Colors in the Sun

It was sunny all day today and the trees across the street just glowed. There was enough of a breeze that the leaves drifted gently down. Naturally none fell when I went out to take a picture but, trust me, it looked like autumn in a movie out there. See all the leaves on those lawns? Makes me so glad that I don't have to rake.

 

The birdbath was iced over when I got up again so I thought I'd put out the heater today.

 

A different Red-bellied Woodpecker showed up today just once. I could tell it's a different bird because the red on his head goes all the way down to his beak. Juveniles and females only have red partway over their heads. And this guy didn't hang on the perch, he stood on top of it and bent to the side to peck for a peanut.

 

Today the squirrel visited the suet nuggets and spent a bit of time nibbling away at them. I keep waiting for something to empty the nuggets but maybe I'll leave the suet cakes and nuggets out for the winter so the birds have some sustaining foods along with the open water in the birdbath.

 

The prompt today was Food Packet. I didn't want to draw something round like a can because I'm not so good at that so I pulled out a popular snack at Meemaw's, Scooby Snacks. My Scooby didn't turn out too badly.

 

I got an email from ProWritingAid about prepping for Novel November that got me thinking about my story a lot. I was squinting out the window hoping inspiration would arrive. It took about an hour before I had an idea to put on paper. I'm usually not a planner when I write. I'm what they call a pantser, meaning I write without an outline, by the seat of my pants. So it was hard to answer the questions posed on this page. Finally I managed to eke out a few paragraphs and that led me to adjust what I wrote afterwards. I did write just over 1000 words so I've got almost 3000 words written toward the 50,000 words I want to have by November 30th. I know it's cheating to start in October but I'm busy on every Saturday in November and there's Thanksgiving in there so I want to hit the goal.

 

At suppertime I realized that I forgot to install the birdbath heater. I was going to do it tomorrow morning but then I thought it wouldn't take that long so I just did it. It was cold and wet and getting dark but I got the job done. *dusts off hands*

 

And I even managed to draw a gratitude journal page for today. That's two days in a row. I'm on a streak!

 

--Barbara 

Temptation

This afternoon I got a text from my knitting pal MW. He said that there was some nice Highland Wool yarn at Goodwill. And he sent a picture. I thought about it. Then I looked in the guest room at the small pile of tosses I hadn't bothered to take for donation. So I loaded the stuff into the car and drove the four blocks to Goodwill. I went right to the yarn, craning my neck to see if MW was still there. I didn't see his car or his white beard so I was on my own. I found two, 6-ball bags of the stuff--one with reds (and one midnight blue) and one with grays--for $5.99 each. That's $1/skein, a bargain since it retails for $5.49/skein. It's a lot thinner than the usual yarn I like to knit with but I can always hold two or three strands together. I'll figure out something to do with it.

 

The Red-bellied Woodpecker has become a regular visitor lately. It landed on the suet nuggets but it was late in the day and the feeder was in the shade so the bird's more of a silhouette. Earlier it glommed onto the perch on the square green feeder and this time it was on the side closest to me so I can show you its beautiful red head and striped back and wings.

 

I had real fun with today's drawing prompt of Words, Text & Letters. I drew a big letter B and then drew flowers around it so that it's white and the rest of the page is colored. I wish I'd have used a darker blue pencil for the background so that the letter showed up better but by the time I thought of that my hand was tired so I left it.

 

And I managed to draw a gratitude journal page today too. I only thought of three things but that's better than no things, right?

 

The yarn temptation interrupted my writing this afternoon so I only wrote about 800 words. Not the 1000 words I was hoping for but better than nothing. I don't really have a firm idea of the story so I'm kind of casting around in the void, just throwing words at the page hoping they'll stick and make some kind of sense later. 

--Barbara 

Saved By a Friend

This afternoon I had a book event from 2-6pm. I had my doubts about how those hours would work on a Friday afternoon and my doubts were proved correct. There were very few shoppers, but my friend, RH, from watercolor class at The Clearing came to see me and bought 4 books. Four! Thank you, thank you, thank you, RH! You saved the day.

 

The squirrel was back. It shoved its nose up under the lid of the feeder and crawled right in. The tail stayed out and it poked its head out to chew seeds but I could tell it was ready to skedaddle if I opened the patio door. And when I did, it ran off right quick.

 

Today's drawing prompt was Something You Used Today so I tried my best to draw the camera I use to take all those squirrel and bird pictures. I have a problem drawing the lens at the correct angle but I'll try again.

