Something else

Song of the day: “Breathe” by Midge Ure. Such a marvelous song, and such good advice. Seriously, this past week has been running me ragged, and it ain’t even over yet. *sigh*

So I know, me cheating the other day with a simple little poem is…well, who gives a fig, there’s stuff to do, stuff to write about and…well, I better get to it then, eh?

At the moment I am standing in some park in town, some odd fifty yards from the highway, jotting down my blog, rather than waste time twiddling my thumbs while waiting for my appointment at carglass. Yep, you guessed it right. Busted my back window the day before yesterday while big brother and I were out getting these big MDF boards. We had tied them up on the imperial, you see, and one of the binders must have broken, because ones second there was a grinding noise, and the next, while we glanced at each other thinking we should stop, the boards slid down as one and crashed to the road like one massive brick. Jeez. Startled the heck out of me, right there. I saw it go through the side mirror, and at the same time the back window exploded. The way I figure, the whole lot slid, hit the spare tire thus twisting the door and breaking the window. If not that, well, then I don’t know what the heck happened. Hah.

But anyway, we headed for carglass yesterday and got an appointment fort a replacement today. *sigh* The fun part is that tomorrow I get to go out again, yay (sorry for the sarcasm) to bring the Land Rover in at the garage to figure out why the AC isn’t working. Personally I don’t care about that all that much, but seeing as mom and little brother and sister need to use the car for the market as well, I figure postponing is not the best thing. Poor darlings really can’t stand the heat.

There’s been lots of fun trips to town, by the way. The Opel (yes, brace yourself) is having some fits. Not surprising considering it’s a 2nd hand car and all, but still, vastly annoying. Turns out there’s either something wrong with the heating, seeing as the gauge implies it’s going over a hundred straight towards the dangerous red mark. Otherwise it has to do with the gauge. I looked it up online and found several sites where folks were having the same problem. Regretfully none could supply me with a solution, so it’s at the shop…not my preferred one, but seeing as mom uses the car most and brought it in, I figure it’s her choice where she brings it. *sigh*

The dude is checking it out as we speak (so to speak) and we’ll hear later tonight what the verdict is. Seriously, if this car is going to give us as much fits as the other one, I just might do something drastic and get myself and UZI or something. If I’ve got to suffer…*snort*

Okay, all kidding aside, I should really hurry up here. I’ve got more to write, least of all the book, of course.
Lots of gardening going on of course, not to mention experimenting with cooking. I’ve been trying a new concoction involving boiled chicken peas, which turned out rather splendidly. Definitely a sufficient meat replacement. Heck, it even replaces potatoes or rice, in a pinch. The best part, however, is that it was delicious. I’m definitely going to have to put this one in the cook book.

So besides cooking, the yard has been my absolute savior. I would come home weary and wired from the city, and head into the yard. Seriously, an hour of getting my hands dirty, gathering veggies, yanking out weeds, and staring at the big baskets of food gathered, calmed me right down.

There was the problem of my foot. Seriously, what with the going out, and it being warm again, I have been unable to wear my good work boots with the insoles (just too hot). Instead I opted for sneakers and linen shoes, meaning that my foot feels like it’s flayed open again, and that the shard of glass causing it are still stuck in there. *sigh* Stupid foot. If I didn’t need it so much, I’d shop the stupid thing off entirely. Hah.

My dogs are absolutely grumpy, what with me being away so much. The looking, finding, buying, insurance, repairs, more repairs and then the Land Rover’s window, well, I’ve been away so much Knight II doesn’t even bother greeting me anymore. Instead he’ll lie on the couch and look at me reproachfully. Vengeful bastard. It’s not as if I can help what all has been going on, darn it.

But anyway, today is grocery-shopping day. I know, “Aaargh!!!” right? Sure is that, but what can you do? Another month gone and yes, another month closer to winter again. I swear, just thinking about the days already getting shorter again freaks me out. Where is time going? I mean, yesterday we were ringing in the New Year and now we’re already half way through the year again. Time is running away from me, and there are times when it is terribly frustrating.

Be that as it may, one month into the new book and I’m officially over one third. Yay. Going well, on the overall, even though it doesn’t always feel that way. I no longer have my burst of 10 pages inspiration (which were few and far in-between to begin with, but terribly satisfying) but I do write an average of three to four pages a day, which makes for steady progress. It does mean that I no longer have the “I’m blocked” days, which were more frustrating than the “I’m inspired” spurts of satisfaction.

With a little luck I’ll finish V.L. before the end of summer, meaning that we’ll have all winter for the edits. First there will be another in-between project of course, seeing as I will need to change my mind-set before starting on the first edit, but still, this time next year, I should be able to be in the middle of a new project. Hah.

Seriously, though. The book is going well. I like the characters…or at least the way they’re shaping up. I never do at first, because I miss the ones from the last project, but so far, Jessie and Gray are becoming intelligent, not to mention somewhat troubled people…which makes for the most interesting reading, doesn’t it? They both have a past that is to be reckoned with, and both have a problem with trust. A match made in heaven, I would say, in particular because the plot will put their lives in each other’s hands several times, to say the least.

The pets (in the book) are making me laugh more than ones, btw. Seriously, where else than in fiction can you describe a scene with an aggressive ostrich, a scared Mastiff, a territorial cockatoo and a lazy boa constrictor. Hah.

So, at the moment (there was a short break in today’s blog. It was time for my appointment at carglass) I’m sitting in a hot waiting room, while folks are about to start working on the Land Rover, with a smell that is…well, toxic to say the least. Seriously, in their attempt to block nasty scents, they’re filling rooms with perfumes that are giving me a friggin’ headache. I think I prefer sweat over that. It’s like I’m sitting in a public bathroom, or something. Ah well, I’ll be outside in the garden within…ah shite. Grocery shopping day. I’ll be out and about for the rest of the day. As soon as the friggin’ car is done, I’ll be heading home to pick up mom and the sibs for our monthly shopping spree.

What else…the dogs. Amri’s swelling has returned. Not as big as before, but it is there. Meaning that if it doesn’t go down soon, another trip to the vet will be involved. Not looking forward to that, I’ll tell you. In particular not since we’ve been spending way too much money this month. Not much help for it, but still…I wish that nature would just do its thing and take care of the little problem for me. I mean seriously, we’ve (in particular animals) managed for centuries without medical care, and we’re still around. Apparently the body is able to do something.

Okay, what else. Gradually my mind is drawing a blank again.
Tenant has been taking it easy as of late. In particular because we didn’t do any time consuming jobs this past week, she has opted to stay up at her apartment. This worries me a little (not that it can be helped, of course) because that means that she’s getting less exercise. This is really not something that she can afford…but maybe she’ll go for a swim with caregiver today, which will get her some movement at least.

Other than that, the concrete in her room got poured last Saturday, meaning that in a few days from now I should be able to start tiling her floor. It’s high time too, seeing as the eucalyptus beside her bungalow had sent the old floor upwards in several places. The floor tiles, when I start laying them, will be of a spotted yellow and a spotted gray. Simple, not too smooth, since that is unsafe with her balance problems, and not too difficult since the room is square (sorta). It should take me a day at most, and then it will be all done.

Well, this will have to do for today. I’ve got another scene to write for V.L. and less than forty minutes to fill yet.
Let’s just hope I’m out of this place before two, because my eyes are starting to water from this scent.