Notice:

I can't predict when I have the time to post a new blog, but check occasionally. I'm going to try at least weekly.

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Dreams and such

Song of the day: “Don’t Cry for me Argentina” by Madonna. Seriously, it isn’t funny. I’ve had the friggin’ Evita movie in my head all day and I can’t get it out. It’s POing big brother, who absolutely hates that movie, but it just can’t be helped. It is there, and for the majority of the day it was there to stay. Hah.

So let me start with the bad news and bring you up to date on Touri. Yesterday morning, while we were hauling rocks down the mountain I noticed that not only has his limp returned (it was just going so well, darn it) he also had a slight swelling again. So, of course we dropped the day’s task (we had fully planned on planting more veggies, hauling more rocks and finishing big brother’s cabinet) and headed for the vet. She agreed that it was the same and would operate that very day. We could come to pick him up later that night where it turned out that she still isn’t sure what it is, but that she thinks it is cancer to the muscles, darn it!
Personally I think it is some sort of parasite, but the test will have to tell us what the problem is. There goes another 180 of savings, but really…what other choice is there?
I do admit that I don’t really want to hear that he’s got cancer. Seriously, I lost more than enough of my personal pack these past couple of years, I want a pass. Heck, I’m not even over Bommel yet.

Okay, I’m getting mushy, let’s change the routine a little again, because I had a beaut of a dream and I’ve gotta write it down. Here goes:

The beach. It stretches out endlessly on either side of me. In front, the ocean is a silver mirror, reflecting the sun’s light with an impressive pallet of color. Red, orange and pink slash across the distant horizon. The lavender sky a clear, cold contrast.
I stand there, my feet bare so my toes can curl in the cool sand. It feels wonderful, the grainy quality of it cushioning my feet on all sides. Water laps at them as well, but compared to the sand it means nothing.
Seagulls screech overhead, but they are not what holds my attention. There is a distant pounding, a rushing thud-thud, thud-thud, like a locomotive slowly, oh so slowly making its way up a steep incline. It is insistent, annoying almost, and it keeps me focused on the gleaming surface of the ocean.
As I stand there, gazing at the water, the lapping waves cease their teasing around my feet. In fact, it appears as if they are ceasing their approach entirely.
Thud-thud, thud-thud.
Gradually, quite to my surprise the water begins to withdraw, pulling away from my feet and showing a wealth of seashells, rounded piece of colorful glass and rocks on the exposed bottom.
“What is happening?” someone asks behind me, but I pay no heed to the crowd gathering on the beach. All eyes are on the receding ocean.
Thud-thud, thud-thud.
Beside me is Knight (old Knight, the Bobtail, mind you), along with Amri and both of them are pulling at their leashes, as they try to put more distance between them and the exposed bottom of the ocean.
Thud-thud, thud-thud.
There is a sense of urgency inside me, something powerful and insistent. While more and more people gather on the beach, I pick up my gladiator sandals (I hate those) and back away. Of to the right I know I parked the Ford (apparently it’s still there too) so I hurry towards it.
Behind me the lapping sound increases, thud-thud, thud-thud, faster and faster, until it suddenly turns into a louder, entirely new roaring sound. This one is almost deafening, but still, as the dogs drag me closer to the pick-up truck, I can hear startled outcries from the people behind me on the beach.
Though I want to glance back, the dogs won’t let me, and practically fault into the back of the truck.
I fumble for the keys and get into the car. Just seconds later I tear away from the curb, heading into the town and cursing my bad luck for the day’s rush hour. There are cars everywhere, seemingly congesting every single street I try to get out of the city.
Cars are revved, horns are honked and my progress is incredibly slow…in particular when right in front of me a gold colored Chevy crashes into the back of a bright green Opel Corsa. (I know, what are the odds, right? A gold Chevy. Seriously?)
Then I hear it, the roar that is now even audible over the honking horns and screaming engines. And while the man in the gold Chevy is threatening to pound on the driver of the Corsa, right there in front of me, in the shade of the gently swaying orange trees, I see the cause of the sound.
Through my rearview mirror, framed by a delicate black a massive wave crashes in-between the sea-view apartments that line the boulevard.
“Shit!” it is the only word that comes to mind as I scramble for the door handle and leave the keys in the ignition as I grab the leashes of the dogs and drag them with me.
Around me other people are starting to notice the water approaching, screaming and shouting rising higher as more cars, determined to flee, slam into each other all around me.
I start to run then, Knight and Amri close at my heels as I head north, uphill. The water continues to approach, taking with it the congested traffic and people alike.
“Go, go, go!” I shout at the dogs, my sneakers skidding on the macadam of the street as we dodge through parked cars mount the lopsided stairs that lead up to a higher section of the town.
We bound up the stairs, the dogs keeping track close at my heels, as behind me cars get pushed into the façade of the building on either side of me.
Loud crashes, breaking glass and even an orange tree catapulting right past me, hurry us on. The water is just a few feet behind us, little splatters of it pelting my calves.
We’re not going to make it, I am sure of it as I approach the train rails, bridged across residential streets. The dogs are right with me, their tongues lolling as a freight train approaches from the right.
I hesitate for only a moment when it comes rumbling past, I leap across the rails. I grab hold of a handle, and climb aboard, the dogs (somehow, don’t ask me how) join me on top of the roof.
As I look back, I can see the massive wave crash and curve through the town’s streets, approaching still, even as the train continues on its way out, heading up the mountainous area beyond.
I am just about to utter a sigh of relief when a sudden roar up ahead, along with a fierce shiver that almost threw me off my feet. I spun on my heel, just barely in time to see another massive wave crash straight into the front of the train.
Wagons are already derailing, their creaking metal and screeching brakes joining the rushing water I grab hold of the wagon’s top and feel the world tilt beneath my feet.
I scream, but no sound comes out as the wagon derails and topples to the side. I manage to jump clear just barely in time and then scramble further up the rocky incline on which I landed.
“Knight, Amri!” the dogs appear on either side of me as if out of thin air, and together we make it up the incline. My feet are slipping on the loose rubble and rock, and behind me the water continues to roll upwards, chasing me, or so it feels. I can actually feel it lap at my heel when large hand from above grabs me by the wrist and drags me up the last bit.
Stretched out on the ground, Knight and Amri wiggling their buts enthusiastically at my savior, I turn around to squint up at his sun-framed face. “Jeez, you took you time. Where the hell were you?”
“Sorry, Sam. I got caught up. You okay?”
“Yeah. Sorta, anyway.”

