Happy Hallowee--SNOW!

It had started when I got up, little tiny snowflakes that kept getting bigger and windier through the day. At first I took a picture of the patio table because the flakes weren't big enough to show up on the picture.

Then it really ramped up. Look at those flakes! It was snowing and blowing like it really didn't want to stop. It added up to about an inch before it stopped and all of the snow on the grass melted away. I was not psychologically ready for snow today and I'm sure the trick-or-treaters weren't ready for it either. Oh, I had one come to the door. One. Same as last year, different kid.

Then the sun came out. *shrugs* It didn't get any warmer or less windy but the clouds drifted to the south and kept spreading their holiday madness down along the lakeshore. I talked to Lala and she said that it was crazy bad down in Milwaukee, near whiteout conditions, and she heard that they called off trick-or-treating in Sheboygan. Once it stopped snowing the Downy Woodpecker visited for a little nosh at the suet cakes. The birds stayed in their nests or in the pine trees during the snow.

I fiddled around with yesterday's zentangles. They didn't turn out like I envisioned but I'll practice them and try again.

I did better on the figures from 20 Ways to Draw a Tree. I especially like the beetle in the upper left.

I spent the afternoon mostly standing and reading to the end of the old manuscript. I hope that I have enough of the characters and bits of the story in my mind that I can sit down (or stand up) and start NaNoWriMo tomorrow. In order to meet the challenge I have to write 1,667 words a day for the next 30 days. Can I do it? Well, I've done it before so... maybe. Can I weave these old characters into a new story set on a different island? Maybe. Only time will tell.

I was going to take a walk this afternoon but it was too snowy and too windy and too cold too early for me so I went downstairs and back up a couple times and called it good. I know that's a cop-out but I just couldn't make myself go out there today. I'll try tomorrow.

--Barbara

I Should Have Plugged It In

Yesterday when I put the birdbath heater in I didn't check the overnight low temperature. I should have. Because when I got up this morning the birdbath was completely iced over. So I crept out in the 27 degree morning and plugged it in. It took about an hour but soon enough there was open water and the birds were enjoying their morning drinks. And I was glad that I hadn't gone out to rake leaves yesterday because it was windy and cold and the leaves were falling like rain. It would have been frustrating to see all my hard work go to waste.

I turned to the next day/page in the Zentangles book and found three new tangles to experiment with but first I drew a zentangle of my own invention. It's not bad.

In the afternoon I happened to glance out the patio door and saw that a Red-bellied Woodpecker was on the suet pellets feeder. It was on the back side of the feeder but it stayed long enough that I got a semi-good picture of it. At least you can see its head on the right side of the feeder.

I got a haircut this morning and it was cold enough that I wore my winter coat. Zipped up. And I snagged a pair of mittens out of the car basket to keep my hands from freezing on the steering wheel. It's too early for such foolishness. It's supposed to be in the 50s, not the 20s.

I knitted a few rounds on the sock gusset but it doesn't look enough different to warrant a picture.

This evening Lala had a launch Zoom for her new short story collection, Gunshots in Grudgeville. It was good to see her, even if it was on the screen.

--Barbara

Birdies

I saw lots of birds today. Some I even got pictures of. This Junco was all by itself poking around in the grass and seed shells looking for something good to eat.

At the same time a Chickadee was amusing itself pecking away at a seed it was holding in its foot. They're usually so fast to fly away that I was surprised to get this picture, even though it's a little blurry.

And then a Downy Woodpecker male showed up for a snack at the suet cakes. I'm partial to these birds because they're my three favorite colors and because they're so neat looking.

This morning I drew a couple Zentangles. The top one incorporates three or four different tangles and the bottom one is one of the designs that I really struggle with so it was good to practice it.

Tonight I turned the sock heel and got the gusset started. As you can see, I also shifted from Magic Loop to Double Pointed Needles. I just can't picture how to construct the gusset using a circular needle. I'll shift back to the circ when I finish the gusset and move onto the foot.

There was a flyover before the football game at noon but I didn't manage to get myself out to witness it. They did fly slowly enough that I saw them when I heard them, not just heard a loud noise and looked up to see airplane tails.

