Notice:

I can't predict when I have the time to post a new blog, but check occasionally. I'm going to try at least weekly.

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Drat...can't think of a title

Song of the day: “Black coffee” by All Saints. It’s been a while since I last heard this song, but then I found it the other night, and here we are: Stuck with it. Hah.

What to write? In all honesty my brain’s a blank again so I’m just going to take this one event after the other, not bothering with the proper sequence. Sorry.

First of all, I wasn’t in the best of moods today, so my activities were suitably lethargic by all accounts. I hate days like that, by the way. As if everything is dragging on for no particular reason. Ah well, it was not to be helped and I did get stuff done in the end.

So lemme think…
Had a workout yesterday morning…not this morning. I just couldn’t drag my lazy butt outta bed, and decided to sleep for those extra thirty minutes, rather than getting jiggy with it. What can I say, sometimes the lure of the pillow and warm blankets is just too much for a body to resist. Hah.

There were two ventures of unloading the car. First building materials, and the second sand. Both got done in due time, though there was an incident with glass fiber incident that turned out to be most unpleasant. Nothing serious, however, just, itchy on the most part.

Yesterday the weather was splendid, the actually was a warm breeze and the temps were in the low eighties, which was…well, splendid. Hah. There were moments that I could almost imagine myself being in summer again, and that…well, splendid too.
In particular during the gardening. Did a watering session for the young seedlings (divine, despite the basin water being downright chilly) and checked all the big cabbage plants for caterpillars. Killed at least thirty of the little buggers. Today, weather-wise, it was still sunny, but due to a southeastern wind, working in the greenhouse for a bit was absolutely wonderful too. Seriously, the mercury went up to at least the high eighties in there…which reminds me, I was late getting down there, so a few of my young seedling green beans might not have made it. Sure, they’re still standing up straight today, but some of their leaves are downright wrinkly.

But anyway, dog-wise, little has changed. Gada is loopy from the prednison she’s getting against the pain…I miss her real character (despite the fact that I haven’t seen that in a while now due to her hip problem) but at least she’s not suffering now. In fact, she is downright cheery as she runs after me most of the day…also her appetite is so big that she gained at least 10 pounds in the last two weeks. Not good that, not with her hips like this, but the way I figure, she might as well enjoy herself in what little time she has left. Which reminds me, she didn’t eat tonight. Darn it. I wonder if the pill is no longer enough. It was bound to happen but…well drat. I better check later tonight if she wants a snack.

I put together an old plastic doghouse. There was some damage in the corners, but it took me only a few hours to replace one section of a wall, put slats in the corners to make it sturdy, and to make rubber hinges. We should be able to use the darn thing for dog-blanket storage now. It will be water proof at the very least.

Tenant was downright ecstatic these last couple of days (heck make that two weeks), with the weather this splendid she has even managed without the stove and that is a definite plus for her. You should see her sit in her chair in the sunshine sometimes. That’s what you call enjoyment. Hah.
Can’t blame her either. In summer nothing quite competes with the warm sunshine.

As for food, I wasn’t entirely happy with yesterday’s experiment of broccoli, cauliflower and carrots with macaroni. Today’s veggie mix (our own canned tomatoes, green beans and peppers) some broccoli, nopales (cacti leaves) sweet corn, dried herbs from this summer, an onion and garlic, really went well with the chickpea/white bean Patties I made dough for this morning.

There was a venture to the igloo to store the metal rack I took apart the other day, along with the mobile toilet that used to be tenant’s a long time ago.
Did some sowing. Both Alfa Alfa and new chard. I’m not at all happy with the amounts we have from the ones I sowed several months ago, so I decided to do another row.

