Song of the day: “Lay lady lay” by Gemma Hayes and Magnet, which is a song I first heard when I saw the movie, Mr. & Mrs. Smith. It took me a while to like it but apparently it settled in nicely once I did.
The edit went well last night, bringing us to a solid hundred pages, while sitting on my porch, overlooking the valley that stretches out before our mountain. It was quite amazing to see night clouds roll in from the sea; a thick wall of mist that hit the lights of the town that lid them up to a bright orange.
It was still thirty degrees when we got to the porch, but considering the mercury was another two degrees higher inside the cabin, it was the best we could do, anyway. Managed another three pages in last night’s edit, so…Yay.
During the night I had a muscle cramp in my right calf - ouch - that actually woke me up from a rather nice sleep, and it took me several minutes to battle the problem and fell back to sleep.
The usual morning sequence today, so I’m going to skip it. The weather is absolutely divine when I head down to the house, promising a very nice day where the temperatures are warm (around 30 degrees) but not sweltering.
Amri’s limp is almost completely gone by now, he only complains of it on rare occasions on our way down. Laundry and other chores get dealt with, and then we sit down for the edit. We manage to start pretty fast and in the hours that follow we edit/rewrite almost six pages…which is like, awesome for a morning job.
Good scene, very dramatic; heroine is hurt pretty bad, the hero needs to find medical aid, she doesn’t want it, yadayadayada. Telling about it simply doesn’t do it justice so I’m going to shut up about it. Darn.
Oh yea, remember what I said about the Thunderbird the hero drives. Although it was pretty perfect, we decided to go with a Firebird instead; something about the Firebird being referred to as a pony, relatively small but incredibly powerful, well I simply couldn’t resist.
But anyway, after the edit we head on up to the carport where I finish the final touches to the new window while Big brother headed up to little sister’s room, to saw out a square in her wall where the window will be set.
The entire task took maybe two hours, but in the end it looked pretty darn good, really like it was in there from the start, which is good since little sister’s room is rustico to say the least. Looks good, and I started on most of the preparation for little brother’s window frame too.
Though we wanted to go get more reed today, our tenant is running late so we had to wait until it was almost sunset before we could finally pick her up. By then it was dark so we went inside to have dinner and the evening was pretty much over.
Only this blog and another edit to go, and then I have to go to bed because I need to go to the insurance company again tomorrow. It’s a pain in the butt, but it needs to be done after all.
Okay, I’m gonna cut it off here; there really isn’t that much to tell anyway. A pity.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Monday, July 27, 2009
Sea swimming; it's been a while.
Song of the day: “One way or another” by Sophie Ellis-Bextor (originally by Blondie, I think) I decided to do things differently today and picked a song to have in my head, rather than leave it up to fate. Admittedly, this was after waking up with that oldie: “How much is that doggie in the window, woof, woof” aaaargh, so I figured some sort of intervention was required. Hah.
I am nicely on time this morning. Considering I went to bed in time for a change it was only to be expected, but still, most of my backache is gone (yay) and I can actually get out of bed without groaning. The temperatures are up again; this seesaw thing is driving me bonkers for sure. Nothing but sarongs and bikini tops out of respect for the sun pounding down.
Amri is still limping a little, but is doing decidedly better while we make our way down to the house and start on the morning’s chores. Only a bit of laundry to hang and fold today, so soon I’m settling down for the edit.
We only manage three pages, or so, because we’re doing some fact checking. You see, my hero drives a classic Thunderbird, and though I have a rather clear image in my head of what it looks like, I am not actually sure if a Thunderbird looks that way. So we start searching and sure enough, we find one - blue like the one I described, a lot of engine power etc. etc. - the only thing I hadn’t envisioned was the beak-like grill in front, but since I never took the time to describe the actual front if wasn’t a problem. Kinda nice to discover that I did it right.
There are some location checks as well, but since those were correct too, it all works out well. So, five hours after starting…I know I’ve said it before, but there is nothing more exhausting than editing; shifting around sentences in ten different ways, changing details, surroundings, directions, it’s mind-numbing…we call it quits and head outside.
The sun is pounding, but after a quick dip in the pool, and then moving up to the shade of the carport, it isn’t all that bad. While grandpa and big brother head up and the down the mountain to fix another leak in the water main, I prepare the remainder of the window frame for little sister’s room and then put it together.
Knight II is grumpy again today, and when I stop him from pouncing on some of the other dogs, he literally knocks my watch right off my wrist. I don’t know what the heck is wrong with him, but I’m definitely going to have to do some obedience training with him again. This simply won’t do. Once the pack has calmed down a bit, I resume putting the frame together.
