Song of the day: “This is it” by the great Michael Jackson of course. If you’re forced to be saddled with an earworm, you might as well have a good one in your head.
Okay. I’m going to start with the bad news and take it from there.
This morning, after little more than three days of “feeling under the weather” we were forced to have Tallis put down. I was handling it well enough, until I started writing this blog and started looking for a picture of him between the gazillion of pictures that I’ve got stored in a file somewhere. Dogs pics aplenty, with more than twenty of them featuring dogs that have passed away during the past few years, darn it. Have you any idea how depressing that is? Not to mention that you want a picture of a dog that was not only people shy but camera shy as well. I’m pretty sure I’ve got a pic somewhere but I’m going to have to show it later when I’m in a better mood .
Tallis:
We rescued poor Tallis from Triple A (a local shelter where we liberated plenty of dogs) when he was nigh on eight weeks old. He was this tiny dog sitting miserably in the corner of this big run filled with noisy puppies. He sat there, his back legs spread wide, his fat little tummy bulging between them as he watches us suspiciously. We were sold on the spot, what with his white fur and fox colored spots, including one eye socket, creating a rather fun effect. He was a shy, but happy puppy, right up until he was hit with a round of Parvo as a three month old puppy. He lost his tummy then, and with it his cheerfulness, I fear.
Though Tallis always enjoyed following big brother around, and continued to do that right until the end, he had, what appears to be, a stroke maybe two months ago. Since then his tongue lolled out, and he had trouble with his balance. That didn’t stop him from following big brother around, though.
Then, in the last few days things got worse, leaving us with this morning when he basically froze up and practically fell over before big brother could reach him. That was it. That was enough. We weren’t going to drag it out this time, because that just wouldn’t be right.
So, the dreaded decision was made (after I had Knight IIs bandage changed) and he passed on without a fuss and without an effort. Poor guy…except of course that he had a good long life, what with being born in 1998.
Which reminds me. I’m going to have to take Chaos along to the vet tomorrow. Clearly someone bit him in his ear, and now there’s some skin hanging there. *sigh* He’s now even more grumpy than usual.
Okay, I’ve been a little blue during the day, not to mention sore, since I apparently pulled my knee yesterday when I had to compensate to keep from falling flat on my face. *sigh* In case you missed it, yesterday was a working day for me and big brother. We were over at Liane’s and built the pillar there. At first we didn’t know if we were going to manage getting there, seeing as the weather was poor when we got up and discussed our options. There were clouds everywhere, but the forecasts claimed there was only a small chance that there would be rain.
So we decided to go…which meant loading up the entire car still, because grandpa hadn’t gotten around to it in the morning, due to the AM showers. *sigh* Not doing that again. Next time I want everything loaded and ready when it’s time to go. We loaded up food, drink and then we were on our way. Despite some rain on the way there, the weather was wonderful yesterday. A bit nippy and cloudy, but doable.
Liane was there most of the day, so there were some distractions. Added to that a friend of hers was there too, and together they took out the roses she wanted out of the way while big brother and I got started on the pillar.
Managed to get it all done during the course of the day, so, yay. Is looking good, I took a couple of pictures halfway there, but it was already getting too dark when we finally finished up and started cleaning up after ourselves.
We were a little late driving home, but when we got there (big brother couldn’t keep his eyes open on the way back so we exchanged seats with me behind the wheel instead. Not smart to do driving when your eyes want to go to sleep. Eh?) we had to quickly unload, lock up my dogs again, and head on out again to pick up some stuff.
Which was the theme for today, by the way. I was away from home for more than six hours. First taking Knight to the vet (an Tallis). Then to the construction company, some small things to pick up in the village and then on the way home. Right after we headed for town to get the load of beams we need for the balcony. Managed to get the whole lot up on the imperial, so that was reassuring, despite one beam being more than 150 feet long. But we succeeded and even managed to get the supplies we needed (screws to go all the way through). Didn’t get home until after five, and once we stored away the wood, cleaned out the Land Rover and had a quick snack, we had to go to the village again. First off to drop the chainsaw at the repair shop, and second to pick up some extra veggies for the dog food. Ended it all with a trip to the pharmacy for mom, and then it was back home where dog food still had to be finished cutting, while big brother baked spaghetti with peppers and onions.
