Clean-up.

No fun dream to describe in today’s Blog, regretfully.
I guess I wake too often to log anything into my brain, since my attention is instantly drawn towards the monster Boxer who’s making a nuisance of herself.
It’s a little chilly–though not as bad as it has been–and luckily Trin Trin appreciates the warmth of the blankets and me enough to snooze off when I yank her on the bed and lock her in my embrace.

Though I doubt I’ll be able to sleep with the boxer snoring in my ear, I do fall back to sleep, and snooze ‘till it’s time to get up. The monster is up first, naturally, bouncing by the side of the bed, and staring up at me with that particular fanatical look in her eyes. “Come on! Let’s play,” her eyes seem to say, obviously unaware of the fact that her occasional lucky nips at my fingers actually break skin. You’d think that my warning growl and forceful shove out the door would tip her off, but I guess that such “subtlety” is lost on her.

There is a short game of who’s faster at who-grabs-who, before I manage to snatch her collar and toss her out in the backyard. With her locked safely outside, I scramble from the bed and head for the front door to let the rest of the idiots to storm outside with such enthusiasm that one would think that they’ve never been outside before.

The sun is shining dimly and the temperature feels mild on my skin as I discard several layers of my nightclothes. After making the bed and getting dressed, I head down the mountain and let the dogs into the courtyard. They inside with the same amount of enthusiasm they showed upon their release.

Big brother is already there, opening the door for me, so he can temper the collision between the two packs that see each other after what they consider to be an endless night. There are some barks, feints and snarls, but soon they all settle down and head in separate directions to either snooze or watch the kitchen counter for snacks.

Laundry comes as soon as I’ve deposited my bag and vest, finding the outside temperature to be pleasant enough for just a sweater as I take down the dry and hang the new batch, which–like yesterday–is just one machine’s worth, yay.

That done, there’s a quick breakfast and then I switch on my computer to do a quick check on today’s messages. Next, I reread some of yesterday’s work and get down to writing today’s scene.

I manage about two pages again, this scene expanding the one that I wrote the day before yesterday, and adding a more in-depth view into the two main characters. It’s a rather exciting scene, I soon realize, and it intensifies the story considerably.

Quitting early today, while the sun is still shining, I put the computer safely away and head on out to the courtyard so I can do some cleaning in the courtyard room where tools and wood are stored.

It’s a terrible mess, due to the kitchen project: The dogs have toppled over a paint bucket that didn’t have the lid tightened well enough, so light yellow paint has spread over a large patch of the floor.
Wood has fallen, carton got wet, and dirt is everywhere.

First thing up is piling the wood against the wall so I’ll have room to move at the very least. Then there’s the mess that covers the floor and it isn’t until an hour later that I start to see some results for my efforts. Last item on the list is getting the remainder of working materials from the kitchen and storing it safely away.
Perfect. No more mess left in the kitchen, and, as an added bonus I find two strong magnets that we’ll be able to use in the new storage closet.

Making dinner is the next issue on today’s tasks, and after rummaging through our rapidly dwindling supplies; I come up with enough dried and canned ingredients for fresh-made herb/garlic butter. Helpfully, grandpa bakes slices of bread in the spicy butter; while I start cutting veggies to make thick sandwiches with melted, but hard-baked cheese, iceberg slaw, canned sour beets and the last of our fresh tomatoes. Added to that come the grilled onions and red bell peppers, finished off with sliced asparagus and a sharp yogurt sauce.

The white bread intended for this, only lasts through one sandwich for each of the sibs and mom, so for the second helping I look through the bread drawer and am pleased to find a six-pack of vacuum sealed pita bread that will do just fine.

With everyone supplied for today’s dinner, grandpa and I finish up with our own sandwiches and start on our meals. It’s good, filling the gaps excellently for the remainder of the day.

For the duration of the evening, I watch some TV, manage to read another chapter of the review book, and then write half a page or so for the vampire story before I call it a night and get ready to head for my cabin.

My dogs are impatient for today’s meal, and are rutting through the rooms, until I’ve put my clean laundry in the closet, and placed my bathroom supplies on their shelf. I disperse their food, just the way they expect. Immediately Sitabah and Bommel stop their noisy arguing by the bed at the sound of kibble rattling, Chaos comes sauntering inside to see what’s up, and Knight II is running back and forth through the two rooms in hopes of snatching some food from each individual dog before he starts on his own share.

At long last each and every dog is satisfied and they settle down in their favorite spots throughout the cabin until quiet descends once more and I can set up my computer to get online.

Messages, chats, forums and then bed: In that order, and preferably before five in the morning. Yep. Another week has come to an end.
Time does fly, on occasion.