Brain blank

Song of the day: “Next to me” by Emeli Sandé. Only recently stumbled on the music of this artist, but she’s definitely catchy.

So I’m drawing a blank here, which is vastly annoying. I mean, here I am, ready to start blogging, and I have not a clue as to where yesterday morning started.

Oh right. I remember dreaming I was in town (I slept rather deeply, both today and yesterday. Literally startled awake at the alarm) just when this massive alarm went off. Some sort of attack had started and huge trucks rumbled into town, soldiers in hazmat suits ushering people (and me) into a large parking garage where they proceeded to cover every exit with heavy black rubber. We, me and the sibs, were more or less huddling together, and just a loud boom sounded, I woke from the alarm. Very strange. I guess I could have fully described this dream, but let’s face it, I’m late, and this blanking thing isn’t helping me get on with it.

First off yesterday morning was laundry of course, followed by a quick session in the pool, cleaning out debris and such, sweeping the floor taking out sand and algae. It is a slow process, this cleaning bit, but since otherwise we lose hours on it, it will have to do. If everything works out…did that cleaning bit again this morning…we should be able to start filling the pool again tomorrow morning. Yay!

Next, we fed the dogs, of course, followed by breakfast and then headed out to the village to pay our taxes. Something changed, apparently. It is now, no longer allowed to pay at town hall, but you have to do it through the bank, so after getting our “bill” it was up the village mountain to my bank where the payment had to be arranged for. Normally you can only pay this kind of thing on Tuesday, but luckily the director knows me well, and offered to do it for me on Tuesday, so I can pick up the paperwork on Wednesday. *sigh*

That done we had to head to town to check with the insurance company, if the new wagon is included with the Opel insurance. It is, thankfully. Apparently everything under 750 kg is fine. I was much relieved.

Next it was on to the sports store to buy tenant a pair of hiking sandals. What with her precarious balance, we decided on getting her a pair like mine, which have and edge that prevents slipping out on the front. They fit so, yay!

In the right side of tow anyway we also dropped by our garage to check if the new rubber pads for the brake and clutch of the Land Rover had arrived yet. They hadn’t, in fact the receptionist had no idea what I was talking about, so she made a note, and would give me a ring as soon as she got her hands on them. Turns out that due to the bad economy they’re going to have to move shop to across the street. The nice receptionist wasn’t happy about having to paint her new, very small office, but there was no choice. I find it a good thing that they’re downsizing. It is, after all the only sensible thing to do when finances are not sufficient.

Once we got home, I headed out into the yard and spent about three and a half hours hosing plants. What with the rising temperatures, liquid evaporates at an incredibly fast rate. Most of the plants start hanging around noon, so that tells you something. Since I was busy there anyway, I also harvested our supper. Today was another yard day, of course, more watering, more harvesting, including dog food. Got a variety of that, so the dogs should really be happy tomorrow morning. Hah.

Supper yesterday was a hasty affair of fresh tomatoes with veggies on Spaghetti, since big brother and I worked on the box for the classic car’s transport.

Also worked up in the old paddock to fix the trailer. The wiring had to be reattached, the axles painted, and the wheels put back in place.

Edits, naturally. Not a lot, though, since we were late settling behind the computer. Managed only a handful of pages but we’re getting there…soon, I’m hoping.

And today? Well, I still have to get to it, so I’m going to call this a blog and leave it the heck alone.

Yard stuff aplenty

Song of the day: “Bruises” by Chairlift…again. This wasn’t voluntary either, I tell ya. The problem with this song is that I really don’t know it well enough. Can you imagine hearing the chorus all day long. The same problem occurred yesterday, but then with Train’s “Not a Flyby”, aaaaargh.
What is it with my head picking songs it doesn’t really know? Very annoying.

But anyway, two busy days have passed since the last post, and only three hours of those were spent away from home, so, yay!

First off both yesterday and today were mostly spent in the yard. Yours truly watered plantsies twice, a lot today, in fact so that maybe tomorrow the adult plants won’t need anything.
Also, there was planting involved. Pepper seedlings, about thirty of them, and some tomato plants. They are all looking splendid, after two watering sessions. The peppers sure are liking the warm spring weather. They’re going strong in the full-sunshine spot, with not a sign of suffering from the transfer.

Also harvested Sugar peas, along with broccoli, red cabbage, red beets, fresh spinach, and a handful of fresh herbs. Used most of it today and yesterday for supper, despite there being really too little time for cooking. Had to go out yesterday afternoon for another donation, so eating was a matter of filling a plate and stuffing it down my gullet. *sigh* Since we had to go out anyway, yesterday, we also got a handful of groceries. Didn’t come home ‘till later. Did manage a solid edit of ten pages or so, so it was not a problem.

Had to harvest dog food too, three kinds of cabbages and herbs against parasites, because let’s face it, there’re some pesky critters around these days. I ain’t kidding. Whenever I touch one of the pack, I find another cluster of ticks.

Two dog feeding sessions. The training of the pack is going rather well. These days we can just feed them from a set of six big bowls without the lot of them going at each other’s throats. And since we’re getting annoyed with the trouble of grandpa and tenant’s dogs colliding with ours in the fence, we have decided to work on that particular problem as well. Actually managed to leave the bungalow dogs outside today without the lot of them constantly attacking each other through the fence. I’m so proud of them!