Have a bit of a swollen knee by the way. Pulled it yesterday hauling something or other.
There was laundry, of course, cooking, breakfast and all that jazz.
Plans of the outside kitchen are once again in motion. You won’t believe the spot we’re thinking of now. I’ll take pics.
Gawd, I need sleep. I can barely keep my eyes open and already needed to delete three nonsense sentences because I dropped of. I’ll try to find that picture of Tallis later this week, or something.
Saturday, November 3, 2012
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Knight's improving
Song of the day: “New York” by Alicia Keys. I never thought I would like a song by Alicia Keys, but there you have it. The one and only that sticks in my head without me hating it. Good song.
What to say, what to tell. Nothing major going on, except for the fact that Knight II had some of the tiny plastic tubes with several stitches removed today because he was looking so much better. He didn’t give a peep and when through the ordeal with stoic bravery. The darling. He’s starting to get really popular at the vet’s place, I think. Both the vet and her assistant are starting to use baby talk on him. Which reminds me. The vet assistant is going to leave for Madrid to join her family there, which is a pity, seeing as she is very pleasant to have working with our dogs. Ah well, times change, and so does everyone, I guess.
Be that as it may, I won’t have to go to the vet tomorrow for a bandage change. Yay! In particular since (unless it pours) we’re going to work at Liane’s tomorrow, starting on that balcony. I made some drawings, allowing us to visualize it a little.
We have the sand loaded, bricks, cement and tools, so we should be all set tomorrow. Keeping my fingers crossed on that one.
Had a rather weird dream yesterday. Got my knickers in a twist when I woke up out of breath. Seriously. In the dream I was at the market. It was a beautiful day; the sun was shining the temps were wonderful and the tent-like flaps overhead provided comfortable shade. I was walking toward our stand I saw a guys stand with Knight II. It looked like he wanted to pet him, but then he started going after the dog with a knife. I jumped into the fray before he could hurt Knight, got the knife from his hands, only to have him pull a big bread knife the tried to slash into Knight’s flank. Jeez. He just kept going and going, and I ended up grabbing his wrist and twisting it behind his back to keep him in place. I was just shouting for the cops when I woke up, like said, out of breath. *sigh* I hate dreams that vivid.
Yesterday’s trip to the vet was a near disasters. Julia, Cousin Ed’s dog, had a dislocated tooth, and she had to go along. She and Knight II don’t see eye to eye, so in order to drive together I had to put a barrier in the back of the Land Rover and put Knight there, so Ed could sit with Julia in the front seat. Luckily grandpa was along as well, since he kept the fence thing in Knight’s face whenever he tried to climb to the front.
It rained all day (yesterday), meaning that there wasn’t a whole lot we could do outside. Instead we stayed in the carport, Cousin Ed, Sally and I, working with beads. Made a whole load of necklaces for the market, just to see if there’s any interest for it.
There was supper to cook, of course. I had planned to do leftovers, but since there weren’t enough of those, I ended up making noodles and stir fry veggies the Asian way. Today we had fresh Pumpkin soup, which worked out really, really well. I love it how the butternut pumpkin tastes so very creamy.
Writing-wise things are still going slow, but steadily on. Passed the 40 page mark, and the characters are still going strong. The biggest problem at the moment is that my body seems to think that writing times means napping, because the moment I sit down, my eyes start to droop, darn it. This afternoon, while I was trying to add a couple of pages, I ended up giving up and heading for my cabin for a quick nap instead. I’m going to need my strength tomorrow after all.
Compared to the incredibly nippy day, (northern winds) crawling under the blankets for an hour was absolutely divine. The fact that we spent the majority of the afternoon up at the old horse paddock , chopping and sawing wood, didn’t help much in regard to me feeling cold. Seriously, the moment I stopped chopping wood the cold hit me in the face like a left hook. Jeez. The temps were in the low fifties, for crying out loud.
Did get a nice load of wood done, (almond wood is a biatch, by the way. Hard and twisted.) which means that for the moment we’re still set or winter weather…which if the depressing hints at a cold winter are definitely implying we’ll need a good stock.
Tenant is still spending loads of time with mom, which has her ecstatic. She does love sitting with mom. Makes her feel less self-conscious, I think.
