Hot & Steamy

It wasn't hot enough or humid enough, so I went down to Zambaldi to visit DS where he was brewing a batch of Octoberfest beer. That meant he had two big tanks of boiling water on the brewing platform and was draining hot sanitizing solution out of one of the fermenter tanks. So adding heat and humidity to an already steamy situation. We spent part of my visit in the taproom where the air conditioning was on so he could cool down in between chores in the brewhouse. He built a pergola over the end of the patio that the hops vines are climbing up. Some of them are tall enough that they're turning the corner to go up toward the roof. One of these days they'll be bushy and provide shade.

 

Just as I pulled into the garage coming home from the brewery, I got a text from the pharmacy that my prescriptions were ready for pickup. So I reopened the garage door and drove over there. On the way I passed the birdseed store so I stopped for suet nuggets (they go fast!) and a small bag of cob corn. When I got home from errands, I filled the feeders. It didn't take long for the Sparrows to figure out that the suet nuggets feeder was full and the House Finches took advantage of the refilled orange half and grape jelly. I didn't get a House Finch picture but I did catch one of two Sparrows sharing nicely.

 

Today's tiny drawings are Tools. I don't remember drawing them before. I wish I had a better gray colored pencil but made do with the silver one and black one. I should look in a different colored pencil holder. There are probably a plethora of gray ones. Or maybe two.

 

Our presentation on newsletters went pretty well at Writers Guild tonight. I collected four email addresses to add to my mailing lists. I'm glad about that. 

When I got home from the meeting I didn't knit so I don't have more teddy bear to show you. Maybe tomorrow.

--Barbara 

All-Squirrel Wrestling

I was finally lucky enough to see the juvenile squirrels wrestling and be able to take pictures of them. One shot is pretty blurry but this one is more in focus. I wonder if they make noise while they're wrestling.

 

Today's drawing is a Luna Moth. I tried my darnedest to make the two sides of wings match each other and don't think I did too badly. Then I sharpened the colored pencils which made a huge difference in coloring the drawing.

 

Checked Dad's roses to see if any were blooming and found this rosebud just unfurling. So beautiful, so red, so sweet. Once again I resisted picking it, leaving it out there to be enjoyed and not plucked to die in the kitchen in a vase. Even though the vase is cut crystal. And there's a bud tucked up under the lower right side, so more to come.

 

And around the base of Dad's rose bush the purple mums buds are starting to open. Every year the purple mums start to bloom in July and most years I go out and trim them back so they don't bloom until September like they're supposed to. I haven't decided whether I'll trim them this year or not. I'm thinking about it.

 

 After supper I sat down to knit on Teddy Bear #2. I finished the 12 rows of belly, although I was at row 8 when I noticed that three rows back I'd purled half a row when I was supposed to knit. Damn. So I pulled out the needle, ripped back the stitches, picked the stitches up again, and kept going. I was impressed that I could count the rows because this fuzzy yarn makes seeing the stitches hard. It's easier to count the purl rows because they don't blend together like the knit side of the piece does.  Besides, it a stuffed animal. Who's going to count rows to make sure that the belly and the backside match?

 

I was very relieved this morning when cda wasn't upset at my compilation of her three epilogue versions into one. There were good parts in each and I thought it was a shame that they didn't all make it into the final version. Fortunately she liked it. Whew.

GBB and I are doing the education at the Writers Guild meeting tomorrow night so we met this afternoon on a short Zoom to plan what we're going to say. I have a feeling that there won't be a crowd at the meeting, don't know why, but whoever comes we'll talk to them about newsletters and different ways to use them. I have notes.

--Barbara 

Not Too Hot

And with a nice breeze so I could take a walk this afternoon. I waited until the sun was lower so there was more shade and walked up to the stop sign and back. I can tell that I'm walking more; I still get out of breath but not as badly as before and I recover more quickly. Both good signs to keep going.

 

A Downy Woodpecker, or maybe THE Downy Woodpecker, landed on the suet cakes today. This one has red on its head so I'm thinking it's a male. It flew by another time but swooped back and forth and never landed. I couldn't decide what its problem was. There wasn't a Hawk nearby or a big, mean squirrel on the empty suet nuggets feeder.

 

One Crow was back on the fence today. I hear them cawing in the morning when I'm waking up, but not when they're on the fence. 

 

I drew a Radish today. It was fun and I like the way it turned out, especially the leaves.