On an embarrassing note: I was complaining to big brother the other day, about how I noticed that so few people mind their posture these days (yes! Posture is important. Pull back those shoulders, raise that chin, no sense in slouching, for Gawd’s sake) and that it is such a pity. Posture says a lot about a person, and if your nurture it you’ll find improvement in mind and body both. *sigh* I know, I shouldn’t be preachy. Forget I said anything. But okay, I was complaining about it, and then found myself using what grandpa refers to as the “German handkerchief”. Which, in effect means that you hold one nostril shut and then blow…(I can hear you gasp)…I know! Very inelegant, but it is sooooo easy when you can’t find anything to blow your nose with, darn it. I’ll try to do better in the future, and to reassure you, I never do that sort of thing in public. Hah.

What else…well, big brother and I spent some time working on the solar panels, and I am proud to announce that the lot is working again, and that the box in which we installed the actual converter is working excellently as well. Next time the power goes off, we’ll have light at least. Yay.

Edits were somewhat different the past couple of days. Due to this being a suspense story, I have to get the facts right, so I've been busy doing a chapter by chapter, noting the amount of days, to make sure that they're consistent, and checking spots for information sharing. There're a lot of those, so I think it is going to take at least two more edits to get those right.
Well, that’s it for me today, I’m sure I missed something again, but what the heck, a blog’s a blog.

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Row

Song of the day: “Love the way you lie” by Eminem and Rihanna. Yeah, I know. Eminem, right? So unlike me, but the song is nice enough and regretfully catching. Of course I don’t know the lyrics well enough to actually sing the Eminem pieces, but what the heck.

What with getting to bed rather late the day before yesterday, getting up in time was a bit iffy. Did manage (with difficulty) and got down my workout at about ten to nine. Had a good session, if a bit hurried. Not so much less, just faster than usual to make up for lost time, which has its own advantages.

The weather has been divine these past couple of days. Sure the nights are a little on the chilly side, but the skies are clear and the wind has been behaving (on the overall). Seriously, right now I’m standing on the terrace in front of my cabin the sun shining from the south west (twilight is only a couple of hours away) there’s a gentle northern breeze, and right now things could hardly be better. It’s beautiful, golden light touching green eucalypti leaves, purple bougainvillea flowers, the spry light green of the night blooming jasmine and the much darker hue of the passion flower vine clinging to the carport. Shadows dance over the ground, the walls, soft grays interrupted by a bright gold and even pink as everything looks vividly alive in the advance of sunset. On the slope green grass grows in spare tufts that are lit up as if they’re covered by fairy dust, and the dark green cypresses are swaying like dancers against the blue horizon. There’s a haziness to the air over the valley, but this only gives the view a somewhat fairy tale quality that makes me feel as if I’m on a different world. (The fact that I’m still reading Jack Vance could be part of the reason for this, hah.) But anyway, this weather is what you live in Spain for: Sunny winter days that will make living outside absolutely wonderful.

But right, I was talking about yesterday. After workout and the usual chores in the house I had breakfast because I was absolutely starving for some reason. That done, the car unloaded of another batch of sand, I went down to the carport to pack the Middle East style, coffee table I’ve been restoring this past week or so. It worked out really well, by the way. It looks beautiful, and it should make a nice buck or two at the market at some point.

Afterward it was down to the yard with the lot of us. I did some harvesting (chickweed, broccoli, wild onion, pumpkin and some lingering tomatoes) while big brother hosed down the new plants that really can’t handle the wind and sunshine yet. Since it is basin water, basically these plants are free, which is an excellent way to save money, I have to say. Not to mention that it is devilishly healthy. Hah.

I liked it, the being in the yard bit. The sun was warm, the wind practically non-existent and with a little luck I will retain some of my tan this winter. Most of the day’s harvest was used for dinner to boot, so yay.

Tenant opted to stay on my cabin terrace the majority of the day. She does enjoy the spot a lot, what with it being out of the wind and the sun shining there for several hours. Luckily, in summer, it will be far more shady there.

