On the job

Song of the day: “The Flood” by Katie Melua…gawd, I hope not, seeing as I’m at the job at the moment, digging holes, and we’ve just been forced to take a break due to the rain coming down. It has been doing that for a few hours now, and we already had to take a thirty minute break earlier because there was an increase in the water flow then too. Hah. I also had the song “I thought I’d lost you” by Miley Cyrus and John Travolta. It’s on the cd in the Opel, so it got stuck for a bit. Hah.

But I’m getting ahead of myself again, aren’t I? Let’s start this properly, and get back to yesterday. I was up just a bit too late for a proper workout, so I had to do without because I had to head on down for the usual morning chores. That done, followed by breakfast, and settling tenant on my terrace, we headed on down into the yard for the usual rounds. It was at this time that mom informed me that the lady who possibly had a job for us had gotten into a bit of an accident over in Malaga, and that she would be coming over to see if big brother could fix the back door enough for her to travel with it next week.

We were about halfway into hosing everything down when she arrived and we headed up to see what could be done. While the lady visited with mom and tenant (leaving tenant with a 7 week old puppy, which psyched tenant, of course) big brother managed to fix the locking mechanism at least, while I discussed the specifics of the job of putting up her fence.

In the end we decided on starting the next day (ergo, today) despite us being without the Land Rover (market day tomorrow, remember?) and thus needing to drive the Opel up the mountain into the country. It was quite a ways, but we managed just fine.

But anyway, since there was a down payment, we headed out to the construction and get most of the supplies. Was an experience, in particular since the guy at the building company was in such good mood that he didn’t even make a problem. Loaded everything up, checked out gates, and then headed home with all sorts of calculations in our heads.

Then there were edits (not a lot, but a few) catching up with messages, and chats before it was time to go to bed early. What can I say, we had to get up at seven in order to get to the job in time. There were a few chores to do beforehand (such as they ever existent laundry, ya know) and then gathering up food for the day before heading out in the friggin’ Opel. Seriously, whoever designed that car should be shot and then hung at a castle wall somewhere. You have to break your back climbing out, and to get in, you basically have to fall inside. Grrr. And then I’m not even talking about how it scrapes over anything that sticks out three inches up from the ground. Grrrrrrrrrr!

Arrived on time, phew, and after a short talk with the “boss lady” we went to work, measured everything out (three times, hah) and then got to digging. Boy, did we dig. I had figured we’d manage ten at most, seeing as there were stones, rock surfaces and just plain hard packed clay, but in the eight hours we were there (it started to rain by the way, twice we had to take a thirty minute break during the worst of it) we managed to dig a total of 23 holes. Yay. Most of it, in fact. Now we only need to dig three more pole holes, and ten supports and then we can start on pouring the first concrete. The corner poles are first for that, by the way. Most tension will be on those, so they’ll need the longest to dry.

While we were there boss lady got home with a bunch of puppies which she’s going to find homes for in the near future. Lemme see if I can get a pic on here…

Nope. Not today. I'll get to it later. For a flash of a second I regretted that we have so many dogs, because in that second I regretted having so many dogs already. Then of course I remembered all our own little darlings and could just enjoy the puppies for a bit before they were put in the back where they could recover from the trip.

But anyway, on the overall it was a productive day, and we got home at around eight in the evening with the dogs being absolute insane. Can’t say I blame them, poor sweeties. It was a long day without us (10 hours at least, since the trip to, and irrevocably the one back, takes about an hour) but according to cousin Ed and grandpa, they behaved relatively well.

What followed was cleaning up the leftover food, filling bags with sand, getting a couple of bags of cement, and counting out the poles that we’re going to need tomorrow.

Once we had pasta and sauce Cousin Ed made for us, it was down to our computers and editing the two pages that we hadn’t managed yesterday. Then there was this blog and now I still have to go over my messages and such. *sigh* Gotta go.

A day on the road

Song of the day: “The Banana Boat Song” by Harry Belafonte. Still a good song.

