Song of the day: “Don’t worry, be happy” by…gawd, I always forget his name. What was it again…well, you know the one I mean, right? If you don’t…well, you’re obviously too young to remember. Look it up, it’s great!
So yeah, I’ve been feeling a little under the weather for the past couple of days, if you must know. Everything just appears to be…whatever. I haven’t done all that much, all things considered, seeing as the weather was, most of the time abysmal.
Yep, we’ve had flooding all over the place, in particular last night while we were all asleep and some massive rainstorm swept over the mountain. When I came to the house the corridor had two inches of water in it, the living room a couple of inches too. Then, when I got to the carport grandpa complained that water went every which way, and he told in detail how much friggin’ water came down during the night, we had a river streaming down the main path at one point. Added to that the garden pit beside our greenhouse was filled with water right up to the door of the greenhouse, and water had also streamed inside the basement apartment down by the basin.
But let’s try to do this in a bit of the original sequence, okay?
First off, I wasn’t late getting up for a chance, yesterday morning, so after chores and such (the laundry lines are filled to full capacity. Couldn’t do any laundry today) I settled behind my computer and wrote some odd 4 pages of the new book. Got that up to 60 pages now, thank you very much, and at the moment my heroine is trying to understand why she if covering for a complete stranger. All very confusing, seeing as this isn’t a romance novel and he doesn’t make her “hot”. Hah.
Oh, and before that, we were up at the Opel, putting the new side mirror in place so mom and little sister could head on out to the vet to have both Djoti III and Manni II neutered. Luckily this was in a momentary dry spell, seeing as we were up there at the top of our mountain ridge with the full wind pulling at us from all sides.
The writing done for the day, and the dogs fed (Knight ate a full bowl, my big lug.) cousin Ed and I hauled the recently painted beams back up to the storage area right before the rain started coming down again. Since we had the plastic open to store it away safely from the storm, grandpa immediately took out dry firewood.
The bad weather, me feeling a tad unsettled, I wasn’t going to be worth much, so instead of allowing myself to slide into a bad mood, I went to bed and napped for a bit. It was wonderfully warm, what with most of my dogs clustered around me, and I was sorry to get up again. Do you know that feeling on a cold wet day, when you suddenly fully understand why some animals hibernate? Hah.
There was tree planting in the past couple of days. A total of six, if my calculations are correct. Eucalypti, mostly, which are now standing proudly amongst the small woods we’re creating at the top of the property.
Seeing as Sally and tenant did the cutting of yesterday’s vegetables, I cooked supper late in the day, after big brother and I returned from picking up a donation. Supper was a noisy affair, in particular since the storm had picked back up when we were gone, and thunder tumbled right on top of us. Was seriously startling, I’ll tell you. The power stayed on, though, which was a good thing since we spent the majority of the past couple of days without it. Turns out that there was some major damage to the main line, meaning that the power people were up in the mast most of those days. Luckily they fixed it before nightfall.
Which brings us today, doesn’t it?
Woke in the dot, of course, and went through the usual rituals, despite still not feeling all that well. I wonder if it’s the weather. It does seriously cramp my style, so to speak. But anyway, grandpa and I went to the village this morning. I dropped him off at the supermarket and continued on to the vet where Knight II had to be for his bandage change.
There was a screaming puppy in the back, and I just couldn’t resist. I took Knight with me to the back and spent a solid ten minutes petting and cuddling the little screamer. Knight didn’t like it at all, and promptly turned his back on us. Hah. The little one reminded me of Moekti, a halfbreed husky we once had. Sweet though, and not at all happy. Turns out he was found inside a garbage can, but luckily the person who found it, was keeping it.
While I was there, mom and little sister also arrived because Panni, little sister’s Cocker Spaniel, was feeling poorly. His stomach hurt, and he had a fever, so they had been sorry to have missed me by ten minutes, since that would have saved on a trip. Ah well, stuff like that happens. The vet couldn’t find anything wrong, but she’s doing a blood test to see. Regretfully she thinks it has something to do with the pancreas.
Once back big brother and I went into the yard to look in on the visiting dogs. Played with them a little, petting them and just keeping them company for a bit. Next it was down to check how everything was going with the new veggie seedlings (alive and kicking despite the gutters being so saturated that they’re filled with water) and hunting the remainder of this year’s pumpkins.
We also put the hose into the garden pit, to drain the over abundance of water and let it run down the mountain where it won’t drown our potted plants. Jeez.
That done we went up to paint the last of Liane’s beams (the big one of more than fifteen feet) and to work on the wind fence behind Sally’s cabin. We’ve been working toward it for weeks, but until today, when the rain finally stopped and the sky broke open, we didn’t get to it. It’s there now, in place and sturdy, and looking rather nice, if I do say so myself. A relief that it’s done now, in particular since we worried every time the wind picked up, that it would damage the cabin. No more. The barrier of wood is there, breaking the worst of the wind when it needs to. Didn’t finish until twilight, and by then it was time to start on supper.
Rather than something new, I used yesterday’s leftovers to make veggie burgers, which went down rather well with mustard on bread. Which brings us to the end of the day, where I am desperately trying to finish this blog, so I can still do some writing on the book.
Showing posts with label trees. Show all posts
Showing posts with label trees. Show all posts
Friday, November 9, 2012
Sunday, May 20, 2012
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.
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.
