An emergency.

Song of the day: “Painters” by Jewel. Don’t think I’ve ever had this for a song of the day.

So yeah, I’m bushed again. It’s been a long day that started at seven thirty so we could load up the Land Rover for the balcony job. It took us some odd three hours to get everything in and tied up, which, along with the fact that we had to stop at the gas station to inflate our tires, made us more than half an hour late.

Had a big load, meaning we had to drive extremely slow all the way because the trailer was so heavy. Was a bit iffy going up the narrow mountain road, which was muddy and covered with rocks in various spots. The good news is we managed to reach the goal of the day, so it was a good one, despite the fact that while were loading up in the morning and after three in the afternoon the temps were abysmal, mostly due to the icy wind from the north. Seriously, I had my turtleneck up to my ears in an attempt keep warm.

But anyway, I hauled bricks today, lots of them, (while big brother did the measuring and such) hauled and shoveled sand, hauled cement, and hauled wooden beams, did masonry and did carpentry. But all in all, my day was mostly about hauling. Hah. Good exercise. It’s looking good, though. The wooden beams are in place, the holes that big brother cut are closed around the wood, and we cleaned up the mess we created. The evening was ended with unloading the trailer of sand and the last bit of bricks.

We didn’t finish until after nightfall, and then we had to hurry to make it to the village in time to get to the vet before closing time. Managed just barely. She’d already closed up, but when I knocked she opened up and said it was fine to get Knight inside so she could change his bandage. The stitches are out and we won’t have to go back until Thursday.

As for yesterday…well, that was market day, right? Not a lot of sales, but still an interesting day. Knight II was still a hit, drawing loads of attention to himself by sitting in a chair fully enjoying the sunshine we were treated to late in the morning and early afternoon. He behaved like a gentleman once more, and endured with little complaint.

Funniest part of the day were definitely these two kids of about ten years old who considered themselves to be professional dog walkers and dedicated dog lovers. They were fascinated by Knight and spent more than half an hour cooing over him, while peppering me with questions about our pack. Boy was determined that, when he grew up he was going to have three types of dogs. German Shephard, Pitbull, and Rotweiler. They were his favorites. I’m sure, because he told me no less than five times. Cute kid. Girl loved any kind, and whichever dog I mentioned from our pack, she gasped and looked blissful about. First off they offered to take Knight for a walk for me, and when I explained that he wasn’t likely to enjoy that due to his many fears, they were more than happy to accept a walk with me. Since Knight needed some exercise anyway, I figured it wouldn’t do any harm.
We walked on the beach a bit, the boy talking a mile a minute while continuing to pepper me with questions and translating for his friend, tried to jog a little so they could see Knight run (there was much disappointment when they discovered Knight doesn’t do balls, sticks, or any throwing objects for that matter) and then let them have Knight on the leash for a bit. At some point the girl decided that it was a good idea to start running with him, which almost caused Knight to have heart palpitations when he realized that I wasn’t right behind him. When I did catch up, the first thing he did was press his head into my side and shiver.
There were pictures taken, chats exchanged with the girl’s mother and grandpa, and then it was back to “the grind”…

Well, a short interruption here. Got a call from mom at the house if I could take middle sister and her Basset Hound Angie to the vet, because Angie was really sick and had a distended stomach. So we rushed to the vet, the poor Basset whimpering in the back, only to head straight for the X-rays. Twisted stomach, is what the vet called it, and Angie needed to go into surgery immediately. First was anesthetic, then a large needle in the side of her stomach where air spewed out (Angie promptly started wagging her tail at that) before we moved her on to the surgery room where I helped in-tubate, prior to us leaving for the night. Regardless what (if it was just the stomach or also the spleen) she was going to have to stay for the night. I’ll hear tomorrow how the Basset is doing, but it’s a big operation, apparently.

But anyway, where was prior to the problem. The market. Well, I had lots of nice chats. I spoke with a Spanish man (he’s in real estate) who spoke English really well. Turns out he lived in the States for several years, Michigan, Utah, etc. His wife is one of the vendors at the market, and he hangs out there with their young baby girl, while their other two kids were…well, elsewhere, this time. Hmmm.

Also chatted with a young Argentinean woman, who, as it turns out, also lived in the States (Ohio) for several years while she studied chemistry. She appeared to be somewhat sad, not to mention worried, for some reason. I think times were tight. I asked her if she liked Ohio, and she said she liked it well enough. When I asked her if folks were nice over there, she said, meh, but nicer than here, anyway. Hah. By the time I (curiously) asked if she ever thought of going back to Argentina, she said she doubted it. Instead she wanted to stay in Spain, but in one of the bigger cities like Barcelona or Bilbao.
All the talking does help to pass the time, I’ll admit.

We did sell one of the big dog beds. There was some haggling, but nothing too bad, or annoying. It is all in the way it is done, I guess. The folks who had reserved that big basket, didn’t turn up, regretfully.

There was a bit of rain early in the afternoon, so we tossed everything under the tarp, and then after four the rain really hit, leaving us, and lots of the merchandise wet. Darn it. Cousin Ed spent most of today drying it all.

Had two donation trips, one of which was at a charity drug rehab center where we got overdue food that we could use for the dogs. And I spoke with a lady who wondered if we also do clearance, because she was planning to clear out her garage and wondered if we would be interested. I told her, sure and gave her my phone number. We’ll see how that goes.

Saturday was mostly about preparing to go to market. Nothing grand, nothing really interesting, which is good, because, let’s face it, it’s almost one in the morning, and the new day is rapidly approaching. It’s been a long day, thirteen of which I spent on my feet (my left one is not appreciative, by the way) hauling stuff.

We’re having another wind storm at the moment, by the way. It’s blowing light mad overhead. I better get to bed before I get blown off. Hah.