Faking it

Song of the day: “Country Roads” by...well, not John Denver. I heard it on youtube with some sort of line dancing group and it was great. Only bad thing is that it was blaring in my head the moment I woke up, and it sounded as if the stereo volume was way too high.

But anyway, I’ll get right to it without (too much) dawdling.
Once again a busy couple of days. Take yesterday, for instance. While mom and the youngest sibs were at the market we took the opportunity to pour concrete on the drive sweep.
While grandpa and big brother finished that, Dani and I hauled bricks and concrete blocks into storage. Turns out Bambi (crossbreed) has been watching us haul stuff for the past year or so, and decided that it was time he offered a helping hand. Turns out he picked up and carried about a hundred red bricks to the middle of the dog paddock and laid out his brinks in some intricate pattern that made me ask grandpa what he was doing laying the bricks out like that. Seriously, I could barely believe that Bambi did it, but there you have it. He did. I took pictures so maybe, someday we’ll figure out what he was trying to make. Hah.

As it was, it took me about half an hour to stack everything again. And no, I didn’t put it back in the same place. Duh. I ain’t THAT stupid. They’re now nicely stacked on the concrete blocks in the upper dog paddock. Soon I’ll start stacking the roof tiles there as well, along with outside tiling. The mess in the old horse paddock is driving m friggin’ bonkers.
In-between, I hauled up bags of cement to grandpa. Had piled three in the wheelbarrow, but apparently I was stronger than the wheelbarrow, because the wheight threatened to go right through the wheel. *sigh*

There were laundry batches, of course, along with that kick boxing session I mentioned the other day, which worked out splendidly. Seriously. It was the first time since last autumn that I was able to do it barefoot (though I paid for it dearly afterwards, stupid foot!) instead of on sneakers. My balance is so much better barefoot than it is when I wear shoes. *sigh*
I was in excellent form, thank you very much, even managed to double some of the exercises. Yay.

This morning, due to a late night, I overslept by a friggin’ hour, which was weird, to say the least. Made me rush through all the morning rituals, and less able to enjoy the strangely cloudy weather.
More laundry (is there ever not?) in the morning and at the end of the day I dug some more behind my cabin. At least there are parts now where I hit rock bottom, meaning that I’m getting there. Yay.

In the morning there were some plants left to water, if only due to the fact that the day before we didn’t manage to do it all before nightfall.

Wrote six and a half (wonderful) pages for V.L. Yesterday...which is good, because I just don’t have the time today. Went great, the scenes just flowed from my hands and were rightWhich brings me to the business of today. First of all, it started out fine with some work in the yard. We made constellations of reed to support the melon plants, which were starting to choke each other...and the Chinese cabbages. The constellations are a new idea and we’ve no idea if it will even work, but it’ll be interesting to find out, won’t it?

Then, after some chores, such as working on the ladder for the back of the Land Rover, harvesting zucchinis and tomatoes, and sorting through storage, it was time to head for town to meet with the guy who has a Ford Fiesta for sale. First we had to go to the garage, though, where the Daewoo was. I had to sign a paper to have it towed to the junk yard. Then they showed me a 2nd hand car in the back that they’d sell to me for 900, if I want it. I told them I already had an appointment to look at the Ford, so the mechanic started explaining to me what I needed to pay attention to.

First of all, apparently Ford Fiesta’s are known for having problems with the starter, so the first thing I had to check was if the tubes were hot. If so, the owner had already started the engine to prevent us from knowing there was a problem. Next there was the suspension. While driving over bumps, if there were creaks and Gawd knows what else, getting new suspension in would cost me 130 per wheel, or something. So that was a no no. Lastly, after test driving it, I should open the oil lid and if blue-ish fumes came out, I should just turn around and walk away.

Now that was fun instructions. Always good to know that, so we went there, (fifteen minutes early, in fact) and I went through the motions of checking the bottom (Not too much rust, etc.) and saw lots of denting, but otherwise it looked fine. The wheels had been painted, and though there was quite a bit of cosmetic work to do, the overall impression wasn’t bad.

The guy arrived, and I followed the mechanic’s instructions. Funny bit (apparently I’m good at faking it) the first thing he asked me was if I was a mechanic. Seriously, I almost burst out laughing. Then the test drive came, and some more looking at the hood, and so on. I can honestly say I didn’t dislike the car. It was very stable on the road. The steering was a little heavy, sure, but it steered well, and the brakes were new. So was the suspension. All the filters had been replaced, and (the owner’s a mechanic, hah) he basically said that he never had a single problem with the car.

Personally I like the car, and I would probably go for it if our mechanic agrees that it’s a good buy. But since mom will be driving it most, and she likes the Citroen more (it has an AC btw), and since little brother thinks both cars are a bit too small, we probably will keep on searching for a bit. Hah.

When we got home, we heard that grandpa forgot to close the gate of the little courtyard up by his apartment and tenant’s bungalow. This meant that Tadaika and some of the other pounced on tenant’s little Olivier (Ollie) and even pierced some skin. Poor little mutt. He’ll be okay, though. They’re sturdier than they look, those little dogs.

Luckily, before we left I’d put on tomatoes to boil, so I only needed to add some spices to have spaghetti and fresh tomato sauce for dinner. I was starving after all. It’s too late now to do much more writing, but I succeeded in writing this at least. Let’s hope I’ll have more time for real writing tomorrow.