Song of the day: “Joan of Arc” by Katie Melua. Had it once or twice before, I think. I really should start going through the past blog posts soon and see if there’s a pattern yet. I’m having a lot of repeats after all.
So yeah, yesterday time was short and something had to go…the blog got elected so now I’m going to have to rack my brain in an attempt to remember everything of the past few days for the usual recount. Rather difficult, I’ll admit, for some reason details always slip my mind.
Let me think…well, grandpas little wall (we’re doing an old English courtyard thing, just for the heck of it) is basically done. All it needs now is wooden poles and fence against it. There was some more rock hauling involved in the endeavor, cement, concrete and dirt, but it’s looking good. I can’t wait for when we can remove the temporary fence that has been there for the past five years or so. Hah.
Gardening: we did quite a bit of it in the past few days. There was turning the earth, tossing around seeds, putting in plants and weeding…boy, did we do a lot of weeding. The fun bit is that we found several clusters of what appear to be leek and onions. We actually have no idea how they got there, there’s like hundreds of ‘m, but whatever the cause it was a nice find. Means we’re going to have to plant a lot less of those, considering we’re all onion fiends. Hah.
Took stock of how all the new stuff is doing, and noted that iceberg slaw will soon be ready for consumption. The cauliflower is looking well, and so are the red cabbage and pak choi.
The new strawberry plants appear to be working, so are the tomatoes, and since we fully plan on getting a lot of our produce ourselves this year, we finally tied the knot and went to our favorite local Vivero (plant nursery) and looked around.
Ended up buying several fruit trees: Golden Delicious and Fiji apples, two kinds of cherry trees and navel, and blood oranges; also got two sweet lemon trees, one lunar lemon tree (this one gets new lemons every month, apparently), an almond tree, and two mango trees.
Added to that the owner gave use a couple of white grape plants, a fig tree and several herbs, such as mint and parsley, which is always a nice treat, hah.
The old guy, a true local Spanish dude and friendly as can be, informed us that this was, according to him, the wettest winter in sixty years. Oh my, is it ever! I swear, stuff is so wet these days that I sometimes fear I might actually be growing roots. Hah.
We do plan to go again next month or so to get raspberries, brambles and maybe a couple of plumbs and pears. If we’re going to do this “home growing” thing we might as well do it well and go for it the full hundred percent. Nothing worth having is done right if you do it halfheartedly, after all.
There was lots of planning going on. Though the new septic tank is one of the first projects on the list when the rains stop, we are fully planning on putting in the outside kitchen before then. Pizza oven, grill and stove all included are included in the design, along with a nice patch of roof for shade in the summer and dryness in the winter. It’s going to be an old fashioned, artisan kitchen, really, very basic and robust, and I can honestly not wait to see if it will look remotely like I’m imagining it. We’ve got a lot of the materials already…except chamotte, that is. That’s going to need some thought, as to where to get it *sigh*…though another trip or two for flat rocks will become a necessary thing in the near future.
Had two more sand hauling trips…we’re going through the stuff as if it’s water, for some reason, and every time we decide there should be enough for at least one big project, we do a small one and end up replenishing the supply. Got more rocks, too, which had to be “it” in light of exercise; there was no time for the actual thing. Hah.
Writing: One or two more pages for this scene and then we’re at the last one for the book. Crossed the 100.000 mark last night (the reason for not blogging last night; it was late and I had to prioritize in the last few hours of the day) and I’m balancing somewhere on the border of thrilled and sadness about the approaching ending. It’s not like I am going to twiddle my thumbs afterwards, or anything. There’s the edit, looming near like a friggin’ tsunami, and lots of other stories that still need to be written. I do hope I’m not going to fall into the post writing blues this time, ‘cause that is bloody annoying to say the least.
Did some cooking, naturally…nothing really special so let’s just say that food was consumed, hah. Some more exercises with our tenant happened, and considering I do not want her to feel obligated to mount stairs if she should be too tired to do it, I spent yesterday afternoon with the jackhammer, going through the bumpy rock surface of the path that leads to the courtyard. Now, if she decided that she can’t handle the stairs after her “visit” we will be able to get her back up the mountain in her wheelchair.
