Hope Springs Eternal

Well, I did it. I went to the birdseed store, picked up the suet nuggets, and fell prey to a metal caged birdfeeder. I wasn't sure I'd do it since the last feeder was gnawed to death in just over a week, but I've missed seeing the Sparrows and House Finches, so I caved. I tried to take a picture of a Sparrow on the new feeder but none of them stayed long enough.

 

Just as I walked in the door from the birdseed store I looked out and saw a Red-bellied Woodpecker on the barest remains of suet nuggets. It was fiercely defending its perch there, fending off marauding Sparrows, but this time I didn't see any feathers flying.

 

Once I filled the nuggets, it didn't take long for one of the squirrels to hang there having a snack. All of the birds take a turn too, so it isn't only the squirrels eating the nuggets.

 

And I was just quick enough to snap a photo of a Sparrow having a bath with two buddies watching. I took this picture, it hopped to the rim of the birdbath, shook once, and flew away.

 

This morning I drew a gratitude journal page for yesterday. I enjoyed my shower, loved painting the butterfly, and had a nice evening knitting with friends on Zoom. Doing this the morning after makes me work to remember what I did the day before. I figure it's good for memory retention, or something like that.

 

Today's watercolor flower is Asters. They would have been more satisfying if I'd have been more patient to let the centers dry before I painted the petals because twice I touched the center so the yellow bled into the pink and purple in places. My petals are thicker than the demo in the book. I should have used a smaller brush than the one recommended. But they look okay, I think.

 

This afternoon I worked on Three Cheers for Murder, adding non-murder scenes to beef up the manuscript and conversations between the sleuth and detective trying to build some tension between them. I'm not very good at the tension part, I need to keep working on it.

--Barbara 

Am I Blue?

Not really, but the Bluejay is. It landed on top of the crook and then flew over to try to get some of the suet nuggets. The feeder is nearly empty so I've got to go to the birdseed store tomorrow to get more. I'll look at the birdfeeders there, but I don't think I'll buy another one since the last one I bought got gnawed to death by squirrels in less than a week.

 

In the morning I drew a gratitude journal page for yesterday. My highest excitement was for the Hummingbird I saw at the feeder but I'm most grateful for the good financial news at Edw. Jones.

 

I wanted to order the cover design for the next Seaview Series book today so I uploaded the manuscript to Kindle Create thinking it'd tell me how many pages I've got so I could pass that info along to the cover designer. Well. it didn't number the pages. So I guess I'll just tell them how many manuscript pages I have and hope for the best. I searched a couple of photo sites for downloadable images of sailboats for the cover. I found a couple that are adequate but yoinked a picture off an Anguilla sailing regatta site that's exactly right. Of course, they won't be able to use that one but maybe they can find something similar.

 

Today's watercolor is a Monarch Butterfly. It's in the watercolor coloring book which is the only way I'd be able to paint something this complicated. All those little segments of orange-ish color and the skinny black parts between would have been impossible without the pale gray lines to follow.

 

Last night I added a few rounds of ribbing to Scrap Hat #8. I am enamored of the colors and the way they change and shift as I knit.

 

At Friday Night Knitting tonight I got to the crown decreases on the Dark Teal Chemo Hat and managed the first decrease round before time to quit.

 

There is a whole raft of fruit flies on the yellow sticky trap in the kitchen. There's still one flying around me right now and one seeming to be trapped in the bathroom but I'm impressed at the success of my low-tech solution to the problem.  

--Barbara 

Hummingbird!

I saw one! Really. And it hung around long enough for me to take two pictures. Oh, I'm so happy that I saw a Hummingbird in real life and didn't have to just assume they're coming by because the nectar is lower in the feeder.

 

Then the Bluejays were back. First I saw one on the Adirondack chair arm but by the time I got the camera up and ready it had flown down to the patio and hopped over toward the patio table. Then three of them showed up--one on the crook, one on the retaining wall, and one on the fence. I'm posting this picture because it's the sharpest one.

 

And in the afternoon a Red-bellied Woodpecker landed on the suet nuggets. Naturally it only showed me its tail but every once in a while I saw a flash of its striped back. Also there were Sparrows trying to share the tiny bit of nuggets left and it lunged at them with its beak and feathers flew. Fierce!

 

In the morning I drew a gratitude journal page for yesterday. I was most grateful for being able to do yoga and for seeing a Bluejay on the suet nuggets feeder.

 

Today I went back to the In the Forest watercolor coloring book and painted these flowers. It said to paint dashes and marks on the flower petals but I didn't like the way that looked so I didn't. I'm such a rebel.

 

 I had an appointment with my Edw. Jones financial advisor, CLM, this morning and she told me that I still have enough money to last until I'm 90, and probably longer since I'm not spending as quickly as she thinks I can or should. She added up all of my assets to calculate my net worth and I was surprised at the number. I thank Durwood for forcing me to learn a little about investing and because of him I can at least read the financial reports and understand what they're saying. I looked at one graph and realized that the accounts have done much better since I took over the reins which surprised me. Go, me!

