Done for the day.

Song of the day: “Another point of view” by…hmmm. I can’t remember exactly. It’s something with Boulevard, and I am too lazy to look it up. *sigh*

Well, it was a friggin’ long day. It is eleven in the evening right now, and big brother and I didn’t come home until nine forty. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s do yesterday.

There were of course the usual chores such as boring laundry (no workout darn it) and the likes, but that’s like yada yada, right? Been there, done that. Same goes for feeding the dogs. They devoured it, by the way. They love the mixes.

First off, there was gardening. Loads of it. Grandpa had turned earth for me, so I could head on down into the yard and sow this year’s beans. I’m going for a full field, because freezing them went rather well, and the canning too, so any that don’t get eaten will be well used. While I was doing that, big brother sowed corn. The sun was bright, the air warm, but all in all it was most pleasant as I went on to water some plants, yank some weeds and harvest.

That done, it was on to the carport where big brother put together cousin Ed’s table for the market. I was supposed to help him, but dog food had to been chopped, so cousin Ed and I ended up doing that instead. It worked out well, though.

Cooked too, spaghetti and sauce, our last pot of tomatoes from last year, darn it, but it was delicious. Ate it again just an hour ago too. Nothing like day-old spaghetti.

But okay, after that we had to load up the car for today’s job. Got everything stacked in the back, two wheelbarrows on top, and plans for both breakfast and lunch. Only managed a couple of pages of the edit, because I got distracted by an email later in the evening.

As for the night…I was going friggin’ insane. I kid you not. If I slept two hours in a row it was a lot. For some reason I thought it was too warm, mosquitoes swarmed around my head with an annoying buzzzz, and I got all claustrophobic, which forced me to drag Chaos off, if for no other reason than to create some space for myself. In the end, I fell asleep with my head at the foot end of the bed, face in the stream of the fan, and a sheet pulled up to my chin. I was not a happy camper when the alarm went off at eight. *sigh*

But anyway, there were some pressing chores, followed by feeding the dogs, ourselves and checking if we had everything. We left home at nine thirty and were on our way on a rather sunny day. Were there just after ten and immediately got started.

Made good progress. Four sections of fence and we did one section per two hours…for the first four. Then the difficult parts started…uneven ground. Seriously, that’s a pain when you’re putting up fences.
Be that as it may, I twisted my ankle, which would have been bad if my foot didn’t hurt anyway. Friggin’ plantars! Managed to trim two more olive trees, which is a pity. But the lady asked me to do the rest of them as well, so I will be going back there in the near future and make a day of it.

Didn’t finish until after nine in the afternoon, and almost not even then, seeing as we were finishing up the last section that had tilted part , and our focus was shot. It took some effort, but finally we did manage to figure it out. The fence is as good as ready. There will be some final tweaks and fixes, naturally, but it's there, closed and in place, like planned. A full week's work. *phew*

Big brother even got sunburned today. I mean seriously, that is newsworthy. I cannot remember a single time in the past that he got sunburned, but there you have it. I feel vindicated, am even gloating a bit, because let’s face it, there is some justice for us pink skinned blondes after all. Hah. Big brother is stoic under it, though he too is running on fumes tonight. Hah.

Knight II behaved like a darling all day. Not a sound from him, and he even was confident enough to snooze away some of the hours without looking up to see where I was every five seconds.
According to cousin Ed, the doggies at home behaved well enough as well. That feeding them in the morning thing is really working out. Who’d have thunk it?

Well, I’m sure I’m forgetting something. No matter, though, I’ll posts some pics soon again. As for now…I’m sooooo ready for bed. Considering it’s midnight and grocery shopping day is just around the corner, I better hit it.

Picture update at last

Song of the day: “Dream a little dream” by the Beautiful South.

Yes, yes, yes. We’re doing a picture update. You’re psyched, I know, hah. Here we are, another day, another blog, and I won’t bore you with…oh wait, I will bore you with words, because let’s face it, the world has not come to an end yet, pigs don’t fly, and hell didn’t freeze over. *sigh*
But really, here are some pics as I've been promising for months.


PICTURES!!!

Tenant's floor. Isn't it cute? In the corner is Ayaana.

