Haul number two.

Song of the day: “I really don’t think so” by K-Otic. It’s a definite one-hit wonder, but it was cute. Strange that’s in my head…well, maybe not: it was one of the songs little brother put on Itunes the other day. Hah.

A busy day, yesterday. Middle sister and I hung the shelves in her room, which was a pain in the butt, considering the wall in there isn’t all that straight to begin with, but we managed. I still need to put a support under it, but by then the closet should be done too, so there’s no hurry.

Also hung the new mirrors in the corridor, and they look kind of grand, since they’re huge and have a rather wide border with intricate woodwork and everything. I like it. The old mirror had to be hung in the bathroom (it is going to need some repairs) and it looks nice there too.

All this needed to be done within a couple of hours, since we fully intended to go out into the country to get a new batch of rocks (the flat kind that we can only get on one location) before nightfall. It’s a long drive, however, and due to rush hour it was already getting dark when we finally got there.

So we ended up skulking through the riverbed, searching for the dratted things with bad flashlights. Got a nice batch, however, making up for at least half of the patio stairs. You see, we decided that we’re really going to have to redo the patio stairs, which are literally eroding because of all the action they’re seeing. It’s going to be a hell of a job, but it’s gotta be done.

It was kinda nice to do the rock hauling again, really, excellent exercise walking back and forth with heavy rocks that make your joints protest and your muscles scream, hah. I was pretty much done for by the end of it, and just the thought of doing any proofreading made me look cross-eyed…luckily we decided against the task, and went out (in the middle of the night, mind you, hah) for a drive to clear our heads instead.

Came across another dumpsite, filled with piles and piles of wood that we really couldn’t leave there for the garbage disposal trucks to take away. It was just too beautiful, downright beautiful and perfect for the glass and wood walls we still have to build this winter. I have to say that it was a rather interesting end of the evening.

This morning, was of course, back to normal, beginning with a four hour work session behind the computers, putting in the corrections (it feels like we’re really finagling the details by now, I feel downright nitpicky because of it) and going through the materials.

Since, I’m a little ahead of big brother, after one chapter I can quickly get to my messages, go through the chat forums (they’re just too much of a temptation) and then it’s back to the second chapter of the day. Once they’re done it’s back outside for the third layer of paint on the closet and me working on the three drawers that need to go in it…again in just a few hours because we intend to do another rock haul trip.

We get there about half an hour before nightfall this time, and because the rocks are scattered around in one particular area it is more than enough time to fill up this huge crate we made for the back of the car. We head on back with a full load that should make the supply enough to (hopefully) get the full stairs done.

Saw a lot of the puppies these past few days. They are acclimating to the pack rather well, and just love to go roundabout, driving our tenant’s caretaker bonkers with chasing after them. For us it is rather fun to watch, what with the little ones not being our responsibility for a change, hah. We just get to cuddle the little ones…they’re getting to be so big…without any of the hassle.

The puppy stage is really an amazing time, but such a dratted fuss that I am rather happy that all my dogs are fully grown and independent. For the first eight weeks or so it is practically impossible to get anything done properly (when you’ve got puppies around, that is) and having had puppies for a time of four years in the past thirteen, I’ve had all the puppy time I ever needed.

It is one of the reasons why I have switched to adopting dogs that are at least over six months old for several years now. They’ll still be young enough to form a tight connection, but they won’t need the 24/7 attention, the way puppies do. Between three and eighteen months is the ideal age to get a dog…for me anyway.

Pups are still incredibly cute, though, no amount of exposure to them will ever change that…and I still end up using baby talk with them. Hah.

But enough of puppy-talk, the day has come to another end, and I head towards midnight at the new desk in the new office. It still needs some work, but the atmosphere in the area is rather pleasant, to say the least. I think it is going to be a splendid place for some serious writing in the near future.

Forgetful me.

Song of the day (well, the day before yesterday): “I love you but I don’t like you” by Right said Fred. A funny song, but it drove me bonkers all through Thursday.

I know, I’m a day late with the Blog, but because of some inexplicable reason I completely forgot last night. Very bad of me. I’m shocked that I forgot, really. Very unlike me…in particular because I’m usually making mental notes throughout the day, so I’ll have a general idea what to write about. Well, let’s just try to compound it all.

Lots of carpentry these past three days. Middle sister’s closet is almost done, it was primed just last night, and today the light yellow paint will be slapped on. It’s starting to look pretty good, allowing for lots of space once we get it into her room.

