Song of the day: “Under African skies” by Paul Simon. Ah, an oldie. It has been ages, really, and the Graceland album does bring back fond memories.
Well, I’m running way behind. I just came back from two trips getting concrete blocks for a future construction project, and I’m...blegh. I’m dirty with mud, I’m sore and I’m tired so I’m going to keep this as short as possible so I can do at least a bit of editing tonight.
The weather has been considerably better. Yesterday was downright beautiful (sunny most of it) which allowed for outside work beyond the cover of the carport. I painted the backs of big brother’s future cupboards. It was wonderful, in particular because big brother could head on out into daylight too, and sat most of the day worshipping the sun, hah.
Grandpa also managed to get his driver’s license extended for another two years, so yay. What with his age we were afraid that some a-hole might think it unwise and start making trouble. But it all went off without a hitch. Phew. One less thing to worry about in the near future, thankfully.
We also transferred Tika (eclectus parrot) to a temporary cage so I could clean and fix her permanent one. It is looking good now, the metal gleams and the read top and bottom gleam. With a little luck we can put her back in there come morning, or the day after.
Oh, we went down to the base of the house to confer about what needs to be done about the porch. We’re really going to have to put some speed behind that wall down there, because the porch is still gradually lilting outward, meaning that putting up fortifications is becoming essential. Definitely getting higher on the repair list.
Carla’s (cocker) cough is gone, and so is Gaucho’s (Afghan), so that tinture is working well. Such a relief too, considering the coughing was starting to really worry me.
There was the edit, but since things are pretty much going as usual in that regard I won’t bore you with that particular part of my day. We are getting the letter down pat for sending the book to a publisher, and it reads well. It will need some tweaking yet, I’m sure, but that essentials are there.
It was a late night yesterday, in particular since mom and our permanent guest needed some stuff from town we didn’t get as much of the edits done as I would like. It was enough though.
Today started dreary again, and most of it was spent with busywork. Taking stuff apart for recycling and storage, etc. etc. and then, when there was a momentary break in the cloud-cover (actual warm sun, thank you very much) big brother and I went down into the yard to plant the currant bushes of last week. The plants got adjusted to the temperatures this past week, and now the first batch went into the ground.
Considering they have to be protected against the dogs, we had to put fencing around it as well.
The entire yard was a big mud pool today, and I’ve gotta admit that I was a bit annoyed by it during the course of the morning. Luckily that gradually disappeared as I got busy and finally the sun broke through. Also put in the small apple tree...even though it took me a moment to locate a good spot.
Then there was the concrete slab hauling tonight, and a chilly breeze that picked up. But I took Knight II along, so at least he got some exercise...which brings me to now, when I’m way too late and should be working on the book. I know, I know. Whiner! That’s me. Okay. Getting outta here. Hope for a nice dream the next time, because this was downright boring, wasn’t it?
*sigh*
Friday, January 28, 2011
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
No sense at all
Song of the day: “Can’t stop loving you” by Phil Collins. Very appropriate since I had a rather wonderfully romantic dream this night. I mean really, this is more like it. A different dream at last…the beginning anyway. (And I like to Then it got freaky again, so…well, you’ll see, I guess. Let’s get to it fast.
The air is hot and sultry, a faint blush of sunshine dancing wildly over the thick canopy of clouds lying heavily on the horizon. The waves crash noisily on the surf, the scent of sea and beach prominent. There is already a hint of the storm in the air, that tangy, sparkly presence which prophesises heavy rains and strong winds.
Palm trees sway lazily still, but the rustling of leaves has increased what with the pending storm.
Dressed in a turquoise bikini and a light cotton wrap, I stand in the surf. Water laps at my feet, cool yet warm at the same time. It makes the sand shift underneath my bare feet while I stare out over the water surface. In the distance a big freighter chugs east, cutting a swath through the waves with hardly any effort.
I’m waiting for something, someone, and inside me there’s a restlessness that is getting stronger by the second. I clench and unclench my hand, feel tendons and muscles pull when behind me I hear Knight II approach. A glance back at him, shows him traipsing about, chaos at his side as they follow some indistinct scent close to the cluster of trees. A soft whistle from me has them join my on the shore just as the last bit of sunlight is replaced by the mysterious glow of the clear stars sparkling overhead.
The great Dane appears beside me, pushes his head under my elbow the way he usually does, and fully enjoys the petting he knows he’ll get. Chaos continues on with his “hunt” by the trees, careless of my attempt to get him to heel.