Well that’s all for the update of the day. I’m beat, and need to get up early tomorrow morning. Gotta go.
What to say, what to tell. Nothing major going on, except for the fact that Knight II had some of the tiny plastic tubes with several stitches removed today because he was looking so much better. He didn’t give a peep and when through the ordeal with stoic bravery. The darling. He’s starting to get really popular at the vet’s place, I think. Both the vet and her assistant are starting to use baby talk on him. Which reminds me. The vet assistant is going to leave for Madrid to join her family there, which is a pity, seeing as she is very pleasant to have working with our dogs. Ah well, times change, and so does everyone, I guess.
Be that as it may, I won’t have to go to the vet tomorrow for a bandage change. Yay! In particular since (unless it pours) we’re going to work at Liane’s tomorrow, starting on that balcony. I made some drawings, allowing us to visualize it a little.
We have the sand loaded, bricks, cement and tools, so we should be all set tomorrow. Keeping my fingers crossed on that one.
Had a rather weird dream yesterday. Got my knickers in a twist when I woke up out of breath. Seriously. In the dream I was at the market. It was a beautiful day; the sun was shining the temps were wonderful and the tent-like flaps overhead provided comfortable shade. I was walking toward our stand I saw a guys stand with Knight II. It looked like he wanted to pet him, but then he started going after the dog with a knife. I jumped into the fray before he could hurt Knight, got the knife from his hands, only to have him pull a big bread knife the tried to slash into Knight’s flank. Jeez. He just kept going and going, and I ended up grabbing his wrist and twisting it behind his back to keep him in place. I was just shouting for the cops when I woke up, like said, out of breath. *sigh* I hate dreams that vivid.
Yesterday’s trip to the vet was a near disasters. Julia, Cousin Ed’s dog, had a dislocated tooth, and she had to go along. She and Knight II don’t see eye to eye, so in order to drive together I had to put a barrier in the back of the Land Rover and put Knight there, so Ed could sit with Julia in the front seat. Luckily grandpa was along as well, since he kept the fence thing in Knight’s face whenever he tried to climb to the front.
It rained all day (yesterday), meaning that there wasn’t a whole lot we could do outside. Instead we stayed in the carport, Cousin Ed, Sally and I, working with beads. Made a whole load of necklaces for the market, just to see if there’s any interest for it.
There was supper to cook, of course. I had planned to do leftovers, but since there weren’t enough of those, I ended up making noodles and stir fry veggies the Asian way. Today we had fresh Pumpkin soup, which worked out really, really well. I love it how the butternut pumpkin tastes so very creamy.
Writing-wise things are still going slow, but steadily on. Passed the 40 page mark, and the characters are still going strong. The biggest problem at the moment is that my body seems to think that writing times means napping, because the moment I sit down, my eyes start to droop, darn it. This afternoon, while I was trying to add a couple of pages, I ended up giving up and heading for my cabin for a quick nap instead. I’m going to need my strength tomorrow after all.
Compared to the incredibly nippy day, (northern winds) crawling under the blankets for an hour was absolutely divine. The fact that we spent the majority of the afternoon up at the old horse paddock , chopping and sawing wood, didn’t help much in regard to me feeling cold. Seriously, the moment I stopped chopping wood the cold hit me in the face like a left hook. Jeez. The temps were in the low fifties, for crying out loud.
Did get a nice load of wood done, (almond wood is a biatch, by the way. Hard and twisted.) which means that for the moment we’re still set or winter weather…which if the depressing hints at a cold winter are definitely implying we’ll need a good stock.
Tenant is still spending loads of time with mom, which has her ecstatic. She does love sitting with mom. Makes her feel less self-conscious, I think.
Well that’s all for the update of the day. I’m beat, and need to get up early tomorrow morning. Gotta go.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
No more Saturdays
I will apologize in advance for the fact that I couldn’t keep my eyes open, and actually nodded off on occasion during this blog. If there’re any massive mistakes, blame it on that, okay. Hah.
Song of the day: “Perform this way” by Weird Al Yankovich. I know that the Gaga song is supposed to be great, but let’s face it, who can compete with Weird Al? Hah.
