Got One! Yay.

Yay, yay. I got one. I got one! Here goes:

The sun was shining brightly; the heat was almost unbearable and in the distance on a steep slope I could see Knight dash upward and over the top. Swearing, I went in his pursuit, shouting at him to come back and putting up some speed when I hear him bark on the other side.
Even though I was breathing heavily, the incline rather steep, I do notice that the runs these past few weeks were paying off, because I actually made it up the hill without that annoyingly coppery taste in my throat.
Olive trees and cork oaks twist and turned on either side of me when the valley, which Knight is barrelling into; his butt towards me, and his ears flopping, as he blithely continued on his way.
In the distance I could see what had drawn his attention-a flock of sheep grazing in a pasture. Aaargh. The idiot wouldn’t listen so I went up against every instinct screaming inside me, made an about-face, and started walking in the opposite direction…calling him all the while.
There was a rumble of a heavy engine in the distance, and while I looked around, I could see Knight coming to a skidding halt, for a moment not knowing what to do, before turned and came storming towards me.
Massive paws clawed the dusty ground, his tongue lolling and his eyes jolly while he considered coming in my pursuit an entirely new, fun game.
Legs flayed every which way, his balance precarious as he bounced from rock to slope and bounded upward, heading straight for me.
Considering the engine was coming closer too, and the sandy road on which we both were wouldn’t allow for evasion, I called him to me, shouting enthusiastically, patting my leg while I continued to walk on.
The sound of the engine was almost deafening, a plume of dust looming up on the hill on which we were walking, and Knight just a couple of yards behind me. I just about manage to grab his collar and yank him to me when a huge truck came barreling into view, missing us both by just a fraction and then continuing on its way as if the driver hadn’t even seen us. I sucked in a deep breath, chocking a little on the dust that swirled around us both and blocked out the countryside.
I was wondering what a Mack truck did on a deserted road like that when suddenly my alarm shrills and notifies me that there is no reason for my heart to be pounding in my throat and that almost being run over was just a friggin’ dream. Ah well. It is an excellent jump-start to get up and begin with the day, I guess.

Song of the day: “Downtown” by Petula Clark. I don’t know where it came from, but the friggin’ song drove me bonkers most of the day. I’m not sure how long ago I last heard it, but I do know that it had no business being in my head, darn it.

We worked on the synopsis again…we’re taking all the advise on “edit, edit and edit” to heart, going over the stupid thing, over and over until I can literally dream the text. Added to the dream I just wrote down, I’ve been having lots of dreams about punctuation of all things. It’s daft, I tell you. It’s not like I don’t get enough of that crap throughout the day: No, I need to dream about it too.

Be that as it may, we use the new coffee machine today, and I gotta admit, it is grand being able to go for a refill without actually having to put on another brew, just to get my caffeine fix. The fact that my eyes are half-stock again, doesn’t help the issue. I’m forming a severe addiction to the stuff, if for no other reason than to wake the heck up…if anyone had told me so last year, I would have laughed in his or her face.

The write-edit of the synopsis goes slowly but we work our way through another section of chapters in the five hours that follow wake-up-time. A page and a half to go…along with some rereads and we should be set.

Since, for some peculiar reason, today is actually a cloudy one, we head out into the yard to work with the rocks again. Though by this time the sun is peeking out from behind the clouds, the temperatures are bearable. On little sister’s insistence, we start on the stone stairs that are going to lead up to my cabin.

I doubt that I’ll manage to master the task that requires more patience than I possess, I’m game and we start…it ends in frustration, really. I’ve found that building steps is definitely not my forte. I’m actually disheartened, thinking I’ve lost my touch when I finally give up and leave the task to big brother, who, with little effort, corrects the disaster I’ve created. Hah.

With that task well in hand, little sister and I move to the other stairs that big brother already finished and decide to finish the last two wheelbarrows on a small wall alongside the steps. Thankfully, I haven’t lost my touch after all, since ten minutes later a nice little wall is in place. Conclusion: I do walls; big brother can do the stairs. Hah.

That done, and today’s mess dealt with, we head into the house to lock the dogs into the courtyard and have a quick snack before we leave to get a new load of rocks.
Since big brother is driving the first section, I decide to take the opportunity to have a quick run up our drive sweep. The muscles do the task really well; no more screaming on their part, so my only problem when I reach the top is that I’m out of breath.

Once in the car, we head down our usual road. It takes a bit of searching but in the end, we locate a spot where a wealth of choices awaits to be tossed into the back of the truck.
Less than forty minutes later we return home and unload the rocks op on the rapidly growing pile near the main gate. Since we’re almost done around the wall, and we still have massive piles there, we can’t dump them around the carport any more.

Pretty much running on empty, I hang laundry and then have a quick dinner of French fries while big brother settle down in the courtyard with my laptop to attempt some more work on the synopsis. We’re both tired, however, so we decide to retire a little earlier than usual, and end up discussing the progress of the past few weeks before I can finally start with the Blog and get online for some relaxation.

I do hope that tomorrow brings a nice fresh breeze, because the temperatures are a tad uncomfortable this early in the year. Usually we’d have another week or two of pleasant weather, so I sincerely wish that the pattern of the past few years would persist in that matter. Working with the rocks is going to be so much harder in the heat.