Song of the day: “Diamonds” by Rihanna. Not the best of songs to have in your head, considering it is rather repetitive, but what can you do, right?
Writing has been going a little slow these past couple of days. Can’t really explain why, seeing as there is no noticeable reason, it just is, which leaves me a little frustrated. Like you’re wading through mud, or something. *sigh*
But anyway, part of writing time was also used to check the pitch and blurb for the competition. Only two more days to go before everything is set and you can’t edit anymore. Scary thought that. Two more days, and then it will be locked and rolling, and there won’t be anything I can do about anything anymore. Yikes.
Yesterday I was a little on the late side. The alarm was going off, and for the life of me I couldn’t figure out what the annoying sound was for. Hah. But anyway, the day got started late, coffee got consumed, the visiting dogs were out for a run, laundry was hung, and the morning’s writing session went past.
Had Cousin Ed phone the doctor’s office for me. I’ve had it with the stupid hole in my head that just won’t heal. She got me an appointment later in the evening.
We debated working on the kitchen, only to realize that fixing the stove was by far more urgent. The hole had been getting bigger for months, and so we decided to just do it. First big brother went up to storage and came back with a piece of metal that was just too thick to bend properly. So I went up to storage, rummaged around for a bit, and there it was. Part of a rather large metal tube only a few inches narrower in diameter than the actual stove. Took it down, showed my find off to big brother for him to agree on. Took us about an hour to fix the stove, and afterward it was as good as new. Yay.
That done we had to head on out to town to pick up a donation (tiny, almost not worth the trouble) and drove straight through to the job site where we added another layer to the wall, and spent some time washing all the windows and digging inside the kitchen cupboards to give them a proper cleaning. By then it was almost time to go to the doctor’s. Quickly changed clothes (can’t go there in paint splattered clothes) and then headed over. Was let into the room immediately, only to discover that by now there was a new doctor working there…one who didn’t speak a single word of English. Aaaargh. Try explaining something like that. Went through two assistants, and then another doctor before it was finally decided for the doctor to refer me to a dermatologist. Couldn’t explain a single thing, but what the hey. Someone better look in that hole and fix it, darn it.
Food wise it’s been unimpressive…but then, I think it has more to do with my taste buds than food quality. It was all bland, sandy and…well, not nice, so let’s skip that, shall we?
Today. Again a bad writing session after the morning chores, and me being completely under temperature when I finished at last. Since I really needed to warm up, the first thing big brother and I did was head up and chop some wood. Big brother started out with the chainsaw, cutting the tree into manageable pieces that I could split. That sure got me heated up. In fact, afterward my hands were tingly warm. Hah.
Wood dealt with, grandpa made a batch of cement for us. Added another layer to the kitchen walls, bringing five spots up to the final height. Are running out of rocks, though, so we are going to have to do a rock pick up again soon. Maybe tomorrow. We’ll see.
While I worked on the outside with natural rocks, big brother worked on the inside with red bricks. We’ll get there yet. Slowly, but there. Hah.
That done we headed out to the job site again for the final layer and mopping the floor of what was left undone of the first floor. It went well, and everything got done at last…all except me taking a picture of the end result, darn it. But it's DONE.
We took Rammi along today, so that while I went vet to pay for part of our massive bill, she could get checked out. As we feared the lump on her ribs is most likely cancer, and considering her age, her skinniness and general appearance operating really wasn’t a viable option. She is fourteen or fifteen after all. *sigh*
The decision we went for now is just to let her be and wait until she starts to experience pain. That is when we will have to take that next nasty step.
Got some veggies at the vegetable distribution center, which is always a special experience. You wouldn’t believe how folks over there stare at a 6 foot woman and a 6 foot 4 inches man. Seriously, the average size there is 5’ 5”. Hah.
Well, that will have to suffice for today. I’m running on fumes, so I better cut it off right here.
Showing posts with label woodcutting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label woodcutting. Show all posts
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Not enough hours in a day
Song of the day: “Coconut” by Harry Wilson. Fun song to have in your head, only a little repetitive.
First off, we’ve been working on cutting down a tree. It was the strangest weather yesterday, however, and every time we wanted to start, either the wind started blowing, or the rain started to fall. In the end there was a lull, however, allowing big brother to climb up on my cabin, onto the ladder and start sawing. Cousin Ed and I were on the ropes, but after the first few inches, the darn top got stuck in one of the others, leaving us standing there with no way to go. There was some debate going on, at which point big brother tried chopping it looser, but that didn’t work either. So instead he attached another rope, and started yanking on the other side with Grandpa. Darn thing still didn’t move, and we had to hurry because the wind was picking up. So while Cousin Ed went up to help grandpa pull the other rope, I stood there debating with big brother and we decided that he would go up and attach the rope to the car and pull. While he was doing that, the wind picked up again, and of course that is when the tree top started to go. There I was, holding on to the rope, shouting “a hand here, I need a haaaaah” as it went, and me with it. Seriously, I’ve never been so happy wearing rubber gloves. For a moment there, I was up in the air, before I managed to crouch down and lock the rope. By then Cousin Ed joined me, and grandpa, and finally big brother. There were the ropes that hung over my terrace which had to be cut, the vines growing there that had to be untangled before we could start processing the tree.
Then today, since the wind picked up after that near disaster yesterday, big brother and I were at it again. This time it was the majority of the trunk, which went a lot easier now that the top was gone. We took it down in yards, and after about half an hour the whole thing was over and done with. Yay.
Lahbana apparently has absolutely no fear of being crushed, because while I was slowly lowering the heaviest trunk to my porch, she kept lying underneath it, staring up at the massive piece of wood that was coming right at her. *rolls eyes* Insane dog! Had to actually call her away from the porch, for crying out loud.
