Hospital toils continued

Right. Let’s do this again. I'm writing this while While waiting at the hospital I had "Coconut" by Harry Nillson in my head, which was a nicely smooth song that kept me properly entertained while we waited. Sally had to be admitted to the hospital, which meant endless waiting once more while the annoyed doctor ordered us about. Something got her knickers in a twist for sure, and it wasn’t us. Very unpleasant.
Isn’t the state hospital fun. Oh, if only we were filthy rich and able to go to some private place where you’re more than just a number, right? Ah well, on to the past few days.

There were of course the normal chores. The beauty of laundry (*snort*), getting food ready for the dogs. They were their usual monstrous selves, naturally. Flying into the food as if they hadn’t eaten in a week rather than the previous morning…and whatever snack they managed to steal, meaning a lot, because I can’t tell you how often I turn around and find a sandwich gone, or a block of cheese, or a tub of butter. Nasty dogsies. They’re a sneaky lot for sure.

What else. Well, I got a little distracted chatting online yesterday. It happens sometimes. I start talking, having fun, and before you know it quite some time has passed without me doing a single constructive thing. *sigh* But okay, just a few hours lost that did lift my spirits a little. And afterward I also managed to get the basis of the five paragraph synopsis down. Gawd that’s hard. I mean seriously, condensing a big story down to that is almost criminal. Hah. But anyway, I persevered, managed to win that battle, and can now spend some time sorting through it, polish it, and in the end send it to an agent I found who is actively looking for new clients.

Considering cousin Ed and Sally spent the entirety of the day at the hospital, first for her scan and then for the docs to check up on her leg, so I cooked a nice cauliflower soup for their return, and left it to simmer.

What else? Well, there was the yard to see to, of course, but regretfully I didn’t find the time to go there because before we knew it, big brother and I had to head for town to return a non-functioning blender to the shop, do a few groceries, and pick up a small donation. Regretfully such things cost time, and we didn’t get back home until after nine in the evening.

Luckily we still had leftovers from yesterday, so cooking was just a matter of tossing stuff into a pan and letting it heat. We managed only a little reading after that and decided to go to bed early for a change so we could have an early start. I was in bed at one. Yay!

Did have to get up earlier this morning, though, because there was a lot to do before we could go to our lessons. The usual chores, naturally, and then doing a quick run of this weeks homework because I simply didn’t get to it until this last moment. Time went way to fast, of course. Barely had time to stuff some food in my mouth and before you know it we were on our way to our lessons.
It didn’t go bad. Not at all, in fact. Had actual conversation with good sentences, and apparently most of the phrases I did for my homework were correct. Yay. Progress at least. If I ask myself if I’m learning anything, I constantly worry that it isn’t working, but considering that I can actually make our teacher understand stuff, means that I am getting somewhere.

Our lessons over, we had to head for town to pay our car insurance. A thing we get to do again in a couple of weeks for the friggin’ Opel. *Sigh* Did get to chat with our insurance agent, who’s always friendly and takes care of everything rather beautifully. She’s not looking so well lately, though. A tad pale, so I think she’s not getting out enough.

Headed back home, arriving there just after three for me to eat that obligatory bit of meat. Yes, I choked one down again (Good Sammie) which I celebrated with a much needed nap. Now, if only I had crawled under a blanket, because I only dosed until I thought of it and thus only slept deeply for about fifteen minutes. *sigh*

No matter, though. While big brother made supper (spinach with cheese on macaroni) for us, I made some for tenant who still isn’t willing to eat normal meals but insists on mashes. She finds chewable stuff to be too tiresome, for some reason. Regretfully, she doesn’t realize that that won’t get any better until she trains herself a little.

Sally had a doctor’s visit this morning where she was told, once again, to move more, and to wash herself more frequently. Hygiene is a problem for her, in particular now, when she finds any movement too much effort. This was, of course, before we got ordered back to hospital.

I was just starting on my blog when the call came. In fact, while I write this, it is almost midnight, and it doesn’t look like things are going to go any faster any time soon, darn it.
Ah well, I’m gonna see if I can post this just as soon as I arrive home. Gawd, I do hope we’ll get to bed at a decent time after getting Sally settled for the night.

I made it home after all. Hah.

You never guess...

A picture update, yay.

First of all, song of the day: "Can't stop loving you" by Phil Collins.

Let's start right off with a view I'm presently enjoying a lot. Our neighbor's horse, grazing just down from our property.



