Sunburned!

Song of the day: “Our life is gonna change” by Simona Barbeiri, again, I think. I distinctly recall writing about it before. I wonder if there are comparisons between the days…hmmm. I could check but that would defeat the purpose of the experiment, seeing as I decided to see how long this song-going-through-my-head thing is going to last, and then see if there’s a pattern. A pity.

But let’s get to the day fast, ‘cause I’m a wee bit sunburned, and feel it. Hah. I need to hit the sheets before it really gets uncomfortable.

So, what happened today? I’ll tell you (as if I usually don’t, hah):
The day started a solid two hours, maybe more, before my usual waking time. I got to play chauffeur again, you see. It would be nice to say that I was looking forward to it, but since that would be a lie…I won’t. Hah.

Our tenant had to go to Marbella, to a doctor because my insurance insisted on seeing her personally, rather than just call her regular doc at the big hospital, aaargh. So there we went, yours truly, our tenant and her caretaker, driving in the quickly warming morning sun with me swallowing down my must-have coffee (waking up early is a pain) and sucking on my morning cigarette like a pro…I know, very attractive image, what with the fashionable horror stories about cigarettes, but what can I say: I smoke.

But anyway, we head for Marbella on the very road where they had the accident.
Neither of my two passengers can remember the exact location, so it wasn’t a problem, and when we arrive in town, it takes us almost forty minutes until we finally locate the clinic on a street that literally goes on for about two miles without an option to turn off; we drove it four times. Uh-huh. That’s Marbella for ya. I’ve sure seen enough of it in the past few weeks to last me another ten years or so.

I got to wait in the car (yes, I’m like a genuine chauffeur in these instances) for almost an hour, and due to big brother’s rather brilliant suggestion, I had taken my laptop with me and managed to write a page or two for another “Commanding Morgan” scene. Yay. Imagine me, wedged behind the wheel, computer in-between, MP3 blaring in my ears, tapping away until I was startled straight out of a rather intriguing sentence, when the passenger door was yanked open…our tenant was done and had returned. Drat.

The drive back was relatively uneventful, the Land Rover did it without a hitch, and by the time we got home, four hours after departure, I soaked in the pool for a few minutes before heading inside to fold today’s laundry. The temperatures had gone up considerably by then: we hit the 105 mark, I think.

What followed was another editing session…it’s going slow but steady…and then, two hours later I’ve had enough of staring at the screen, take another dip in the pool (it’s even hotter by then and even Knight II flops down on his butt in the water) and make my way up to the carport. I make cement and put the last bit on top of the square pillar (I didn’t have enough cement yesterday, remember?) and then move the mess up to my cabin where I can add some more to the low wall.

We have a slight interruption, to treat Camera’s (Golden retriever) big ol’ lump on her shoulder again. The poor girl really gets too excited whenever she comes storming out the patio in the morning. Each and every time she’ll pounce on one of the other dogs, and ends up being bitten in the exact same spot that is supposed to be healing.

What with my recent dip in the pool, I don’t actually notice that I’m standing in the full blaze of the sun in this particular spot, and by the time I do, it is already too late. My skin felt tight, dry and as if it had been sanded; but seeing as the damage is done, I shoulder on, haul rocks, build them up and finish up around the time the sun has dropped low enough for the mimosa tree to offer me shade.

The low wall is looking rather pretty, I’ll admit. On the section that adjoins my beautiful stairs up to the porch, I’ve made a nice seat…with a ridiculously large slate of rock that was almost too heavy to carry…and added maybe three by two foot to the whole.
Now, our intention was to keep this section of wall low, but then we reconsidered with the realization that we’d need a wall where we can hang the garden hose, which explains why I’ve gradually been adding rocks to increase the height.

The youngest sibs prepared dinner and after soaking in the pool for a solid fifteen minutes…oh my, did that feel grand; I was really overheated…before I head inside to have egg rolls with stir fry noodles and veggies. Delicious. Seeing as my skin was really starting to look a sort of lobster reddish, I slathered on a rich amount of after sun and felt downright blissful when the stuff had its soothing effect.

TV couldn’t capture my attention, so instead, big brother and I settle in the courtyard - in a downright wonderful northwestern wind, I might add - and manage another edit before we both decide that it’s enough for today, and call the session to a stop in hopes that we can make it an early night.

Might as well start fresh in the morning, rather than push when there really is no energy left to push with. Hah.