The new handles for the Land Rover arrived today, which meant that I went for an early morning trip to the village with grandpa. The weather has been downright atrocious since yesterday afternoon. It started right after we got back from the plant nursery: The wind suddenly picked up from the east and rain started pounding down…or in our case in. Literally had horizontal rain that was downright chilling on the skin. The wind has been howling and the rain has been pounding ever since…which is why I took grandpa to the village this morning, rather than let him risk life and limb on the moped.
The dogs are, of course soaking wet again, and Knight II, well, he's not liking it any better than the others. Heck, he's even staying inside at times now. Chaos' stitches are doing well, by the way, and the others, well, they're making the usual nuisance of themselves. Hah.
Well, it’s time for me to start on supper, so I better wrap this up and get to it. I do hope that the sun will be out by the time I need to write the next blog. Hah.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Friday, March 5, 2010
Just breezing through.
I would like to say that I have the time to actually do a blog today, but since I don't, let's call a postponement 'till tomorrow (or, at least, I hope I have time tomorrow)and leave it at that.
Song of the day was: "Hit the Road Jack" by...well, I've no idea, actually.
I've got a story to finish, darn it, I'm getting way too close. *sigh*
Song of the day was: "Hit the Road Jack" by...well, I've no idea, actually.
I've got a story to finish, darn it, I'm getting way too close. *sigh*
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Still raining, darn it.
Song of the day: “It wasn’t me” by Shaggy and…well, I actually don’t know his name, hmmm. Should I look it up? Nah, never mind. Funny song, though.
Well, I wish I could say that we had some grand days, but other than the last time I wrote, when the weather was downright splendid, today and yesterday it was raining buckets, darn it.
Seriously, for some reason the last couple of days give everything a somewhat nightmarish quality, like there are disjointed fragments that do not fit together at all, and yet seamlessly flow together in such a chaotic fashion that you just don’t know which end is up anymore.
Ah well, let’s get to it, shall we, otherwise I’ll just start maudlin or something, which would just annoy the…ehm, something out of all of us.
So where did I quit the other day? Oh yes, beautiful weather and I wanted to be outside…well, I did just that, naturally. It was rather splendid after all, and seeing as the sun was so wonderfully warm we took the opportunity to head down into the yard and turn a patch of earth at the bottom. Rather than putting in plants and such, we sowed seeds and potatoes. Red beets, cauliflower and a couple of broccoli, on a nice patch of six by twelve feet of rich dark earth. I wonder how they’re going to do…only one way to find out, I guess.
Considering there really wasn’t time for lunch, big brother and I both slapped some toppings on French bread and headed on up to the next task of the day. The younger sibs and I resumed grandpa’s wall, of course, while big brother started on the imperial he intends to make for the car.
There was dirt to be shoveled up and away, rock drill through and lots of other nasty little chores that we managed to get done in a couple of hours before we started hauling in rocks for the foundation part that runs to the bungalow. Did two rather big rocks, and I gotta admit that I almost couldn’t hold them. I’m guess somewhere between 150 and 180 pounds, but it was definitely my present limit. Seriously, I think I heard my spine scream a steady nonononononono! at some point, and did kindly ask little brother to pick up my spinal disks if he came across them while we were hauling. Hah.
Though the entire bod was complaining by the end of the evening, we did have the satisfaction of finishing laying out the remainder of the foundation in one afternoon, preparing the whole for pouring concrete (just as soon as the weather lets up again).
While we were waiting for big brother to finish messing about with metal and bolts, the sibs and I headed out to the small paddock outside the gate and played about half an hour of catch, which was grand fun, all things considered. I do think that we tend to be a tad noisy, playing around like that, seeing as we really get into the game and are shouting at the top of our lungs, mimicking a noisy audience whenever one of us has the rare bit of luck of actually catching something, hah.
But enough of that, yesterday’s up: Rain. There was an infinite amount of it and it seriously depressed me, if for no other reason than it keeping me housebound most of the day. Jeez, I wanted to go up the walls, I swear…anyway…the day consisted of working on the book (got five pages added to the whole, so it didn’t go all that well) doing some messages, bringing our tenant to the house for a visit, and keeping busy with house chores and such…which was the main theme for today too, I guess.
