Temporarily closed.

Until Monday, I'm going to have to postpone Blogging. It's a shame, really, but I'm going to elbow deep in work with no chance to focus for a proper recount of the day.
Who knows, I might have some good news to share by the beginning of the new week, and if not, I get to complain a lot. Yay!

It's starting to look "totaled". *sigh*

Well, today was a doozy, when it concerns activities. I had to get up three hours prior to my usual waking time, because (our tenant’s) caretaker and I needed to head to the village, town and the city to make all the arrangements for the car.

First up, is the insurance company; as it turns out all is paid up, and everything is covered. Phew. Admittedly it takes several hours to figure it all out, but by the time we head out to the rental we have an address where the towing service brought out car, and we can head to our own garage to confirm that we’ll have the truck towed to them later.

That done, having been on the road for three hour, we’re on our way to Marbella, where we manage to actually find the garage where our truck was brought to.
Regretfully it is already too late in the morning, since the shop has closed for lunch, so instead caretaker and I decide to head for the chain supermarket that we usually frequent, and do our bimonthly shopping to kill time.

Afterwards we tour a little through the city, visiting old places where she used to work and then the hour has arrived: We get to see the poor, damaged truck, which is lilting to the ground like a badly battered warrior who fought a battle too many. Strangely enough the sight reminds me of that old Disney movie where “Herbie” had been wrecked and was standing miserably in the dust.

It’s a sorry sight, and looking at it, alternating between peculiar laughter and sadness, I have to admit that I’ll be surprised if the garage will be able to fix it in the price range that we can afford.

On the overall it seems that the hood is about a foot shorter than it’s supposed to be. The right side wheel is bent; the front looks like a Transformer waiting to bite, and on the inside, the foot space has come up at least half a foot as well. The damage makes me rather proud that the truck did such an excellent job of protecting its occupants…tis just regretful that it had to have been so extensive.

Poor little truck: it keeps going through my mind while we dig out the papers and anything else that made it through the crash-including our tenant’s wheelchair, which weathered the storm just fine in the back. And then spend more than an hour arranging for the tow truck through faulty phone connections, ever-repeating call-waiting music, until at last all is arranged for, leaving it up to the service to bring it to our regular garage.

The drive home is spent, rehashing the accident, and caretaker trying to locate the exact location. A quick trip in town, where a few final purchases need to be made, and then we’re home, exhausted after six hours that, albeit successful were rather draining.

The dogs are insane when I arrive, of course. None of them appreciate having been “alone” for that long a time and they jump and bark at me for several minutes before they finally quiet down enough to allow me to give the family a full report of today’s events.

While I was away, big brother has spent the majority of the hours, working on getting one of the books on Mobipocket, which appears to be a suitable substitute for Kindle, since we’re in Spain and can’t actually publish on Kindle. There are still a few minor hitches that we need to look into, but once we do, it should work out.

Also, taking the horrid option in consideration that we won’t be able to afford the repairs of the damage to the car, he has been looking around for the prices of a occasion vehicles and the price range we’re going to have to consider.

Well, I’ll have to continue in the morning, cause I’m seriously exhausted, but those were pretty much the broad strokes. We shuffled around some rocks, just to keep busy, there were chores like laundry, and starting on putting down tubing for a tap on the new terrace, but that’s about it.

On to tomorrow…hopefully with several hours of sleep under my belt. Hah.

Totaled????

Something very close to disaster struck today, so we’re going to divert from the course and put down a short little report that should tide anyone reading this over until further notice. Hah.

There was an accident, which, according to reliable sources, means that our wonderful Truck was totaled.
Luckily the driver and passenger…our tenant and her caretaker, they needed to borrow it to get to the hospital for rehab…are both fine, some bruises, a few cuts, but that’s about it.

