Getting the groove

Song of the day: …hmmm. I can’t actually remember. Maybe hell froze over and my head was finally empty…or I just forgot. Hah

Okay, my brain is already blanking, so I better get to this fast. What happened, what happened? I don’t know. I’m getting my diary, darn it.

Oh yes, how could I forget. It was a scorcher last night, so I woke multiple times during the night. I tossed and turned and by the time morning arrived I was seriously grumpy and had a pounding headache. Ended up soaking in the pool for a bit, cooling my brain and then I was at least civil. Hah

There were the usual morning chores, followed by the dog food, and then it was down to the basin terrace for the day’s work at the computer. First there was a carp load of dishes to do, however, including approximately fifteen pots that we were going to use for canning asap. Got them cleaned and put them on the fire for boiling prior to sitting down for breakfast and Spanish.
Didn’t do a whole lot of the latter, but something at least. It is not going entirely bad, just tedious. I have noticed so far that, as long as I don’t think about it too much, I can figure most sentences out.

Managed a nice amount of pages during the course of the afternoon, getting seriously involved in the scene before the end of writing time arrived. Had wanted to do the zucchinis during the course of the day, but didn’t get around to that. Good thing too, since tenant really wanted to help with that, and yesterday she couldn’t because she went out with mom for the majority of the day while little brother was out for his driver’s license. Thankfully he didn’t dislike it so much this time.

After writing, big brother headed into the yard so cousin Ed and I could cook supper. Made ratatouille with pasta, which went down well on a day where the temps were in the high nineties.
While cleaning up big brother and I got into a massive argument about the book, which wasn’t pretty, so we took some “separate” time to cool down. Me heading up for the pool, while he finished up in the greenhouse. It was better after, and could dismiss it as a massive misunderstanding. Must have been the heat. Seriously, when I got out of the pool, the heat hit me in the face while walking up the mountain.

Spent the remainder of the afternoon cutting dog veggies, and then heading on up to the old paddock and working on the small wagon, adding the last slats that would close it completely, which ‘ll make things easier for Ed at the market on Sunday.

That done, I spent another hour or so working on the computer (and chatting some online too, of course, hah) adding a page to the whole. Was a little late getting to bed, darn it, but the night was cooler, so I actually slept rather well during the night. Yay.

Which brings us to today. Not all that different, however, the chores, the dog food, killing ticks (which is driving me up the walls, literally. They’re going up the walls so so am I, aaaaargh!!) and writing some more. Did a solid piece again today, bringing the manuscript up to fifty pages (approx. 15,500 words, yay). Getting closer to the one fourth, thank you very much, so I'm finding the proverbial groove. (Cross my fingers, knock on wood.)
Of course the temps were high again (less hazy, though, which is good. Less humidity that way) so we had to head into the yard and give most of everything water. The dogs, who are now joining us at the basin terrace, are not at all appreciative of the heat either. About five of them have discovered Sally’s bathroom, and will be hiding in there most of the day, soaking up the coolness of the tile floor and walls. Hah. Poor Chaos. He really doesn’t like the heat at all, and will be soaking in the pool for a solid fifteen minutes in the morning.

What else, well, there was the stuffing our faces fast, before we had to go out for a donation again. It was a bit of a rush, but we did manage and get everything loaded and back home to finish . Only had a dip in the end of the day, after coming home, and it was wonderful. Cool for the first time in the whole day, splendid, marvelous and worthy of repetition soon. Hah.

But now, the end of the day is here, and I am more than ready to get horizontal and catch me some zzzz. I can hardly wait.

R.I.P. Akata

Song of the day: “New York” by Alicia Keys again. I blame it on the latest book project, truly I do. I’m constantly searching through Google earth and maps, going through 5th avenue and Central Park west road, getting a feel of the city and finding out where my characters are going, and what they’re seeing. Fascinating!

It’s been a busy couple of days, for me it seems as if it has been a constant run for me to keep up, and not all of it was fun.

First off, we lost another of the pack. Akata. Our gray and white husky who we got as a wonderfully tiny puppy in 1997/98 I believe. He was so gorgeous. Six weeks old, bright blue eyes and back then, sort of like a dirty snowball in color. A cuddly little thing, and quiet. He was big brother’s and for the past fourteen years or so he has been a steady member of the pack. Sure, the last year or so age had been catching up with him, but we couldn’t watch him get worse. He was moaning whenever he went up the stairs…if he managed at all, and eating was a chore he didn’t look forward to anymore. It was just sad. So the dreaded decision had to be made, and big brother and I went to the vet to get it done. He went fast, big brother and me standing beside him, petting him through this final moment and then it was over. Two minutes tops, but it keeps being somewhat horrid. It’s so irrevocable, if you know what I mean. You make a choice and suddenly something you care about, something living is no longer there. I think this is the saddest moment in life, and no matter how often it happens, it stays that way. *sigh*
Perhaps now you understand why I called my first blog (way back when on myspace) Surviving the Pack. It's not as easy as it sounds.