The water tank spot before the platform was build...that's Fortuyn by the way.

The beginning of putting in rocks. And yes, Fortuyn is still there, along with Kollosus and a bunch of others. It's a joint effort, working here. Hah.

This was the wall for the tank platform we built this week. Huckabee on top, Empera hiding behind.

The actual platform. Really sturdy...and right on time. Hah.

And the actual tank. 3000 liters.

Something different now.

General cuteness. The puppies that were at our job a month or so ago. I know. Took way too long, but there they are.

And onto the job. The fence/gates...in case I didn't already overstate it. Hah.

The double we placed yesterday.

The single. Duh.

The fence, of course. Isn't it wonderfully straight. There's still some digging to do, but we'll do that on the last day.

Now some dogs because...well, just because. They're too great to pass up on. Hah.

Our Thorgal.

Huckabee, the circus dog. Totally bonkers, but sweet.

Indigo, who likes to squeeze her massive body underneath the sawing table. I don't know how she manages to fit, but she does.

Knight II at the job. He was just to pretty to pass up on.

A pack shot. Empera, Kollosus are the two shepherds. Bambi is in the back and Carla in front.


Okay, the actual blog. First off, let’s start with the work day.

Big brother and I got up at seven thirty yesterday morning because there were the morning chores, and of course feeding the poor doggies that would have to do without us for the day. I had decided to take Knight II along, seeing as grandpa would be home alone with tenant and the dogs for several hours. Though Knight is really quite manageable, he does worry grandpa a bit, so seeing as the poor Dane likes to go along anyway, I figured it was the best solution all round.

Dog food went well, despite some of the pack being a tad snarky for some peculiar reason. Maybe they felt the impending desertion. Hah. But anyway, that done, we had some breakfast and left at about 15 past nine in the morning, to arrive on site around ten. We started just as soon as we took stock of what we left the last time, and opened up house and shed to make sure that we could work straight through.

Big brother was extremely positive about the hours of work ahead of us. For some reason he seemed to think that we would be unable to fill the full eight hours and would be heading home around five in the afternoon…nuh-huh. Since we started with the gates, we didn’t finish with the blasted things until four in the afternoon. Strangely enough until one in the afternoon time went eerily slow, and then, suddenly, it was past four. Very strange.

We did take a short break around two. Chowed down on some grilled cheese sandwiches, and then walked up the mountain behind the house just to see what was beyond. Surprise, surprise, there was a valley there, hah, and…yes, hold onto your hat, more olive orchards. Seriously, though, it was beautiful. We saw an old ruin and walked over to see what was what. Turns out that there were a cluster of beehives there too, and while we were walking past (a respectable 20 feet) we got attacked. Boy, were we off (in the wrong direction) fast. Hah. Even Knight II went off in a gallop, not stopping (whacking around me with my hat…got stabbed once, big brother thrice) until we lost the violent little creatures. *sigh*
Had to go back the long way round, with another bee finding me, of course. Hah. But anyway, we returned to work none the worse for wear, with Knight II conking out in the bushes…then the full sunshine…and then back in the bushes, never taking his tired eyes off me for longer than five minute stretches.
Poor fellow, so much to keep track of in a strange place, eh?

But where was I, ah yes, we finished the gates around five, and then started hauling out the rolls of fence so we could place the big stretch as our final task of the day. We didn’t think it would go so fast, but apparently we got better at building fences because just before seven we were done hanging the 90 feet of fence, pulling it tight where we could without digging. The digging will come next time ‘round, I assure you. The land is uneven, and in places we’ll need to heighten it, while in others we’ll have to go down. *sigh* Such is life. Luckily in general digging is a good thing.

Regretfully I didn’t have time to trim more olive trees, which reminds me. The neighbor had his done during the course of the last month and boy, did those get mutilated. I sure hope that once they start growing again that they’ll fill out, ‘cause they looked like plucked chickens. Poor trees.

