Stormy weather...sounds like a song.

Song of the day: “Little girl” by Enrique Iglesias. Literally a song that makes me go awww, every time I hear it…even in my head. Hah.

Yep, yesterday was that day again, that particular time that comes by twice a month and that we simply can’t get around (darn it) Grocery shopping day…aaargh.
We’d printed out a list for a change (all properly prepared and everything) went through all the right motions, looked for sales, went for the bargains, and only went over budget a tad because we had to get a new water boiler: the old one gave the spirit the day before yesterday, stupid thing.

Now, I wouldn’t mind all that much if they made the blood things fixable, you know what I mean, a rubber ring here that you can replace, a switch you can get out there, spray some silicone, whatever and you’ve got yourself a fixed boiler. No such luck with modern day boilers, however, they’re of cheap plastic, cheap metal and just about ready to dump after three measly years of use. That seriously POs me, I tell ya.

Well, all the necessary stuff got done (I missed a few, what with the lists being different that usual and everything) but I managed to correct the errors at different stores, so we won’t be without anything in the near future. I could of course write down everything that occurred yesterday, but since it was basically a repeat of grocery shopping three weeks ago, you might as well skip that way and get the gist of it, hah.

The only difference was that town was busier than usual, and so were the stores, which meant that we took seven hours to get everything done, even though we had three stores less, darn it.

Okay, onto the next item. Sita is still staying at the vet’s…they suspect that the virus, bacterium, whatever the heck it is called (they say it has no use to check because the treatment is the same) has come out of incubation and she had a 40 C temperature yesterday, diarrhea and vomiting, just like Niobe, only without the massive amounts of blood. Poor little girl, she looked so darn miserable when we came there for our daily visit. And the smell…OMG, I don’t know what the heck it is, but the smell is definitely unfamiliar to me.

Which reminds me (visiting Sita, I mean, not the smell, hah) that on our way back home the other day, we took the forest path and got pulled over by the coppers. I don’t know what the heck is going on these days, but the cops are literally all over the place. It’s like they’re ambushing us in the most unlikely places for crying out loud.
But anyway, they pulled us over…not hard to do, considering it’s a narrow path and there really isn’t anywhere to go even if we are inclined to such things *snort*…asked for big brother’s license, then who little brother and I were. Then the chubby cop asked what was in our TOOLbox in the back of the car, what the boards in the trunk were for, and then sent us on our way with a rattled apology for “molesting” us. Hah.

Okay, these guys crack me up at times, really. Here they are looking for nefarious criminals, stopping the big white Land Rover with a bunch of foreigners in it, (and looking for some action by finding terrorists, or something, hah) only to find a car full of construction materials, garbage, construction debris, wood, or whatever the heck else we are hauling at the time. Disappointing for them, I tell you. Especially since the Guardia civil can still be the macho types who like to throw some muscle around. I swear I always see disappointment in their faces, and a distinct drop of animation when they figure out we’re foreigners from “up the mountain”…sometimes I wonder if our reputation precedes us, hah…They’ll mumble something like, “Oh, right, okay, move along, and stop bothering us.”

Maybe I should feel insulted that we harbor so little interest, I mean seriously, some cop abuse would be so much more interesting to write about.

So this morning, I woke to the sound of thunder (a lot of sound, in case you’re wondering) and it has been raining off and on for three days now, with a constant downpour that started around six this morning.
Seriously, the thunder is deafening at times, and it has been roaring overhead at regular intervals for the past six hours. Quite impressive.

We only managed a short edit yesterday morning, by the way. We got up early so we could get some done prior to leaving for grocery shopping, but if we did two pages, it was a lot. It wasn’t a bad edit after all, though. Short but sweet, hah. We’ll get there yet, even if we have to bash each other in the brain to achieve it.

Other than that, some of the dogs are feeling a tad poor. I think that the bug is making its way through the pack. Carla (cocker), Gada (Labrador), and Sitabah (weimaraner) are coughing, so we’re starting on some mild medication to see if it helps. Knight II isn’t feeling well either, and like him, Dax appears to be a bit lethargic. Those immune systems better kick in fast, darn it.

Well, time for me to start on the day, maybe do an early edit and then on to helping big brother hand the new boiler.

Dog #3 at the vet's

Song of the day: “Room Service” by Bryan Adams. Oh boy, would I like to have some of that. Room service (said dreamily) if only. Hah.

So we postponed grocery shopping day for a few more days, meaning that tomorrow the chore has become inevitable, darn it. The cabinets are empty, so’s the fridge, but luckily we could get an iceberg slaw, leek and parsley from the yard, making dinner a possibility. It was good to boot, so, no harm no foul.