Here’s a picture.




Wasn’t he gorgeous?

But enough of sad stuff. It is past and cannot be changed. It never can.

Let’s do yesterday and get this blog over with.

Yesterday involved the morning chores, of course. Then heading down to the basin terrace like we now do most days for breakfast and then doing some Spanish. Focus was shot, but what the heck, managed forty five minutes before my brain got to be too insistent and wanted to continue with the scene I started the day before. Managed a solid two pages before I got distracted by a personal email that kept me friggin’ occupied for the remainder of the afternoon. Aaargh. In fact, it kept me busy most of today too, and regretfully I can’t share its contents with you yet. I would if I could, I swear, but right now it is not discussable. Maybe soon, maybe never. We’ll have to wait and see. Could be good news, could be nothing. Whatever it is…well, again, we’ll just have to see.

So anyway, only managed a couple of pages since yesterday, partly because after watering the plants we had to take Akata to the vet. That done, we drove around for a bit, mostly to get our heads on straight and then needed to go to town to return a sewing machine part for mom and to pick up a couple of blocks of cheese.

Had cheese and onions (grilled) for breakfast too, and ate some soup at the end of the day so we’d get some veggies in after all. I am starting to notice a certain pattern in my eating habits. If I’m upset I get trouble eating, which is not a good thing what with my body’s inclination for deficiencies, darn it. Seriously, just eating stuff that needs to keep those levels up is a day job. Grrr.

Gawd, I just remembered, I’ve gotta can tomorrow. The amount of zucchinis are back up to the dozens, so rather than waste them, I wanna cook them into a soup and can them for winter again. Also, I have to cook a decent meal tomorrow. I’m thinking ratatouille with spaghetti, that oughta do the trick.

Got a message from a publisher announcing that my manuscript arrived, so keep your fingers crossed on that one. Seriously, all this waiting could wreck a person. Hah. But okay, this is my chosen career, and the waiting game is regretfully a big part of it. You get used to it, and I’ve got to admit that now, after going through that particular torture for the past fifteen years or so, I’m getting better at the “better next time” attitude.

Little brother had his first driving lesson yesterday too, and he absolutely hated it. He had the same teacher we did, and felt afterward like giving up on the entire thing. I remember the teacher well, he’s horrid the first time ‘round, but once he gets to know you, he relaxes enough for you to not want to run off screaming. I wish little brother the best of luck for sure. It’s a challenge.

And then today, well, since I was late getting to bed again last night, so I wasn’t at all pleased at waking at eight and staring up at the ceiling, wondering why the heck I woke so long before the alarm. Luckily I did drift off again, but much to my regret woke up with the third headache in a row. Gawd, I sure hope I don’t get the two year headache (chronic thingy) again. I absolutely hated that time. The pounding was off and on most of the day today.

There were the morning chores, after I soaked in the pool for a few minutes, treating my throbbing head to some cooling at least. It helped enough to bring it down to a bearable level. Yay.

That done it was down to the terrace where I worked on that letter I mentioned earlier. The hours crawled past, partly due to the humid heat which didn’t make the weather pleasant, despite the occasional breeze from the sea. But anyway, got through the ordeal and then headed down into the yard for much needed relaxation watering the plants and harvesting the day’s veggies. Added to the zucchini pile (ergo the canning plans tomorrow) and got some stuff for the dogs, and then headed up after eating bread with grilled onions and cheese.

Big brother and I cut the veggies today, put it on the fire to cook before we went up to check on the wagon for Cousin Ed. Still have to put up that last section on it, and we did most of the preparation before taking Knight II to the car and heading out for a much needed jog.
Seriously, all this sitting (or in my case standing) is a pain in the behind, literally. Luckily the jog really helped to clear my head, and once we got back, I even didn’t really care that I had to do the blog, rather than write on the new book…well, that’s a lie. *sigh* Seriously, writing about the day’s events totally doesn’t compare to writing about the two leads that are constantly battling for attention in my head. *double sigh*

Now it’s too late, of course. Bed time is nigh, and at this point I don’t mind. I’m beat. Hah.