Which was about the time I woke up and blinked up at my ceiling. I gotta admit was breathless and slightly miffed about waking up before knowing who actually rescued me. I hate it when I wake up too soon. It gives me a sense of unresolved issues, darn it.

But anyway, today was a mix of things. First of all big brother’s cabinets, which are almost completely done and in place. Secondly, planting new cauliflower plants, and thirdly going for a jog.

Seriously, it’s been ages, and I loved it. Knight II did too, by the way, even though he will of course deny it. I’m a bit embarrassed to admit it, but while I go full out at a run, he’ll be trotting right at my side, taking the time to take in the scenery. The only time he went in running mode was when big brother distracted him enough for me to get a head start. Hah. Boy, he has a gorgeous run, I tell ya.

Well, I still have an edit to do, of course. Almost done with A.I.L. If all goes well we should be able to send the letter and synopsis out ‘round Monday, so yay.

Gotta go.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

This and that

Song of the day: “Men in this town” and “Waka waka” by Shakira. Don’t ask me why, they’ve been going through my head off and on today.

First off, I cut my hair yesterday morning. Seriously, the mess was starting to get way too thin again (I was born cursed with ridiculously thin hair, mind you) so I tied the lot up into a tail and snapped off an inch or two. Afterwards, since that really doesn’t come across as beneficial for the hairdo, I trimmed some more (in front of the mirror) and went for round-like bob that just barely skims my shoulders. It’ll do.

Worked on the synopsis and query letter for A.I.L. again, which are shaping up to the point that there really isn’t a lot left that we can do with it. Soon I’m going to have to send them out to the publishers and leave it up to fate. Did my best…we both did, so now we’ll have to see how it works out. We’re aiming for Monday to send the package out.

Watched another movie last night, “Inception” with Leo Dicaprio, Tom Berenger, Cillian Murphy, and Gordon Joseph Levitt…you know, the cute boy from “Third Rock From The Sun” and “The Jury” with Demi and Alec…I was a little disappointed. I think it has to do with the fact that I am not a huge fan of Dicaprio (the only ones I really liked of him were “What’s eating Gilbert Grape” and “Black Diamond”) and that the story was somewhat chaotic. I could follow the storyline just fine, but for some reason there was a constant up-build towards a climax, which then didn’t occur. By the end of the movie I was sort of desensitised, I guess, which is a pity because it definitely had potential. Did enjoy seeing Levitt as an adult, though.

Other than that we’ve been working on the cabinets for Big brother’s room. Put them in this afternoon in fact, which means that they’re looking darn good, if you ask me. Admittedly, it doesn’t look like I imagined it yet, but once we finish them I think they’ll at least be similar to what I had in my head when I first started building them.

Did I say we tucked the potatoes in, by the way? Yep, they are now covered by plastic so they get a head-start this early in the year. Strange storms going on here at the moment, by the way. Strong north western winds, rain and thunder are regular occurrences at the moment. It’s almost a northern March, if you ask me. Very unusual.

We had two nightly trips to the greenhouse. There is a snail problem, so we’re heading over there after the sun sets and search the lettuce heads by lamplight. It works too, we’re getting an average of six snail a night. Yay.