 

My watercolor wasn't as successful. It's from the first year's watercolor class at The Clearing and my notes weren't the best that year so I fumbled around. Painting a rock wall is hard for me. It ends up looking like a brownish, greenish smudge across the page. I should practice that more. The trees didn't turn out too badly though.

 

After supper I sat down and started knitting another bear. I have another skein of that fuzzy super bulky yarn in a different color that I'm determined to use so I went down another needle size to squeeze the stitches together more. I've got the first legs knitted and joined. Next comes the belly and arms. We'll see how this one turns out.

 

When I was rereading chapters in my manuscript today, I realized that I had one couple stay over an extra week and then in the next chapter I had too many people arrive to check in so that there weren't enough rooms. That meant I had to scrape out all of the references to the eliminated couple and tidy up the language around the places where I took things out. But I saved the parts I took out and transferred them to my "Darlings" file so they're not deleted, just moved.

I checked on Libby to see how far down the line I am to get Iron Flame, the second book of the Empyrian series I had to return before I finished it. I'm number 2, so it shouldn't be long, but I was surprised that I could have borrowed the third book without waiting. How come I have to wait for number 2 and nobody's reading/listening to number 3? I don't get it. Watch, when I want number 3, there'll be a waitlist. Oh well. I have other books to listen to while I wait.

I have got to concentrate on sitting up straight and not slouching when I'm sitting here at the computer. It's a bad habit. I have to stand up straight when I walk too. Focus, Barbara! 

--Barbara 

 

Happy July 4th!

I had an unexpected visitor this morning. I was eating my breakfast, saw movement outside, and looked up to see the hen turkey strutting through. I thought she'd peck at the seed in the grass but she just moved on through. I left the birdbath in the picture so you can see how big she is.

 

Then a little later I saw a flash of black and white and there was a Downy Woodpecker on the Slinky. It stayed there for a bit and then flew over to the suet cakes, landing on the back side out of sight, of course.

 

I spent most of the day in Shawano with DIL1's family. There was a lot of food, lots of laughter, and plenty of splashing in the pool. After swimming and dessert (the brownies were a hit), there was a water balloon fight at the house across the street. I did not take part or witness it, but by all accounts it was loads of fun.

 

When I drove up to my house this afternoon, I saw that the peachy day lily on the side of the house was blooming. I forget about those flowers on that side and usually miss their blossoms, so I was glad to see this one today.

 

And I snapped a picture of the newest Dad's rose. The rest of them are all faded or fading, but I spied a couple buds that look promising.

 

I didn't draw or paint today. I did spend a few minutes reading a couple manuscript chapters so I can mark that off my to-do list for the day.

But I found out that Project Hail Mary was free to watch on Prime (thanks for the text, CP!) so I plopped down on the couch when I got home and watched. It was good, but I think the book was better. But then, I always think the book is better than the movie. I recommend them both.

I can hear fireworks from every direction. Some are close, others are far away. 

--Barbara 

Proof

Here's a section of the retaining wall without weeds, proof that the weeding crew was here and did a good job. It looks kind of odd without all the weeds but I like it.

 

The bird of the day is a Crow. There were three of them on top of the fence, too far apart to be in the same frame but this one had its beak open like it had something to say.

 

Today I drew a page she called Little Critters. It wasn't until I was finishing coloring them with markers that I realized I had all three green critters lined up on the right side of the page. They look kind of funny like that but it was too late to change.

 

I baked a double batch of brownies this afternoon. And I only ate one little corner one. Okay, I also ate the crumbs left in the pan after I put them all into a Tupperware box for the drive to Shawano. They stuck around the sides which made prying out the first one messy. That's why I had to eat it. Really.

 

Late in the day a House Finch came over to sip the rain-diluted grape jelly. He was alone, no female accompanying him as usual. Maybe it was her turn on the nest.

 

Tonight at Friday Night Knitting I worked on the Antipasto Chemo Hat. It's almost long enough to start the crown decreases but I want to make sure it's long enough to cover the ears so I'll add another inch or so just to be sure.

 

That was my day. I slept until 8 o'clock, did the Wordle, did yoga, and took a shower, so it was late when I got dressed. It's so nice to be retired and not have to leap up, get dressed, and race off to work. Retirement is luxurious. I braved a trip to the grocery store this afternoon, not thinking that there'd be a lot of people in there buying 4th of July party or picnic food. It wasn't too bad, I even got a decent parking place.