Fingers crossed

Song of the day: “Payphone” by Maroon 5. Not a huge fan of the band, but they do have a few nice songs…this one included.

I would prefer to do this one fast, seeing as I’m running terribly behind, and haven’t managed more than a couple of paragraphs for the book, because I’ve been forced to be out half the day, and then headed into the yard. So yeah, fast. Don’t laugh. I’m getting way better at doing my blogs shorter.

Yesterday.
Well, I was jarred awake by something, probably mom and the sibs leaving for market, and then passed out again until my alarm almost had me fall out of bed. Seriously, just barely prevented myself from going flat on my face.

Oddly enough the past couple of days have been so hazy the mornings have been downright nippy. Good for the plants, sure, but also extremely weird, all things considered. The sun’s out, there’re no real clouds, and yet it doesn’t feel like full summer (despite the late afternoon humidity) either. Most peculiar. For a while (last night) we were hopeful of a nice thunderstorm, but regretfully it didn’t happen.

There were the morning chores, the feeding of the dogs, and then helping tenant change so she could come down with me to the basin terrace (it was cool enough for her to sit in the sunshine for a change). Did some massive dishes in the field kitchen, and then had breakfast over Spanish. Can I just say here, for the record, that I have a biatch of a time getting my mind around Spanish. I think I’m getting too old to get the flexibility I need for it…on the other hand, maybe I just want to write too badly to bother with it. Hah.

But anyway, since the plan was to make pizza’s for supper, tenant got to work on cutting veggies while I wrote a few pages during the course of the afternoon. Have decided not to work chronologically with this book. It shaves some time off the schedule, which is necessary seeing as we need to have the book done by next spring. I had a really awesome idea for a scene later in the book, so I worked on that. By the time I was done with that for the day, we started on the pizza and baked five in the small grill that is now standing in the field kitchen. Worked out splendidly too, what with all the fresh veggies and the dripping cheese. I LOVE pizza, and it’s been ages.

That done it was down into the vegetable garden to water what needed watering and to harvest what needed harvesting. Not much of either, what with the different weather, but still, it was a couple of hours after all.
On our way up we had to take along about six bags of dog food from the spare storage, and boy, was I breathing heavy when I got up to the carport. Had to hurry back to the middle gate too because big brother, who was carrying up four (160 pounds) and took the one that was sliding off from his hands. Luckily, now with us making most of the dog food with fresh veggies and bread, the kibble lasts way longer.

Once recovered, I cut veggies for the dog food and then took a quick dip in the pool. What with all the sitting (or standing, in my case) we decided to head out for a nice relaxing jog at the end of the day. That was rather wonderful, despite the friggin’ foot. I’ve discovered that it goes well enough, as long as I do my stretches. Did decide to wear my special insoles in my sandals to see if that would help a bit, so, yeah, I’ll keep you informed. Hah.

Ended up doing five pages of the book in total yesterday, but was once again late getting to bed. Strangely enough that didn’t matter for my internal clock this morning, which had me wake up less than three minutes before my alarm was supposed to go off.

After the morning rituals and chores, big brother and I headed to town for a few groceries, and then the garage. Turns out the Land Rover is still acting funny. The engine sputters a little, and it just refuses to build up any speed up the inclines. Very frustrating. So we went to the garage where I discussed the problem with the mechanics. Though it could still be cylinder problem, I got the advice to try it a little longer, let the extra oil do its job before I decided to have the engine taken apart to see if they need to fix, or replace the problem thing. Since doing a huge, expensive repair at this time is really a thing that would require me selling a kidney, or something. *sigh*

But anyway, I was relieved, and we drove home with our fingers crossed that all will be swell in the end. Once we got home (greeted all the dogs) and changed into work clothes, it was down to the terrace where I made pea soup for supper (got some French bread while out) and then headed down into the yard (after eating, of course) to water the whiny plants again, and harvest a little. Beets and broccoli, mostly, also herbs, of which a big load went into the larger drying cupboard grandpa made for me this year. Am doing basil, Marjoram, oregano, thyme and mint at the moment, and took out the first batch of dry basil and chamomile, all nice and dry.

Did some cleaning in the field kitchen again, and then it was up to the car port to start on the day’s computer work. Not getting much of that done, though, seeing as I’m feeling unfocussed, and am still doing this blog thing. Grrr.

Ah well, no matter, tomorrow will be another day, and then…well, we’ll see.

Past 10K. Yay!