I spent time this afternoon working on getting ready for NaNoWriMo. I made the decision to insert the three little scenes I wrote with the new characters into The Seaview 2 to introduce them to readers. That changes the beginning of the old manuscript and may require some epic changes to the story but I think I can manage it. I'll still have the wives as the antagonists to the frustration of the husbands. And who knows? I may find a whole different story flowing once I get going next month just populated by these old characters.

I went out and installed the birdbath heater this afternoon but didn't plug it in yet. And I somehow managed to get the patio umbrella out of the table, separated into parts, and hauled into the garage. It's not in its winter spot yet, I have to move the car to put it away away, but at least it's indoors. The umbrella part won't come out of the bottom pole when it's out there so I end up with the whole thing way over my head and it isn't light. One of these days I'm not going to be able to do it and will have to ask for help. Soon it'll be time to swap the mower for the snowblower. Ugh. But I think it's the year that the snowblower needs a tuneup anyway so I need to get in touch with LJ to see when and if he can do that.

--Barbara

Brrr!

Things changed yesterday and kept changing overnight. When I (finally) got up this morning and looked at the houses across the street their roofs were frosty. Right now it's 39 degrees headed for an overnight low of 34 degrees. And it's not supposed to be sunny tomorrow. I can put up with this early cold snap if it's sunny.

And the birdbath was slightly iced over. Guess I'll be installing the new birdbath heater tomorrow.

 

By the time the Sparrows noticed that I filled the birdfeeders the birdbath had thawed out. This bird had the feeder all to himself, but not for long. Lots of Mourning Doves clustered under the feeder to glean the dropped seeds. I've decided to stop dismissing the Sparrows. When OJ is here and he spots one he calls out, "Look, Meemaw, a Sparrow!" I want to find a little bit of that enthusiasm.

 

I'm happier with today's Zentangle. I copied one from the book that a guest artist did and added my own touches. I'm still not very good at shading the motifs so that they look 3D but I'm trying.

 

Out of 20 Ways to Draw a Butterfly or Things With Wings I used a bigger pen and drew three big cartoon-y flying things--an owl, a pterosaur, and a bat. I like the kind of surprised stare of the owl and the bat.

 

While watching TV tonight I knitted the heel flap of the Summer in Monaco sock. Part of me wants to sit and figure out how to keep going on the heel with Magic Loop and part of me thinks it'd be easier just to pull out my Double Pointed Needles and knit the gusset the way that makes sense to me. Why make my life more complicated? I can turn the heel using Magic Loop and then pick up stitches along the edges of the heel flap with DPNs, knit along happily on the gusset until I get to the foot, and go back to Magic Loop for the foot and toe. I'll think about it.

 

This afternoon I took a little walk in the chilly wind and then pulled up that old spies story to skim it looking for a way into the rewrite. I also did some online searching for real estate listings on the island but all I found were million dollar places or resorts for sale. Not what I was looking for. Guess I'll just make something up. That's why they call it fiction.

--Barbara

I Forgot About the Snacks

When I posted Wednesday night's photos last night I forgot to post the picture of the knitting snacks that I finally remembered to take. See? We won't starve. Not a chance.

Today's Zentangles are kind of blah again. I sorta like the lowest one but in the big Zentangle at the top the tangles are too alike. It just kind of looks like a mishmash of similar motifs.

I got almost to the heel flap of the Summer in Monaco sock tonight at Friday Night Knitting. I really like the colors in this yarn, especially the bluey-greeny overall look of it. There's going to be a lot of this yarn left when this sock is finished so I might have to find a different pattern and make another one. I know, I know, I'm not in the habit of making two matching socks but if I use a different pattern they won't really match.

This morning when I went to the grocery for grapes, bananas, and watermelon it was 67 degrees. The temperature has been dropping all day. It's down to 42 degrees headed to 34 for an overnight low. By Monday and Tuesday it's only supposed to get up to 37 degrees as a high. No wonder my furnace has been running this evening. Good thing I brought up my winter socks too.