Little brother is hard at work with those lamps I mentioned the other day. They all need fittings, and power lines, but he’s steadily slugging his way through the lot. Two are already standing on the veranda as of last night, and they look pretty darn cozy.

Big brother and grandpa are working on the outside fencing and have got four poles in the rock ground, and have fixed the side gate so we can use it, whenever the dogs are crowding the big one. Yay. Big brother figures he’s going to need some practice with the welding machine before we start on the new main gate, so this was an excellent start.

Little sister’s birthday went by without a hitch on Friday, and the cheesecake was a bloody success. An excellent desert for the pasta and fresh tomato (from our own yard, by the way) sauce she prepared herself.

Her birthday resulted in a trip to town yesterday, because she really wanted to have zipper sweater for the winter, so we did some relaxed shopping by roaming through a department store. Since there was a late sale, I bought a body warmer for myself, ‘cause, let’s face it, I’m a total whiner when it comes to the cold. Hah.

The puppies are getting along famously with the other dogs; the pack took about fifteen minutes to sniff them up and down, nudged them a little out of sheer curiosity, and before you know it, lost interest in favor of snoozing around us while we worked on the ongoing projects.

The weather is downright gorgeous this past week. Sunshine, fresh breeze and temperatures in the high twenties (C)…which has the sibs in a snit, while grandpa and I are downright thrilled. Hah.

So, what else was there these past three days? I’m trying to think of something here, give me a sec…oh yeah, managed to get a new second-hand wheelchair for our tenant. It was damaged some, (which explains why we got it practically for free) but after a short examination of the old and new one, I quickly managed to make one perfectly fine wheelchair of the two. Tenant and her caretaker are thrilled, of course, since the new chair is far more comfortable than the old, and you can almost imagine that this one isn’t second-hand.

Yesterday’s song of the day was: “You’re my mate” also by Right said Fred. I don’t know what’s up with that. I mean, the songs are fun and all, but having them inside my head for several hours on head is, like, wahay too much.

We did another garbage run, of course, got this huge load of new, strangely cut MDF (Medium Density Fibreboard) boards that are going to be a pleasure to work with in the near future. That stuff is so darn expensive, and yet, there it was, piled so high in a garbage bin that we could hardly fit it into the car. Insanity of a shop-aholic society is the wet dream of the do-it-yourself home-improvers. Hah.

There were a couple of days involving lousy proofreading, and then yesterday, we suddenly (much to our surprise) managed two full chapters again. I don’t know why one day it will work, and the other it feels like mounting the Himalayas, but there it is.

Lots of ticks again: The ugly little parasites seem to be breeding by the dozen. Why, just yesterday I petted Njanna (Golden Retriever) and removed fifteen big ones that were sitting on him like big warts. The same goes for old Ambah (Cocker Spaniel) who had about the same amount small and big all over his face and shoulders. Gawd, I hate those things…and the stupid chemicals are obviously not working. We might start using the natural way again, one of these days. We found this rather interesting recipe for a spray that we really have to try.

Today’s song of the day is: “Blame it on me” by Maria Mena…or at least, I think it will be because I woke up with it.
With a little luck we’ll finish the new closet today, get another session on the book done, and then…well, we’ll see how it goes.

Unexpected surprises.

Song of the day: “The animal song” by Savage Garden. I really love this song. I hadn’t heard it for years and the little brother suddenly put it on the house Itunes yesterday, and wham, I got it stuck in my head. I don’t mind. Hah.

As for today, it’s opera…or at least I think it is. Remember that song from “The Shawshank Redemption” where Tim Robbins locks himself up in the director’s office and puts this opera piece on the speakers throughout the prison? That one. Pretty song, but much like Morgan Freeman in the movie…I have not a clue what they’re singing about. Hah.

I’ve discovered that it is really hard to remember stuff from yesterday, so I hope that I can touch the highlights in a fashion that they’ll make sense.

First of all, (yesterday) we had a really good proofreading session, checking out alterations we put in during the last edit, crawling two chapters closer to the end. Yay. Excellent scenes, making us want to read on even after the allotted time came to an end and we had to head outside, to start planting the fourteen aralias we found and the four others-that I don’t remember the name of.

It took a few hours digging up to 18 holes in the ground, but they do look pretty grand within the courtyard garden, over the old pool and down by the old bus. I love green shrubs like that, especially since, according to the Internet, they can grow up to nine feet high and spread underground. Marvelous.