My fruit fly sticky trap is doing its job. There's a nice fringe of tiny brown bodies on the edge of the trap. They're not going anywhere. Although there's one that keeps flying past me as I'm sitting here. I wonder what's attracting it since I don't have any fruit back here. 

--Barbara 

It's Fruit Fly Season

Just when I think I've avoided it, they show up. I de-stemmed grapes this afternoon, rinsed them, and left them in the colander to dry. When I lifted them to pour them into the bowl I keep them in in the fridge, a small cloud of fruit flies rose up. *sigh* So I got out a little Pyrex bowl, a fruit fly sticky trap, and the apple cider vinegar and got it set up to trap them. Or actually for them to trap themselves on the sticky part. They're drawn to the cider, land on the yellow part, and are stuck. It works well, except now my kitchen smells like pickles. I'll get used to it.

 

Look at what landed on the suet nuggets this morning. A Bluejay! I've never seen one up there before. Usually they're on the ground pecking around to see if something interesting has fallen but here this one was up where the Sparrows and Starlings usually are. It stayed only long enough for this one picture but it made me happy to see it so close to the house and with its back turned so I could see its beautiful feathers.

 

While I waited for the air conditioner tuneup tech to arrive, I drew a gratitude journal page for yesterday. I was especially grateful for having been at CS's cabin at Pickerel Lake and for DM driving. But the best thing on the page is that I exercised my right to vote. I hope that everyone who reads this did the same. It's so important to vote every chance you have. It'd be too easy to lose the right.

 

Then while I waited for the tech to do his work on the rental side and on my side, I looked out and saw a pair of Flickers in the grass. I've never seen two of them together before. While I watched, one of them crouched and fluttered and the other one fed it so it was a parent and child. Very cool to see them.

 

I wasn't in the mood to draw the next flower in the 10-step Flowers book, so I went and found the 10-step Nature book and drew this Blue Tit bird. I don't think we have them in the States but it was fun to draw and color. Mine didn't turn out as chubby as the one in the picture but it turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself.

 

Once the a/c tech was finished and gone, I spent the afternoon reworking the chapters of Three Cheers for Murder I laid out last week. They were too spread out, so I fixed that and while doing that I wrote a scene outline to get the story straight in my head and found some gaps that need filling. Then I uploaded Sailing the Seas to Atticus (formatting software) and made the title page and copyright page. In two more Mondays, the final run-through will be finished so I can upload it to Kindle Create, write the blurb, and order the cover designed. All of that needs to be done before I can move forward with publication. I ordered more author copies this morning of my old titles so I have enough on hand for the shows coming up in September and October, too.

 

While watching a little TV tonight, I cast on Scrap Hat #8. I had to cast on four times, FOUR!, in order to have the correct amount of yarn. First I was short. Then I was long--twice. And finally I got it right. Geez. I could have had more than one round of ribbing done if I'd only gotten it right the second time. Oh well, this is not a race.

 

I was anticipating that the a/c tech would tell me that the air conditioner on the rental side was at the end of its life, and he did. It's the original one we had installed when we moved in over 20 years ago. So I've got an appointment with a salesman next Monday to talk about a new one. *sigh* If it isn't one thing, it's another. Although I'd rather replace it before it breaks and cooks the renters while we wait for a new one. Or have to pay a weekend service charge.

--Barbara 

A Great Not-Weekend

I'm home! The four of us knitters had a wonderful not-really-a-weekend the last few days. We spent hours on CS's screened porch making sure that the chairs didn't blow away, knitting, talking, and laughing. Oh, and eating. There might have also been an amount of wine drinking that I didn't partake in (because I don't really have any tolerance for alcohol), but they enjoyed the variety of red wines available. Once again, the couch was my bed which was plenty comfy and afforded me this view when I awoke the last two mornings. So serene.

 

I painted that view, framed it, and took it along as a hostess gift to CS. She loved it. Whew. (I didn't post it earlier because I wanted it to be a surprise and she reads this blog.) 

 

On Sunday afternoon and evening, I finished Scrap Hat #6. I love the pops of bright color that one skein of yarn added to the indigo blue and white of the hat.

 

Then on Monday, I knitted Scrap Hat #7 from start to finish. During the knitting the indigo yarn ran out so I picked up a dark red yarn, and when the white ran out I added black. Big difference. I need to replenish my yarn bag with more choices for further Scrap Hats. 

 

Lots of Hummingbirds visited CS's feeder that hangs right outside the screened porch, mostly females but I thought I saw one male. When I was home and glanced out, I saw a little female visit my feeder. It was such a short visit that I almost missed her. I dug out a shot from the archives because I didn't manage to snap one today.

 

I did a little online searching after seeing a mention of a local book fair with an opportunity to have a booth to sell books. I quickly filled out the form and sent it in with my fee, hoping that I'm accepted. The book fair is two days and has panels and presentations in addition to the selling opportunity.