Got to haul trunks up the mountain. Had some beauties (two of ‘m to heavy for me to lift), which are going to be fun to chop. Excellent exercise for when I get too cold in the mornings, eh?
Mom had a little bit of trouble driving the van from the yard and bumped into one of the trees. This meant that the back door was a little bent, and neither little brother nor middle sister could open it up. So I went there to help out and…well, yanked it open. Hoping that it would be easier this time round, little brother closed it again, and tried to open it…no go, so again I pulled it open. We repeated the whole thing twice until finally the door was unbent enough for little brother to do it himself.
We went over to our job twice too. First another layer of caucho that had to be applied, and then tonight the first layer of paint. Didn’t take too long, but it was late, and already dark in the case of tonight. Gawd, what with all the other stuff going on, there just isn’t enough time in the day, is there?
There are always chores to do, and cooking to be done. Like last night there were boiled potatoes, a veggie mix with a herbal sauce, joined by a fresh salad that was partly chickweed. Rather tasty if you must know.
Writing is going well…at least yesterday I did about twelve pages, and today about eight, so not bad. Sometimes my concentration is wonderful, and the pages just flow out, while today I had several moment where I had to really work at it.
There were dogs to feed, of course. No tasty meat these past few days, which is a pity, but not disastrous since the dogs like pumpkins a lot. Those were plenty in the food. Hah.
Personally I have the nausea problem again at the moment. Stupid pressure point on the head, I’m guessing. Vomited twice already, which means that I really should start thinking about visiting the doctor again, darn it.
The temperatures have been incredibly icy these past couple of days. Up on the north western mountains there’s snow. Quite a bit of it in fact, and it gives a bite to the air during the days…and nights. Boy are the latter cold. In particular since I have that extra dog on the bed who is now also hogging the blankets. Seriously, they’re vying for warm spots, and seem to think it a good idea to work me out of the equation, or something. Like last night, I had to get up so I could move Knight II over and put a blanket around him, just to keep him out of my way a little. Grrr.
There were a couple of small pick ups during the past couple of days, and Gadah is losing more and more strength in her hips. Still bravely cheerful, which is so much Labrador that I sometimes doubt that she is actually cheerful, or just acts that way while she hurts like mad. I do see that she is steadily losing weight again, which means that it’s not going well.
Had wanted to fix the stove this afternoon, but didn’t get around to it, regretfully. Like I said, not enough hours in the day. Ah well, better luck tomorrow, right? As for now? The day is to an end for me. It’s been a long one, and with a little luck I’ll be in bed within an hour. Yay.
First off, we’ve been working on cutting down a tree. It was the strangest weather yesterday, however, and every time we wanted to start, either the wind started blowing, or the rain started to fall. In the end there was a lull, however, allowing big brother to climb up on my cabin, onto the ladder and start sawing. Cousin Ed and I were on the ropes, but after the first few inches, the darn top got stuck in one of the others, leaving us standing there with no way to go. There was some debate going on, at which point big brother tried chopping it looser, but that didn’t work either. So instead he attached another rope, and started yanking on the other side with Grandpa. Darn thing still didn’t move, and we had to hurry because the wind was picking up. So while Cousin Ed went up to help grandpa pull the other rope, I stood there debating with big brother and we decided that he would go up and attach the rope to the car and pull. While he was doing that, the wind picked up again, and of course that is when the tree top started to go. There I was, holding on to the rope, shouting “a hand here, I need a haaaaah” as it went, and me with it. Seriously, I’ve never been so happy wearing rubber gloves. For a moment there, I was up in the air, before I managed to crouch down and lock the rope. By then Cousin Ed joined me, and grandpa, and finally big brother. There were the ropes that hung over my terrace which had to be cut, the vines growing there that had to be untangled before we could start processing the tree.
Then today, since the wind picked up after that near disaster yesterday, big brother and I were at it again. This time it was the majority of the trunk, which went a lot easier now that the top was gone. We took it down in yards, and after about half an hour the whole thing was over and done with. Yay.
Lahbana apparently has absolutely no fear of being crushed, because while I was slowly lowering the heaviest trunk to my porch, she kept lying underneath it, staring up at the massive piece of wood that was coming right at her. *rolls eyes* Insane dog! Had to actually call her away from the porch, for crying out loud.
Got to haul trunks up the mountain. Had some beauties (two of ‘m to heavy for me to lift), which are going to be fun to chop. Excellent exercise for when I get too cold in the mornings, eh?
Mom had a little bit of trouble driving the van from the yard and bumped into one of the trees. This meant that the back door was a little bent, and neither little brother nor middle sister could open it up. So I went there to help out and…well, yanked it open. Hoping that it would be easier this time round, little brother closed it again, and tried to open it…no go, so again I pulled it open. We repeated the whole thing twice until finally the door was unbent enough for little brother to do it himself.
We went over to our job twice too. First another layer of caucho that had to be applied, and then tonight the first layer of paint. Didn’t take too long, but it was late, and already dark in the case of tonight. Gawd, what with all the other stuff going on, there just isn’t enough time in the day, is there?
There are always chores to do, and cooking to be done. Like last night there were boiled potatoes, a veggie mix with a herbal sauce, joined by a fresh salad that was partly chickweed. Rather tasty if you must know.
Writing is going well…at least yesterday I did about twelve pages, and today about eight, so not bad. Sometimes my concentration is wonderful, and the pages just flow out, while today I had several moment where I had to really work at it.
There were dogs to feed, of course. No tasty meat these past few days, which is a pity, but not disastrous since the dogs like pumpkins a lot. Those were plenty in the food. Hah.
