Blue Sky & Sunshine

That's what we had this afternoon. It was overcast in the morning when these Sparrows showed up at the feeder. They stayed for a little while. You can see by the wing blur that the one on the left was making its escape.

 

There was a Junco on top of a crook too. I've never seen a Junco anywhere but on the ground. They're exclusively ground feeders as far as I know so this one must be a rebel or a daredevil.

 

Here's the shot of blue sky I couldn't resist. It just looks so nice and warm but it isn't. It was probably 24 degrees, this being the heat of the day when I snapped this photo. And it's supposed to snow again in the morning. Ugh.

 

I looked down after I took that sky shot and saw bird prints in the snow that's left on the patio. Then I noticed that there's a couple of what looks like cat prints too. Could the cat I see in summer still be living outside in winter? If it is, it's a tough cat.

 

Today's flower is Peony. I'm pretty pleased with this one. I managed to draw the petals facing the viewer so that they look foreshortened like they're supposed to.

 

After supper I sat down and cast on a few stitches to knit the swatch with the wool and linen yarn I want to knit a cardigan out of. The color is called Tuscan Tan but I think it leans toward a shade of yellow. Oh well, I like yellow too. The swatch is measuring a little off in stitch count. I'm trying to decide if I should go up a needle size. Or would a smaller needle be right? I need to think. Maybe I'll try again.

 

My financial advisor called today because I had a CD come due and she wanted to know what I wanted to do with the money. "Did I need the money?" she asked. "No, not right now," I said. She had some ideas about how to reinvest it and my contribution was to say, "that sounds good," when she laid out what she thought would be best. I'm no financial whiz, in fact I'm kind of a spendthrift, but I'm doing okay and even able to save some each month. It feels good to have an advisor I can trust. Thanks, Durwood!

--Barbara 

The Flowers I'm Drawing Look Like Spring

But outside my windows it looks like this. Snow flurries most of the day. Wind blowing the snow around. I stayed indoors today. When the wind blows the snow around like it did today there's no avoiding getting it in your face and down your neck. Not comfortable. Makes me hunch my shoulders just thinking about it.

 

I spent most of the day getting Anneke's Legacy signed up on ACX (the audiobook arm of Amazon) so that my Producer, TH, and I could get it started. I sent her the manuscript and the character list, and I just tried to upload the cover art onto ACX and it wouldn't load. I don't know what the problem is. I'll try again tomorrow. TH had room on her calendar to slot it in April and have it done by the end of May. Yay! 

 

Today's flower was Pansy. Another spring bloomer. Who am I kidding? There are no flowers that bloom this time of year. I like the way it turned out. I even like the leaves. 

 

Twice this week I got packages in good boxes. You know about good boxes, right? They're the ones that are just the right size and sturdiness so that you can't get rid of them. You have to keep them. Just in case. These went down the hall into the guest room to be ready for tosses when I find them. I haven't been as diligent finding tosses as I should be but I promise to try harder.

 

I'm determined to knit a cardigan sweater for myself. I have many skeins of tan wool and linen yarn that I've had since I restarted crocheting and knitting eons ago and they're starting to nag at me. I found a beautiful sweater pattern but it's just too complicated for knitting with friends. I need something simpler. So I just spent a couple of hours scrolling through the free cardigan patterns on Ravelry (the fiber-lovers website) and found one I think will do. It's plain with no fancy stitches, just a simple sweater. I need to swatch so I'm using the right size needles to get the size sweater I want and not one that's too big or too small. I don't like swatching but I've made one sweater that could have covered a Smart Car so I'll knuckle down and do it.

--Barbara 

Back to Icy

When I opened the drapes over the patio door this morning I wasn't surprised to see that the birdbath was iced over again. It's supposed to be highs in the 20s or 30s but barely above freezing and lows in the teens for the next week.

 

As I started to make my lunch, I noticed this lineup of Mourning Doves on the fence just outside the kitchen window. When I saw them, they were all four hunched up against the cold, but by the time I had the camera ready the one closest to the house had stood up and was stretching its wings. Goofball.