For a while I just stand there, petting Knight and watching more and more stars coming out to sparkle in the sky like diamonds on a bed of black velvet. The wind is picking up, and the cotton wrap flits around me madly. While Knight moves away again to join Chaos beyond the beach, I close my eyes and let the warm air brush over my body. It is a most pleasant sensation. It relaxes me, and when warm hands slip around my waist from behind, I am not in the least bit startled.
“Sorry I took so long,” he says quietly, his breath warm against my cheek as he pulls me up against him.
Butterflies flutter in my stomach at his nearness, the way they always do, and I lean back into him as he presses a soft kiss to the side of my neck.
“You’re here now. That’s all that matters,” I whisper, tilting my head further to the side so he can trail his lips down to my naked shoulder unhindered.
“Were you waiting long?” he wishes to know, his hands on my stomach warmly sliding underneath the wrap.
“Not too long. It just felt that way,” I assure him, resting my head back against his shoulder so I can look at him sideways. There’s a slight cleft in his chin, of course. High cheekbones under clear blue eyes that appear to be extremely dark right now. His hair, just short of being shaggy tumbles over his high forehead and I reach up to brush it back. “I missed you, Rye,” I whisper softly, a bare second before his lips touch mine.
Warmth suffuses me, those same butterflies going like mad in my belly. I close my eyes when the world around me tilts and he lays me gently down upon the sand. I can feel his weight settle on top of me when suddenly…I wake up.
I blink up at the ceiling, strangely knobby bamboo that is suspended by rough beams of what appear to be even thicker bamboo.
There is a distant drip interrupting the constant rattle of rain pounding down upon the banana leaf roof that keeps me relatively safe from the storm raging outside. I look around the small cabin, notice ancient looking furniture before I zoom in on where water drips into a black cooking pot.
Slowly I sit up, glance around the otherwise deserted looking room.
“Rye?” no answer is forthcoming, and quickly I scramble from the bed on which I’d been sleeping. My feet wobble a little on the uneven boards that make up the floor, and I stumble on my way to the open door.
Rain pours down in front of it like a sheet but beyond I can see the distant line of the horizon. White heads bob violently on the gray sea. The scent of storm in strong in the air, and off to the right I can see one of the palm trees lying flat on the beach.
In the distance dogs are barking, and I grab a slicker from the hook beside the door. “Knight. Chaos!” Neither of the dogs come running at the sound of my voice, and barefoot I pad my way off the lilting porch.
Over the rain and the barking dogs, I hear something else too. An engine maybe? I can’t be sure and start running toward the commotion.
The distance appears to be farther with every step I take, and anxiety fills me. Leaves and branches hit me in the face as I head deeper and deeper into the jungle, the dogs sounding more frantic with every second that passes. I can’t make it, they are too far away.
Suddenly the earth before me opens up, a gaping hole of dirt in the middle of the jungle, with on the other side Chaos and Knight are standing over Rye, who’s lying face down on the edge of the pit.
“Noooo!” I scream, frantically looking around in search fro the quickest way to the other side. The dogs continue to bark to something in the jungle ahead. I don’t know what is bothering them so much, but at that particular moment I don’t really care. I scramble along the edge of the hole, the ground beneath my feet unstable and sludgy even.
I reach Rye, his face pale when I carefully turn him around and cup his cheeks. “Rye. Can you hear me?” He doesn’t respond but I can see his chest move with his steady breathing. “Rye, come on, wake up. Talk to me. What happened…Knight!” The dog doesn’t hear me still, and both he and Chaos, continue to bark enthusiastically, almost attacking the bushes that sway like mad in the violent wind.
“Knight. Chaos. Come on, we’ve got to get Rye back to---“ Chaos’s squeak stops me mid sentence, and I am just barely in time to see him tumble over the ground. His momentum is so fast, that he is send tumbling down the hole. I scream; Knight is going on even more furious, and I’m about to go towards him when the bushes move apart. A gaping blackness is beyond and a violent roar fills the air, hurts my ears. I scramble back, the ground beneath my feet shifting as suddenly the edge of the hole crumbles and sends me sliding down the incline head first.
Just when I hit the bottom…I wake up.
Again I blink wildly, stare up at the clear black sky, sparkling with stars. There is a cloud that slides lazily in the corner of the square of sky visible, but other than that the storm appears to have past.