Set up a new (second hand) storage shed up in the dog paddock. Nothing too big, but essential since we are getting a shortage of places to put stuff. *sigh* It took some time figuring out how to put the thing together, and to straighten a piece of ground to put it. It will work well enough, I’m sure.

Worked on creating a crate of sorts for the classic car decoration. Since it will allow easy traveling, it has to be sturdy, and since it would be best that they don’t need to unload it from the box at the markets, I’m going to make one side of the box transparent. Should work out well enough, once it’s done.

Was feeling a tad poorly today. Stomach problems and such, had me chuck my lunch this afternoon while big brother and I were working in the old horse paddock, fixing the new trailer. One minute I was loosening a bolt, and the next I was doubling over in the bushes, getting rid of the pancakes grandpa had made. *sigh* I hate it when that happens. But no matter, we managed to fix most of what was wrong with the small trailer. We straightened the axels, removed rust and painted the wheels, removed and replaced broken and bent bolts, discovered cuts in the wiring and will deal with those tomorrow.

Tenant was out most of the day, giving us some serious work time, since we didn’t need to keep an eye on her. She went to the city with mom, middle sister and little brother, and really enjoyed the trip.
Also took some pics of her that I will have to send to her family one of these days. First I want to see which ones look best, and if I need to do anything about the lighting.

Today the hours were a little short for a good edit. Only did about three or four pages, but what the hey, we’re only fifty five pages from the end, so it’s not as if it is going bad. Hah.

Well, it’s late…well past midnight in fact, so I better get this posted and get some horizontal time in. I’m seriously running on fumes right now.

As promised: Pics!

It’s time, it’s time. The picture update time has arrived once more. Yay. The job is over and done with, so, yeah, here we get to see the end result. You’re psyched, I’m sure. Hah.

Here we go, first some befores then some afters:

See, all in their natural glory. Front.

Here too. Back.

And this is all nicely pruned. There's the Knight. Trying to sneak out of the shot. Hah.

All neat and groomed beside the road.

Front shot again. Notice the difference?

East side...with the fence cutting right through. All's still standing, and looking good.

Same spot, different angle.

Same back shot, but then trimmed, of course.

Another trimmed front shot. Hah.

This one isn't pruned. Neither did I do it, because it's an Almond tree. It was too beautiful not to shoot a picture, though.

The small gate. Had to take a shot from the sun gleaming on it. *snort*

The steepest part. Went up there at least fifteen times during the course of work. Boy, did I have a workout.

But okay, enough about the trees and fence. On to the daily stuff, right?
Here we have a couple of shots (before and after too) of the classic car thing I restored. Isn’t it gorgeous?

Before. Sides were broken, the paint chipped, the body mangled. This was the stage where I'd used glass fiber to put it back together. The shape was still off though.

The after. All done. Reshaped, painted and polished to a shine. I sure like the end result. *sigh*

So, here we are, let’s do the blog and get it over with, eh?

Song of the day: “Manic Monday” by the Bangles. How weird is it to have that song in your head on a Tuesday. Made me all confused, I tell ya. But okay, it wasn’t a problem, really, more than enough to keep me distracted, eh?

Yesterday was pretty darn busy, if you must know. I had to get up at seven in the morning due to the appointment with the garage at nine. I hate waking up and having to jump into the car immediately, so it is a matter of getting up in time for me to be able to enjoy a coffee, and to get some morning chores done.

Since yesterday was a working day as well, Cousin Ed and I headed out with the cars to drop off the Opel for the day (getting a pull bar, in case you’re wondering) while grandpa went out to the village (on the moped) to get some groceries and big brother stayed home to prepare lunch and make breakfast for the dogs.

Heard some complicated stuff concerning having a pull bar installed. There is official paper work to be done. A check up at the MOT, followed by informing your insurance of the darn thing. Then I’m not even talking of the price (I’m considering selling a kidney again, for the love of gawd!) which was so high that I’ve decided to postpone the repairs and do the MOT first to see what really, really needs to be done. *sigh*

By the time we got home, he had most ready, and I ate breakfast while we went over the plans and waited for grandpa to return.

We left home a little late and arrived on site to start work at 11 in the morning, luckily there wasn’t as much to do. Added to those two trees I still had to prune, I found two more I missed, so big brother started dragging debris while I got to work on those.

In the five hours that followed, I went through the whole garden one more time, checked the trees, cut off some lower branch growths, cleared some leftovers that we’d missed, all the while having Knight II following me around, or watching me from whichever vantage point he picked. Luckily he got used to the work location enough to relax a bit during the day, and even catch a few winks every now and then.

This time we did plan properly, and were done in time to load up and head on home to drop everything off and then immediately head to town to pick up the car. Made it barely in time before closing time, paid the bill, chatted with the nice mechanics, and laughed along when one couldn’t remember where he’d parked the Opel. It took him a couple of minutes of worrying, and rushing about, but then he located it in a side street, and waved me off while I was still laughing my head off. I sooooo know the feeling of forgetting something like that. Hah.