So I am totally late today. Since I wasn’t home most of the day, that wasn’t surprising, but I’ll get to that later.
First off, let’s start on yesterday.

I slept really long, partly due to the fact that I was absolutely exhausted the night before. Seriously, I was nauseous from it, and could barely keep my eyes open. Finally decided to just give up on the edits and got to be early…which meant I slept a couple hours more than usual and woke up completely sore the next morning, hah. It was worth it, though. That was a nice night. Hah.

Spent quite a bit of time with tenant, what with caregiver being at her other job again. Ended up settling her in the sunshine on my terrace with some pumpkin and tomatoes to cut for supper. That done, it was time to head on down into the yard where plants needed to be watered and a small reed fence needed to be build around the new field where big brother and I planted a batch of potatoes.
What followed was a quick harvesting session, including the wonderfully fresh ingredients for the vegetarian hamburgers I planned to make for lunch, and which worked out so well that we were all a little disappointed that I’d made only two per person. Hah.

There was another trip to town, which I won’t bore you with, and by the time we got home it was too late to cook supper. Instead we had some fried potatoes while we worked on the edit and went through a solid four pages at a sturdy clip.

Which brings us to today. I was up in time for a change, and decided to do a good workout. Went well, I’ll admit, and managed a full session in record time. It felt good. Yay. I’ve been missing the workouts somewhat fierce, and since I was getting more achy with every passing day, I really didn’t want to postpone it any longer. Did the usual hour and a half, of course, and then had to rush through the morning chores.

Managed to fix the second hand 3 heater gas stove that we got the other day. There was gas leakage all over the place, so I took the darn thing apart, cleaned out all the tubing, knobs and whatnot, and yes, success! We had plans to get to work in the yard, but then we got a job opportunity out in the country, for which we had to drive quite a distance to see what all was involved. I’m optimistic about the possibility, despite it being a big job. If we get the job, big brother and I will be out working for about a week, putting up a fence of about 230 feet. It’ll be interesting to see how that goes. Hah.

It was a good trip, however. Beautiful country up there, traveling through olive orchards that spread out across countless hills and mountains. Got to play with a puppy (perro the agua) and some other dogs while we tried to fix a geyser to boot. Potential client had a hankering for a shower after having to do without for two weeks. Aaawwww.

But anyway, we’ll see how that goes. Afterwards we had to head to town to pick up a load of bread. We are seriously pondering to get the dogs accustomed to homemade food again (on a bread basis) because it would definitely improve their health. You wouldn’t believe how much sick dogs we’ve had ever since we were forced to go for kibble. Homemade stuff made them much healthier, not to mention did their teeth a world of good.

Suffice it to say that when we got home tonight the dogs were absolute ecstatic. Poor darlings had been without us for a solid nine hours, and didn’t like it in the least. Knight was absolute bonkers, and Chaos has been looking at me balefully ever since he came sauntering up the mountain to greet me. I’ll be giving them an extra petting tonight for sure, poor darlings.

No edits today, no time I’m afraid. And since it is already past midnight, I am going to have to cut this short.

Saved a kidney...hehehe

Song of the day: “I like it” by Enrique Iglesias. I blame it on the CD in the Opel, which has only a few nice songs on it, so I end up going there every time I drive it. Since I drove it twice today, a total of one hour and a half, I heard it a lot. Hah.

A strange couple of days, partly due to summer time starting, I’m guessing. First off, I totally overslept yesterday morning. Apparently I forgot to set my alarm, and when I woke up at eight thirty, I thought, oh wow, thirty more minutes before the alarm goes, and turned over to wake up again at 10:30, swearing a blue streak. Boy, those were some long 30 minutes, eh? Hah. I severely dislike oversleeping, and would do well to look at it like big brother. When I said I overslept, he said: “Really? I slept in instead.”
*snort* Smartypants!

