Sprouting

I got dropped off at home this afternoon from taking my car to the shop to hopefully get its auto door lock system fixed tomorrow and saw that Dad's rose has really sprouted over the last week. I can no longer procrastinate going outside with leather gloves and shears to trim away the old, dead canes so that the new growth has room.

 

This morning I went to school for OJ's spring concert. The fourth graders build their own ukuleles and decorate them in art class and then learn a couple songs on them for the concert. It was easy to tell how much they enjoyed it because their faces lit up and they really sang out on those songs. LC was asked to sit in with the fifth grade band because one of their two trombones moved away during spring break. She was way in the back so I only saw her forehead and the top of her trombone. But she and DS practiced the song and I'm sure she did fine. She's going to take trombone lessons at a local music store this summer. OJ still hasn't decided what instrument he'd like to learn next year.

 

I saw a Hummingbird again this morning. I couldn't tell if it was a male or female but I'm always happy to see one. A Bluejay tried to land on the suet nuggets but there was a squirrel there first so it veered off and flew away.

 

Today's creature is a Lizard. It's an anole lizard, according to the book. I like it and the way it turned out. I was supposed to leave some white streaks for shine but I don't think lizards are shiny so I left them off. 

 

I knitted a couple rounds on Scrap Hat #4 after supper. Well, I knitted almost one round and then didn't have the right number of stitches when I got to the end of the round so I tinked back, one stitch at a time, recounted the stitches, did a little mental math, and tried again. That second time it worked out. "Tink" is knit backwards. It means to unknit each stitch instead of pulling out the needles and just ripping. 

 

The biggest Christmas cactus flower started to open today. Like I said, it's redder than the others have been. Looking good.

 

I spent quite a bit of the afternoon reading through a prompt notebook and flagging the ones I found interesting. Tomorrow I'll take the laptop out to the kitchen table and put them into the "Story Starts" file, then get to work turning some of them into short stories.

 

I just tossed out some trash and it looked very weird in the garage without my little red car in there. I took it up to Rabideau's Auto Mart to have the mechanic see if he can fix the auto door locks mechanism. I told him if he couldn't fix it, to at least get the back passenger door open. But JR said if anybody can fix an electrical problem it's S. I trust him. I think I do, anyway.

--Barbara 

Hummmmm

Twice today I was lucky enough to see a Hummingbird at the feeder. The first time both pictures were too blurry.  There was just a blackish blur on the side of the feeder. But the second time I snapped about eight pictures and five of them are good enough to keep. Not perfect but you can tell it's a Hummingbird. I love that their wings beat so fast that they're just a blur of color. I put fresh nectar in today so maybe that's why he visited twice. I figure the female's sitting on a nest somewhere but will be along once the eggs hatch.

 

The Sparrows had a fine time at the square green feeder. No squirrels were in there so they could flit back and forth and enjoy their snacks.

 

And this pair of House Finches enjoyed the refilled grape jelly dish. They came back multiple times, always together, to dip their beaks in the grape-y goodness. 

 

After lunch and my morning Zoom with cda, I went to the birdseed store and bought more suet nuggets. It didn't take long for the Sparrows and Squirrels to discover the refilled feeder and take full advantage of it. This squirrel kept looking toward the house as if it could see me watching it. While I was out there I cleaned out the birdbath. Oh, it was really gross. Green, stinky water full of slime and bird poop. Yuk.

 

I spent some time scheduling more Substack posts. I'm running out of finished short stories so I have to get busy, quit focusing exclusively on my novel manuscript, and write more short stories. Maybe I'll page through another prompt notebook or two tomorrow when the cleaner is here. I noticed that I've posted 69 times on Substack since I joined. Most of them stories. See? I told you I had a lot of them piled up with no place to go.

 

There's something growing out of the top of my bouquet of carnations from DS. I don't know what it is. It kind of looks like another flower but these are cut flowers so why is something growing? Weird.

 

And the Christmas cactus buds are getting bigger. This one looks like it's
ready to pop any day now and it's a lot brighter and more vivid than the usual pink flowers.

 

These other two buds are smaller and pinker, and I noticed on the left of the picture I can see a couple more little nubbins of buds making an appearance.

 

I didn't draw again today. I spent too much time writing and thinking about writing and posting about writing. I'll try to get to it tomorrow. I feel guilty when I don't draw every day, like I'm letting OJ down.

--Barbara 

Boy, Did It Rain

The pavement was wet when I opened the shades this morning and it for sure didn't dry out all day. Because there was a steady line of storms, a little thunder and a good amount of rain, that marched through today. I'd planned to do some outside things, like clean the disgusting birdbath (see how green the water is?) and get the patio chairs out of the shed. I even thought about attempting to start the new snowblower to move it into the shed. But I didn't do any of that stuff. Because it rained. And rained.

