I Refilled Them All

The other night I said I planned to be stingy with the bird/squirrel feeder filling. Well, I haven't seen many birds over the last few days and I miss them, even the bratty little Sparrows. So I filled everything today. It was time to refill the Hummingbird feeder too. I pulled up and repositioned the Oriole feeder. It was leaning forward from the weight of marauding squirrels so I made it stand up straighter. I didn't get it as deep into the ground but it's not going anywhere.

 

The first squirrel I saw, actually, the first squirrel part I saw was this tail hanging out of the square green feeder. I think I need to replace that feeder because when it rains the seed in the ports gets wet and kind of solidifies so the ports are effectively blocked. I'll go over to the birdseed store tomorrow or Tuesday and see what they've got.

 

Then another squirrel was hanging on the suet nuggets and having a lovely snack. That squirrel sniffed the orange but didn't stay long and didn't move over to the jelly. We'll see how long it takes for them to realize that the sweet goodies are back. While I was filling feeders, I reattached two Slinkys on the crooks. Maybe they'll deter the squirrels a bit. Probably not, but I have hope.

 

Today's watercolor is a Fern. It was more tedious than fun to paint. All those tiny leaves and I don't think it looks very fern-y. I like the brownish greenish paint color though.

 

When I was going through my emails this morning, one of them was a Book Funnel sales promo offer. I looked at it and my books qualify for the promo--clean and wholesome--so I signed up Better Than Mom's and Anneke's Legacy. Even though I didn't sell any ebooks or audiobooks in the last two promos I was in, I'm not giving up. It doesn't cost anything to be in them and all I have to do is send the info to my email list and advertise on social media. I can do that.

 

Dad's roses are still blooming a little. The big flush of flowers is past but there are a few still out there looking beautiful and smelling awesome.

 

After supper I sat and watched TV and knitted on Scrap Hat #5. Two of the strands I was carrying ran out so I had to dig around in the bag to find other yarns to add in. One I had to just join by knitting it into the next stitch, leaving a nice tail to weave in at the end, and the other I could tie the two together with a magic knot and have no tails.

 

I spent hours working on adding a sidekick to Three Cheers for Murder. I dreamed her up yesterday when I was following the worksheets I printed off, so today I wrote a page about her in her store and talking to the main character. Then I skimmed the manuscript to find the parts that I'd highlighted in red that needed big changes and put them in separate documents to work on at my leisure. I really like the sidekick. Her name is Juno Windsong and she sells crystals, herbs, and Tarot cards in her shop The Queen of Wands. It's next door to The Alchemists, the main character's lotion shop and across the street from another character's bookstore. She'll be fun to write and insert into the story. I also have to dumb down the detective. Maybe dumb down is the wrong way to put it. He has to be a little bumbling so the main character/sleuth can figure out the culprit before he does.

--Barbara