Day 30

The last day of my four-challenge month.  Apart from finishing 50,000 words for Nanowrimo, I’m not sure what I achieved with the rest of the challenges.  Posting every day was easy when I had progress to report and sketches to share.  I struggled with both the photo a day and sketch a day, but at least it got me using a pencil and sketch pad again.

As I’ve been playing a racing game (Forza Horizon 2), cars are on my mind so that’s what today’s sketch is.  I’ve never been able to draw cars and after today’s attempt, I think that still applies.

Day 30: Triumph car

 

I can’t actually recall what I did this morning but I headed out to the, now bi-annual, lunch with acquaintances.  I timed my cellphone to go off after 3 1/2 hours but as it happens didn’t have to use it as the host starting to fall asleep was the perfect excuse to leave.  The sessions are always gossip about people I don’t know (as I’ve often said) or celebrities I don’t care about.  It’s fascinating to hear the judgements made on such people, especially celebrities (or royalty) when they have no idea what those people’s lives entail on a day-to-day basis.  Strangely, even when asked about my daughters, I just didn’t want to share the fact that they were both in Melbourne.  Similarly, in previous lunches with them, I didn’t want to share about trips overseas, as they’re often moaning about the lack of money, so I mostly just stay quiet and listen.

I’m really fed up with the wind.  Today would have been a nice sunny day if it wasn’t blowing a gale all the time.  It’s really tiring, to say the least.

Just ten more working days left of the year for me.  Time has flown.

Thanks for reading and/or following my blog over the past month.  Normal, irregular updates will resume from tomorrow.

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Day 29

This morning I caught up to yesterday’s target of 48,400 words for Nano.  I decided to keep going, reaching just over 50,000 words before midday and actually finished the story.  Woohoo!  I did it, with one day left!  Such a relief and sense of achievement.

I didn’t do much today – washed, vacuumed, oh, and weeded a flower bed, then played an Xbox racing game, which ate up the hours without my realising.  I also caught up on watching the episode of Downton Abbey that I’d missed.

Today, as usual, I had left the sketch to the end of the day and couldn’t think what to draw.  I went through my photos again and chose a monkey.  I had taken the photo at Batu caves in Malaysia.

Day 29: monkey

Just one more day of my four challenge month.  One challenge completed today.

I watched another episode of ‘Who do you think you are’ – Marianne Faithfull – very interesting.

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Day 28

I wrote in the morning before work, reaching just 46,500.  I haven’t had time to add to that, having been out all evening.  For that reason also, I just did a quick sketch of an old hip flask.

Day 28: hip flask

 

Another day of cold and wet.  At one point it was just 10 deg today, at the end of November.  Ridiculous.

Lovely evening out – drinks and dinner with colleagues.  Realised I missed watching Downton Abbey last night.  Oh no.  Damn.

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Day 27

I reached 45,000 words.  Just 5,000 left in three days.  Tomorrow will be difficult as I’ll be out all evening.  Just as well I have all day the following day.

I pulled an idea out of the sketch-a-day list – ‘Draw a shoe’, so lacking anything better, I did so.

Day 27: shoe

Meh.  Next time I try this challenge (if I do), I’ll make sure I’m not doing any other challenges at the same time, like the time-consuming story-writing for Nanowrimo!

I had lunch at a restaurant yesterday.  The food was average – a savoury pancake for $20.  When paying, the woman said $21.  I said “I thought it was $20”.  “No, it’s $21” she said.  Like a fool I believed her instead of believing my eyes when reading the menu.  But it bugged me and I checked the menu online.  Yep, $20.  So, I wrote an email and they wrote back apologising and offering a refund and a free coffee.  I’m unlikely to make use of the free coffee but picked up the dollar.  It was the principle of the thing.  Apparently they’ve put the prices up but forgot to check the menus and website.  Dumbarses.

The weather’s still grey and windy – very tiring and irritating with the constant noise.  Added to that the constant banging of the local armed forces playing their games nearby.  Enough to give anyone a headache.

Feeling dead tired.  Some stupid American clichéd shit is on TV with its standard predictable boring script.  Yawn.  Time to either turn it off or watch an episode of ‘Who do you think you are.’

 

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Day 26

It was a bit of a struggle to get to 43,500 words today.  It’s nearing the end and I don’t want to get to it sooner than 50,000 words.  I’m rethinking a couple of characters and trying to work out how it will end.  It took a long time tonight, with lots of thinking.

For the sketch, I thought I’d try drawing trees.  I didn’t just choose one tree though did I.  I went for a photo of a grove, for ****’s sake.  I’m too ambitious.  Oh well.  It’s getting late again so I don’t leave myself time to plan or to take my time in executing it.

Day 26: trees

I’ll try trees again.  I need lots of practice!

Oh, a comment in the office today.  We were talking about our Christmas lunch at work at the house of one of the colleagues.  She said she was going to use paper plates (to save on washing), then also mentioned paper cups.  One person said she could bring polystyrene cups.  (Apparently these people were serious – Xmas lunch on paper plates and wine out of disposable cups).  I said it wasn’t environmentally friendly.  The response : “No-one gives a shit about environmentally friendly.”  “That’s why the world’s in a mess, because no-one gives a shit”.  They were just laughing and I was silently fuming.  There is, seriously, no hope for the world.