As to yard work: lots of caterpillars are appearing, so we’re checking the cauliflowers and cabbages at least twice a day. It is interesting to see that the insects appear to have a preference for specific plants, that, on the overall are not surrounded by leek and onion. Seems the precaution is working…and we’re going to have to do more of it in the near future.

It was cloudy yesterday…leading to a genuine spring storm today, darn it. No outside work for us today, I fear; it is a good thing, really, considering the house is a mess and we really should devote some time to cleaning the office, living room and kitchen, now that we have the chance.

Third dog is at the vets’ at the moment. Little Sita (black Irish Setter 13-14 months old) was feeling poorly and didn’t want to eat after vomiting twice. She had a fever, and when it continued to rise we took her to the hospital where she is being treated for the same thing Niobe and Morpheous had. Stupid infectious viruses, and that after such a long time. This particular bug has a peculiar incubation period.

Niobe is doing considerably better, by the way. He appears to miss Morpheous a lot, but other than that he’s vastly improved. Other than that, Knight II appears to be bothered by the bug as well, but is, so far, managing to hold the worst effects of it at bay. Ambah is managing to overcome the bug himself as well (knock on wood) and is gradually starting to feel better too.
I’m doubting if Dax (Pocket Beagle) has it too, since he appears to be a bit quiet at the moment.
Only one way to find out, eh…time.

The edit first went horrid yesterday, we just couldn’t agree on a sentence ‘cause big brother couldn’t “see” ---he flung his opponent off the roof--- and then I couldn’t “see” his ---he propelled his opponent off the roof--- and we ended up arguing about it for at least half an hour. But then, the fight scene was over, a new scene started and all went splendidly. Fight scenes always have us going at it like wolves, really. I guess we have a different image of what is cool, or something. Hah.
We now, officially have less than two hundred pages to edit for the first edit, so YAY for us…I guess. *sigh*

Our friend came visiting, so we had a nice afternoon chatting, showing of the yard and Gawd knows what else. The normal chores got done, of course, and in the evenings, whenever big brother and I could fit it in, we went for rocks. The first hauling trips down the mountain (where we’re going to need them for the basin, the septic tank and of course the porch wall. I hauled my biggest rock ever by the way. I’m so proud! Couldn’t actually lift it up but had to wedge the wheelbarrow underneath in order to get it from its place. It was at least 170 pounds, hah, and my every single muscle hurt from hauling more than a 1000 pounds down with the sibs.

Stones of the basin aren’t nothing to whistle about either. We’re guessing a hundred pounds each and big brother and I are the only ones who can actually safely lift them. It’s going to be interesting working with them once we get started on building the basin, and I don’t know whether to look forward to the fast progress we’ll be able to make due to the size of them, or fear the aches and pains that are going to be an inevitable result. We’ll have to see, I guess.

The road works have now gone as far as locking down the main road to the village, which has grandpa (he travels it every day on his moped) spitting mad. Seriously, he starts to spit when he talks about how they waste precious tax money on a road where (his words) ten cars a day travel across. Hah. It makes me laugh every time, even though I understand his frustration.

Well, time to get to work; got a house to clean nonetheless and a single day might not be enough. Hah.

"Editing!" she snarled.

Song of the day: “Vision of you” by Belinda Carlisle. Always reminds me of the nineties, back in the day when we were traveling the roads of Europe in the old Mercedes camper, music blasting on the speakers. Ah, good stuff.

Let’s start off with my most recent frustration, eh: Yesterday’s edit, aaaargh.
It was so hard for some peculiar reason. We did about three pages and then took about three hours for every single one of them, because each contained a single sentence that we simply couldn’t agree on. In particular this one:

---leaving no proof of his existence, nor of his passing.---

Personally I think it is rather good, expressing exactly what it is I want to say, but then big brother disagrees and tells me that it doesn’t bring across what I want it to.
Drat! I find that so very frustrating, and suffice it to say that after four hours I was considerably punchy and ready to punch something…hard.

But enough of my frustration; it is in the past, there’s nothing to change it and the new day has arrived.

There was yard work, of course. Butterflies are propagating somewhat fierce, meaning that we’re constantly checking the cauliflowers for caterpillars (have reached a total of one hundred by now, so there’re plenty)…the cabbages too, for that matter.

Reed canes got scraped clean, stripped and then bound in thick, long bundles that we stored against the courtyard wall for when we need to start making supports for the tomatoes and such. Got quite a stack from our homegrown reeds, I’ll admit.