I finished the reread of the latest version of The Seaview 2, saved all the tweaks and changes, and put it away. Then I booted up my first NaNoWriMo manuscript that I want to rework next month, made a new folder for it, pulled out the three scenes that I wrote with the new/old characters and Rose and Iggy, and put them in the new folder too.  Now I just have to shift gears in my head and remember that I don't have to write the new manuscript exactly like the old one, I will just take the characters I like and manipulate them to fit my new idea. Easier said than done but I'm up for the challenge. 1,667 words a day for 30 days and the thing is in the bag. Piece of cake. (yeah, right)

--Barbara

The Glitch is Fixed

I pulled up last night's blog entry this afternoon just to see if I could upload pictures onto it and it would have let me! Since today was a total washout, weather-wise, I thought I'd just wait to share yesterday's pictures tonight.

 

Here's the view down the street that I took on yesterday's walk. More of the leaves washed off the trees in today's nearly unrelenting rain. Where was this rain in the summer when the farmers, gardeners, and lawn growers needed it?

The only today picture is today's zentangles. I drew one big one and three new tangles. I like the way the big one turned out but think that the three small ones are kind of boring. Maybe they'll be good fillers for fancier zentangles or backgrounds. I'll have to see.

This is my sock progress. I added a few more rounds this evening while watching Bones reruns on Ion TV which channel I've never heard of but I was desperate for something to watch and that was all that appealed to me. And even that didn't hold my interest for long. Sometimes I think that I have the attention span of a gnat.

I had to get out in the rain this afternoon because someone small needed to be picked up after school. Naturally the end of school coincided with the most enthusiastic rain so it was a real battle of the umbrellas at the pickup point. No two were alike.

I spent the rest of the afternoon rereading the manuscript. I didn't find many places that needed sprucing up as I did yesterday but there are a few pages to go. I'm trying to mentally prepare for NaNoWriMo which starts next Wednesday. It's not going well. I can't seem to change mental gears so I guess I'll finish this reread and start immersing myself in the old manuscript that I want to rework.

I had another sale yesterday that showed up on my Amazon ads page graph so my sales are still outpacing my spend. That's a good thing. It hasn't shown up on my sales report page yet but someone on Kindle Unlimited did borrow and read Horizon. I don't get as big a royalty from page reads but I figure maybe that will lead someone to chose to buy another one of my titles. I'm ever hopeful.

--Barbara

Still a Few Left

I was sure that all of the leaves would fall last night but they didn't. I liked the view down the street this afternoon when I managed to squeeze in a little walk between rain showers.

Today I pulled out 20 Ways to Draw a Tree and even managed to find the last time I'd drawn from it so that I could pick up where I left off. The beetle in the upper left is my hands down favorite today.

It was my turn to host knitting this evening and for once I remembered to take a picture of the "snack" table before we ate it all. I made Asian Turkey Meatballs with either hoisin sauce or sweet chili sauce to drizzle over them. We also had a lovely cheese and sausage platter, veggies and dip, and nut bars. All washed down by either Arnie Brau or Meatball Man beer fresh from Zambaldi. Thanks, DS!

In between eating and gabbing I managed to add a couple inches of leg to the Summer in Monaco sock cuff. I thought it'd be more turquoise but I think green will be the dominant color. Whatever, I like it.

I did a little rereading when I got back from my walk this afternoon and found places that needed changing and other scenes that needed to be added. One of these days I'll have this thing whipped into shape. Just not today.

Well, H-E-double hockey sticks. For some reason Google won't let me upload photos. I've rebooted the computer twice and still get an "accept cookies" window that won't go away. Grrr. I'll give it one more try and then I'm going to bed.

--Barbara

The Last of the Leaves

It's supposed to rain again tonight and I suspect that the rain will send most of the leaves falling to the ground. Thunder and rain woke me this morning and it thundered again about an hour ago and now it's raining like a cow peeing on a flat rock. (Wow, it's been a long time since I've said that!) Anyway it's really raining so here are the leaves in a rare dry moment today. You can see that my baby maple tree isn't changing color yet.

Today was one of those "not in the mood" days when I just couldn't muster up much enthusiasm for doing anything. I tried my hand at a couple Zentangles. They turned out okay, I guess.

Then I decided to try a couple tangles that are on the cover of the book. Meh. I kind of like the one that I made look like an eye and eyebrow (I made that one up) but none of the three really turned out all that well.

