Something different.

Song of the day: "Under African Skies" by Paul Simon. Such a gorgeous song…reminding me of being a little girl.

So yeah, since the market in Marbella didn't go through yesterday (it was raining friggin' buckets…what am I saying, swimming pools, hah) I decided to the take the opportunity and do tenant and myself a favor. I took her to the big market where mom and the younger sibs work. I dropped her off at mom's and then took Knight II (yes, I took him along) through the market several times.

First round he was shaking like crazy, pressing himself against me every time someone wanted to pet or take a picture. *sigh* There were plenty of those. Seriously, three times that I remember, I was surrounded by a friggin' crowd of twenty or so who all wanted to pat the horsie. That sure is the last time I'm taking him along. Sure, I had loads of nice chats with complete strangers (dog lovers, of course) but finding what I'd come there for was rather tricky.

I'll have you know that I did end up mostly successful (like 70 percent). I found the requested underwear for Sally. Yay. I found a sanding machine for grandpa, and myself. Did some wonderful haggling with a nice, very short and old, Spanish guy. We were gathered around his selection of sanding machines, and he was trying to sell me one with some damage on the sanding paper surface, and I wanted another one that looked just a little less used. We talked about Knight, of course, who was definitely top of the conversation all through the afternoon. He too had some dogs, seven of them, in fact…which were, according to him, about the size of Knight's head. Hah.
But anyway, we did some haggling and I managed to shave off an odd three bucks before we shook on it. Gawd, that is such fun, in particular if the vendors are good sports about it, know the score.

Came across several small TVs, prices varying between fifteen and eight bucks. Almost did a deposit on one, but was happy I hadn't when I came across a friend who said I could have one of hers since she wasn't using it anyway. Good deal all round, since Sally would really like to be able to watch a movie or two in her cabin, every now and then. Saves on money and on risk, for as far as I'm concerned.

Talked with an Irish couple who had friends with a Great Dane they often "babysat" for. Very typical people. Very big, very round, dressed in all cottons (old hippies is my guess) and extremely nice. Knight got patted again, hugged and then we went on once more, now looking around at a roof rack for the Opel.

Came across a couple that cost a solid fifty bucks a pop, so that wasn't happened. Then I stumbled on a small stand in a corner somewhere, where there was a couple lying about that looked reasonably good. I was examining them closer, wondering if they were suited for an Opel Astra, and asked the price (€50) when I started to doubt once more. It is very hard to scramble back once you've already asked the price and had the things in your hands, so I was already shaking my head and saying "maybe some other day". The guy actually came out of his stand and asked me what I was willing to pay for it then. He was looking pretty desperate, and I was feeling pretty bad already for getting his hopes up, so I thought I'll ask a ridiculously low price so he'll send me off.
Let's just say I now have a car rack for twenty bucks. *sigh* I feel horrible, but once he went that low, I could hardly not take it. And we do need it, ya know. But anyway.

Funny how having a large dog with you provokes a variety of responses. There are those who startle and jump away, others who are drawn to it like he’s a magnet. Some stop, stare and point, while others look annoyed.

On the most part folks responded positively, and talked a mile a minute, which is fun. In particular kids who are just bursting with questions. How come he’s so big? Will he grow more? Can I pet him? How old is he? Does he bite? And so on and on.

Talked with a Belgian woman who suggested I use a chalk paste on Knight’s paw. Works like a charm, she claims.
Chatted with an elderly Spanish couple who loved the way Knight looked and showed me pictures of their Bordeaux Bulldog. Sort of like the electronic version of proud grandparents yanking out their wallet to show sleuth of grandchildren. Hah. But they were beautiful, those dogs. So massive.
There was the Dutch family who claimed they had two dogs and a Shetland pony that was smaller than Knight. An Italian woman who started telling me about her two lap dogs and her Pyrenean mountain dog, and how her friend in the mountains of Italy had a Great Dane that was 14 years old (gives a girl hope, that).
Had a long talk with two Irish guys, one of which had two Irish setters and a pit bull. He loved his dogs, imported their food from the UK and thought Knight gorgeous. Then he started talking about his daughters, one of which had a Shih Tzu, while the other had a bitch Rottweiler who really was a bitch. Hah.
The stuff people tell complete strangers, eh?

Did look around for some pants again, but couldn’t really find anything nice this time ‘round. Three hours after arrival, the rain had stopped at last, and I rode tenant back to the car while little brother carried the stuff I bought for us. The rain didn’t resume until we reached our mountain and started on the incline.
There was a river on our drive sweep, and we both got solidly soaked through before we were inside.

So what else? Well, there was some writing of course. Passed the 80 pages mark and am liking the progress so far. The tension is slowly building, the suspicion increasing, the hints becoming more frequent. Very different from my usual style, I’ll admit. More serious, less dramatic and not at all focused on the romance side of things. We’ll have to see how it works out.

There were massive batches of laundry to do, in particular since today’s weather was a vast improvement to yesterday.

Cousin Ed took Sally to hospital today, by the way. It was time for her third round of chemo, so she’ll be feeling pretty out of it again for the next two weeks, or so.
She’s not looking well, despite the fact that the doctors say that her test results are okay, but she hanging in there, and that’s what matters.

Been working on my Chinese boxes only a little. Time is presently spare. Luckily I’m not in a hurry. The wood is starting to look pretty good, though. I love the reds, and it’s getting smoother with every treatment.

This afternoon was mostly about preparing for tomorrow’s job (we’re going to work on that balcony again). Big brother worked on putting together materials for the mold which we’re going to need tomorrow, while I emptied the trailer of the market merchandise and then shoveled it full with sand for the concrete. It took a while, but it’s now ready and waiting. We are going to have to get a batch of cement before leaving in the morning. Our own stack is almost completely gone.

There was dog food to cut and dogs to feed, of course.
Angie (the Basset with the torqued stomach) is doing better, but she will have to eat and drink small amounts n the future to prevent the problem from recurring.
Panni, little sister’s cocker is still doing badly, and the vet can’t figure out what it is exactly. At the moment he’s on prednison and antibiotics. Poor puppy.

Well, I’m going to cut it short here. Other than the stuff I’ve mentioned all I could jabber about from here on out would be cooking anyway…oh and some wood chopping, which was wonderful to get the muscles working again, so who cares. Bed time is nigh. Yay!