So I am trying to remember what I did yesterday. It is hard.
There was the unloading of the car, of course, seeing as we almost have had a pick-up per night almost this past week. Things are probably going to slow down a little now, though. I have been occupied with the construction of what, at some point in the future, will be my outside kitchen. I have a location (on the basin terrace) and the stuff I need for it is gradually coming together. I can see it in my head, and it’s beautiful, I tell ya. I can hardly wait.

But the unloading was followed by a trip into the yard where stuff had to be watered, and where a big harvest could be gathered. Got double. Our own meal, along with a nice batch for the vet and her assistant, which is our repayment for being allowed to use the clinic as a postal address for our biological seeds. Our own address is too out of the way for deliveries, so an address in the village is vital. I brought them a batch of kale, fresh herbs, bushes of chickweed, alfa alfa, and handful of tomatoes and a pumpkin each.
Since I had two of the experimental pies anyway, I took them both a piece as well.

After the yard stuff, and supper we headed over to the vet to pay our bills…we couldn’t though, seeing as the computer was down, so we handed over the veggies and pie, and headed the other way for another pick up and to go past the fabric store for mom.

There were edits of course, and a fierce argument about a certain page that wasn’t to big brother’s liking. On the one hand it is great to have help with the writing, and in particular the editing, but there are days when I miss the good old days when I did it all my own way. Hah. Don’t get me wrong, two pairs of eyes, and two opinions work better when it comes to writing stories suited for commercial fiction, but just writing with the flow, so to speak, did hold a certain charm for me.

Which brings us to today…and me functioning on less than six hours of sleep. *sigh…yawn* It’s not pretty, I assure you.
We had to get up early this morning for the Opel appointment at the garage. It was at nine thirty, so that meant that I had to get up at eight and rush through the morning rituals, which I absolutely hate, thank you very much.

But anyway, since big brother was dawdling again. Sure, it has no use to get harried, but there is a difference between careful planning and quickly going through the motions, and just taking so much bloody time that you’re late. Aaaargh. Seriously, he takes more time than Marilyn Monroe to get ready to go out. Fifteen minutes after we were supposed to leave, I gave up on him, and left with the Opel so he could follow later with the Land Rover.

Breaking a few speed limits (only once or twice, mind you) I arrived at the garage seven minutes late. Chatted a little with the receptionist…at least that’s what I think you call her, and then left the car there for possible fixing.

Picked up a few groceries on our way out of town, and then arrived at home only an hour later than we usually start on breakfast. Which we followed up by heading down into the yard where weeds got yanked, plants watered, planted, and the last two fruit trees were placed at last. The apple tree underneath the new terraces, and cousin Ed placed the last orange tree on the top terrace. A big relief there. I was afraid for a bit there, that we wouldn’t be able to get around to that. Oh, the onions are coming up, by the way, and the second beet field is looking downright awesome. Yay.

The dogs had a bread session rather than kibble (donation involved fifteen loafs of bread) and they loved it! In particular the older dogs who remember the days when homemade food and bread were the norm. Seriously, you should have seen Tallis, Rammi, Nata and Tridatuh. They’re of the old garde and they loved it most.

The trees planted, another meal harvest gathered, it was time to go up and cook supper. Made cauliflower mixed with broccoli, fried rice and a fresh salad based on chickweed. Yummy. Then of course we were running a bit late to drop Sally off at her job, and then go to town to pick up the Opel.
Apparently it didn’t need new brakes yet. And the tiny hole in the exhaust can be fixed in a few months when we need to prepare for the MOT. Vastly reassuring that, since the funds are particularly low at the moment. So no kidney selling this month. Yay.

Got home to pie…yep, finished the last pieces standing at the counter informing grandpa and cousin Ed of what the mechanic explained. At which time we went down to fire up the stove and get ready for the day’s edit…not that I think it’s going to work well, seeing as I took hours to write the blog. My focus is clearly taking a vacation. Grrr.

Well, almost midnight. I’m going to leave it at this.

Forced leave

Song of the day: “I hope you dance” by Leann Womack. Love this song, so beautifully done.

