A spot of writing. *blissful sigh*

Song of the day: “Cal me All” by Paul Simon. I think that’s twice now in one or two weeks, though it’s a different song, so it doesn’t really matter.

So yeah, after a long conversation last night, big brother and I decided to print out “Saving Nina” rather than start reading through it on the computer again. The nasty thing about doing a read-through on a computer is that you can’t actually read the story. Nope, on a computer you start thinking “should this be written this way, or that?” and then you end up debating a single paragraph for an hour or two and you really can’t get anything done.

Another thing we discussed is that soon, once we’ve finished the rewrite edit of “Commanding Morgan”, I’m going to see if I can start the writing juices up again, and, in order to do so, I need to do actual writing. So I thought about it, and thought about it, and then just started writing on the premises of letting my imagination flow.

Here’s part of what came out in the hour that followed…just for the sake of letting it flow, nothing too complicated only characters and a story that needs to start developing on its own. I have no idea what’s going to happen, so I guess it will be a road of discovery. Hah.
Have a look/see:

Joe.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Joe glanced up from the heavy tile he was trying to shove in place.
“I’m just saying: you, and me put down a couple thou, offer for the job, get it, make a fair mint and spend the rest of the summer slumming on the beach.”
Eyeballing the man at his side, Joe sighed. The stupid tile wasn’t going to move without his friend’s help, and since Ralph wasn’t likely to shut his trap until he had shared his next ‘brilliant’ idea, he might as well sit down in the shade.
He reached for the bottle of cold water, he’d set under the old elm tree half an hour ago, and took a deep draught. The icy liquid chugged down his parched throat. Overhead the midday sun shone brightly, pounding down through the canopy of leaves that dotted the deserted street with a disorderly dance of light and dark.
“I’m serious, Joe. Why let the company take the biggest cut from Samson’s estate? We could do it; bid lower, hire us some of the boys under the counter, so to speak, and we’d have it made for the rest of the year.”
Joe didn’t bother to ask what Ralph figured they would do after the year was through and the company didn’t want to hire them back again due to underhanded behavior - not to mention that the IRS would have something to say about the entire matter.
“Really, Ralph. I thought I made it clear the last time that for the sake of our friendship, it would be best to keep business and pleasure firmly separated.”
Ralph, a lanky, somewhat twitchy twenty-two-year-old, dismissed the reminder with a blithe wave of his energetic hands.
Joe and Ralph had been friends since Joe had knocked Ralph’s front teeth out in fifth grade. Of course, it had been a big misunderstanding, which cost Ralph’s baby teeth, but in the resulting month of detention, they had become best friends for life.
The problem with Ralph was that he spoke before he thought, and that ‘little problem’ had caused him more trouble than Joe wanted to contemplate at this particular time.
“Bah. This is solid, Joe,” Ralph continued, blissfully unaware of Joe’s wandering thoughts. “Seriously. I’ve thought about it ever since we heard the boss-man talk about Samson throwing up a fuss about the estimate he got.”
Joe glanced at his watch, drolly noting that exactly five hours had passed since they’d ‘overheard’ that particular conversation.
“We could make this work, I swear.”
How often had Ralph said those exact words, Joe wondered. Memories bubbled to the surface. There had been the paper route at age twelve. Ralph thought it a grand way to scrounge up some extra cash so they could go to the arcade during the weekends.
As it had turned out, Joe had ended up working the route on his own. The same scenario had repeated itself at thirteen, with the lawnmower business Ralph had thought would be the solution to all their problems. And then there had been the homework scheme, the car service; consequently followed by the carwash, dog walking and too many other ‘ideas’ that had come to a dead end, simply because Ralph couldn’t commit to watching a movie through, let alone an actual business.
Rather than get depressed about all the schemes vivacious Ralph had gotten him into, Joe threw back his head to spray some of the cool water over his hot face. The icy pearls ran down his throat into the open neck of his sleeveless shirt. He relished the feel of it.
“We know everything we need, to pull this off, Joe. Think about it: Your brain and my gab. We’d be a hit because we know stuff normal folks don’t. Like where the cheapest, good quality materials can be found, cheap laborers. Heck, we do this right we might actually manage to set up our own construction company.”