 

I noticed yesterday that the downspout from the corner of the house had blown down the lawn again. There are supposed to be screws holding the bottom part onto the part on the side of the house but, over time, first one and then the other screw has disappeared. I think the pest nerd (that's what they call themselves, really) tripped over it on his last inspection around the house and the last screw got lost. A few weeks ago my knitting pal MW stopped over and advised me to get a threaded rod to put through the screw holes and nuts for the ends. It's been on my mind but I didn't know how big a rod or how I'd cut it to fit so I cast that idea aside. Until this morning, when I thought about cutting out part of a wire hanger, bending one end, and then shoving it through the holes, and bending the other end to hold it in place. So that's what I did. It occurred to me that I'd done a Hank repair. My dad fixed things creatively. I think I take after him. I'm just glad it's fixed.

 

Today's flower was Daffodil. It was easy to draw and color and reminds me that eventually spring will come around again.

 

After the first critique run-through for Monday's Zoom, I spent an hour or so writing the March 1 writing progress email newsletter. It's very brag-y but I'm so excited about the things that happened in February I have to tell about them. My only regret is that I didn't do a special mailing to alert them about the Freebie Friday promo. Missed an opportunity there, didn't I?

I spent some phone time trying to get roommates organized for The Clearing in October. There are a couple people I'd like to room with but don't want to be in the large dorm where there's little room for writing. I think we got it ironed out. October's a long way off but registration is this coming week and places in the Women's Writing Retreat fill up fast.

 --Barbara

Ack!

I told you it'd be back. We woke up to snow. And not the fluffy lightweight stuff. This snow was heavy and wet. And it didn't melt off my driveway like it did across the street so I had to go out and shovel it. There was no way the snowblower could move it so I grabbed the shovel and, well, shoved it off the pavement. I pushed it over to the edge of the lawn and then dumped it on there. It was almost too heavy to lift. 

I was happy to see this squirrel enjoying a suet nuggets nibble this morning. You can see how wet the snow was by the drops on the patio door. Yesterday a squirrel climbed up to the nuggets feeder, took one taste, and bailed. That made me think that they're spoiled but today's squirrel didn't seem to mind so I'll leave them.

 

Today's flower was Hydrangea. I should have overlapped the florets more so that the flower head is fuller but I like the way the leaves turned out. I should probably stop critiquing my drawings so harshly, shouldn't I?

 

At Friday Night Knitting, I worked on the 2x2 ribbing of the Melt the ICE Toque. I decided to try 2x2 ribbing to see if it is less taxing than 1x1. Not so you'd notice but I'll keep going. Ribbing to 6" is a bit of a slog but then the decreases start almost immediately. It's a trade off.

 

This afternoon I worked on wrapping up Seaview 4 and also the series. I can't imagine more story happening in that little bed-and-breakfast that wouldn't be repetitive. So I'm trying to tie up any loose eds and make Rose's life settled and happy. Happily ever after, right? 

--Barbara 

Oops

I forgot that I was supposed to be at a marketing group Zoom tonight after supper so I only got half of the first round of ribbing knitted on the next Melt the ICE toque. That's okay. I'll finish the round tomorrow and add a bunch more at Friday Night Knitting. GBB called and said, "Are you coming?" I won't print what I said just before I hung up, laid down my knitting, and scrambled back here to join the Zoom call. We had a long and lively discussion about marketing and Amazon ads and other writerly stuff.

 

This morning I went down to Zambaldi to visit DS. He was brewing Good Dog Porter and moving finished beers from fermenter tanks to the tanks where the beer is carbonated. He had linked all of his hoses together through a pump to sanitize them all before moving the beers around. DS works long hours and works hard. I'm so proud of him.

 

In the afternoon I stirred up a double batch of lemon-lime jello to have for a bedtime snack. I know I've said it before but this is my favorite flavor. So cool and citrus-y. I mix one 4-serving box of lemon with one 4-serving box of lime sugar free jello and it lasts me almost a week. Yum.

 

I decided I wanted to paint black-eyed susans with bees this afternoon. I painted them before and really liked the way it turned out so I wanted to do it again. This is okay. I realized only after I'd taken the paper off the board that I forgot to spatter a little brown paint over it all. For some reason I don't understand, spattering finishes the painting. I like the bees. I'll take another stab at it.

 

I was supposed to go to lunch today with a couple of former neighbors for fun and to talk about the June watercolor class at The Clearing. I'm signing up and last year DT wanted to come along but she'd just had both knees replaced and thought it'd be too strenuous. I'll sign up for a single room next Tuesday and then can switch to a double or triple if one or both of them decides to come along. We cancelled today because MK has a fever and sore throat and didn't want to share. We appreciated that so we've rescheduled for next Thursday. 