I had another nightmare the other night. Though, I did of course not remember the details of it when I woke in the morning. I hate it when that happens. Dreams are tricky when you don’t remember them, and seriously, knowing I had one, and yet being unable to remember them, can wreck my day.

Since this morning I have officially been forbidden to lift heavy stuff, grrr…which, admittedly was a good thing, since I was incapable of even lifting the laundry basket. Hah. It’s not all that bad, really, just annoying. That nerve stuff is pain in the behind on the most part. I just need to take it a little easy, be careful, that sort of thing. Considering we finished the terrace yesterday, it is not a bad thing either.
The last few rocks were placed, the ground equalized and weeds yanked, creating a nice spot for two rows of potatoes and…well, something else. Hah.

Spent yesterday morning making dough for patties again, which worked out rather well as a breakfast substitute. Grandpa’s moped is playing up again, and big brother hasn’t gotten around to fixing it yet, so that meant no fresh bread for us. A pity too, considering we had pumpkin soup for supper, which tasted so fine I ate a really big batch.

But back to the terraces…Only two more trees to go. One apple, and one orange tree. For the apple I’ve already picked a spot, but I still haven’t figured out a good location for the orange. There had been a bit of a miserly rain in the morning, but nothing big, which is a pity, since the plants could sure use some more moisture before summer starts.

While grandpa, cousin Ed and I were working in this part of the yard, big brother (still bothered by his back thing) spent time in the greenhouse, sowing zucchinis, pumpkins, peppers and tomatoes. We’re getting some nice harvest of the tomato plants in the greenhouse, by the way. We have an average of eight tomatoes a day, which isn’t bad at all.

Finishing up down there, (grandpa started turning earth today) big brother joined us with a few more rocks and a handful of strawberry plants that he planted among the orange trees. We’re thinking of doing a few berry bushes there as well. Hmmm. We’ll see.

Labhana appears to be feeling a bit under the weather. Almost like she’s depressed. I’ve a suspicion that it has to do with the loss of more than half my pack in the past year, (Gawd knows I can relate). And ever since Amri went, she hasn’t improved much. It’s so sad. She used to be such a cheery Labrador, and yet now she will sit somewhere, staring ahead somewhat disconsolately. I’m going to have to engage her more in the near future.

We had to go out again, both today and yesterday, but yesterday we got home to mashed potatoes with kale. Which was yummy, as usual. It certainly revitalized us for the pending edit, and some relaxing chats online, following the usual hassle of messages and such.

Which brings us today this morning, which was spend in the kitchen making vanilla cream and rice pie. Gawd, did that work out well. Seriously, I ended up making two pies, and a small one without cream or milk, just to see if it would be possible. It is, so, Yay. Two more recipes for the book.

It took a long time, but since I was banned from heavy work anyway, I didn’t mind all that much. Did go down a bit to harvest tomatoes and broccoli, and also to water fields which were getting just too dry due to the persistent absence of rain. I don’t get where the water is going, because we’re constantly covered by clouds. By rights we should be getting rain constantly. *sigh*

We are starting to get decent amounts of veggies at the moment, by the way. Right now we’ve got a cue going of stuff we have to eat. Like tomorrow I’m planning for red beets with broccoli on the side. The next day we’ll be going for either a white, or a red cabbage with a nice white sauce with green herbs. What follows will probably be a batch of chickweed with cheese…but then, knowing how things go these days, I might be too positive into thinking that we’ll manage to adhere to that plan. Hah.

There were two “unload the car” sessions, of course, and seeing as mom and the sibs had their market day today, (didn’t go bad, despite the market being eerily quiet) they had an unloading session as well. Hah.

The plan had been for us to go get rocks today, but for obvious reasons that just wasn’t possible. *sigh*

Well, that’s it for me today. I still have an edit to do, of course, and with a little luck I’ll be in bed on time…considering summer time started last night, I might have some issues with that. Hah.