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Miscalculated
Song of the day: “Bruises” by Chairlift. Such a cute little song. Regretfully I’ve got a throat thing going at the moment, so my voice is too husky to hit all the high notes. *sigh*
So yeah busy, and late. So what else is new, right? Nothing new about that, I know. But I swear, I will take the time, one of these days, to do a proper blog again, but right now, it just isn’t possible. I’m going to have to hurry again. Like the day before yesterday, tomorrow is a work day for me, and, well I better get to telling about the last work day.
We were right on time getting up and checking up on everything we had already loaded in the car the night before. Everything was in place (we forgot three items, or so we discovered once we arrived on site *snort*) and after feeding the dogs, and ourselves (had to take our time because neither caregiver or grandpa were at home) we headed out on the road and went to work.
Took Knight II along, of course, and he behaved admirably all day. Didn't bark, kept an eye on me without getting in the way, and at some point found the shade to save himself from getting overheated. Silly big lug.
Didn’t dawdle much. Just opened the house up, turned on the water and electricity, and while big brother started checking the fence, I took my tools and slogged up the mountain. Boy, is that a steep incline. Our drive sweep has nothing on it, I swear. I kept my eyes on the ground (meaning about hip height) from fear of toppling backwards and had to change course several times to prevent a collision with a thorny bush or a tree. Hah.
I pondered going with an illusion (like starting below to make myself belief that progress was faster) but then decided to go with realism and started at the top to then work my way down one row at a time. Even timed myself in the beginning, so I could make a rough calculation as to the timing (I already started to suspect that I’d bitten more off than I could chew, by then, btw) and discovered that a small tree takes about five minutes, a mid-sized tree then to fifteen, and a big one fifteen to twenty. Managed to trim an average of five per hour, and got two and a half of those done before two in the afternoon. Didn’t go bad, all in all. Had a break after two, then slogged back up (I certainly got my exercise yesterday, yeah) SIX times during the day. Hah.
The olive trees, on the overall were looking good, despite the few measly ones on the edges that had suffered some heat damage. The almond trees, on the other hand were looking pretty miserable. Poor things. Lotsa dead branches (tough as heck, by the way, definitely pulled my shoulder again trying to go through a branch that was just a little too tough) and a poor crown of leafs. Didn’t dare to do more than trim them of some dead ends. I don’t think it would be smart cutting them up with the heat of summer just around the corner. They might start “bleeding”.
The neighbors arrived while we were busy…well, I was up there (my ankles were not appreciative of the steep rocky incline, hah), and big brother was digging, while also trimming several times.
I did start getting tired around four, meaning I wasn’t paying enough attention when I cut through a dead branch where a small nest of birds had made its home. Caught the darn thing just barely in time, when, a second to late, I noticed that there were young chicks in there. They kept incredibly still in their nest, and I could hear their mum chirp in protest just a few yards away, as I called down to big brother for some help. Luckily I was wearing gloves, and the nest held on the branch, so in the end we managed to hang it back in place, hurried up with the tree and then left the youngsters to their mum.
But anyway, what with big brother needing to finish some stuff on the fence, he managed only ten or twelve trees, while I did seventy to eighty during the course of the, we didn’t manage to succeed with the task. Another trip is warranted (about 30 more trees to go) for more trimming and the clean up, which should be a doozy what with the ground over there littered with branches and leaves.
I’ve gotta admit that I’m curious as to how those trimmed trees are going to look a little time from now. The first ones that I did the other day are looking particularly healthy and green. Some, as planned have the wonderful crooked shapes of Bonsai trees, so, yay! I love those. But what with the dead stuff I had to take out some of them yesterday, some are looking downright mutilated. *sigh*
We admitted defeat around seven and headed home. Didn’t manage much that evening, first of all because we had to unload, eat, catch up on messages, and then…well, let’s just say that I was more than happy to call it a day. The stupid shoulder was killing me.
Which brings us to today. It would have been nice to go back to work today, but tenant needed to have the Opel to go to the dentist (she got her new teeth, yay), grandpa’s moped gave the spirit again so big brother had to drive him to the garage for repairs, and mom and little sister needed to go out as well, meaning that we were without a car until the afternoon arrived. Grrr. Then the plan was to go tomorrow, which would be difficult, considering the fact that the cars need to be loaded up for the markets…Sunday was out anyway, and then about an hour after having decided to go on Monday, we remembered that the Opel has to go in for repairs prior to MOT. Aaaargh. In the end we decided to get up early tomorrow, and head out anyway. The weather should be relatively cool, so if we’re lucky we manage to get back in time for the sibs to load up. If not, they’re going to be seriously POed.
*sigh*
While big brother and grandpa were out to get the moped fixed, I was home alone, and spent my time working on restoring that small decorative classic car I’ve been working on for a bit now. Needed to mix four different kinds of paints to get the right color, but in the end it all worked out well. It’s looking rather splendid at the moment. I’ll take pictures.
That took several hours, and since the old bread for the bakery was not there, dog food was postponed until we managed to soak the kibble into edible bites. Poor dogs were starving by the time we got around to feeding them after noon.
Spent the majority of the afternoon in the yard. Harvested, watered, and generally seriously enjoyed myself down there. Seriously, I wouldn’t have minded staying in the yard all day. So relaxing. But of course I couldn’t. Had to cook supper. Tortellini with fresh tomato sauce, which we devoured in about ten minutes before we had to leave to pick up a donation in the city. Took way too long, meaning we didn’t get home until after nine, and had no time to do edits because let’s face it, today was blog time.
