48 Years Ago

On this date in 1978 I became a mom. I was embarrassed in the 1970s when people asked me what I wanted to be and I said a mom instead of a lawyer or a business woman. People looked upon me with disdain. But all I ever wanted to be was a mom and I think I'm a good one. At least my children turned out well. Here's DS this morning. He was brewing so I got the chance to go down to Zambaldi to sing Happy Birthday and give him his card and gift. He said 48 sounds old. I told him to try 75.

 

It was a dreary overcast and drizzly day. A couple of Sparrows stopped by for a sip of water and a few pecks of birdseed.

 

A squirrel bent itself around the suet nuggets and darted suspicious looks at the birds on the round birdseed feeder like they were planning an assault. Actually the squirrel was because it dropped to the ground, scampered over to the patio chair, climbed up, and leaped on to the round birdseed feeder, sending the Sparrows scattering. Not very nice. 

 

This picture of a Red-bellied Woodpecker is left over from yesterday when it was sunny but I'm sharing it because I want to. It's my blog so I can do what I want.

 

I tried to draw a Bluejay and a Red-bellied Woodpecker on yesterday's gratitude journal page. I think I didn't do too badly.

 

The furnace tune-up tech arrived sort of on time. I got a call from the company asking if I'd consider rescheduling but I said no. My schedule is crammed and my tenant has tiny people to deal with so today had to be the day. Anyway, while the tech did his work, I shortened LC's new jeans. Fortunately they're washed denim so they weren't too hard to pin and stitch. It had been a while since I sewed anything but at least I remembered how to change the bobbin. Whew. I found some yellow-orange thread that's kind of like the other stitching so I hope it's okay with her. 

 

For some reason, today was not a writing day. I realized I didn't know where I was in the story because I had ten separate pieces not attached to the five chapters in the total manuscript. So I spent the afternoon opening each one, giving it a heading of what was in the segment, and then tacking them in order to the manuscript. After that I scrolled through adding notes to my timeline outline so I could see where the story was going and where it needed beefing up or cutting back. I managed to eke out 483 words after I had all of that rearranging done so I didn't have to have zero words for the day. I worked on writing, just not as much new writing came out of it. What I need to write next is more about the relationship between the sleuth and the detective. There's a lot more of it in book #1. Book #2 needs more. Tomorrow.

--Barbara 

A Flurry of Birds

I can't really show you what the Bluejays and Red-bellied Woodpecker were doing this morning because they were back at the cob corn and there's too much between it and me to take pictures that are in sharp focus. So you get to see blurry ones because I have to tell you about them. First, the Bluejays. There were three of them taking turns pecking off corn kernels and swallowing them whole, then flying off so another one could have a turn. I took a bunch of shots and this is the best one. And it ain't great.

 

Then the Red-bellied Woodpecker would swoop in and interrupt them taking its turn at the corn. I didn't know that Red-bellied Woodpeckers liked corn kernels. Evidently they do. This exchange went on for at least half an hour, maybe longer, while I watched and then did yoga.

 

Soon a Downy Woodpecker swooped in and scattered the Sparrows on the round birdseed feeder. It spent a little time pecking at the seeds and then flew over to the suet nuggets where it stayed a while until a squirrel leaped up and scared it away.

 

The gratitude journal for yesterday was easy to draw. There were a few clouds especially later in the day and I did yoga after taking a week off to rest my left calf and knee and let them heal from an unknown cause of pain. Pulled muscle? I don't know, it just started hurting. I took a walk too because it was just too nice not to.

 

Today's drawing is Cattails, called Bull Rush in the book, but I know they're really cattails. They turned out okay.

 

I bought myself another cozy mystery how-to book. This one is a workbook about how to outline a cozy mystery. Maybe going through the pages will help me understand what I'm supposed to do. I struggled with words today, making 1,511 before I quit for the day. I just don't have a clear idea what to do and where to go with the story. I'm not used to that. It's making me cranky.

 

Here's another Christmas cactus flower picture. I'm so impressed with how many of them are blooming at the same time. In the past one would bloom and fade, then another one would bloom. Now a bunch of them are opening at the same time. Amazing!