I did a little writing on the manuscript this afternoon too. I tried to wrap up the story and maybe figure out a way to end the book and the series. I don't think I'm there yet, but it might be getting too long. 

--Barbara

Whee!

This morning I hopped in the car and zipped down I-41 for 53 miles to Oshkosh and Caramel Crisp Bookstore. Yesterday I got that check and note in the mail, then I called to find out when Jen, the manager, would be in, and she was in today. So I went. Part of me was a little nervous to drive on 41 because it's a very busy highway but once I got going I was fine. (I wasn't smart and had on my winter jacket. I got so hot that I turned on the a/c but I wasn't foolish enough to try to take my coat off at 70 mph.) Jen was very complimentary about my books, said they sell fairly well, and I came home with 11 fewer books than I left with.

 

See how much the snow has melted? This little smudge of snow is about all that's left on the patio and, in melting, lots of fallen birdseed is uncovered which made these three Sparrows very happy. You can also see all the rabbit raisins from a winter of them visiting. I went out and took out the broken birdbath heater. The more I looked at it, the more irritated I got, so I tossed it. It'll freeze solid again, I'm sure of it.

 

This House Finch decided to make a liar out of me by spending time on the square green feeder. As far as I know, they prefer platform feeders, but evidently when one isn't available a hopper feeder will suffice.

 

Two separate shipments of copies of Anneke's Legacy arrived today. The first one had 8 and the second one had 10. One copy arrived yesterday and one is scheduled to arrive on Friday. It's confusing when I ordered 20 on the same day that they don't print and collect them all and ship them together.

 

Since I now have my own ISBN numbers I can put myself down as the publisher and I had my assistant, KM, make a logo that I can put on the title page of each book. Pretty cool, huh? 

Today's flower is one I've never heard of. It's a Banana Flower. You can see the tiny bananas on the stem under the flower. I wonder how big the flowers are in real life.

 

When I got home from my jaunt to Oshkosh I went to the grocery for bananas, clementines, and a few other things. I don't remember Mom going to the grocery more than once a week, but I seem to go more often. *shrug* It was so warm this afternoon that I didn't wear a jacket to the store, just my long-sleeved tee shirt and a sweater. I'm confident that these moderate temps won't last. It is still winter and I live in Wisconsin. Cold will come back. Probably snow will too.

--Barbara 

Birdies!

Just when I was getting ready to do yoga this morning I looked out and saw this Downy Woodpecker on the square green feeder. I'm wondering why none of the birdies are eating the suet nuggets and suet cakes lately. Might they be spoiled? Whatever the reason what few birds are showing up are on the square feeder. That's okay. I'm just glad to see them.

 

Then Chickadees came. There were two of them but this one is the only one that stuck around long enough to have its picture taken. It sat there on the perch working to crack open a seed, pounding it on the perch. I hope it succeeded.

 

I happened to see DS's Facebook post this morning that he'd gone to vote. I'd completely forgotten so I was glad he reminded me. I drove right over to the polling place to cast my vote in the lone race on the ballot. It was a race for county supervisor and I cast my vote for who I hope turns out to be the right guy.

 

In the mail there was an envelope from Caramel Crisp Corner Bookstore with a check in it. There was also a note saying that they're out of copies of The Seaview and I know they don't have Spies Don't Retire or Christmas at Seaview or Anneke's Legacy. So I'll drive down to Oshkosh tomorrow morning and fix that. I deposited the check immediately. I noticed that the sale was made in August. It's February. I'm curious why it took 6 months to get the check here. But I won't ask.

 

This afternoon I worked on writing more on the manuscript. I've been stuck for more than a week. So, in the meantime, I reread it and did a little editing, but today I decided I needed to just dive in and write more. They're not fabulous words but they move the story a little and that's what counts.

 

I got a text from my plumber that he finished reading The Seaview and said he was proud to know such a good writer. What a huge compliment. Made me feel all warm and fuzzy.

And my cleaner came today and was excited to buy a copy of Anneke's Legacy. So that's two sold this week. Yay!

I realized when I edited the photos just now that I didn't draw or paint today. But I did fold the basket of socks and clean laundry so that should count for something.

--Barbara