*sigh*
So yeah busy, and late. So what else is new, right? Nothing new about that, I know. But I swear, I will take the time, one of these days, to do a proper blog again, but right now, it just isn’t possible. I’m going to have to hurry again. Like the day before yesterday, tomorrow is a work day for me, and, well I better get to telling about the last work day.
We were right on time getting up and checking up on everything we had already loaded in the car the night before. Everything was in place (we forgot three items, or so we discovered once we arrived on site *snort*) and after feeding the dogs, and ourselves (had to take our time because neither caregiver or grandpa were at home) we headed out on the road and went to work.
Took Knight II along, of course, and he behaved admirably all day. Didn't bark, kept an eye on me without getting in the way, and at some point found the shade to save himself from getting overheated. Silly big lug.
Didn’t dawdle much. Just opened the house up, turned on the water and electricity, and while big brother started checking the fence, I took my tools and slogged up the mountain. Boy, is that a steep incline. Our drive sweep has nothing on it, I swear. I kept my eyes on the ground (meaning about hip height) from fear of toppling backwards and had to change course several times to prevent a collision with a thorny bush or a tree. Hah.
I pondered going with an illusion (like starting below to make myself belief that progress was faster) but then decided to go with realism and started at the top to then work my way down one row at a time. Even timed myself in the beginning, so I could make a rough calculation as to the timing (I already started to suspect that I’d bitten more off than I could chew, by then, btw) and discovered that a small tree takes about five minutes, a mid-sized tree then to fifteen, and a big one fifteen to twenty. Managed to trim an average of five per hour, and got two and a half of those done before two in the afternoon. Didn’t go bad, all in all. Had a break after two, then slogged back up (I certainly got my exercise yesterday, yeah) SIX times during the day. Hah.
The olive trees, on the overall were looking good, despite the few measly ones on the edges that had suffered some heat damage. The almond trees, on the other hand were looking pretty miserable. Poor things. Lotsa dead branches (tough as heck, by the way, definitely pulled my shoulder again trying to go through a branch that was just a little too tough) and a poor crown of leafs. Didn’t dare to do more than trim them of some dead ends. I don’t think it would be smart cutting them up with the heat of summer just around the corner. They might start “bleeding”.
The neighbors arrived while we were busy…well, I was up there (my ankles were not appreciative of the steep rocky incline, hah), and big brother was digging, while also trimming several times.
I did start getting tired around four, meaning I wasn’t paying enough attention when I cut through a dead branch where a small nest of birds had made its home. Caught the darn thing just barely in time, when, a second to late, I noticed that there were young chicks in there. They kept incredibly still in their nest, and I could hear their mum chirp in protest just a few yards away, as I called down to big brother for some help. Luckily I was wearing gloves, and the nest held on the branch, so in the end we managed to hang it back in place, hurried up with the tree and then left the youngsters to their mum.
But anyway, what with big brother needing to finish some stuff on the fence, he managed only ten or twelve trees, while I did seventy to eighty during the course of the, we didn’t manage to succeed with the task. Another trip is warranted (about 30 more trees to go) for more trimming and the clean up, which should be a doozy what with the ground over there littered with branches and leaves.
I’ve gotta admit that I’m curious as to how those trimmed trees are going to look a little time from now. The first ones that I did the other day are looking particularly healthy and green. Some, as planned have the wonderful crooked shapes of Bonsai trees, so, yay! I love those. But what with the dead stuff I had to take out some of them yesterday, some are looking downright mutilated. *sigh*
We admitted defeat around seven and headed home. Didn’t manage much that evening, first of all because we had to unload, eat, catch up on messages, and then…well, let’s just say that I was more than happy to call it a day. The stupid shoulder was killing me.
Which brings us to today. It would have been nice to go back to work today, but tenant needed to have the Opel to go to the dentist (she got her new teeth, yay), grandpa’s moped gave the spirit again so big brother had to drive him to the garage for repairs, and mom and little sister needed to go out as well, meaning that we were without a car until the afternoon arrived. Grrr. Then the plan was to go tomorrow, which would be difficult, considering the fact that the cars need to be loaded up for the markets…Sunday was out anyway, and then about an hour after having decided to go on Monday, we remembered that the Opel has to go in for repairs prior to MOT. Aaaargh. In the end we decided to get up early tomorrow, and head out anyway. The weather should be relatively cool, so if we’re lucky we manage to get back in time for the sibs to load up. If not, they’re going to be seriously POed.
*sigh*
While big brother and grandpa were out to get the moped fixed, I was home alone, and spent my time working on restoring that small decorative classic car I’ve been working on for a bit now. Needed to mix four different kinds of paints to get the right color, but in the end it all worked out well. It’s looking rather splendid at the moment. I’ll take pictures.
That took several hours, and since the old bread for the bakery was not there, dog food was postponed until we managed to soak the kibble into edible bites. Poor dogs were starving by the time we got around to feeding them after noon.
Spent the majority of the afternoon in the yard. Harvested, watered, and generally seriously enjoyed myself down there. Seriously, I wouldn’t have minded staying in the yard all day. So relaxing. But of course I couldn’t. Had to cook supper. Tortellini with fresh tomato sauce, which we devoured in about ten minutes before we had to leave to pick up a donation in the city. Took way too long, meaning we didn’t get home until after nine, and had no time to do edits because let’s face it, today was blog time.
