Frosty Morning

It's maple syrup season which means that it's below freezing at night and warm, into the 40s, in the daytime so that the sap rises.  I wasn't sure that it was getting cold enough at night but this morning I saw that the eye doctor's roof was frosty when I got up.  Yep, cold enough.

This squirrel finished off the suet pellets.  It hung there nibbling away until there was nothing left to nibble.  I also discovered why the House Finches have stopped visiting--there weren't any seeds left in the feeder.  I filled the feeder so now I wait until one bird comes to investigate.

I went over to the dive shop this afternoon to get a new battery for the spare garage door opener so I could give it back to the renters.  I want someone to have a way to let me in if I forget my key again.  When I put the opener in their mailbox I saw that the daffodils are sprouting on their side so I checked and mine are sprouting too.  See?  I planted these bulbs 42 years ago the first autumn after we built the duplex and they're still going strong.  But I see I need to get some more mulch.

 

This evening I knitted almost all of the rest of the rounds on March Cast Sock #3.  There're about four more rounds to go but my hands got tired.  I'll finish it tomorrow.

Today's toss was a birdcage with fake ivy stuffed in it.  It used to hang in the living room but it's time has passed.

The prompt today asked you to rewrite the ending of your favorite novel.  That was weird.  I ended up breaking up a good marriage and having another couple move in together.  It felt very odd to make characters I like do things against type.  Good thing it's only pretend.

--Barbara

An Expensive Walk

It was a gorgeous day today so I went for a walk after lunch.  I decided to extend my route so I was tired by the time I got home.  I put my hand in my pocket and, uh oh, no key.  I tried the knob. Yep, locked.  So I texted the renter who has my spare garage door opener to let me in.  Oops, dead battery.  So I had to call a locksmith.  I was on hold for about 10 minutes and then was assured by a nice lady that the guy would be here in 25 minutes.  As soon as I hung up the phone rang and it was the locksmith who said he'd be here in 10 minutes and he was.  It took him less than 5 minutes to open the door, then came time to pay.  $93.50  I knew it'd be that because the lady told me and I had no alternative.  You'd better bet I'll be double checking that I have my key before I go for a walk next time.  I highly recommend Pop-a-Lock.

I did laundry today and while the clothes were swishing and tumbling around I got out the Alphasmart again and wrote another couple pages.  I don't know where I'm going with this, but that's okay, I'm enjoying the writing.

Sundown tonight wasn't an explosion of color but I'm showing you this because it was taken at 6:15pm.  Proof that the days are getting longer and the light is coming back.  Hooray!

After supper I knitted on March Cast Sock #3.  I challenged myself to complete a round during commercial breaks.  I almost made it a couple times, but as I've said I'm a slow knitter, so the ads would end before I'd made it around again.  Oh well, I made some progress at any rate.

Today's toss was a workout shirt that's way too big.  One of these days I should try all my workout clothes on and cull but since I won't be going to the Y for a while, maybe in the fall or next winter, it isn't something I need to hurry to do.

The prompt today was a hard one.  You're in the desert with no food or water.  What happens to you?  My first thought was that I'd die, but then I dredged up some smarts and made something up.  I don't know if I survived but at least I tried to.  

The other expensive part of the day was due to a message I got from my cable/internet provider.  It seems I'd neglected to pay them in February and the March bill was due too.  I went through my emails because I had paperless billing.  I even checked my Junk file.  Well, I didn't find a bill for Feb or March but I went online and paid, and changed back to getting my bill in the mail.  I think they screwed up.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

--Barbara

Write This Down

Today, for the first time in months, I got out the Alphasmart, called up my nature sounds music on Amazon Music, sat at the desk, and wrote something.  My friend, ACJ, asked when she called last week if the Better Than Mom's story was really done.  I confessed that I had dashed off a wrap up and pretended that the story was finished but I knew the truth.  It wasn't really done, I'd quit on it.  It occurred to me a few weeks ago that I really haven't written anything since Durwood died.  I just don't seem to have the oomph.  Well, if I don't have any new ideas, then I need to work on old ideas and make them better.  So today I did.  I managed two small scenes, neither one over a thousand words, but that's a thousand times better than I have been doing.

This little female House Finch was the only bird I saw on the feeders today.  I saw a squirrel on the ground but I was too busy writing to sit and stare out the window looking for birds.  That was a good thing.

When I went out for my walk today in the 43 degree windless sunshine, I saw that last week's little green sprouts have grown.  A lot.  It's so amazing to see that bright green hyacinth leaves in the dull brown mulch.

At Friday Night Knitting tonight I finished the March Cast Sock #2.  Naturally I didn't manage to stretch the project knitting out so that I finished right at nine o'clock so I cast on another one but only got one round done.  There isn't much to see yet.

I found another pair of too big jeans to toss today.  Now the only jeans that I have are my new much smaller, fits like a glove jeans.  Oh, and a couple pairs of jeggings but I don't count them as jeans.

Today's prompt was interesting.  Two men meet in a stairwell and one of them has to move aside to let the other pass but neither will move.  What happens next?  I pictured a couple of rams squaring off, talking trash, and flexing at each other, when a woman comes down the stairs, shames them both into moving aside for her.  For all I know the men are still there glowering and snorting.