The table in the (future) greenhouse is big enough to hold all our pots and treys, which means that we can start working with the water basin and the greenhouse structure itself. Heck, this very minute we discussed the possibility to start with the structure today…in fact, while I am writing this blog, grandpa and big brother are discussing everything from politics to culture, and are noisy about it. Hah.

I played hair dresser the other day, by the way. Trimmed our tenant's hair, at her insistence, because long hair is just too much of a bother (go figure). Also that of her caretaker, and of course, grandpa's, who was starting to show eerie resemblances to Albert Einstein. *sigh*

Oh, almost forgot, winter carrots are coming up, and our last tree, the apple, finally shot into leaves the other day. Now the only thing left to wonder about is weather or not one of the three mangoes manages to survive, and then we’ll know if ALL the trees have made it. Yay.

There was laundry, of course (when is there ever none?) dogs needed to be taken care of, naturally; Ambah is still going strong, even though his feces are a little runny. But he’s eating, drinking and sleeping, so all is well enough. Niobe is on the mend too, though a little slow on the uptake after being on heavy antibiotics. Strange how Ambah is at the same stage of recovery without any medication. Apparently, the immune system can handle it just fine.

Only two rock hauling trips, seeing as yesterday we were in that dreaded edit so deeply that we forgot to stop in time to get a batch, but no matter, time enough for that sort of thing yet.

The weather is being wishy washy again, very annoying, one minute the sun will be shining, and the next thick dark clouds will rumble in, threatening rain, but never delivering. Drat. It would be rather nice if mother nature took care of it for a day. It would sure safe us the expense on water.

Well time to get busy on the day for me. Let’s see if I can get any shots of the before for the future greenhouse, so I can do a blog soon, consistent of pictures for a change.

Caught off guard.

Song of the day: “Something to believe in” by Bryan Adams. Hmmm. Okay.

Let’s start with the bad news, and work our way up from there, eh? Morpheous, 8 month old crossbreed that we found last year at the garbage disposal along with his brother, died this morning at eight in the morning, over at the vet hospital.
Bloody hell, that took us by surprise for sure. He was less ill than Niobe had been, and since Niobe came home yesterday morning, it blindsided us somewhat bad.

But anyway, another burial to arrange for, and another bill to pay. It can’t be helped, no matter how much you’d wish it, so I’m determined to accept it and move one. Nothing else to do anyway, so…

Yesterday’s edit went pretty good. Did around seven pages, even though we were both struggling with sleepiness. The day had started early nonetheless, and by the time we settle behind the computer, we were about half through the day, and had just finished yard work. We’re not going as fast these days, somehow changing the routines of the day bites into editing time.

Harvested a lettuce, by the way, and saved a cauliflower from being eaten by newly hatched caterpillars. About twenty of them, on a single plant, along with four giant snails underneath the lettuce. Though I dislike the task, I had to kill the little buggers to save our future veggies.

We’re trying a new experiment too, by the way. Planted ginger roots yesterday, just to see what will come of it in the near future. It should be interesting to see what comes of it. Bell peppers are finally coming up too, which is a relief since we feared that they weren’t going to make it.

The younger sibs started on cleaning out the deep end of the old pool; the check we did of the walls confirms that we’re going to have to redo the walls after we’ve cordoned off the deep end for water storage.

We also weeded through the reed canes under the house, taking out the old and dead stems so the fig tree has a bit more sunlight, and so we’ll have some room once we start on the new septic tank. First the ground has to dry out a little, then we have to hack our way through the roots of the bush of bamboo and place them someplace else in the yard, and then…well then we have to haul rocks there before we can get started. *sigh*

Suffice it to say that the old pool…I really gotta start learning to call it the greenhouse, seeing as that is what it is going to be…terrace is filled with reed stems that have to be bound together today, and stored out of the way.

There were three more rock hauling trips through the course of the past few days, of course. Lots of rocks will be necessary for the building stages. Trees were trimmed, weeds were removed and dogs were pesky. Same old, same old, isn’t it.

Well, tomorrow our tenant is having her birthday, so I’m making apple pies. The scent of cinnamon and apples is floating through the entire house, and it is making my mouth water, I tell ya. Jeez, I doubt that all three will make it through to tomorrow. But then, considering tomorrow is grocery-shopping day I really had to make them this morning.

I’m already running behind, so I’m going to leave it as this. Life moseys on, as always, and…well, lots to do…even if the weather is downright winterish for some peculiar reason, darn it. I’m cold, I tell you!