He made it sound so simple, like he always did. Joe fought the niggling sense of excitement, reminded himself again that whatever Ralph thought of, he would have to clean up the mess later on.
“We need to get these tiles in, Ralph,” Joe reminded him, trying to change the topic, even though he knew full well that it would be useless. Ralph might be flighty as hell, but once he thought of something, he’d hold onto it like a hungry dog wanted a bone. It wouldn’t last, but for a while at least, he would nag and whine until Joe caved.
“Damn the tiles, Joe. We deserve better than the measly paycheck we get from Walt; you know we do! Heck, this is almost worse than pulling social security.”
Joe rolled his eyes at the exaggeration. Walt wasn’t such a bad boss, all things considered. Stingy, yes, but fair too.
“No, this is the solution, Joe. It will solve all our problems.”
They didn’t have any, Joe thought, sighing deeply.
“Our own business. We can take our pick of jobs; regulate our own hours, pay, and what not. It’s absolutely perfect.”
Ralph’s light-brown eyes sparkled enthusiastically in the sunlight; his reddish complexion indicated that he had once again forgotten to put sun-lotion on his fair skin. Gawd, Joe really didn’t want to hear Ralph’s momma complain later on - the way she used to when they were kids. Edna Pritchett - a.k.a. Momma - had phobias about practically anything, and her only son getting skin cancer from sunlight was one of them.
In light of what Joe knew of Edna, Ralph was lucky to be as sane as he was: just spending an hour in the frail woman’s company always exhausted, and disheartened Joe. Honestly, Edna could literally make a man feel depressed about winning a million dollar jackpot.
“Did you forget your sunscreen again, Ralph?” Joe interrupted lightly, his eyes on the pretty mansion that stood at the end of the courtyard floor they were laying.
“Sunscreen? For crying out loud, Joe? How can you ask me about sunscreen at a time like this? I---”
“Edna,” he cut in. From the corner of his eye he saw Ralph’s mouth open, but no sound came out. His friend blinked, sighed and then turned, muttering under his breath: “I left it in the truck.”
Sitting there, his knees up, arms stretched out on top of them, Joe watched Ralph bounce towards the dented blue truck.
If Ralph could just direct all the energy that made him do everything at triple speed, into a useful direction, things would be so much easier for the both of them. It wasn’t as if Ralph didn’t pull his weight, or anything; he did…as long as the job, subject or…whatever, held his interest. Regretfully, as soon as his mind went on to a different tangent - which it often did - or when things didn’t pick up as fast as he would like - another frequent occurrence - he left Joe to pick up the pieces.
Had it been anyone other than Ralph, Joe would have felt he was being taken for granted, or even taken advantage of; not Ralph however. Ralph was just…Ralph.
“Think about it, Joe,” Ralph said as soon as he returned from his trip to the car. He was slathering white sunscreen cream on his face, liberally smearing the strong smelling stuff over prominent cheekbones, pointy chin and around wide-set mouth that never stopped talking.
Joe suspected that one of reasons he and Ralph became best buds was because when he was around Ralph he never needed to make an effort. He did not need to think about what to say. Heck, most of the time he didn’t need to talk at all. Since Ralph loved to talk about everything and anything, and didn’t need much - if any - feedback, their relationship worked out rather wonderfully.
“Can you imagine? You, me, our own company.” Ralph’s teeth flashed engagingly with the sunscreen-smeared face splitting open in a slightly crooked grin.
Joe sighed, knowing that chances were he’d be broke again six months from now, tops.
“I’ll think about it, Ralph.”

I have another page or two, but this is all of this particular scene. I think I could grow to like Joe and Ralph.

But anyway, after the printing of “Saving Nina” and this practise bit of writing, it is time to get ready for outside work.
I’m just about to change into work clothes when Amox (mini boxer) attacks Micky (portuegese waterdog) so while I literally throw Amos back up the stairs, little sister who is standing there gets bit in her Achilles heel by Prama (we think), who tried to sneak in a bite underneath the steps of the stairs at the fighting boxer.

Poor little sister. It doesn’t hurt all that much, she claims, but she does almost pass out from it. It doesn’t surprise me really; a good deep bite has that effect. Once she’s recovered a bit, we head on out to continue with the wall, and she insists on making the cement (she needs to do the least walking there).

