Song of the day: “International Love” by Chris Brown and Pitbull. I know, how superficial is that, but let’s face it, it has a nice tune despite the fact that the lyrics are incredibly racy. Hah.
First off, writing. Didn’t go bad the last couple of days. Made good progress and added a solid amount of pages to the story. The scene I was writing worked out well. Got it set in 1918, in Romania, so the research the other day paid off at least. The nice old lady in the story, turned out to be not all that nice, hah, and the hero, well, he’s the tortured type faced with a massive dilemma and all that. That’s the best part after all. Hah. But anyway, it is going well, and so far I’m happy with the progress. Let’s see where tomorrow gets me.
Okay, we had a busy day both yesterday and today. Yesterday it was vaccination day, of course, and it started early with the arrival of the vet at around ten thirty in the morning. We had everything ready, so it wasn’t bad at all. I helped filling the syringes, and we went through the dogs in record time. They had their physical, the injection, the pills and then on to the next one. The vet is always wonderfully surprised at our well behaved dogs, and the speed with which things get done on this particular day of the year.
The all behaved well, too. Knight II didn’t even try to bit the vet when he got both his shots. Dax tried to get away, but then froze in my arms while he got examined and then injected. Sitabah was a little trickier, she tried to go every which way, so in the end I had to put her in a headlock and keep her in place until she was done. The only other one that showed any trouble in the end, was young Bakti, who’s just so scared that he gets blinded for anything except fleeing.
A couple of dogs are going to need to go to the hospital one of the these days. Their teeth are in a bad way, and the vet really thinks it would be best to clean them properly. Also an ear infection, and keeping a close eye on Jelly, who should not be developing a fever now that he’s had his rabies shot. The booklets went along with the vet, and we’ll get them back sometime next week when they should all be filled in and brought up to date.
That done, big brother and I fed the dogs, and headed down to the basin terrace for the days writing and breakfast. Tenant joined us too, and spent a large amount of the day cutting zucchini while cousin Ed cleaned out pots for canning. We did plan to do the actual canning too, but never did get around to it, since we had to go into the yard and then out for another donation thingy. Gawd, we’re out a lot these days, really rather frustrating. In particular since the Opel appears to have a short circuit somewhere and won’t start at all. We had planned to look at it, but never got around to it. Instead we got home late, where I only managed to add two more pages to the book. Hah.
I was terribly late getting to bed, and that made me totally blurry and out of it when the alarm went off this morning. Like yesterday I rushed through the morning chores, laundry and such, and then fed the dogs before big brother went up to fetch the big bathtub. Dog dipping day! The ticks were starting to drive us to distraction (seriously they were everywhere) so we decided to get the chemical stuff again and one by one dipped the dogs in the liquid.
Knight II went through the ordeal without a hitch. He just stood there and let me douse him over and over until his whole fur was wet. Chaos just looked at me balefully, wondering what all the fuss was about when I dunked him. It was as if he was saying, “Really, boss, if you wanted me to roll in it, you could have asked.”
Dax almost went apoplectic. Sitabah somehow managed to hook every single paw on the edge of the bath before I grabbed two paws per hand and just dunker her completely. She hasn’t looked at me since. Hah. Gada didn’t care either way, and Labhana, well, she was wondering why I bothered.
As for the rest of the dogs. There were the spasmodic ones in the end. The ones that knew something was off the moment we started dunking the first dog and disappeared without a trace. Sneaky bastards, really, two of them managed to dislodge the baths plug while we were trying to treat them, for crying out loud. In the end, big brother and I were treated as thoroughly as the dogs and headed down to the terrace to start on the writing once more.
There was the canning, of course. Boiling two big pans of zucchini, transferring them to the pots and then boiling the pots until they were properly sealed. Added to that was the cooking…missed a couple of meals this week, and I didn’t want a repeat of that. Leftovers are sooooo easy. Hah.
There were the chores in the yard, today and yesterday, naturally. Got all the herbs sorted and put a new batch in the drying cupboard.
A quick trip to the village, and then it was using wedging up the Opel so we could get underneath. Did find a loose wire, which I fixed, at which point big brother got the Land Rover so we could jump start the car. It started fine, and we left it running for a bit before I drove it to the village to pick up Sally from work.
By the time I finally got home it was almost dark, and I was starving, so I decided to binge on cornflakes and get it over with.