Once done with the yard big brother and I worked in the carport, designing and putting together a proper box that holds the converter for the solar panels, or at least it will hold it once it’s done. It is a simple design, really. Grate work on the sides, wooden panels for the top, bottom, and the back, with on the back another grille for the optimum of ventilation. Got the majority done pretty fast, and were done for the day in time to head out for another batch of rocks. Since we were out anyway, Knight II had a nice little walk, despite the fact that he still sees the great outdoors and “Yuck, dirt between my toes!”
*snort*

Afterwards was a quick cooking session, followed by wolfing it down and working on the edit. Since I had to wait for big brother to finish his part, I managed a catnap and enjoyed it to such an extent that I was in a bad mood after waking. I had asked big brother to wake me after half an hour but he forgot, so I slept more than an hour, which is not at all conducive. It just makes me grumpy to have that long a nap.

But anyway, we got into a row about a scene, where he suggested (and I use that term broadly) to sake a large piece and added, after I said, “but if I take that out, the next piece won’t work,” “so put a sentence there to connect it again” as if that is not difficult at all. Seriously, have you ever had to compact half a page in one sentence. Grrr.
Be that as it may, we got through the day’s edit without killing each other (it was a close call, though) and got to bed way late because of the row. Hah.

Well, I was over it this morning, and since there was no workout, I went down to the house where I did the normal morning chores (you know, laundry and such *snort*) before having breakfast and heading on up to visit with tenant who joined us later on by the carport while we finished the box for the solar panel controls. Added a trap door for it (with a window in it so you don’t actually have to open it to check the lights) a proper electric box and on the overall finishing everything up that we didn’t manage yesterday.

Since big brother had taken apart metal shelving earlier in the day, I spent about half an hour sorting through the screws and bits, and then taped the whole unit together lest we lose something during storage.

As for the dogs, well, the majority of the day they spent snoozing in various spots in our vicinity, except for Chaos who opted for the bed and snored the afternoon away. He’s such a lazy Basset.

There was a quick trip into the yard, closing everything up for the upcoming night, removing some bugs, watering a few thirsty seedlings and then went back up to do the blog and a short venture into today’s edit. Big brother and I still need to go out tonight. We’re going to attempt to get a battery for his Macbook pro which is giving a lot of trouble because his died. I do hope that they have it, otherwise this trip to friggin’ Marbella will be for nothing.

…okay, I’m back. We got the battery for big brother’s computer so it wasn’t for nothing, and since we could pick some other stuff up as well, it didn’t feel like a complete waste of time either.

Right. I better get to the edit. We’ll be leafing through the whole lot today in search of the time-line and plot holes.

Monday, January 2, 2012

Diversity

Song of the day: “Come on” by Will Young. I only recently discovered this song, but it’s catchy and it has been going through my head most of the day. The video wasn’t the best choice, but the song makes up for that. He should have gone for something impressive, though (I love dogs, but this was a little silly) like he slouching on a couch in a coffee shop, or something, being really depressed, and then a girl comes in, the sun shines behind her just as the music picks up. It would have suited really well, I think.

But anyway, that’s my idea on it. What can I say, I’m a sucker for romance. Hah.
So what’s been going on these first couple of days of the year? Oh yes, I can hear you wonder about that. Bet you’re on the edge of your seat right now. *snort*

Okay. Yesterday morning I woke early due to a rather tense dream about a post-apocalyptic world. I remember too little of the dream to do a proper recount (darn it) but I do remember that Viggo Mortenson and Eric Bana were in it. Which is weird because Mortenson looked like he did in “The Road” a movie I haven’t seen yet, and Bana looked like the movie Hannah, which I didn’t find all that impressive. I’m always confused when I have dreams like that. But anyway, we were on the run for something and in the dream I was kinda impressed with myself for being able to run up a mountain at top speed without losing my breath. Hah.
I reached the top and then woke up shaking my head. I snoozed for another thirty minutes before it was time for a workout. Had a good one too.

There were the normal morning chores, you know the ever lasting laundry and such. Did some organizing in my cabin, because stuff is falling off my horizontal surfaces. Yes, I know, it’s a mess in my place, and though I changed the sheets the other day, I really should spend a few hours in there cleaning up. But seriously, who’s got time for shaite like that. There is so much to do, and since I basically drop in bed the moment I come inside in the evening, it really isn’t all that pressing. *sigh*

Had to unload the car, and spent about half an hour hanging the oak wood door on my new bathroom cupboard. Then put the sink in the wash basin, and prepared it all for installation in the near future. For the rest of the day I worked on the wooden coffee table I’m restoring for market sales. It is starting to look pretty darn good. I’ll post a picture once I’m done.