It goes rather well, and by the end of the afternoon the new wall is finally finished, the fence gets put up, the rocks are nicely crooked, just the way we like them, and then it’s time to head out to get another batch of rocks. It takes almost an hour to get to the location, but they’re well worth it and we load them in, thinking that we might actually have enough this time to fully build the stairs we still intend to build.

When we finally get home, I’m thoroughly tired, so I’m rather happy that I have today’s writing to add to today’s Blog. Hah.

Back to where we started...sorta. Hah.

Song of the day: “Bubbly” by Colbie Caillat.

I was right on the dot this morning. I’ve noticed that the eyes half-stock thing bothers me the most when I oversleep. Pity too, since sleeping that extra half hour is soooo nice. Hah.

Anyway, in light of the friendly rejection letter yesterday, we decided to break the usual routine a little and do some rereading of “Saving Nina” just to see if everything was right. We went over what are known to be common errors. Nothing major, not even a typo, just sentences that were set up in a certain way and could be altered, if so desired…it wasn’t so we left it alone. Hah.

Anyway, we had a friend visiting today, so there was a cozy chat, some coffee and then it was out into the yard to resume work on the last wall…oh wait, it isn’t; as soon as temperatures begin to drop (a month from now, tops) we’re going to have to work on the veranda supports. What with the dead cacti below it, there might be a chance that the old wall (it was there before we moved here) won’t hold. We’re going to need to put in a new one in front of it.

Anyways, we work on the wall, fill up the empty void behind it, and then top it off with a thick layer of concrete and flat rocks. Soon we have a small bench-like terrace…the dogs jump on top of it constantly, of course…and this massive pillar (under the fence pole) that leans against the rock wall.

The support properly done, we start back on the missing section, and by the time the afternoon draws to an end, we’re back on the level we were prior to the unfortunate crashing. That done, I head up to the carport where big brother is welding one of the wheelbarrows that broke a few days ago.

Soon thereafter, we head out with grandpa to get a new batch of reed, along with wooden beams of a fallen tree trunk we practically fall over. It makes for two nice poles that are going to come in handy, in the near future.
Once back home, with dinner behind us, I do the Blog, of course and then the evening is rapidly drawing to an end. Yep, I’m definitely up for an early night…especially not now that I’m going to try to prevent sleeping in. *sigh*

Strangely enough, I’m not even minding the fact that we’ve decided to do a loose reread of “Saving Nina” before we’ll resume sending it out again. Hah.

Some ranting and the day.

Song of the “Life for rent” by Dido. Very apt in light of my little rant. Gawd, is it just me, or can people be totally insane? Grrr.

I’m gonna have to rant a bit, ‘cause I’ve been chomping at the bit for most of the day.

In a theme park in England, if the Mercury rises over 25 degrees, patrons are no longer allowed to raise their arms high in the ride. (I know what you’re thinking: Huh???) I’m trying to imagine this, mind you: 25 degrees hit, unlucky fellow in the “Cobra” ride, or whatever, raises his arms, screams his lungs out, and the theme park police pounces: “You raised your arms; you’re outta here! Security, remove this vile smelling creature from the grounds. Undue force is allowed.”
I’m not kidding, the piece states, if patrons raise their arms after all, they will be removed from the grounds.
Okay, I don’t like bodily odors either, but…hellooohoooh…if we start complaining about that sort of thing everyone might as well stay home. I’m serious, I’m always significantly annoyed by traffic jams; solution: Everyone stay home on hot days when I need to go shopping. Let’s make it a rule, and anyone who breaks it can go to jail for a year or two. Aaargh.

Another cute one:

The police in a town in the Netherlands are going to try something new that is absolutely brilliant (yes, don’t worry, that’s just sarcasm that makes the sentence droop off the page). They are going ask civilians to report on their neighbors if they think that the guy next door is driving a car that’s too expensive…’cause let’s face it, any Tom, Dick and Harry who drives a car that’s too expensive has GOT to be a criminal. *snort*
Hmmm. Let me think about that for a minute…….yep, KGB, communism, Kremlin, those are what come to mind with “wonderful” ideas like that. What business is something like that to one’s neighbor? I mean, seriously. Can you imagine how this is going to work? Your neighbor’s P.O.ed at you for…I don’t know…leaving a slipper on the pavement, half an inch off your property, and voila he reports you for having a car that you supposedly can’t afford.
Hello! No one heard of a loan before? Saving up? A small/big inheritance? A promotion that you didn’t share with the entire neighborhood? Jeez, talk about a short circuit in my brain. Disaster waiting to happen, if ya ask me.

