Stress?

Song of the day: “Please don’t say you love me” by Gabrielle Aplin. Such a gorgeous little song. One of my favs at the moment.

Another weekend past. Time does fly, doesn’t it? So strange how that goes. Here I was, happy that the Friday blog was over and done with, looking forward to an entire weekend without blogs, only to be back at it again.

Let me just start by saying that it is friggin’ cold right now. I don’t know what is up, but I had to put on a sweater by the time the sun began to set. It’s June for heaven’s sake! The wind is, autumn-like, I swear. It is downright freaky, I tell ya.

Saturday. I woke at the usual time, but something inside me was screaming for an extra 30 minutes, so I caved in and closed my eyes again…regretfully cousin Ed needed something, so that nipped that in the butt, since I was really awake after that. Hah. Couldn’t be helped, I fear. She wanted to take tenant to town so they get her some new reading glasses, and needed the car.

Poor Knight II had several of his stitches removed, the poor darling. He didn’t like it at all. In particular not since he is still wary of men, and doesn’t know the new male assistant yet. Also, I think it hurt a little, so he was sitting on the floor, me holding his hand, making kissy noises, holding him tight while the vet poked and prodded at his ear and removed about five stitches. He was not amused, my big lug.

Big brother and I spent some time in the yard again. Plantsies need to be watered after all, and though this year the yard is minimal (just too little time this time round, darn it) it still takes some time. Only enough for eating, nothing for storing, much to my regret. I did love the canning two years ago. But what with all the hospital trips this year, the vet trips, the markets, it is just not doable. It saddens me sometimes, but such is life. You roll with it.

Did some groceries for mom and the sibs, they too have little time, so, since we had to go for a donation anyway, we picked some stuff up. Got to do some more photography, not as much as I would have liked, but some at least. I’m going to have to see how they worked out soon. I still haven’t taken them off the camera.

Sunday. No Funny Beach Marbella market this time round. There was apparently some big San Juan feast going on on Saturday night, meaning that the place would be a mess, and that they would not be able to get everything set up for the market the very next morning. A pity in regards of earnings, but not a bad thing for as far as I was concerned. I’ve more than plenty to do at home, thank you very much.

Of course, when mom asked if I could check out a market for her in Villafranco, a town off to the north, I couldn’t say no, and agreed to go there with cousin Ed, just to see if it was anything for us.
First there were the chores, however, and since that took longer then expected, no breakfast to talk about. Instead I wolfed down half a portion of cereal before I had to leave to bring Jane to the village. Since we were home, we didn’t need her to stay until two. Just as I was about to leave with her, tenant called after me that she would so much like to go with us to the market, so Cousin Ed got her ready while I drove Jane home, and then returned asap.

We loaded tenant up, packed up her wheelchair and all other necessities and left for the little village where the market was supposedly located. First off, the town looked like a ghost town from one of those spaghetti Westerns, and what’s worst, that image didn’t change. So we stopped at one of those ice cream stands where the market was, and were told to go down the road and at the end we’d come right upon it. So we went, came upon a restaurant, but no market for as far as we could see. Cousin Ed went in to ask again, and then came back out gesturing that we were there. I drove back, parking in front of the restaurant, with Ed whispering that I wasn’t going to believe this.
It was cute, I’ll say that much about it. Definitely a nice thought, but for our purposes it couldn’t be called a market. Seriously there were about eight tables inside a big room, and if we were to put our wares with it we’d probably fill half the room. Added to that, the majority of the customers this market had, were the those who came from the market my mom’s on, so that would totally defeat the purpose. A pity. It would have been fun. The folks were nice at least. Lots of Brits.

Did practice my Spanish, both yesterday and today, thank you very much. Not enough yet, but some at least, so I’m not a complete slacker. Gawd, who’d have thought that fitting in half an hour, or something, would be that hard. *sigh*

Then, considering my camera really needs the protection, I worked with leather yesterday afternoon, after we got back. I took a dip in the pool, got out a knife, and started cutting. Within three hours I had something resembling a bag with stuffing to protect my new toy. I did a rough design, that I will, at some point brand all over to make it look nicer. Felt somewhat odd afterward. I am not used to sitting that long, focusing so intently, I guess, so I took another quick dip and then got to work on supper.