Later big brother helps with the final fitting part, and while he works on the second frame, for little brother’s room, I sand and paint the first and hang them to dry on the support beams of the carport. While working, we got the idea to head to the sea to swim some actual distances, rather than jog, and since the weather sure warrants a swim, so as soon as we’re done we get in the car and drive off.
It takes a while to find a parking spot along the boulevard - it was ridiculously busy with tourists - and when we finally found them darkness was already falling. Much to our surprise a lot has changed in the last few years along the beach. Huge spotlights have been placed along the boulevard, and allows for at least a hundred yards of light, right into the sea.
We have a nice swim, even though the water is surprisingly cold, and then head back home. It’s late when we arrive, the night downright balmy, but my skin still feels taut from the excellent exercise and the cold. Yay.
After a quick - very late - dinner, tonight’s blog, it is time to head up to my cabin to resume the edit on my porch…the new table works perfectly, by the way. It’s so pleasant to be able to sit in the cool night air, without having to worry about the dogs sweeping the table from under the computer. Hah.
Yep, an excellent day today, it lasted way too short again.
I am nicely on time this morning. Considering I went to bed in time for a change it was only to be expected, but still, most of my backache is gone (yay) and I can actually get out of bed without groaning. The temperatures are up again; this seesaw thing is driving me bonkers for sure. Nothing but sarongs and bikini tops out of respect for the sun pounding down.
Amri is still limping a little, but is doing decidedly better while we make our way down to the house and start on the morning’s chores. Only a bit of laundry to hang and fold today, so soon I’m settling down for the edit.
We only manage three pages, or so, because we’re doing some fact checking. You see, my hero drives a classic Thunderbird, and though I have a rather clear image in my head of what it looks like, I am not actually sure if a Thunderbird looks that way. So we start searching and sure enough, we find one - blue like the one I described, a lot of engine power etc. etc. - the only thing I hadn’t envisioned was the beak-like grill in front, but since I never took the time to describe the actual front if wasn’t a problem. Kinda nice to discover that I did it right.
There are some location checks as well, but since those were correct too, it all works out well. So, five hours after starting…I know I’ve said it before, but there is nothing more exhausting than editing; shifting around sentences in ten different ways, changing details, surroundings, directions, it’s mind-numbing…we call it quits and head outside.
The sun is pounding, but after a quick dip in the pool, and then moving up to the shade of the carport, it isn’t all that bad. While grandpa and big brother head up and the down the mountain to fix another leak in the water main, I prepare the remainder of the window frame for little sister’s room and then put it together.
Knight II is grumpy again today, and when I stop him from pouncing on some of the other dogs, he literally knocks my watch right off my wrist. I don’t know what the heck is wrong with him, but I’m definitely going to have to do some obedience training with him again. This simply won’t do. Once the pack has calmed down a bit, I resume putting the frame together.
Later big brother helps with the final fitting part, and while he works on the second frame, for little brother’s room, I sand and paint the first and hang them to dry on the support beams of the carport. While working, we got the idea to head to the sea to swim some actual distances, rather than jog, and since the weather sure warrants a swim, so as soon as we’re done we get in the car and drive off.
It takes a while to find a parking spot along the boulevard - it was ridiculously busy with tourists - and when we finally found them darkness was already falling. Much to our surprise a lot has changed in the last few years along the beach. Huge spotlights have been placed along the boulevard, and allows for at least a hundred yards of light, right into the sea.
We have a nice swim, even though the water is surprisingly cold, and then head back home. It’s late when we arrive, the night downright balmy, but my skin still feels taut from the excellent exercise and the cold. Yay.
After a quick - very late - dinner, tonight’s blog, it is time to head up to my cabin to resume the edit on my porch…the new table works perfectly, by the way. It’s so pleasant to be able to sit in the cool night air, without having to worry about the dogs sweeping the table from under the computer. Hah.
Yep, an excellent day today, it lasted way too short again.
Great edit, short projects.
Song of the day: “When you taught me how to dance” Katie Melua. Cute little song from the motion picture “Miss Potter”.
The morning starts off with a tiny little accident. The dogs rush out of the cabin, as is their habit, and somehow Amri lands wrong when they bounce off the porch. In all likelihood, Knight II bowled over him, or some such, whatever the cause, the poor old feller is limping considerably and slowly makes his way back into the cabin, rather than explore the yard.
A quick check shows no broken bones or such, so I think he just bruised it.
I head down to the house, quickly go through the chores and get down to the edit.