 

When I opened the drapes this morning the birdbath was frozen. Not frozen solid evidently because it thawed quick enough when the sun hit it, but frozen enough to have an icy picture taken. The roofs of the houses across the street were all frosty when I opened the shade this morning too. Guess it's time to put out the birdbath heater.

 

I caught the Red-bellied Woodpecker on the square green feeder this morning. Fortunately the squirrel wasn't in the feeder at the time. A couple Sparrows landed on the feeder while the squirrel was in there but I don't think the Red-bellied would be brave enough to land if the tree rat was there.

 

At Friday Night Knitting I finished crocheting the Navy & Silver Crocheted Hat. I made the medium size. I don't know who it'll fit but someone will wear it.

 

I have book or craft fairs for the next five Saturdays. Next week is the Art Garage Book Fair and then there's a string of craft fairs that GBB and I are hoping to sell a few books at. On the 15th is the Girls' Day Out Holiday Extravaganza which was the priciest booth so let's hope we sell more than a few there. Fingers crossed.

--Barbara 

Jumped the Gun

I spent quite a bit of the morning researching the Anguilla Regatta online. I want that to be a thread through the next manuscript I write so I needed as much information as I could amass. One website gave me a lot of first-person reporting about how they rig the sailboats, how they sail, and how the regatta is integrated into island life. I copied and pasted things and printed them off so I'll have them at hand when I need them instead of having to keep going online.

 

Then I decided to start writing. I rationalized it by telling myself that I've got a book event on every Saturday in November so those won't be writing days. And if they are writing days, they won't produce the required number of words to reach the 50k word goal by the end of the month. So I squeezed out just over 1k words in about an hour and a half. This is not great literature, but it's a start.

 

Both woodpeckers showed up today. First the Downy Woodpecker landed on the suet cakes and almost immediately flew over to the square green feeder for seeds rather than suet. 

 

Then the Red-bellied Woodpecker landed on the suet nuggets but in a position that made it hard to make out. I took its picture anyway. But then it visited the square green feeder and I could see its pretty red head so that's the one I'm sharing with you.

 

I got packed for tomorrow's Authors Among Us event in DePere from 2-6pm. I think the hours are odd and being on Friday I don't have a lot of hope for a big turnout. Keep your fingers crossed that I'm wrong.

 

Today's drawing prompt was Books so that's what I drew. I was just going to make a pile of books but then I thought about having one propped open on top. It's okay. Not great art but adequate.

 

I crocheted some more on the Navy & Silver Crocheted hat after supper. I added a few rounds so it looks more like a hat than the skillet Aunt B thought it was at first.

 

The most necessary accomplishment of the day was swapping my summer shoes, summer socks, and summer shirts for the winter ones. I used an empty laundry basket to haul shoes from one closet to another and to carry socks downstairs and then upstairs. The shirts move from one closet to another staying on their hangers. Since I've worn a sweater the last two days, it was time. And my toes are cold in cotton socks.

--Barbara 

Uh, Excuse Me

Look at what I saw when I glanced out the patio door this afternoon. A squirrel was inside the square green birdfeeder! Inside it! The roof of the feeder doesn't sit firmly on top so I guess it was only a matter of time before one of those darned tree rats figured it out. I chased it out and tried to make the roof fit tightly on the feeder. I don't know how long my fix will last.

 

I was lucky enough to see a Chickadee sit still long enough to have a picture taken. A blurry picture, but you can see what kind of bird it is. They don't usually sit still long enough for a portrait.

 

The leaf blower and lawn mower guy came today. I was surprised he came because it rained last night but I guess they don't care. He made a lot of noise waving the leaf blower around to get the leaves onto the lawn so he could mow them up and he made quite a few passes around the yard. He even picked up the little sticks and stems that were left behind by the fall cleanup crew last Saturday. You see how many leaves there were. Now the lawn looks like a green carpet. There's a tidy pile of grass clippings, leaves, and sticks at the curb for the city guys to pick up next time they come around.

 

Today's drawing prompt was People Watching. First I drew the lawn mower guy which turned out not so great. Then I decided to draw myself from an old picture I found the other day and printed out. The picture is of me and my late friend Lala up at The Clearing when we first met in around 2007. I only drew me. The drawing's not bad.