Oh yeah, and has anyone noticed how the “get a loan” commercials are now ending their add with “remember, borrowing money costs money”? I was like “What? Really? I had no idea!” I gotta say, anyone who doesn’t know that really shouldn’t be allowed to take out a loan, if ya ask me. Hah.

Also, somewhere in Spain (the madness is not contained to a single country, mind you) I don’t know where, but I’m hoping that they were referring to a single town, not the whole, it is no longer to shout in your own home. I’m not kidding; it was on the news. It is against the rules to SHOUT. Stuff like that makes we want to…eh, yeah, well, SHOUT.

The fun doesn’t stop there, noooh! Here’s a good one:

New electronically enhanced cars (I feared this for years, but what the heck) have a dangerous little side effect. If one crashes into the water, all those nifty electrical wires and whatnot…you know, the kind where you can press a button and the doors will lock, windows close etc. etc. which haven’t been properly closed off, will lock you in your car, with no possibility of getting out. Yep, saw that one coming from a mile off, but now a study makes it fact. (Wonder how much that brilliant deduction cost them.)
Can you imagine the headline? “Family of four survives a car-dive into the water; regretfully they drowned when the windows and doors failed to open.”
No chance of something like that happening when you’ve got one of those little levers that you need to turn around (at least FIVE times…that just won’t do, can’t need to move too much, of course: I know, let’s make it electric!) to get your window down. Or worse yet, imagine having to lean in THREE DIFFERENT directions to lock ALL the doors of your car, to lock it, when you can also do it by pressing a single button. Aaaaah.

‘Tis daft, I tell ya! Daft!!!
Okay, rant over. I really should stay the heck away from asinine news reports.

So let’s get to the day: I am seriously sore all over when I wake up. Yep, hauling twenty bags of forty pound (two at a time) down to the carport might have been overdoing it a bit…especially since I had to haul big ass rocks for…the WALL THAT WENT DOWN! Drat. I just had to go and remind myself of yesterday. And that while I had so successfully suppressed it. Grrr.

I actually slept a full seven hours this night, yeah, I know, it surprised me too, but I conked out last night and was literally out like a light. I did have a dream, but regretfully it faded as soon as I woke up.
No marvelous dream to write about, then. Ah well, no matter. The usual morning rituals ensue… and it looks like it’s going to be a warm day as I head down to the house.

There’s the morning chores, and then it is down to the edit. Only three or four pages get done, but the story is coming along nicely. Six hours after waking up, we’re back outside.
Middle sister starts making cement and to kill time I get busy on the narrow terrace removing the weeds from the mess.

Soon the younger sibs and I start working over by the crashed wall. The first few hours are spent removing debris and dirt, the latter gets dump in an empty container in the small garden. We filled it up and then started pouring concrete on the new, bigger rocks that little brother and I haul down.

We spent another few hours adding to the new section of wall. It’s turning out rather solid; a foot and a half deep, and by the time we finish, two and a half high, and a good foundation for what needs to come on top.

That done, I spend a while putting up a small fence, behind which I plant the two sprouting melon plants that came up, and several cut of plants that should be able to grow on their own as long as they get enough water.
After sweeping the new floor clear of sand and what not, I head inside for dinner and start on the day’s blog…which is when I find out that the publisher has responded at last.

I hold my breath when I open my mail, squeeze my eyes shut for a minute and then start to read:
Though it was a no, it was not a bad letter at all…here are some quotes:

"The project has a very unique premise and I like the way you have written Nina’s character.

It is a solid romance read, but I’m afraid the writing is not as strong as I would like to see for our company.

Fortunately, there are many publishing opportunities currently open to authors and I would encourage you to keep looking for a publisher.

If you are willing to shorten the story, there may be an opportunity for you within one of our other lines. I would query them if you are interested in that option.

Whatever you decide to do, best of luck and thank you again for thinking of us."