Personally I have the nausea problem again at the moment. Stupid pressure point on the head, I’m guessing. Vomited twice already, which means that I really should start thinking about visiting the doctor again, darn it.
The temperatures have been incredibly icy these past couple of days. Up on the north western mountains there’s snow. Quite a bit of it in fact, and it gives a bite to the air during the days…and nights. Boy are the latter cold. In particular since I have that extra dog on the bed who is now also hogging the blankets. Seriously, they’re vying for warm spots, and seem to think it a good idea to work me out of the equation, or something. Like last night, I had to get up so I could move Knight II over and put a blanket around him, just to keep him out of my way a little. Grrr.
There were a couple of small pick ups during the past couple of days, and Gadah is losing more and more strength in her hips. Still bravely cheerful, which is so much Labrador that I sometimes doubt that she is actually cheerful, or just acts that way while she hurts like mad. I do see that she is steadily losing weight again, which means that it’s not going well.
Had wanted to fix the stove this afternoon, but didn’t get around to it, regretfully. Like I said, not enough hours in the day. Ah well, better luck tomorrow, right? As for now? The day is to an end for me. It’s been a long one, and with a little luck I’ll be in bed within an hour. Yay.
Saturday, January 19, 2013
Darn it!
Song of the day: “Let the sunshine” by Labrinth. Gorgeous song. Easy to hear in your head.
Well, another busy couple of days for as far as I’m concerned. Plenty to do, and not enough time to do it in. *sigh*
First off, writing has been going relatively well, regardless of the shortage of time. Am almost up to 10,000 words for the rewrite, meaning that it is going well, so far. Changed quite a bit, but nothing too massive to change the structure of the story. Semantics, mostly. The typing itself…well, I have to get used to the speed again. It’s been a while since I did this type of writing, and this little keyboard of the notebook makes for lots of wrong hits.
But anyway, besides the writing, (or rewriting, depending on your view) we did some work on the kitchen yesterday. Added another layer of rock to the walls, which brings us another step closer to completion…no matter that it seems to take forever to get it there, darn it.
Got to haul rocks down, which reminded me of the good old days, if you have to know. Did about four wheelbarrows, and that was at least enough for the one session of masonry. I like the appearance of the wall, actually. We’ve got a whole row of these massive slabs of rock, joined together by much smaller ones. Makes for an interesting sight.
There was also gardening, which was rather nice, all things considered. Not that the weather really allows for a lot of pleasure, heat wise. The temps have been going from nippy to downright warm without much warning. Very strange. Right now, for instance, it’s completely and utterly silent outside, like the silence before the storm. According to the weather channels, shaite is going to hit the fan soon with a big storm. Wonder if they’re right.
Today we cut down a eucalyptus tree, which was very necessary, seeing as it was getting to be too big right in the middle of the courtyard, and if it got to be any bigger we would have an even harder time getting it out. As it was, big brother did the sawing, while grandpa and I did the pulling. Of course, by the time the sawing was almost done, the wind picked up for a few minutes…which is something it has been doing for days now, every time we want to start on the trees. Weird how that works.
But anyway, with the wind pulling it the other way, big brother had to run to us, and hang on the rope as well, giving it an extra good yank to have it fall where we wanted it. Darn thing came down with a crash, damaging some of the fencing, but otherwise came down relatively easy. Took us about fifteen minutes to clear away the debris. Then big brother and I worked on the rest of the trunk, with me holding the rope attached to the six-foot trunk he cut down. Had myself fully braced, and was happy to discover that I could easily hold that weight. Managed to lower it to the ground without trouble.
The next piece of the tree was harder, though. Way bigger. Seven and a half feet at least, if not more, and Cousin Ed and I both hung on it, only to have it slam down to the ground anyway. No harm done in the end, but what the heck. It would have been nice if we’d managed it. Hah.
Worked on the job a bit, today. Managed to catch a few hours at the village house, with big brother finishing up with scraping and burning the wall, while I did some serious cleaning in the kitchen. Mopped two floors, cleaned the fridge, and scrubbed cupboards.
Progress, at the very least.
Had to go out for a donation yesterday, which had us end up with a fully loaded car. Good thing that, seeing as we’ve been getting small loads lately. Ah well, you never know if a big load is better than a small load, but whatever. Hah.
Did some leather work. Burnt several patterns for mom this very morning, despite the fact that I really should have started on the writing already. Got me a little harried, seeing as I got to run behind on everything (at least that’s what it felt like) after that.
The dog-sitting dogs arrived yesterday, too. Their owner had to travel out of the country for ten days or so, so that means walks with the three buggers in the morning again. Hah. They’re really used to it now, though, cheerful as heck about it, too. First thing they do in the morning, when I let them out, is jump against me, and then running off to do their business.
Had to do some shopping yesterday, involving underwear and socks for grandpa, pants for big brother and myself, including two sales, that I don’t think were sales (1 buck, due to the fact that they didn’t have a tag) that were really profitable. Hah.
We had the normal stuff, of course. Laundry, feeding the dogs, cutting the dog food, cleaning up after the dogs and all those fun bits.
Knight II has that swollen ear, and I fear that it is gradually getting worse now. If the swelling doesn’t get less soon, I’m going to have to take him to the vet. Drat!
Am a bit worried about Gada. Her bladder is going, I fear, and for the past few days she’s been vomiting. Regretfully this is a known side-effect of the anti-inflammatory she’s on, meaning that the darn things are starting to damage her internally. Was afraid of that, but ya keep trying to be positive, don’t ya.
Well…not thinking of that decision yet. Not now. But soon. I know that. Fear that. And there’s nothing I can do to change it. Damn it.