--Barbara

Black & White

Today was another quiet day, too cold and windy for a walk.  The mailman brought me a copy of my friend Sharon Nesbit-Davis' book, Intended.  I cracked it open meaning to read just a little but lost track of time.  I'm almost done.  The book is a memoir.  The cool thing is that she wrote a lot of the stories over the years of Clearing workshops we were in together so some of it is familiar.  I thought I'd pre-ordered a copy but evidently I didn't finish the transaction so I had to get one from Amazon.  If we get to go to The Clearing at the end of September I'll take it along to get it signed.

I was too busy reading to  keep an eye on the feeders so all I've got is a quick back-view shot of this squirrel that just took a drink and was turning around on its way to the suet cake.

 

To give my eyes a rest I started another cast sock and just happened to grab black and white (and gray) yarn.  This is another skein that I'd put in the bag of yarn for beginning knitters last year.

Today's toss was the London guidebook I took on my trip to see DD while she was studying in England about twenty years ago.  It seems incredible that so much time has passed.

I neglected to write the prompt today.  I was too busy reading.  

--Barbara

A Flash of Red

I was reading the newspaper this morning when out of the corner of my eye I saw a flash of red.  There was a Cardinal on the platform feeder.  It didn't stay long so I was lucky to get this quick photo.  He's redder than a winter bird which means that spring is on the way.  Hooray!

 

I visited DS this morning at Zambaldi where he was awaiting a grain delivery.  It was supposed to be delivered yesterday but didn't get there until almost noon today.  That put him hours behind on his brew day.  I never appreciated the scope of the ingredients for a batch of beer.  See all the yellow bags?  Half of them are for today's brew and the other half are for a brew next week. In exciting news, DS has an appointment for a first vaccine shot tomorrow!  They're considered essential food workers and he found an appointment time at Walgreen's in Marinette so he'll have a little drive tomorrow and get a shot.  I'm so glad.

After my walk this afternoon I sat down and started a cast sock.  I finished it after supper.  I dug around in a bag of yarn that I put aside a year ago to use for teaching new knitters but since we can't meet in person that's on hold so I pulled out the variegated yarn to use for cast socks and preemie hats.  I needed something new to knit with and remembered the bag o'yarn.

It's funny how Zoom has become a normal way to meet with friends.  The other evening we had a knitting guild social knitting session and had a good turnout.  It's so much fun.   People bring problems, knitting problems that is, for discussion and show off things that they've finished.  I'll be glad when we can get together in person again but I think I'll miss Zoom.

 

Today's toss was a metal tray with the London Tube map on it.  It's been in my closet since I brought it home from London thirty years ago.  It's time has come.

Today's prompt was: a stranger asks what you do, how do you answer?  That was an easy one.  I'm retired, I do what I want to do when I want to do it.  And I do nothing when I want to do that too.  That was my yesterday.  A do-nothing day.

--Barbara

Poised

I caught the squirrel poised to hang upside down on the suet pellets.  It's making short work of the pellets and I'm afraid that I don't have enough left to fill the feeder one more time.  Maybe I'll leave it empty for a while until I feel ready to visit the birdseed store again.  I sure haven't gone through seed, etc. this winter like I have in the past.  I'd sure like to know where the birds have gone.

The House Finches haven't abandoned me.  A few pairs of them come every day to the platform feeder to pick through the seeds for breakfast.  This male flew down to investigate all the seeds uncovered as the snow melts.

In the afternoon I finished the March Preemie Hat #1.  It didn't take too long but I'm a slow knitter so even a little hat like this takes me a few hours.

I spent most of the day reading a book.  Not a book book, but an ebook on my Kindle.  It's a story about a scuba diving detective in Florida.  I like reading about warm places when I'm cold.

Today's toss was a light bulb with a flamingo in the center.  I remember being so excited when I bought it and then I never found the right place to put it.

The prompt today was to write a speech in favor of green energy.  Solar power and wind farms are good, greenhouse gases are bad--you get the drift.

--Barbara

Monday Birds

It was sunny today, windy and cold, not warm like it has been the last few days.  It's supposed to warm up to near 40 degrees tomorrow and the next few days but I think the wind will stick around and make it feel colder.  Maybe I'll manage to get in a walk tomorrow, if I don't blow away.

A small flock of Mourning Doves was picking through the fallen safflower seeds today.  I'm amazed at how camouflaged they are.  Their gray feathers seem to blend into the background.  It's also amazing to see how the snow is disappearing.  If it keeps being in the high 30s and 40s we're not going to have any snow left.

The male Downy Woodpecker visited the suet cakes too.  He had a fine time pecking away at what has to be a frozen solid block of seeds and fat.

I made Easy Egg Drop Soup this afternoon.  This is one of those soup recipes that's never the same twice.  This time I added chopped cremini mushrooms, diced chicken, and snow peas to the basic recipe.  Looks good, smells good, and I'll bet that tomorrow it'll taste good too.

 

We had Guild social knitting on Zoom tonight so I cast on a preemie hat and knitted around and around on it.  We had a nice turnout again.

Today's toss was a ceramic sheep that was lurking on the shelf in my closet.  I bought it at Goodwill and now it'll go back for someone else to buy and enjoy.

The prompt today was to do a character outline of someone from a novel you want to write so I reached back and outlined Rose from The Seaview.  Doing a character outline is always good writing practice.

--Barbara