Getting worried

Song of the day: “Fireflies” by Owl City. Just recently rediscovered this particular song and it’s been on my mind ever since.

What’s up? Well, I don’t really know. My brain wants to blank out, but luckily I jotted some stuff down on a list so I actually have some stuff to write about. Hah.

First off we’ve got yesterday, which was spent in the full sun (was wonderful, considering there was a cool Atlantic wind) washing the cars. Seriously, it was grand, and though I knew that I was going to end up sunburned (got to get sunburned at least once in the summer, right?) I did it in shorts and a bikini top anyway. Hah. It was just too nice

The washing done, and after hauling in the dog food that was delivered while I was washing the car, (lugged down ten bags of 44 pounds a pop), I waxed the Land Rover proper. Though I have no trouble with the Land Rover being dirty, it does fit the image a bit. You know what I mean, right? Cross country, mud, dust and all that jazz. The wax does a wonderful job of keeping the persistent dirt off. Unlike the last time, I managed to wash the car with only a sponge, which is definitely a first.

While I was doing the cars, big brother and grandpa worked on the gate of grandpa’s place. It broke down the other day, so they built a new one. This time with an arch overhead that grandpa wants to put some sort of fine in. It will look really nice once it’s done, that I know.

Also, the new boarding for tenant’s ceiling got painted. All primed and colored yesterday and partially put in place even today…but I’m getting ahead of myself. Hah. Back to yesterday.

The painting as good as done, tenant and I started on our way down to the basin where we made dinner together consistent of lentil/chickpea patties with a vegetable pot roast on the side. That went down well after a full day’s work, and while I did some edits on V.L. because big brother needs to do his fair share for S.N.

After that first short session we headed into the yard for a bit. We harvested the last of this batch of tomatoes, there are some more flowers blooming, but it will be a while yet. The peppers are still going strong, and the zucchini’s are in their second “life”, and soon we’ll be able to get the harvest of red beets in.

While out to harvest, I also started on gathering the herbs I needed for one of my potions. Sure, Kenneth might be too far gone by now, that cancer is a nasty biatch after all, I’m hoping it will keep her comfortable a little longer at least. While I was making the potion I also the took the opportunity to get some aloe vera, which worked miracles on my sunburn. Seriously, I was red as a lobster last night, but this morning there were only a few remaining spots. Yay.

There was the edit, of course, but since that will be basically what I’ll be doing for the next few months, let’s leave it at that description, eh? I also finished reading that thriller, and even though the ending face-off scene with the bad guy made up for a lot, the lead did it all naked and that image kind of ruined it for me again. *sigh* What’s with the nakedness in inappropriate moments, people. Are average people going around naked at so many occasions without me knowing about it? Jeez.

So I started reading another thriller this morning…and it got me a little worried. Here I was thinking that the thriller genre would be a good way for me to write my stories without be obligated to add in-gratuitous sex, only to start reading another thriller that has, I kid you not, three sex scenes (of the villains no less) in the first four chapters. Now don’t get me wrong, I got the importance of it in one scene, but the other two??? I don’t get it. I’ve read this author before, and from what I remember of his previous stories he wasn’t obsessed about the whole S word thing at all! Please, if you, my readers have a good suggestion for my research reading in the thriller genre, let me know, this is…well, disparaging. *sigh*

Let’s get to the day, shall we. It started off with the usual: a dip in the pool, followed by coffee and the laundry, before we headed up to tenant’s place to have breakfast and putting tenant’s new ceiling in. Got most in too, before we decided on a different technique (we’ll have to do that tomorrow) because the one we had settled on didn’t work as well as hoped. No matter though, we’ll get it right tomorrow.

What with the change of plan needing grandpa to do some preparations, I went down with tenant and caregiver. While the ladies went for a dip in the pool, I headed down to the prickly pears (cacti) and plucked a big batch. Next I burned of all the tines, of which a solid dozen or so still ended up in my fingers, and then peeled them to make syrup and compote. Worked out well too, and turned out to be pretty darn nice to boot.

Made the same patties as yesterday for supper, only added onion and cheese to the dough, which worked out really well. Afterwards we had dessert of yogurt with cream, brambles, some prickly pear and sugar, which made for a nice touch for a change we hardly ever do desserts anymore. Hah.

Which brings me to the end of today’s blog, seeing as I still need to head down into the yard and check everything before it’s time to call it a day and get started on the edit.

Smut or realism?

Song of the day: “Hold my hand” by Michael Jackson, of course. Splendid song. Such a pity that there won’t be any new stuff anymore. *sigh*

Luckily I am in a far better mood than the last time, today. Frustration bubbled down during the passing of time, and we are once again back to editing. Sure, there are times when I either want to bash the computer, or big brother. Hah. But anyway, that is only a temporary problem, and now I’m right as rain again.

So the past couple of days were mostly busywork, involving another trip to town, which I could have done without, thank you very much. But I’m getting ahead of myself, aren’t I, let’s start with yesterday and work our way to today.

