Summer-like

Song of the day: “Irish son” by Brian McFadden. Good one, and so very easy to sing. Yay.

The past couple of days have been incredibly boring, but since it is the only thing I’ve got, I will just have to write about it, won’t I? Hah.

Most of it was busywork again, really. Finishing stuff up before we start on the big project, the veranda wall…you know, the one that we’re going to have to build soon lest the house comes tumbling down the mountain, hah. Seriously, though, there are a lot of things still needing that last bit of work. *sigh*

First off, big brother’s closet is now in place, and the MDF wall behind it has been painted and attached. So it took a couple of hours this morning to finish it off, but thankfully grandpa offered to paint it while big brother and I screwed it in place and then hung the new storage closet for mom in the living area.

I put the thing together yesterday, along with a new shelving unit for Sally, who’s been asking for more shelves for weeks now. I finally decided to make use of the wonderfully warm weather, and put it together. It took less than an hour, and then big brother and I carried it down before we headed out into the yard.

The new cauliflowers are doing well, even though we still need to protect them against the elements such as wind and bright sunlight. We put in leek as well, as much to protect the cauliflower as for consumption. Most of my newly sowed herbs are coming up, so yay for that.
Since we were in the yard we liberated the overrun strawberries, (lost one of them) and attacked the thistles that are jumping up all over the place. I’m hoping that because we’re ahead of the blooms, there will be less next summer.

All the new berries are coming along nicely, all but one now have leaves and are starting to grow. Plans for the next couple of days involve building three arches for the up-hill raspberries and brambles, because they are starting to become too big for the poles we set there last year.
Grandpa has been sawing the wood for it most of the day.

While he was doing that, I spent an hour or two drilling holes in the metal beams for my new laundry lines. Seriously, I can’t wait to put them up. The old one is gradually succumbing under the daily weight it has to endure.

I also tackled the cacti in the lower garden. We’re planning to plant them over by the old horse paddock and create a natural barrier of sorts on the steep incline on the west side of the property. Added to that, I recently discovered that the fruits of the cacti would make suitable jams and lemonade, so I am most eager to try that out in the near future. Talk about free nutrition. Nasty side effect: I’ve got prickles all over my hands, along with those from the nettles I’ve tackled this afternoon.

Touri was feeling poorly yesterday. He kept looking miserable, and was having trouble keeping up with me. Strangely enough, Sonia (big brother’s black cocker spaniel) appeared to be suffering from the same affliction today. She kept crawling away into corners and wouldn’t even come when called. Strange.

Went for another jog this evening. It didn’t go as well as the last time, but I made the full stretch cross country, again. Something to be proud of at least. The new shoes do well enough. Sure my foot is sore at the end of the day, but Knight II is exhausted from the trip, even though he barely needs to trot to keep up with me (sigh) and keeps quiet most of the night. The moment we get back to the car and head to our usual spot to get rocks, he’s in the car like a shot, lounging on the back seat like some sort of lion king. Hah.

I’ve gotta say that grandpa’s porridge goes down nicely after that. Warms you up (today that was necessary because the wind picked back up and clouds have been rumbling in range) and fills the gaps quite nicely.

I made apple pie the other day, by the way. Sally’s birthday and all that, and even though that stupid gas oven is still giving me fits it was yummy with a big blob of whipped cream.

We had another go at the Daewoo, and took out the spark plugs for a proper cleaning. It appears to run as usual, but I think a trip to the shop is going to be a requirement in the near future. Pour second hand cars. They need so much maintenance, eh?

The snapped eucalyptus got a trim. It looks horrible now, and so does the trimmed oleander, by the way. I sure hope they will start growing properly this summer because this is just bad. Thinking of it, I really should attack the mimosa outside the courtyard one of these days.

Yesterday afternoon I finished reading “A.I.L.” so we’re almost through the edit, meaning that I might actually find time to finish reading the review book I’m doing. It was actually rather nice. It was wonderfully warm outside (the greenhouse temperature went up as high as 95 degrees) and after lunch of cauliflower with potatoes, onions, green herbs and cheese, we did a bit of reading on the terrace in front of my cabin.

Tenant was there, along with our friend Dani, and I was reading out loud, laying it on thick, just because I felt like it. I’m afraid it went in Hugh Grant English, in case you’re wondering, and for romance novels that is absolutely hilarious. Tenant really enjoyed the casual interlude, I think, and since I was at it anyway, I grabbed a Linda Howard and a Judy Garwood to compare the ending. It worked out…I hope.
The ending is wonderfully tacky, sweet and funny, so it should be just fine.

And I’ve got to wrap this up. I’ve got an edit to finish after all, if for no other reason than to start with the new one. Hah