It’s cooler this morning! Yay! So no little one here so I was out working on pulling up more of that nutsedge weed grass. What a job. Sun was coming out, and the fire ants were getting bad so it’s time to get back to writing. I have about 6 cardinals out in the yard right now. Many are young.
I wrote 4,000 words yesterday, 1,000 words away from word count. Yay!
I’ve been having fun taking pictures of the ladybugs in the garden. I have tons of them. Usually I might find one or none a year. So this is a surprise. I still have the same number of aphids whether the ladybugs are in the garden or not, so I’m glad to see the ladybugs.
I was reworking my first simple painting this morning to resubmit for review. We can only submit a painting, then wait for review, then submit a rework or the new one if we passed–once a day. But they’re good about reviewing them daily. I’m behind on the art course from working on the books, so I’m trying to do one a day, reworks, etc, and have the next one ready as soon as one gets approved. And still work on the books. 5,000 words left on this one.
Little one and I fed the birds, the dogs, and did a puzzle and some workbooks, and collected leaves on the way home from our walk, so did some leaf tracing, not sure what it’s called, to show the form and veins, and I was teaching her about the different kinds of leaves. I showed her all the ladybugs too.
Then we worked with coins–teaching her about the penny, nickle, dime, and quarter. I was teaching her about the value, but she was having difficulty figuring out which were which, so I concentrated on having her tell me what they were and which pile of coins they belonged to. This is the first time we’ve done it and she was having a ball. It’s fun when teaching is fun.
We’ll keep doing that every time I have her. I was teaching her to count by 10s with dimes, 5s with nickles, etc.
Anyway, today is writing day!!! It’s going to be beastly again. sigh.
The last two nights I couldn’t shut down my brain until after midnight. Why? I’m thinking of the art class I’m doing, what I need to do next. I’m thinking of Wolff Bros, what I need to do next. I’m thinking of weeding, what I need to do next. I’m hearing baby songs playing in my head.
The good thing is, I’m only 9,000 words away from my minimum word count on the novel. yay!
I’m off to write!!! It’s getting down to the wire now. I need to figure out how to wrap it up. Once it’s written from beginning to end, I have fun going through and adding to the story.
Well, not all of us are giving up, but what can we do but do what is smart?
I’m so glad that other countries are benefiting from some of our scientists’ research. I want this to end for all countries. And if their governments are listening, I’m so glad!
Vultures at the Zoo
Did you know it’s illegal to disturb a vulture’s nest? My daughter was telling me that at one of the new schools that recently opened, vultures had built a nest and the school officials couldn’t touch it. But isn’t that all about learning anyway? First hand science.
We spied vultures on top of a building and kids nearby were calling them hawks. I told them they were turkey vultures. They thought that was cool. Especially how they cleaned up dead things. lol
Okay, back to the regularly scheduled program. We had 4 1/2″ of rain—yay! And that meant I was out trying to weed before the heat gets to me. Fire ants are out also. I know! One got me. Filled half of a 40 gallon bag with grass and weeds and put out some more bark mulch. I know they say it’s supposed to keep the grass from taking hold and keep the ground more moist in dry spells, but sometimes it feels like it’s there to promote weed growth. lol
Taking a water break and then back at it.
I finished proofing for Mage of Maldovia print book and Scepter of Salvation and am working on Vampire Redemption. So trying to get those out in print soon.
I love the sound of running water–streams, waterfalls, fountains.
When I had little one overnight, she has a sound maker–rain, waves–no, those are too scary. Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star worked. lol So for an hour while I made sure she was going to sleep, I worked on my book and listened to Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star…If I’d listened to the rain, maybe I would have been asleep.
We had wild storms last night, tripped three of my circuit breakers. So I go to start my teapot, no electricity. Our electric went out, but came on again a couple of minutes later. No internet, had to restart my computer. Now, everything’s working.
I’m working on the print version of Scepter of Salvation. When I put the ebooks up for sale, I never put the print versions up. Probably too many other deadlines. So I’m going to get this one proofed and up hopefully soon. I also need to do that with Vampire Redemption and Mage of Maldovia.