And that’s it, I think. I’m sure I’m skipping stuff again, but let’s face it, it matters none. This is all the time I’ve got left today. I’m so tired right now, I’m cross-eyed, so I better close this off and start getting ready for bed. *sigh*
Friday, July 13, 2012
Thursday, July 12, 2012
R.I.P. Nata
Song of the day: “Drunk” by Ed Sheeran. Fun song, hilarious clip, and it’s been going off in my head for the past couple of days or so.
First off, there’s some sad news. Yesterday, after discovering that Nata was now starting to breathe heavy, and even coughed up some blood strained slime, we decided not to postpone it any longer and headed for the vet. The decision was quickly made, an edema in his lungs, his hips barely able to support him, and a slowly increasing skinniness despite his excellent appetite. The end was there and it was over in just minutes, with pink liquid running from his mouth. A sad moment, and it reminded me of when we got him and his brother Vara. Just two little puppies, adorable, cute and so friggin’ loveable.
Not a good day, yesterday, I tell ya. My mood was shot, partly because the night before big brother and I were driving home and stumbled on two moving bags beside a local dumpster. All I could think about was the last time we saw something like that, there was a litter of nine puppies in the bag. It took some debating, but I gave big brother my pocket knife (he forgot his for a change) and he cut open the bags. He took one look inside, swore and then carefully spread the contents out over the ground beside the dumpster. In the two bags were approximately fifteen, or eighteen rabbits, most of them already dead, and the few remaining ones (their eyes basically boiled in their sockets from the heat) were just panting in their last spasms of life. Some carpy person decided that it was a good idea to toss out his rabbits in NEARLY airtight bags, while the temps were near 100 and the bags filled to full capacity with living bodies. Seriously, I was massively upset after that one. I’ve said it before people, if you’re gonna be an arse and toss a pet out, at least have the friggin’ guts to kill it, rather than condemn it to a horrible death. Jeeez!
Enough about the depressing stuff, though. I should have just kept my trap shut about the top two issues, but what the hey, they are part of life, and thus they must be mentioned, right?
Writing. It is controlling my life at the moment. Not unusual for me, mind you. It is my chosen career after all, but seriously, the days are starting to seem extremely short. At the moment all I have time for is writing, laundry, feeding the dogs, preparing dog food, making our own food and an occasional little task. Did ad some pages, though, only two more to hit the 100 mark, so Yay. Still, it is frustrating that the days are so short. It doesn’t help that we are also constantly having to go out
Like yesterday afternoon we had to go to town for a donation. A fridge/freezer combo. Turns out people had rented out their home for a few months, and when they returned the fridge had had some sort of explosion inside, filling it with maggots that had died and started rotting too. Gawd, they warned us about the smell (apologized profusely, in fact), but when we started loading up it was pretty bad. Seriously, I had to stop breathing through my nose or else lose my stomach contents. I totally get why they rather got rid of it, than having to clean it. I was personally tempted to leave it at the landfill myself. That smell made me cross-eyed, I tell ya. But anyway, big brother and I tied the thing shut, heaved it up the car’s imperial…and somehow I ended up with vile smelling goo on my head, shoulder, arm, wrist and boob. Oh. My. Gawd. I almost chucked up right there. Luckily we had sanitary naps in the car (and I used them profusely. I think I went through half the pack and still couldn’t get rid of the smell, aaargh) and on the way home I hung out the side window most of the time, (the interior parts of the fridge were in a box in the back of the car) just to be able to breathe.
First thing we did once we got home was hose the darn thing down. Took a while too, and then we had to put it somewhere to settle for 24 hours before we could try if it even worked. (It does. Tried it today. Yay. Totally worth the effort…in hindsight! Hah)
There was cooking involved, more writing, chores, a wonderful jog this very evening, which was something I really, really needed after the lack of activity the past few days. Also did some rowing on the machine this afternoon, which cleared my head a little at least. There were some dips in the pool, and some serious sweating what with the hot temps. Right now it is rather nice, though, since a strong wind picked up. No mosquitoes. Yay.
Yard-wise, the heat was pretty impressive yesterday afternoon while cousin Ed and I watered the plants and did some harvesting. Oh my. I might actually get a tan on my legs after all. I could literally feel my skin bake. Hah.