 

Today was Wisconsin's Primary, so as soon as I got home from up at Pickerel Lake and unpacked, I went and voted. I forgot to look at my number but I got a sticker to prove that I did it. It made me happy to see two young people registering to vote for the first time while I was checking in.

 

It's good to be home but I sure had a fun couple days at the cabin. We laughed and talked, knitted and talked. We talked about books and movies and our families. It's such a special time and I so appreciate it. And DM drove so I didn't even have to. Besides I don't think we'd ever fit all of our luggage into my car. We took a vote and didn't even go out for supper last night which we've done in the past. We had plenty of food so we just grazed. All in all, an excellent couple of days.

--Barbara 

Sneaking Around

For most of the day I didn't see any squirrels and very few birds, but late in the afternoon I spied this squirrel sneaking around between the base of the crooks. It was dodging between the Slinkys and seeing if anything interesting was down there.

 

This morning I made Farro Salad to take along to my knitting escape tomorrow. There's a lot of chopping and grating and stirring involved. But it takes the longest to zest two whole lemons. Zested lemons are a little easier to squeeze the juice out of but it takes concentration to use the microplane and scratch off all of the zest without getting that bitter white pith involved. This invented-by-me salad will be our supper tomorrow evening up at CS's cabin. Or maybe it's a cottage, I don't know what the difference is.

 

Even though I mis-dated the gratitude journal I drew yesterday, I still drew one for yesterday today. If that makes any sense. I did correct the date on the one I drew yesterday. Sorry if this is confusing.

 

Today's watercolor flower is Anthurium. The only ones I've ever seen were red but the ones in the book are pink with red stripes, so that's what I did. I'm a real rule follower, especially when it comes to drawing and painting.

 

 I spent a lot of time rearranging chapters in Three Cheers for Murder today. I have a lot more chapters than the how-to book recommends but I figure once I get them rearranged to my satisfaction, I can fix them. I've introduced the first two victims and should have the second murder scene up next. Then there's misdirection that needs to be written and inserted and I have to keep what the author calls the backdrop going. That's something that the sleuth does aside from the sleuthing that brings in other characters who have a reason to commit the crime. I sort of see how that's going to work. Sort of.

When I wasn't writing, I listened to the end of a 25-hour+ long audiobook. It was the third and final book in the series. All three of them were more than 24 hours long. I will confess that my interest flagged along about hour 24 in this last one. And the ending was very unsatisfactory. It just ended, leaving things dangling. I suppose by that time the author was good and tired of the world she'd built, all the villains she'd created, all of the characters and dragons that were woven through the whole thing. It was epic. And then it ended.

Just so you know, I'll be away Sunday and Monday, but will be back blogging on Tuesday. I know you miss me when I'm gone. I miss you too. 

--Barbara 

Evidently I Can't Count

I'm knitting a hat with acrylic and nylon yarn for a chemo hat. It's a simple pattern--knit 6, purl 2--around and around until I get to 7" of hat body including ribbing before I begin the crown decreases. Well, I was knitting on it tonight at Friday Night Knitting and noticed after a few rounds that my count was off. Sometimes I'd purl when I was supposed to knit and other times I'd knit when I was supposed to purl. I would have knitted a couple rounds before I noticed my error, so I'd have to drop stitches down and hook them back up with a crochet hook I keep for just such occasions, making the stitches right. It was tiring and a little demoralizing to have to do that a bunch of times.

 

This morning a Downy Woodpecker visited the suet cakes feeder and while it landed on the back side it kept to the edge so I could see it and take its picture. Thanks, birdie, I really appreciate that.

 

I went down to visit DS at Zambaldi this morning. He was making Yard Games IPA and it was stifling in there. He had the big garage door open but there was no breeze for relief from the heat and humidity. He told me all about being at camp with OJ and the rest of the scouts. It sounded like they had a lot of fun.

 

When I pulled into the parking lot I noticed that the hops vines are growing up toward the roof. I took a picture of them from the side so they look a lot more solid than they are. One of these days they'll be fuller and provide shade on the patio.

 

Today's flower drawing is Lavender. I don't think this looks like lavender sprigs. I don't know what they look like but it's not that. It's not ugly, I just don't think it looks right. It might be a severe case of operator error, although I don't think the picture in the book looks right either.

 

I've been working on the ribbing of Scrap Hat #6 this week and have two more rounds to go. It pleased me no end when this orange yarn showed up. This is the only project I'm taking on my little knitting getaway on Sunday so I have plenty of various yarn balls in my knitting bag. I won't run out.

 

 I drew a gratitude journal page for yesterday this morning but I think I put today's date on it by mistake. Oh well, it doesn't really matter, does it?

 

I spent a few hours working to finish the Manuscript Analysis comments on Sailing the Seas (I ignored some of them.) and then moved over to doing more work on Three Cheers for Murder. Today I made Venn diagrams of the three victims and the suspects, figuring out motives, secrets, and alibis. It was fun and it helped me get more of the story straight in my head. I'm finding that I can use what I've already written, it just needs to be shifted around and added to. I'm having fun.

Did you notice? No squirrel pictures today! 

--Barbara