Song of the day: “New York” by Alicia Keys. Yeah. Don’t ask me why. Usually I can’t stand the woman all that much, but this is a nice one, and considering my present book is set in the Big Apple it seemed kinda appropriate. Hah.

Well, first off: My effing foot is killing me these past couple of days so I’m not in the best of moods. Grrr.

Okay, nothing really interesting happening these past couple of days, except that at a certain point little sister lost the puppy who came up to where we were working on the computer and decided that it was a good time to get reacquainted. Cheerful little darling, bouncing up and down, wagging its tail like mad and trying to crawl into our laps.

Well, there was laundry both days, of course, and then preparing dog food. Strange how their appetite changes from day to day. I am getting the distinct feeling that whenever there’s a lot of cauliflower and pumpkin in it, they love it, while if there’s a lot of green leave veggies in it, they’re less enthusiastic. And beets, oh boy, anything beet they get incredibly excited about.

The dogs fed and our breakfast gathered to take down to the basin terrace, I went down and took my time cleaning up a little. That sort of thing does gets neglected a lot now that writing is taking up so many hours of the day. Still, I took the time to make burger dough, for our own meal, as well as Sally, who’s somewhat dependent on the stuff while she’s on a gluten free diet. I am glad that she likes it.

That done, and Spanish over breakfast over with, it was time to start writing. The first few hours didn’t go all that well. The sentences were going at a snail’s pace, and since it was our plant to leave for town around 4:45, we were pondering to stop a little earlier until it became clear that tenant was on her way down for the first time in days. Didn’t want her efforts to be for nothing, so we decided that I would try to write for another hour or so, and then start on supper while she kept me company.
That was of course before I got “into” the scene and didn’t resurface until I’d written a solid five pages. *sigh* I did forget the time, meaning that we didn’t leave for town until five thirty (without supper, darn it) leaving tenant to Cousin Ed, who also did some watering of the weaker plants.

Did a few groceries in town, then had to head out for a small donation for the markets. Didn’t amount to much, but you don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, right? For the dogs every penny counts.

Once we got home it was time for a veggie burger. That fresh lettuce and tomatoes on top do make for a fine combination, I’ll admit. Had two before my hunger was soothed to a bearable level and got back to writing. Managed to add another two pages before the evening was over, so Yay! I crossed the 10K word mark, meaning we’re one tenth into the story. Hah.

Regretfully I was late getting to bed again, putting me not in the best of moods when I woke up this morning. I really should try to get to bed in time today. *sigh* I wonder how often I’ve been thinking exactly that for the past few weeks. Grrr. Stupid days are just too short. Heck, we’re not even managing to do any projects at the moment.

But anyway, after the usual morning chores, as mentioned at the beginning, I went down to the basin for breakfast, some cleaning, and Spanish…not necessarily in that order. Today, as opposed to yesterday, the weather was decidedly cool. There was a haze in the air that made the temperature downright pleasant compared to yesterday’s scorcher. In fact, there were moments today when I was almost regretful that I hadn’t brought a blouse down with me.

Only managed to write a couple of pages today. My punishment for doing seven yesterday, I’m thinking. Hah. Still, the scene is working out nicely, and the characters are really establishing themselves. Got a “past” scene so far, and an action scene, so, Yay.

That done, it was time to head into the yard where plants got watered (what with the dry wind and the continues sunshine…even through the haze, the soil was rapidly drying) and harvests were gathered. Got beets for our own meal, along with purslane for the dogs, zucchinis, cauliflower and tomatoes for our salad. Decided to grill the cauliflower and pepper before mixing it into freshly cut veggies. With the home-made salad dressing and a pattie on the side, it went down well after a long day of mental activity. Added to that was baked beets with cream and cheese, creating a filling meal that is still working well in keeping me satisfied. Usually, ‘round this time I’m more than ready for a snack.

Once everything was done down there, and the dishes put out soak, I gathered the contents of my bag and headed n up to start cutting the dog veggies. Had company, of course, seeing as the dogs like this part of their home-made food the most. Seriously, Rammi, Kollosus, Tadaika and Tridatu would dive into the pan if you let them. The others too, for that matter, despite them being a little less forward in their endeavors. If I’m not careful, nothing of the uncooked stuff would be left for cooking. Hah

We had planned to go for a jog today, but since my foot is being such a pain in the behind, and since Cousin Ed had to pick up Sally, we decided against it. Besides, we would have had to run by the big road, which is definitely dangerous what with all the weekend traffic.

Which brings us to now, the Blog, and the fact that bed time is only a short time away, if I can help it. Yay.