A quartet of House Finches landed on the platform feeder this afternoon and even tolerated a Chickadee darting in to snatch a seed every once in a while.

I read some on a version of The Seaview 2 but didn't have much oomph although I did realize that I've got a whole lot of it that seems to happen all in one day so I scrolled back and tucked in some sentences that indicate the passage of time and I changed some things around to help with that. Just when I think I have it all figured out something else crops up.

--Barbara

Playing Yarn Chicken

And I won! I finished the Muchness Scarf tonight and played a little yarn chicken at the end. I did two more rows than I thought I should do and when I was done binding off all of the stitches I had about 18" of yarn left. Whew! The scarf isn't as long as I thought it'd be but it goes around my neck and crosses over on my chest so it'll do the job quite nicely.

There weren't many birds at the feeders on this rainy day but I did catch sight of this House Finch on the platform feeder. He didn't stay long but at least he turned around so that I got a picture of his front rather than his tail.

Today's Zentangles were supposed to be experiments in value, which means that they're supposed to grade from light to dark as you go from top to bottom. The first one seems like it has all the same value but I did a little better on the second one.

Look what I got in the mail today. It's Lala's book! She even inscribed it to me. It's a collection of short stories and I'm savoring them, not reading like a madwoman to get from the beginning to the end. She's such a good writer with a style that couldn't be more different from mine. That's why she's had stories in journals and contests and I haven't been than lucky. I stopped writing short stories years ago when I kept getting rejected by all and sundry. Now I write novels and publish them myself thereby cutting out the risk of rejection. Crafty of me, don't you think?

I got to be an Uber driver this afternoon. DS was brewing and not done by the time school was out so I got to be the pickup driver. I love that I can do that for them and get to see the kids for a few minutes even if they both dive right into one of the car books when they get buckled up. I keep a short stack of books in the back seat for just that purpose.

--Barbara

Today it was Sunny

instead of rainy so I went for a walk after lunch. As I was toiling up the little incline from my driveway a woman a little younger than me came striding up, crunching through the leaves, and blew past me like I was standing still. *sigh* I'll get there but it's going to take a while.

This Sparrow made full use of the birdbath this morning. He sat on the edge for a while dipping his beak in the water and getting a drink then he decided that it was a good day for a bath. I hoped that more Sparrows would join him but none did.

I decided to get out my little pad of black mixed media paper, a white gel pen, a white paint pen, and a white colored pencil and try my hand at the reverse Zentangle. I like it. I like it a lot. It was fun to do and it turned out great.

I spent the rest of the afternoon mostly standing and reading another version of The Seaview 2's manuscript. This one has chapter breaks where the Point Of View changes even if some of them are very short. I like it. This feels smooth and understandable. We might have a winner.

The other writing thing I did today was compose my November Writing Progress Letter for my email list. I almost forgot that I needed to do it but remembered this morning. Whew. And I remembered how to get it set up so it goes out on the first.

I spent a little time this afternoon with a bucket and shears clipping off and uprooting the dying geraniums and coleus from the pots in back and in front. I also cut down the gold mums because something spent the last couple days or nights eating off every flower on the plant. I'm not kidding. Just about every flower was snipped off leaving a little naked stem poking out. Do rabbits eat mums? I don't know but why would it only eat the gold ones? Do they taste better? *flings hands in the air* Naturally it ate my favorite color of mums.

--Barbara

Ablaze

Well, it would have looked more fiery if the sun had been out but I noticed when I went out for the mail this afternoon that the trees across the street had decided to flash their autumn colors.

It was warm and sunny yesterday. Not today. It was chilly and rainy all day. I thought about taking a walk but instead I did the laundry so I walked up and down the stairs a few zillion times because I also carried up and exchanged my summer socks for my winter socks. The socks are the only clothes that shift to the basement for the seasons. Since I live alone I use the guest bedroom closet for off season clothes. It's more convenient.

I pulled out 20 Ways to Draw a Jellyfish first when I sat down to draw. The seahorse looks a little goofy but I like the squid. I'm neutral on the starfish and the walrus.

