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 

Stre-e-e-etch

I didn't refill the Oriole feeder with an orange half and grape jelly today, but that didn't stop a squirrel from slurping up the rainy jelly soup in the dish. First off, it had one whale of a time getting up there. It would grab a Slinky. The Slinky would sag. The squirrel would look around and drop off. It finally grasped a pole between the coils of the Slinky and laboriously made its way up to the top of the crook. It left its back feet on the crook and stretched over to the jelly dish for a slurp. Goofy.

 

This morning I drew a gratitude journal page for yesterday. The most important thing I was grateful was that yesterday would have been Durwood's 87th birthday. I was so lucky to be married to him for 42 years. I miss him every day. 

 

Three Bluejays showed up this afternoon. Three of them! If Bluejays come, it's usually only one and they rarely venture near the house. These two sat on the crooks and the third perched on top of the fence. One also landed on the patio but it was behind the Weber so I only caught a glimpse of blue.

 

Then a mob of Starlings landed or tried to land on the suet nuggets. They were all over it and each other. Some were on the suet cakes too. They're a real greedy mob, chasing off other birds, and squabbling among themselves.

 

Today's flower is Sweet Pea. My Grandma Angermeier grew sweet peas on the bank on the side of her driveway. We were allowed to pick a few of them. I loved them and their coil-y little tendrils.

 

This morning I closed up the boxes of tosses in the guest room and loaded them into the back of the car. I'll drop them off at Goodwill tomorrow.

Most of today I spent working on Three Cheers for Murder. Yesterday I started over with Chapter 1. Today I refined it a little, rereading the instructions in the how-to book, and adding parts where the main character/sleuth and her friend/sidekick spend time together. Then I plunged into Chapter 2, writing a scene introducing the character who turns out to be the murderer. The other day I changed the Backdrop idea which is an activity that carries the sleuth through the story with a purpose other than solving the crime. It's a way to introduce suspects, dangle red herrings, whisper secrets and lies.

What I should probably do tomorrow is finish going over the Manuscript Analysis of Sailing the Seas, Book 4 of The Seaview Series. That one is lots closer to being ready than the other one. I'd like to get it published before the fall so I have a new release for vendor fairs.

Oh, I got notice today that one of the vendor fairs we'd signed up for got cancelled. We get our money back but I'd rather have the chance to sell books.

--Barbara 

Now There're Two

When I opened the patio door drapes this morning, a squirrel dropped from the round green feeder and took off running. Once the feeder stopped swaying, I looked at it and saw that the squirrel had gnawed a hole in a second tube. Only one to go!

 

And it didn't waste any time getting started on number three. Grr. I chased it off and went out to pour the little seed I had in reserve in the last remaining tube so that the birds had a fighting chance.

 

This morning I drew a gratitude journal page for yesterday. Like I said, the morning after seems to be my optimal time for being grateful. Yesterday I was mostly grateful for having a new idea when I needed one in writing. 

 

Just when I was thinking I'd take a walk, it started raining. It started slowly with just a drizzle but then it rained like it could do that all day. It didn't, but I couldn't resist taking a picture of the first few drops to hit the birdbath because I love the little rings the drops make in the water.

 

While it rained a little chickadee sheltered on the round green feeder tray. You can barely see it, but it hunkered down looking pretty miserable getting wet. It sat by the one full tube so it had something to eat while it waited.

 

I took the opportunity to draw instead of walk in the rain. Today's flower is a Gerbera daisy. I like it. I even think I did okay with the foreshortened petals in the front which is something I have trouble with. 

 

Writing went pretty well today. I faced facts that what I have written in the cozy mystery doesn't fit the parameters of the genre so I read "Writing Chapter 1" and then plunged in following the author's recommendations. I used the Sleuth outline I wrote the other day to add the required points that cozy readers supposedly expect. I suspect I'll be speeding things up since I have three murders and she's only got two in her instructions. I'll figure it out. What's one more murder among friends?

 

It was perfect walking weather after supper and before Jeopardy!. I took my walk in a different pair of red shoes (with photographic proof). And I even got the Final Jeopardy! question correct. Yay, me!