Knight II, in the car, impatient to go for his run in "the wild"...also known as asphalt, since the weenie refuses to walk on dirt. *sigh*


The blooming eucalyptus over the seedbed. Ain't it pretty?


My Chaos. Cold so fast, the Gorgeous. He has no shame, seriously. He was posing for this one.


Sonia (L) and Chamea (R) two bitches who can't stand each other, but also refuse to leave each other's side. Exhausting!


The yard view from the top. New fencing and everything.


Little Kenneth. So pretty, our blind little girl.


From left to right: Abacara, Knight II, Dax and Sitabah. They were watching the neighbor's dog, Maya. Sometimes I fear they'd eat her if they ever got out of the yard. *sigh*


Okay, now I'm going to have to keep track. White one is Fortuyn. Crazy as a loon!


Thorgal (middle) Amri (behind)Fortuyn (white) and Arthur (head front).


Indigo. Fat as a cow, but sooooo sweet. We need to put her on a diet, but seriously, it is difficult.


Arthur. So scared, but sweet nonetheless.


Old Tridatu...he's got a brother (blind as a bat, and fat) called Chiuma. They used to be identical, but time has had it's effect.


Part of the pack, waiting for big brother to head on up. Front brown one is Rammi (half Rotweiler).


I couldn't stop laughing when I saw this. Sitabah (gray) lying on top of Chaos. Equal opportunity that they alway make use of, I assure you. She wants something soft to lie on, he likes the heat. *sigh* Have I ever told that my dogs are bonkers? They are!


Knight II, in his favorite chair. Nuts too, but who's counting?


The Greenhouse at night. Ain't it gorgeous?


Knight II lounging in the sun in front of the new fence part near the berry bushes.


Little Carla on top of my table in front of my cabin. He was just too cute.


The new pergola with Mosha (RIP, sweetie. Miss you still) in it.


Again part of the pack while I was walking down to the veggie garden.


The view of the veggie garden from the west on the main terrace.


Same terrace but then from the bottom of the property. Hah.


My new bed with Knight II on it. He loves it high. The others can't get up. Hah.


My new bed. I kind of like the end result. Very light and easy to clean. Not to mention that it goes splendidly with the new floor.


My laundry corner. I kinda love the tiling and the dark woodwork. Not to mention that it is all finally on an easy (for me) accessible height. Yay.


The laundry baskets which are working absolutely splendidly. No more dirty laundry lying about in full view, thank you very much.


And the last one: The yard a couple of weeks ago. See those cabbages? Well, they're bigger than heads now. Hah.


I decided not to post pics of the wall yet, because I want to do a before, during and after row. Hah.

Other than this, there was just the usual stuff that I'll undoubtedly blab about two days from now, so...Bye, bye.

Nasty!

“It’s a Beautiful day, the sun is shihininggg” (by Queen, yes, you guessed it) and sarcasm is going to be the tone of the day, ‘cause I’m in a crappy mood, and I Don’t Care! Grrrr.

There’s no reason for it, really, just the silly brain bringing as of yet non-existent problems to the fore. (Makes me wanna swear a blue streak, I tell ya.)

We had a wonderfully exciting day yesterday, (yes, this is where the sarcasm jumps in) started off with rain, then went on to sun…which should have made it all better, but didn’t. We were working outside, of course, when suddenly Prama decided to pounce on Indigo, which then led to, just when I was about to grab him, Knight II snapping at poor Clue and ripping a three inch hole in the side of his neck, darn it! Which meant an unexpected trip to the vet that cost us a solid sixty bucks and ten more stitches to remove in the near future.

Yep that definitely put a cap on my mood which was already going on a steady downhill slide. Then (yes, the fun isn’t over yet) when I came home from that rather time-consuming trip, we were told we could pick Clue up later that day, Knight II was bouncing around (as usual), rushed down the mountain, came across Fortuijn and gave him a “nice” gash in his side…which was luckily small enough not to need stitches. Ah yes, the joys of owning a 120-pound pup, they just never cease.

Be that as is it may, some work got done after all. I have the manuscript up to a 127 pages at the moment, which means that I’m “ejaculating” an average of four pages a day…not bad, all things considered. The story is shaping up nicely, the characters are likable and the plot is thickening, as they say.

Other than that, the new fence is set up about half the way now, the weather allowed us to proceed with it, after all. Now, of course, due to finances, we need to postpone the second half to next month…presuming that there will be no emergencies with the dogs that’ll drain more of the funds. First off, Hummel (small crossbreed) needs an operation on her glands, ‘cause she has a growth there…which means that she will have to have her uterus removed too. Bye bye spare savings, and poor little Hummel!
Next, we need to have two growing pups castrated. Having two males walking around with thirty fertile bitches, really isn’t a smart thing, to say it mildly.