So let’s do this fast because I’m pretty much beat. I think it has to do with winter time having started, meaning I’m completely off balance again. *sigh* Ah well, it will pass, I hope.
Saturday. Right.
Well, of course it started out at the vet’s. Knight’s foot got bound again, after they had cut him open a little again. Yep. Otherwise the healing would last way longer, so they used this scoop sort of thing and scraped away closed skin to make it into a bloody mess again. Then new stitches were applied and bandage wrapped before I was sent off to go home and not come home until Monday…thankfully. The day afterward was a nicely quiet one, involving normal chores, like dog food, fixing a copper pot, loading up the wagon and Opel for Sunday and going out for a food donation for the dogs.
Lost the L little brother needs for the back window of the car (it’s a law in Spain that new drivers carry it visibly in the back of the car for a full year) which caused an exchange of words.
Me: “I put it “over there” because it was breaking over there in the car that I was loading it up.”
Little brother: “You have to leave it in the car.”
Me: “It was breaking.”
Little brother: “Why didn’t you put it in the dashboard cupboard?”
Me: “It’s full!”
Little brother: “Why not somewhere else like the door.”
Me: “I didn’t think of it.”
Little brother: mutters darkly.
Me: “Jeez. It’s not like I lost it on purpose.”
He stomps off.
As usual he sounded like you do something like that on purpose, just to spite him. *sigh* Little brothers are a pain in the behind, I tell ya. It also strengthens my belief that it never has any use to point an accusatory finger afterward. It is completely futile since it’s not as if you can change anything. Sure, you can snark a little, whine, complain, but that’s not because it’s remotely useful. It’s just to make you feel better. *double sigh*
No matter. What’s done is done. It is something I try to live by.
Not much writing, but I hadn’t expected as much what with everything going on. Am, however nearing the 12,500 word count, so that’s good. Only problem at the moment is that by the end of the day I can barely keep my eyes open, let alone write constructively.
Got to bed on time, and since there was the winter time thing starting, I actually got a decent night’s sleep prior to the market. We’d loaded in such a way that Knight II fit in the backseat and drove through morning twilight to arrive the market. Knight was a poster child of good manners through the day. First when we arrived, Cousin Ed and I hauling the small wagon to our stand, and Knight II nervously following me. The leash I made the other day worked like a charm, by the way. In the beginning he was a little nervous, but in the end he settled down in a chair and sat there keeping track of people and me as we moved back and forth.
There were awed and startled expressions at the sight of him sitting there in the chair. A millions of questions about his pay and pictures were taken. There were the two ladies who wanted to pet, and who ended up putting their face half an inch from his so he could sniff them. Knight very shyly obliged. My hand on his collar, just in case.
Had the quilts beautifully installed on this big constellation thing (foldout aluminum) and we were in awe of the sight…until the wind suddenly picked up and killed my constellation.
There were those who just wanted to see, those who wanted to pet, those who we chatted to about what would be a suitable dog for a small house and two small kids, and at the end of the day the three kids who had been playing all over the place all morning already and suddenly froze in the middle of their game to stare at the huge dog.
They clambered closer, hands outstretched, the boy on the shy side, keeping his distance while one little girl sat down beside the Knight and the other wrapped her arms around his neck and snuggled closer.
Poor Knight II suffered through the ordeal vibrating with tension, his golden eyes tight on me as I smiled at him, and kept my hand on his collar once more. No disaster there either, he was a true gentleman throughout the day.
As for sales, we sold some baby clothes and such, along with one of the Tika Art snugglies. There was this woman who came to look at the clothes. She picked one pair of ribbed pants for her baby, and then pushed her baby into my hands as soon as I waved at the kid. Yikes. And here I had planned to offer taking her bag so I could deposit it on the table. No such luck, instead she said: “Here, take this,” and plopped the baby in my hands. Gawd, they’re so tiny. Can’t hold them too tight, but can’t hold them too loosely either, eh? But anyway, by then she ended up fascinated by the snuggles and asked to try one on. The poor tyke looked mighty uncomfortable, and when I suggested the woman did the ties a little looser, the women did the opposite by reaching back to tighten it even more. Seriously, I was having nightmare last night just thinking about how tight she’d pulled it. Ended up running after her, tying one of the long strips on her back that she hadn’t managed to knot yet. Said goodbye to both and watched them go at the end of the day and slowly started loading up. Again Knight II behaved wonderfully, charming our marked organizer and everyone else who came in his neighborhood. He refused to pee and sleep all day so he passed out during the drive home and when I let him out he literally peed for five minutes in one piece.