I saw one bird this morning before the rain started. It was a Brown-headed Cowbird that landed on the square green feeder and held on for a moment before falling off/flying away. I did not get a picture and the ones in the archives are terrible. So imagine a Starling-size black bird with a brown head.

 

What I did today was read and edit the last fifteen chapters of my current manuscript, fixing passive voice and adding little foreshadowing threads that lead to bigger things coming later. Some of it involved going back to earlier chapters and inserting a brooding bad guy into a scene so I could make him the big bad guy in a later scene. 

 

And I went on GotPrint and ordered Seaview Muffin Recipe postcards to hand out at events. I ordered more business cards too because I'm running low. I chose Economy Shipping on a $42 order and it added $30 to the total. Holy smokes!

 

Yesterday it got up to 78 degrees and was humid. I had the air conditioner on. Today it got up to 51 degrees. I had to turn the furnace back on. Tomorrow it's supposed to get up to 80. With all of today's rain, I'm sure it'll be humid along with hot. Sheesh. 

The other thing I did today was watch and re-watch some 10-second videos that my assistant KM sent me. We're working on making videos to share on Instagram and Facebook. I've given up on posting videos to TikTok because every time I go on there I just get frustrated and can't figure out how to find what I want to look at. It's not worth it. I'll use the platforms I kind of understand.

I didn't draw or paint today because I was immersed in my manuscript and didn't want to stop

--Barbara 

 

Early Birds

I was going to call this post "Yesterday's Birds" but when I looked on the camera I had two bird pictures from early this morning. Today I got up at 6 o'clock (ugh) because I had to be at the workshop at 8 o'clock and it takes me a while to get moving in the morning. First the Bluejay came back to the suet nuggets. I'm so glad it remembered that I had goodies for it. The feeder is empty and I only have a few nuggets left. I thought I might go get some on my way home from the workshop but I forgot so I can't buy any more until Monday. It'll be okay.

 

Then I caught sight of a House Finch dipping its beak in the grape jelly. I still haven't seen a male Oriole land and eat but I did have to chase a squirrel away from the Oriole feeder. They like the jelly too.

 

Speaking of the writing workshop I helped present today, the only picture I have is my favorite red Yellowstone coffee mug at home filled with leftover decaf from the workshop. We were all too busy to pose for pictures. It was an unqualified success. GBB kept things moving and on time, and the participants seemed to enjoy it. They were engaged with the information, asked questions, and networked the daylights out of the room. 

 

When I went out to refill the birdbath (which will definitely get a good cleaning tomorrow, it's gross), I noticed that the ferns and lilies of the valley are doing their best to grow. I love the curly heads of the ferns and the first little bells of the lilies. Soon there'll be white, sweet smelling flowers all over there.

 

And the bleeding hearts are flowering more. It was windy when I was out there so I'm kind of surprised that the picture isn't all blurry but the shutter speed must have been fast enough to keep it in focus.

 

The drawing today is a Hippopotamus. I was surprised that it didn't just say Hippo but the animal must have demanded its full name billing. I could have made the body a little rounder in the belly but I like the way the coloring turned out.

 

Tonight I was too tired to knit so I sat and watched the movie Remarkably Bright Creatures on Netflix. You should watch it if you haven't already. It's sweet and Sally Field does a great job. I confess I cried. Now I have to find the audiobook to listen to. 

--Barbara 

Light Red!

The pink (light red) tulips have finally decided to open. It's been warm the last couple days, 70s and 80s, so they probably thought it was time. I'm impressed that the rabbits haven't eaten them or at least chewed the tops off but I guess they're protected by the daffodils and a planter.

 

An Oriole finally landed on the feeder and stayed long enough for a picture. It's a female so it doesn't have the wild dark black and flaming orange colors of the male but she'll bring him back, I bet. Twice this morning a male showed up, landed, and then flew away because there were other birds around. Sheesh. Way to be skittish, Oriole.

 

And the male Hummingbird was back this afternoon and I was lucky enough to see him. Two of my three shots are blurry but this one of him sipping at the port is pretty much in focus. I noticed that the level of nectar was going down but I hadn't seen any Hummingbirds so I thought maybe the squirrels figured out how to drink the sugar water but evidently not. Hooray!

 

The Bluejay came back to snack on the suet nuggets again today. It didn't cooperate and land where I could see it easily but you can still tell what kind of bird it is. I wish I could tell if it's a male or female but they look the same.

 

I drew Leaves today--an oak leaf and a sweet gum leaf. I was surprised that they weren't green in the book so I colored them the way I saw them. Must have been autumn when she drew them for the book.

 

I had three Zooms today. In the morning I met with my virtual assistant (who is a real person, not a bot) to talk about having her make some very short videos to post on Facebook and Instagram. I've decided not to get on TikTok because every time I go on there I get frustrated and confused. I don't like it so I'm not doing it. After lunch I Zoomed with my women writer friends like I do every Friday. We chatted, wrote for 10 minutes, shared what we wrote, and then chatted some more. After that I didn't have anything to do so I listened to an audiobook and drew a gratitude journal page for the first time in two weeks.