Excellent scene today: The heroine’s hurt, suffering from a terrible fever, when their cabin is attacked, so the hero is forced to deal with the intruders expeditiously. Okay, so I might have a gotten a little enthusiastic in the rewrite and…yeah, well those who are against violence might have to search elsewhere. Hah.
But anyway, I have to keep it short today, ‘cause I’m already running behind.
Let’s see, after the edit, we head up to the old horse stable in search for wood. Since the weather is rather pleasant to work outside, big brother and I decide to start making windows and frames. You see, the younger sibs have rooms at the back of the house, and for some reason these chambers retain all heat that drifts up. So, to deal with the problem, we are going to put windows in the back walls to solve this particular problem.
The old stable is pretty rundown these days, holding a supply of woof, old cabinets and closets and just about anything that we could need in the future. It takes a bit of searching (and a rather close encounter with a wasp hive, Yikes) but in the end we find what we need and head back down to the carport.
First, we have to deal with the reed we got yesterday, however. For about an hour we strip them of leaves, cut them to the right size, and then tie them up in neat bundles that soon join the ones that we’ve already stored on top of the carport roof. We’re starting to get somewhere with the supply at least
Next, we work on measuring, sawing, and fitting the pieces together until we have two windows and one frame assembled. While big brother and grandpa are still working on them, I head towards my porch to varnish the new table and its supports until they fit perfectly with the rest of the cabin.
Since the weather is so darn pleasant, around dusk we decide to head up the mountain in the car for a short jog. I really needed it, since my back has been killing me these past few days; it feels decidedly better afterwards, and with that in mind, we head over to a place where we saw a pile of wood that had been discarded.
With the wood piled high in the car, we head back home and arrive well after dark. A quick dip the pool, fifteen minutes quieting down my insane pack, and then I’m already running behind for the day’s blog - darn it.
But anyway, with the last batch of laundry hung, I’m don for the evening, and head up to my cabin to start on the second edit of the day.
Well, I sure am ready to call it a day. Phew.
The morning starts off with a tiny little accident. The dogs rush out of the cabin, as is their habit, and somehow Amri lands wrong when they bounce off the porch. In all likelihood, Knight II bowled over him, or some such, whatever the cause, the poor old feller is limping considerably and slowly makes his way back into the cabin, rather than explore the yard.
A quick check shows no broken bones or such, so I think he just bruised it.
I head down to the house, quickly go through the chores and get down to the edit.
Excellent scene today: The heroine’s hurt, suffering from a terrible fever, when their cabin is attacked, so the hero is forced to deal with the intruders expeditiously. Okay, so I might have a gotten a little enthusiastic in the rewrite and…yeah, well those who are against violence might have to search elsewhere. Hah.
But anyway, I have to keep it short today, ‘cause I’m already running behind.
Let’s see, after the edit, we head up to the old horse stable in search for wood. Since the weather is rather pleasant to work outside, big brother and I decide to start making windows and frames. You see, the younger sibs have rooms at the back of the house, and for some reason these chambers retain all heat that drifts up. So, to deal with the problem, we are going to put windows in the back walls to solve this particular problem.
The old stable is pretty rundown these days, holding a supply of woof, old cabinets and closets and just about anything that we could need in the future. It takes a bit of searching (and a rather close encounter with a wasp hive, Yikes) but in the end we find what we need and head back down to the carport.
First, we have to deal with the reed we got yesterday, however. For about an hour we strip them of leaves, cut them to the right size, and then tie them up in neat bundles that soon join the ones that we’ve already stored on top of the carport roof. We’re starting to get somewhere with the supply at least
Next, we work on measuring, sawing, and fitting the pieces together until we have two windows and one frame assembled. While big brother and grandpa are still working on them, I head towards my porch to varnish the new table and its supports until they fit perfectly with the rest of the cabin.
Since the weather is so darn pleasant, around dusk we decide to head up the mountain in the car for a short jog. I really needed it, since my back has been killing me these past few days; it feels decidedly better afterwards, and with that in mind, we head over to a place where we saw a pile of wood that had been discarded.
With the wood piled high in the car, we head back home and arrive well after dark. A quick dip the pool, fifteen minutes quieting down my insane pack, and then I’m already running behind for the day’s blog - darn it.
But anyway, with the last batch of laundry hung, I’m don for the evening, and head up to my cabin to start on the second edit of the day.
Well, I sure am ready to call it a day. Phew.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
More cutting reed...and editing. Duh.
No song of the day. I know, it surprised me too, but there you have it.
Let’s see. Lots of events today, not a lot of ways to talk about it, so I’ll just get right to it.