*sigh*
Monday, November 28, 2011
More mutilating
Song of the day: “Shaking the tree” by Peter Gabriel and Youssou N’Dour (sp?). I’m too friggin’ lazy to check, so what the heck. It’s a nice song and somewhat appropriate. But let’s start with yesterday, shall we.
A busy couple of days, to be sure. And I for one was pretty darn happy that yesterday was Sunday and it was a non-workout day. Yay. Instead I slept in and it was friggin’ blissful…despite Knight II, Chaos and Labhana, who refused to get off during the night, who kept pushing me to the side o the bed, to the point of toppling off. Gawd, I was wrecked. Hah. Still I got a solid eight hours of sleep and that went over pretty well, for as far as I was concerned.
After the usual laundry session, I made breakfast of veggie stir-egg, sorta, which did a good job of filling our stomachs along with fresh bread. I do love experimenting with stuff like that, and it worked out fine.
Spent a little while up at the wood supply, sorting through plywood sections we can’t burn due to the plastic attached to it. Had to throw that in the waste corner, so we could haul it off to the garbage later in the day.
Next we did some organizing, and with that done it was time to head on down into the yard.
The Acacia trees needed to be trimmed. Heck, they’ve needed a trim for more than three years and we finally got to it. It was quite a task, and big brother spent most of the afternoon in the trees (with a chainsaw, mind you) while grandpa, me and Ox worked stripping greens of the massive branches, and hauling the whole mess away.
Nothing like working with an axe, eh. I do enjoy it, and the weather was downright splendid for such activities. A bright sunny day, with hardly any wind. Since we needed to get under the Acacias too, I was forced to trim the bougainvillea and Oleander as well. Lost a few branches after all, once the big ones started coming down.
The three trees looked absolutely molested afterwards, but it had to be done. When the sawing was done the heavy work came, hauling it all away and disposing of anything that wouldn’t be suitable for the stoves.
We didn’t finish until five thirty in the afternoon, and then I had to head on up to start on supper with tenant’s help. She had spent the majority of the afternoon with us, and insisted on helping out with the cutting at least.
Mom and the sibs got back from a successful day at the market. Apparently they had lots of people interested in their products, so…Yay!
Once we had supper and big brother and grandpa hung a door of the small storage section, and Ox and I loaded up the car prior to him heading home. Big brother and I took out a big load of garbage and went to pick up a new rocks or the future was, at which time I was pretty much running on fumes, but by far not as tired as I was the past week. Bet that full night’s rest was just what I needed. Hah.
Had a good edit for a change. Got several pages done for V.L. and I finished the evening working on ideas for the gangster story’s cover. So difficult a choice to make, isn’t it? The cover is very important after all. Ah well, I’ll figure something out in the end.
On to today. Seven hours of sleep, not bad, and in a pretty good mood while I started on the day’s workout session. Went well, and the fact that it wasn’t friggin’ cold for a change, helped I guess. Hah.
That done it was down for laundry, only to discover that the friggin’ machine has broken down…again. Aaaargh! So big brother would haul that up later, and I went up to have breakfast and make preparation for supper and a late-night soup of fresh pumpkin.
I made all the preparations and then handed them over to tenant who spent the majority of the day cutting veggies, while I boiled the pumpkin soup and rice.
Since caregiver was working at her other job today, I didn’t have much time to shoot the breeze with tenant, but I think she enjoyed herself well enough between reading and naps and such.
With her settled, big brother and I tackled the mimosa tree over the small pool. This one too, appears to be suffering from a disease…or else, old age, which is weird, because it’s less than ten years old…but anyway, there’s lots of light coming through now that we removed all the excess dead branches, and the Oleanders underneath should start growing again. It took a little longer to get through all the leftover branches we dragged down the mountain for stripping, but we managed most of it. Whatever we failed to get to today, grandpa will do tomorrow.
We’ll be having a busy day tomorrow, what with a trip to Marbella again, and then a full grocery-shopping day afterwards. Grrr. I’m trying not to think of that, darn it. I rather spent a whole day chopping wood again, but what the hey, it needs to be done.
What else, well, by the time we were done for the day, we cleaned up a little and went up to start on supper. What with most of it all cut already, it took me only a short time to get it all done, and that was good, because I was running on fumes.
There was wood to fetch, but then the stove was turned on, and I dressed in a warm sweater that should see me through the evening. Now all I need to do before turning in is finishing this blog (almost done) and another edit. Then I’m calling it a day. Hah.
A busy couple of days, to be sure. And I for one was pretty darn happy that yesterday was Sunday and it was a non-workout day. Yay. Instead I slept in and it was friggin’ blissful…despite Knight II, Chaos and Labhana, who refused to get off during the night, who kept pushing me to the side o the bed, to the point of toppling off. Gawd, I was wrecked. Hah. Still I got a solid eight hours of sleep and that went over pretty well, for as far as I was concerned.
After the usual laundry session, I made breakfast of veggie stir-egg, sorta, which did a good job of filling our stomachs along with fresh bread. I do love experimenting with stuff like that, and it worked out fine.
Spent a little while up at the wood supply, sorting through plywood sections we can’t burn due to the plastic attached to it. Had to throw that in the waste corner, so we could haul it off to the garbage later in the day.
Next we did some organizing, and with that done it was time to head on down into the yard.
