Not In My Yard

But right next to it. The diggers were back and active all day and they stayed in the neighbor's yard. I was glad I wasn't trying to have a quiet day because they were LOUD. Hopefully they're nearly done. I'm so over the armada of white trucks and florescent yellow clad workpeople (one of them's a woman) buzzing up and down the block.

I've stopped filling the birdfeeders because it occurred to me that it might be a rat that dug that big hole up on the retaining wall and I know that fallen birdseed attracts rats. So I'm letting the feeders stay empty except that there's still suet cakes so this passel of Sparrows descended today and a couple of them spent quite a bit of time on the suet cakes feeder. I don't know if rats can climb up there. I hope not.

Today was a busy day but I did steal away time for a little drawing. These are from 20 Ways to Draw a Jellyfish. I like the dolphin that's on top of the water and I like the cartoon-y lobster.

I got to spend the evening with LC and OJ and when I went out to get in my car to drive home there was the full moon shining down on me so I took its picture. It's not the supermoon like last night and it's still quite the white blur, but I like how it outshines the streetlight. (The moon's the big white circle on top.)

What I was busy with today was listening to auditions and hiring a narrator to turn my books into audiobooks. Since I haven't really spent much money to publish them I'm okay with spending some moolah to get them out in another form. Most of my "reading" these days is listening to audiobooks so it makes sense to me to offer them on Audible. I found the narrator through Audible so it'll be easy to slot them onto my Amazon book pages. I've had a couple requests for audiobooks and now I'll be able to fill those requests. I'm so excited! It'll be a few months before they're up and available but it's exciting to be starting. Now I have to order a new cover for Horizon and The Seaview because the rectangular Kindle and paperback covers are unacceptable. That's okay, I found an inexpensive place to get that done fairly quickly. I'm having such a good time with this. Who knew that I'd embark on a whole new career as an author? I'm supposed to be retired but I guess I'm not very good at that.

--Barbara

And Done

I finished this bout of Investment Cooking today, and I didn't set off the smoke alarm again because I had on the ceiling fan and had the patio door open. But first I made a batch and a half of BBQ Mini Turkey Meatloaves. They're little pucks of ground turkey, onions, and BBQ sauce baked in big muffin tins. I squeeze on a little more sauce when I reheat them. They're very tasty. 

Next I made Salisbury Steaks. That's the recipe that sets off the smoke alarm most of the time but today I made sure that I had good ventilation when I fried the patties. Again it took me until the last day of Investment Cooking to remember that the green-handled scoop is 1/3 cup so I can use it to portion out the rice. It's so much easier than using a measuring cup and little spatula. Maybe next time I'll remember sooner.

I noticed that the some of the sedum flowers are starting to turn pink. I'm not a pink fan but I like the way the pink florets look with the light green leaves. I was surprised not to see any bees on the flowers yet. Maybe they're not open enough?

Today's drawings are from Things With Wings or 20 Ways to Draw a Butterfly. No butterflies, only a vintage airplane, two beetles, and a very odd-looking dragon.

There's a big beautiful full moon tonight and try as I might I couldn't get a decent picture of it. All I got was a big white blur. Dang it.

I met a few knitting friends at DM's house tonight. We ate and talked--and never got around to knitting. But they did each buy a copy of my last two books. They said they wanted the "full set." Made me feel just great. Thanks, DM, KE, and CS! You're the best!

I did a little online research into having my books turned into audiobooks. I've had some requests. I know that reading a book aloud is a big job and they're not shy about charging for it. It's something that I'll have to think about. But wouldn't that be cool? Maybe that's what I've been saving up for.

--Barbara

Well, The Smoke Alarm Works

Today was another Investment Cooking day and I gave the smoke alarm a good workout this afternoon. I was browning chicken breasts in butter and the burner was too hot, the butter browned a bit too much, and the smoke alarm let me know. I should have had on the vent fan and the ceiling fan and had the patio doors open but I didn't. I'll do better tomorrow when I'm frying things again. The recipe that set off the alarm was Chicken Breasts Pierre, one of my favorites and one of the quickest and easiest to make.