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Day 25

I reached 40,000 words last night for Nano and this morning did another 1,000, leaving me only a few hundred to reach 41,700 for today.

Nothing of interest.  I think it was Sunday evening that I heard a shining cuckoo.  I heard the distinctive call but I couldn’t identify the bird until today when I remembered to search online.  I don’t remember ever hearing one before.  I only “recognised” it from the morning radio programme when they play a different bird song before the news.

I’m still not inspired when it comes to sketching – probably because of the Nano story taking up so much time (and taking a photo every day) as well as wanting to watch episodes from DVDs.  So, today a quick sketch of a drum.

Day 25: drum

 

Very misty on the way to work.  It reminded me of Europe in winter.  Supposed to have reached 22 deg but there was a cool breeze and I don’t think it got past 18.

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Day 24

Yesterday I finished season 5 of Breaking Bad.  Ok.  I didn’t enjoy it as much as the last few episodes of season 4.  Also last night I watched the Lesley Sharp episode on ‘Who do you think you are?’ I thought it was bizarre.  She spent so much time tracking down what happened to an unrelated boy who happened to be fostered at an ancestor’s house (the ancestor of the birth father she never knew and who never had anything to do with her).  It was all about this boy.  I was like “what the fuck?”  Why did they even bother?  The rest was about her adoption, which wasn’t particularly interesting anyway.

Running out of time already this evening.  I made the mistake of coming home and immediately watching a WDYTYA episode on Gary Lineker, which was way more interesting.  I then tried to draw, unsuccessfully, my mother’s jewellery box.  I’m not happy with it at all, but, as I say, I’m running out of time today and haven’t written a word for Nano, so I stopped trying to fix it and gave up.

Day 24: jewellery box

 

Time to eat (I haven’t even had dinner!).

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Day 23

I wrote for Nano this morning, now reaching 38,700.  It’s great to get it out of the way in the morning.

I headed out to a garden tour this morning.  The weather forecast had changed from being cloudy to drizzle in the morning, clearing in the afternoon.  The sky was a featureless white blanket this morning and it did drizzle on and off at the first garden, a lovely rural garden with lots of paths and “rooms” – just beautiful – the sort of garden I love.  It invites you to explore, instead of seeing everything there is to see in one glance.

Next stop, a suburban garden in a nearby town, avec cat.

We stopped for lunch at a town garden in the next town over.  I was quite relieved to see it wasn’t immaculate – still plenty of weeds and long grass that needed pulling out.  Some lovely roses, however.

Onto a city garden – quite a small patch of land at the back with not much in the way of flowers, and lastly, an inner city garden with paving all round the house, edged with hebes, azaleas, fuchsias and native bushes – took about five minutes to go round, I think.  By this time the weather had turned to hot sun and we all felt overdressed in our boots and long-sleeved tops.

Home again, via the supermarket.  I couldn’t wait to take off my warm socks and shoes and fling open the windows.  It’s been a long time since we had nice weather here.

My initial idea was perhaps to sketch something I had seen on the garden tour today, but I didn’t want to draw a flower and didn’t feel confident enough drawing trees.  So, in the name of art, I had a G & T.

Day 23: G & T

 

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Day 22

I wrote 2,000 words today, reaching 37,100.  Feeling quite confident.

I looked at the list of things to draw and nothing appealed.  Draw a chair, a glass, etc, etc.  Too dull, I thought, although I probably should do basics.  I did consider drawing a chair but decided against it.  Again I chose a random photo and copied that instead.  A shed window.

Day 22: shed window

 

I didn’t do much else today.  Washing, tidying, cooking.  I watched another episode each of “Who do you think you are?” (Minnie Driver) and Breaking Bad episode 5.  I”m not a huge fan of Minnie Driver.  Always thought her name was stupid for a start.  Was that seal fur or something she was wearing?  It looked real.  Not impressed.  Anyway, she’s following the family tradition of having illegitimate children (ooh, harsh).

The weather continues to be absolute rubbish.  Strong winds, some rain, general bloody awfulness.  I hope it clears up for tomorrow’s garden tour.  Doesn’t look promising at this stage.

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Day 21

I caught up, Nano-wise, writing about 700 words this morning, and the rest this evening, reaching 35,100 words.  Just 15,000 words left.  I wonder if I can make it.

I found a website with a list of ideas for what to draw everyday.  I’ll refer to it when I can’t think of what to draw, which is the case pretty much every night.  One that caught my eye was “draw something old, antique or vintage’, so I drew my bottle-jack.

Day 21: bottle jack

 

I may refer to the list from now on.  There are heaps of ideas to choose from, some of which I’ve already done.

I watched another episode of “Who do you think you are?” – Nigel Havers.  Not particularly interesting.  I miss Mark Strong’s voice as narrator in this series.  Also watched another episode of Breaking Bad.  I’m not that bothered now.  I don’t really care what happens, strangely.  I think it should’ve stopped at Season 4.  I’ve been assured that lots more happens, so we’ll see if I get keen again.  Before I was keen to watch 2 or 3 episodes in one night.  Now one is enough.

It’s now 9.50 pm.  Do I watch another episode of something or go to bed?  I’ve nothing to read at the moment.  Still ploughing through Diana Gabaldon when I can be bothered.  The book I tried reading at work didn’t interest me so I stopped a quarter of the way through.  Perhaps I’ll go to the public library and find something.  Nothing on TV as usual.

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