 

It's supposed to cool off  into the low 50s tomorrow and be only in the 40s for the rest of the week. I guess it's time. It can't be 60 degrees all of November. That would be even more unnatural than it already is. The furnace tune-up guy is coming tomorrow. He'll make sure we stay warm all winter and hopefully tell me that both furnaces are doing just fine.

--Barbara 

 

 

Cactus Flower

I have to show you this Christmas cactus flower first because it's so beautiful and amazing. When I looked at it this morning I saw the stamens or pistils or sepals, whatever those white things are coming out of the middle and the dark magenta whatever-that-is coming out of the center. Looks very cool.

 

First thing after I did yoga and then got dressed was to go out and refill the suet nuggets. I'd barely gotten back inside when this squirrel leapt from the chair to the birdbath to the suet cakes feeder to the top of the crook and then swung down to hang on the suet nuggets and have breakfast. It spent a lot of time there, moving around to get the best angle on the nuggets. They must be really tasty, but I'm not tempted to try them.

 

The gratitude journal page for yesterday was easy to draw since I was monumentally grateful for the book sales at the craft show and for having GBB there to keep me company. The sunny day was nice too.

 

I'm very happy with today's drawing. It's called a Harvest Mouse and although I am not a fan of indoor mice, I don't mind an outdoor mouse. I like everything about this from the mouse's fur to the top of the stalk of grain. I can tell the book's from England because they call it corn when in America it'd be called wheat.

 

I'm wearing my favorite boots today. They're red Italian leather and I got them in Gardiner, Montana which is the town at the northern entrance to Yellowstone. I tried them on when I was there, didn't buy them, and called the store when I got home to have them mailed to me. I'm so glad I did. Also the leaf collectors have been by and scraped all the leaves out of the gutters, well, most of them anyway, so now it doesn't crunch when I walk.

 

Most of the leaves on the trees on Mennen Court have fallen but the big tree on the corner is still holding onto its leaves. And they're still mostly green!

 

I saw the sky turning pinkish orange this afternoon when the sun was setting and went out to take a picture. I was a little late but you can still see the orange sky and my little maple tree holding onto its leaves like the big tree up the street.

 

Today wasn't much of a writing day. I met friends for lunch and a long visit, then came home to zoom with cda until almost 4 o'clock. After a walk, I sat down and pounded out 604 words that might make it into the manuscript. There's a huge leap in them switching from anger to reasonable conversation so I'm suspicious of that part but overall I kind of like it. I ordered another book about cozy mystery writing that's a workbook so I'm hoping it helps me get back on track. I'm kind of lost but keep writing to maybe find my way.

GBB showed me a video yesterday of a high school girl playing Thunderstruck by AC/DC on the marimba during halftime at a football game. She is AMAZING. This is why they shouldn't eliminate music programs in schools.  https://buff.ly/dbyPb9T  

One other thing, yesterday two people looked at the poster I had displayed offering The Seaview Series at a $10 discount and at the rack of novels and asked if I was a travel agent. Maybe it was the lighted palm tree? Baffling.

--Barbara 

Holy Moly!

I had a great day at the craft show today. I sold a couple of books and then a woman came up and bought three copies of Anneke's Legacy for herself and her book club friends. I had only brought two in with me so I had to go to the car for more. Thank heavens for my box of books there. Then another woman, who didn't look like she was in a good mood, stared at the books while I gave her my spiel. She looked at the poster advertising the lower price if you buy the whole Seaview Series. Then she said, "I'll take the series. Oh, I'll take all of them." She bought one of everything! When I'm ready for a show, this rolling backpack bag is full to the brim with books. It was appreciably lighter when I hauled it home because I sold 14 books. Fourteen!

 

I don't have a lot of pictures to post tonight, so here's my display setup. I love my little lighted palm tree and the flamingo head sunglasses holder under it. A woman took a picture of the flamingo to send to a Florida friend. 

 

In the morning I saw two birds playing nice together--one Sparrow and one Junco. I snapped a quick photo before getting ready for the craft show.

 

I was pretty pooped when I got home and it was difficult to write anything today. I only managed 329 words but I'm ahead for the month so far. I'm not worried about it. Tomorrow is another day.