 

I got to do the school run this afternoon so I made time before supper to draw a gratitude journal page about it. I couldn't figure out how to draw the squirrel in the feeder so I drew it on the feeder. You get the idea, right?

 

After supper I wanted to try painting fir trees with a fan brush like the watercolor teacher showed us so I taped a piece of not-so-great paper to a plexiglass board and tried my hand at it. I decided to make a winter scene with a nice dark blue sky, a snowy field, and fir trees. It didn't turn out too badly.

 

I spent time today setting up the payment account info and uploading The Seaview audiobook to a new site and working my way slowly through everything they want to know. One thing I did was buy some ISBN numbers to add to my audiobooks. I need to figure out if I can change the free Amazon ISBNs on my published books or if I have to republish them. I suspect I have to start over and republish them. Although if I remember correctly only the paperbacks have ISBNs now so maybe I can just add them to the eBooks and audiobooks. Something to look into. There's so much to think about!

--Barbara 

That Wasn't It

On Saturday LC wanted to play on the Wii so we turned it on and none of the controllers worked. Dang. So being a good Meemaw I ordered new controllers. They came today. I put batteries into them and turned on the Wii. Didn't work. I even called Spectrum to wade through the gatekeepers until I got a human tech person to ask if the new streaming box might interfere with the Wii's operation. Nope. So it's the game box thingy. Now I need to decide if it's worth it to get a refurbished unit from Amazon or let the thing go and resell the controllers.

 

One of the squirrels decided to have a suet nuggets snack this morning. You can tell it's morning because the sun is shining. It stopped shining after lunch and then it rained. So I didn't take a walk. Mostly because it looked like it was going to rain again. But also because I didn't feel like it which isn't really a good excuse but it's all I have at the moment.

 

Instead of tackling the next drawing prompt I tried drawing my scarab ring again and doing a better job. I think I did. At least it looks more like a scarab instead of a deformed ant.

 

All of the trees I see out my front windows are changing color. They'd look more amazing if it had been sunny when I took the picture but I missed the sunny part of the day. I was afraid that all of the leaves would just flop down brown but they're nice and red, only turning brown when they fall. Whew.

 

 I worked on short stories this afternoon. I keep getting distracted scrolling Facebook and not doing any work. I have to quit doing that. That's not the way to make any writing progress. I printed off the pages of notes I made about the next Seaview book. I tried to set my mind to it today but my brain only made a sound like a needle scratching across a record so I gave up and worked on short stories instead.

 

Just before supper I took out some watercolor paper and my new Kuretaki paints I got from DD for my birthday and painted these sunflowers. I keep painting these hoping for something better to happen. This one isn't bad. I'm happier with the blue and green blending between the flowers and I like the leaves.  One problem is I'm too impatient to let the paint dry between colors. Sometimes it works to my advantage and sometimes it doesn't.

 

While I watched Finding Your Roots on PBS this evening I wanted to crochet on the hat I started on Saturday with LC but thought I shouldn't crochet ahead. So I pulled out another skein of yarn and the H hook and started another crocheted hat. This one is fuzzy which makes counting stitches and finding where to poke the hook a bit of a challenge but it's going to feel so nice when it's done. 

 

I took the recycling out to the curb earlier and it's rather chilly out there. According to my phone it's 46 but feels like 41. I couldn't see my breath so that's good but it's still chilly. I suppose that in the last half of October I should expect it to be chilly. (How many times can I say "chilly" in one paragraph?)

--Barbara 

Too Early

I was not ready to see frost on the neighbor's roof when I put the shade up this morning but there it was. Most of it had melted away but I was just in time to grab the camera and take a picture to document the atrocity that was frost on the roof in October. Too early!

 

One of the squirrels discovered the cob corn this morning and hung there nibbling on kernels long enough for me to take its picture. Why doesn't the blood rush to its head?

 

The Red-bellied Woodpecker showed up a bunch of times today and I was lucky enough to get a few shots of it. I'm intrigued by the way it cocks its tail under its bottom to balance on the perch while it prospects for peanut halves. It excites me to see it. It's so much bigger than any other bird that comes and it's so pretty with its red head and striped back and wings.

 

Today's drawing prompt was Something New and I couldn't think of anything new I had that I could draw. I couldn't think of anything new that I couldn't draw either. So I drew the scarab ring I found when LC went through my rings the other day and started wearing. I wanted some ring to wear on my left hand that isn't my wedding ring. I've tried a bunch of them but none have been right. This one might be right. It fits on my middle finger and I've always liked scarabs. The ancient Egyptians believed that a scarab beetle pushed the sun across the sky. I like that idea. Now that I look at it, it's a terrible rendition of a nice ring.

