Winds of epic proportions

Song of the day: “Numb” by Linkin Park and “I would stay” by Krezip. It’s been going back and forth all day, which is not unusual yet extremely annoying. Hah.

I’m going to try to keep this short because…well the usual reason, of course, I am running way behind and I still have to edit, and go out later. *sigh* Oh crap, I also have to head back in the yard again before going out, to cover the spinach and beets with plastic so they won’t get too cold tonight. Darn it! I hate forgetting stuff like that. I’ve made a note on my hand, so let’s hope that I don’t forget again. Grrr.

So what’s been going on? Hmmm. Tenant joined us down by the greenhouse today. Yesterday she didn’t feel like it and preferred to stay on my terrace…even though yesterday there were winds of epic proportions (freaked the pack out, believe me)tearing around us. Seriously, I don’t know how many knots it was going, but it was bad. While I stood looking it ripped apart one of the tops of our eucalypti trees. Poor thing lost another tip just a few weeks ago, so now it looks positively horrid.
Darn it. We forgot to do that today as well.

That’s our punishment for enjoying the day…in particular after all that wind. Seriously, I was afraid to walk under the trees after seeing what it did to that eucalypti. In the end we spent the majority of the day in the lower garden trimming the…oh wait, I’m telling this all wrong again. Yesterday was actually quite eventful and I should tell it in the right sequence, damn it.

Okay, I got up at seven in the morning because tenant had to go to the police station to get her resident card. It was a hassle thing, really, since there is never any parking available. I had to stop in front of the police station, which is something I like to avoid at all costs.
But anyway, she and her caregiver got out at the curb, and I headed on ASAP, due to the car that was impatiently waiting behind me.
Strangely enough there was a parking place right ahead, allowing me to catch up with tenant even before she reached the stairs that led up to the entrance. We walked up together while her caregiver went up ahead to check with the bureaucrats inside.
The English guy, there only to help foreigners was a nervous wreck but at least he did his best to help out. Turns out there were papers and forms to see to prior to getting a resident card, and yet the guy at the town hall had failed to inform caregiver of that.
Ah well, it all worked out in the end, and tenant and I just sat there at the police station watching other people while chatting noisily of course. Two hours later we were on our way back home with the new card in the bag and tenant properly tired.

At home, big brother was already halfway into making pumpkin soup, and since he had hung laundry as well, for a moment I considered calling the newspaper because, well, just because. Hah.

We headed down into the yard later on, and while grandpa and big brother climbed onto the roof to start putting down the tubing we’re putting there for a free hot water supply, I started trimming reed and the fig tree under the house.
It took some hacking, sawing and cutting, but in the end there was enough room, giving a slight inkling of what needs to be dug once we start on the foundation for the veranda wall. Oh boy that’s going to be a lot of work. Hah.

But it was awesome working down there. Seriously, it was the only spot in the yard where the wind didn’t mess with my balance. Added to that, what with all the work going on there, we’ve discovered that it is really a wonderful spot for tenant once we start spending a lot of time down there.

We went for a jog last night, and since he really needs the exercise, I took Knight II along. He’s starting to like it, I think. Heck, he now even dares to wander off ten times his body length before he comes racing back to my side. And then, when other folks walking there dogs there came ‘round, he was calm as you please, standing at my side while a small pack of maybe six dogs stood around us, barking their heads off.

Editing went rather bad last night, considering I could hardly keep my eyes open. I’ve definitely not been getting enough sleep these days, and I was feeling it by the time I finally fell in bed and past out ‘till eight thirty this morning. My foot does not agree with the exercise, by the way. It hurt like heck…but it’s worth the discomfort, if you ask me. It’ll just have to cowboy up.

This morning was rather busy, what with grandpa and big brother having to go out. After we had unloaded yesterday’s rocks, they went out to get cement and gas for this month. Along with our order of dog food. Which meant I had to scramble a little, of course. While tenant and her caregiver headed down, I took the pots off the new cauliflowers, took the plastic covers off the potatoes, beets and Spinach and watered the upper yard berries. Caregiver had offered to do those in the lower garden, and since Dani wouldn’t be by until later, that was rather nice.

Next, I tackled the remaining four bags of cement that had to be turned and checked. Two got wet after the last rain, so I put them on a slight elevation and tucked the damaged ones in plastic for the foundation concrete rather than the actual masonry that’s to come.

I’d just about finished that when big brother and grandpa returned. At the same time the delivery guy arrived with the dog food and so did Dani, who helped out hauling the twenty bags of dog food, cement and gaskets before we headed down to the garden pit to start on the day.

Plants had to be watered, put outside and transplanted, fencing finished up and painted, and the big oleander by the side of the greenhouse had to be rigorously trimmed. Poor bush worked so hard, but it is simply taking too much light from the greenhouse.

Tenant sat on the terrace, happy as you please when mom came down for a bit and chatted with her for a bit. There was more soup, some reading for the book (before I nodded off for a five-minute catnap) and then heading back into the yard. So far, I’ve got all the new patches of veggies surrounded by fences of reed. At least it keeps Knight II out, who actually notices them whenever he comes storming after me.

We planted the white endive roots, made a dark niche for them under one of the tables in the greenhouse and then headed up to grandpa’s place because he’d made us mashed potatoes with carrots. That was awesome.

More rocks to get, and…well, that should be enough for today. I hope that made some sense at least, because I am not going to bother reading this all back. Hah.