I overslept by fifteen minutes today, which was stupid since it made my eyes fall half-shut again most of the morning while big brother and I were making the proofread changes, again. Seems kinda endless, doesn’t it, but I like to look at the process like fine tuning, or even polishing the manuscript. We are actually coming to a point where it appears to be quite impossible to make any more improvements. Changes, sure, but not correcting errors. A good thing, I’m thinking.
There was a big batch of laundry, some other chores in-between the session, and then, because our focus feels a little shoddy today, we head out early.
The weather was downright beautiful today. A solid 29 degrees a fresh eastern wind, 41 % humidity and only a handful of tiny clouds dotting the clear blue sky; in other words: Absolutely perfect. Hah.
Because we’re early, we decide that today is the perfect day to start pouring the path that leads into the courtyard. The rocky, uneven ground has been an eyesore since the day it was dug for construction and finally we start putting in concrete that will allow for easy passage, and keep away mudslides in the winter to boot. Yay.
The preparations done, outcroppings chopped away (the jackhammer’s drill broken, for some reason, aaargh) and grandpa doing the removal of the debris, middle sister and I move the leftover piles of flat rocks out of the way. Little sister and brother start mixing cement, and by the time four batches are made, big brother is ready for the concrete and I begin hauling buckets, and shovels full with the stuff to cover up the path.
It takes some time and effort, especially because the dogs have this amazing NEED to walk on recently laid concrete. And yep, you can see this one coming, halfway into the path, Touri, (my black cocker spaniel) manages to climb over the temporary fence we put up, and gleefully barges through. Shouting and swearing ensues, the damage is fixed and by the time we get the path another foot farther, Arthur (he’s a timid one) tires to rush into the courtyard going, right through the path. Aaaaargh.
There’s more fixing and we’re just about reading to start adding new concrete once more - this time the courtyard gate is firmly shut, and the fence to the back yard open so the dogs can mess around there, behind the wall - when Alta (Portuguese waterdog) jauntily decided to scale the 7 feet high fence. He lands slab dab in the middle of the recently fixed path, of course, rushing straight at us, and then doubts, spins around uncertainly when we’re snarling at him (I know, not smart; it’s a knee-jerk response, hah) to get his butt out of the wet concrete. Grrr. By then we decide to chase the majority of the pack into the house so we can fix it…for the friggin’ third time
Looking good after all, especially compared to what it was like.
But anyway, after that rather troublesome venture of laying a path, we finally finish up, quickly fence the entire thing up and disperse into different tasks. While big brother and grandpa head up to the carport for…I don’t know what, actually, hmmm, I head down to the balustrade we put up yesterday.
The big vine that grew over the old one needs to be put up again and I spent about twenty minutes doing exactly that (little brother, the sweetheart, brings me a plate of fries to fill the hunger gap) and then head up to join grandpa and big brother at the construction site of the day.
Some cleaning and organizing follows, the concrete mixer needs to be hauled back up to its old place, tools cleaned, plants watered (like every day) and straightening out the mess.
That done, we head for the carport for a few more minor woodworks and setting up tools. In the final minutes of daylight I work some more on my new window - tomorrow we’ll put the glass in - and we chat for a bit before heading inside to have dinner.
A quick dip in the pool follows, changing into house clothes, and then it’s BLTs some more fries and digging in.
Here're some more pictures.
So, since I'm doing them anyway, this is from the BIG wall and the plants that grow there now.
This one too.
These are the stairs big brother worked on this past week. Downright perfect.
The seat over on the left was my doing, it's attached to the island and a big bowl for a rose or something.
Oh yeah, and this was the wall that crashed last week...or at least this is it's replacement. I love the old ruin feel to it.
Well, this 'll do for today.
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