Notice:

I can't predict when I have the time to post a new blog, but check occasionally. I'm going to try at least weekly.

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Darn it!

Song of the day: “Let the sunshine” by Labrinth. Gorgeous song. Easy to hear in your head.

Well, another busy couple of days for as far as I’m concerned. Plenty to do, and not enough time to do it in. *sigh*

First off, writing has been going relatively well, regardless of the shortage of time. Am almost up to 10,000 words for the rewrite, meaning that it is going well, so far. Changed quite a bit, but nothing too massive to change the structure of the story. Semantics, mostly. The typing itself…well, I have to get used to the speed again. It’s been a while since I did this type of writing, and this little keyboard of the notebook makes for lots of wrong hits.

But anyway, besides the writing, (or rewriting, depending on your view) we did some work on the kitchen yesterday. Added another layer of rock to the walls, which brings us another step closer to completion…no matter that it seems to take forever to get it there, darn it.

Got to haul rocks down, which reminded me of the good old days, if you have to know. Did about four wheelbarrows, and that was at least enough for the one session of masonry. I like the appearance of the wall, actually. We’ve got a whole row of these massive slabs of rock, joined together by much smaller ones. Makes for an interesting sight.

There was also gardening, which was rather nice, all things considered. Not that the weather really allows for a lot of pleasure, heat wise. The temps have been going from nippy to downright warm without much warning. Very strange. Right now, for instance, it’s completely and utterly silent outside, like the silence before the storm. According to the weather channels, shaite is going to hit the fan soon with a big storm. Wonder if they’re right.

Today we cut down a eucalyptus tree, which was very necessary, seeing as it was getting to be too big right in the middle of the courtyard, and if it got to be any bigger we would have an even harder time getting it out. As it was, big brother did the sawing, while grandpa and I did the pulling. Of course, by the time the sawing was almost done, the wind picked up for a few minutes…which is something it has been doing for days now, every time we want to start on the trees. Weird how that works.
But anyway, with the wind pulling it the other way, big brother had to run to us, and hang on the rope as well, giving it an extra good yank to have it fall where we wanted it. Darn thing came down with a crash, damaging some of the fencing, but otherwise came down relatively easy. Took us about fifteen minutes to clear away the debris. Then big brother and I worked on the rest of the trunk, with me holding the rope attached to the six-foot trunk he cut down. Had myself fully braced, and was happy to discover that I could easily hold that weight. Managed to lower it to the ground without trouble.
The next piece of the tree was harder, though. Way bigger. Seven and a half feet at least, if not more, and Cousin Ed and I both hung on it, only to have it slam down to the ground anyway. No harm done in the end, but what the heck. It would have been nice if we’d managed it. Hah.

Worked on the job a bit, today. Managed to catch a few hours at the village house, with big brother finishing up with scraping and burning the wall, while I did some serious cleaning in the kitchen. Mopped two floors, cleaned the fridge, and scrubbed cupboards.
Progress, at the very least.

Had to go out for a donation yesterday, which had us end up with a fully loaded car. Good thing that, seeing as we’ve been getting small loads lately. Ah well, you never know if a big load is better than a small load, but whatever. Hah.

Did some leather work. Burnt several patterns for mom this very morning, despite the fact that I really should have started on the writing already. Got me a little harried, seeing as I got to run behind on everything (at least that’s what it felt like) after that.

The dog-sitting dogs arrived yesterday, too. Their owner had to travel out of the country for ten days or so, so that means walks with the three buggers in the morning again. Hah. They’re really used to it now, though, cheerful as heck about it, too. First thing they do in the morning, when I let them out, is jump against me, and then running off to do their business.

Had to do some shopping yesterday, involving underwear and socks for grandpa, pants for big brother and myself, including two sales, that I don’t think were sales (1 buck, due to the fact that they didn’t have a tag) that were really profitable. Hah.

We had the normal stuff, of course. Laundry, feeding the dogs, cutting the dog food, cleaning up after the dogs and all those fun bits.
Knight II has that swollen ear, and I fear that it is gradually getting worse now. If the swelling doesn’t get less soon, I’m going to have to take him to the vet. Drat!

Am a bit worried about Gada. Her bladder is going, I fear, and for the past few days she’s been vomiting. Regretfully this is a known side-effect of the anti-inflammatory she’s on, meaning that the darn things are starting to damage her internally. Was afraid of that, but ya keep trying to be positive, don’t ya.

Well…not thinking of that decision yet. Not now. But soon. I know that. Fear that. And there’s nothing I can do to change it. Damn it.

I’m out of here.

Thursday, January 17, 2013

A rewrite...something different, right?

Song of the day: “Stay” by Rihanna and Mikky Ekko. A new discovery again that I listened to so often last night that it pounded through my head during the night. Hah. Cool song, though.