The Acacia trees needed to be trimmed. Heck, they’ve needed a trim for more than three years and we finally got to it. It was quite a task, and big brother spent most of the afternoon in the trees (with a chainsaw, mind you) while grandpa, me and Ox worked stripping greens of the massive branches, and hauling the whole mess away.
Nothing like working with an axe, eh. I do enjoy it, and the weather was downright splendid for such activities. A bright sunny day, with hardly any wind. Since we needed to get under the Acacias too, I was forced to trim the bougainvillea and Oleander as well. Lost a few branches after all, once the big ones started coming down.
The three trees looked absolutely molested afterwards, but it had to be done. When the sawing was done the heavy work came, hauling it all away and disposing of anything that wouldn’t be suitable for the stoves.
We didn’t finish until five thirty in the afternoon, and then I had to head on up to start on supper with tenant’s help. She had spent the majority of the afternoon with us, and insisted on helping out with the cutting at least.
Mom and the sibs got back from a successful day at the market. Apparently they had lots of people interested in their products, so…Yay!
Once we had supper and big brother and grandpa hung a door of the small storage section, and Ox and I loaded up the car prior to him heading home. Big brother and I took out a big load of garbage and went to pick up a new rocks or the future was, at which time I was pretty much running on fumes, but by far not as tired as I was the past week. Bet that full night’s rest was just what I needed. Hah.
Had a good edit for a change. Got several pages done for V.L. and I finished the evening working on ideas for the gangster story’s cover. So difficult a choice to make, isn’t it? The cover is very important after all. Ah well, I’ll figure something out in the end.
On to today. Seven hours of sleep, not bad, and in a pretty good mood while I started on the day’s workout session. Went well, and the fact that it wasn’t friggin’ cold for a change, helped I guess. Hah.
That done it was down for laundry, only to discover that the friggin’ machine has broken down…again. Aaaargh! So big brother would haul that up later, and I went up to have breakfast and make preparation for supper and a late-night soup of fresh pumpkin.
I made all the preparations and then handed them over to tenant who spent the majority of the day cutting veggies, while I boiled the pumpkin soup and rice.
Since caregiver was working at her other job today, I didn’t have much time to shoot the breeze with tenant, but I think she enjoyed herself well enough between reading and naps and such.
With her settled, big brother and I tackled the mimosa tree over the small pool. This one too, appears to be suffering from a disease…or else, old age, which is weird, because it’s less than ten years old…but anyway, there’s lots of light coming through now that we removed all the excess dead branches, and the Oleanders underneath should start growing again. It took a little longer to get through all the leftover branches we dragged down the mountain for stripping, but we managed most of it. Whatever we failed to get to today, grandpa will do tomorrow.
We’ll be having a busy day tomorrow, what with a trip to Marbella again, and then a full grocery-shopping day afterwards. Grrr. I’m trying not to think of that, darn it. I rather spent a whole day chopping wood again, but what the hey, it needs to be done.
What else, well, by the time we were done for the day, we cleaned up a little and went up to start on supper. What with most of it all cut already, it took me only a short time to get it all done, and that was good, because I was running on fumes.
There was wood to fetch, but then the stove was turned on, and I dressed in a warm sweater that should see me through the evening. Now all I need to do before turning in is finishing this blog (almost done) and another edit. Then I’m calling it a day. Hah.
Friday, November 4, 2011
A review
So, I'm going to cheat today. Instead of doing a full blog, I'm going to put a review of my most recent read up, and leave it at that.
The weather was miserable, we had to put Kenneth (10 year old Cocker Spaniel with a lion complex) down this morning, and since we've been mostly been doing carport work, and putting in trees to replace the ones that died during the fire, there's not all that much to share anyway. I'll update y'all the next time 'round.
Here's the review for Mighty Hammer Down by David J. Guyten
In my own review system of 1 to 7 stars this one gets 6. Not bad for an indie published author.
* * * * * *
A six for David Guyten’s “Mighty Hammer Down”. It took me a while to get through Guyten’s book, but this had more to do with the length (almost 400 pages) than the story. In fact, I went through it at a sturdy clip, so to speak.
But let’s get started. Even though I have some criticism, as you’ll undoubtedly discover below, on the overall I truly enjoyed reading Mighty Hammer Down.
First of all, the first chapter is an attention grabber. Well-described action that would look well in a movie, I think. Though there is a slight lapse after that, my curiosity stuck with me to the end of his tale. A definite plus for any book.
Writing style:
There were a few minor hiccups during my multiple reading sessions into Guyten’s full-length novel, but on the overall his prose was steady, solid and consistent. Some typos, as is inevitable, but nothing disastrous.
Personally I would have liked the author to take some risks in his narrative, change the pacing a little every now and then just to keep me on my toes but he stuck to consistency instead.
In any case, whatever can be said of his style, Guyten has enthusiasm and a bright passion for his content and that came across on every page.
Setting:
The setting of Guyten’s world was a bit reminiscent of a childhood favorite called “The Trigan Empire” in regards to the Romanesque influences that definitely shined through. Architecture, clothes and appearances…the fact that this registered means that Guyten manages to portray the world he created, so a reader “gets it”. I do admit that the content of his…well, I suppose one would call it “his characters’ philosophy” outran his settings by far, making them secondary, and perhaps not even that.