“Are you okay?” Rye appears in my vision. He is hovering over me, his expression worried and his hair sticking out every which way. Clay sticks to his skin, and I feel the stuff cake my own. My body feels numb, as if I have been motionless too long. Something warm touches the side of my face and I look to the side at where Chaos is looking at me with soulful eyes.
Suddenly I remember what happened, and I scramble into a sitting position. “What happened?” I asked, reaching for Chaos and dragging him close to check if he damaged anything during his fall. He appears to be alright, and reassured that much at least I look around in search of Knight. His familiar dark shape lounges at the top of the hole, and for as far as I can see he is just fine. At long last I look back at Rye, who squats beside me in jeans and a dirty T.
“You fell.”
“I know that. You were unconscious, though. What happened before I got here?”
“I don’t know. I---“
That roar, the one that startled me into falling in the first place, sounds again. It appears to come from all around us, making the earth beneath us trembling. Rye grabs hold of my arms and hauls me to my feet, and tightly against him as he peers around for the source.
We back up, away from blackness oozing from between madly dancing foliage. Above us Knight is barking again, and Chaos scurries between our feet as he tries to keep safely behind us.
The blackness, whatever it is, looms closer and closer, tiny sparkles inside it reminding me of the stars overhead, except this is not beautiful. It is frightening, threatening, and Rye draws me even closer, presses my face against his chest until there is only him and the sound…the sound penetrates into my brain. I can hear him say something, “I love you,” I think, but I can’t be sure. The sound makes me shiver as it transforms gradually turning from a high screeching to a deafening buzz…which turns out to be my alarm. It buzzes loudly, right before the music starts up. *sigh*
Yep, I woke for real this time.
Dontcha just hate unresolved dreams that leave you with questions about the who, what and where of things? Seriously. There was definitely not enough cohesion here for a proper story.
So anyway, I woke up to another dreary gray day, meaning that instead of the planned stucco day in the basin, another day in the carport lay ahead. Not that I mind the carport all that much, mind you, but after several days in there, I really wouldn’t mind a wee bit of sunshine and some outside activity.
But anyway. On the most part the past couple of days involved putting together those cupboards I’m doing for big brother’s room. I did in the end manage to find enough MDF for them, and together with Dani set the last three up today.
What else. Well, yesterday middle sister found a new home for her turtles. The poor creatures were definitely getting to be too big for the container in which they lived and since they would do so much better in a warmer place than our porch. Seriously, middle sister was forced to put warmth elements with it, a heat lamp and thermal blankets around it every day. Now they hopefully have a better home with other people.
This morning was spent cleaning up the shelving of the turtles and tackling the mess around it. Strangely enough I’ve been in a cleaning mood these past couple of days. I’ve cleaned up a lot in my cabin; shelves, beams of the ceiling, washing windows, you name it. Considering things have been a mess for a while, this is definitely not a bad thing. Hah.
Yesterday little sister went to her job for the second time, and I think she was rather tired afterwards. So difficult, a first job. It is really all about learning how to handle the “bosses”, eh.
There was time spent in the greenhouse. Tomato seeds are coming up now too. Yay. And twenty three pumpkin seeds came up, meaning that every single seed managed. Rather surprising, that.
What else…Well, the edit for A.I.L. is going well. We went through the first three chapters now so we should be able to start sending that out within the next few weeks. The most important thing now is getting the query letter together, really. There are definitely some good parts there already, but it needs to be fine-tuned yet, to say the least.
Well, Personally I am hoping for a sunny day tomorrow, but what with this winter’s luck, weather wise, I’m not going to hold my breath. Gotta go. There is definitely more work to do yet, and I would like to be in bed in time tonight. Hah.
The air is hot and sultry, a faint blush of sunshine dancing wildly over the thick canopy of clouds lying heavily on the horizon. The waves crash noisily on the surf, the scent of sea and beach prominent. There is already a hint of the storm in the air, that tangy, sparkly presence which prophesises heavy rains and strong winds.
Palm trees sway lazily still, but the rustling of leaves has increased what with the pending storm.
Dressed in a turquoise bikini and a light cotton wrap, I stand in the surf. Water laps at my feet, cool yet warm at the same time. It makes the sand shift underneath my bare feet while I stare out over the water surface. In the distance a big freighter chugs east, cutting a swath through the waves with hardly any effort.