Big brother and I were in the middle of our daily edit when the call came in, so that put us all in high gear: arrangements had to be made. First thing up, insurance papers needed to be unearthed, spare keys found, (just in case) and clothes for our tenant, while big brother drove off on grandpa’s moped so he could go rent a car in the village.

In the mean time contact needed to be kept with the two that had been carted off to the emergency room (so connections were iffy and in most cases not allowed). Apparently, the airbags came out and the truck made a full frontal with the concrete barriers of the road, while another car ploughed straight into the side. I’m seeing horror images in our head of how things could have turned out, but I’m going to reserve some contingency plans until we’ve had a chance to survey the damage.

Through out the entire procedure the dogs are remarkably calm, keeping the noise to a minimum while we're going back and forth, and staying out of our way for a change. Strange how they always do on days when it's really necessary. The same thing happened during the fire. Almost as if they sense that something is up.

Since there was no rental available on arrival, big brother ended up waiting for the car for three friggin’ hours, during which our tenant’s phone ran out of power, so we had no means to stay in contact until her caretaker managed to use a landline on hospital grounds. First, the hospital made an offer to have an ambulance drive them home, but then when dusk fell, big brother finally arrived and I made a quick trip to the village with grandpa to get the moped, they still hadn’t arrived, more calls were made.

It soon became clear that they were still waiting for their ride, so we just decided to cancel that, and drove to the city ourselves to pick them up. We probably passed the accident site on the way, and it looked like things could have been far worse, all things considered. We’re minus one car, but two friends are still alive and kicking, with only a sore body to show for the adventure.

When we arrive at the hospital, it takes a moment to locate the couple, of which our tenant has spent over six hours lying on a hard cod. She is literally so sore that she turns pale when an orderly roughly pulls her up, so we can take her home. It takes some effort, what with big brother resorting to picking our tenant up…she’s still paralyzed on most of her left side…and carefully setting her in the front seat. She was in pain but eager to go home.

We make it home in record time, and the younger sibs are already waiting for us to help carry our tenant to her room and straight to bed. It’s well past midnight by then, so after a quick snack of sandwiches, we call it a night and decide to go to bed early in order to start fresh in the morning. A lot will need to be done, that’s a fact.

Not much going on: Summer's coming.

Song of the day: “Broken wings” by James Morrison and Nelly Furtado. Wonderful song. Ended up singing it all through while hanging laundry.

I am a little on the late side this morning. The temperature in my cabin is so darn good that I have trouble getting up; it almost ends in disaster too, since the dogs somehow manage to open the gate to the upper garden and try to eat grandpa before I even notice what’s going on.

No harm, no foul, however. I grab the monster boxer, lift her from the ground and slap Knight II on the butt to get him back within the fence. Grandpa is none the worse for wear, all things considered, (he managed to keep Trin Trin at bay) and laughs at the debacle as I apologize for the pesky pets.

Once breakfast is dealt with, along with throwing laundry in the machine and the other usual chores, big brother and I settle in for the read-through edit. It goes rather disastrously, I’ll admit. As is usual when diverting from a particular mindset (for instance, yesterday’s letter preparations) it is hard to change gears again.

For some reason we can’t find our focus and end up doing only five or six pages. What with the heat increasing (in central Spain an orange alert is in play. Madrid hit the low forties. Yows!) rapidly during the course of the day, taking no heed of the clouds that cover the sky, a joined decision is made not to build walls today.

Instead, maintenance chores get picked. Big brother and grandpa decide to check out their handiwork on the pool filter they’ve been trying to repair this past week, while I tackle the mess in the courtyard.

Wires are crisscrossing all over the place, and building debris has piled up in the corners, warranting a good cleaning. First thing that needs to be done is remove the old bathtub we’d put there for dog washing. Second, is getting the wheelbarrow and shovel and removing dirt, rocks and whatnot until two full loads are removed.