I was maybe fifteen minutes late, simply couldn’t get my butt out of bed, and but when I finally did things slowly got a little better. I had dreams this night; they were very clear when I just woke up, but faded really fast when I started with the morning rituals.
It was hot again during the morning, but not as bad as yesterday. I headed down to the house, took a dip in the pool and did the morning chores and soon it is time to settle down behind the computer for the edit. We’re just five pages short of a hundred, and spend the majority of the working hours, making a chronological tree for the “No Escape from Rising Sun” series. We’ve got to make sure that all the details are right and that we don’t…well screw it up. Hah.
By the time we finish outlining it, it is a long, really long list that basically holds all the details.
After we’re done for the day…I cried off an hour early so I could have a fun half hour on-line, before we head out to work on the pile of reed we got yesterday. They all need to be cut to the right size and stripped of the leaves that are still attached to it. Soon we’ve got them all ready, prettily lined up and tied, so we can stash them on top of the carport roof.
Now, there’ve been some problems with the table on my porch…the dogs push it off, make it wobble and well, make it dangerous too to have my computer on there at night. So with wood we still have stacked in the front yard, we put together a foldout top on the balustrade of my porch, which turned out pretty darn good. Solid, easy to put down and…well, just handy.
That done, we quickly have dinner and then set out to get a new batch down in the valley. Clouds have gathered ‘round then, and the temperatures have gratefully dropped enough to make the trip not entirely uncomfortable. We manage to find a spot and for the next two hours we cut, slice and measure reed until we’ve got the back of the car filled up as far as we can before it is completely dark.
The Land Rover does excellent, again, going cross-country like it’s a highway. I do love jostling around,heading down dirt roads, over fields and dried river beds. Especially when the cab is filled with the scent of freshly cut reed and sweet smelling peppermint that was growing all over the place. It’s heavy work, perspiration was running all over our faces, and cools us off considerably on the drive home.
I take a quick dip in the pool when we get back and I have another quick snack before we put on Kevin Costner’s “Swing Vote”…way too late, admittedly, but it’s a funny movie at least; a little outta there, but still funny.
After that, the day has come to an end and we head to the cabin for the night’s edit. Yay. I got a slight twinge in my lower back so I’m kinda looking forward to getting horizontal soon.
Let’s see. Lots of events today, not a lot of ways to talk about it, so I’ll just get right to it.
I was maybe fifteen minutes late, simply couldn’t get my butt out of bed, and but when I finally did things slowly got a little better. I had dreams this night; they were very clear when I just woke up, but faded really fast when I started with the morning rituals.
It was hot again during the morning, but not as bad as yesterday. I headed down to the house, took a dip in the pool and did the morning chores and soon it is time to settle down behind the computer for the edit. We’re just five pages short of a hundred, and spend the majority of the working hours, making a chronological tree for the “No Escape from Rising Sun” series. We’ve got to make sure that all the details are right and that we don’t…well screw it up. Hah.
By the time we finish outlining it, it is a long, really long list that basically holds all the details.
After we’re done for the day…I cried off an hour early so I could have a fun half hour on-line, before we head out to work on the pile of reed we got yesterday. They all need to be cut to the right size and stripped of the leaves that are still attached to it. Soon we’ve got them all ready, prettily lined up and tied, so we can stash them on top of the carport roof.
Now, there’ve been some problems with the table on my porch…the dogs push it off, make it wobble and well, make it dangerous too to have my computer on there at night. So with wood we still have stacked in the front yard, we put together a foldout top on the balustrade of my porch, which turned out pretty darn good. Solid, easy to put down and…well, just handy.
That done, we quickly have dinner and then set out to get a new batch down in the valley. Clouds have gathered ‘round then, and the temperatures have gratefully dropped enough to make the trip not entirely uncomfortable. We manage to find a spot and for the next two hours we cut, slice and measure reed until we’ve got the back of the car filled up as far as we can before it is completely dark.
The Land Rover does excellent, again, going cross-country like it’s a highway. I do love jostling around,heading down dirt roads, over fields and dried river beds. Especially when the cab is filled with the scent of freshly cut reed and sweet smelling peppermint that was growing all over the place. It’s heavy work, perspiration was running all over our faces, and cools us off considerably on the drive home.
I take a quick dip in the pool when we get back and I have another quick snack before we put on Kevin Costner’s “Swing Vote”…way too late, admittedly, but it’s a funny movie at least; a little outta there, but still funny.
After that, the day has come to an end and we head to the cabin for the night’s edit. Yay. I got a slight twinge in my lower back so I’m kinda looking forward to getting horizontal soon.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)