 

Finally, I knitted more on the ribbing of Scrap Hat #6. I added in some brighter colors when a couple of the yarns ran out and I like the way it brightened up. I went downstairs and raided the bin with all of the leftover balls of yarn in it to replenish my supply. I'm going away on a little knitting escape in a few days and god forbid I run out of yarn.

--Barbara 

A Hole

Well, overnight or early this morning the squirrel finished gnawing a hole into one of the tubes of the new round green feeder. Now there's no way to put seed in that tube without it all pouring out the hole. Is it going to put holes in the other tubes now? I guess we wait and see.

 

I happened to glance over when I was doing yoga this morning and there was a Goldfinch on the feeder. I hadn't seen one of those in weeks and weeks, so I grabbed the camera and took its picture and only did the plank for half the time I was supposed to.

 

Then a Downy Woodpecker landed on the suet cakes feeder. It posed nicely on the front side. I hurried to take its picture which was a good thing because it immediately flew away. Camera shy, I guess.

 

I drew a gratitude journal page for yesterday this morning. Again. I don't really feel like I'm failing at it, it's just a little delayed. I seem to have more time for it in the morning than in the evening. Oh, like my days and nights are soooo busy.

 

Today's watercolor flower is Anemone. It's another coloring book painting. That seems to be the speed I'm at these days. It's okay. It's my favorite color and I'm happy with the leaves. The black center ran even though I'd used the heat gun to dry it. Oh well.

 

Another Downy Woodpecker visited the suet cakes later today. It was fun to watch because it landed on a Slinky, rode up and down, hopped up a few coils and rode again before flying over to the suet cakes.

 

A couple jars of coconut oil arrived so I can make more lip balm with OJ and LC. What I had was rancid so I threw it and its bucket away. I was happy to find another supplier since my original one went out of business last year and didn't even tell me. How do you like that? Of course it'd probably been over 8 years since I ordered anything from them so I guess I can cut them some slack.

 

I read some more in How to Write a Cozy Mystery today and realized that one of my ideas won't work with the manuscript as it stands now. So I had to sit down with a blank sheet of paper and come up with ideas that do. When I brainstormed the first idea, I wrote down 25 things. Today I struggled to get to 10. Hopefully more will come to mind while I'm working on the manuscript. I changed one character's name because it's recommended that you don't have two characters whose names start with the same letter. It makes sense to me so the reader doesn't get confused.

I was just sitting here typing and looking at my fingers dancing over the keys, not having to think of where to reach for what letter. Kind of amazing, although I've been doing this for about 60 years so I ought to be able to do it without looking for every letter. Numbers are a different story, however.

Something frustrating is happening over on Facebook when I paste the link to the blog. In the past, the first picture on the blog was displayed. Now it's just a link and I think fewer people are reading it or finding it. I tried to find out what's going on and got lost in Google-land and gave up. I didn't change so Google or Blogger must have changed. I love computers. 

--Barbara 

I Didn't Know

I didn't know that squirrels like oranges. Grape jelly either. But they absolutely like both. Part of me doesn't want to refill the orange half and grape jelly because it's not meant for them. But then the birds that like them are cut off too. What to do?

 

Since the orange and jelly are decimated, this male House Finch visited the round green feeder this afternoon. He spent a little time pecking in the port looking for something good, maybe a peanut half. You can also see in this picture (bottom center) the port that the squirrel gnawed apart so no one could feed from it. I had to go out and shove the part that keeps all the seeds from cascading out back through the port hole. Honestly I don't know what to do about the squirrels. Stop feeding the birds so the squirrels lay off? My brand new feeder is pretty much trashed in less than a week.

 

I spent most of my day working on short stories, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. I think the morning one is finished. The afternoon one is not, but I have an idea about where to go with it. When I don't feel like working on a novel, a short story or two keeps me from sitting staring off into space.

 

This morning I drew a gratitude journal page for yesterday. I'm putting it on here because I didn't draw one for today. Yet.