 

Here's the flashiest of the Christmas cactus flowers. I couldn't resist taking its picture.

 

I didn't draw or paint, didn't draw a gratitude journal page for yesterday, all I did was get dressed and drive six miles to Townline Pub & Grill to set up and sell books. And sell books we did. GBB sold a bunch and I did too. We kicked craft show butt today.

--Barbara 

Frosty Morning

When I opened the patio drapes this morning I saw that the birdbath was frozen solid. Oops. It's been so warm that I didn't remember to get a new birdbath heater for the coming cold weather.

 

The roofs of the houses across the street were frosty too. I was lucky to get up before the weak sunshine melted the frost so I could show you that the seasons are indeed changing.

 

After my shower (and getting dressed, it's too cold to go out undressed!), my first stop was the Family Pet Food Center down the street where I buy all my birdseed and squirrel corn. They also have birdbath heaters and I got the last one. It's not the same design as the one I had last year but I suspect this one will work just fine. The first birdbath heater I ever had was a flat rubber/plastic mat shaped like a partial circle that lay down on the bottom of the birdbath and curved around the center disc like they were made for each other. I wish they still made those, but they're not even on Amazon. Good thing I have that nice white rock to keep it in place. I'll just have to keep an eye on it so that the heater element stays underwater.

 

I promised someone whose Substack I read every Friday, that I'd paint today. She wrote yesterday about doing something creative even if you're not too good at it. Well, I said I'd pull out my brushes and paint a flower today. So I did. These are Johnny Jump-ups and I think I did rather well. I have a notecard with them on, so I had something to copy which we all know is the only way I can paint and have a chance of it looking halfway decent. It'll be a great painting to cut up for greeting cards. My supply is running low so it's time to sort through my paintings and pick out some for the chop.

 

Once my errands were accomplished and the birdbath heater was installed, I loaded my show stuff in the back of my car all ready for tomorrow's show at Townline Pub & Grill out in Howard, which is about 6 miles from home. The hardest part is having to take our own tables and chairs. The table is big and heavy but so far (fingers crossed) I can still carry it. It just takes me a few trips to get it all into the building. Wish me luck! Selling books, I mean.

 

Yesterday's gratitude journal page didn't get drawn until this evening. I was so busy this morning and afternoon I thought I wouldn't get to it but I did. I'd forgotten how many words I wrote yesterday and didn't check before I put it on the page, but I didn't hesitate to scribble out the too-low number and replace it with the highest-so-far number.

 

Here's the other side of the Christmas cactus plant. I think there are more flowers on this side. I should probably count how many buds and flowers are on the plant. This is definitely the most it's ever bloomed.

 

I happened to see this Red-bellied Woodpecker on the suet nuggets as the sun was sinking in the southwest. The sun doesn't really make it to shine on the feeders these days but you can kind of see the bird and it's red head. Once again, it's on the back side of the feeder so all I see is its head and the tip of its tail. I don't mind. 

 

Between my shower and errands, I sat down and started writing for today. I got about halfway to my word goal, went on errands, and came back to finish with 1,730 words for the day. I don't know if all of them will make it into the final manuscript because I kind of went off on a tangent but I'm not arguing with words when they come this month. All words are welcome!

I've got my alarm set so I don't sleep until time to leave for the show in the morning. When I set an alarm, I usually wake up at least an hour before it's supposed to ring. So frustrating. I'm sure it won't be like last night when I slept straight through and didn't get up to pee in the middle of the night. When you're my age, that's the definition of an all-nighter.

I'm debating about wearing the same top tomorrow that I wore up to Marinette because maybe it was the reason I sold so many books up there. Or maybe not. Am I superstitious? I might be, but it's one of my favorite things to wear so I'll probably wear it anyway. Pretty soon it'll be too cold to wear a cotton patchwork jacket with made with fish fabric.

--Barbara 

That Big Tree on the Corner

That big tree on the corner's leaves are still mostly green, and it's holding onto them. You can see the difference from the last time I took a picture down the street. Most of the trees are bare branches except for a few yellow ones way down the block, the big tree on the corner, and my little Pacific Sunset maple.