I’m out of here.
Well, another busy couple of days for as far as I’m concerned. Plenty to do, and not enough time to do it in. *sigh*
First off, writing has been going relatively well, regardless of the shortage of time. Am almost up to 10,000 words for the rewrite, meaning that it is going well, so far. Changed quite a bit, but nothing too massive to change the structure of the story. Semantics, mostly. The typing itself…well, I have to get used to the speed again. It’s been a while since I did this type of writing, and this little keyboard of the notebook makes for lots of wrong hits.
But anyway, besides the writing, (or rewriting, depending on your view) we did some work on the kitchen yesterday. Added another layer of rock to the walls, which brings us another step closer to completion…no matter that it seems to take forever to get it there, darn it.
Got to haul rocks down, which reminded me of the good old days, if you have to know. Did about four wheelbarrows, and that was at least enough for the one session of masonry. I like the appearance of the wall, actually. We’ve got a whole row of these massive slabs of rock, joined together by much smaller ones. Makes for an interesting sight.
There was also gardening, which was rather nice, all things considered. Not that the weather really allows for a lot of pleasure, heat wise. The temps have been going from nippy to downright warm without much warning. Very strange. Right now, for instance, it’s completely and utterly silent outside, like the silence before the storm. According to the weather channels, shaite is going to hit the fan soon with a big storm. Wonder if they’re right.
Today we cut down a eucalyptus tree, which was very necessary, seeing as it was getting to be too big right in the middle of the courtyard, and if it got to be any bigger we would have an even harder time getting it out. As it was, big brother did the sawing, while grandpa and I did the pulling. Of course, by the time the sawing was almost done, the wind picked up for a few minutes…which is something it has been doing for days now, every time we want to start on the trees. Weird how that works.
But anyway, with the wind pulling it the other way, big brother had to run to us, and hang on the rope as well, giving it an extra good yank to have it fall where we wanted it. Darn thing came down with a crash, damaging some of the fencing, but otherwise came down relatively easy. Took us about fifteen minutes to clear away the debris. Then big brother and I worked on the rest of the trunk, with me holding the rope attached to the six-foot trunk he cut down. Had myself fully braced, and was happy to discover that I could easily hold that weight. Managed to lower it to the ground without trouble.
The next piece of the tree was harder, though. Way bigger. Seven and a half feet at least, if not more, and Cousin Ed and I both hung on it, only to have it slam down to the ground anyway. No harm done in the end, but what the heck. It would have been nice if we’d managed it. Hah.
Worked on the job a bit, today. Managed to catch a few hours at the village house, with big brother finishing up with scraping and burning the wall, while I did some serious cleaning in the kitchen. Mopped two floors, cleaned the fridge, and scrubbed cupboards.
Progress, at the very least.
Had to go out for a donation yesterday, which had us end up with a fully loaded car. Good thing that, seeing as we’ve been getting small loads lately. Ah well, you never know if a big load is better than a small load, but whatever. Hah.
Did some leather work. Burnt several patterns for mom this very morning, despite the fact that I really should have started on the writing already. Got me a little harried, seeing as I got to run behind on everything (at least that’s what it felt like) after that.
The dog-sitting dogs arrived yesterday, too. Their owner had to travel out of the country for ten days or so, so that means walks with the three buggers in the morning again. Hah. They’re really used to it now, though, cheerful as heck about it, too. First thing they do in the morning, when I let them out, is jump against me, and then running off to do their business.
Had to do some shopping yesterday, involving underwear and socks for grandpa, pants for big brother and myself, including two sales, that I don’t think were sales (1 buck, due to the fact that they didn’t have a tag) that were really profitable. Hah.
We had the normal stuff, of course. Laundry, feeding the dogs, cutting the dog food, cleaning up after the dogs and all those fun bits.
Knight II has that swollen ear, and I fear that it is gradually getting worse now. If the swelling doesn’t get less soon, I’m going to have to take him to the vet. Drat!
Am a bit worried about Gada. Her bladder is going, I fear, and for the past few days she’s been vomiting. Regretfully this is a known side-effect of the anti-inflammatory she’s on, meaning that the darn things are starting to damage her internally. Was afraid of that, but ya keep trying to be positive, don’t ya.
Well…not thinking of that decision yet. Not now. But soon. I know that. Fear that. And there’s nothing I can do to change it. Damn it.
I’m out of here.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
No more Saturdays
I will apologize in advance for the fact that I couldn’t keep my eyes open, and actually nodded off on occasion during this blog. If there’re any massive mistakes, blame it on that, okay. Hah.
Song of the day: “Perform this way” by Weird Al Yankovich. I know that the Gaga song is supposed to be great, but let’s face it, who can compete with Weird Al? Hah.
So let’s do this fast because I’m pretty much beat. I think it has to do with winter time having started, meaning I’m completely off balance again. *sigh* Ah well, it will pass, I hope.
Saturday. Right.
Well, of course it started out at the vet’s. Knight’s foot got bound again, after they had cut him open a little again. Yep. Otherwise the healing would last way longer, so they used this scoop sort of thing and scraped away closed skin to make it into a bloody mess again. Then new stitches were applied and bandage wrapped before I was sent off to go home and not come home until Monday…thankfully. The day afterward was a nicely quiet one, involving normal chores, like dog food, fixing a copper pot, loading up the wagon and Opel for Sunday and going out for a food donation for the dogs.
Lost the L little brother needs for the back window of the car (it’s a law in Spain that new drivers carry it visibly in the back of the car for a full year) which caused an exchange of words.
Me: “I put it “over there” because it was breaking over there in the car that I was loading it up.”