Chaos was feeling a tad under the weather last night. He’s got some swelling going on his face, and this morning, he somehow managed to get rid of the drain that should have gone out tonight instead. Ah well, let’s just hope that it is not too soon, or else he’ll just have to scramble and get better the old fashioned way. Poor Chaos, though, he wanted to and did lie between us this night, literally forcing me to bend in the weirdest ways possible, just to be able to stay in bed. Gawd, my back was killing me this morning, I tell ya. Five in a bed is a tad much, I’ll admit. Hah.
Did manage to do a spot of cooking, both today and yesterday. Did a couple of oven dishes yesterday. Piecrusts; one filled with Mediterranean vegetables and herbs, and the other carrot, green herbs and cheese on both. Sort of like quiche, but then the easy version, hah.
Today I went for simple…seeing as that is the ruling favorite, hah…as in spaghetti baked with peppers, onions and cheese. Yep, I can honestly say that we are cheese people. We can do without practically anything, when push comes to shove, but cheese will definitely be the last thing to go.
And since we’re already halfway through today, I figure I might as well end with it…it’s raining still, seriously gloomy clouds overhead, wet soil making the dogs drag mud inside and pants that are soaked clear through up past our knees.
There was about an hour of dryness this morning, and I used it to unload a cubic meter of sand from the back of the car, which had been in there for a solid three days now. Wonderful exercise, which lasted way too short for as far as I’m concerned.
Afterwards I wheeled our tenant down to the house…considering she rather enjoys the company, we figured we might as well make the effort when we can and she wants to. No sense in having her sit alone in her apartment if it can be helped.
Did some cleaning this morning, such as clearing out the oven, grill and microwave; all three a terrible mess, I tell ya and right after I’m done with this blog I’ve got to start on Touri. I’ve popped him a couple of sedatives thirty minutes ago, seeing as that is the only way in hell that hell let me shave the mess that he’s made of his ears, and see if I can get him clean. I’ll let you know how that works out…if I remember that is. Hah.
Well, gotta go. Lots more to do, and the day is steadily drifting past. Let’s just hope that I manage to get a few more pages for the book done before the day is through.
Well, I wish I could say that we had some grand days, but other than the last time I wrote, when the weather was downright splendid, today and yesterday it was raining buckets, darn it.
Seriously, for some reason the last couple of days give everything a somewhat nightmarish quality, like there are disjointed fragments that do not fit together at all, and yet seamlessly flow together in such a chaotic fashion that you just don’t know which end is up anymore.
Ah well, let’s get to it, shall we, otherwise I’ll just start maudlin or something, which would just annoy the…ehm, something out of all of us.
So where did I quit the other day? Oh yes, beautiful weather and I wanted to be outside…well, I did just that, naturally. It was rather splendid after all, and seeing as the sun was so wonderfully warm we took the opportunity to head down into the yard and turn a patch of earth at the bottom. Rather than putting in plants and such, we sowed seeds and potatoes. Red beets, cauliflower and a couple of broccoli, on a nice patch of six by twelve feet of rich dark earth. I wonder how they’re going to do…only one way to find out, I guess.
Considering there really wasn’t time for lunch, big brother and I both slapped some toppings on French bread and headed on up to the next task of the day. The younger sibs and I resumed grandpa’s wall, of course, while big brother started on the imperial he intends to make for the car.
There was dirt to be shoveled up and away, rock drill through and lots of other nasty little chores that we managed to get done in a couple of hours before we started hauling in rocks for the foundation part that runs to the bungalow. Did two rather big rocks, and I gotta admit that I almost couldn’t hold them. I’m guess somewhere between 150 and 180 pounds, but it was definitely my present limit. Seriously, I think I heard my spine scream a steady nonononononono! at some point, and did kindly ask little brother to pick up my spinal disks if he came across them while we were hauling. Hah.
Though the entire bod was complaining by the end of the evening, we did have the satisfaction of finishing laying out the remainder of the foundation in one afternoon, preparing the whole for pouring concrete (just as soon as the weather lets up again).
While we were waiting for big brother to finish messing about with metal and bolts, the sibs and I headed out to the small paddock outside the gate and played about half an hour of catch, which was grand fun, all things considered. I do think that we tend to be a tad noisy, playing around like that, seeing as we really get into the game and are shouting at the top of our lungs, mimicking a noisy audience whenever one of us has the rare bit of luck of actually catching something, hah.