I’m waiting for something, someone, and inside me there’s a restlessness that is getting stronger by the second. I clench and unclench my hand, feel tendons and muscles pull when behind me I hear Knight II approach. A glance back at him, shows him traipsing about, chaos at his side as they follow some indistinct scent close to the cluster of trees. A soft whistle from me has them join my on the shore just as the last bit of sunlight is replaced by the mysterious glow of the clear stars sparkling overhead.
The great Dane appears beside me, pushes his head under my elbow the way he usually does, and fully enjoys the petting he knows he’ll get. Chaos continues on with his “hunt” by the trees, careless of my attempt to get him to heel.
For a while I just stand there, petting Knight and watching more and more stars coming out to sparkle in the sky like diamonds on a bed of black velvet. The wind is picking up, and the cotton wrap flits around me madly. While Knight moves away again to join Chaos beyond the beach, I close my eyes and let the warm air brush over my body. It is a most pleasant sensation. It relaxes me, and when warm hands slip around my waist from behind, I am not in the least bit startled.
“Sorry I took so long,” he says quietly, his breath warm against my cheek as he pulls me up against him.
Butterflies flutter in my stomach at his nearness, the way they always do, and I lean back into him as he presses a soft kiss to the side of my neck.
“You’re here now. That’s all that matters,” I whisper, tilting my head further to the side so he can trail his lips down to my naked shoulder unhindered.
“Were you waiting long?” he wishes to know, his hands on my stomach warmly sliding underneath the wrap.
“Not too long. It just felt that way,” I assure him, resting my head back against his shoulder so I can look at him sideways. There’s a slight cleft in his chin, of course. High cheekbones under clear blue eyes that appear to be extremely dark right now. His hair, just short of being shaggy tumbles over his high forehead and I reach up to brush it back. “I missed you, Rye,” I whisper softly, a bare second before his lips touch mine.
Warmth suffuses me, those same butterflies going like mad in my belly. I close my eyes when the world around me tilts and he lays me gently down upon the sand. I can feel his weight settle on top of me when suddenly…I wake up.
I blink up at the ceiling, strangely knobby bamboo that is suspended by rough beams of what appear to be even thicker bamboo.
There is a distant drip interrupting the constant rattle of rain pounding down upon the banana leaf roof that keeps me relatively safe from the storm raging outside. I look around the small cabin, notice ancient looking furniture before I zoom in on where water drips into a black cooking pot.
Slowly I sit up, glance around the otherwise deserted looking room.
“Rye?” no answer is forthcoming, and quickly I scramble from the bed on which I’d been sleeping. My feet wobble a little on the uneven boards that make up the floor, and I stumble on my way to the open door.
Rain pours down in front of it like a sheet but beyond I can see the distant line of the horizon. White heads bob violently on the gray sea. The scent of storm in strong in the air, and off to the right I can see one of the palm trees lying flat on the beach.
In the distance dogs are barking, and I grab a slicker from the hook beside the door. “Knight. Chaos!” Neither of the dogs come running at the sound of my voice, and barefoot I pad my way off the lilting porch.
Over the rain and the barking dogs, I hear something else too. An engine maybe? I can’t be sure and start running toward the commotion.
The distance appears to be farther with every step I take, and anxiety fills me. Leaves and branches hit me in the face as I head deeper and deeper into the jungle, the dogs sounding more frantic with every second that passes. I can’t make it, they are too far away.
Suddenly the earth before me opens up, a gaping hole of dirt in the middle of the jungle, with on the other side Chaos and Knight are standing over Rye, who’s lying face down on the edge of the pit.
“Noooo!” I scream, frantically looking around in search fro the quickest way to the other side. The dogs continue to bark to something in the jungle ahead. I don’t know what is bothering them so much, but at that particular moment I don’t really care. I scramble along the edge of the hole, the ground beneath my feet unstable and sludgy even.
I reach Rye, his face pale when I carefully turn him around and cup his cheeks. “Rye. Can you hear me?” He doesn’t respond but I can see his chest move with his steady breathing. “Rye, come on, wake up. Talk to me. What happened…Knight!” The dog doesn’t hear me still, and both he and Chaos, continue to bark enthusiastically, almost attacking the bushes that sway like mad in the violent wind.
“Knight. Chaos. Come on, we’ve got to get Rye back to---“ Chaos’s squeak stops me mid sentence, and I am just barely in time to see him tumble over the ground. His momentum is so fast, that he is send tumbling down the hole. I scream; Knight is going on even more furious, and I’m about to go towards him when the bushes move apart. A gaping blackness is beyond and a violent roar fills the air, hurts my ears. I scramble back, the ground beneath my feet shifting as suddenly the edge of the hole crumbles and sends me sliding down the incline head first.