Made a thyme/oregano coughing syrup today, both for tenant (she has a strange itchy cough now, very strange) and just to be sure. This is the time of the year for a solid cough, of course, so having it in the house is not bad.

What else? Well, we got the bus all done, and now that big brother’s cabinets are in his room, we actually have some room in the carport. Which will be good if it starts raining again in the near future.

The basin is two feet from being full, by the way, and the wall is holding so, yay. Did a good job there…heck, Fortuyn decided to take a dip in it this very morning. (Whether he was pushed in or actually jumped, I don’t know.) He totally freaked out and was splashing around like mad until big brother reached down and dragged him out. Poor Fortuyn. I do know that Huckabee was looking calculative at the water. It was tempting for him, I think, seeing as he’s a waterdog and all. Hah.

The sun was out today, by the way. Meaning that tenant came down to sit on my porch for the majority of the afternoon. She is feeling a tad out of sorts of late giving us and her caregiver fits about refusing to drink. Ah well, we all feel out of sorts at times, don’t we? Let’s hope it sorts back to normal again.

Touri's ears are doing well now, but Gada is suddenly limping since the day before yesterday. I don’t get it. She appears to be feeling out of sorts and sometimes comes to me looking miserable and making clear that she wants to be cuddled a bit.
Indigo, who had a big sore on top of her back since a couple of weeks ago, is vastly improving after several iodine washings. The crusts and puss are gone, and she appears to be feeling better.

Well, this will have to do today, because I still have way too much to do and I would like to get to bed in time tonight. I’m blanking anyway about what happened in the past couple of days, so…bye.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

No groceries for another 3 weeks. Yay

Song of the day: “Ice Queen” by Within Temptation. I looked it up the other day and thus it has been in my head every now and that, like today.

Weather wise it was downright horrible today…well, at least the first part. Rain kept coming down (half the basin is already full, by the way. Yay!!!) and didn’t stop until after five in the afternoon. It wasn’t too bad, considering there was more than enough to do under the roof of the carport.

Yep, seeing opportunity…oh wait. I skipped yesterday. That just won’t do, will it? *sigh* I had hoped to have fully suppressed yesterday, but since it just popped back in my mind, I’m just going to have to mention it.

It was grocery-shopping day, of course, and we did it in record time to boot…and within budget no less. *phew* Nothing really exciting happening, only that the prices are still rising. Seriously, it is starting to be a bit worrying, if you ask me. Food, the most basic of them, are gradually costing more, meaning (of course) that you can buy less in the near future. It is rather daunting if you ask me.

But anyway, we got everything done in four and a half hours, (part of it was due to the fact that we didn’t go to two of our regular stores) and were home before twilight. Got everything unloaded and then headed out into the yard for some serious relaxation. Seriously, being out in the city always gets me wired, and there is nothing that feels quite as nice as go out into the garden.

We checked up on all our plants, pulled some weeds and sowed some more herbs. First ones are coming up, by the way, Anise and Marjoram, to be precise. Just getting my hands dirty and shaking the tomato plants was a pleasure beyond compare. Right, I can hear you think. “Shaking the tomato plant?” Yep, gotta shake ‘m to fertilize. I’ve decided to do it while singing Harry Belafonte’s “Shake Shake Shake Senora” every time. Hah.

There was a rather good edit afterwards, meaning that we’ve got more than two thirds done. But we were tired, so we gave up after five pages and went up to my cabin where we actually got to watch a movie. I know, astounding, isn’t it? But yeah, we watched Predators, which wasn’t as stupendously air-headed as the last two, but not as good as the first two either. Seriously, Zwarzenegger and Glover did some darn good work there. They just don’t make characters the way they used to.

Let’s be honest here, when’s the last time you saw anything like “Romancing the Stone”, “The Last of the Mohicans”, “Revenge”, “Lucky Number Slevin” or even “Tears of the Sun”. You know, stuff that you could see over and over again, just because the characters fascinated you so much. These days, movies appear to be designed to have as much “extras” in it as they can possibly pile together. While if they took out one or two extra nifty shots, they could actually get a character developed there that I can care about. Seriously, an action flick or horror flick are only interesting if I actually like the person who is constantly almost being slaughtered.
Admittedly the Die Hards are still going well enough. Okay, I could talk about movies all night long, so I better quit while I’m ahead. Hah.

Let’s get today. Where did I leave off? Oh yeah. Carport and carpentry. Those Cabinets I’ve designed for big brother’s room. I decided that I might as well take the opportunity of lousy weather to work on them some more. All of them now have doors, so after a few more adjustments tomorrow, we should be able to get them into big brother’s room soon.