--Barbara

The Saga of the Weeds

The weeders were supposed to arrive at 8 A.M. this morning so I set my alarm for 6:30 A.M. (I'm a slow waker-upper.) They texted at about 7:30 A.M. that they were calling a rain delay and would arrive around noon. Now it was barely sprinkling here when I got that text but okay. Turned out it was raining buckets at their house on the east side when it wasn't raining here but they're teens and didn't think to ask. I didn't think to say it wasn't raining here either. Anyway, they arrived just after noon and got started. Two skinny teens with gloves and bins for the weeds. They got to work and pretty soon uncovered a nest of fire ants so they skipped that part. They weren't speedy but they worked steadily, stopped to eat in mid-afternoon, and finally quit when there were way more ants at the end of the retaining wall. By then I was ready for them to be done because they charge by the hour. I might call them again. Oh, and they hauled away some wood that leaned on the garage wall next to my car and fell over on it every once in a while. That cost extra.

 

I decided I wanted to paint something easy so I tried painting lavender with the Creativebug course I have done in the past. It's okay. Not my best effort. I just couldn't make the brush do what I wanted it to do. Maybe another time.

 

I saw a Hummingbird this afternoon! Finally. Naturally it didn't stay long enough for a picture so I've gone back into the archives for a substitute. I was becoming convinced that something else was sipping the nectar because the level went down but I never saw a bird. Now I've seen one and it was a male. Yippee!

 

This afternoon I listened to an audiobook and finished Teddy Bear #1. I'm not sure I like it. It's cute and everything, but somehow it's just not right. I think using that super bulky yarn was a mistake. It made the bear too big and the stitches aren't tight together enough. There's time, I can try again.

 

It's hard to share a bird picture when the bird doesn't cooperate. This morning a Downy Woodpecker was on the suet cakes but I didn't see it until it flew into the patio door. Oops. Later it came again, or another one did, and this time it landed on the back side of the suet cakes feeder so all I could see was the tail. So that's what you get, a Downy Woodpecker tail.

 

Tomorrow I get to bake a double batch of Hershey's "The Best" Brownies for the July 4th picnic. That's what I volunteer to make every year. They seem to like them since I never have to bring any back home. Let's hope the rain holds off so we can sit outside and watch the kids swim instead of sitting in the house listening to the kids rampage through the house.

--Barbara 

Another Hot Muggy Day

With bonus rain! It was so dark this morning when it was raining I had to turn on a light to start the dishwasher and see what buttons to push. And the rain came from the southwest which made a puddle in the mailbox. I think that was a first, at least in recent memory. It rained again around lunchtime but with less enthusiasm. And less darkness. This does not feel like a Wisconsin summer. It feels like a Southern Indiana summer felt when I was a kid.

 

I went out and filled the suet nuggets feeder and it didn't take long for Sparrows to figure it out and come to visit. They mostly didn't stay long enough for a picture but this one finally did.

 

Then a male Downy Woodpecker visited the refilled suet cakes. He even considerately hung onto the side of the feeder so I could see him and the red swoop on top of his head.

 

I had a meeting this morning with KM, my online assistant (no, she's not AI), and she helped me finish setting up the delivery actions linking BookFunnel and Square so I can offer people the chance to purchase eBooks and audiobooks at vendor and book fairs. As soon as the sale goes through they'll get an email with a link so they can download their book purchase. It didn't cost me anything but time so I hope it will help me make a few more sales.

 

This morning's rain beat up Dad's roses pretty badly. They were fading anyway so I'm going to post the picture of them looking beautiful the other day and then wait for the next batch of flowers to bloom.

 

I wasn't in an arty mood today so I just drew a dragonfly--and not very well. I picked what I thought was a light blue marker for the wings. It turned out to be more turquoise. Oh well, I think it was supposed to represent iridescence. Close enough.

 

I finished knitting the last six rows of teddy bear leg this evening, embroidered on the face, and clipped the sides together. I started sewing it up but that's going to take a while. Then I have to stuff it, oh, I probably have to stitch across the head's corners to make the ears before I stuff it. I'll read the instructions. What a novel idea!

 

My alarm is set for 6:30 A.M. because the weeding crew is supposed to arrive at 8 A.M. I hope they don't take too long because they get paid by the hour and my budget can only stand so much but I'll be glad to get rid of all those unsightly weeds.

--Barbara