I overslept, of course. It is a common effect of summer, really, but I hate it. It made me rush through all the morning rituals, do the laundry and then head on up to tag my canning. Got a nice big load going now, with a bit of diversity, which will keep meals in winter interesting. Got myself green beans, tomatoes (of course), pumpkin, zucchini, pickles, and peppers. Added to that we have a whole bunch of beautiful pumpkins that will see us through to January, or February. Gawd, I love preparing for winter that way. Makes me feel very much in touch with nature. Hah.

That done, I took the opportunity to spray clean my winter comforter. It was seriously necessary, what with last winter, but I think it worked out well. It smells all nice again, and the worst of the discolouring is gone. Now I’m going to let it hang and sun bleach for a bit, and then it will be ready for use again. Yay.

Afterwards I headed on up to tenants place because for the past couple of days grandpa and I have been working on her new ceiling. Yesterday, grandpa, Danni and I, took out the old ceiling, (boy, did a mess come down. Yikes!) and sawed a load of MDF boards that needed to be painted today, but weren’t (long story, I’ll get to it later on). It took a while, the sawing, but we did get it all done before six in the afternoon when it was time for me to stop for the day and get to work on the edit.

Due to the little mishap the other day, big brother and I decided that he’s going to do the S.N. edit separate from me, and then we’ll go over it together, rather than me sitting around while he’s working on a sentence. While he’s working on S.N. I’m going through the first edit of V.L., rather than just twiddle my thumbs.

Which reminds me, due to the fact that I’m seriously pondering of changing my genre, (got to thinking due to an internet buddy who read S.N.) I’ve been reading some thrillers at the moment and I’ve got to say I’m not impressed. Seriously, this particular book (I’m not saying names because I don’t want this to become a bash fest) makes me wonder if the writer is obsessed with sex. I’m not kidding, here I’ve always heard derogatory remarks about my favorite genre (romance), and yet, now that I’m giving the average thriller section a try, I’m tumbling from one sex-laden scene to the next.

Seriously, if I were to believe this book, the writer must have been suffering from a perpetual hard-on. (Such a sad condition for a guy to be in, really. Must make life very uncomfortable.)

I am reading this story with a mix of awe and horror, really. Here we have a brutal murder, a genuine who-dunnit, and yet, every ten pages or so I have to read about this person “doing” that one, people talking about “it”, people thinking about “it” and not being particularly picky about it all. Happily married couples are easily pondering promiscuity, in-laws are just a little too appreciative of each other, people go from same-sex to what I’m suspecting is necrophilia and…well, I’ll repeat, I’m not impressed. *sigh*

I will say that I won’t take this fine sample of writing as my main example in the genre, because then I’d be pretty much doomed. Hah. And then they dare to say that romances are only about sex. Jeez! Nothing against sex if done tastefully and kept in its place (preferably between the two leads only, and not too much described, thank you very much) but not with the so-called realism of this particular author who lost complete sight of a vastly interesting plot.
For the most part this reads like smut, while pretending to be realistic. Sure, sex is on a lot of people's minds, but not THAT much...I hope. *sigh*

But back to reality.
There were dips in the pool, another short harvesting session, and this very morning a trip to town.

The other day we acquired a new jackhammer, and after it turned out to be non-functional, we exchanged it for another one during the weekend. Now, when that one turned out to be broke as well, you can imagine our chagrin for having to return to town this very morning. Now, what really got my knickers in a twist was that the store refused to give us a refund and would only give us another of the mal-functioning lot. Since we didn’t have much of a choice in any regard, we just finally took the new jackhammer and left, hoping that this one was the last of the bad batch.

It was. Big brother made sure to check it out immediately after we got home, and while grandpa and I resumed sawing for tenant’s ceiling (the decorative slats this time) he made a nice start on the concrete that needed to be tackled up by the old horse paddock.

The weather was pleasantly hot today, even though the increasingly shortening of the days is making it blatantly clear that summer is rapidly coming to an end, darn it.
Well, big brother is impatiently waiting for me to get this blog done so we can get started and maybe manage a short workout tonight. I sure hope so.

There and back again...

Song of the day: “Seeya later aligator” by...well, whoever sang it. I just know the chorus, and it’s been going through my head most of the day.

So, I’m a little upset at the moment, we just stopped in the middle of a rather fruitless editing session, and at this particular time I am unable to cope with changing the manuscript. Sure, I know, the story needs to be updated to today’s writing style, and stuff needs to be checked and double checked, but at the moment I can’t deal with the change for the sake of change feel there is to it. There are instances where I can’t get my head around the possibility that a sentence is wrong when in the nine previous edits it was perfectly fine. I mean, how can you tell whether this will be better than any of the others before it? Will the changing not just make it so that we’ll have to read it again, if for no other purpose than to check if the changes were accurate? It’s a little frustrating, and right this instance I’m a little…I don’t know, iffy about the subject. Personally I want to scream, toss the computer down and go to bed early, but what the hey, bed time will be here soon enough. *sigh*

I guess the fact that most of today was wasted in the car, heading back and forth to town for the friggin’ Opel Atra. Seriously, I would like nothing better than to toss a Molotov cocktail in the blasted thing and never see it again. But of course I can’t. Not after all the friggin’ money we put in the repairs and buying alone. Jeez.