But enough of that, yesterday’s up: Rain. There was an infinite amount of it and it seriously depressed me, if for no other reason than it keeping me housebound most of the day. Jeez, I wanted to go up the walls, I swear…anyway…the day consisted of working on the book (got five pages added to the whole, so it didn’t go all that well) doing some messages, bringing our tenant to the house for a visit, and keeping busy with house chores and such…which was the main theme for today too, I guess.
Chaos was feeling a tad under the weather last night. He’s got some swelling going on his face, and this morning, he somehow managed to get rid of the drain that should have gone out tonight instead. Ah well, let’s just hope that it is not too soon, or else he’ll just have to scramble and get better the old fashioned way. Poor Chaos, though, he wanted to and did lie between us this night, literally forcing me to bend in the weirdest ways possible, just to be able to stay in bed. Gawd, my back was killing me this morning, I tell ya. Five in a bed is a tad much, I’ll admit. Hah.
Did manage to do a spot of cooking, both today and yesterday. Did a couple of oven dishes yesterday. Piecrusts; one filled with Mediterranean vegetables and herbs, and the other carrot, green herbs and cheese on both. Sort of like quiche, but then the easy version, hah.
Today I went for simple…seeing as that is the ruling favorite, hah…as in spaghetti baked with peppers, onions and cheese. Yep, I can honestly say that we are cheese people. We can do without practically anything, when push comes to shove, but cheese will definitely be the last thing to go.
And since we’re already halfway through today, I figure I might as well end with it…it’s raining still, seriously gloomy clouds overhead, wet soil making the dogs drag mud inside and pants that are soaked clear through up past our knees.
There was about an hour of dryness this morning, and I used it to unload a cubic meter of sand from the back of the car, which had been in there for a solid three days now. Wonderful exercise, which lasted way too short for as far as I’m concerned.
Afterwards I wheeled our tenant down to the house…considering she rather enjoys the company, we figured we might as well make the effort when we can and she wants to. No sense in having her sit alone in her apartment if it can be helped.
Did some cleaning this morning, such as clearing out the oven, grill and microwave; all three a terrible mess, I tell ya and right after I’m done with this blog I’ve got to start on Touri. I’ve popped him a couple of sedatives thirty minutes ago, seeing as that is the only way in hell that hell let me shave the mess that he’s made of his ears, and see if I can get him clean. I’ll let you know how that works out…if I remember that is. Hah.
Well, gotta go. Lots more to do, and the day is steadily drifting past. Let’s just hope that I manage to get a few more pages for the book done before the day is through.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Sunshine and death...weird.
Song of the day: “The four seasons: Spring” by Vivaldi. Weird how this one keeps returning time and again.
Well, let’s get to it shall we. I can’t believe I’m here in the first place, locked behind my computer because I promised myself (and others) last night that I would deal with the blog as well as my messages (for real this time) and be done with it. This entire thing is seriously eating into my writing time, and there are days when I’m actually contemplating to stop blogging, just to have more time left to do other things. Ah well, we’ll see, I guess.
Yesterday, it was a busy but relatively mild day, weather wise at least.
The first thing we got to after laundry and breakfast was, head on up to the gate (and bungalow) and help our tenant outside into the tentative sunlight. There was very little of it, of course, but still being outside always does her well. Seeing as she is getting to be so much more “there” these days, we decided to put her to some miniature gardening, hah.
In her case that means getting the potted, baby eucalypti trees and oleanders on a table in front of her, so she can remove weeds. She appeared to be enjoying herself.
Leaving her to it, big brother and I got to working on the two doors I wrecked the day before. It took some hammering, bending, unbending and then some more to get the majority worked out, but once we sand, polish and spray the sections, it should look presentable again…or at least, I hope it will.
The windows back in place and all the bolts fastened once more, we left the doors without covers and went out separate ways for the day. I continued working on grandpa’s little wall with the younger sibs and big brother went down the mountain to tackle the woodpile with the chainsaw. Got a nice pile going down there, by the way, should see us through quite a bit of fire, hah.