Who knows, at some point we might actually get the entire yard filled with green…it’s not that farfetched really. With two thirds of the property already greenery, we’re by far the greenest patch in the neighborhood. Hah.

After the gardening, I had fully intended to head inside to continue with the office, but since middle sister told me that her wardrobe closet is slowly falling apart, I decided to take her up to the old horse stable. There we went through the large supplies of wood we have been gathering for the past few months, and came up with a nice selection of what will soon be a really solid closet. Added to a dresser we’re going to scrape bare and the paint into the same color, she’ll be all set.

We’d just about finished gathering everything we needed, when little brother informs me that we forgot to return the DVDS yesterday, meaning that big brother and I headed for town to see to the task. Since there was another load of garbage to dispose of, we headed for the landfill as well and were absolutely stunned at what we found.

I mean, seriously; I was agog. Some store with artisan furniture and knickknacks must have gone bankrupt, or something, because the enclosed area was filled with (slightly damaged but still) beautiful small cabinets, artfully inlaid picture frames, CD racks, drawers, heck there were even a lot of those African Giraffe art pieces, cats and horses. And lamps, absolutely gorgeous lamps that I couldn’t have left behind if my life had depended on it. Whicker with leather tubes, some of reed and metal, beautiful. We took just about everything that we managed to fit in, and even tied three of those lamps to the top of the car.

Once everything is repaired…’cause somebody obviously had a field day wrecking it all while unloading…I think that everything combined would have set us back 1K. And someone just threw it away. I don’t get it. I mean, okay, you lost your shop (I think this is a shop I’ve actually shopped at, at times, but found to expensive to return to) why throw anything that gorgeous away? Seriously, put it for sale for 50 cents and you’ll save on the gas costs, for crying out loud.

Not that I’m complaining, mind you. Due to this I can pretty much redecorate the house, hah.
But anyway. We were pretty much stuffed to full capacity…I barely fit in there at all and by the time we got home I was feeling a tad claustrophobic and more than a little achy from having twisted into a rather extreme angle, Hah.

Once at home, we immediately unloaded the stuff, because early this morning the car had to go to the garage to have the windshield replaced, and then headed into the house for a very late dinner and then another quick reading session up at my cabin.

Which brings us to today:
Not much computer work today, considering big brother had to go to the dentist. While he was there I went to the hardware store to get another bucket of paint, (middle sister’s room needs to be redone, ‘cause the paint is peeling everywhere…saw as much yesterday when I took measurements for her closet…, a roll of fencing (due to all the wood we’ve been gathering these days we really want to put a fence around the last part of our property. There’s a problem with theft ‘round here) and another gas stove for the office. What with winter rapidly approaching, we’re going to need it in the office.

Once we got home, I made the cheesecakes for little sister’s B-day tomorrow. It only took an
Hour or so, but still it left me only half an hour to do some more reading on the manuscript. Then it was time to go outside again…it was another gorgeously sunny day, loved it…to start on middle sister’s closet.

While we were doing this, little brother and sister started on the repairs of the new finds, completing two wonderfully old-looking Chinese cabinets that are going to look gorgeous in the new office.

Mom, spend her time painting the two identical mirrors we found the other day, and by now they are ready to be hung in the hallway. Big brother and grandpa headed out to the horse stable, where the started digging the holes for the new fence poles.

By the time the evening drew to an end…I spent most of the afternoon diverting my attention between the younger sibs, helping them with the repairs, and working on the closet with middle sister…finished the basis of the closet and were more than ready to call it a day. Oh boy, there’s nothing more exhausting than doing three to four things at the same time. My brain feels as if my skull is cracked, letting air in, hah.

Little sister made red beets with rice and cheese, which fell really well on my empty stomach by the end of the evening. I was so friggin’ hungry, my stomach must have thought my throat was cut, haha…don’t remember where that quote comes from, but I always thought it was hilarious.

Well, that just about sums up the past couple of days, I guess. Time to finish up and get to my messages.

Office remodelling: part 2.

Song of the day: “Can you hear me” by Enrique Iglesias…and boy did I hear. It was like a stereo pounding in my ears when I woke up. Hah. Still, it’s not the worst song to have in one’s head…the volume could have been a little more modest, but still.

Well, let’s get to this, ‘cause I still have a lot to do. Yesterday, lemme think here for a minute. What’d we do yesterday…yep, the old noggin’ isn’t really cooperating for some reason, and whenever I come up with something, I start to do doubt whether or not it was yesterday, or the day before. Hmmm.