Little brother: “You have to leave it in the car.”
Me: “It was breaking.”
Little brother: “Why didn’t you put it in the dashboard cupboard?”
Me: “It’s full!”
Little brother: “Why not somewhere else like the door.”
Me: “I didn’t think of it.”
Little brother: mutters darkly.
Me: “Jeez. It’s not like I lost it on purpose.”
He stomps off.
As usual he sounded like you do something like that on purpose, just to spite him. *sigh* Little brothers are a pain in the behind, I tell ya. It also strengthens my belief that it never has any use to point an accusatory finger afterward. It is completely futile since it’s not as if you can change anything. Sure, you can snark a little, whine, complain, but that’s not because it’s remotely useful. It’s just to make you feel better. *double sigh*
No matter. What’s done is done. It is something I try to live by.
Not much writing, but I hadn’t expected as much what with everything going on. Am, however nearing the 12,500 word count, so that’s good. Only problem at the moment is that by the end of the day I can barely keep my eyes open, let alone write constructively.
Got to bed on time, and since there was the winter time thing starting, I actually got a decent night’s sleep prior to the market. We’d loaded in such a way that Knight II fit in the backseat and drove through morning twilight to arrive the market. Knight was a poster child of good manners through the day. First when we arrived, Cousin Ed and I hauling the small wagon to our stand, and Knight II nervously following me. The leash I made the other day worked like a charm, by the way. In the beginning he was a little nervous, but in the end he settled down in a chair and sat there keeping track of people and me as we moved back and forth.
There were awed and startled expressions at the sight of him sitting there in the chair. A millions of questions about his pay and pictures were taken. There were the two ladies who wanted to pet, and who ended up putting their face half an inch from his so he could sniff them. Knight very shyly obliged. My hand on his collar, just in case.
Had the quilts beautifully installed on this big constellation thing (foldout aluminum) and we were in awe of the sight…until the wind suddenly picked up and killed my constellation.
There were those who just wanted to see, those who wanted to pet, those who we chatted to about what would be a suitable dog for a small house and two small kids, and at the end of the day the three kids who had been playing all over the place all morning already and suddenly froze in the middle of their game to stare at the huge dog.
They clambered closer, hands outstretched, the boy on the shy side, keeping his distance while one little girl sat down beside the Knight and the other wrapped her arms around his neck and snuggled closer.
Poor Knight II suffered through the ordeal vibrating with tension, his golden eyes tight on me as I smiled at him, and kept my hand on his collar once more. No disaster there either, he was a true gentleman throughout the day.
As for sales, we sold some baby clothes and such, along with one of the Tika Art snugglies. There was this woman who came to look at the clothes. She picked one pair of ribbed pants for her baby, and then pushed her baby into my hands as soon as I waved at the kid. Yikes. And here I had planned to offer taking her bag so I could deposit it on the table. No such luck, instead she said: “Here, take this,” and plopped the baby in my hands. Gawd, they’re so tiny. Can’t hold them too tight, but can’t hold them too loosely either, eh? But anyway, by then she ended up fascinated by the snuggles and asked to try one on. The poor tyke looked mighty uncomfortable, and when I suggested the woman did the ties a little looser, the women did the opposite by reaching back to tighten it even more. Seriously, I was having nightmare last night just thinking about how tight she’d pulled it. Ended up running after her, tying one of the long strips on her back that she hadn’t managed to knot yet. Said goodbye to both and watched them go at the end of the day and slowly started loading up. Again Knight II behaved wonderfully, charming our marked organizer and everyone else who came in his neighborhood. He refused to pee and sleep all day so he passed out during the drive home and when I let him out he literally peed for five minutes in one piece.
Oh, by the way, as of Sunday there is no more Saturday market, darn. I liked the Saturdays better than Sundays. Sundays might be busier, but there were more serious buyers on Saturday.
By the time we got home I was starving, but first we had to unload and then big brother had to head out for another donation. He had apparently forgotten that he had promised to cook.
No worries, there is a deep fryer, and there were French fries and fresh cauliflower to toss in.
I was so wonderfully exhausted last night, that I don’t even remember hitting the pillows.
Knight and Chaos on the other hand, managed to make it a restless night. It was cold, you see, and they decided to use me as their stove. *sigh*
Caregiver and Sally spent the day at the hospital for Sally’s chemo. She had been dreading it, since the last treatment (only 80 percent) had her feel miserable for two weeks, but she went through it okay, working hard to stay positive, which is admirable.
When I came from the bathroom this morning, I found that Knight had somehow managed to get under his denim sock and was wrecking his bandages. Taped him back up and took him to the car. Of course there was another vet visit this morning for me. The vet did say that she thought Knight’s paw was looking good, so no disaster from his attack on the sock this morning.
Once at home breakfast and dog feeding over and done with, I supplied tenant with veggies for her to cut for supper. That done, I walked her down to the main house where she spent the remainder of the afternoon.
Big brother and I worked in the yard instead, sawing down a dead mimosa tree trunk and hauling it all up to the wood storage. What was next was hauling plant debris down the moment, and the good stuff up to the storage where they could dry for the winter. Afterward I cooked supper. Didn’t like it, but blame that on the lack of mashed tomatoes.
Some writing at the end of the day , a pick up trip to town before that, and then…well now, I want to go to bed, because I can’t keep my eyes open, darn it.
Song of the day: “Perform this way” by Weird Al Yankovich. I know that the Gaga song is supposed to be great, but let’s face it, who can compete with Weird Al? Hah.
So let’s do this fast because I’m pretty much beat. I think it has to do with winter time having started, meaning I’m completely off balance again. *sigh* Ah well, it will pass, I hope.
