Instead of Art

Today I did the taxes. Well, I gathered up a bunch of numbers, lined them up, and even put some of them on an Excel sheet. This was not the way I wanted to spend my day but it's almost the middle of February and the job has to get done. I'll deliver the pile to my tax person one day next week. I'll give her a call tomorrow.

 

This morning I finally managed to open the frozen shut patio door so I could top up the birdbath. Almost as soon as I got back inside I noticed that the water was starting to freeze. If you look closely at the part next to the snow you can see the crackly surface of the freezing water. Brr.

 

It started snowing around 10am and hasn't stopped yet. It's that tiny flakes kind of snow that's pretty treacherous to drive on. Of course, I met friends for lunch so I had to be out driving in it and as I left the restaurant I heard a lot of sirens and soon discovered an accident. There were police cars, a rescue squad, and a tow truck. As I passed they were helping an elderly lady onto a gurney. She looked pretty shaken up but was able to walk so that was good. I had planned to stop at the grocery on my way home for bananas but it was too slippery so I just motored on home driving like a little old lady. I'll get bananas tomorrow. After the snowplows have done their job.

I did manage to sit down and draw today's gratitude journal page on THE day. I started to draw a sun but then realized that the day had been uniformly cloudy so there's a circle in my clouds. Just pretend it isn't there, okay?

 

After supper I finished the Two Alpacas Hat. I thought I'd run out of yarn so I didn't add any length to the body but I could have because there's a little yarn left. Dang it. Now I'm out of knitting again. I'll have to dig out some yarn again, wind it up into cakes/balls, and cast on another hat. I'm in a hat mood, I guess. I found a pattern in my library that calls for the weight of yarn I want to use. I've got some llama in a nice khaki color or maybe navy blue. I'll decide which one tomorrow when I've got them in my hands.

 

I spent a little time reading a manuscript. Not the third Seaview Series one but the one I think I want to work on next. It's calling to me and I can barely resist. Instead of reading the Seaview one I did the taxes and tried to figure out how to work an Excel sheet. I did figure out how to make the program add a column of figures so I didn't have to do it by hand. That felt pretty good. I can do a few things on Excel and am determined to learn more. Of course once I learn something I don't need it for a long time and then I forget. Sometimes it's a real pain being me.

I realized this afternoon that I need to start working on the blurb for the third Seaview Series book. I haven't given it a thought and it's a big, hard job so I'd better get my mind working on it. I got the second version of the cover back today and it's much closer to what I envisioned. I asked for a small change and hopefully it'll come back just right.

And DD got to go home from the hospital today. Hooray!

--Barbara

Back Again

That male Downy Woodpecker was back again and again today. It landed on the Slinky, took a little ride down and up, then flew over to the round feeder, and finally settled hanging from the bottom of the suet cakes feeder. He's such a determined little guy. He's going to find something to eat somewhere and no bully Sparrow is going to keep him away.

 

Speaking of bullies, this bully squirrel chased away two others that were minding their own business, one on the suet nuggets and the other one on the ground under the round feeder, so it could take possession of the suet nuggets feeder all for itself. It stayed a long time and I heard it growl or grunt whenever another squirrel dared to approach. I assume it was a male but it could have been a female, it was fierce enough.

 

I spent most of the day sitting at the table reading the next Seaview Series manuscript on my Kindle and making a few notes. I'm about a third of the way through and I've found two paragraphs that I'll be cutting out--one because it's already said someplace else and the other is also repeating something said earlier. I'm not that desperate to build up my word count that I have to repeat things.

 

I've gotten into the habit of drawing the previous day's gratitude page in the morning. Today I found four things to include which isn't six but is better than three. Maybe one day I'll get back to doing it on THE day.

 

Spending so much time on the manuscript today almost made me forget to draw but I pulled out my sketchbook and a pen and drew this flower... thing. It reminds me a little of a passionflower but they don't have that thick black line around their petals. So I'm not sure what it is but at least I drew. Oh wait, maybe it's supposed to be a passionfruit. No, the book is called Draw 500 Fabulous Flowers so it wouldn't be a fruit.

 

My assistant and I had a meeting this afternoon and decided we're going to concentrate on figuring out a place to get my audiobooks out in front of more people. She made a FB post last Wednesday about them which I shared to my personal FB page from my author page (which nobody seems to look at). I learned about a couple websites that sell audiobooks that aren't Audible so we're looking into them. The most amazing thing to both of us is that there's no way to advertise my audiobooks on Audible! You'd think there would be because they're part of Amazon, but nope. No ads on Audible. Crazy.