Sun was out the whole time we were at work. Pounding down relentlessly, but not uncomfortably since there was a cool breeze that made it downright pleasant. Of course the breeze didn’t stop me from getting thoroughly sunburned. I kid you not. Shoulders, collarbones, cheekbones and the back of my neck and arms were…well, let’s just say, I could have been mistaken for a traffic light. *snort*

Added to my “flaming” color, I, while squatting down to attach the fence, ripped a hole the size of a foot in the front of my pants, so you can imagine why I opted to stay in the car on our way back, stopping at a grocery store for a can of soda. I sooooo needed a shot of sugar. Totally didn’t take enough food. Hah.

Got home after nine, put the dog food for tomorrow…well today, on the fire and devoured supper prepared by cousin Ed. We made a valiant effort to focus enough for an edit, but ended up catching up on emails, some chats, and then watched Blood Work with Clint Eastwood to get through the last couple of hours of the day.

Of course, my sunburn didn’t much help my sleep. I think I woke up at least seven times, before finally dropping off around sunrise. Not that it mattered, seeing as today was a day at home with a late start that involved laundry, feeding the dogs and then an easy breakfast.

That was followed by a trip down into the yard where big brother watered some of the newest plants, while I planted fifteen pots of chamomile. I am determined to get enough chamomile for the whole winter, darn it. The planting spree was followed by a harvest of cabbages and broccoli. The latter for our supper, the first for the dogs…and white and red cabbage for the vet…along with a couple of pumpkins.

With full baskets we head up, where tenant spent most of her time in front of her bungalow involved in a new book that held her so captivated that she didn’t want to go elsewhere. After assisting her with some necessities, (caregiver was off to her job) big brother and I headed out to the storage to see about materials to start on the foldable tables cousin Ed will need. She had opted to help mom and the sibs out by trying out a new market on Sundays. For that reason she’ll need a couple of tables so she can display the goods…and we had to try out if they would fit in the small car. They did, so we’ll be putting some time in that for the coming week or so. In between I cut the veggies for tomorrow’s dog food.

After that (leaving tenant to cut veggies for supper) big brother and I headed out to the village to pay an outstanding bill at the vet’s and to bring over the veggies. Seeing as she agreed to let us use her address to have our biological seeds delivered, we have long since agreed to give her a fair share of the produce. So far the deal is working out fine.

Tomorrow will be a busy day for tenant, who has a doctor’s appointment and a dentist appointment. A good thing, since we discovered the day before yesterday that she lost a lower tooth during the night. She has no idea how it happened, but it demonstrates once more that a dentist visit is high time.

And that about sums it up for me. It’s late and I really need to get me some shuteye…considering we already did a nine page edit tonight, it’s high time.

In the jungle, the mighty jungle...

Song of the day: “Bruises” by Chairlift. Incredibly cute song, only a tad annoying since the part “for youhoooohooo” is the most prominent in ones memory. Hah.

So yeah, I’m incredibly short on time. We’re heading out tomorrow for the second to last workday on that fence. Setting the gates this time, so plenty to do, plenty to do. Let’s hope we don’t need to dig the holes again. And that everything held. *snort* That’s my panicky side talking. Since we did a sturdy job, I don’t see how it could have gone wrong unless someone willingly wrecked it. Hah.

But anyway, let’s get you up to date so that we can all continue with our lives. *wink*
Yesterday:

A busy day, of course. Nothing new about that, is there? Best thing of yesterday was definitely the morning workout. Yay. Did a solid hour and a half despite the miserly rain that came down. I pounded, kicked and punched. Pumped, bounced and tread, working up a nice sweat (like this morning too, as a matter of fact. What can I say, I had some catching up to do) before starting on the day (same as this morning again, hah).

I totally forgot to say that the day before we put the new water tank in place. It was quite a hassle actually, since the dratted thing was so big that we couldn’t get it through the carport and the smaller gates. We contemplated taking it along the perimeter of the garden, and then lift it over the fence where we’ll need it, but finally decided against it. There’s a short path on that side, but it would be too dangerous to navigate with that massive “bucket”. Finally decided to carry it through the big gate and then OVER the small gate beside the old RV. We were a funny sight for sure. Cousin Ed, me, grandpa and big brother, rotating our way through, that tank as high as we could possibly hold it.

That done, the tank had to be hosed clean, and then gradually lowering it to the new platform big brother finished the other day. It fit like a glove, thank you very much. While cousin Ed and I were busy elsewhere, grandpa and big brother installed all the tubing, making the tank completely ready for yesterday. And boy, were they on time!