Next, there’s the fence that keeps the dogs contained inside the house and courtyard during the night…can’t have them roaming around when the Leishmania mosquito is swarming all over the place. The crooked fencing has been an eyesore for months now, and since I’m busy anyway, I decide to remedy the situation by taking out pliers and wires.

It takes some time and quite a bit of perspiration, but in the end the result is looking pretty tight and pleasant. With a little luck, Dax won’t be able to get out again. This will need proof in the near future, of course, but it should hold against the overly inventive Beagle who simply considers the world his personal tracking ground in his search for me. He must and will find me, even if he has to travel to town for it, the idiot.

But anyways, it takes a bit of time, lots of scratches (working with fences always has that result. Aaargh!) and sore fingertips, but I do manage the chore that I’ve been thinking about doing for months now, but just couldn’t get around to.

Around eight-thirty, a powerful wind starts up, blowing in from the west with wonderfully cool air that lures me to stay outside until dusk, hanging another batch of laundry, before hunger finally forces me into a much warmer house.

Once dinner is over, and with nothing of interest playing on the TV, I decide to head for my cabin early because due to all the busy activities these past few months my cabin is a disaster area. Clothes (clean ones, thank God) are piled everywhere, what with winter clothes still taking up space in my closet, spider webs hide the corners and my bathroom…well; it needs a good scrubbing to say the least.

Big brother joins me, while I’m sieving through clothes…the majority of them too large now…reading out loud so we can edit at the same time. We get through three more pages that way. And though I haven’t managed to clean the floors yet, things look decidedly better when I call it a day and settle in to start on today’s Blog and do some relaxing stuff on the Net.

Not much going on, when looked at individually, but all things together a successful day nonetheless. Got the fences fixed, the fire hose is attached to the back of the house, ready for use in case…God forbid…fire breaks out during the summer (it was another task grandpa and big brother took care of) and lots of cleaning was done. Yep. I’m putting this one in the “good day” section.

A hot slow day with a bit of rain

Song of the day: “Say it right” by Nelly Furtado. Strange, it took me a while before I actually liked this song, and yet here it is going through my brain every now and then.

Nothing of much interest during the morning hours, just the fact that I really would love sleeping in for a bit; but since it is getting decidedly warm in my cabin, I figure that this might not be the best idea. I hate that feeling of my head filling up with the proverbial cotton, so getting up is all for the best.

Sometime during the night, after 3 AM, some sort of warm front rolled in, bringing the temperature up to 27 degrees (Celsius, naturally. Too lazy to look up the Fahrenheit) without warning. Whew. Took me by surprise for a bit. Especially since the temperature was so very pleasant when I went up to my cabin.

This is actually the first night that I felt forced to use the fan. I had so wished I could postpone that for a bit longer, but it seems that the time has arrived. I’m definitely going to need to dig up my summer clothes.

But anyway…I head down to the house, tackle the laundry and then set up shop at the table, before quickly grabbing some breakfast and a large mug of coffee. My eyes just refuse to open, so by the time we’re an hour into preparing more query letters for publishers, I’ve downed three cups, and still am not feeling the effects. In the end I’m forced to do a quick exercise session, just to get some endorphins pumping.

Suitably jacked up by caffeine and exercise, I dive back into the most annoying part of being an author. Writing letters…one couldn’t possibly just send a chain letter, or anything. Nooooh. They need to be personalized and pimped and whatnot…printing them, checking them-and checking them again before putting them in their envelopes. Shut them, check them again, reopen a few just to make sure a mistake wasn’t made…aaargh…then reprinting the errors, and going through the process all over again. Hah.

We sit at the dratted computers, running back and forth between the printer, for six hours, checking addresses, folding paper and…well, you get my drift. By the time we decide to call it a day-both brothers worked alongside me-cross-eyed, punchy and rearing to be active for a bit.