Helped tenant in-between, who revisited an old milestone, which had both of us relieved. Regretfully Sally is getting worse at the moment. Her mind is not right, I fear. So much anger, which is just not healthy in the state she’s in. Did get a wonderful tip from one of my online friends, who suggested a walker for Sally. Gawd, I hadn’t even thought of that. We still had the one mom once bought for tenant standing around, and it will sure do the trick for Sally…when she remembers to use it.
She’s an incredibly stubborn old lady, but then, that’s nothing new. She always was, it is just more noticeable now, I guess.

But anyway, while I was working on my bag, big brother and grandpa worked on the roof of the carport where it connects to the new kitchen. It looks nice, actually. Yes, I’ll take pictures of that as well. Hah. At the same time cousin Ed did some masonry where the third window will be, and though I would have loved to do some in the kitchen as well, I need to make that bag. *sigh*

Cooking in the past few days involved red beets with rice and cheese yesterday, mushroom pastries with red cabbage and mashed potatoes on the side the day before that, and pasta with ratatouille today. All leftovers together, should make for an excellent meal tomorrow.

Got some serious writing done these past few days. Yay. Along with some edits, double yay. Going slower than expected, and hoped for, but such are the ways of writing. Some take time, some come out like a brain fart (pardon my French).

Am, as of yesterday, experimenting with creating a herbal wine. It’ll be strong, it’ll be different, but most of all, it’ll be fun to try out. Got this massive pot filled with a pinot, tossed in a selection of herbs from the yard, some spices, a clove of garlic (hey, this is my wine, don’t wrinkle your nose at it until you’ve tried it) and some dried cranberries with one disk of beets…I’m cheating and making it a red wine. Hah. Took out the garlic this morning, otherwise it would become too pungent, but the other ingredients are still in. I’ll let you know how it works out once it’s done.

Also, today I spent some time on my potions. I was out of a lot of them since the last flu, and especially my Sage potion was starting to become incredibly necessary. But anyway, gathered it all during this afternoon’s yard session and set it to seep in brandy so it should be done in about an hour, or so.

What else? Well, that fella from Texas is persisting. Am not really sure what to think of it all. On the overall we’ve been sparring online…in a rather public place, thankfully…but he keeps insisting I write to him personally. With the emphasis of me contacting him first. Now, call me paranoid but I keep thinking that if I do I’m going to hear “You’ve been Punk’d” or something. Hah. What can I say, I’ve a paranoid mind, and see conspiracies everywhere. Ah well, so far it’s been fun games, we’re just going to have to see where it leads and hope that he doesn’t turn out to be some sort of whackjob. A little whacky is fine, but a whackjob would be cause for concern. Hah.

Had to go out for a donation again today. Didn’t get much, but enough for expenses at the very least…if we manage to sell any of it, that is. What with the way the markets are going these days, that is a big if, by the way. Everyone is feeling the pinch of the economic crisis, me and the family included. Added to that, there’s another big vet bill waiting, along with the impending inoculations which are obligatory these days, which are going to hurt our finances severely. *sigh*

The stress is a little high at the moment, I think. Too many changes, maybe. The threat of losing our way of life at some point in the future. Or just too much overall stress. There are some recurring headaches playing, (I’m managing those, thank you) and the day before yesterday I revisited the good old days by upchucking my supper. I hate it when that happens. I am working hard at getting my deficiencies under control, only to have my stomach decide that supper just wasn’t necessary. As was par for the course back in the day, my stomach’s had that scraped out feel for hours afterward. Very annoying. I am not going back there, I tell ya. I will enjoy a stress-less life even if it kills me. Hah. Gawd, I need a jog, or a boxing session!

Well, on that cheery note I’m going to call this a finished blog and say my goodbyes.
Goodbye.

Hah.