It occurred to me this afternoon that I haven't noticed my local cybersecurity on my new laptop so I called them and they have to load it in so I'll be sitting here in the morning while he gets me all fixed up. I'm so glad that I remembered because I really like the service. They keep an eye on things in real time.

Oh, DD called this afternoon and we had a nice chat. She's getting over Influenza A and has an infection in her salivary glands that's landed her in the hospital with dehydration and needing IV antibiotics. She said this year's flu is BAD and to avoid it at all costs. The nurses told her that they haven't seen it this bad in a long time. DD even got a flu shot and it didn't save her from a week of hell. I wish I could see her but I'm kinda glad I'm far away from the virus that's laid her and her family low.

--Barbara

The Sun is Moving North

Or maybe the Earth is tilting south but I noticed this morning that there was sunshine on the birdfeeders for a long time today. And the birds showed up today too. These Sparrows brought friends and had a nice time flinging cracked corn and seed down onto the fresh snow from Saturday. It was funny to see them land because the snow is powder so it doesn't even hold up a bird. They'd sink in and spread their wings to keep from sinking more.

 

At the same time the Downy Woodpecker was on the suet cakes. It stayed a long time pounding away at the suet that has to be so solid it's almost impossible to get a bite but I guess that they're built to hammer away at a tree so I suppose suet isn't a big deal. Then I heard pounding and caught a glimpse of the tail of the Red-bellied Woodpecker but as soon as I pressed the shutter button it flew away. I caught a shot of it flying but it just looks like a gray blur so I didn't keep it.

 

This morning I drew the gratitude page for yesterday. I didn't find as much to be grateful for but I was extremely grateful for the sunshine and the big, red snowblower. 

In the morning I watched another Ad School video and tried to follow the instructions. I managed to figure it out a little and made a couple keyword ads that I spent more time trying to make sure that the keywords were relevant to The Seaview. In the afternoon I started reading Spies Don't Retire on the Kindle and making notes. I have to force myself to read slowly and not skim so I don't miss any typos or boring places or things that need changing or clarifying. This writing and marketing thing is a whole lot like another job.

 

Today I drew that lazy bird Maizie who left her nest so that Horton had to hatch her egg. She's on the cover of Dr. Seuss's Book of Animals and was smiling at me when I pulled the book out of my art bag so I drew her and she turned out well.

 

I knitted a few rounds on the Two Alpacas Hat while I watched TV after supper. So far I'm not running out of yarn too quickly but I can't help looking in the bag every once in a while to reassure me that I might have enough.

 

I had a nice long chatty Zoom with my writing friend, cda, and we've scheduled a critique meeting for the next two Mondays. I look forward to reading more of her historical novel about Katerina, a young woman in Austria who runs away from an unhappy marriage. She leaves her luxurious but unfulfilling life with an older businessman to travel around with a tinker. There's even kissing!

I have "critique" on my calendar for 10am on Friday, Feb 14th and for the life of me I can't remember with who. I haven't sent any pages out or gotten any from anyone. I'm confused. Maybe I put it on the wrong day? Usually I'm pretty good at remembering but not this time. If you read this and know it's you, let me know! Please!

--Barbara

Didn't See a Bird

Not up close anyway. Or a squirrel but I'm guessing there were squirrels out there because I saw their whole body prints in the snow. I saw a couple of birds flit by but none of them stopped so I could see what they were.

 

This morning I sat and drew yesterday's gratitude journal. It seems like I'm better able to examine the day from a little distance. I was impressed with myself that I managed to cram six things on the page instead of my usual four. Maybe I was extra grateful for the day yesterday?

 

I spent hours rereading Better Than Mom's and getting through the last 120 pages so that I could save the edited version and republish it with better back matter asking for reviews and directing readers to my other titles. While I was going through the manuscript I had a little formatting glitch that I've had before and asked for Help and this time I got the help I needed to fix the glitch. It's so satisfying when I learn how to fix something that's frustrated me time and time again.

 

Today's painting is a Waterlily and it actually turned out the way I wanted it to. I was very surprised that the petals look like the ones in the example and I was able to paint the lily pads so that they didn't look wrong. I was tempted to attempt to paint the water around the flower and lily pads but knew that I'd goof it up and I like the painting so the flower and the pads are just floating on the paper.

 

After supper I cast on another hat using the two alpaca yarns I used before so I'm calling it the Two Alpacas Hat. Now I'm hoping that I've got enough yarn to finish the hat because there isn't more or another color to add to the top if I run out. I'm playing a long game of yarn chicken with this one.

