Something to do with groceries?

Song of the day: There was none. Strange huh, but I guess it was just a bit too busy for the ol’ brain to think of something.
Grocery shopping day, again…gawd I’m so happy we only do it once every two weeks, ‘cause if we didn’t I’d be screaming. Hah.

So, yeah: I was on time this morning and big brother and I managed to do a solid edit of four pages or so before we headed out to start on the bimonthly chore.

First stop, small speciality store where they have a sweet soy sauce that the entire family is addicted to, hah, so it simply has to be bought, just like it has been since I was just a little girl. Good stuff…surprisingly we didn’t move to Spain until the sauce was actually available over here. Do you suppose it’s fate? (Just kidding around a little.)

But anyway, during the course of the next five hours…yep, doing groceries for nine can take a good five hours; it will take you through ten stores, and yes it is definitely EXHAUSTING. I’m serious, cutting reed for a couple of hours, weaving it for three, heck, even building a rock wall is not half as exhausting as having to walk to and from store to store, through them…aargh. And it seemed to go so infinitely slow for some reason.

Luckily all was successful, we got the supplies we needed, some bargains that came in really handy, such as a hand axe and a tree saw…we’ve been keeping our eye open for them for several weeks now, so it was wonderful to finally find both at an affordable price.

Foodstuffs, some clothing items (bought for 90% off), lemonade and everything else that will see us through the next two weeks gets piled into the car, until in the end dusk approaches and we’re finally done; with the shopping part at least.

Afterwards comes the hauling it into the house, storing it away and of course the laundry, because I was stupid enough to forget it this morning. Darn it.
Be that as it may, close to eleven in the evening I’m relieved to be able to sit down at last for a much needed breather, and start on today’s Blog while watching a rented DVD (Meet Dave, it was not half as bed as I feared) and the latest episode of “Lost”.

Well, I’m going to leave it at that, I’m thinking. I’m running way behind and I really don’t have anything remotely interesting left to mention, so this is what will have to do for today’s Blog.

Need some R&R. *sigh*

Song of the day: “White Houses” by Vanessa Carlton. Haven’t heard of her lately, but what I do know of her music is kinda cute.

Well, nothing too exciting today. Just the usual routine. Got up half an hour earlier, though, considering I was too tired to do an edit last night, and we really wanted to get down to work a little early today.

Of course I was still tired when I got up this morning, but still, I was determined to head for the house and get to work. It went slowly and difficultly, but we did manage to do five pages in the end. There were definitely good parts in it, but for some reason we are both unable to create enough distance between the edit and actual reading; it doesn’t allow us to enjoy it, which would upset me, if that had any use. Hah.

Since the flow is definitely missing, I’m more than happy to call a halt to today’s edit and head outside into the rather hot afternoon to resume with the reed mats. One extra large one needs to be tied together for a section of the roof, along with a smaller one. The three younger sibs and I set to it, while big brother and grandfather gather more stems from the yard so they can create the support beams from extra large ones.

Four mats tied, rolled and set away, and with two more are added to the courtyard roof, the warm afternoon draws to an end. Together with middle sister this time, we head out to get a new batch from our usual spot, and drive off into the setting sun.

We are running a little behind, so we immediately start cutting our way into the stems. We’re just about halfway through when a couple of locals come walking up, waving in a friendly fashion before they continue on towards the river (I took pictures yesterday, it was downright gorgeous) where they take a dip in the cool water.

It's not just a river that comes from somewhere up the mountain, but pools on top on a solid rock bottom that is completely hollowed out from decades of currents, I think. Also there were holes in the rock from which the water came up from deep below.



We finish up with the arrival of dusk, and just for the heck of it, try a different trail to get back home. We actually succeed, passing over paths that allow the wheels of the Land Rover to cross over, just barely; a little tricky, but in the end we make it back to the old road that brings us home.

I am actually kind of relieved to get home today, considering I feel downright sore all over from today’s work. Four mats, hauling them to the storage area, stripping yesterday’s stems, the edit, of course, and then getting the new batch. I need a little bit of R&R I think.

So here are some mats. Got seven of 'm up, and fifteen more waiting.



I know, looks silly to show it, but one needs to take pride in the little things. Hah.



I’m definitely going to try to make it an early night tonight: Tomorrow is grocery day, so it’s going to be a doozy for sure. I have, however, decided to look upon grocery day as a rest day, so who knows, I might manage to restore some of my energy levels.

The reed project continues.

Song of the day: “This side of paradise” by Bryan Adams. I love this song. No big surprise that it has been going through my head all day.

I had to get up really early because our tenant needed to be at the hospital for an unexpected visit to her doctor, so I brought the dogs to the house, poured myself coffee, had a slice of bread and trudged back up the mountain to help getting our tenant into the car. Even though we were well prepared, we were running fifteen minutes behind by the time we headed out.