Personally, I found the views of his characters, and the way he described them, fascinating. Very politically oriented, and let’s face it, politics never fail to interest or capture. Though there were times when the author appeared to become a little preachy, as in observations his hero made, it was not so that it annoyed. In fact, it actually managed to fully entertain me. It will however cause a love or hate response to readers, I’m thinking. Since I’m on the side of the first, I don’t consider the tendency to be much of a problem.
Plot:
Guyten’s plot is complex and you will be smart to keep track of it. Several evil parties eager to “rule the world” so to speak, and a handful of heroes trying desperately to stop them, while they’re trying to deal with careless Gods, vicious politics, sneaky assassins and evil men in general.
Characters:
Rommus: Guyten’s clear-cut hero appears to be a somewhat over-sensitive fellow at first. He is adrift in a world he doesn’t understand, and doesn’t understand him back. He’s gentle, intelligent, and big of heart and body, and yet still took a while to grow on me. In fact, I had a serious liking for his father from the very start. In the end Rommus lived up to his potential however, and managed to have me root for him.
Alana: She appears to be a little less clear-cut, and to my regret she was a bit two-dimensional because it was never really explained what her motivations were as she started out as foe and then ended up as friend. I would have liked to see more of what drove her, and how that affected her relationships towards the other characters. The thing that was clear throughout the book was that she became a close friend to Rommus and is destined to be more in the future of this series…at least, I sure hope so.
Tannis: Rommus’ father and a warrior of old. Set in his ways, loyal to the bone and…well, the way he viewed life fascinated me every time. I found myself looking forward to his dialogues, if only to see what he would say next.
The Villain:
There were several in fact. The evil emperor’s son who strove to destroy his father’s hard work. The sneaky “king” of the enemy seeking to destroy the land of our heroes with whatever means available. And a God wanting to rule all on his own. They were properly evil, they were appropriately present and well described, and vocal about their wants. There will be no doubt about any of their intentions.
Violence:
Guyten’s violence was graphic and yet so to the point that it left little impact on me. The brutality of certain actions were added in almost negligent manner that almost made me miss them altogether, and unlike the many fine scenes within this tale, they failed to impress me with vivid imagery. Which is a pity, but not a disaster since not everyone likes violence in the first place.
Conclusion:
Mighty Hammer Down is an interesting glimpse into David Guyten’s world, which is part one of the Legend of Reason series. It is not for everyone. If you’re not inclined to read long narratives about his heroes’ views towards life, religion, politics and more politics, this is not the book for you. If you want to get into heated discussions with your book club, family, or whatever, you shouldn’t miss this one. It is bound to set tongues wagging.
I, for one, am looking forward to the sequel.
Here's a link if you want to check it out:
http://www.amazon.com/Mighty-Hammer-Down-David-Guyton/dp/1440486077/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1320436532&sr=1-1
The weather was miserable, we had to put Kenneth (10 year old Cocker Spaniel with a lion complex) down this morning, and since we've been mostly been doing carport work, and putting in trees to replace the ones that died during the fire, there's not all that much to share anyway. I'll update y'all the next time 'round.
Here's the review for Mighty Hammer Down by David J. Guyten
In my own review system of 1 to 7 stars this one gets 6. Not bad for an indie published author.
* * * * * *
A six for David Guyten’s “Mighty Hammer Down”. It took me a while to get through Guyten’s book, but this had more to do with the length (almost 400 pages) than the story. In fact, I went through it at a sturdy clip, so to speak.
But let’s get started. Even though I have some criticism, as you’ll undoubtedly discover below, on the overall I truly enjoyed reading Mighty Hammer Down.
First of all, the first chapter is an attention grabber. Well-described action that would look well in a movie, I think. Though there is a slight lapse after that, my curiosity stuck with me to the end of his tale. A definite plus for any book.
Writing style:
There were a few minor hiccups during my multiple reading sessions into Guyten’s full-length novel, but on the overall his prose was steady, solid and consistent. Some typos, as is inevitable, but nothing disastrous.
Personally I would have liked the author to take some risks in his narrative, change the pacing a little every now and then just to keep me on my toes but he stuck to consistency instead.
In any case, whatever can be said of his style, Guyten has enthusiasm and a bright passion for his content and that came across on every page.
Setting:
The setting of Guyten’s world was a bit reminiscent of a childhood favorite called “The Trigan Empire” in regards to the Romanesque influences that definitely shined through. Architecture, clothes and appearances…the fact that this registered means that Guyten manages to portray the world he created, so a reader “gets it”. I do admit that the content of his…well, I suppose one would call it “his characters’ philosophy” outran his settings by far, making them secondary, and perhaps not even that.
Personally, I found the views of his characters, and the way he described them, fascinating. Very politically oriented, and let’s face it, politics never fail to interest or capture. Though there were times when the author appeared to become a little preachy, as in observations his hero made, it was not so that it annoyed. In fact, it actually managed to fully entertain me. It will however cause a love or hate response to readers, I’m thinking. Since I’m on the side of the first, I don’t consider the tendency to be much of a problem.
Plot:
Guyten’s plot is complex and you will be smart to keep track of it. Several evil parties eager to “rule the world” so to speak, and a handful of heroes trying desperately to stop them, while they’re trying to deal with careless Gods, vicious politics, sneaky assassins and evil men in general.
Characters:
Rommus: Guyten’s clear-cut hero appears to be a somewhat over-sensitive fellow at first. He is adrift in a world he doesn’t understand, and doesn’t understand him back. He’s gentle, intelligent, and big of heart and body, and yet still took a while to grow on me. In fact, I had a serious liking for his father from the very start. In the end Rommus lived up to his potential however, and managed to have me root for him.