Saturday. Right.
Well, of course it started out at the vet’s. Knight’s foot got bound again, after they had cut him open a little again. Yep. Otherwise the healing would last way longer, so they used this scoop sort of thing and scraped away closed skin to make it into a bloody mess again. Then new stitches were applied and bandage wrapped before I was sent off to go home and not come home until Monday…thankfully. The day afterward was a nicely quiet one, involving normal chores, like dog food, fixing a copper pot, loading up the wagon and Opel for Sunday and going out for a food donation for the dogs.
Lost the L little brother needs for the back window of the car (it’s a law in Spain that new drivers carry it visibly in the back of the car for a full year) which caused an exchange of words.
Me: “I put it “over there” because it was breaking over there in the car that I was loading it up.”
Little brother: “You have to leave it in the car.”
Me: “It was breaking.”
Little brother: “Why didn’t you put it in the dashboard cupboard?”
Me: “It’s full!”
Little brother: “Why not somewhere else like the door.”
Me: “I didn’t think of it.”
Little brother: mutters darkly.
Me: “Jeez. It’s not like I lost it on purpose.”
He stomps off.
As usual he sounded like you do something like that on purpose, just to spite him. *sigh* Little brothers are a pain in the behind, I tell ya. It also strengthens my belief that it never has any use to point an accusatory finger afterward. It is completely futile since it’s not as if you can change anything. Sure, you can snark a little, whine, complain, but that’s not because it’s remotely useful. It’s just to make you feel better. *double sigh*
No matter. What’s done is done. It is something I try to live by.
Not much writing, but I hadn’t expected as much what with everything going on. Am, however nearing the 12,500 word count, so that’s good. Only problem at the moment is that by the end of the day I can barely keep my eyes open, let alone write constructively.
Got to bed on time, and since there was the winter time thing starting, I actually got a decent night’s sleep prior to the market. We’d loaded in such a way that Knight II fit in the backseat and drove through morning twilight to arrive the market. Knight was a poster child of good manners through the day. First when we arrived, Cousin Ed and I hauling the small wagon to our stand, and Knight II nervously following me. The leash I made the other day worked like a charm, by the way. In the beginning he was a little nervous, but in the end he settled down in a chair and sat there keeping track of people and me as we moved back and forth.
There were awed and startled expressions at the sight of him sitting there in the chair. A millions of questions about his pay and pictures were taken. There were the two ladies who wanted to pet, and who ended up putting their face half an inch from his so he could sniff them. Knight very shyly obliged. My hand on his collar, just in case.
Had the quilts beautifully installed on this big constellation thing (foldout aluminum) and we were in awe of the sight…until the wind suddenly picked up and killed my constellation.
There were those who just wanted to see, those who wanted to pet, those who we chatted to about what would be a suitable dog for a small house and two small kids, and at the end of the day the three kids who had been playing all over the place all morning already and suddenly froze in the middle of their game to stare at the huge dog.
They clambered closer, hands outstretched, the boy on the shy side, keeping his distance while one little girl sat down beside the Knight and the other wrapped her arms around his neck and snuggled closer.
Poor Knight II suffered through the ordeal vibrating with tension, his golden eyes tight on me as I smiled at him, and kept my hand on his collar once more. No disaster there either, he was a true gentleman throughout the day.
As for sales, we sold some baby clothes and such, along with one of the Tika Art snugglies. There was this woman who came to look at the clothes. She picked one pair of ribbed pants for her baby, and then pushed her baby into my hands as soon as I waved at the kid. Yikes. And here I had planned to offer taking her bag so I could deposit it on the table. No such luck, instead she said: “Here, take this,” and plopped the baby in my hands. Gawd, they’re so tiny. Can’t hold them too tight, but can’t hold them too loosely either, eh? But anyway, by then she ended up fascinated by the snuggles and asked to try one on. The poor tyke looked mighty uncomfortable, and when I suggested the woman did the ties a little looser, the women did the opposite by reaching back to tighten it even more. Seriously, I was having nightmare last night just thinking about how tight she’d pulled it. Ended up running after her, tying one of the long strips on her back that she hadn’t managed to knot yet. Said goodbye to both and watched them go at the end of the day and slowly started loading up. Again Knight II behaved wonderfully, charming our marked organizer and everyone else who came in his neighborhood. He refused to pee and sleep all day so he passed out during the drive home and when I let him out he literally peed for five minutes in one piece.
Oh, by the way, as of Sunday there is no more Saturday market, darn. I liked the Saturdays better than Sundays. Sundays might be busier, but there were more serious buyers on Saturday.
By the time we got home I was starving, but first we had to unload and then big brother had to head out for another donation. He had apparently forgotten that he had promised to cook.
No worries, there is a deep fryer, and there were French fries and fresh cauliflower to toss in.
I was so wonderfully exhausted last night, that I don’t even remember hitting the pillows.
Knight and Chaos on the other hand, managed to make it a restless night. It was cold, you see, and they decided to use me as their stove. *sigh*
Caregiver and Sally spent the day at the hospital for Sally’s chemo. She had been dreading it, since the last treatment (only 80 percent) had her feel miserable for two weeks, but she went through it okay, working hard to stay positive, which is admirable.
When I came from the bathroom this morning, I found that Knight had somehow managed to get under his denim sock and was wrecking his bandages. Taped him back up and took him to the car. Of course there was another vet visit this morning for me. The vet did say that she thought Knight’s paw was looking good, so no disaster from his attack on the sock this morning.
Once at home breakfast and dog feeding over and done with, I supplied tenant with veggies for her to cut for supper. That done, I walked her down to the main house where she spent the remainder of the afternoon.