Just when I hit the bottom…I wake up.
Again I blink wildly, stare up at the clear black sky, sparkling with stars. There is a cloud that slides lazily in the corner of the square of sky visible, but other than that the storm appears to have past.
“Are you okay?” Rye appears in my vision. He is hovering over me, his expression worried and his hair sticking out every which way. Clay sticks to his skin, and I feel the stuff cake my own. My body feels numb, as if I have been motionless too long. Something warm touches the side of my face and I look to the side at where Chaos is looking at me with soulful eyes.
Suddenly I remember what happened, and I scramble into a sitting position. “What happened?” I asked, reaching for Chaos and dragging him close to check if he damaged anything during his fall. He appears to be alright, and reassured that much at least I look around in search of Knight. His familiar dark shape lounges at the top of the hole, and for as far as I can see he is just fine. At long last I look back at Rye, who squats beside me in jeans and a dirty T.
“You fell.”
“I know that. You were unconscious, though. What happened before I got here?”
“I don’t know. I---“
That roar, the one that startled me into falling in the first place, sounds again. It appears to come from all around us, making the earth beneath us trembling. Rye grabs hold of my arms and hauls me to my feet, and tightly against him as he peers around for the source.
We back up, away from blackness oozing from between madly dancing foliage. Above us Knight is barking again, and Chaos scurries between our feet as he tries to keep safely behind us.
The blackness, whatever it is, looms closer and closer, tiny sparkles inside it reminding me of the stars overhead, except this is not beautiful. It is frightening, threatening, and Rye draws me even closer, presses my face against his chest until there is only him and the sound…the sound penetrates into my brain. I can hear him say something, “I love you,” I think, but I can’t be sure. The sound makes me shiver as it transforms gradually turning from a high screeching to a deafening buzz…which turns out to be my alarm. It buzzes loudly, right before the music starts up. *sigh*
Yep, I woke for real this time.
Dontcha just hate unresolved dreams that leave you with questions about the who, what and where of things? Seriously. There was definitely not enough cohesion here for a proper story.
So anyway, I woke up to another dreary gray day, meaning that instead of the planned stucco day in the basin, another day in the carport lay ahead. Not that I mind the carport all that much, mind you, but after several days in there, I really wouldn’t mind a wee bit of sunshine and some outside activity.
But anyway. On the most part the past couple of days involved putting together those cupboards I’m doing for big brother’s room. I did in the end manage to find enough MDF for them, and together with Dani set the last three up today.
What else. Well, yesterday middle sister found a new home for her turtles. The poor creatures were definitely getting to be too big for the container in which they lived and since they would do so much better in a warmer place than our porch. Seriously, middle sister was forced to put warmth elements with it, a heat lamp and thermal blankets around it every day. Now they hopefully have a better home with other people.
This morning was spent cleaning up the shelving of the turtles and tackling the mess around it. Strangely enough I’ve been in a cleaning mood these past couple of days. I’ve cleaned up a lot in my cabin; shelves, beams of the ceiling, washing windows, you name it. Considering things have been a mess for a while, this is definitely not a bad thing. Hah.
Yesterday little sister went to her job for the second time, and I think she was rather tired afterwards. So difficult, a first job. It is really all about learning how to handle the “bosses”, eh.
There was time spent in the greenhouse. Tomato seeds are coming up now too. Yay. And twenty three pumpkin seeds came up, meaning that every single seed managed. Rather surprising, that.
What else…Well, the edit for A.I.L. is going well. We went through the first three chapters now so we should be able to start sending that out within the next few weeks. The most important thing now is getting the query letter together, really. There are definitely some good parts there already, but it needs to be fine-tuned yet, to say the least.
Well, Personally I am hoping for a sunny day tomorrow, but what with this winter’s luck, weather wise, I’m not going to hold my breath. Gotta go. There is definitely more work to do yet, and I would like to be in bed in time tonight. Hah.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Brrrrrrrrr.
Song of the day: “Pure intuition” by Shakira. Love this one. Such a wonderful tune.
Well, the weather is still dreadful, even though today was not as bloody awful as yesterday. We’ve got rain, wind and close to freezing temperatures. I am not happy, I tell ya that much…Hah. It is not all that bad, I just like to drop back in my old habit of complaining every now and then.