Alana: She appears to be a little less clear-cut, and to my regret she was a bit two-dimensional because it was never really explained what her motivations were as she started out as foe and then ended up as friend. I would have liked to see more of what drove her, and how that affected her relationships towards the other characters. The thing that was clear throughout the book was that she became a close friend to Rommus and is destined to be more in the future of this series…at least, I sure hope so.
Tannis: Rommus’ father and a warrior of old. Set in his ways, loyal to the bone and…well, the way he viewed life fascinated me every time. I found myself looking forward to his dialogues, if only to see what he would say next.
The Villain:
There were several in fact. The evil emperor’s son who strove to destroy his father’s hard work. The sneaky “king” of the enemy seeking to destroy the land of our heroes with whatever means available. And a God wanting to rule all on his own. They were properly evil, they were appropriately present and well described, and vocal about their wants. There will be no doubt about any of their intentions.
Violence:
Guyten’s violence was graphic and yet so to the point that it left little impact on me. The brutality of certain actions were added in almost negligent manner that almost made me miss them altogether, and unlike the many fine scenes within this tale, they failed to impress me with vivid imagery. Which is a pity, but not a disaster since not everyone likes violence in the first place.
Conclusion:
Mighty Hammer Down is an interesting glimpse into David Guyten’s world, which is part one of the Legend of Reason series. It is not for everyone. If you’re not inclined to read long narratives about his heroes’ views towards life, religion, politics and more politics, this is not the book for you. If you want to get into heated discussions with your book club, family, or whatever, you shouldn’t miss this one. It is bound to set tongues wagging.
I, for one, am looking forward to the sequel.
Here's a link if you want to check it out:
http://www.amazon.com/Mighty-Hammer-Down-David-Guyton/dp/1440486077/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1320436532&sr=1-1
Thursday, October 6, 2011
The aftermath
Song of the day: “Haven’t met you yet” by Michael Bublé. Don’t know where that one came from today, but there you have it.
Yesterday started early after a bad night for me. I hadn’t gotten much sleep due to feverish dreams that constantly made me wake up and then the alarm went off and it was time to start damage control.
After a much needed toddy to start me off, I headed out into the black expanse of ashes to see how far it had gone, most of the mountain beside us, according to the local paper about 4000 square meters, all the way ‘round the corner of. Looking bad from the edge, it felt a bit like I was standing at the end of a wasteland. Hah.
But anyway, that seen (I always want to see such things for myself) I headed up to our stretch of burned land and counted fifteen eucalypti trees that are most likely dead There might be a few more, but since eucalypti are known for getting back with a vengeance even after the worst happens, we might get lucky after all. But whatever, I checked our nursery and found sixteen eucalypti still alive in pots, so as soon as the rainy season starts, we can head up there and replace those that suffered too much damage.
That done we attempted to continue laying tiles in grandpa’s little courtyard, which didn’t go all that well, considering we were terribly distracted by the six or so fire marshals that started to gather at the top of our property to do a proper investigation.
First there was the intense little guy. He was cumbrously shaped, had on black army trousers with a khaki shirt. A black backpack and black horn rimmed glasses under a black or dark green baseball cap. I thought him a little scary, actually. For some peculiar reason he reminded me of an aggressive Adrian Monk in the TV show “Monk”. Luckily he didn’t come over, but started to walk the perimeter, stopping every so often to examine the ground all-suspicious like.
Four other guys joined him, one with some sort of Geiger meter (at least that’s what it looked like) and another with a camera. They all went over the blackened area, and then ended up at where the first fire marshal from the day before figured it had started.
He stood there, examining the site, eying the ground, the scorched trees, and then started to quietly talk with his colleagues, gesturing the way the wind had blown, and how he saw the fire had gone from low to high really fast, etc. etc.
They were there for about to hours, on all fours, scouring the ground for clues with little bags and red flags which they set out to photograph…I think it was the path of the fire, or something. Then they talked some more, getting out of the way when mom an little brother left for the dentist, and then tenant and caregiver who went to a small library in town prior to going out for coffee.
Finally, without a word to us, the fire marshals departed, leaving big brother, grandpa and me home alone to finish up what we could of the tiling and cutting, before we went down into the yard.
There were tomato plants to check for larvae, broccoli, cauliflower, kale and red cabbage to plant, and other plants to water. It was all rather relaxing after the depressing excitement of the morning.
The sun was shining, the wind cool, and despite the persistent smell of smoke still in the air, I really enjoyed it…regardless of the fact that I was about ready to drop dead at around the three in the afternoon, and had no choice but to head up to my cabin for a nap of an hour or so.
Did sleep rather well, and when I woke I was more than ready to cook supper. Supper eaten, big brother and I worked on the lean-to greenhouse some more, getting it done enough that we only need to ad glass and the finishing slats.
Afterwards there was an editing session, which didn’t go well at all, because well, let’s face it, big brother and I were both wired from the long day, the stress of the day before, and the lack of sleep. We got into several fierce discussions about sentence structure, so we decided to call it a day.
As for today: It started off with repairing the trailer for mom and the sibs, which’s mudguards were almost falling off. Of course, to do so, I had to unload the darn thing, which was no easy task in my present state (am in that stage of feeling remarkably weak). But I succeeded, and big brother was almost done fixing the front bar of the trailer, so all in all it was a successful morning.