Big brother and I worked in the yard instead, sawing down a dead mimosa tree trunk and hauling it all up to the wood storage. What was next was hauling plant debris down the moment, and the good stuff up to the storage where they could dry for the winter. Afterward I cooked supper. Didn’t like it, but blame that on the lack of mashed tomatoes.
Some writing at the end of the day , a pick up trip to town before that, and then…well now, I want to go to bed, because I can’t keep my eyes open, darn it.
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Another tree, another edit
Song of the day: “I will survive” by Gloria Gaynor. It was rather suited for today, seeing as we were ridiculously busy.
Tenant’s getting visitors, and she’s ecstatic. Yep, the visit of tenant’s daughter is a go, so the way we figure we might as well shift some work stuff around and move tiling tenant’s kitchen floor up to the top of the list. Sure, she said that it wasn’t necessary, but sometimes there’s just no such thing like the present for stuff like that.
This means that cousin Ed and I were hauling, measuring and cutting tiles most of the day, laying at least the first section of the floor. It took some figuring, the colors the pattern, but in the end we did agree on one and stuck to it.
Of course this wasn’t the best day to start tiling. The sky was overcast, and we actually had some rain, which meant that the poor doggies got wet, and got in the way while we were working with the tiles. Then Grandpa stood on one of the tiles we’d just stuck to the floor, then my big toe hit the same spot half an hour later, forcing me to fix the dratted thing again. Then, because it was located on such an unhandy spot, cousin Ed also hit it, leaving us with a little tile that is just slightly off. Hah. No matter, though, no one is likely to notice.
Got half the floor done, meaning that we have one more session to do on Monday, or the day after, to finish the floor. It will be very cute. Yellow tiles with a nice flowery border to break the monotony a bit. Tenant likes it, and nor does Grandpa hate it…a good thing since it is their shared kitchen.
No time for supper, regretfully, so we ate fried potatoes, a salad, and some other fry stuff. Not bad, and it filled the gaps, of course, but still, I had been looking forward to beets, darn it
Tiling was preceded by blanching cauliflowers for freezing. We’re having way too many in the yard, so rather than eat ourselves sick on them, we decided to use this technique for preservation. Didn’t take all that long, really, less than a couple of hours since tenant assisted, of course, by cutting most of the cauliflowers into manageable flowers.
But okay, there was the dog feeding bit in the morning. They really do like the mixes, so if we can, we’re definitely sticking with those. Cabbage leftovers, pumpkin and in this case the plant side of beets. They dove into the mess as if we’d been starving them for the last week, while they had the same kind of meal yesterday morning (they ate that with just as much gusto, thank you very much). They went through their within no time whatsoever, and Knight II was once again making his way through the masses as if he just couldn’t eat anything unless he ate every single bit from a different bowl.
The dog feeding was preceded by a quick trip to the veggie garden where everything that needed watering got watered, and where I harvested four more cauliflowers to add to the four we already had in the kitchen. Also more broccoli to gather, along with a red cabbage and some Alfa Alfa and fennel to add to the dog food the first for omega 3 and the latter for their eyes. I wanna see if perhaps it will prevent cataract from getting the overhand.
The yard was preceded in turn by laundry and such chores, naturally. And before that I woke too late to do a workout, darn it. Well, luckily I did manage one yesterday morning, which went far better than I’d expected. Seriously, I went through the routines at top speed, meaning that I did the entire session in lest that fifty minutes. Gawd, that’ll wake you up without a doubt.
The usual morning stuff followed (talking yesterday here, and yes, I know I’m messing this recount up completely and utterly. *sigh*) in a bit of a rush because I received a letter and a quartet of pictures for tenant which needed to be printed. Worth the effort, considering she got all choked up again seeing pictures of daughter and grand daughter. When she heard that they wanted to come visit, her week, month, or even year was made. Hah.
Which reminds me, this afternoon big brother and I checked out a small apartment in the village to see if it would be suitable to rent for the coming visitors. It was tiny, cozy and with a wonderful balcony, so it worked out well, I think. We’ll see how it goes.
But back to yesterday, Tenant happy, breakfast eaten and everything sorted out, our order of two 3000 liter tanks arrived, along with one of the two gates that we still need to set at the jobsite in the mountains. The delivery arrived right on time, and we had to come up from all the way down in the yard, but the tanks got unloaded, carried over to where they will be safe from the wind, and tied up, and then the same with the gates.
That done, we headed down into the yard to cut down one of the 30-foot eucalypti trees. It’s been getting to be too big, obstructing sunlight in the greenhouse, so we decided to make the Y shaped mammoth into an I. Big brother wielded the chainsaw, while grandpa and I stood by with the axes. Three minutes after starting the tree gave a noisy snapping sound and tumbled down right where we’d planned it…well, almost. It hit a couple of branches of the poplar, and it ruined a branch of the eucalyptus below it. Other than that the beets survived the ordeal, or so we found while grandpa and I tackled the branches and worked our way down the terraces until the big trunk was completely stripped. It’s still down there, seeing as we haven’t managed yet to clean the entire mess up, but all in all it went rather well. Yay. I have pictures, of course, but I am way too lazy to post them now. Hah.
That particular adventure (we had to lock up the dogs until we were done, because we just didn’t know how things would go) was followed by the released dogs dashing down to the fence where they keep an eye on us as we took to watering the younger plants and harvested what needed to be harvested for ourselves and the dogs.
Highlight of my day was finishing the paper edit of V.L. Seriously, it took forever, but there you have it, second edit is over and done with, and with one more proof reading session ahead of us, I will be able to send it out to beta readers soon. Such an exciting stage, that, getting the outside input on the story. *sigh*
Since we need a short break before we start reading the story again, we are now working on adding a scene to A.I.L. because we have decided that 65K words is nicer than the 60K it now is. Hah.