Did do laundry, but since the air was damp and the rain was coming down (most of the night as well) there wasn’t all that much to fold. By the time we finished feeding the dogs for the day, the rain started for real and after breakfast cousin Ed and I decided to get to work on 60 pounds of lemons that had to be squeezed into juice. Yep. Got a cheap batch the other day which meant we had to make lemonade to save them properly. Took most of the day, all of it spent in the carport cutting, squeezing (by hand too, since the poor little machine couldn’t hack it) and putting it in pots and bottles. Had about eight pots of lemon juice and five bottles of lemonade. Success!

While cousin Ed and I were doing that big brother and grandpa did more in the bungalow’s kitchen. It’s coming along nicely now. Looking grand with the beautiful wooden shelving behind it.

By the time the rain finally let up for a bit, all reservoirs were filled. YAY! No kidding. The new tank was filled to full capacity, the main basin as well, and of course the small pool. This means that we’ve earned ourselves a solid two weeks extra of free water this summer. Ergo, free, homegrown, utterly ecologically grown veggies. Double Yay!

Since the rain stopped we rushed down to the yard to harvest veggies for dog food and broccoli for ourselves. Jeez, everything was soaking wet, me included by the time we were done. Sweater was wet up to my elbows, pants up to my knees…as were my shoes. Hah. I would have changed clothes then, if we didn’t still need cut everything. Instead, eating mac&cheese big brother prepared, we finished preparing the dog food, at which time the sky slowly started to clear. So nice of Mother Nature that she stopped pouring the moment we had everything filled. Hah.

Managed a nine page edit by the end of the day, despite having moments of being cross-eyed with exhaustion. Went well enough, only ten pages away from being one third of the way. I’m not displeased with how the last edit’s changes turned out. I think it’s working so far.

Strangely enough squeezing lemons wasn’t good for my shoulder. The darn thing has been whining somewhat fierce ever since that. Same goes for the foot, but what the heck. Nothing new there. Hah

Was only a little late getting to bed, but managed getting up right on the dot for that workout. Yay.
Again laundry, but a lot was still wet despite the air having cleared throughout the night. The weather has definitely improved overnight. In fact, we had a wonderfully warm sun today.

After the usual chores, coffee and breakfast, I headed down into the yard to check the tomato plants for bugs (plenty of those again, blasted creatures) and then clear some of the terraced under the house. The malva and reed just got too big this winter, and we really needed to clear at least a pat. Then I suddenly saw myself standing in front of this dense forestry (the place where some odd eight years ago there used to be a path) blinking at the sound of Gandalf in my head, saying “thou shall not pass”. Hah. Seriously, the bushes, vines, papyrus and weeds were basically challenging me. So I took the big cutters, a scythes, and got to work.

I hacked, I cut, I sliced and by some sort of miracle, after several hours of work had a semblance of a path. It was really rather amazing. One moment you’re looking at a vast jungle, and the next (naturally I had “the lying sleeps tonight” in my head during this particular chore. Hah) there was an actual path to navigate as Ed and I started dragging branching and such away. It was wonderful work to do, in particular since the poplar, the oleanders and such protected the path and us from the sun. It was wonderfully cool in there.
Gawd, some of those vines were as thick as my index finger, by the way. I can’t believe how big it’s all become down there. I’m thinking that working on paving that path, and then making the stairs to the individual terraces is going to be a blessing once summer starts. It’ll actually be cool un there.

That done, we headed up to where grandpa had made us some pancakes for a snack and heard that mom and the younger sibs had a good day at the market. Then of course we got a call, that made it necessary for us to head on out with the car and do a pick up. Got a nice donation batch, so it was worth our wile. Still, it would have been better if we didn’t have that, seeing as we still had to prepare for tomorrow’s work day.

While unloading the car, we also loaded up. The three gates on the imperial. A load of sand in the back. Bags of cement in the backseat and of course a whole set of tools that we’re going to need. Luckily grandpa and big brother could do most of this while I got started on the blog. Hey. I’m about done, and only took an hour to write it. Yay.

Okay, gotta go. Need to have an early night, and I would like to do a few edits still.