Song of the day: “I can read you” by Daniel Beddingfield. I know, it’s and oldie, but seriously, it is a good one. I in particularly enjoy the diversity of the song which starts out softly, then becomes incredibly loud, and goes right back to soft again. Anyway, for as far as songs stuck in your head go, this is not a bad one.
At the moment I’m sitting at the dentist, in the waiting area no less. Last night big brother’s back tooth fell to pieces. It was a reconstructed one, so luckily he wasn’t in pain, but it is a bugger. But anyway, since we had to pick up the Opel anyway (the muffler/tailpipe didn’t arrive until late yesterday afternoon) we drove together. The Opel, thankfully, is done, and I am keeping my fingers crossed that this is the last trip with that one. We are going to need to do the brakes of the Land Rover yet, but that will be an afternoon at most.
What else? Well, today was a rather wonderful day spent in the full afternoon sun, working in the yard while a fresh breeze from the sea kept things pleasantly cool. I mean it, I think that today was by far the nicest weather we have had so far. I was out in shorts and a T, barefoot, standing in the dirt while taking away loads of dying tomato plants and a big batch of reed sticks that had been keeping them up-straight for the duration of summer.
What with diseases coming for them, there really wasn’t much of a choice. I managed to save three that still have some nice growth going. They will stay where they are for a few weeks yet, hopefully giving us a few more tomatoes this fall.
Before heading out into the yard, I spent a bit of time in the greenhouse…it was wonderful in there too, in particular since the morning started off a little chilly. While doing the laundry in the shade of the courtyard roof, I’d become decidedly cold…transplanting broccoli, kale and cauliflower. They’re doing well, and the tomatoes I transplanted the other day, well, one’s already a foot high. Boy, I hope they’re going to work out this year. It would be so grand if we didn’t need to buy tomatoes this winter.
A bit of fun news: grandpa has his birthday today. I had planned to make him a cake, but then I pondered his teeth and wondered if maybe a bought one was a better idea. In the end I decided to go for a small cheesecake and a cream and chocolate ice cake. He’ll just have to decide for himself which he likes best.
We did order a gift for him at Amazon, but since it hasn’t arrived yet, I suppose it is going to be a late present after all. *sigh*
Okay, distraction over, what happened before the greenhouse…well, I already mentioned it, didn’t. Laundry, duh.
Right. Yesterday. I’m totally going to mess this up in sequence, because the first thing I remember of yesterday was of course our worth-mentioning trip to the hospital.
Dani offered to go along with grandpa and me, which was good since my Spanish is iffy, and we headed out at eight thirty in the morning so we could go past town and drop the Opel off at the garage. Though I had planned the take the quieter country road to Marbella there really wasn’t time anymore, so we decided to risk rush hour and headed down the coastal highway hoping we would be in time regardless.
Turns out we were lucky. We made it in record time and arrived at the hospital forty minutes ahead of schedule, a good thing too, considering they had rearranged their parking areas, meaning that you either needed a card, or had to park underneath the building, which was 202 cm high, about fifteen centimeters lower than the Land Rover, thank you very much.
Added to that, the other public parking area was also covered with these corrugated metal roofs, meaning that the car wouldn’t fit there either (later big brother told me that there was a section where we would have fitted after all, but since all appeared full anyway) I finally dropped grandpa and Dani off at the ER and set out to hunt for a different parking spot.
First, I thought fate was on my side when a station wagon pulled away from a spot at a roundabout, but though I almost got it in, it was about a foot too small for maneuvering, so I continued on my way. I finally managed to park in a side street and locked up. It took me about ten minutes to reach the ER (was up the mountain the entire way) where grandpa and Dani were waiting for me. Of course by then my coffee had settled, meaning that a trip to the bathroom was vital. Jeez, seriously, I don’t know what I would have done if the waiting area hadn’t sported one.
But anyway, we showed the doctor’s reference paper at the front desk, only to hear that we had to go all the way round the hospital to a big entrance with lots of people with a sign saying consulta sisterna. Huh? Seriously, we had no idea what he was talking about, seeing as the doctor had said to show the paper so the guy could show us to the oftalomologia (sp?) section, or some such. But anyway we followed the instructions and ended up at…the mortuary. Uh-huh. Yeah, that got me laughing, and we were joking that it was really a bit early for THAT.