 

Once I got dressed this morning I forced myself to go out and run the snowblower. I was smart enough to put on long johns so I stayed pretty warm. Actually, it was 17 degrees but I was well bundled up and it was sunny so I didn't freeze.  This was not wet heavy snow so even the plow drift was a cinch to snowblow. It did blow back on me a couple times when the wind whipped around the house but it wasn't too bad.

--Barbara

All Day Snowflakes

It snowed all day today. No, I mean it. It started after I got up for my 1:30am pee and it's still snowing now. It's slacked off the last hour or so but tiny flakes are still floating around out there. A couple of my neighbors went out to clear their driveways around noon but this is not a job I'm doing twice. I'll go out with the snowblower tomorrow, preferably after the plow has come by. Thursday's wind took care of any snow that had stuck around on top of the feeders so I give you this afternoon's photo of the snow on top of the feeders. Yes, it's that deep.

 

No birds showed up today (that I saw) but the acrobatic squirrel was on the suet nuggets feeder and another couple of squirrels were tag-teaming the cob corn. I don't know why their little paws don't freeze from scampering through the snow.

 

I decided to go back into Half Hour of Pencil Power and drew this Ninja Banana. Silly, isn't it? But I liked drawing it and I like the way it turned out. I know this guy teaches kids to draw but I like the way he teaches and I can usually draw what he says to draw.

 

After that I picked up Henri the Wooble Frog and finished him. I was glad that I had the password so I could call up the instructional videos on my phone because I didn't know how to do some of the stuff they said to do. Closing the bottom was the easy part. Crocheting the little eyes and then sewing them onto the body was not so easy but I managed with only a little swearing and teeth grinding. Next week I'll drop him off at Zambaldi so that his owner can pick him up the next time she's in town.

 

In honor of Snowstorm Brenda I had a nice big bowl of steamy Easy Egg Drop Soup for supper along with a few Savoritz wheat crackers from Aldi. Those are my favorite crackers.

 

I was forced to fold a basket of laundry today because I was down to my last pair of clean socks. There are no photos.

I spent an hour or so adding some little things to the 3rd Seaview book which meant that the version I sent to the Kindle the other day was outdated. So I deleted that one and sent the new one. I solemnly swear that I won't change anything again until after I read it on the Kindle and make notes. Cross my heart. I also went through a few more chapters of Better Than Mom's in preparation for uploading it to Kindle Create, adding an invitation to read my other titles at the back, and republishing it. 

I am not looking forward to having to go out and move all that snow tomorrow but I'll manage. As long as it isn't too windy so the snow blows back in my face half the time.

--Barbara

A Fly-By

When I was eating my lunch I looked out and saw a Downy Woodpecker land on the suet so I grabbed the camera and hoped he would stay long enough and visible enough for me to get a picture. He worked his way around the back and then hung underneath so I quick snapped a shot. Just as I pushed the shutter button a Sparrow flew by and I was lucky enough to catch it.

 

In the morning the Sparrows were investigating the remaining bird food--the Finch feeder and the suet cakes. I captured one on each feeder and they fit in one frame. There was another one on the birdbath but it was too far away to fit in the frame with the others.

 

After I got home from the birdseed store I went right outside to fill all the feeders. I didn't have to empty the hulls out of the platform feeder this time because yesterday's gale-force wind took care of that. We had 60 mph gusts! It was nice to be out in the sunshine today even if it was cold. I was in my winter coat and heavy boots and lined leather gloves so I was prepared and not really cold.

 

Today is Women's Heart Health Day. I'm wearing my red sweater (well, one of them, I have three) and I decided to paint a page of hearts using all of my red and pink watercolors. Once I had all of the hearts painted I used the darkest red to spatter over the top. I think it adds just the right artsy touch. I especially like the way the spots spread in the wet pink heart on the lower left. Fun!

 

First thing at Friday Night Knitting I finished the last four rounds on the Yet Another Deep Sea Hat. I haven't woven in the tails yet but I'm calling it done.

 

Then I pulled out KZ's Henri Frog Wooble kit and got to work. I had to undo a couple not-really-stitches but once I got it back on track I flew. I almost finished the body, crocheted the white belly and stitched it on, and stuffed it. There's one more round on the bottom of the body to close it up, then I make two little eyes and attach the plastic safety eyes, and sew them on. Last I use black yarn to make his smile, et voila! Henri, the Frog will be done! This frog is a whole lot simpler than LC's Billy Unicorn Wooble. We need to get our calendars together and figure out another time we can have another crochet lesson. If she's still interested.

 

I spent most of the time when I wasn't on a Zoom or buying and filling birdseed or painting today, working on going through Better Than Mom's getting the grammar and punctuation fixed, breaking up run-on sentences, and deciding whether to fix passive phrases. Many of them I'm leaving because that's the way the characters talk. They can't all sound like English majors, especially not these characters.