Yesterday was the worst of it so far, I’ll admit. My dogs were absolutely miserable and had no trouble whatsoever staying in my cabin. They’d cuddle in the basket, chairs and on the desk, barely bothering to look up whenever I checked on them or came in to go to the bathroom. Poor darlings, in particular Chaos. The Basset takes a while to cool off, but when he does, it takes him ages and lots of shivering to warm up again. He was downright miserable last night. I actually had to wrap him in blankets and rub him until he stopped crying. Not a cold-lover, our Chaos. The same goes for Knight II, and Sitabah with their ridiculously thin skins. Amri, Gada and Labhana on the other hand, couldn’t care less. Seriously, they’ll lie down on cold wet dirt, in the middle of the wind and not care a fig. Lucky bastards.
We have several dogs that are that way, you know. Thorgal (Golden retriever) rain or shine. No prob. Same goes for Rammi (Rottweiler mix) Indigo (Labrador) and Akata and Nanook (Huskies). On the other hand Carla, Kenneth, Sonia, Mosha (Cocker spaniels) and Lieve, Tadaika and Cham, are basically shivering all day. Like I said, poor darlings.
So lets go down to business.
Edits. We’re going a little slow, but not bad. I still regret the different style, but I’ve gotta try, right? Besides, the story and characters remain good, no matter what the style, so I should stop complaining. *sigh*
On the most part we’ve been working in the carport these last few days. Big brother and grandpa are perfecting the tool holds and such, while I mostly hauled stuff away. There were wooden pallets lying about that had to go up to storage. Metal frames to be cut to pieces, woodsies to be hauled ad so on and on. On the most part I was cleaning up. Hah. It was rather nice to be able to move about in the carport. Hah.
I was so frigging cold at the end of the day I took a hot shower afterwards, took a nap wrapped in a blanket and only then got around to editing. Seriously, there is nothing more exhausting than cold, really. I’ll take scorching heat any day, if I had the choice.
We ended the day with a nice scavenge, and ended up with a nice stash of glass bricks, you know the kind I mean, right? They were very prominent in the eighties, I think. I wonder where we can put a see through wall, though. Hah. Also more tiles, which is good, considering tenants room still has to be made.
Which brings us to today. Rather than risk another fiasco I started the day calling “the office”. Seriously. I still haven’t heard a thing from them concerning my job. As it turns out there’s still no paper coming here in this area, so no earnings for me. *sigh* There’s no helping it, I guess. Better start looking for something again. I do think it is rather rude to treat employees in such a fashion, but what the heck. Can’t accuse everyone of proper manners, eh? (How’s that for sounding snotty. Hah.)
So instead of going out to work I hung laundry (duh. What did you think I’d do, go dancing. Jeez) removed spider webs from the ceiling and walls and visited with tenant for a bit. I finally got smart (warmth wise that is) and got my old fisherman’s sweater from storage. Seriously, this thing makes the difference between comfortably warm and freezing cold.
The remainder of the day was spent making cupboards for big brother’s room. I promised I would make them to replace the thin wall over the stairwell, and made an excellent start on it, if you must know. Got three of them done in fact (minus the hinges), so there are only six more to go before we put them in. They’ll be solid at least, that’s undeniable. And they will go nicely with his bed. Besides, they’re really good practice for Danni, who came to visit again today. Hah.
At the end of the day, after cleaning the mess we made, we went to the village to pay the latest vet bill. Another 60 bucks, (who needs food anyway) Yikes! Then we had to go past the construction company to get cement. With a little luck we’ll have a break in the cloud cover some time in the next few days, at which time we’re going to try to plaster the wall of the basin. Then, it will be waiting some more for the next dry spell before we can pain the walls and floor of the thing. We must have it done before the end of February, which will mean the end of the rainy season. It might be a close call.
Once we got home, we checked the greenhouse. The zucchinis and tomatoes are doing rather well, as is the chard and pumpkins…even though the temperature in there is only 50 degrees in there, compared to outside’s 45. The fruit bushes are also surviving nicely…even though big brother is now rushing outside to cover them up for the night. Grandpa says they’ve got to get accustomed to outside temperatures before we plant them, so during the night we cover them up against the cold wind. Poor things.
Well, that’s about it. Edits await.