 

Allium is today's watercolor flower. It's in the Watercolor Flowers coloring book and it was kinda strange. It said to paint tiny, five petaled flowers in pink and purple all over three circles and let them dry. Then use plain water to smear them. ??? Okay, that I didn't understand. Doing that erased a bunch of the flowers so I went back with pink and purple when they were dry again and put some back even though it didn't say to do it. They're okay. It's a good thing this is not a graded course.

 

After supper I cast on Scrap Hat #6. It's just so satisfying to see all the colors and fibers combine in one interesting project. 

 

I was supposed to have a Zoom today with cda but she had an unhappy dental experience so we postponed until tomorrow. Then she said she's got another dental appointment tomorrow morning for a crown replacement so we said we'd skip this week and just meet next Monday. There's nothing so all-consuming like tooth pain, I think. It was odd, that having those two hours suddenly unscheduled made me feel off balance. That's when I turned to the short stories. They gave me back my equilibrium. Sometimes I think I'm really an odd duck.

I got the Final Jeopardy! today and only one of the contestants did. It's even the Tournament of Champions. I'm feeling smart--and smug.

--Barbara 

Squirrel Redecorating

I looked out the patio door this afternoon and noticed that a squirrel had done a little redecorating on the Oriole feeder today. The orange half is now sitting in the grape jelly dish. I didn't check but I'm confident that the grape jelly dish is full of watery grape jelly soup because it rained most of Friday overnight. I might go out and dump it out and put more jelly and an orange half out tomorrow. Maybe.

 

I was lucky enough to catch sight of two Sparrows on the new feeder this morning and quick enough to take a picture. Since I haven't had much luck taking bird pictures lately, it made me happy.

 

It was sunny, cool, and breezy this morning so I took a walk before it heated up for the day. I took this picture as proof and to show off my red shoes.

 

Instead of working on a manuscript (or two) today, I scheduled three Substack stories so now there are six of them lined up. I don't have to worry about them for at least a month. That will give me time to work turning more of my story starts into stories.

 

This morning while I watched CBS Sunday Morning, I finished knitting Scrap Hat #5. I added an extra decrease round so that there were fewer stitches to draw together at the top. I think it turned out well. On to the next one, because I have plenty of yarn scraps of various sizes, fibers, and colors. I'll take them down to the shelter when I have a few more made. They're nice and thick which would be good for people who spend time outdoors.

 

Coming back from my walk, I saw that another Dad's rose bloomed. The intense sunshine changes the color of the flower, making it look almost iridescent. I'm not sure I like the way it looks, all flashy, but it still smelled the same, which is fabulous.

 

 Once the back of the house was in shade, I went out to cut rhubarb to make another batch of sauce. I cut the remaining hail-damaged leaves and had to pare off places where the hailstones abraded the stalks. The new stalks are much thinner than the old ones so I'm afraid this might be my last batch of the season. I hope not. Hopefully more thick stalks grow once I've thinned them out. Fingers crossed.

 

Today I painted the first flower in the floral watercolor coloring book. It's Agapanthus. It turned out well. I'm most happy that I managed to paint very thin stems using the very tip of a size 6 brush which is not one with just a few hairs.

 

I haven't been able to figure out why some of my ads are spending over my bid and when I got the monthly ads bill today I looked into it further and discovered that I'd forgotten to choose "Dynamic bids down only." Tsk. Careless of me. That ad spent over $15 last month while most of the others spend less than $5. I'm glad I figured it out. I'm not letting Amazon spend too much of my money when I don't sell enough books to cover my ad costs. But what else can I do to sell books? I'm trying every avenue I can think of. 

Last night I got a text from a former neighbor that the Liberty St. house is for sale. She sent me the website and I looked at the pictures of the house. It looks very different. They took out most of the wall between the kitchen and living room and totally redid the kitchen. They also put French doors out to the backyard from the middle, smallest bedroom. Also the price is $299,900. Mom and Dad bought it for $14,900 in 1961. Quite the increase in value! Makes me wish they'd have an open house so I could go creep around in it.

--Barbara