I just might finally get me some curtains. Yay. Though I love sleeping with everything open, doors and all, but when I’m still up, and my lights are on, some curtains will certainly come in handy. Can’t help but worry ‘bout some unsuspecting neighbor freaking the dogs out. Hah.
And now I’m drawing a blank regarding events in the past couple of days. Considering it is once more close to a thousand words here, I figure I might as well call it a blog and log of. Hah.
First off, there’s some sad news. Yesterday, after discovering that Nata was now starting to breathe heavy, and even coughed up some blood strained slime, we decided not to postpone it any longer and headed for the vet. The decision was quickly made, an edema in his lungs, his hips barely able to support him, and a slowly increasing skinniness despite his excellent appetite. The end was there and it was over in just minutes, with pink liquid running from his mouth. A sad moment, and it reminded me of when we got him and his brother Vara. Just two little puppies, adorable, cute and so friggin’ loveable.
Not a good day, yesterday, I tell ya. My mood was shot, partly because the night before big brother and I were driving home and stumbled on two moving bags beside a local dumpster. All I could think about was the last time we saw something like that, there was a litter of nine puppies in the bag. It took some debating, but I gave big brother my pocket knife (he forgot his for a change) and he cut open the bags. He took one look inside, swore and then carefully spread the contents out over the ground beside the dumpster. In the two bags were approximately fifteen, or eighteen rabbits, most of them already dead, and the few remaining ones (their eyes basically boiled in their sockets from the heat) were just panting in their last spasms of life. Some carpy person decided that it was a good idea to toss out his rabbits in NEARLY airtight bags, while the temps were near 100 and the bags filled to full capacity with living bodies. Seriously, I was massively upset after that one. I’ve said it before people, if you’re gonna be an arse and toss a pet out, at least have the friggin’ guts to kill it, rather than condemn it to a horrible death. Jeeez!
Enough about the depressing stuff, though. I should have just kept my trap shut about the top two issues, but what the hey, they are part of life, and thus they must be mentioned, right?
Writing. It is controlling my life at the moment. Not unusual for me, mind you. It is my chosen career after all, but seriously, the days are starting to seem extremely short. At the moment all I have time for is writing, laundry, feeding the dogs, preparing dog food, making our own food and an occasional little task. Did ad some pages, though, only two more to hit the 100 mark, so Yay. Still, it is frustrating that the days are so short. It doesn’t help that we are also constantly having to go out
Like yesterday afternoon we had to go to town for a donation. A fridge/freezer combo. Turns out people had rented out their home for a few months, and when they returned the fridge had had some sort of explosion inside, filling it with maggots that had died and started rotting too. Gawd, they warned us about the smell (apologized profusely, in fact), but when we started loading up it was pretty bad. Seriously, I had to stop breathing through my nose or else lose my stomach contents. I totally get why they rather got rid of it, than having to clean it. I was personally tempted to leave it at the landfill myself. That smell made me cross-eyed, I tell ya. But anyway, big brother and I tied the thing shut, heaved it up the car’s imperial…and somehow I ended up with vile smelling goo on my head, shoulder, arm, wrist and boob. Oh. My. Gawd. I almost chucked up right there. Luckily we had sanitary naps in the car (and I used them profusely. I think I went through half the pack and still couldn’t get rid of the smell, aaargh) and on the way home I hung out the side window most of the time, (the interior parts of the fridge were in a box in the back of the car) just to be able to breathe.
First thing we did once we got home was hose the darn thing down. Took a while too, and then we had to put it somewhere to settle for 24 hours before we could try if it even worked. (It does. Tried it today. Yay. Totally worth the effort…in hindsight! Hah)
There was cooking involved, more writing, chores, a wonderful jog this very evening, which was something I really, really needed after the lack of activity the past few days. Also did some rowing on the machine this afternoon, which cleared my head a little at least. There were some dips in the pool, and some serious sweating what with the hot temps. Right now it is rather nice, though, since a strong wind picked up. No mosquitoes. Yay.
Yard-wise, the heat was pretty impressive yesterday afternoon while cousin Ed and I watered the plants and did some harvesting. Oh my. I might actually get a tan on my legs after all. I could literally feel my skin bake. Hah.
I just might finally get me some curtains. Yay. Though I love sleeping with everything open, doors and all, but when I’m still up, and my lights are on, some curtains will certainly come in handy. Can’t help but worry ‘bout some unsuspecting neighbor freaking the dogs out. Hah.