First thing this morning I got Chicken Tikka Masala into the slow cooker. It simmered away all morning, smelled good, and didn't set off the smoke alarm. 38 suppers in the freezer so far with 15 more to come tomorrow. (the mini meatloaves recipe makes 9 servings)

All last week the fiber-optic construction people worked across the street. It seemed like I had the most of those little utilities flags in my yard but they weren't paying any attention. Until this afternoon. Three of the trucks clustered at the corner of my lot, the guys were conferring at the tailgate of one truck (behind my tiny tree), and then they were using some sort of sensor to check things underground. I can't decide if they're not coming back or if they're coming back later to make a mess again. I hope they're done digging holes and making a mess in my yard.

While the recipes were simmering I drew a few things out of 20 Ways to Draw a Tree (and 45 other Nifty Things in Nature). I just noticed the subtitle of the book today and like the phrase "nifty things in nature." I drew two each of owls, beetles, and flowers. I like the beetles the best.

I pulled out my little baggie of dishcloth yarn leftovers and started a Leftovers Dishcloth this evening. What I should have done (but didn't) is weigh all of the little nubbins of yarn and try to calculate about half so I know when to start decreasing. But since this will be mine anyway, if I run out of yarn I can just stop abruptly or dig out some other random yarn from downstairs. Yeah, that's what I'll do. I've got two milk crates of dishcloth yarn down there, there's bound to be some other small bits of yarn down there that I could use to finish this cloth.

I got online and ordered more bookmarks because I'm almost out of the ones I ordered before, which means that I've given away almost 250 of the things. Holy Toledo! I also discovered that someone had hacked into my alternate email address so I had a string of spam and phishing emails sent from myself. Changed the password. What a pain. Then the @$#%& webmail site wouldn't let me in so I had to call Spectrum and a very nice lady taught me how to clear my History and clean my cache so I could get back in. *sigh*

--Barbara

Showing Off

Today the first copy of Island Dreams arrived. Since I published my first book last fall I've ordered a retail copy as soon as it was available so that I'd have the very first one. I also got the copy of Horizon with the new cover today. I like it, and it already attracted some attention on Amazon as someone on Kindle Unlimited started reading it. Woohoo! I decided to take a picture of all four of my novels just to see them all in a group. I'm so proud of them. Even if I'm never famous or successful I'm so happy that I decided to self-publish them.

It was another Investment Cooking day. First thing I got Chicken Cacciatore into the slow cooker. It's one of my favorite recipes and it makes the house smell wonderful.

Then I made a new, well, new-ish recipe. I've made it before for Investment Cooking a few years ago. It's called Honey-Ginger Chicken Tenders. I made it last time the knitters came over as an appetizer and it was so good that I decided to make it as a meal. There was an extra chicken tender when I portioned them out so I had to eat one for supper. Poor me.

I opened Dr. Seuss's Book of Animals to find this shaggy, yawning cow-like beast on the next page. This is not my best work but I think he's pretty funny looking.

Then I paged through 20 Ways to Draw a Jellyfish. This is not my best work either. It's an angelfish, a clownfish, a crab, and a crocodile. Meh.

I had a small assistant today. He played while I cooked. We shopped a bit, then went to the park where he played and I roasted. Next time I'll take a hat and not wear a black shirt.

One of my writer friends is starting a writing blog and she's asked to interview me. I'm so flattered and excited. She sent me questions today so I spent the evening trying to craft answers that don't make me sound like a doofus. I'll post a link when it's up.

--Barbara

A Banner Day

Throughout the day I check my Amazon Ads Marketing page to see how many Impressions, Clicks, and (hopefully) Sales I have that day. I usually have plenty of Impressions, I get a Click every couple days, and I get a Sale every once in a great while. Not today. Today I got over 1000 Impressions (a usual amount), 4 Clicks (that never happens), and 1 Sale (and I think it's of my newest book because that's the ad the Click and Sale showed up on). I'm over the moon. *pause for a little happy dance* My success with all of the ads I've made has been a real slow roll. I don't have 100 clicks on any title yet and that's the benchmark for judging your ad effectiveness. But I'm not giving up, I'll keep making ads and we'll just see what happens. So far I've earned more than I've spent so I'm happy.