I know we hung two shelves, and then spent the remainder of the afternoon hauling in my files, going through them to see what we could throw away, and cleaning the piles of dust coating books, knick-knacks and supplies before setting them in place. Looking good, so far, but still not entirely done. Soon, though. Very soon.

The rounded terrace doors are in and so are the finishing sections that close off the wall around it. Only a paintjob, and setting the panes away from having them done completely. While the younger sibs and I were putting office supplies and research books in, big brother and grandpa were using wood paste to close the cracks and whatnot. Looking good.

I spent a portion of the afternoon working with Knight II. The big lug is such a klutz that the only solution to his sometimes-disastrous exuberance is teaching him some extra manners. Seriously, when he barges through the pack they will literally scatter from fear of getting hit by his massive paws.

The puppies are doing really well. Growing rapidly and more than eager to head out of their confinement: We checked with the local vet, just to make sure that memory served us right and confirmed that parvo has an incubation period of 3 weeks, so one more week to go and then they should be home free. A good thing too, ‘cause they’re getting to be a mite impatient.

As it turns out the flea bath we gave them had no effect whatsoever…darn it! Fleas aplenty all over the place, which is rather frustrating. But that too will pass, at some point. I don’t suppose it’s helping that for the past couple of days the temperatures went back up. Here we were, already adjusting to the cooling temperatures of Autumn and the next thing you know, the mercury rises to a solid 28 degrees (C) during the day and 23 during the night. It is a rather shocking sensation. And there I was, already contemplating getting out my winter clothes.

I did decide on doing a workout yesterday, by the way, and it was downright wonderful. All the old moves (haven’t done any real kickboxing for almost four months) were still properly engrained and the hour session went by without a hitch, leaving my muscles humming their delight. I’d worried that I would have to start from scratch after the long summer break, but I was basically still at the level where I left off…which is grand.

But anyways, even though yesterday’s correcting session (hopefully this is the last round) went pretty well, at night big brother and I, were both too weary to be able to focus properly. As luck would have it the focus was still lacking this morning, and that while I was in a pretty good mood at finding out that I wasn’t even sore from yesterday’s workout. Darn it.

Did manage a full chapter, so all was not lost in the end. We did something at least, and that is all that matters. With the slight hiccup dismissed we head out to continue with the office. There’s more organizing to do, maybe putting in another shelve, because let’s face it, there’s no such thing as too much storage space. Hah.

I am rather looking forward to little sister’s birthday three days from now by the way. 21 years old, oh my. Time does fly. I remember the night she was born almost like it was last year; such an adorable little baby, turning into a downright amazing young woman. I sometimes marvel at her and the other younger sibs, really. All three adults now, and decent, pleasant people with whom life is pleasant, if not downright fun. I can’t ask for more than that, really.

But let’s not get maudlin. On with the day:
The shelving gets to be a definite thing, considering there’s a large pile of photo albums (I really should scan them and organize them into new books…I’ll have to wait until time opens up a bit) that are still floating about without a destination. It takes only half an hour or so to make one to match the others, and soon, we’re cleaning the albums and putting them on top.

While the younger sibs are painting the arched terrace doors, middle sister and I tackle cleaning windows and then the new desk and shelves for more stacking.
At the same time, mom is putting new seats on the office chairs, and by the time darkness falls, and I have put up a temporary network of electricity, it is time to call it quits so we can take out another batch of debris we have accumulated for the past few days.

Much to my relief there is nothing awesome waiting for us at the landfill…except for a few wooden beams that should turn out to be useful with outside work. On the way home we pick up a couple of large framed mirrors, and the this cute little loveseat I’ve had my eye on for months now, and which will fit in the office perfectly.

Now this would have been a fine day, but it got even better when we drove on the road near another nursery where they had filled up an entire waste bin with a big load of plants just begging us to take them along. I can’t believe that they threw stuff like that. Two plants of twenty bucks a pop, and another fifteen or so of ten bucks each. I mean, seriously, are they insane…hmmm, stupid question. I’m not complaining, really, I’m not. They are going to look so neat in the courtyard.

When we got home and unloaded the urgent loads, it was time to get to dinner. Mom made paneer with curried veggies and boiled rice, and the first is still, literally making my mouth water. It was delicious and for all I cared dinner could have consisted of the paneer alone. Yum.

But by now the evening has drawn to an end, and even though there is still some “work” reading ahead of me, I’m just about ready to call it a day, phew. My feet are killing me, for some reason.