Then I turned to the next page of the Zentangles book. Today's lesson was drawing in white gel pen on black paper. I didn't do that. Instead I drew in plain old black on white. Maybe tomorrow I'll try my hand at white on black.

 

The Downy Woodpecker came back to the round feeder in between rains this afternoon. It settled right down with a couple Sparrows to peck away at the seeds trying to find the best ones. I like the way it's learned to crouch down on its haunches to reach the hole in the feeder.

In addition to my stairs climbing today I did a lot of standing at the laptop rereading the 1st person version of my manuscript. I'm finding that I miss the 3rd person parts of the other manuscript. Maybe because I've just got small indicators of what's happening "offstage" but I miss the action of those parts. I might rearrange the chapters again and see what happens when I read it that way. One thing I did accomplish was taking out a jillion "just"s. I use it too much and it's annoying.

I watched the weather and we're under a frost advisory overnight. Ugh. I'm glad that the landscapers came the other day so there won't be a raft of dead stuff out there to clean up. The only things left for me to take care of are the geraniums and coleus in pots. I probably should have snipped them all off yesterday when the weather was beautiful but I didn't.

--Barbara

I Had to be Quick

I was taking a picture of a Downy Woodpecker that swooped onto the round feeder this afternoon and saw that a couple Chickadees were tag teaming the platform feeder so I quick widened my lens and got a picture of a Chickadee just about to fly away.

Here's the Downy Woodpecker too. I love watching them land on the round feeder because they seem to enjoy riding the turning of the feeder that their arrival causes. They like riding the Slinky when they land too but I haven't seen that in a while.

I worked on a couple Zentangles this afternoon. I took my time and practiced a couple tangles that I'm not very good at especially the one called "poke root" which is that little ball with a stem that you draw in a cluster. For some reason the rhythm of that one escapes me. But I'll keep practicing it and will get it eventually. I like the big swoopy leaves of the stand-alone tangle in the lower left.

Tonight at Friday Night Knitting I worked on the Muchness Scarf. It's getting pretty long but every time I check to see how much is left of the ball of yarn it doesn't seem to be getting any smaller.

I had my fasting labs blood draw this morning and despite drinking a lot of water the last few days the tech had a terrible time getting a good vein. They'd either collapse or roll away when she poked them. To tell you how she struggled, I came home with four bandages on my hands and wrists. Yikes! Fortunately it didn't hurt much, it was just frustrating.

I was a good girl and took a walk this afternoon. It was just beautiful, sunny and warm, with all of the trees dressed in their best fall colors. But I'm losing patience. I want to get better faster but I guess I was in such poor shape that I've got a long way to go. Sitting down is so much easier.

--Barbara

Why Did I Wait?

It was a little drizzly this morning so the landscapers didn't get here until about noon. They work fast and do the fall cleanup in a jiffy. It's two women and a man, the man is supposedly in charge but I can tell that the women boss him around like crazy. It was partly sunny while they were here.

Then I came back here to start a second (third?) reread of the 1st person POV manuscript and promptly dozed off. I needed to go to the grocery for bananas and blueberries and, of course, when I woke up it was sprinkling rain. When I got to the grocery it was kind of raining and when I came out of the grocery it was pouring. Why did I wait? I should have gone as soon as the landscapers left but I didn't realize that it was going to rain.

The male Cardinal claimed the platform feeder again today. He even came in the rain but I wasn't able to get a picture then, it was too dim and he didn't stay long. No female with him today. Maybe she got a better offer.

I decided just to draw a couple Zentangles today instead of moving forward to learn new tangles. If I keep practicing them I'll be able to draw my own versions instead of always copying what I see in the book. At least that's my plan.

I was supposed to go to the clinic this morning to have fasting blood taken but I woke up coughing around 2am, popped a cough drop, and then lay awake for the next three hours berating myself for breaking my fast. I didn't fall asleep again until 5:30am so the alarm at 7am was unwelcome, to say the least. I called the clinic right away and was able to reschedule for tomorrow morning. Whew. Honestly, I'm my own worst enemy.

The rain kept me from walking today but it also caused me to walk much faster into and out of the store and I concentrated on walking briskly around the store so I feel like I did a little good. I'm a work in progress.

--Barbara