Another Downy Woodpecker landed on the suet cakes this morning but a Sparrow did too and because it's a two-sided feeder they could tolerate being on there together. No squabbling.

Today is the first day of the next bout of Investment Cooking and I am not in the mood. But if I want something to eat every night, something that isn't a pint of ice cream or a PG&J, I need to cook.  I made the shopping list yesterday and got it entered into my phone. This morning (after a nice chat with Lala) I went over to Meijer and got all the food. The hardest thing to find was scallions. I ended up having to buy organic ones because there wasn't even a scrap or a shelf tag for the regular ones. Anyway, I got it all, got it home, put it away (sometimes that's the worst part, isn't it?), and after lunch I got started. First I made One Pan Mexican Rice Skillet. It's nice and spicy. Of course I thought I had a can of beef broth but actually had chicken so I didn't buy any. Oh well, it'll taste good made with chicken broth, I'm sure.

After supper I threw together Easy Sheet Pan Sausage & Veggies. This is the most colorful recipe I make and it's a little fiddly cutting up all those mini peppers but I use my kitchen shears and the job goes pretty quickly. I almost forgot to make brown rice to put into the portion containers with this one but I got the rice cooking and it all got finished at the same time.

In between recipes I sat down to draw. These are from 20 Ways to Draw a Butterfly--a flying fish, 2 bees, a dove, and a moth. I like them all again today, I can't pick a favorite.

I've been agonizing over whether I did the email list correctly, whether I gave the correct instructions, and whether it's going to work when I send the next missive on Friday. I try not to worry about things so much but I think it's genetic. Mom was a worrier, I learned it from her.

--Barbara

Seventeen

That's how many of those little utility flags on sticks are in my front yard. In every color too--red, green, blue, yellow, and orange & white striped. I went out this afternoon to mow because the grass was getting quite shaggy with the rain we've had over the last days and didn't realize how many of those pesky little wires I'd have to avoid. What a pain. So far they're digging on the other side of the street. I hope they stay there.

I spent the rest of the afternoon sitting here making up ads for my new book. (Why, yes, I have a new book published on Amazon! It's called Island Dreams. Nice of you to ask.) I made four ads--one automatic ad, one category ad, and two keyword ads--and when I checked just now one of the keyword ads has already gotten an Impression. Woohoo!

While I was out mowing I noticed that just one of the milkweed plants along the lot line has pods on it. I like the way they look like alien growths, all spiky and green.

I drew out of 20 Ways to Draw a Tree book and I'm very happy with the way the feather turned out. The rest of the figures aren't bad but I like the feather the best.

Then I paged to the next pictures in Draw 500 Fabulous Flowers and found these. The one I colored is a Morning Glory. I used to grow those on the fence along the retaining wall hoping that they'd be self-seeding but that never worked, darn it.

 

To show you how clueless I am about the Packer games I went over to the Metro Market by the stadium and couldn't figure out why the gas station and all the parking lots were crammed with cars. There were a limited number of spots available at the grocery but I found one and got the stuff I needed. When I got home I found a picture of DS, his family, and friends at the game on FB. *head, smack* Good thing I didn't try to go earlier, I'd have gotten trapped in all of the traffic.

A couple Hispanic families moved into the duplex at the end of the block and they're having one whale of a party tonight. They've even got a bouncy house. I'll bet they have great food too. I can hear the music and I like it. Now I just have to figure out how to cozy up to them so that they invite me over to eat. I keep waving when I drive by but so far nothing. It's the first step in my master plan/dream of having one of everybody living all around me so that I can learn about their cultures and eat their delicious food. Hey, it could happen.

--Barbara

It's Almost Ready

I did the final review of the Final manuscript of Island Dreams and it got published this afternoon. It's available now on Kindle and the paperback will be available in a few days. I'm excited that it's out there and ready for readers but not quite as excited as I was when I did all of the formatting and publishing myself. Or am I becoming jaded now that I'm on book #4? Nah.