I’ve have received worse, so I’m not as bummed as I thought I’d be. I mean, the story didn’t get bashed, and the strong writing…though I will undoubtedly check (again)…is personal perspective in a lot of cases too. Ah well, it just means we’re going to have to send out again, I guess.

A little more laundry to do, probably a lot of talking, checking etc. etc. but much to my relief the day has come to an end and I can crawl in my bed for a much deserved early night.

A teeny disaster.

Song of the day: “Don’t bother” by Shakira. Funny song to have in your head, in particular since you can repeat it, and repeat it and no one will ever notice. Hah.

So a slight disaster struck today, but it was later in the day, so let’s start off with that there was an interrupted edit this morning…the delivery truck was late, so we had to wait up by the gate…but still it didn’t go entirely bad.

There were the chores, laundry etc. etc. the edit, and then an early start again on outside work. It goes well, chatter all round, lots of hauling with little trouble, and then while we’re putting in what are, basically, the last two layers of the last piece of wall we’re building.
I’ve used the sledgehammer on a big piece of concrete in the ground (it was in the way) removing a large part of it, giving us some space.

It’s going pretty well, the parasol provides shade, we’re making good time, and then it happens, little sister flops down a batch of cement on top of the newly laid rock, when slowly the parasol begins to cant. Prior to work, I’d set it on one of the poles that we put into the wall yesterday. (that’s where the fencing will be) And now, as I stand on top of a slanted piece of rocky mountain, I watch…not without awe…between the younger sibs, while the parasol, ground and the WALL go down in a mighty rumbling tumble.

Now, imagine me, eyes big, my arms in mid-air, holding a heavy rock up to my stomach, staring at this big ol’ rock - from the bottom of the wall, mind you - tumble sluggishly down the mountain, where it comes to rest a good thirty feet away from where it was.
Right there at our feet a large pile of rocks and cement lie in a jumbled mess, taking out at least six feet of the wall we’d just laid.

Seriously, with all the walls we’ve built, past and present, this has never happened before. As it turned out…it took me a few minutes to stop being agog, and actually put the rock down so I could climb over the rubble to see what had gone wrong. The fence, which is old and had been standing there for at least ten years, had gathered so much dirt over the years that the wall floated a good two feet over the actual ground. Yeah, I know, I should have checked that when we started, but honestly, it didn’t even occur to me. Yep, ya learn something new every day. Grrr.

Now, considering no one got hurt…the dogs appeared to have seen it coming when we didn’t, aaargh…all that today’s little disaster caused was the loss of cement and, well, time. Darn it! Stuff like this pisses me off, but then, who really cares. In the end, it just means that we have to work on it a few more days.

We take the rocks away, pile ‘m up, and then I start to dig. A part of the wall is still standing, but now that so much has tumbled over, it is clear that the wall is standing on unstable ground too. I dig out a gutter that goes down to the rocky ground, and we dump the majority of the bigger rocks in for tomorrow. In order to get some structural stability, we’re going to have to build another wall in front and below the other one. Ones it’s done it’ll serve as bench sort of thing and support the other one as well.

More work, for sure, but not the worst thing…it does make me want to, though; a lot…and I did. Hah.

So after we made a temporary fence to protect the remaining wall as much as the lower garden…aargh…and then head up to the carport to assist grandpa and big brother with making the new tool shed a little better. Pounding nails into boards (they’re going to hold tools) is excellent therapy I’ll admit. By the time I was at nail number sixty, I almost wasn’t frustrated any more. Almost being the magic word.

Soon the evening has fallen and after a quick dip into the pool, we head down to the house for dinner, the blog and a viewing of the fun movie “Dogma”. Still funny, even though I’ve seen it at least five times already.

And once more, the day is over, and yep, my obsession is dealt with by writing it all down. Not the best of days, but it’s reassuring that no one got hurt. Though…we’re insured these days, so we might have been able to check out our coverage. Hah.

A little lost.

Song of the day: “Sad Eyes” by Enrique Iglesias. Rather sad song, but a good one nonetheless.

I’m going to have to keep it really short today: It’s almost midnight and I still have an edit to do…darn it.

But anyway, since big brother had to go out to get new bags of cement I had an opportunity to write a new scene I thought of last night. Scene between the heroine and hero’s son, cut dialogue, and it just came flowing out. Nothing feels better than that. Hah.