The little wall is progressing nicely, even though the corner went down three times for the duration of construction (it is still not entirely done, if you must know). First one due to the wheelbarrow passing too closely, second time by Bora (crossbreed) who thought it grand to jump on top of the barely laid rocks, and third time…well, just because. Finally, I gave up trying to get it up to the height it’s going to need for completion, and decided to leave it half done, so I can add the last rocks today.
Next up was heading out for a jog and a batch of sand. Considering we need to get it as cheap as possible, we get to do the shoveling ourselves, which means that we get a full workout. Hah.
The jog went well, managed to complete the full course, only to look up at the massive clap of thunder and the black clouds that hung overhead. Jeez, startled the crap out of me, I’ll admit. Had exactly thirty minutes to get to the sand, and put in half a load before we got soaked. Hah.
Driving back home was a tricky venture too, what with the rain sheeting down, thunder roaring, and lighting blinding, but we managed without mishaps this time. Considering that it was also scavenge day, I was a bit grumpy about the fact that we couldn’t immediately unload the sand, (had to wait for the rain to let down after dark) but headed inside for a shower, food and then work on the computer.
Three more pages and then I can start writing the last two scenes. The culminating climax; the place where the entire book has been working towards; and the completion of this particular story, which has been an intricate part of my life for the past three months…I don’t know whether to be thrilled, or not.
I was tired from the long day, but still, considering the rain had let up and the stars were out I wasn’t too disgruntled about heading out, unloading the car and then leave for our habitual Sunday scavenge: Located a particularly nice batch of wood, which will do nicely for the next project, but I’m getting ahead of myself. Okay…
First, I had to take my dogs up to my cabin and that caused quite a ruckus for some peculiar reason. Some of the sibs’ dogs thought it would be fun to attack Knight II when he came in my pursuit, which ended it a fight that literally had me drag Knight away and out of the courtyard, a pissed off Labrador and boxer coming in our pursuit before middle sister could grab them. Gawd, startled the bejeezus out of me; so much in fact that my stomach decided to pick up old habits and chucked up my late snack the moment I arrived at my cabin. Darn it, I hate it when that happens. Reminds me of when I had that particular problem for more than a year, and the memories are not fond ones. Grrr.
Right, over and done with, let’s forget it and get on with the night. Ah yes, the scavenge, and the nice batch of wood for the project… Oh my Gawd, I haven’t written about the new project, have I? Well, it’s an outdoor kitchen. You know the kind I mean, right? A barbecue, pizza oven and a sink, all put into a nice little natural rock nook. Maybe a small roof in front of it, open to the fresh summer breezes, a clean concrete floor, a railing, maybe…yeah, I can see it. It’s going to look grand, I’m sure.
But anyway, we didn’t get home until after two in the morning, loading up always takes an eternity, and I was so friggin’ tired I literally passed out the moment I hit the sheets.
Which brings us to today, it has just barely started, but the weather looks incredibly promising. Sun’s out, only a few clouds in view and it just might be a grand day for some serious gardening. I hope we can find the time for it.
The day didn’t start of too well: while I was folding laundry I noticed that Simmy, one of our Chinchillas, wasn’t greeting me at the fence the way he usually does. Turns out he died in the large pot that serves as his little cubby hole, meaning that grandpa had to crawl into the cage (he smaller and lighter than me) to get him out. It sure explained why Sammy (the female of the couple had been looking so darn miserable this morning. She was hiding in the corner, shivering a little. Poor little girl, lost her husband, she did.
We’re going to have to get the young from the lower cage now, so she won’t be alone…poor babies.
Well, that wraps up the recount for the day, I really should get to my messages and then head on outside. I want Sunshine!
Well, let’s get to it shall we. I can’t believe I’m here in the first place, locked behind my computer because I promised myself (and others) last night that I would deal with the blog as well as my messages (for real this time) and be done with it. This entire thing is seriously eating into my writing time, and there are days when I’m actually contemplating to stop blogging, just to have more time left to do other things. Ah well, we’ll see, I guess.
Yesterday, it was a busy but relatively mild day, weather wise at least.
The first thing we got to after laundry and breakfast was, head on up to the gate (and bungalow) and help our tenant outside into the tentative sunlight. There was very little of it, of course, but still being outside always does her well. Seeing as she is getting to be so much more “there” these days, we decided to put her to some miniature gardening, hah.
In her case that means getting the potted, baby eucalypti trees and oleanders on a table in front of her, so she can remove weeds. She appeared to be enjoying herself.
