Nanowrimo is Keeping Me Busy in Unusual Ways

It's funny how doing Nanowrimo impacts my life. It lead me to meet new people. It lead me to find a local used  bookstore with  a writer friendly owner. While there, I got new books on crafts at her half off sale for November on non-fiction. And that led me to get back into fashion illustration.

The only thing I haven't been doing all that well on is writing the novel for Nanowrimo!  I think my novel is just over 5,000 words right now and my poetry Nano just passed 5,000 words. So about 10,000 in all. Except on the timeline I think I'm supposed to be around 15,000 words on each Nano account.

I also knitted a bunny from another book I got at the used bookstore called the Knitted Odd-Bod Bunch.

Two women from the High Desert Bloggers Meet Up

My bunny was inspired by the book. It's not in the book.

In a way writing 50,000 words of poetry is more fun and easier for me than the novel. That's because it doesn't have a plot. I can jump from a silly rhyming poem to a long wordy freestyle verse and no one cares. It doesn't have to have a linear timeline. I can hop all over the place. The novel on the other hand, isn't cooperating at all. I like to think of it as Firefly meets the Wild Wild West (the old TV series, Not the movie).  It's going to be a good story if I can ever get it together.

After I'd already started two Nano projects I ran across a guy that is blogging for his 50,000 word nano.  I wish I'd thought of that since I blog every day anyway. But there is no way I'm doing 3 Nanowrimo projects.  Two is insane enough.

A Day in the Life of a Homebody

I find I get a lot more done if I have a to-do list. It somehow gets me over the hump when my motivation is flagging. So here is today's list, and I didn't even start it until noon, so I'm not done yet. The goal was to do each listing for an hour.

1. Knitting x
2. Kitchen
3. Housework x
4. Music x
5. Give it 100 (Goal setting site) x
6. Reading x
7. Writing
8. Crochet or Weaving

It's 7:30 P.M. and I still have 40 minutes to go in the kitchen (not counting making dinner), an hour of writing and an hour of crochet. So far the only thing I've written today is this blog post.

For #5 I worked on juggling and mandolin. So mandolin counts for music as well. It's not a perfect system. My back is complaining loudly right now so the dishes are going to have to wait until I can stand at the sink again.

I made some progress on my desk as part of housework. Of course I had other things I had to do that weren't on the list like care for the chickens, check the tomatoes for bugs, feed the cat, answer a letter and walk to the mailbox and back 3 times. I spend more time just walking around the 1/2 acre that is my yard. The garden is in the very back and the mailbox is in the very front. I feel like I'm walking laps all day.

I better get back to it.

Learning to play scales on my mandolin.

Goofing around with my juggling rings.

Apple Valley, CA sunset

Orchestra and Pow-Wow

Yesterday I got to check something off of my BID list (before I die). I got to play in an orchestra in front of a live audience. If Firefly had an orchestra this would be it: a ragtag team of mixed instruments, races, ages, sizes and colors. We had keyboards, violins, guitars, basses, drums, a cello, saxes, a flute and two fifes. I don't know how we all managed to fit on that stage. I only got to play 2 chords but I had a blast. It was at the Victorville Spice of Life Fall Festival.

Today is the Lucerne Valley, CA Pow-wow. I was supposed to share a booth there but my partner canceled. So I'm going to take some crafts with me and a chair, and hang out under a shade tree and watch the folks do what they do. I'm going to make the best of it in whatever way I can. The weather is perfect.

Whatever you do today, have fun.

Works in Progress Wednesday: New and Not So New Fiber Arts

Knitting a scarf that I found in 'Greetings From Knit Cafe. So far it's beige. Two x two ribbing.

I'm almost finished with my red and grey woven tam too.

And I'd really like to get back to quilting today.