Ox was there to help me today, seeing as grandpa and big brother were kept busy with other stuff. Got all the doors in, and he was working on the handles. I wish there was more to do for him, but with four people working in there the options are limited. It was downright chilly, so my feet were icy by the end of the evening, after we had headed out to get another batch of rocks. This time grandpa went along, and as usual working with three people it went a lot faster. A good thing too, considering the northern wind is not funny.

Once we got home, I had a nice meal of hot porridge and changed into something warm so we could settle in for the remainder of the evening. There’s an edit to do, and other stuff too, so this is it for the blog today. Gotta go.

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Nuh-uh...no title

Song of the day: “Puppet on a string” by…I forgot. Ah well. Funny song anyway.

Had a tedious couple of days, at least in regards to telling about them. Since we’re working on storage anyway, yesterday morning, right after finishing the house chores, such as laundry and all those other pesky daily jobs, we headed for the bus. Like me, grandpa is going bonkers due to the lack of storage, so it really was time for this.

It took us most of yesterday to take it all out, and sort through the mess…although we did manage to fit in another potato planting session. Looking cute too, what with the reed fencing I made around it. I’ve feeling that, come summer it’ll all look rather tropic.

Anyway, once we finished taking the contents from under the bus (and separated the garbage from it) there was loads of cleaning (this place wasn’t exempt from our most recent rat problem) and then putting in partitions. While I did this particular chore, big brother worked on a dam like section for the gutters that lead to the basin. We’ve got this big slab of marble that can now be set in place if the water supply has to be closed off. It looks rather nifty, if I do say so myself.
Grandpa was hauling stuff up with Dani all the while, considering that a lot has to go to the local landfill in the next few weeks.

Since the Land Rover was occupied for today’s market venture (the sibs and mom, remember?) we had an excellent excuse not to go out for stones. I was rather glad for it, because these days I’ve a feeling that I’m burning the candles on both sides a bit again. Not that it matters, considering I keep being sensible about it, get enough sleep and food, and take care that balance activities. Nevertheless, a bit of caution is warranted.

There were some edits but on the most part, we worked on the synopsis for A.I.L. I didn’t think it was going to work this time, what with shifting everything around and getting it up to three pages, but in the end it all came down again to exactly two, as is requested by the publisher.

We also worked on my new letterhead, which turned out properly cute for the occasion. We printed the whole lot out and I’ve gotta admit that it all looks pretty darn good. With a little luck we’ll start sending it all out next week. After another hour of edit-reading, I was so tired I basically past out the moment my head hit the pillow.

This morning, after the usual household chores, along with a visit to tenant who agreed to spend the last sunny day on my porch, where she could at least catch a bit of sun still, it was back to the bus. During the course of the day the clouds kept gathering, however. Even now the rain is gently coming down, which isn’t bad, per say, in particularly not for the plants, but still. I’m not thrilled with the change. Hah.

After finishing closing off the last of the holes and locking the side sections of the old bus over old suitcases and such, we continued on on the other side and took to staring at the old diesel tank there. Seriously, it took me two minutes of staring before I turned to big brother and said, “Hey, this thing runs on diesel, right?”
Big brother: “Uh-huh.”
Me: “I don’t suppose you know if it’s empty?”
Big brother: “Nuh-uh.”
Me: “Should we…”
Big brother: “Uh-huh.” And off he was to get a tube from storage, along with a couple of buckets.

So we ended up with about 20 liters of diesel, yay. We filtered it, of course, and then poured it down into the tank of the Land Rover. This is going to save us quite a bill this month, in particular since it is aaaar…ehm grocery shopping day tomorrow. We won’t need to gas up at least. Yay.

Had a nice little walk with tenant who slept splendidly but would like to have her bed lowered by several centimeters (1 or 2 inches) because when it is lower she can get on easier. I’ll try to do that in the morning, but otherwise the day after, we’ll have to see how it turns out.

Today we sowed spinach, by the way. Grandpa turned some more earth (don’t ask me why, but he really likes doing that). And just about when we were done, the first drops of rain started to fall. Not hard, but we started hurrying up in cleaning the last bits around the bus, hauling up what we could to storage and get all the tools safely settled for the night.

In the last bit of daylight, we got another batch of rocks. There was some mild rain, but nothing to serious. On the most part, I don’t dislike hauling rocks at the end of the day. It is a good exercise to wind down from whatever activities we did during the day. Besides, whether I like it or not doesn’t matter anyway. It has to be done.

Dog-wise Gada’s ear is all better. No more stuff oozes out, yay, so I won’t be needed to clean that ear anymore. Let’s hope that this remedy will work longer than the antibiotics. Touri’s ear is not better yet (though there is some improvement) instead he hates me for cleaning his ear every other day. *sigh* You should see the look in his eyes afterwards, in particular because I literally need to take him in a choke-hold so big brother can spray the stuff into his ear. Ah well, we’ll see how things go in the near future.

Well, that’s it for today. All else that happened is just…well, a blank.