Next, grandpa and I spent about an hour sawing slats for the lean-to greenhouse, at which time I needed another nap. That didn’t work. First I woke up coughing, and then just when I was about to fall back to sleep, mom phoned to ask something about the pie she and little sister are making together (little sister’s birthday is tomorrow), at which point I gave up and headed down to see how far tenant was cutting the day’s veggies for supper.
As usual, my dogs love a nap, and today, they even went as far as not even getting up when I rolled out of bed and headed out. Lazy eejits. If they sleep sixteen hours a day, I wouldn't be surprised.
Cooked supper, devoured it with more appetite than the last coupe of days, but also less than usual, and then headed up for a quick shower and the blog. Gotta go out to town tonight yet, and I was rank after working in the full sun this morning…not to mention smudged with black soot and whatnot.
Now, with a little luck, we’ll manage a spot of editing before the end of the day, and then I can drop back into bed and pass out. That’ll be a relief for sure. Hah.
Yesterday started early after a bad night for me. I hadn’t gotten much sleep due to feverish dreams that constantly made me wake up and then the alarm went off and it was time to start damage control.
After a much needed toddy to start me off, I headed out into the black expanse of ashes to see how far it had gone, most of the mountain beside us, according to the local paper about 4000 square meters, all the way ‘round the corner of. Looking bad from the edge, it felt a bit like I was standing at the end of a wasteland. Hah.
But anyway, that seen (I always want to see such things for myself) I headed up to our stretch of burned land and counted fifteen eucalypti trees that are most likely dead There might be a few more, but since eucalypti are known for getting back with a vengeance even after the worst happens, we might get lucky after all. But whatever, I checked our nursery and found sixteen eucalypti still alive in pots, so as soon as the rainy season starts, we can head up there and replace those that suffered too much damage.
That done we attempted to continue laying tiles in grandpa’s little courtyard, which didn’t go all that well, considering we were terribly distracted by the six or so fire marshals that started to gather at the top of our property to do a proper investigation.
First there was the intense little guy. He was cumbrously shaped, had on black army trousers with a khaki shirt. A black backpack and black horn rimmed glasses under a black or dark green baseball cap. I thought him a little scary, actually. For some peculiar reason he reminded me of an aggressive Adrian Monk in the TV show “Monk”. Luckily he didn’t come over, but started to walk the perimeter, stopping every so often to examine the ground all-suspicious like.
Four other guys joined him, one with some sort of Geiger meter (at least that’s what it looked like) and another with a camera. They all went over the blackened area, and then ended up at where the first fire marshal from the day before figured it had started.
He stood there, examining the site, eying the ground, the scorched trees, and then started to quietly talk with his colleagues, gesturing the way the wind had blown, and how he saw the fire had gone from low to high really fast, etc. etc.
They were there for about to hours, on all fours, scouring the ground for clues with little bags and red flags which they set out to photograph…I think it was the path of the fire, or something. Then they talked some more, getting out of the way when mom an little brother left for the dentist, and then tenant and caregiver who went to a small library in town prior to going out for coffee.
Finally, without a word to us, the fire marshals departed, leaving big brother, grandpa and me home alone to finish up what we could of the tiling and cutting, before we went down into the yard.
There were tomato plants to check for larvae, broccoli, cauliflower, kale and red cabbage to plant, and other plants to water. It was all rather relaxing after the depressing excitement of the morning.
The sun was shining, the wind cool, and despite the persistent smell of smoke still in the air, I really enjoyed it…regardless of the fact that I was about ready to drop dead at around the three in the afternoon, and had no choice but to head up to my cabin for a nap of an hour or so.
Did sleep rather well, and when I woke I was more than ready to cook supper. Supper eaten, big brother and I worked on the lean-to greenhouse some more, getting it done enough that we only need to ad glass and the finishing slats.
Afterwards there was an editing session, which didn’t go well at all, because well, let’s face it, big brother and I were both wired from the long day, the stress of the day before, and the lack of sleep. We got into several fierce discussions about sentence structure, so we decided to call it a day.
As for today: It started off with repairing the trailer for mom and the sibs, which’s mudguards were almost falling off. Of course, to do so, I had to unload the darn thing, which was no easy task in my present state (am in that stage of feeling remarkably weak). But I succeeded, and big brother was almost done fixing the front bar of the trailer, so all in all it was a successful morning.
Next, grandpa and I spent about an hour sawing slats for the lean-to greenhouse, at which time I needed another nap. That didn’t work. First I woke up coughing, and then just when I was about to fall back to sleep, mom phoned to ask something about the pie she and little sister are making together (little sister’s birthday is tomorrow), at which point I gave up and headed down to see how far tenant was cutting the day’s veggies for supper.
As usual, my dogs love a nap, and today, they even went as far as not even getting up when I rolled out of bed and headed out. Lazy eejits. If they sleep sixteen hours a day, I wouldn't be surprised.
Cooked supper, devoured it with more appetite than the last coupe of days, but also less than usual, and then headed up for a quick shower and the blog. Gotta go out to town tonight yet, and I was rank after working in the full sun this morning…not to mention smudged with black soot and whatnot.
Now, with a little luck, we’ll manage a spot of editing before the end of the day, and then I can drop back into bed and pass out. That’ll be a relief for sure. Hah.
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