Four pages done, but by then my mind is too murm to be able to do any more editing, but I did fit in the scenes I did before, bringing the complete manuscript up to 100.000 words, yay.

Since we need to go out tonight, get a few groceries, and more reed, we need to stop early with outside work, so in order to get something done, we need to start a couple of hours earlier too. I make cement, and then start to build on the last wall that hasn’t been finished yet. Several hours in the hot sun pass…though the wind is rather cool…and then we have to hurry because nightfall is rapidly coming earlier and by now it will be here ‘round nine thirty.

We head for the supermarket after washing up, find some nice piles of wood at a local dumpsite, do our groceries and drive towards the field where we can get another stash of reed. Though it is not at all hot, we are soon perspiring considerably. Lots of moisture in the air I guess. We only get a small stash and on our way back, we decide to take a different route…and end up seriously lost. What with the main road under construction still, we just can’t find a way back onto it.

It’s a little scary, and at one point, we actually almost go off a cliff, but luckily, it all works out; we find a way onto the road at last and next thing we know we’re heading back home. So yeah, dinner isn’t eaten until after eleven, and now the blog is ready and I can wrap things up for the day. Phew.

Wow, I actually managed to stay under one page. Hah.

Plastered.

Song of the day: “Time is on my side” by the Rolling Stones…at least I think it’s from them. No matter, it was stuck in my head.

I’m nicely on time this morning, though I would have liked to stay in bed a bit longer, but then, that is nothing new. Another sunny day in Spain, still not scorching hot, which is really a blessing. You can’t believe how much we’re saving on not having to use the small individual Acs all the time. Well, I don’t have one, but it’s the thought that counts.

The dogs are going bonkers when I wake up, of course; I was dreaming something about making a big load of dog food, in the pool of all places. Hah. Not the pool is such a bad idea; back in the day, we did make dog food in a bathtub…a full one, but still, I have no idea where that dream came from.

I’m no sorer today than I usually am in the morning, which is strange, considering I hauled about twenty wheelbarrows of dirt up the mountain. We were emptying the gutter that runs down, and since we had to fill the last plant container anyway, we decided to dump it in there. Not funny to do, in the full sunshine; heck it’s not fun to do any day, but we did manage the chore, ending up totally bushed.

For some reason, the day before yesterday, I hurt my knee…the one Knight II dislocated a while back…again, so off and on I’m obliged to put a support around it. Walking on itself didn’t hurt all that much, it still does, but when I sit down, or stand still then it hurts like heck.

Anyway, today I head down to the house for the chores, and then we settle down for the edit. It doesn’t go really well, but still we manage to slosh our way through a few more pages. I don’t know what the heck is wrong, but editing is NOT going well at all this week. Grrr.

Having gone through the set hours, we head into the garden for outside work. I set up the frame for the reed mats, and middle sister starts making cement, so I can plaster the new wall behind the pantry, and little brother can finish up the outside edges of his bedroom window.
While the sisters start weaving new mats, I haul the cement into the house, and back out again behind the pantry and get to work. It takes only forty-five minutes or so to even out the piece of wall, and why I’m done, I decide to take the outside stairs to get back to the other part of the yard.

It isn’t easy, what with the undergrowth having sprung up in the past few months, but in the end, I do manage to return to the main garden, where I finish up the last bit of cement on a piece of rock-wall - the last one that still needs to be built. Afterwards, I join big brother and grandpa in the carport. For the duration of the day, they have been putting the finishing touches to the tool-shed area under the carport roof. While they work on the walls of the area, I start making holding bars for tools.

The knee, I still bothering me, darn it, but at least it didn’t stop me from continuing with the projects. A few more things get done and that is always a good thing. I’m really going to have to post some pictures soon, just to show off, you understand, describing it all just won’t do it any justice.

Around dusk we are obliged to finish up with the day’s work and head into the house for dinner, cuddling the dogs and what other chores still need to be dealt with before I can sit down and work on today’s blog.

I’m a tad tired…nothing unusual about that, of course…and I still have another edit to look forward to, Yay! (yes, that was sarcasm, hah) Well, that sort of wraps up today’s events. Time to do the same to the blog, and then get ready to head up to my cabin.