 

My third Zoom was Friday Night Knitting. I worked on Scrap Hat #4, got through the even rounds and into the crown decreases. Our numbers dwindled when the California contingent went off to bingo so when KW got tired at 8 o'clock we called it a night. I'm just as glad because I set my alarm for 6 in the morning so I'll be semi-awake when I arrive at the writing workshop to set up at 8 AM. Man, that's early.

 

Now I need to add pictures to these paragraphs, reread it to catch any typos, and then post it so I can hit the sack. Tomorrow should be quite a day. I'll report.

--Barbara 

Surprise!

After supper I looked out and was surprised to see a Bluejay on the suet nuggets. And it even stayed long enough for me to take three pictures. This one is the best because it shows most of the bird.

 

This morning a Goldfinch showed up and flitted around, posing here and there, until it stayed on top of the crook long enough for this shot.

 

I didn't even think of that when I flipped open the book and chose this to draw today. Another Goldfinch. It turned out pretty okay. The wing isn't right (it kinda looks broken) but I'll do better next time. Or not. (I'm thinking of the Heron that was worse the second time I drew it.) These might be my best bird feet though.

 

The Christmas cactus buds are getting bigger and pinker. There is no logic to this plant. For years it didn't bloom. Then it made a couple blooms. And now that I've given it a bigger pot, more water, and more direct sunlight it's going crazy flinging blooms out helter skelter.

 

Either this Robin feels extra dirty or is particular about being clean because it took a very thorough bath today. Robins are the most enthusiastic bathers of the birds that frequent my yard. They fling and flail, splashing out quite a bit of the water every time.

 

And would the day be complete without a picture of a squirrel on the suet nuggets feeder? I think not. Here's today's entry. I didn't see an Oriole today and haven't seen a Hummingbird in a week. Dang it.

 

The audiobook narrator sent me the revisions this morning, I listened to them, approved the production, paid the invoice, and published it. Now it goes through the quality assurance process which takes about 10 days before it's released into the world.

The back passenger side door of my car won't unlock. Not even if you pull the lock knob. So I've got an appointment next Wednesday to have it looked at. Fingers crossed a wire is pinched or rubbed and it's easily fixed. I don't want to not be able to lock my car and I really really don't want to have to get a new/used one. I'm so nervous about it.

--Barbara 

Inside

 The squirrel was back inside the square green feeder today. I didn't see it leap over and get in but it was there for a long time. At one point the squirrel was inside and there were three or four Sparrows on the perches not minding at all that a big furry creature was in the feeder.

 

In this Chickadee picture you can see that the squirrel is in the feeder but the Chickadee doesn't care. I was just happy to snap a decent picture because those little birds really flit around, never staying in one place for long.

 

I was fast enough and lucky enough to catch a picture of a Bluejay sitting on the fence at the back of the yard. It flew down below the cob corn looking for fallen kernels but evidently didn't find any because it flew right up to the fence and then took off. 

 

I caught sight of an Oriole again today for just a split second so I had to go into the archives for a picture. I know it's kind of cheating but I'm so eager to see one that I'm taking advantage when I can. Hopefully soon one will come and stay long enough for me to take a current picture.

 

This morning I went down to Zambaldi to visit DS. He was doing three things at once so I didn't stay long. He was brewing Yard Games IPA. In this picture he's measuring out the hops to put into the boil to impart that traditional hoppy flavor. He also poured us tiny glasses of his hibiscus-lime sour beer that he made last week. It's pink! He's going to add more hibiscus to ramp up the flavor and maybe add some orange to enrich the flavor.

 

The lilacs are starting to bloom! A few of them are opening. I had to pull a flower right up to my nose to smell it today but soon enough of them will be open that the fragrance will be nearly overpowering.

 

And the Christmas cactus buds are getting bigger. There are four of them, two bigger and two little nubbins, all in this picture. I guess the flowers are a thank you for water and sunshine.

 

Dad's rose is sprouting. You can barely see the dark maroon shoots in the center of last year's canes. I need to get out there with clippers and cut back the old wood so the new wood can grow and flourish.

 

Today's drawings are In the Garden. I like the clippers and trowel, oh, and the frog. Also the snail. I guess I like them all.

 

After Zambaldi, I went to fill up with gas and noticed that my key fob didn't open the door locks and the locks didn't lock when I shifted into drive so I stopped at Rabideau Auto Mart to see if I'd blown a fuse. JR found the door locks fuse and replaced it. The locks worked. Hooray! But it only worked twice before it stopped working again. I suspect that means I've got an electrical problem which isn't easy to find or fix but I'll make an appointment to have the mechanic check it out. I don't want to have to get rid of my red HHR. Sniff. This fuse is tiny, about the size of a pinkie nail.

 

I tried working on some short story starts this afternoon but didn't get very far. Maybe tomorrow I'll have better luck.

--Barbara