I looked out and saw a Downy Woodpecker at the tube feeder again this morning but when I picked up the camera and turned to take a picture the Woodpecker had turned into a Sparrow. And one with an attitude too. See how he's daring me to take his picture?

Dad's rose is blooming again and when I snapped the picture I saw a Japanese Beetle lurking between the petals. I picked it off.

I just drew one page today out of 20 Ways to Draw a Jellyfish. I think I like all four of my little figures today, even the goofy looking walrus.

I've been adding a few rows to the Muchness scarf each evening and so I thought it was time for it to be on the blog again. I dropped a stitch tonight and was lucky enough to catch it before it got away too far. Good thing that the pattern and the variegated yarn color will hide any misplaced stitch because I'm not so sure that I got it all back together right. I was just happy to catch the little sucker and hook it back into place.

 

The other day I decided to order an author copy of Horizon with the new, improved cover on it. It came today. With the old cover. Tsk. Then I spent an hour on a chat with Customer Service from KDP finding out if the cover change worked and why didn't it show up on my book. He said it was a mistake and they'll send me a replacement, hopefully it'll have the correct cover on it. Sheesh.

Oh, for those of you who signed up for my email list, be sure that you click on the Free Short Story Download that comes from Barbara Writes, even if you downloaded the story from my first email. That activates you on the list and means that you'll be included in future email sends. It might have landed in your Junk or Spam folder so check there if you don't find it in your regular emails. I don't want you to miss a thing! Because I'm sure you'll be hanging on every word. (Tongue firmly in cheek.)

--Barbara

It Worked After All

Turns out I jumped the gun sending that email last night. My Email Marketing pages worked just fine. *sigh* So I ate a bit of crow and wrote another email to my list of addresses confessing my failure and spending a half hour putting all of those email addresses of those that accepted onto the site. I'm such a trial to myself sometimes.  Anyway, here's the link to my monthly writing progress emails list if you missed it on FB or the emails: Barbara Writes Email List  Thank you for your patience. I evidently have little of it.

This morning that Downy Woodpecker showed up while I was having breakfast and spent some time sorting through the seeds in the tube feeder. Later on another Downy showed up on the suet pellets but I wasn't fast enough with the camera. I figure one bird a day is plenty.

Then this bunny showed up and spent quite a bit of time hoovering up fallen birdseed. I was looking at it and it looks a little scrawny, like a kid that's grown too fast, so I wonder if this isn't the grownup baby that was racing across the patio earlier in the summer.

Once again there was a sole Stella d'Oro lily blooming today. This one's leaves are covered with some vine that grows on that side of the retaining wall. If someone had gotten out there in the early summer (me) and weeded there wouldn't be all those vines over there. Ah well, this just wasn't a weeding summer, I guess. Besides the vines make pretty white flowers that the bees like.

I drew a few things out of 20 Ways to Draw a Butterfly and couldn't resist drawing the goofiest looking owl on the page. It's on the upper left and I can't wrap my eyes around it and come out with "owl." I'm not sure what I think it looks like but owl ain't it.

I got a text from my neighbor saying that their tomatoes have started ripening and they can't keep up with eating them. She asked if I like tomatoes and if so would I please come and pick some. So I did. I mostly picked the "pop one in your mouth" kind on the plant nearest my back door. They're very good and such a pretty color.

Late this afternoon I got what Harry from Book Publishing Solutions called the final draft of the manuscript. It's formatted with most of the front and back matter that I asked for. It's starting to look like a book! Naturally I found a couple typos but was able to correct them since it wasn't a pdf. Now there's only one more addition to the back matter that I sent him and maybe it'll be almost ready to be published. I'm hoping for the middle of September.

I went down to the library after lunch and spent an hour sorting books. I managed to clear one table of canvas bags and all but one bag on the next table. Two of the bags were filled with children's books so I was able to slide the bags onto a cart and wheel them down to the kids' books area where I could just stack them and leave them. Kids' books has their own sorting team separate from the adult books sorters.

This morning I had a haircut appointment and then went to the DePere ALDI for my favorite snack crackers. I'm addicted to their Savoritz Wheat Crackers. They're so good that I eat them plain. ALDI was buzzing with shoppers but only one check lane was open so there was a long wait. The closest store to me has put in self-checkouts which makes things move faster since there are six of them. I don't hate self-checkout but I know some people do.