The drive was relatively uneventful, and when we arrived at the hospital, we were only five minutes late, and while our tenant and caretaker went inside, I headed over to the parking area and used the borrowed Mac to write yesterday’s blog while I waited.

It was a long time, so I got yesterday’s events all down before I could return to the entrance and helped our tenant back into the car. She is doing much better, seeing as she can almost stand on her own again, and though the visit was a bust…her regular doctor was on vacation, and the replacement knew didly about her condition…she was in good spirits.

Once at home, and a quick dip in the pool, I headed inside to start on today’s edit. The edit was a bust too, but we did manage four pages before the afternoon heat went down a little and we could resume outside work. I’m not in the best of moods today, at least I haven’t been since we got home, and I don’t know why. Ah well, it is not as if it matters, really. Pesky emotions go haywire willy-nilly all the time. Nothing I can do about that except keep busy.

Three more mats got woven, three more got added to the roof and everyone was nicely busy.
We had a bit of scare however. Grandpa was getting impatient and got up on the roof before big brother joined him.
So, while the younger sibs and I were weaving, there was a noisy crash and there he was sliding off the roof, landing pretty hard on the ladder that had slipped out from under him.

Gawd, I almost had a heart attack, and little brother ran down immediately to see if all was well. Luckily he only had a few scrapes and a sore bum, but otherwise managed to catch himself really well. I do know I saw him dangling from the roof a second or two before he joined the ladder on the ground.
So, we bandaged him up, checked out the rest of him, and before you know it, he insisted on getting back to the job of putting reed mats on the roof. Determined old bugger doesn’t know when to stop, that’s a fact.

Slowly we all resume work, keeping half and eye out for him as big brother joins him. I haul finished mats down, lifted one up on the roof (of course the dogs peed against it, eeeewww. Got the nasty stuff all over my hands) and then headed back to the upper terrace to resume the weaving. Somewhere in the midst of it all Alta (Portuguese water dog) took a refreshing dip in the pool - he’s in a habit of doing that - by jumping on the edge, swim a round or two and then jump out again as if it his private bath. Hah.

An hour and a half before sunset, big brother and I headed out again to yesterday’s spot for another batch of reed. We manage a completely full back of the Land Rover today, bottom to top, which is definitely a good thing, considering we were busy until well after nightfall. Good batch, at least four mats everything combined, yay.

I will admit to being a tad exhausted tonight, which is no big surprise since I’ve been up for sixteen hours now and still have an hour or four to go before my day is over. *sigh*
The dogs are pretty insane tonight, running out into the courtyard every ten minutes barking. That simply won’t do, of course; can’t have them making a racket this late.

We’ll have to see how tonight’s edit goes, but other than that I would say that we reached most of today’s goals. Hah.

Belated post of a little Adventure.

Song of the day: “Si no te vuelves” by Shakira and Miguel Bose. Beautiful duet, but definitely a challenge to have in my head, since my Spanish is limited to say the least. Still, it is a gorgeous song.

So, I’m ridiculously late today, almost fourteen hours as a matter of fact, so we can officially say that I haven’t made the daily blog for the fourth of August, sigh. How very undisciplined of me. Hah.
But yesterday was an eventful day so I actually have something to write about…not so much the beginning of the day, mind you, but later on was loads of fun – for me at least.

I got way too little sleep again, so when I get up I’m not in the best of moods. It makes me grumpy to say the least, and as I take the dogs down to the house, I’m grumbling like mad at their usual antics.

Knight II is dashing back and forth like the lunatic he is, Trin Trin is attacking the stick I always carry (either the stick or my leg, that’s her motto, the idiot. I prefer that she attacks the stick, but that’s just me, hah). Bommel is lagging behind; the poor old fella makes his way at his own pace, while Labahna (black Labrador, now in heat) is making a nuisance of herself with Sitabah. The two bitches don’t like each other during the best of days, and like me they’re grumpy as heck.

Dax and Touri, the runts of the pack, are dashing back and forth, barking occasionally while Chaos (Basset) and Gada (black lab) are pestering poor Amri. What can I say; the usual ruckus that now annoys me.

Once at the house it takes me a while before I can finally settle down at the computer and start on the edit…which went horrible. For some reason both big brother and I were unable to properly focus, and after four hours of struggling with a mere four pages, we give up for the day, and decide to head out for an early start on outside work.

The reed is almost finished, so with the leftovers, no more than two mats can be made, darn it (stupid cut off road; it stopped us from getting a new batch) so while the younger sisters start on the mat I’m diverting my attention between helping out, sorting a small suitcase of screw that…yes, it fell in the dirt the other day, aaargh…and putting the finishing touches to little brother’s window.

While we’re at work up by the carport terrace, big brother and grandpa head into our own reed, and seek out a few long stems so they can start on putting the first mats on the courtyard roof. Little brother too, has headed down the property and is getting extra reed for us to add to the mats, lest only thin stems make up the whole.