And now I’m drawing a blank regarding events in the past couple of days. Considering it is once more close to a thousand words here, I figure I might as well call it a blog and log of. Hah.
Monday, July 9, 2012
Going out
Song of the day: “Wherever you will go” by Charlene Soraia. Gorgeous song. A cover, I understand, but what the heck. I like this version.
Ten thirty in the evening, meaning that I’ve gotta hurry a little.
Had another scorcher, not unpleasant, just warm. The only thing that made it pleasant was the occasional breeze from the sea.
Writing went well today…yesterday wasn’t bad either, for that matter. Three pages yesterday fitting in a scene written out of chronological order and adding another half so all the pieces fell together where they should. And Five and half pages today, so, yay. Getting there. Just eight pages short of one hundred. Had a good scene today, it took off, meaning that after page two, I suddenly lost track of time and just kept rattling on the keys (faster and faster because I had to go out and didn’t have enough time to cook, hah) ‘till the last possible moment. Et voila, five and a half pages added to the whole.
Yesterday’s dinner involved slices of zucchini with herbs and cheese baked in the grill to a fine crisp, with fried rice on the side. It was light, it was tasty and somewhat different. In other words, splendid.
Today’s main meal consisted of the same (leftover) rice, but with fried beets on the side, which were crusty with cheese and paneer, making the meal absolutely filling…something that I needed today. But I’ll get to that later.
Yesterday, besides, the usual chores like laundry, dog feeding, dog food preparing, and all that jazz, big brother had to head up to grandpa’s place early. Grandpa really wants a fence up there so he can let his dogs walk free during the day, so big brother helped him with the first piece while Cousin Ed and I headed down into the yard for some serious watering.
Harvested enough for the dog food, and some for ourselves (we should do another canning session soon) and then had to get back up to cut the dog food before big brother and I had to go out for a donation. Didn’t come home until close to midnight, so, yikes. Didn’t get to bed until two in the morning (stuff to do, and all that) so I was not at all my perky self this morning. Hah.
Strange night, by the way. Though oppressive warm, I woke up being cold around six in the morning. Had to grab my sheet just to be able to continue sleeping. Being cold doesn’t help my sleeping pattern, hah. Already I’m starting to look wearily at the calendar. Summer is passing way too fast, darn it.
Big brother discovered that there was something wrong with the chain saw, so the plan was to go to Malaga today to bring it to the store because it is still under the warranty. Then, of course, by the time I was done getting dressed and rushing through supper (stuffing my face, ya know) while running up the mountain, he managed to fix the problem, meaning we didn’t need to go to Malaga anymore.
Since we were dressed anyway, we decided to drive to the village to drop grandpa off at the moped repairman. The stupid thing had to stay over for the weekend, because it was being a pin again, and luckily he could drive it home today. Grandpa feels somewhat hampered if his transport isn’t there. Hah.
Also went to the vet to pay for the latest dog bills…most likely we’ll have to go there again tomorrow (Nata is not doing well), and made an appointment for this week to have the dogs vaccinated for this year. Gawd, that’s going to take a chunk out of the savings, I tell ya.
Had lots of dips in the pool, which was a necessity, considering he temps were approaching 100 on several occasions. Take yesterday evening for instance, when Cousin Ed and I were working in the yard and stood in the full glare of sunshine. Yikes. I was sweating like a racehorse by the time we were done. Hah.
Dog-wise. The smart ones prefer the bathroom down by Sally’s apartment, what with all the cool tiles, and the not so smart ones also prefer that spot, meaning there will be five dogs lying in there heating the place up like a sauna. Hah. Seriously, I wish I could take a picture. Chaos and Labhana will be lying in the open closet, pressed against the walls and floor alike, and then, without a single hesitation, Sitabah will rush inside and just flop down on top of the two of them. *sigh*
Knight II on the other hand, prefers tenant’s chair when she’s not there (she was yesterday, since caregiver was out, so we were basically on our own) and will lie there in the strangest positions. Folded double, stretched out with all fours dangling over the arm rest, his head high into the air, or on top of his hip. It’s embarrassing really, he had absolutely no shame or pride. *snort*
The markets went relatively well for such a warm day, by the way. Regretfully tourists are not the best buyers for stuff that you can’t take along on the plane ride home, eh?