Oh, by the way, as of Sunday there is no more Saturday market, darn. I liked the Saturdays better than Sundays. Sundays might be busier, but there were more serious buyers on Saturday.
By the time we got home I was starving, but first we had to unload and then big brother had to head out for another donation. He had apparently forgotten that he had promised to cook.
No worries, there is a deep fryer, and there were French fries and fresh cauliflower to toss in.
I was so wonderfully exhausted last night, that I don’t even remember hitting the pillows.
Knight and Chaos on the other hand, managed to make it a restless night. It was cold, you see, and they decided to use me as their stove. *sigh*
Caregiver and Sally spent the day at the hospital for Sally’s chemo. She had been dreading it, since the last treatment (only 80 percent) had her feel miserable for two weeks, but she went through it okay, working hard to stay positive, which is admirable.
When I came from the bathroom this morning, I found that Knight had somehow managed to get under his denim sock and was wrecking his bandages. Taped him back up and took him to the car. Of course there was another vet visit this morning for me. The vet did say that she thought Knight’s paw was looking good, so no disaster from his attack on the sock this morning.
Once at home breakfast and dog feeding over and done with, I supplied tenant with veggies for her to cut for supper. That done, I walked her down to the main house where she spent the remainder of the afternoon.
Big brother and I worked in the yard instead, sawing down a dead mimosa tree trunk and hauling it all up to the wood storage. What was next was hauling plant debris down the moment, and the good stuff up to the storage where they could dry for the winter. Afterward I cooked supper. Didn’t like it, but blame that on the lack of mashed tomatoes.
Some writing at the end of the day , a pick up trip to town before that, and then…well now, I want to go to bed, because I can’t keep my eyes open, darn it.
Song of the day: “Perform this way” by Weird Al Yankovich. I know that the Gaga song is supposed to be great, but let’s face it, who can compete with Weird Al? Hah.
So let’s do this fast because I’m pretty much beat. I think it has to do with winter time having started, meaning I’m completely off balance again. *sigh* Ah well, it will pass, I hope.
Saturday. Right.
Well, of course it started out at the vet’s. Knight’s foot got bound again, after they had cut him open a little again. Yep. Otherwise the healing would last way longer, so they used this scoop sort of thing and scraped away closed skin to make it into a bloody mess again. Then new stitches were applied and bandage wrapped before I was sent off to go home and not come home until Monday…thankfully. The day afterward was a nicely quiet one, involving normal chores, like dog food, fixing a copper pot, loading up the wagon and Opel for Sunday and going out for a food donation for the dogs.
Lost the L little brother needs for the back window of the car (it’s a law in Spain that new drivers carry it visibly in the back of the car for a full year) which caused an exchange of words.
Me: “I put it “over there” because it was breaking over there in the car that I was loading it up.”
Little brother: “You have to leave it in the car.”
Me: “It was breaking.”
Little brother: “Why didn’t you put it in the dashboard cupboard?”
Me: “It’s full!”
Little brother: “Why not somewhere else like the door.”
Me: “I didn’t think of it.”
Little brother: mutters darkly.
Me: “Jeez. It’s not like I lost it on purpose.”
He stomps off.
As usual he sounded like you do something like that on purpose, just to spite him. *sigh* Little brothers are a pain in the behind, I tell ya. It also strengthens my belief that it never has any use to point an accusatory finger afterward. It is completely futile since it’s not as if you can change anything. Sure, you can snark a little, whine, complain, but that’s not because it’s remotely useful. It’s just to make you feel better. *double sigh*
No matter. What’s done is done. It is something I try to live by.
Not much writing, but I hadn’t expected as much what with everything going on. Am, however nearing the 12,500 word count, so that’s good. Only problem at the moment is that by the end of the day I can barely keep my eyes open, let alone write constructively.