Leaving her to it, big brother and I got to working on the two doors I wrecked the day before. It took some hammering, bending, unbending and then some more to get the majority worked out, but once we sand, polish and spray the sections, it should look presentable again…or at least, I hope it will.
The windows back in place and all the bolts fastened once more, we left the doors without covers and went out separate ways for the day. I continued working on grandpa’s little wall with the younger sibs and big brother went down the mountain to tackle the woodpile with the chainsaw. Got a nice pile going down there, by the way, should see us through quite a bit of fire, hah.
The little wall is progressing nicely, even though the corner went down three times for the duration of construction (it is still not entirely done, if you must know). First one due to the wheelbarrow passing too closely, second time by Bora (crossbreed) who thought it grand to jump on top of the barely laid rocks, and third time…well, just because. Finally, I gave up trying to get it up to the height it’s going to need for completion, and decided to leave it half done, so I can add the last rocks today.
Next up was heading out for a jog and a batch of sand. Considering we need to get it as cheap as possible, we get to do the shoveling ourselves, which means that we get a full workout. Hah.
The jog went well, managed to complete the full course, only to look up at the massive clap of thunder and the black clouds that hung overhead. Jeez, startled the crap out of me, I’ll admit. Had exactly thirty minutes to get to the sand, and put in half a load before we got soaked. Hah.
Driving back home was a tricky venture too, what with the rain sheeting down, thunder roaring, and lighting blinding, but we managed without mishaps this time. Considering that it was also scavenge day, I was a bit grumpy about the fact that we couldn’t immediately unload the sand, (had to wait for the rain to let down after dark) but headed inside for a shower, food and then work on the computer.
Three more pages and then I can start writing the last two scenes. The culminating climax; the place where the entire book has been working towards; and the completion of this particular story, which has been an intricate part of my life for the past three months…I don’t know whether to be thrilled, or not.
I was tired from the long day, but still, considering the rain had let up and the stars were out I wasn’t too disgruntled about heading out, unloading the car and then leave for our habitual Sunday scavenge: Located a particularly nice batch of wood, which will do nicely for the next project, but I’m getting ahead of myself. Okay…
First, I had to take my dogs up to my cabin and that caused quite a ruckus for some peculiar reason. Some of the sibs’ dogs thought it would be fun to attack Knight II when he came in my pursuit, which ended it a fight that literally had me drag Knight away and out of the courtyard, a pissed off Labrador and boxer coming in our pursuit before middle sister could grab them. Gawd, startled the bejeezus out of me; so much in fact that my stomach decided to pick up old habits and chucked up my late snack the moment I arrived at my cabin. Darn it, I hate it when that happens. Reminds me of when I had that particular problem for more than a year, and the memories are not fond ones. Grrr.
Right, over and done with, let’s forget it and get on with the night. Ah yes, the scavenge, and the nice batch of wood for the project… Oh my Gawd, I haven’t written about the new project, have I? Well, it’s an outdoor kitchen. You know the kind I mean, right? A barbecue, pizza oven and a sink, all put into a nice little natural rock nook. Maybe a small roof in front of it, open to the fresh summer breezes, a clean concrete floor, a railing, maybe…yeah, I can see it. It’s going to look grand, I’m sure.
But anyway, we didn’t get home until after two in the morning, loading up always takes an eternity, and I was so friggin’ tired I literally passed out the moment I hit the sheets.
Which brings us to today, it has just barely started, but the weather looks incredibly promising. Sun’s out, only a few clouds in view and it just might be a grand day for some serious gardening. I hope we can find the time for it.
The day didn’t start of too well: while I was folding laundry I noticed that Simmy, one of our Chinchillas, wasn’t greeting me at the fence the way he usually does. Turns out he died in the large pot that serves as his little cubby hole, meaning that grandpa had to crawl into the cage (he smaller and lighter than me) to get him out. It sure explained why Sammy (the female of the couple had been looking so darn miserable this morning. She was hiding in the corner, shivering a little. Poor little girl, lost her husband, she did.
We’re going to have to get the young from the lower cage now, so she won’t be alone…poor babies.
Well, that wraps up the recount for the day, I really should get to my messages and then head on outside. I want Sunshine!
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