I Could Use Some Energy

For some reason I was in a bad mood when I got home from the art studio last night. I did better as far as throwing pots went, but I was disappointed with some of the things the owner said to me. When I got out of the car, Fletcher was sitting outside in the yard talking to a friend on the phone. As I walked past him, I felt something biting my foot. I was wearing flip-flops and it was dark so I never saw what it was but it stung like a scorpion sting in spite of icing it, standing in cold water, and putting Benadryl on it. At 2 AM I took some Ibuprophen (mainly because my back was hurting from throwing pots) and went to bed.  Ten minutes later I turned the light back on because the pain made it impossible to sleep. I read some more of the Witchling book until I finally nodded off.  Then at 4 AM a car alarm went off and I heard a car driving past the house. Since I live in the middle of nowhere, I had to get up and see if my car was still in the driveway.  It was, and I was thankful that my foot wasn't hurting anymore.

This time I slept until almost 8 AM and got up right as Fletcher was off to work. Two hours later, I couldn't keep my eyes open and had to go back to bed again. It's a Saturday and I have lots to do but I just don't have the energy for it. I watered 2 of the trees. It's the desert. If you don't water things, they die rather quickly.  I worked on my weaving some. I'd like to do something more physical today. The dishes at the very least. But I can still barely keep my eyes open.

Me a few years ago.

A Day Full of Creativity

Already thinking of Halloween.

Yesterday was an explosion of creative adventures. I've been using the Law of Attraction to bring things into my life. Odd things to prove to myself that it works. One of the 'odd things' I asked for was some sort of metallic skeleton key to use in a guitar I'm making out of a license plate. And lo and behold, I went to a thrift store that had recently moved in by the knitting shop, and there, hanging on a peg was not just one, but four decorative skeleton keys. My license plate has a bronco on it, and 3 of the four keys have a western theme. There's a cowboy boot, a horseshoe, a horse head and a star. Even the star is meaningful because I've been collecting stars for my 'Starry the Clown' kit.

And the whole lot of them was $8.00.

I also manifested another thing I've wanted for a long time: a hair fork.
And the 3 crochet hooks for $1. each were just icing on the cake.

Earlier in the day I'd gone to the Dollar Store and they had the white twine and poster board I needed for a hat I'm weaving.

Then it was off to the knitting gathering to knit for a few hours. Only in my case I spent it weaving a hat.
And I picked up some more striped yarn for my medicine pouches for the powwow.

As if that wasn't enough creativity for one day, then it was off to my new art studio that I joined.
I got to relearn how to throw a  pot after a 30 year break. And the universe provided me with a kind and gentle woman teacher. All my pottery teachers up to this point have been male with big strong arms and hands. This women taught me how to be gentle on my hands, including a new way of centering clay that doesn't involve brute strength. The studio also had the clay and tools I need for a very reasonable price. I used loaner tools the first time, but I'll have my own next go round. I made two pots last night, so when I go back I'll get to trim those. Yesterday was the best day I've had in a long time.

Roadrunner Gets a Free Lunch

Hope my friend turns this into an art studio someday.

Me in blue.

I am so happy it is Saturday. I just got a new book about giving away art so I'm going to make something and just give it away. This isn't a new thing for me. I even have a blog about it I started years ago. The title of the book is the Art Abandonment Project and they call the participants Abandoneers. And if any town needs free art it is Lucerne Valley CA. This is such an economically depressed area, I can't imagine the schools have much art funding, if any.

My honey also got me two other books. The other two are on making musical instruments. I am so excited to get those books and I can't wait to make a guitar using an old license plate. Yes, it will challenge my very limited woodworking, metalworking and electronics skills, but I'm going to give it a shot until I get the hang of it. It is so far out of my comfort zone. That is why I must do it.

I'm also going to the library to return a Bob Dylan video and CD and also to return Dead Poet's Society, my favorite Robin William's movie. I love movies about freethinkers.

Yesterday I glanced out my front window, and on the table was a hawk. Sitting right there. So close I could have touched it if there wasn't glass in the window. Amazing.

We also had trapped a mouse in a mousetrap. Fletcher tossed it to a roadrunner, and the roadrunner snatched it up in a flash and ran off.

Time to get going before it gets any hotter out. I am sitting in front of a swamp cooler, so it feels like I have all the time in the world. But the second I step out of the house, it can feel like a blast furnace.

Working on a gray necklace in crochet.