Early this morning before even getting dressed, I tried doing what the Ads Analyst said to do with my keyword ads. I couldn't. Mostly because I don't have enough clicks to be able to access the keywords in the ads. Evidently if you don't have clicks you can't dig down and fix things. Or I could be doing something wrong. Which is a very real possibility.

We're supposed to have a big snowstorm moving in overnight. They're saying we'll get 3-5 inches of snow when all is said and done. I know the child of winter will be overjoyed to see that much snow. Me, not so much. I've got my pot of Egg Drop Soup and gas for the snowblower. I'm as ready as I'll ever be.

--Barbara 

So Windy!

The weather guys said that it would be windy today. They didn't lie. It wasn't too bad in the morning but along about midday the wind picked up and blew all of the loose snow all over. I was surprised to see Sparrows out and about in the terrible wind but you can see this little guy perched on the patio table and behind him you can see how the wind has sculpted the snow.

 

I got to go to school this afternoon because it was the Science Fair and LC and OJ had exhibits. OJ tested whether soap and water, hands, or Mr. Clean Magic Eraser was better at cleaning a white board. Soap and water and Mr. Clean tied for first. LC and two of her classmates tested which toilet paper was most absorbent. I don't remember the names of all of the ones they tested but Charmin Ultra was the winner. LC said that DS buys the most expensive tp at Costco because he's worth it. I've always thought so. I managed to sit down and draw a gratitude journal page today and put the Science Fair on it.  

Drawing with a pencil wasn't my best thing today. A booklet blew into the backyard this afternoon and it flapped open and closed and I thought it looked like it was talking so I tried drawing it. Not very successfully, I think.

 

After the Science Fair I went to the grocery and when I got home I made a pot of Easy Egg Drop Soup. Instead of plain egg drop soup I added some baby bok choy, chopped mushrooms, and white meat chicken so that a bowl of the soup can be a meal. When the soup is all assembled I drizzle a quarter teaspoon of sesame oil into it which really ramps up the flavor.

 

 That little lone Sparrow on the patio table had a few pals that pecked around under the Finch feeder. I don't know what they found and how they stayed in place. It was so windy I was sure they'd just blow away.

 

I got the replay video of my Ads Analysis Coaching Session this morning and watched my part again. It made a little more sense today and I made a couple changes in categories and keywords on The Seaview and Open For Business. Better Than Mom's is my best seller and she advised me to put a paragraph in the back matter of it sending people to my other titles. Kind of "If you liked this book, check out my other titles." It's a good idea, but since Kindle Create quit working on the old computer and I had to buy a new one and download a new version of Kindle Create, all of my old manuscripts are no longer on there. Which means I need to go through the manuscript again and upload it with the new back matter. Naturally this manuscript is old enough that it has 2 spaces after the periods and quotation marks so I'm fixing those and skimming through to check grammar and punctuation. I could probably just upload it the way it is and save myself a lot of work but I might as well do it right, right? 

I knitted four rounds of crown decreases on the Yet Another Deep Sea Hat but didn't take its picture because in four more rapidly decreasing rounds the hat will be done. Then I'll take its picture.

--Barbara

Zoomy

I had two writing Zooms today. The first one was a Q&A for beginners about a website where I might be able to sell my audiobooks in addition to Audible, Amazon, and iTunes (if I pay for another plan) and my ebooks but I have to figure out how to not have exclusive distribution with Amazon. I'm not sure I'm smart enough or clever enough but I'll keep poking at it until I either break something or figure it out.

In between Zooms I noticed this squirrel up on the suet cakes feeder and for once it was facing me instead of showing me its tail. Naturally it was in the sunny part of the day when the feeder was in shadow so the squirrel is hard to see but, trust me, the head is facing my way.

 

I emailed the latest (and maybe final) draft of the third book of The Seaview Series to my Kindle. I'll get out a little notepad and get started reading and making notes of typos and what needs changing. I'm so glad I figured out that reading it on Kindle looks like a book so it gives me a leg up with editing. At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

 

Taking a break from staring at the computer screen, I drew this. It's on the cover of Seuss-isms and is part of The Cat in the Hat. Everybody recognizes it, I'm sure.

 

The second Zoom was an Ads Analysis session with an Ad School Coach. We sent links ahead of time so the coach could do a little pre-session poking around. I confess that I didn't always understand everything she said but I will get a recording in a few days so I can listen again (and again) and maybe figure out what she was telling me to do. One thing I did understand was she didn't like that I used Travel as one of my keywords for The Seaview because Travel is a nonfiction category which will mislead people looking for travel books and they'll be turned off. I guess that makes sense but I felt so smart when I found that.