--Barbara

So Frustrated

I spent quite a bit of the morning trying (again) to get the Landing Page, etc. to work so that I could post a link to my email list signup page. Didn't happen. I'm so frustrated I could spit. I've asked for help and very little useful is forthcoming. So I sat here and wrote out an email that I sent to a list of my friends, writing and reading types, asking them to respond. If you're reading this and didn't get an email but want to be on the list, message me with your email address and I'll add you. Thanks for understanding.

 

Just before lunch I got the last 5 chapters of Island Dreams to review. I finished in the early afternoon, returned it, and very quickly got a pdf of the formatted manuscript. There are things missing, like my full pen name, and the dedication, acknowledgements page, and the list of my other books, plus a request that readers go on Amazon and leave a review. I sent them an email asking that they be added. We'll see how that plays out. Part of me hoped that they'd send me the manuscript to upload and finish on KDP but I guess that's not what I paid for. I think I miss having the control of my literary destiny.

 

Early this morning before it got too hot and humid I went out and took a picture of the sole blooming Stella d'Oro lily. It never got as hot as they predicted (97 degrees, we hit 91) but the humidity was 85% so it felt stifling hot. Naturally the smoke is back so it's hard to breathe again.

I opened Seuss-isms and found these, um, creatures standing on a point of rocks. I'm not sure what they're doing, hollering into the wind, I guess.

From 20 Ways to Draw a Tree I drew the best acorns I've drawn so far, an okay snowflake, a very good sprig of berries, and a good sprig of herbs. I'm happy with the acorns and the berries, can you tell?

While walking up to the lily to take its picture, I nearly stepped on this little lavender weed
flower. I don't know what it is, probably some native plant, but it sure is pretty. A lot of it grows in my yard and along the retaining wall on the tenants' side.

I've run out of things to say. I hope you're all keeping cool.

--Barbara

And Again

Again I spent most of the day on the computer working my way through the Email Lists from Scratch tutorial videos. I got very frustrated this afternoon because I thought that I followed all of the steps but didn't get the email in my inbox that I thought I was supposed to get. I went through the steps again with the same results so I emailed the help desk and got a reply this evening that nothing was turned on and this was how to do it. Once I did that it occurred to me that perhaps he hadn't checked to make sure that his email showed up because it wasn't going to show up--yet. So I feel a little better about things but I still wish that my screen matched up with the videos he made last year because one of the programs was redone in the interim and it looks very different. Things aren't in the same place on my screen as on his in the demo. *sigh*

JMK, one of my writing friends, commented that the pig I drew the other day looked like Wilbur from Charlotte's Web and I should draw a spider next to the pig so I did. She also commented that the book is banned someplace in Kansas because a mother objected to the talking animals because humans are the highest level of mammals, or some such nonsense. Good grief.

In my frustration over the computer this afternoon I sat down and drew some out of Draw 500 Fabulous Flowers. These flowers were easy to draw and the perfect antidote to my computer angst.

My first drawing efforts were from 20 Ways to Draw a Jellyfish so I have two anemones, two seahorses, and two squid. I especially like the googly-eyed seahorse on the right. To me he looks like he'd talk like Goofy. If animals could talk.

I was so busy on the computer today that I didn't really pay attention to the birds but I did manage to snap a picture of these two Sparrows on the tube feeder. There had been a whole flock of Sparrows on the ground under the feeder but they scattered when I picked up the camera. These two were the brave ones that stayed.

To give myself a break from the laptop I went to the grocery this afternoon thinking that on Tuesday afternoon it'd be less busy. Oh, not so, it was very busy but I parked off to the side and walked around the perimeter of the store before I zeroed in on the things on my list. I'm still on my watermelon jag but I figure that's a safe food to be addicted to. It's supposed to be 97 degrees tomorrow with humidity in the 70% range. I'm staying in the a/c. At least it's only supposed to last for a day or maybe two, not weeks like those poor souls in the southwest have had.

--Barbara