Well, this is it for me. Almost midnight (I got momentarily distracted by my messages, darn it) and I still have to finish my messages, so I’m outta here.
Ten thirty in the evening, meaning that I’ve gotta hurry a little.
Had another scorcher, not unpleasant, just warm. The only thing that made it pleasant was the occasional breeze from the sea.
Writing went well today…yesterday wasn’t bad either, for that matter. Three pages yesterday fitting in a scene written out of chronological order and adding another half so all the pieces fell together where they should. And Five and half pages today, so, yay. Getting there. Just eight pages short of one hundred. Had a good scene today, it took off, meaning that after page two, I suddenly lost track of time and just kept rattling on the keys (faster and faster because I had to go out and didn’t have enough time to cook, hah) ‘till the last possible moment. Et voila, five and a half pages added to the whole.
Yesterday’s dinner involved slices of zucchini with herbs and cheese baked in the grill to a fine crisp, with fried rice on the side. It was light, it was tasty and somewhat different. In other words, splendid.
Today’s main meal consisted of the same (leftover) rice, but with fried beets on the side, which were crusty with cheese and paneer, making the meal absolutely filling…something that I needed today. But I’ll get to that later.
Yesterday, besides, the usual chores like laundry, dog feeding, dog food preparing, and all that jazz, big brother had to head up to grandpa’s place early. Grandpa really wants a fence up there so he can let his dogs walk free during the day, so big brother helped him with the first piece while Cousin Ed and I headed down into the yard for some serious watering.
Harvested enough for the dog food, and some for ourselves (we should do another canning session soon) and then had to get back up to cut the dog food before big brother and I had to go out for a donation. Didn’t come home until close to midnight, so, yikes. Didn’t get to bed until two in the morning (stuff to do, and all that) so I was not at all my perky self this morning. Hah.
Strange night, by the way. Though oppressive warm, I woke up being cold around six in the morning. Had to grab my sheet just to be able to continue sleeping. Being cold doesn’t help my sleeping pattern, hah. Already I’m starting to look wearily at the calendar. Summer is passing way too fast, darn it.
Big brother discovered that there was something wrong with the chain saw, so the plan was to go to Malaga today to bring it to the store because it is still under the warranty. Then, of course, by the time I was done getting dressed and rushing through supper (stuffing my face, ya know) while running up the mountain, he managed to fix the problem, meaning we didn’t need to go to Malaga anymore.
Since we were dressed anyway, we decided to drive to the village to drop grandpa off at the moped repairman. The stupid thing had to stay over for the weekend, because it was being a pin again, and luckily he could drive it home today. Grandpa feels somewhat hampered if his transport isn’t there. Hah.
Also went to the vet to pay for the latest dog bills…most likely we’ll have to go there again tomorrow (Nata is not doing well), and made an appointment for this week to have the dogs vaccinated for this year. Gawd, that’s going to take a chunk out of the savings, I tell ya.
Had lots of dips in the pool, which was a necessity, considering he temps were approaching 100 on several occasions. Take yesterday evening for instance, when Cousin Ed and I were working in the yard and stood in the full glare of sunshine. Yikes. I was sweating like a racehorse by the time we were done. Hah.
Dog-wise. The smart ones prefer the bathroom down by Sally’s apartment, what with all the cool tiles, and the not so smart ones also prefer that spot, meaning there will be five dogs lying in there heating the place up like a sauna. Hah. Seriously, I wish I could take a picture. Chaos and Labhana will be lying in the open closet, pressed against the walls and floor alike, and then, without a single hesitation, Sitabah will rush inside and just flop down on top of the two of them. *sigh*
Knight II on the other hand, prefers tenant’s chair when she’s not there (she was yesterday, since caregiver was out, so we were basically on our own) and will lie there in the strangest positions. Folded double, stretched out with all fours dangling over the arm rest, his head high into the air, or on top of his hip. It’s embarrassing really, he had absolutely no shame or pride. *snort*
The markets went relatively well for such a warm day, by the way. Regretfully tourists are not the best buyers for stuff that you can’t take along on the plane ride home, eh?
Well, this is it for me. Almost midnight (I got momentarily distracted by my messages, darn it) and I still have to finish my messages, so I’m outta here.
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