 

Here's my maple tree. A few of the leaves on the ends of the branches are turning a deep orange-ish red. I don't think any of them have fallen off yet. The lawn mowers came this morning and mowed and de-leafed the lawn. The kid that's too young to ride the mower went around first to blow all of the leaves close to the house out onto the grass so the mower could pick them up. It looks so nice when they're done.

 

Here's today's squirrel on the suet nuggets feeder. It's a popular spot for squirrels and I can tell that they're really fattening up for winter. They're not wasting any time eating all the kernels off the cob corn and out of the horse head feeder, either.

 

As soon as another squirrel hopped down off the round birdseed feeder, this Sparrow flew over and started pecking away at the feeder port. There had been two Sparrows but as soon as I picked up the camera one flew off. Camera shy, I guess.

 

Yesterday's gratitude journal page was an easy one. I wrote over 1,700 words. Well, one over but still over. I took a walk while I waited in the afternoon pickup line and I got to see LC and OJ for a few minutes. Always good times.

 

The drawing today is Honeysuckle. I miss my honeysuckle bush. Dad brought it from his mom's farm decades ago and it finally gave up the ghost two or three years ago. I keep thinking I'd like to plant another one but that would mean digging out the stump of the old one and I don't know if I'm up to it.

 

This is the other Christmas cactus flower that's just about in full bloom. Tomorrow I'll take a picture of the many buds on the other side of the plant.

 

Knitting on the Alpaca Sophie scarf on Wednesday evening and tonight got me to the middle so now it's time to start decreasing. It'll go just as slowly as increasing because the pattern tells me to decrease one stitch every eighth row.

 

Writing went well today. I wrote 1,951 words which is where I stopped. It was the end of a sentence and it's also the year I was born so I thought it was a good stopping spot. I might actually be getting the hang of this writing thing.

--Barbara 

They're a Match

It wasn't nearly as warm today as it was yesterday and there was a sharp chilly wind blowing off the bay to make things feel like November. A few weeks ago I was shopping the Land's End clearance sale and found a golden tan colored vest that was very reasonably priced, cheap even, so I ordered one and I love it. I wore it this afternoon on my walk while I waited in the pickup line but I needed some fingerless mitts to keep my hands a little warm. I had some silver gray ones in the car that I wore but they weren't the exactly right ones. When I got home, I found the pair of mitts that my knitting friend, CS, made for me a few years ago and they're a match. Don't they look just right together?

 

This squirrel curled itself around the round birdseed feeder this morning and had a lovely long eat. It excelled at tossing seed down to the ground.

 

At the same time right below it, this squirrel reaped the benefits of the falling seed. If you look closely you can even see some birdseed caught in the fur on its back.

 

When I got home there was a big flock of Juncos pecking away at the seed fallout in the grass and on the patio. I don't know when I've seen that many Juncos together. Usually there's one or two, not six or eight. They kind of blend in but, trust me, there are a lot of them.

 

Yesterday's gratitude journal page was pretty simple to draw. I was mostly grateful for the number of words I wrote. 1,769! That's a lot. Then there was hosting knitting with friends. We ate and talked and exulted over the blue wave, and knitted. And I sold two Sailing the Seas. Thank you, CS!

 

Today's drawing is Cornflowers. They turned out pretty well. I wish I'd had more blue colored pencils but since blue isn't one of my favorite colors, I'll make do with the ones I have already.

 

And speaking of flowers, the Christmas Cactus buds are opening. This one is the most open, another one isn't far behind, and there are at least five more getting ready. It really pays to water plants. 

 

I sat down to write this morning, picked up where I left off yesterday, and it went well. I finished the scene I started yesterday and then moved on to a surprise scene I hadn't anticipated. It's so much fun when the characters take over and take me places I hadn't planned on or thought of. I love it! My day's word count is 1,701. Not bad. Anything over 1,667 is gravy. I've still got one chapter's word count I haven't entered in the total, but I'm saving that for Sunday because I've got a show from 10-3 and won't have a lot of day left to write. And maybe no energy for it either.

--Barbara