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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.

Friday, February 10, 2012

A little jumbled

Song of the day: “Rapper’s delight” by the Sugar Hill Gang. Such a cool little song. Didn’t know it until some months ago, and if you’d have told me years ago I would like it, I’d have laughed in your face, but there you have it.

I’m going to mess this up again, since the past couple of days were a mesh of events that don’t mean a whole lot to me at the moment. Not that it matters what I did today, or yesterday, it all comes down to the same thing, in a strange sort of way.

There were two gardening bits, yay. Watering of the plants, checking for bugs, harvesting. They had become the stuff of routine that are simply the best of the day, since this allows me to go down into the yard and spend some time in the sun. Sure my hands freeze from the icy basin water, and my feet will tend to do the same if I don’t make sure to find a sunny spot, but still. It is wonderfully relaxing to be down there. Added to that, yesterday’s harvest consisted of broccoli and cauliflower, making a nice mix for supper, thank you very much.

That panel of the Opel got spray painted properly at last, also varnished, which was the final step. With a little luck we’ll manage to put it back on the car tomorrow. But only if the wind isn’t blowing again, because then standing out there on the top of the mountain ridge, really isn’t fun.

We finished the 1st edit of V.L. last night. Yay!!! We did it. We got through it without killing each other. At this point I have to say I am pleasantly surprised that we didn’t end up going for each other’s throats. The thing is done, and now we’ll have to print the manuscript out and see what that first edit achieved. Was it bad? Will it need loads more work? Only one way to find out.

What else? Well, there was the cooking session. Yesterday Broccoli/cauliflower mix with baked ravioli on the side. It went down really well. Today (big brother cooked) a veggie mix (big part of our own harvests) with noodles and a spicy satay.

Since grandpa has been complaining about cold hands a lot, I finally decided to take pity on him, lined out his hands and started cutting. He’s been wanting those old-fashioned gloves, you know, the one with only a thumb and no fingers? Kids use them while skiing. But anyway, I cut them out, (four pairs, one set stuffed, the other fake leather) asked mom to drag them through her sewing machine and then started fitting the lot together. They worked like a charm too…only I think I’m going to have to replace the fake leather with real leather, one of these days. Grandpa’s happy at least.

Tenant’s been busy as heck. She’s been wanting to write to her daughters, but is having a hard time of it, really. I can imagine that it’s tough to do, but this is not something I can help her with, I think. Some things are private. I did spent a while taking photographs of her. She wants to add a nice one to her letter, so I shot several of them and will go through them tonight to see which ones worked out well. She’s difficult with that sort of thing, is sometimes ashamed of getting old, or something. Silly really, but understandable, I guess. It doesn’t help that a picture never does her justice.

Next, there was a workout session in the morning, which went well enough despite me being unable to find my shwung. And a couple of jogging sessions that worked out darn well for as far as I’m concerned. I did a full half mile stretch in one piece, thank you very much. I started out with sixty feet with a break, then slowly worked my way here. Not bad for sporadic training, eh? The foot didn’t even kill me last night.

Mom’s closet got installed in her working area in the morning, and it fit exactly there where she wanted it. Yay. She and the younger sibs put everything in the same afternoon and the thing is now filled properly with all sorts of fabrics. It looks good.

Also worked a little in the pantry, where for some unfathomable reason the big freezer had shifted off its perch, standing there crooked as heck. We cleared away the mess behind it, put it back in place and wiped the thing clean while we were at it, because boy was that dirty.

Took Chaos to the vet. The poor Basset appears to be feeling poorly of late and when I checked (against his wishes) I found his teeth to be rather dirty, and the gums too red. He was soooo scared at the vet’s trying to crawl into my lap (which he NEVER does) keeping his tail down (also something he rarely does) all the while. He had to be weighed, 88 pounds!!!, and then lifted onto the table so she could check him out. Nothing too serious, just a gum infection and a slight ear infection. She called him beautiful (Chaos perked up immediately and agreed fully) because most Basset’s his age have drooping skin. And he is. He’s the Gorgeous after all. Hah.
But anyway, he has an appointment for dental cleaning on Tuesday, and since he’ll be under for that anyway, the vet will clean his ears while she’s at it. I’ll have to start him on antibiotics on Sunday, which I hate because it has so many nasty after-effects. Ah well, he’ll have to overcome those.