 

 In the afternoon I drew a gratitude journal page for yesterday. Not my best effort, not by a long shot.

 

Can you tell I'm kind of in a funk? Nothing I do lately satisfies me. I was happy to have LC for company on Saturday and happy to pick up OJ from school and take him to the library today but I'm a little down on myself and I don't know why. I need to perk up because I've got a book event on Friday and have to be up for it.

--Barbara 

Flying Squirrel

Not one of those squirrels with membrane between its front and rear legs so it looks like it has a parachute when it leaps from tree to tree. No, this is a regular, run-of-the-mill squirrel leaping from a patio chair to the square green birdfeeder. It hunkers down on the chair back and then launches itself across the space at an alarming rate and slams into the feeder, setting it wildly swinging. Crazy and acrobatic.

 

Just when I thought I'd dump the nuggets out of the feeder, look what showed up. A Red-bellied Woodpecker landed on the feeder, chased away all of the Sparrows clinging to the feeder, and had a nice long snack. It's like the Woodpeckers have ESP. Every time I think I'll dump the nuggets and take down the feeder, a Woodpecker shows up.

 

In the afternoon I got out my watercolors, taped a half sheet of paper to a plexiglass board, and did a sketch of the still life I drew yesterday in pencil and marker. It's okay, except the oranges are flattened looking and didn't turn out the way I wanted them to.

 

So I got out the other half of the piece of paper and did another one. This time I made the oranges bigger so there wasn't as much room on the paper for the plate and I skipped painting in any grapes. It's a little better. I feel better about calling them sketches rather than paintings because I painted them fast and loose and didn't take much time with them.

 

I spent part of the afternoon reading the manuscript on the Kindle and making notes. Then I filled the square green feeder and the tube feeder and put cob corn out. All summer the chipmunks ate the corn, not leaving any for the squirrels but I think maybe the chipmunks are hibernating already because a Mourning Dove cleaned up the spilled seed on the patio.

Most of the time I listened to an audiobook and stared into space. Very restful.

--Barbara 

Happy Saturday

I had a good day today. I got up early because the landscaper said they'd be here between 8am and 9am. They arrived just before 10:30am. *sigh* But at least they came, I paid them, and they did their thing cutting down the pampas grass on the corner, trimming the shrubs and Dad's roses, and cutting down all the weeds and flowers across the retaining wall.

 

It was a lucky shot to catch one of the Juncos taking a bath. I've never seen one even take a drink much less hop into the water and splash around.

 

LC and I had a crocheting date today. She learned to do the double crochet stitch. Not without some struggle and ripping out but eventually Meemaw found the right words to help her conquer the new stitch. The pattern calls for using two colors of yarn but I figured that learning a new stitch and following a pattern was enough for one session so we used variegated yarn to make our hats fancy. We did five rounds before LC needed a break. When you're concentrating so hard you tend to grip the hook really tightly and your hand and brain get tired.

 

So she took a tour through Meemaw's jewelry, mostly earrings and rings. The rings were very popular as you can see. 

 

I crocheted along with her and this is my hat beginning. The yarn colorway is Fiesta and I think it's aptly named.

 

Today's drawing prompt was Something Old so I tried drawing myself. Yes, I'm old and I've been feeling old lately so I went ahead and drew me. Some days I look better than this. Some days not so much.

 

 At our last writers guild meeting GBB mentioned having QR codes so that people can purchase an eBook immediately. At the last book event a customer said she only read eBooks so she'd look online. I was sure if I'd had a way she'd have bought one then and there. So I asked KM to work something up. And she did. I got it sent off to Office Depot this morning and picked up the little poster this afternoon. If it helps one person buy a book that way it'll be well worth the six bucks it cost.

 

The coolest thing happened at lunch today. LC and I went to Home Town Cafe for lunch of burgers and in the booth next to us was an older couple. When the man moved I saw the woman's face and she looked familiar. Turned out she was in the knitting guild with me years ago so we talked for a couple minutes. We're both still knitting but she asked what else I was doing and I said that I'd written 6 books. She said, "I love to read! I'll have to look you up on Amazon." I said, "I have them in my car if you've got $15." She did so we went out to the car and she bought a copy of The Seaview! Very cool.

--Barbara