After supper while I watched the next episode of White Collar on Netflix I knitted on the hat. It isn't that much longer than before but you can see the new colors better. I'm at the crown decreases so it'll go fast from here. Only 8 more rounds to go!

My writing friend and last fall's roomie at The Clearing, MH, told us about White Collar last week and said it was good and funny. It's about a forger who gets sprung from prison by an FBI agent needing help with an art theft. Te forger wears an ankle bracelet but they solve white collar crimes in New York City. I've only watched 4 episodes but I like it a lot and there's 3 seasons. Or maybe 4. Anyway, it's good escapist TV.

--Barbara

Who's That Knocking?

I was having breakfast when I heard knocking outside. I looked out and there was the Red-bellied Woodpecker hammering away at the suet cake. The suet was so hard that it sounded like someone knocking on the metal roof of the feeder. I was disappointed that the bird is in shadow in the picture when I could see it so clearly in real life.

The glacier is back in the birdbath. For a couple days it was mostly or all water but now it's back to ice. I didn't have to go out and top it up today but I bet I'll have to do it tomorrow. It isn't supposed to get much warmer for the next week so I'll have to keep an eye on the water level. And, look, the snow stuck around too.

I drew these flowers out of Draw 500 Fabulous Flowers. I think that the upper one turned out much better than the lower one. I couldn't seem to draw the stems narrow enough.

And I did a gratitude journal page tonight. I drew the figures before I went to Writers Guild and colored them in when I got home. I was very happy to see the sunshine this morning. Naturally it went away in the afternoon but it was nice while it lasted.

Then I knitted on the Yet Another Deep Sea Hat until I ran out of the Deep Sea colorway and had to add the Summer Fields colorway. So I should probably change the hat's name to Deep Sea Summer. I only knitted a couple rounds so you can't really see the color change too clearly but it'll get there.

I spent a couple hours this morning and afternoon watching YouTube videos about the basics of Book Funnel, a writer's website for distributing eBooks and generating email lists, because I'm signed up for a Q&A about it tomorrow morning. I don't know if I have any questions but I'll be interested to hear what other people have to say.

After that I sat staring at a blank piece of paper (on the screen) thinking about what I could write for a The Seaview Series Book 4. I started out writing down the things that these two characters have already done together and apart and then brainstorming other stuff that could happen with and to them. In the end I had a couple pages of ideas. I'll let them marinate while I work on my current story and maybe I'll pick that up rather than the new/old manuscript I thought I'd work on.

Tonight at Writers Guild I read a couple pages of that new/old manuscript and got some good comments and questions. We also did an interesting exercise about sentences, how to make them sparkle. It was fun and illuminating.

--Barbara

More Snowy

Here's how my backyard looked when I got up this morning and it kept snowing until about noon. So we ended up with a few inches of wet snow. I didn't get around to snowblowing until the middle of the afternoon and by then I'd driven on the snowy driveway twice so there are two nice slick tire tracks down the drive. Maybe it'll warm up in a few days or be sunny and it will melt.

These are my favors from the Lunar New Year supper the other night. I wrote up a horoscope for each member of the family and folded an origami envelope for each of us with a dollar coin in it. But the real treat was my dessert fortune cookie fortune. It says, "A friend in the market is better than money in the purse." When I read it out LC thought I was making it up because I hadn't had any sales at the Market the day before but I handed it to her and her mouth dropped open. I had three friends at the market and while they're wonderful women I'd have preferred a sale.

I got to do the school run this afternoon and LC gave me three of her homemade donut holes. I was supposed to save them for having with my coffee in the morning but I gave in to temptation and had one when I finished clearing the driveway. Mm, so good. She makes them in little muffin pans and then rolls them in cinnamon sugar. Divine! And I still have two for tomorrow's coffee. Or maybe I'll have one tomorrow and one the day after. Yeah, that's what I'll do.

After supper I knitted on the Yet Another Deep Sea Hat and am getting close to finishing the skein but not the hat. I've got a red/yellow/blue skein that I think I'll use to finish the hat. Then I have two partial skeins of more pastel colors that should look good together. I'm determined to finish this yarn.

I didn't draw today. I didn't paint today. I didn't write today. I had a critique Zoom in the morning. I went to lunch with some of the St. Agnes Class of 1965. I picked up an Rx and stopped at the computer fixit store to ask a couple printer questions. I did the school run and I snowblowed the driveway. That seemed like enough for one day. I'll get back to business tomorrow. After all, tomorrow is another day.

--Barbara