Well, I made some extra shelving for my own room while I was at it. Books were starting to pile up on horizontal surfaces and since there’s hardly any room there due to clean laundry piles (I know. How lazy am I? I really should put it all away, darn it.) new shelving was getting to be essential. It looks nice and I got to put away all those loose books that I had been shoving here and there for the past six months or so. I love book shelves.

We’re starting on a new project. What with the tomatoes doing relatively well in the greenhouse, we’re going ahead with building the small greenhouse under the small pool. There will be some serious digging involved, a little masonry, but it shouldn’t take all that long, allowing us to start earlier with the big batches of tomatoes for spring and summer. Already hauled down several wheelbarrows with rocks for the knee high walls it’ll have.

As for freaky news…we had three screws in three separate tires of the Land Rover, which send the guy at the tire shop into a chortle. I know. It’s a little funny. I mean really, what are the chances of getting one in three tires? But there you have it. Luckily one screw was really short and didn’t cause a puncture. As for the other two, for twenty bucks he fixed them both while we waited. *sigh*

That about sums the last couple of days up. I’ve got stuff to do, a manuscript to print and then…well, I’m planning an early date with my bed. Hah.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

A bit of meandering

Song of the day: “Fireflies” by Owl City. It’s been there off and on for several days but got the upper hand today. Hah.

Busy again, despite there not being a lot of activity. Just time filling on the most part. Let’s start with yesterday (if I can) and work our way to now, as usual. I am at times a creature of habit after all.

Okay, there was the workout, yay. Got another one in despite waking up a tad late (who can come out of bed with temperatures close to the freezing point?) and kicked, pounded and worked the bag until I had a 120 bpm heartbeat and wound down by lifting some weights. This is mostly to prevent my muscles from cramping, which is a nasty side effect of kick boxing, I must admit.

That done, I was ready to the face the day and went through the usual morning rituals such as chores in the house and breakfast. Since we have (had) two of those cheap white breads that needed to be eaten, it was grilled cheese sandwiched all ‘round. A little heavy on the stomach, sure, but not a bad way to start the day.

Yesterday was spent on the terrace in front of my cabin. At least six hours were spent sanding the new closet for mom, and then painting it twice in a nice yellow color that should liven up the corner in which we’re going to place it.

So there we were, tenant on my porch in the full sunlight, and making herself useful by varnishing wooden slats (which I needed today to finish the closet), while cousin Ed and I worked on the closet. There was laughter, there was singing (tenant had to laugh about that when I walked her up to her apartment later in the day) and on the overall good cheer while we finished most of the closet. For a while I feared that the two layers wouldn’t be enough. They were, and by the end of the day we bound the thing up against the carport to keep it from toppling over.

Big brother was still working on the box (today and yesterday) which is shaping up nicely as well.
That done we headed out to pick up a new load of sand and then went into the wild to take Knight II for a run. Cousin Ed went along with her own dog, which Knight II found fascinating, but we not so since he found something to roll in and smelled up the car on the way back. Seriously, I was hanging out of the window most of the way. Hah.

Once at home I prepared supper of mashed potatoes with kale, all mixed together in a tasteful hodgepodge. Gawd, I was starving. That half pancake that grandpa made in the afternoon really didn’t last long.

There was the edit, of course, which didn’t go all that bad yesterday, thankfully. We actually managed to do several pages rather than the 1-2 that we’ve been getting through in the past few weeks. Seriously, the first edit is almost done, and I am psyched about that. First edits are a pain, and this one really did prove that.