But anyway, we noticed that the cooling liquid was lowering again. So we dropped the vehicle off there, asked for an estimate for the Land Rover’s tune-up, and did some groceries so we can postpone the big shopping for another week (hopefully). I did joke at the garage that I might as well move in there what with all the trips we need to make for this friggin time, and though that got a laugh (even though I was semi-serious) I am getting to know those folks way too well. Hah

By the time we were back home the sun was getting nice and toasty and I’d just about changed clothes to head on down for the edit when my phone rang. The garage. They’d finished and according to the lady who deals with the paperwork, the ordering and phones she had an estimate for me. It’s going to set us back a ways, but since we’re talking oil change here, along with checking the brakes and such, it is not something we can get around. Added to that, the mechanics were done with the Opel and asked to speak to me personally when I came to pick it up.

Aaaaargh! We’d just come home half an hour earlier. So yeah, we headed down to the basin where I made a quick supper of beets with onion, rice and cheese (which was delicious. Luckily caregiver had offered to make preparations while we were out).
Since we had to go to town again anyway, we decided we might as well take a dip in the sea while we were there.

So yeah, the mechanics explained that they wanted us to NOT fill up the cooling liquid for the next week unless it becomes REALLY low. Something to do with the car looking for the level it prefers and all that, so of course we agreed to keep a close eye.

The swim was rather wonderful. Did a sturdy crawl to the first buoy (150 yards out, give or take) and was pleasantly surprised that I managed to keep up my speed as well as I did. It sure lets us skip tonight’s workout session with the boxing ball. Yay.

Afterwards we headed home with both cars and managed to catch another hour in the yard before it started getting dark. Editing time, and thus my present frustration. *sigh*

Yesterday. Well, yesterday involved canning, of course. Tenant, Danni and I canned six pots of tomato veggie soup, seven pots of green beans and one pot of peppers. It took a while, but we’re gradually getting better at the stuff. Had it all done ‘round four, at which time I was tired enough to need a little nap. Jeez. I couldn’t really sleep, of course, so it was more frustrating than anything.

There was another session in the yard afterwards and then up to the terrace in front of my cabin to do an edit. Though it was short, we did manage to do a few pages…but I don’t want to talk about that at the moment. Still not over my little tiff, I guess.

Well, that’s it for me today, I could undoubtedly whine about the ticks that are sucking our dogs dry, and the amount I have already killed in the past couple of days (ticks, not dogs, silly) but I won’t. I’ll have pity on you, and leave it at this. Hah.

Running late

Song of the day: “If I die young” by The Band Perry. Great song, and easy to sing. Good to have in my head in that regard.

Well, I’m running way behind so let’s do this fast.
Edits are going slow but steadily. We’re about ¼ through the manuscript so that’s not bad. Especially since we’re into it for about two weeks, maybe three…or else I have lost track of time entirely and am now unable to guess time. Hah.

Okay, how’s this for speed: We painted the basin twice. Once yesterday, and then the second today…which meant that we had to rush to town last night to get another couple of buckets, all before ten because Sally had to be picked up at ten. But we’ll be at it again tomorrow. All things considered, it went well. In since the weather has been rather cooperative in regards to working outside.

Seriously, we’ve actually had a few drops of rain, and the clouds were all over the place most of the time. Also the temperatures were in the low eighties at most. I still think it’s strange.

This morning was spent checking storage stuff. This took quite a bit of time, but was also necessary. We canned more than ninety pots so far, so yay!

But onward with the blog. I watered some plants yesterday morning. What with the weather this way very little is vaporizing, though, meaning that we’re losing less water.

Did some experimental cooking today. A veggie mix (nothing new there, of course) and dough patties with chopped onion and cheese through them. Awesome. It went so bloody well with the veggies, I’m undoubtedly going to do these again.

There was laundry, of course. When is there ever not. Though, again with this weather, it is not drying well at the moment.

The small basement over by the basin got emptied, which is a big improvement. And pots for the planned canning session tomorrow as boiled clean and waiting for use. Yay.

Yesterday morning we dipped a few dogs against ticks, because for some dogs it was just getting to be too bad. Seriously, Ayaana (she almost died once of ticks) had scales from the pesky things sucking her dry.

There was a harvest. Got two baskets up, a part of which will involve tomorrow’s canning. Should be more than enough for a good session. While we were down there, getting done stuff in baskets, we also rehung some of the tomatoes, which decided to make new branches and were finding their way on the ground.

Mom and the sibs had good market day, today. They sold several of mom’s artistic bags, and that is always good news, of course.
Well, I’m going to see if I can manage a workout and then I’ll be off to bed. I’ll try to do better with the blog next time.