We got home around eight in the evening, to find mom and tenant on my terrace. Helped tenant on the home trainer for a few moments, and then set her on her way up to her bungalow. By then it was time for some very late supper (don’t ask me why, but I hadn’t been hungry all day, and never got around to having lunch) which I barely managed to choke down. Luckily Knight II (he was exhausted and slept most of the evening away) was starving and really appreciated the spaghetti and sauce through his food a lot. Hah.

While we did a six page edit during the evening, I had a momentary heart stab with the thought of, “OMG what if I had forgotten to load up Knight II in the car?” Seriously, I almost had a seizure at the idea. He would be wandering around there, lost and alone. Aaaah. I really shouldn’t be having thoughts like that. Bad for me.

Had a long night, almost made it a whole seven and a half hours and managed to roll out of bed without my foot messing me up. After the morning chores we headed straight out into the yard. There was watering to be done, a view to be admired, and seedlings to be planted.
Got in a solid field of peppers, and several tomato plants, and genuinely enjoyed the hours spent there.

Tenant went to the dentist again. The new teeth have to be adjusted and such, which makes everything a little difficult for her. It worked out well, though, and she’s back home relaxing in her room.

Besides gardening, big brother and I planned a traveling box for the classic decorative car (see pics) and I made a button nose of wood for a toy dog cousin Ed wants to use as an example on the market.

Well, I still have stuff to do. And then, well…more days to follow, of course. *sigh*

Not done yet, darn it

Song of the day: “Somebody I used to know” by Gotye and Kimba. It’s been long enough now since the three day continuation of this particular song, not to mind anymore. Hah.

Still busy as heck, still way too much to do. Like today, I’m squeezing this little blog thing in here at around five in the afternoon, because I still have to go out, and probably have to do just that in just half an hour or so. *sigh* So little time, so much to do, right?

But okay, let’s stop dawdling and get down to business. Yesterday. Despite the time limit, big brother and I decided to just try and make it with the tree trimming business up in the mountains. Thirty trees, plus a handful of small ones were waiting for us, and we hoped, what with departing an hour early, we’d manage the chore…we didn’t. Hah. Ah well, can’t help it, worked hard, worked fast. Cut, sawed, and dragged, and as the hours passed it became clear that we wouldn’t make the five thirty deadline. We sure gave it our best shot, at times doubling it up the mountain, but it was all for naught. We’re gonna have to do another half day at the very least. That were a LOT of trees. Yikes. *sigh* Blasted deadline! Grrr. No matter, though, it’s only time, and as long as I look at it as fitness, who gives a bloody heck, right?

Getting home at six thirty, we unloaded wood from the car…since we have to get rid of the wood anyway, we took most of the thick stuff along for boiling of dog food and such. Got a nice batch, so in that regard we don’t mind all that much going again, there’s a bit more wood, so we’ll get something out of the extra hours. Hah.

But okay, once at home, we quickly helped cousin Ed load up the Opel for the Sunday market. It took only half an hour at this time. That done, I mixed a mayo and yogurt sauce for the potato and veggie salad cousin Ed had already prepared, at which time I was running on fumes and headed to my cabin for a nice little nap of about forty five minutes. Didn’t actually drop away, but it allowed me to stay awake afterward ‘til normal sleeping time, so, yay!

Which brings us to today, doesn’t it?
Well, I slept solidly. So solidly in fact that I didn’t even realize that it rained buckets during the night, until grandpa told me about it. Hah. Was nice enough, considering it meant that we didn’t need to go into the yard for watering at least. Just a bit of planting and harvesting instead. Hah.

For the rest of the day I worked in the carport. That decorative car I’m restoring? Well, it’s certainly getting there. I sprayed it with a lacquer that made the red paint I used on the body shine beautifully. Seriously, I will be posting pics of the process and the end result. Next Sunday the sibs and mom will try to sell it at the market.
In the end the wheels took most time, though. I had to get the rust off, and then paint all the tines and ridges. Not easy. Mixed a special paint for it too, seeing as I didn’t like silver or black with the reds and browns of the car. Ended with an iron gray/slate color. It’ll work nicely, I think.

That done, I started on restoring a small metal amphora standard that was so rusted that the old color had peeled and the shape had become oddly contorted. Ended up sanding and metal brushing the whole thing before painting it with a deep red metal paint. Will have to do the latter again, but what the heck. It’ll look nice for sure.

As for the markets, they didn’t go bad apparently, but not as good as they could have either. Cousin Ed sure had fun stories to tell. Her sunshield went flying, her clothes-rack toppled over and, well, the wind was a peach. Patrons were running all over the place trying to help her catch everything. Hah.

Editing...well, not much time for that the past few days, darn it. Time, energy and all that jazz is spread a little thin at the moment.

Akata (husky) really isn't doing well. Age is really catching up on him, I fear. He's from '98/99 at least, and well, now he really doesn't wanna eat anymore, and is just lying there, sleeping the day and night away. *sigh* So sad that.

Well, that’s it for today. Gotta go and all that. Let’s hope that the next time I write the trimming job will be done, eh? Hah.