bingo at Ikea so they left after only an hour of knitting and the other Wisconsin knitter is out of town so that left just me and I wasn't going to sit on Zoom with myself. I knitted a couple rounds on the Dark Teal Chemo Hat and called it a night.

 

Then in the living room, I caught sight of a tote bag of yarn and couldn't remember what was in it. It was filled with random yarn of various thicknesses and big needles that I'd used to knit Scrap Hats. So I cast on a new one, just because. I only knitted the first round after the cast on but it's a start. What else am I going to knit now that I've finished the teddy bears?

 

I drew yesterday's gratitude journal page this morning and eked out time to draw one for today after supper and before Friday Night Knitting. My big accomplishment today was taking a walk.

 

--Barbara