Well, I’ve got to go. It is well past midnight and I need some serious shuteye before I fall asleep working on this very blog.
Tenant’s getting visitors, and she’s ecstatic. Yep, the visit of tenant’s daughter is a go, so the way we figure we might as well shift some work stuff around and move tiling tenant’s kitchen floor up to the top of the list. Sure, she said that it wasn’t necessary, but sometimes there’s just no such thing like the present for stuff like that.
This means that cousin Ed and I were hauling, measuring and cutting tiles most of the day, laying at least the first section of the floor. It took some figuring, the colors the pattern, but in the end we did agree on one and stuck to it.
Of course this wasn’t the best day to start tiling. The sky was overcast, and we actually had some rain, which meant that the poor doggies got wet, and got in the way while we were working with the tiles. Then Grandpa stood on one of the tiles we’d just stuck to the floor, then my big toe hit the same spot half an hour later, forcing me to fix the dratted thing again. Then, because it was located on such an unhandy spot, cousin Ed also hit it, leaving us with a little tile that is just slightly off. Hah. No matter, though, no one is likely to notice.
Got half the floor done, meaning that we have one more session to do on Monday, or the day after, to finish the floor. It will be very cute. Yellow tiles with a nice flowery border to break the monotony a bit. Tenant likes it, and nor does Grandpa hate it…a good thing since it is their shared kitchen.
No time for supper, regretfully, so we ate fried potatoes, a salad, and some other fry stuff. Not bad, and it filled the gaps, of course, but still, I had been looking forward to beets, darn it
Tiling was preceded by blanching cauliflowers for freezing. We’re having way too many in the yard, so rather than eat ourselves sick on them, we decided to use this technique for preservation. Didn’t take all that long, really, less than a couple of hours since tenant assisted, of course, by cutting most of the cauliflowers into manageable flowers.
But okay, there was the dog feeding bit in the morning. They really do like the mixes, so if we can, we’re definitely sticking with those. Cabbage leftovers, pumpkin and in this case the plant side of beets. They dove into the mess as if we’d been starving them for the last week, while they had the same kind of meal yesterday morning (they ate that with just as much gusto, thank you very much). They went through their within no time whatsoever, and Knight II was once again making his way through the masses as if he just couldn’t eat anything unless he ate every single bit from a different bowl.
The dog feeding was preceded by a quick trip to the veggie garden where everything that needed watering got watered, and where I harvested four more cauliflowers to add to the four we already had in the kitchen. Also more broccoli to gather, along with a red cabbage and some Alfa Alfa and fennel to add to the dog food the first for omega 3 and the latter for their eyes. I wanna see if perhaps it will prevent cataract from getting the overhand.
The yard was preceded in turn by laundry and such chores, naturally. And before that I woke too late to do a workout, darn it. Well, luckily I did manage one yesterday morning, which went far better than I’d expected. Seriously, I went through the routines at top speed, meaning that I did the entire session in lest that fifty minutes. Gawd, that’ll wake you up without a doubt.
The usual morning stuff followed (talking yesterday here, and yes, I know I’m messing this recount up completely and utterly. *sigh*) in a bit of a rush because I received a letter and a quartet of pictures for tenant which needed to be printed. Worth the effort, considering she got all choked up again seeing pictures of daughter and grand daughter. When she heard that they wanted to come visit, her week, month, or even year was made. Hah.
Which reminds me, this afternoon big brother and I checked out a small apartment in the village to see if it would be suitable to rent for the coming visitors. It was tiny, cozy and with a wonderful balcony, so it worked out well, I think. We’ll see how it goes.
But back to yesterday, Tenant happy, breakfast eaten and everything sorted out, our order of two 3000 liter tanks arrived, along with one of the two gates that we still need to set at the jobsite in the mountains. The delivery arrived right on time, and we had to come up from all the way down in the yard, but the tanks got unloaded, carried over to where they will be safe from the wind, and tied up, and then the same with the gates.
That done, we headed down into the yard to cut down one of the 30-foot eucalypti trees. It’s been getting to be too big, obstructing sunlight in the greenhouse, so we decided to make the Y shaped mammoth into an I. Big brother wielded the chainsaw, while grandpa and I stood by with the axes. Three minutes after starting the tree gave a noisy snapping sound and tumbled down right where we’d planned it…well, almost. It hit a couple of branches of the poplar, and it ruined a branch of the eucalyptus below it. Other than that the beets survived the ordeal, or so we found while grandpa and I tackled the branches and worked our way down the terraces until the big trunk was completely stripped. It’s still down there, seeing as we haven’t managed yet to clean the entire mess up, but all in all it went rather well. Yay. I have pictures, of course, but I am way too lazy to post them now. Hah.
That particular adventure (we had to lock up the dogs until we were done, because we just didn’t know how things would go) was followed by the released dogs dashing down to the fence where they keep an eye on us as we took to watering the younger plants and harvested what needed to be harvested for ourselves and the dogs.
Highlight of my day was finishing the paper edit of V.L. Seriously, it took forever, but there you have it, second edit is over and done with, and with one more proof reading session ahead of us, I will be able to send it out to beta readers soon. Such an exciting stage, that, getting the outside input on the story. *sigh*
Since we need a short break before we start reading the story again, we are now working on adding a scene to A.I.L. because we have decided that 65K words is nicer than the 60K it now is. Hah.
Well, I’ve got to go. It is well past midnight and I need some serious shuteye before I fall asleep working on this very blog.
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