Then there is the washing machine, which has totally given up the spirit and is now standing uselessly like a pile of metal in the courtyard. Aaargh. Stuff like this drives me bonkers.

Little sister and I added a few more drawers for Grandpa in the courtyard. I wasn’t in the mood for a big project so that was just something simple to keep busy.

I cooked the other day, which didn’t work out as well as I wished, but I was in the mood for it, so who gives a fig, I sure don’t. Hah.

And I better stop right here, ‘cause I’m starting to feel downright nasty. Who knows, I might actually start bashing politicians because they’re all bloody bonkers!

Another quicky post, I fear.

It’s gonna have to be, ‘cause I’m running way behind. I should have written the blog this afternoon, but since we worked straight through, there just wasn’t any time. (I’m making this excuse a lot these past few weeks, don’t. Darn it, I hate repetition.

But, be that as it may, let’s do this so I can get to work on the book, hah.

Well, yesterday there wasn’t much done project wise. Considering I had to drive our tenant to the doctor’s…her blood sugar and pressure were perfect, so now she only needs to go there once every two months or so, yay…then, I had to go to the bank to talk with the manager, who is going to solve at least one of my present problems. Phew.

Then I had to hurry our tenant home, make a quick pit stop (if ya get my meaning) only to depart again to bring Nanook to the vet’s for her operation. As it turns out she had a small tumor between her toes, but we caught it in time. The operation went well, and the doc could save her toe, yay, but still, the operation meant that we had to go out again three hours later to pick up the still sleepy husky, who was more than a little grumpy once she started to come to.

But anyway, in the meantime, and afterwards, we made a tour of the property, talking about options of where to start the biological veggie garden. Lots of ideas going on, for when springtime arrives, lots of preparations to start on too. There’s the future greenhouse to think of, the new septic tank that still has to be built, watering system, and all the others things that will be necessary to make the garden work out properly.

There is also the drain that we still have to make at the top of the carport, so, lots of plans… and so little time.

The day in the bitterly cold wind ended with a wonderfully cozy evening behind the computer where we went through twenty pages of the ongoing book-proofread project. Marvelous, isn’t it?

Which brings us to today: This morning the wind was still howling; I do admit to a moment’s worry during the night where I wondered if the roof of my cabin was going to hold, hah. But it did, and during breakfast, there was the most disconcerting awareness of the absence of sound: All of a sudden, the wind stopped abruptly, almost as if a switch was turned. Downright freaky.

The sun was wonderfully warm then, and our tenant sat on my porch enjoying a book, while we worked around her, on the drain, and the desk cabinet that I still need to fix for middle sister. Got the new fronts of her drawers sawed, and the new top that we’re putting in, and after a quick lunch, she joined in to get more progress. It’ll take another day or two, but then it’ll look great again.

Big brother got most of the drain done, little sister finished painting the new kitchen cabinet doors and we hung one of the two together. With the second one, I made a slight miscalculation, so I’ll have to fix it before we manage to put it in.

The dogs loved today’s weather too, of course. They were more in the way than ever because, like us, they too were trying to find all the sunny spots to catch some nice warm zzzzs.

Well, I gotta go…again. Better luck next time.

Just pictures.

Song of the day: “Mr. Rock & Roll” by Amy MacDonald.

Seeing as I’m way too tired. Spend four hours finishing the supportive wall, then digging ditches up by the main gate in case the weathercasts are correct and rainstorms drop in.

So instead of doing the usual blog today, I’m throwing in some pictures, just for the heck of it.

The support wall underneath the veranda day one. Right hand corner are the first two rocks, hah.



Day two. Coming along nicely. Sonia is taking a nap on top.



Day three. Big rocks all 'round.



Day three too. Wish I'd taken some tonight too, but I was too late.



The path leading towards the new support wall.



This is the outside wall of the courtyard.



Another one, just because.


The inside of the courtyard, taken from the east.



Other way round. That's our "big" olive tree in the center.


The view down from the terrace of the house. We're thinking about a veggie garden here.


My cabin and the new terrace below it. Love it!



The stairs big brother worked on today and yesterday. It's beside the wall that crashed.



The square between all the walls, with on the right the stairs you see above, and on the left last week's stairs. Yay.



The garden by the wall. Finally managed to capture the flowers.


This 'll do for today. Tomorrow is grocery shopping day. Aaaargh.