Sunday busyness.

Apparently I am still A. Klutz, my nose is slightly swollen from yesterday's mishap, my vision a little sluggish and my fingers are covered with band aids, but no matter, today was a busy day on which quite a bit was achieved. This makes it all worth it.

I awake to a combination of the alarm going off, and the two monsters bouncing up and down beside the bed while a distinct dry chill fills the cabin. Bright sunshine beats down through the trees surrounding my place, making me squint as I let the dogs out of the house and mutter a disgruntled; "yikes, sunlight" under my breath, as it pierces straight into my vision. Vampire tendencies die slowly, if ever. Even after four months of day time living, my eyes still haven't adjusted fully, and I doubt they ever will.

I am running late, what with the alarm having been set half an hour later, but I needed that extra time for sleeping when last night's business kept me up 'till the wee hours of morning. My head is pounding dully, but for now I decide to circumvent doing something about it in hopes that it'll ease with time.

A glance out over the valley, still semi-clear this day, shows a vague tip of white on the mountain across. I'm surprised at the sight. This time of year snow is not at all normal around here, and none of us have seen it in all the years that we have lived in this most southern part of Spain. When, but mostly if, snow falls in these parts it happens in the end of January or February, but never this close to October... a month that in the past really still belonged to summer- temperature wise.

I shrug the unfamiliar sight off to global warming and urge the dogs towards the courtyard and in effect the house where none of the family have yet arrived. I love these few minutes of relative calm, and use it wisely as I snap the leash on Trin Trin and give Chaos and Mosha a quick pat on the head before putting on the coffee machine.

What with the rain stopped at long last, laundry of the past few days is dry. This is the first task of the day for me and since I prefer to get it done before the rest of the household is up, set myself to taking down and folding what is dry, and hanging two new batches.
With a light breakfast consumed and my hot coffee beside me, I do a quick check of the messages, to my chagrin finding out that the latest project that I have sent to a publisher, had the wrong file attached. It was the unedited version, blast it, and after a series of words not suited for rehearsal, I resend it, hoping that they will overlook the error and still show some interest. It's unlikely, but I figure I won't know until I try.

When at last everyone is up, and the consumption of a painkiller against the pounding in my head is a fact, big brother and I head up to my cabin -without my dogs- to make permanent repairs on my roof, when the patch we did a few weeks ago proved to be insufficient during the night's deluge.

The sun is still shining when we go up, but clouds are steadily drawing near, starting with a slow drizzle by the time we are halfway through removing the aluminum plates. It is not at all easy to keep our footing as the drizzle rapidly turns into a downpour, causing big brother to temporarily lose his footing before he manages just barely to grab hold of the ledge.
We finish the chore asap, and then take our gear with us with a sense of job-well-done.

Feeling somewhat bolstered with the success of the roof repairs, we decide to take the Katana moped to the house, to see if we can do something about the persisting problem of an exploding lid of the cooling tank. The dratted vehicle has been to the repair shop time and again, but the problem persists each and every time.

While a quick dinner of fries and salad is being prepared, little brother and I set ourselves to the kitchen plumbing. The drain has been clogged for several days now and we're all annoyed by it enough for us to dive into the cupboard and take apart the tubes. After some examination we remove a foul smelling clod that has somehow lodged itself within, and after some trial and error manage to get all the tubes in working order without leakage. Plumbing is mostly dealt with by big brother, but since he is the one hauling the moped into the house -where it is nice and warm- we figure this is the least we can do.

By the time dinner is ready, the sink is functioning the way it should, allowing little sister do some proper cleaning after the meal has been consumed on the fly. Both big brother and I are determined to start with the moped before the day comes to an end, so time for a leisure meal is dismissed.

For a while we mess around with the plastic casing of the moped, slowly but steadily dismantling it until at long last most of the vehicle's frame is exposed... and with it, the disaster area below.
Rats have managed to find their way into the casing, or so we find, muttering our displeasure at the sight of exposed and cut wires that go every which way once the debris have been cleared away.
This is the campo, and though one would think that rats would think twice about coming anywhere near our vigilant dogs, they are a constant problem that simply won't go away no matter how hard we try. I have made my peace with rats, though. As long as they keep a low profile, and we catch a generous amount of them with traps, we can coexist.

Looking at the damage it seems like an unsurmountable task, but resigned to necessity we set ourselves to it nonetheless. The last repairs at the shop -which turned out to be unsuccessful- had cost up to 300 € in man hours alone. The budget at the moment simply won't allow for professional help.
Preliminary examination of the dismantled "body", shows that two tiny wires, that appear to be cut rather than gnawed upon, are neatly hidden within the steel carcass, and upon following them we decide that these wires might very well be the reason for the exploding cooling tank.
Two ends are attached to the cooling device of the engine, and since they lead nowhere this is the most likely assumption as I squat down to strip the wires and reattach them to their floating better halves.

What follows is the spark plug -it takes some searching before we are able to locate it- but in the end it is found hidden in a spot where I can just barely wedge my hand inside to screw it out and hand it to big brother for closer examination. It appears to be fine, and a quick check of the plug's functionality, confirms that assessment.

A second band aid joins the first on my hand -applied during the plumbing incident- by the time I finish screwing it back in place, and turn my attention to the next problem. My klutziness obviously hasn't passed yet, when throughout the entire adventure, a total of five appear on my poor left hand, which seems to bear the brunt of my present klutz status. Still, it does not negate the fact that headway is being made with what is slowly becoming a genuine project.

Determined, we move on to check for further damage- since the rats have most definitely messed everything up while trying to create a nest of sorts for the duration of the mopeds immobility.

Meticulously we take note of a multitude of different colored wires and plugs, removing what is damaged and replacing each and every single one until close to eleven PM the main wiring in the steering wheel is complete again.

After several failed attempts the engine starts up, with the pedal, rather than the battery, sputtering sluggishly before turning into a steady purr that allows us to check if all functions perform as they should.
I hold my breath as one by one each switch is turned and flicked. Buttons are pressed until, after at least three readjustments, everything appears to be in working order.
Headlights go on, warning lights flash -at the third try, admittedly- and brake lights shine a bright red. We actually cheer at our success of the day.

Winding some extra tape around each replaced wire, we slowly set ourselves to reapplying the plastic casing of the clunky steering wheel, leaving only the chest of the moped open, since the cooling tank will need a new lid before we can place it back in there.

Both big brother and I are tired by the time midnight has passed and the majority of the damage has been dealt with. Still we take in half an hour of studying while we allow our bodies to let go of some of the strain in the comfortable office chairs that flank the kitchen table.

Jokes are being tossed around between my four sibs and I, creating a wonderfully lighthearted atmosphere that really makes such a busy day worthwhile when at long last the evening has come to its end and the trip to my cabin is made, just like all the nights before.

The early morning's chill is fierce, making my fingers numb and skin itchy as I brew a quick cup of tea, read for about half an hour and then switch on the computer for a final couple of hours of relaxation on the net.

Sunday. It rarely passes with a feeling of content. Today it did, and I'm glad for it.