Got to bed on time, and since there was the winter time thing starting, I actually got a decent night’s sleep prior to the market. We’d loaded in such a way that Knight II fit in the backseat and drove through morning twilight to arrive the market. Knight was a poster child of good manners through the day. First when we arrived, Cousin Ed and I hauling the small wagon to our stand, and Knight II nervously following me. The leash I made the other day worked like a charm, by the way. In the beginning he was a little nervous, but in the end he settled down in a chair and sat there keeping track of people and me as we moved back and forth.
There were awed and startled expressions at the sight of him sitting there in the chair. A millions of questions about his pay and pictures were taken. There were the two ladies who wanted to pet, and who ended up putting their face half an inch from his so he could sniff them. Knight very shyly obliged. My hand on his collar, just in case.
Had the quilts beautifully installed on this big constellation thing (foldout aluminum) and we were in awe of the sight…until the wind suddenly picked up and killed my constellation.
There were those who just wanted to see, those who wanted to pet, those who we chatted to about what would be a suitable dog for a small house and two small kids, and at the end of the day the three kids who had been playing all over the place all morning already and suddenly froze in the middle of their game to stare at the huge dog.
They clambered closer, hands outstretched, the boy on the shy side, keeping his distance while one little girl sat down beside the Knight and the other wrapped her arms around his neck and snuggled closer.
Poor Knight II suffered through the ordeal vibrating with tension, his golden eyes tight on me as I smiled at him, and kept my hand on his collar once more. No disaster there either, he was a true gentleman throughout the day.
As for sales, we sold some baby clothes and such, along with one of the Tika Art snugglies. There was this woman who came to look at the clothes. She picked one pair of ribbed pants for her baby, and then pushed her baby into my hands as soon as I waved at the kid. Yikes. And here I had planned to offer taking her bag so I could deposit it on the table. No such luck, instead she said: “Here, take this,” and plopped the baby in my hands. Gawd, they’re so tiny. Can’t hold them too tight, but can’t hold them too loosely either, eh? But anyway, by then she ended up fascinated by the snuggles and asked to try one on. The poor tyke looked mighty uncomfortable, and when I suggested the woman did the ties a little looser, the women did the opposite by reaching back to tighten it even more. Seriously, I was having nightmare last night just thinking about how tight she’d pulled it. Ended up running after her, tying one of the long strips on her back that she hadn’t managed to knot yet. Said goodbye to both and watched them go at the end of the day and slowly started loading up. Again Knight II behaved wonderfully, charming our marked organizer and everyone else who came in his neighborhood. He refused to pee and sleep all day so he passed out during the drive home and when I let him out he literally peed for five minutes in one piece.
Oh, by the way, as of Sunday there is no more Saturday market, darn. I liked the Saturdays better than Sundays. Sundays might be busier, but there were more serious buyers on Saturday.
By the time we got home I was starving, but first we had to unload and then big brother had to head out for another donation. He had apparently forgotten that he had promised to cook.
No worries, there is a deep fryer, and there were French fries and fresh cauliflower to toss in.
I was so wonderfully exhausted last night, that I don’t even remember hitting the pillows.
Knight and Chaos on the other hand, managed to make it a restless night. It was cold, you see, and they decided to use me as their stove. *sigh*
Caregiver and Sally spent the day at the hospital for Sally’s chemo. She had been dreading it, since the last treatment (only 80 percent) had her feel miserable for two weeks, but she went through it okay, working hard to stay positive, which is admirable.
When I came from the bathroom this morning, I found that Knight had somehow managed to get under his denim sock and was wrecking his bandages. Taped him back up and took him to the car. Of course there was another vet visit this morning for me. The vet did say that she thought Knight’s paw was looking good, so no disaster from his attack on the sock this morning.
Once at home breakfast and dog feeding over and done with, I supplied tenant with veggies for her to cut for supper. That done, I walked her down to the main house where she spent the remainder of the afternoon.
Big brother and I worked in the yard instead, sawing down a dead mimosa tree trunk and hauling it all up to the wood storage. What was next was hauling plant debris down the moment, and the good stuff up to the storage where they could dry for the winter. Afterward I cooked supper. Didn’t like it, but blame that on the lack of mashed tomatoes.
Some writing at the end of the day , a pick up trip to town before that, and then…well now, I want to go to bed, because I can’t keep my eyes open, darn it.
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