Got totally distracted by the end of the evening where I wandered around the information freeways of Wikipedia telling of the Spanish Inquisition and all its fascinating links. To me Wikipedia is incredibly dangerous. I can be totally consumed for hours on end if I don’t watch myself. Jeez. I just wanted to check something (Florence Nightingale) and then somehow ended up at the Spanish Inquisition. I find it incredible to discover that they too basically persecuted Jews, and slaughtered them, reminding me of WWII and even what is going on this day and age. The Jews always end up getting blamed for everything. I do hope that this time they’ll be able to prevent disaster from striking, and not let it drag on until thousands are dead. Better do a preemptive strike and show that they’ve had enough of being turned into a handy scapegoat for unscrupulous folk who want the fruits of their hard labor.
Regretfully, history has a way of repeating itself, so I fear that the world will just let something really bad happen rather than do the right thing. *sigh* That scares me sometimes, I’ll admit.

But anyway, no more meandering, let’s get on to today. It was cold enough this morning to deter me from a workout. Since I did one yesterday, along with a run later in the afternoon, I figured this wasn’t a disaster. After the usual morning chores and breakfast we headed down into the yard. Plants needed to be watered, outside as well as in the greenhouse and raised seedbed, and there were of course the harvest of broccoli and cauliflower that we had to get through. Got a nice batch for tomorrow’s supper, and soaked up some sunshine while I was at it. Seriously, down there it was downright pleasant. Less wind, more heat. I should have stayed, but there was the closet to finish. *sigh*

Got to work on that, sanding the finishing slats for the fronts of the shelves and sides, sawing them to the right sizes, and then hammering them in place. Put the back on as well, a nice big board that will keep some of the dirt out at least. I am contemplating doors, but not yet. Maybe at some point I’ll get around to that, but for now mom will have to settle for the open shelves.

Tenant didn’t brave the wind today, but opted for her cozy and warm apartment near the stove. Can’t say I blamed her, seeing as the wind was chilling. The dogs agreed with me, constantly looking for spot out of the wind but in the sunshine. Knight II, of course opted for a chair on my porch, while letting his chin rest on the banister. Hah.

Well, that’s it. I’ve got other stuff to do now. Did my blogging duty and all that. Yay. I need to go out still later on (mom’s boiler gave the spirit) so who knows, I might opt for a little nap soon.

Monday, February 6, 2012

All over the place

Song of the day: “Unwritten” by Natasha Bedingfield. It’s been going through my head on and off, but since it’s a cool song (along with Fireflies from Owl City) I didn’t mind at all.

A busy couple of days, yet extremely unexciting from your point of view, I’m sure.
No matter, though, it’s what I’ve got to tell, and so tell it I shall. Hah.

First off, there was the imperial to put back in place, which was an interesting experience, all things considered. The wind was blowing like mad, we were dressed in triple layers to keep the cold out, and those metal bolts and tools were freezing. Got it back in place though, and are now able to haul big stuff again. Yay.

I was a little late getting out of bed yesterday morning, seeing as the bed was so warm and I really didn’t feel like getting up, but then did when the wining alarm kept going, and made me groan out loud right before I rolled out of bed and stumbled to the door to let the dogs out.
They’re getting to be a little less noisy, what with me trying to teach them to keep their traps shut in the morning. It takes some effort, in particular to keep Knight II from yapping my head off, but gradually he is learning to settle on the chair while I unlock the door. They do still storm out into the morning, but at least it is the thunder of their paws, rather than the howling and the screeching.

The majority of one morning was spent hanging a cupboard in mom’s bedroom…well, two actually, and that took a couple of hours at least. That done (this was of course after the usual morning chores) there was a quick breakfast of chickpea patties and a pancake, before I headed down into the yard to water the alfa alfa patches and the smaller plants because the air is so terribly dry these days. We really need another rainy day, even though I am loathe to admit it. *sigh* Since I was out there anyway, I hunted some bugs and then headed back up to help tenant who was cutting potatoes for supper and needed someone to peel supper’s beets for her. We ended up chatting for a bit of course.

