Oops.

Song of the day: “Walk on by” by Bryan Adams. A marvelous song, so it’s a good one to have in my head if I have to have one. Hah.

I actually manage to sleep seven hours this night. There were turbulent dreams, but the details faded too fast for me to remember them when I wake up. A pity really, especially since a good dream would have been a nice little thing to share today.

Feeling a little lethargic when I wake, I take the time to do some serious stretching, because, let’s face it, I feel like an old woman this morning, hah. It takes a while for the ol’ engine to get going, and when I get down to the house, the dogs make a racket in their enthusiasm to storm inside. Nothing unusual there, of course, it just struck me.

Since big brother is already there, we have to take care that a fight doesn’t ensue between his pack and mine. Knight II and Fortuyn (a pointer) really don’t like each other, and considering that Tallis (a crossbreed) is scared as heck for Knight II too…well, caution is advisable in that case.

Once my bag has been deposited on the table, it’s time to start on the morning chores. Laundry gets dealt with, followed by a bit of cleaning, and next thing I know big brother and I are once again working on the edit. We don’t get much done during the course of today’s work, but we do add another page or two with a lot of effort.

It is a complicated scene, and though the original version isn’t bad, to be comprehensive, a lot of the sentences need to be rearranged until it makes sense to a reader, rather than me (the writer, duh). It’s frustrating as hell, especially to recreate an image that is already so clear in my head. It is like making a perfect photograph, the composition just so that is only in focus for me. So, to recreate that, in order for someone else to see it the way I do, is like having to set up the entire scene in the same way and then taking the shot from an entirely different angle.

Luckily, in the end, the scene does come out in the right way however, so it is well worth the frustration after all. Eight more pages to go in the rewrite-edit so soon we’ll be done, yay!

Oh yeah. I'm also adding a new scene in the epilogue, for some reason. Interesting. It's an excellent start for the third book.

The day is remarkably clouded, so the temperatures are low enough to actually wear jeans and a flannel shirt. With that plus in mind, we’re all pretty exited about starting today’s work outside in the occasional sunshine and cool breeze. It makes work a lot easier.

For the project, we have to move a pile of rocks that has been stored on top of the wall, and the new terrace it creates, away, so that we can soon start filling it up with dirt and rubble and create an even surface. It takes the four of us almost an hour to move it from one place to the next, at which time little sister and I start on the second plant container that will be attached to the first (created the day before yesterday).

What with the heavy work these past few days, my wrists have been hurting somewhat fierce throughout the day, and since they only get worse, I decide to just shovel cement and let little sister do the difficult part of the job, rather than aggravate the injuries with, bulky, large and heavy weights.

We manage the second plant container just fine within the time allotted for today’s task, and when we’re done, we head into the house to have a quick dinner of the meal mom prepared for us. Red beets, fried with rice and cheese, an all time favorite for the entire family. Once stuffed, we quickly head on out to get a new load of rocks from our usual spot.

While working there, we do realize that we have gotten so many rocks in the past few weeks that the supply is actually dwindling down so much that there isn’t even enough in one spot to get a proper load. What are the chances, really, of depleting a supply beside several miles of road that is under construction…in a rocky area no less?
It sure means that we have been a tad enthusiastic. Hah.

By the time we return my wrists are hurting so much that, rather than help unload, I decide to carry down the supply of dog food that was delivered today. While big brother and grandpa take the rocks out, I go up and down the mountain, making a nice pile of forty-pound bags that make up a solid 640 pounds in total. Yep, the training stuff these past few months are definitely paying off. Heck, my knees didn’t even protest.

Once that’s done we depart again, this time carrying a couple of shovels to we can head to a place where large piles of dirt have been dumped during the construction of the road, and spend an hour transferring about 2000 pounds of dirt into the back of the truck. I do admit to being a tad…ehm, empty by the end of that, so I’m more than happy that midnight is only a couple more hours away.

We watch a recorded episode of “NCIS” and then I head up to my cabin. I need an Ibuprofen and decide to wrap up my wrists with Arnica. With a little luck they’ll be a lot better by this time tomorrow…presuming I don’t screw up by carrying something that’s too heavy before they have the chance to recover. Hah.

What with the wrapped up wrists and my somewhat giddy mood (I tend to get giddy when I’m tired, I don’t know why) the conversation with big brother about grammar, soon goes into the ridiculous, so we wrap up for the evening and try to aim for an early night.

It sure feels like a good day, even with the wrapped up wrists. It makes for an interesting typing experience. Hah.