I did work on too long, considering I crashed a little once I called it a day. For me personally, (in particular emotionally) the first couple of days of the year felt rather peculiar, if you must know. I don’t know why, either, it just felt off, if that makes any sense. I often have that with New Years, so I can’t really say that I was surprised, but it is always a tad disconcerting.

It didn’t help either that I was bothered by a dizzy spell. Seriously, I had to ask Grandpa to take tenant up, because I was afraid that I might lose my balance along the way.

Did have a wonderful meal of veggies dipped in dough and fried along with my chickpea patties. All very tasteful, in particular when dipped in a sweet chilli sauce.
Ate way too much, of course, but that doesn’t matter. I do have to admit that eating enough to get all your nutritional values back up to normal is exhausting. Seriously, I should be eating two full warm meals a day just to keep up (let alone to build them) my blood levels. We were talking about that just today, in fact. It requires planning, creativity and time (not to mention that unpleasant stuffed feeling from time to time) to get it done.

Our edit yesterday evening got done…though we were a page short, mostly due to midnight having arrived and me being unable to keep my eyes open another second longer. Since the dizziness persisted through the evening, I was glad to hit the sack at around one thirty in the morning.

Which brings us to today, doesn’t it?
Well, no workout due to a rather fierce wind this morning, and me staring at the swaying trees (my head still on the pillow) too long, trying decide about whether I was getting up for a workout or not. By the time I finally woke up for real it was too late, really, so no workout. Pity too. No matter that I sometimes don’t feel like it in the morning, I do know that the rest of the day is usually better when I do one.

After the usual chores in the house, I headed down into the yard to open the greenhouse and the raised seedbed. Finally the lettuce are coming up, along with the new beans I sowed. Yay.

That done, I headed down to water the new cabbages/cauliflowers using the basin, of course. They’re all looking pretty good, I was pleased to note, in particular since young plants often can’t stand the wind all that well.

Afterwards I helped big brother with rearranging the solar panel batteries. The old spot was developing too much rust and we feared that the darn things would drop through the bottom, so we put them elsewhere.

Helped grandpa bending this big heavy grate work that soon will be an arch over by the old bus. The intention is to let a jasmine vine grow in it, and personally I think it will look grand.

The dogs kinda liked this time in the lower yard. I actually have a picture with at least eighteen of 'm on it. Gawd, if only it were easier to post pictures. I'd put it on here on the spot.

While there, Dani (she came over today) climbed into one of the eucalypti trees where five tips broke out during the latest storm.
I’d already climbed in before her, but opted not to risk a fall since the tree isn’t all that big and the branches hung through way too much. Since I’m bigger and heavier, with Dani they seemed to hold well enough, so I stood underneath trying to assist where I could and then grabbing hold of the branch she was sawing through, and yanking it down the last few feet. Didn’t manage all of the broken branches, what with three of them being to high, but two at least came down.

That done big brother and I headed up to work on installing my new bathroom cupboard. There was some improvising involved, but we did manage in the end, and it looks rather marvelous. I’ve got pictures, no worries, but basically it’s of oak wood, a dove gray/lapis blue/soft pink top and a white porcelain wash basin. It fits, but it did get to be a bit bigger than I’d intended, darn it. No matter, though. It’ll allow me to store some stuff at least. I’m getting to be sick and tired of having to stuff everything on an open shelf.

Used silicone to kit the basin in, connected all the tubing and were done at around twilight. I like it. It’s even a little fancy. Hah.

And that brings us to the end of the day. Mom and the sibs had a reasonably good day at the market, but they’ll be happy when they go back to the regular Sundays now that the big holidays are over.

I still have an edit to catch up on, and then I’m hoping for an early night…which is doubtful, since it is quite possible that I still need to go out.