It’s hot and muggy here, but hopefully we’ll get some rain. We were supposed to get rain all week, so we were checking to see if we had a tropical storm bearing down on us from somewhere, but no storm. Just some micro bursts of rain every once in a while.
Happy Father’s Day to all those great fathers out there!
I did not plan to go to any store again. I didn’t. I have been keeping the 2 week rule on going to the grocery store, and that was on Thursday. Then Friday, my daughter and I ran to the lumber place. She needed to replace a couple of fence rails and I was going to get a couple as standby. No fence rails. We got bark mulch. We planned to get some coffee at Starbucks, drive-thru–it was closed for cleaning, COVID-19 case probably found. It’s serious. It’s not going away any time soon. It’s a reminder. Stay home.
Two of our Texas cities are in the number top cities for COVID-19 rises–San Antonio and Dallas. Thankfully, some of the big cities, like Houston that I live next to, found a loophole in the governor’s ruling that we can’t enforce mask wearing. Maybe not, but businesses can. The big cities are more at risk. It’s unbelievable how many people I see not wearing masks.
On a neighborhood site, people asked why others aren’t wearing masks. “Oh, well, we would, if it was mandatory.” Uhm, so you have to be told by Mother and Father that it might save lives–maybe even your own and your family’s–to wear a mask and now you can’t go places if you don’t do what they say?????
Houston has become one of the cities requiring mask wearing. Unfortunately, I live in a city bordering it and it’s not mandatory here.
Maybe, just maybe, if people were doing social distancing and wearing masks, we wouldn’t have to be shut down again. You think? Get. A. Clue. All or none, because people believe it’s all gone. It won’t happen to me. I won’t be a statistic.
So today, I was not going anywhere. But then my daughter invited me to come over for Father’s Day. I went out to get my son-in-law some presents, and of course–little one. Not presents, but more pre-K workbooks and puzzles as she’s just learning how to do the 24-piece ones.
At least when I go at 7, there are hardly any people there except for employees and I feel for the ones who have to work there. Though some of them aren’t wearing masks either.
What I don’t get is when people don’t wear masks, sometimes they also defy the distance thing. Two women, no masks, headed straight for me, defiant. They could have gone on the other side of the packages of food. They weren’t shopping for anything where I was. I shot down an aisle I didn’t plan to use. Call me a coward, but…
Live dangerously, take the risk, but don’t share it with me.
Have a happy and safe day! And thanks to all those well-deserving dads out there. Make your kids’ lives matter!
Then I’m taking care of little one overnight. She always wants to stay and we have fun. But then we’ll get together in the morning and have lunch with her parents, and I will be free to write.
I just loved the tiger when I shot her, but the blurred wood and rock were in the way. So I added new logs, more leaves, texture background, and voila! Art!
I ran to the grocery store this morning at 7:30. I was glad to see that most everyone was wearing a mask. I also walked. It gets too hot after that.
I’m off to finish up Red Wolf marketing materials. I want to get started on Heart of the Highland Wolf novella, but have no idea what to write. lol
The original blackbirds courting on the sparse grass next to a hotel on the boardwalk of Daytona Beach. I added 4 textures to create the artistic version.
I finished Red Wolf edits! I’ll turn the book in today.
I still need to do the marketing materials for the novel and then I’m off to the next novella. By July 1st, I need to start on Wolff Brother’s 2. The novella will be for Heart of the Highland Wolf’s 10th Anniversary release. And I need to write another. I think for Dreaming of the Wolf. I need to check and see which book came after Heart of the Highland Wolf!
Little one is coming soon, so I need to get ready!
Have a super lovely day, and stay cool (if you live in a hot place like me) and safe!
The birds love the water fountain. So do the squirrels. I do too. There’s something relaxing about listening to a fountain bubbling away. Or a stream too.
I’m 100 pages into proofing Red Wolf, 145 pages to go!
We might get rain next week. I sure hope so. I was out pulling weeds this morning in the semi-dark to beat the heat, but it would help to have wetter ground to pull weeds. Do you ever notice that weeds thrive no matter if they have water or not? Maybe I should just grow weeds. They’re happy!