While keeping track of addresses and such, little brother has been busy, working on the cover of “A Taste Of Life” which we intend to put out on either CreateSpace or Lulu sometime in the near future. It’s different…the cover that is…it took me a minute to get intrigued by what he’d done with the picture, but it is definitely growing on me. Some sort of aquarelle-like print; I would never have thought it, but it has a certain charm. I’ll post it on here as soon as we’ve decided that the final draft is really done.

We shut down the computers, gather up our working gloves and head on outside to spend an hour or two lugging rocks down the mountain. We’re going decidedly slower than we did yesterday. Not so much that it is heavier, just that we’re a tad more tired, I think.

Another ton or two gets hauled, followed by diner and then heading out to get another load from a new treasure spot we located the other day. While we arrive, clouds have gathered overhead and let loose a sporadic sheet of chubby rain. Strange, really; we never get rain this late in the summer. It is rather pleasant, however and cools us down pleasantly while we’re gathering rocks and pile them into the back of the truck.

Fully loaded, we return home and replenish the piles we so laboriously emptied during the past two days and then wearily return to the house for some much deserved relaxation.

By the time we finally get to sit down, the read-through edit is set on a back burner. We’re too tired to focus on much more than messing around with the computers…well, staring at the screen is a more accurate description, I guess.

Even the dogs are tired. They went back and forth with us while we were lugging rocks, so it’s no big surprise, all things considered. Even little Sita was having a party, for a bit, getting the same enjoyment from darting around our feet and making climbing down the steep path a somewhat dangerous venture.

Sleep! My bed! Aaahhh. ‘Tis luring me, I tell you. I think I’m going to surrender to it and start again tomorrow when my brain is functioning again. Hmmm. That might be asking for a bit too much, but then, hope springs eternal, or so they say. Hah.

Late, late, late.

Song of the day: “Taking back my love” by Enrique. Yay. Makes me want to bounce around the floor.

I am really, really late, and since it’s already 2:30 AM when I start writing this blog I am so screwed…and whoever is actually bothering to read this too, I guess since you’re gonna be stuck with a sum-up.

Worked on putting together, printing and then preparing a couple of query letters to go out to publishers on Monday. This always makes me nervous and today was no exception. I actually hate this part of publishing, but it needs to be done, so the letters get signed, checked one last time and then slipped neatly into their envelopes. Next they are stored away in a plastic folder, in which they’ll stay until they can be mailed.

Next, since we’ve been slaving away at the computer, luckily sharing a laugh or two, we head on out into the damp, somewhat misty day that somehow managed to be hot anyway. Rocks that have been piled in massive numbers all over the construction site need to be picked up, and carried down the mountain.

We’re too late to start building, so this is the next best option to get something done at least. For the next hour we go down and up and down again, figuring we might as well get some exercise out of it by going up at a slight jog and then hauling down rocks…well, us ladies did anyway. The brothers were lugging wheelbarrows. Hah.

The dogs love this kind of thing, naturally. For the first twenty trips or so they go along, back and forth, over and over again, and then when they start to tire, they’ll pick a spot somewhere in the middle…preferably right on the path where we’re walking with heavy rocks…to watch us like they’re at Wimbledon. Idiots!

Sita III is quite the cheering part too, dashing around our heels, looking all excited as if saying: “Oh, this is soooo much fun! Up, down, and up again. Look at me, I get there faster.” At one point she exhausts herself so much she just drops down and sleeps for a couple of minutes, just to start all over again.

We move at least 3 tons in total, which is starting to look like an impressive collection that will at one point be used for the fortification of the verandah. Not until the end of summer, hopefully, but before winter for sure.

Big brother, grandpa and I head out for another load of rocks afterwards (also a quick dinner of potatoes with red beats and cheese, yum) and by the time we return we’re pleasantly exhausted. Once I’ve dealt with the laundry, ate a cookie and swallowed down half a liter of cold water…man, was I parched…we settled down to do some more research online.

Well, that’s about it for today. I need to hit the sack, ASAP…before my face smashes my keyboard. Hah.