Well, the weather is still dreadful, even though today was not as bloody awful as yesterday. We’ve got rain, wind and close to freezing temperatures. I am not happy, I tell ya that much…Hah. It is not all that bad, I just like to drop back in my old habit of complaining every now and then.
Yesterday was the worst of it so far, I’ll admit. My dogs were absolutely miserable and had no trouble whatsoever staying in my cabin. They’d cuddle in the basket, chairs and on the desk, barely bothering to look up whenever I checked on them or came in to go to the bathroom. Poor darlings, in particular Chaos. The Basset takes a while to cool off, but when he does, it takes him ages and lots of shivering to warm up again. He was downright miserable last night. I actually had to wrap him in blankets and rub him until he stopped crying. Not a cold-lover, our Chaos. The same goes for Knight II, and Sitabah with their ridiculously thin skins. Amri, Gada and Labhana on the other hand, couldn’t care less. Seriously, they’ll lie down on cold wet dirt, in the middle of the wind and not care a fig. Lucky bastards.
We have several dogs that are that way, you know. Thorgal (Golden retriever) rain or shine. No prob. Same goes for Rammi (Rottweiler mix) Indigo (Labrador) and Akata and Nanook (Huskies). On the other hand Carla, Kenneth, Sonia, Mosha (Cocker spaniels) and Lieve, Tadaika and Cham, are basically shivering all day. Like I said, poor darlings.
So lets go down to business.
Edits. We’re going a little slow, but not bad. I still regret the different style, but I’ve gotta try, right? Besides, the story and characters remain good, no matter what the style, so I should stop complaining. *sigh*
On the most part we’ve been working in the carport these last few days. Big brother and grandpa are perfecting the tool holds and such, while I mostly hauled stuff away. There were wooden pallets lying about that had to go up to storage. Metal frames to be cut to pieces, woodsies to be hauled ad so on and on. On the most part I was cleaning up. Hah. It was rather nice to be able to move about in the carport. Hah.
I was so frigging cold at the end of the day I took a hot shower afterwards, took a nap wrapped in a blanket and only then got around to editing. Seriously, there is nothing more exhausting than cold, really. I’ll take scorching heat any day, if I had the choice.
We ended the day with a nice scavenge, and ended up with a nice stash of glass bricks, you know the kind I mean, right? They were very prominent in the eighties, I think. I wonder where we can put a see through wall, though. Hah. Also more tiles, which is good, considering tenants room still has to be made.
Which brings us to today. Rather than risk another fiasco I started the day calling “the office”. Seriously. I still haven’t heard a thing from them concerning my job. As it turns out there’s still no paper coming here in this area, so no earnings for me. *sigh* There’s no helping it, I guess. Better start looking for something again. I do think it is rather rude to treat employees in such a fashion, but what the heck. Can’t accuse everyone of proper manners, eh? (How’s that for sounding snotty. Hah.)
So instead of going out to work I hung laundry (duh. What did you think I’d do, go dancing. Jeez) removed spider webs from the ceiling and walls and visited with tenant for a bit. I finally got smart (warmth wise that is) and got my old fisherman’s sweater from storage. Seriously, this thing makes the difference between comfortably warm and freezing cold.
The remainder of the day was spent making cupboards for big brother’s room. I promised I would make them to replace the thin wall over the stairwell, and made an excellent start on it, if you must know. Got three of them done in fact (minus the hinges), so there are only six more to go before we put them in. They’ll be solid at least, that’s undeniable. And they will go nicely with his bed. Besides, they’re really good practice for Danni, who came to visit again today. Hah.
At the end of the day, after cleaning the mess we made, we went to the village to pay the latest vet bill. Another 60 bucks, (who needs food anyway) Yikes! Then we had to go past the construction company to get cement. With a little luck we’ll have a break in the cloud cover some time in the next few days, at which time we’re going to try to plaster the wall of the basin. Then, it will be waiting some more for the next dry spell before we can pain the walls and floor of the thing. We must have it done before the end of February, which will mean the end of the rainy season. It might be a close call.
Once we got home, we checked the greenhouse. The zucchinis and tomatoes are doing rather well, as is the chard and pumpkins…even though the temperature in there is only 50 degrees in there, compared to outside’s 45. The fruit bushes are also surviving nicely…even though big brother is now rushing outside to cover them up for the night. Grandpa says they’ve got to get accustomed to outside temperatures before we plant them, so during the night we cover them up against the cold wind. Poor things.
Well, that’s about it. Edits await.
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