Cousin Ed went out to see about a job at a horse riding establishment, but doubts that it will come to anything. At the moment the company has more staff than they do customers. Hah.
Mom and the sibs had a good day at the market. At first they thought it was going to be a bad day, but then about two hours before the market was over, they had more customers than they could handle. It’s nice that stuff is selling so well, in particular since it is rather good for mom’s confidence.

Big brother and I also spent a couple of hours preparing a package for a publishers. We found one we tried to send a query letter to before, but never got a response for. Now it turns out that they’re looking for new material again, so the way we figure we might as well give it a shot.
Worst thing that can happen is they say no.

That done and put aside for mailing, we worked on the tool box for a bit, after which I headed to the kitchen to prepare most of supper, which I would cook after we got a new load of rocks. Then it was time to put the protective structure in the back of the car (we made a wooden box of sorts a long time ago to be able to haul rocks and sand in the Land Rover) and then changed clothes since we figured we might as well go out for of a jog (Knight II needed exercise too) after getting the new batch loaded.

Another quick trip down into the yard involved closing the greenhouse and seedbed before the evening chill settled in, and then it was into the car and away before twilight.

Though jogging uphill was not in the books, I did manage a sturdy pace, and then ran all the way down without pause. Yay. Of course, what for me is a run, is nothing more than a trot for Knight II, the lazy dog. I swear, if he could get away with it, he’d just wait in the car. What kind of a dog is that?

Once at home it was back to the kitchen to make supper because I was starving, and more than ready to call it a day. Food was devoured, at which time we got started on the day’s edit. Quantity was not a problem yesterday evening. We made good progress, at least better than the past week when every sentence seemed to provoke an argument. Hah. But anyway, yesterday’s edit went well enough and we managed to stop before fatigue ad frustration started to play parts on us.

Which brings us to today, doesn’t it? I was right on time this morning, but still had to hurry a bit through the morning rituals. Tenant and caregiver had to be at the new doctor’s place and since I had to be in town too, we thought we’d connect it. So, taking the country road, (we left a little early) we headed for the village where I dropped them off at the practice.

Tenant doesn’t like the fact that her hearing is so bad (it’s not all that bad really. It has more to do with focus than actual hearing), so she wants to know if there maybe is a hearing aid to assist her. She got a really expensive one a few years ago, but she hated that one. It just confused her. Also, she’s been bothered by dizziness, while otherwise she is in perfect physical health.

Heading further into the village I parked the car and then went to the post office to send the package to the UK, (there was a loooooong line going on the in post office. How come you always get the long lines in government run companies, huh?) then I headed for my own doctor, (podiatrist, really) to pick up my insoles…the old ones. They weren’t there yet, and despite the woman having told me to come by today in the late morning to pick them up, the assistant said that the doctor wouldn’t be in until later today. Grrr.

Then there was fresh bread and milk to pick up, at which time caregiver phoned to let me know that she and tenant could be picked up. Turns out that the doctor agreed that her hearing wasn’t bad enough to warrant a hearing aid. She just had to be careful to focus on one conversation at a time. Hah. Well, duh. But anyway, the visit reassured her, and that is all that matters.

We took the scenic route through the woods back, and after a very, very late breakfast for me, let tenant doze on my porch while grandpa and I headed for the storage to gather wood. Mom has a shortage of or shelves in her working area at the moment, so she asked if I could make her another shelving unit. It’ll be 7 feet high, and 4 feet wide and about one foot deep. It should hold some fabrics at least. Hah.

Cousin Ed helped me put the thing together during the afternoon, and we finished the main structure at around five in the afternoon. It’s looking good. :-) Tomorrow we’re going to paint it (if all goes as planned), put the back in, and maybe contemplate doors in front of it. It would keep the dust out. I’ll have to snap some pictures. Huckabee really liked the closet. He pied against it, the naughty boy.

That done it was time for supper, leftovers of yesterday with fresh tomato soup. Yay. I love tomato soup.

Well, I’ve gotta start on the edit, and hopefully will be able to keep my eyes open for the duration of it. Hah.