By the time grandpa and big brother are done with the preparation…grandpa is sitting on top of the corrugated metal plates, which just barely holds his weight (the only person in the family who weighs as little as grandpa is little sister, so he is the most suited for task) while big brother stands on the ladder to work on the edges, I carry down the first four mats.

To be busy too, a small batch of cement is made, so I can work on building the last plant container down the main path, and by the time the first part of the reed roof is up, I’m finished too.

Dusk is rapidly approaching when our tenant can finally be picked up from her rehab, and then both brothers and I head out in hopes that the road is open again and we can reach our usual spot for reed…it isn’t, so from sheer exasperation we once again travel down long windy roads in search for a different spot.

After several dead-ends…that’s Spain for ya, lots of dead end roads…we finally stop at a sections where a dirt road is obstructed from heading up a partially covered macadam street. Decided we might as well have a little walk and see what’s down at the end of the street that was put down for a new community area but was shut down, prior construction when the house market crashed.

Underway we see a poor little dog sleep in the bushes. It looks rather miserable, but before we can check the little bugger out it dashes off into the underbrush. At the end of the street a wide trail leads down the mountain part ways, giving a rather grand view of the valley beyond, and a large cluster of boxed beehives. A lot of areas ‘round here are reserved for beehives, you can’t travel ten miles without coming up such an area. But anyway, the trail stops, so we head back up, applying a firm pace to get some exercise in no matter the “no reed” debacle.

Once back in the car, the sun slowly setting behind the higher mountains, we decide to just drive around a bit to see if maybe we can find a way down to the valley for another day.

We’re about to give it up entirely when we come upon a sudden, quite invisible trail that winds its way down the face of a mountain, and rather than just leave it for another day, I head down it, going deeper and deeper on the potholed surface.

Once again, we come in a completely different area. Eucalypti woods, interrupted by wide-open grassy spots, as the road continues to wind down. We come upon a crossing; one leads east, the other west, and rather than head west, which we think leads towards the area we were yesterday we pass through a rather large gate (open) that appears to have been build several decades ago…probably still in the Franco era.

As it turns out it is some sort of hunting area from the past, which at one point was forbidden fort normal citizens, and rather than head back now that the darkness of night is slowly arriving, we doggedly continue on in search for reed.

We pass some massive kind of structure that looks like a kind of horse breeding area…lots of stables, never finished, and then we see it far below, our present “holy grail”: reed, lots of it, down there in the valley that stretches and winds on endlessly in this uninhabited area where we can get the stuff to our hearts content, without ever disturbing a living soul.

At long last we reach the bottom of the mountain, hobbling over the badly kept road in the final bits of sunlight and come upon…yes, you’ve guessed it, another dead end. Hah. No matter, though, we’re standing right in the middle of a jungle of six yards high reed stems that are almost as thick as my wrist. Rather than waste the trip, I park the car, and we get out to cut down at least a portion of reed in what little light is still available.

It always amazes me when coming upon such a remote area. The feeling of solitude is almost overwhelming, and just a tad adventurous. It almost feels as if for just a short while we are the only people in the world, and for just a little while that certainly has its charm, hah.

It is also a bit disconcerting, of course. As it turns out, there is no phone reception here, so a little caution is warranted: wouldn’t want to have a tiny little accident ‘round these parts, since getting out again is no easy feet. Also, having little brother along (he has seen even more horror movies than I, hah) is not the best of ideas if ya want to be pleasantly oblivious of any horrific story, taking place in remote places. All the “poor-tourists-lost-and-stranded-in-remote-places-with-a-homicidal-maniac” scenario gets discussed, causing hilarious laughter as we hack away at reed stems and pile them into the back of the car.

Before we know it, darkness has descended and we wrap it up with a modest batch in the back of the car. Minutes later we hobbling our way back up the mountain, carefully heading in the general direction of home.
It takes a while, but in the end, we come upon the unfinished stretch of street from which we’d diverted.

We just round a curve when something large and beige of color flashes past in the headlights. A huge bird of prey, perhaps? A vulture? It was just a flash, so we can’t be sure until we get home and get online. Whatever it was, it was massive, maybe six feet wide and absolutely impressive.
This is what we found on the Net, and we think this is it considering the color, size, etc. The Small Toed Snake Eagle.





As promised, we head for the gas station (to fill up) and get some ice cream for everyone. Of course, by then it is already eleven in the evening so the night clerk has closed off the shop, leaving us only able to pay through the bulletproof window and with no chance to get the ice creams.

Instead of heading home empty handed, we head for the village where small little stands should still be open to service the night-owl population. As is usual in hot areas the streets are still teeming with people, adults and kids alike when we reach the stand and buy the ice cream.

Once at home, midnight arrives during dinner, and then it is up to my cabin for another edit; it is pretty disastrous, only two pages, interrupted by long pauses, simply because focus is a long way coming.

Not that it matters, of course. I need to be up darn early to drive our tenant to the hospital for her monthly checkup. Tomorrow (or in this case today) will come, and we’ll see how it works out.