*Snort*
So yeah, finally we came at the MAIN entrance where the woman behind the register was laughing about consulta sisterna (that’s what we had too) since there was no such place. She pointed us in the right direction, and we waited there for about half an hour (I took the opportunity to start reading a review book I promised to do) before we were called inside the doctor’s office. I can honestly say that I have never seen a woman with a worse hair day. I would say that she rolled right out of bed and then used gel to make it worse. Now I don’t have the best hair at the best of times, but I do draw the line at that single pluck in the middle of a head in the back. Hah. Not that it mattered, considering she was actually a rather nice woman.
She looked at grandpa’s eye for a bit, grabbed a little thingy and promptly took out the foreign object. It was tiny. Half the size of a grain of sand, and shaped like a kidney. You should have seen grandpa’s face. He was so relieved that it wasn’t any more serious thank that, and that he was send home with a bit of cream to put in for the next three days. Phew. Big relief.
But anyway, we were back home around noon and happy for it, thank you very much.
The rest of the day was spent working in the carport putting together tenants new lamps. We have been meaning to for several weeks, but we finally got around to it. After that there was a quick cooking session, which was totally experimental on my part. Turns out that we have purslane growing in the yard (it’s considered a weed, but in the past it was also a veggie), and together with nopales (cacti, remember?) I mixed it through our veggie mix meal. It was yummy, also the purslane, which reminded me of Chard stems. Will definitely be eating it again.
That done, big brother went for a nap (we had gotten way too little sleep) and I headed down the yard with Dani to water the plants needing it. Treated ourselves to a melon, of course, hah.
Next it was my turn for a nap, but since I dreamed of driving the Land Rover onto a roundabout, where I somehow ended up driving straight into a white Citroen DS. Startled wide awake, leaving me to wonder what the heck that was all about.
Ah well, who needs sleep anyway? Hah.
We did an edit afterwards (the Opel wasn’t done yet, so that was one trip less, thank you very much) and then had to hurry to get to our appointment in town. Picking up the second hand supplies took longer than expected and when we finally got home I could barely keep my eyes open.
Luckily I did get a solid seven hours of sleep last night, meaning that I was semi-human this morning, and ready to start the day. First thing up was a big batch of laundry, because, let’s face it, I didn’t have time for that yesterday. *sigh* I hate interrupting my schedule like that.
Next thing, after coffee and breakfast, and saying good morning to grandpa (it was his B-day today) and tenant, we headed out into the yard again…hey, wait a minute, I already described this, didn’t I?
Oh well, the dentist turned out to be only a short distraction. Big brother got his tooth fixed and we headed out…with me wondering why big brother was heading up the mountain while we still had to head back into town (preferably with only one car) to get some sewing supplies for mom. Sure, we’d gotten the pie already before heading for the dentist, but the supplies still had to be done.
But anyway, we were halfway up the mountain before he remembered and promptly turned around (making a U turn that I followed immediately, mind you) leaving me to wonder why he was heading up the highway when we should only take one car.
So, following him up the highway, muttering all the while, “Why are you going there for crying out loud, you could have parked where we did the U turn, or the shopping center, or the gas station. And why do you insist on not having cell phone? Why didn’t you take grandpa’s and then…I lost him on the highway. So yeah, I decided to head into town anyway, hoping that he would go to the shop as well, only to remember that I only had five bucks in my wallet and I didn’t know how to get to the shop either until I got to a herboristeria we often frequent, from which I know how to get to the McDonalds, where, just about the time I rounded the roundabout, I passed big brother on the left. *double sigh*
So I gestured I would wait down the road for him, and five minutes later we joined up by the side of the road and discussed where we would park. Finally we ended up at the aquapark where we took just the Opel to see to the supply trip.
Me: “So what were you doing?”
Big brother: “Not thinking, apparently. I kept wondering where I could park so we could join up in one car.”
Me: “You mean the shopping mall didn’t do?”
Big brother: “Like I said. Not a thought past the wondering.”
Me: “Right. Glad we got that out of the way. Do you know where we’re going now?”
He gave me a “duh” look and went to the store.
Everything done, we finally headed home where we had ice-cake with grandpa and then headed to the terrace in front of my cabin to start on the day’s computer work.
The dogs were psyched that we got home, of course, and they have been going bonkers ever since, sticking to us as if they’re attachments, or something. Ah well, everyone needs a little attention now and then.
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