First off, after sending out the material to the competition, big brother and I had a big discussion about what we’re going to do next, and finally decided that we’re going to try to get “Trust Me” Said The Spy ready before spring. Rather than go through a million difficult edits, we’ve decided to try it differently, by me just rewriting the whole thing. Yep. And we decided to do it with a deadline to boot. I’ve got exactly one month to get it done. Meaning that we have two months to get it done afterward, and still be ready to send it out before summer.

But anyway, that’s what I’ve been doing writing wise, since yesterday, and I’m now fourteen pages into the story. I am more than a little happy to say that the writing is not as bad as I’d feared. Sure there are some mistakes, and there is a serious case of TMI in it, but there is a fluency that is also kinda beautiful. *sigh*

What else? Well, yesterday, after spending the morning working on a query letter, big brother and I went down into the yard and chopped some serious wood. Well I did. Big brother used the new chainsaw and made everything into sizes that I could chop to pieces. Wonderful. Nothing heats you up like chopping wood, and I seriously need it in the mornings after working on the computer a couple of hours.

Worked a little on my Chinese boxes…well, the lids anyway. They’re now put together, and tomorrow I’m going to get one of them down to see how it worked out.

During the day a triplet of Cudeca people visited to meet Sally. Hospital suggested we contact them, so they can help out whenever Sally has a fever and needs something. They were nice, apparently, and the meet-the-patient conversation only lasted a short time. They appeared capable, though, and the doctor would be able to come over if necessary.

After the usual chores, we headed over to the job site and spent another few hours scraping and burning the wall, and filling up the big gaps with new cement. Not bad. We think it needs another hour or so for cleaning, and then we should be able to apply the rubber layer.

Had to pick up a load of veggies at the distribution center, and once we were home we once again had to drag the van out of the yard with the Land Rover. Something needs to be figured out about that, because that’s not going to work indefinitely.

Did some cooking, which worked out fine, in particular with the rice and peaches dessert afterward. Hah.

Since mom and the sibs took the Benalmadena market, cousin Ed and I were free to stay at home today. Good thing since the rewrite is going to require some time from me. Added to that, there was more wood to chop today (again a good thing because I was friggin’ freezing) followed by carrying up the jumbo pallets (which warmed my feet at last) to the storage. Those babies were heavy.

There was tenant to help, considering caregiver and Sally had to be at the hospital today. She (tenant) appears to be in a somewhat “off” mood at the moment. Sometimes I think it’s the weather that does it, but who knows.

After the wood chopping, it was out into the yard to water the plants, pluck some lemons, two grapefruits, and some broccoli. This was rather pleasant, considering the wind wasn’t so bad down there, in the lower part of the yard. That done, I cleared away yesterday’s tools in the carport and tried to figure out what we might need the next time ‘round.

Tadaika is finally adjusting to sleeping in my cabin. This morning she only took about one minute to go around the main house in search of an opening before she returned and snuggled up for a serious petting. Hah.

Knight II did something stupid, no doubt, because he decided to have his ear swollen, meaning that if he doesn’t keep his head still a little, I’m going to have to have it fixed soon. Gawd, that dog has so much inclination to be sick, it drives me bonkers, I tell ya. Also, he’s about as elegant as a pig and hurts himself friggin’ everywhere. And if that weren’t enough, the past few days he’s been somewhat pecky, and bit two of our oldies, which is not good. Neither Rammi nor Chiuma can handle his roughness, darn it.

The market wasn’t all that successful today, seeing as the weather there wasn’t all that pleasant either. Mom and little sister were back early, while little brother stayed away most of the day and evening at his new job.

Big brother and I headed out to for a donation at the end of the day, picking up stuff at two locations before coming home around sunset. No cooking for me today, seeing as big brother made spinach for lunch, and we had some fries for supper.

Tomorrow we’re going to have dogs over again. King, Chica and Perra. Luckily they don’t mind at all, and actually seem rather content for the durations of their stay now. Good thing too, since there mistress will be busy this winter.

There was more to today, of course, but at the moment it is slipping my mind, so I’m just going to leave it at this and call it a day. Past midnight and I’ve had it with today. I’m just going to start fresh and new tomorrow, if it is all the same to you. Hah.

Monday, January 14, 2013

It's official

Song of the day: “Beneath your beautiful” by Labrinth and Emeli Sandé again. Beautiful song, so I don’t particularly mind.

Well, let’s do this and see if my brain works any better than the last time. I can tell ya that stuff went different than planned, but what the heck, plans are there to be changed, or some such.

I do remember that on Saturday morning I woke about fifteen minutes before the alarm went off, which to me is a great way to start the day. I dislike waking up with the alarm, so my mood was a lot better in that regard. What followed were the usual chores, naturally. Ya know, the good stuff such as laundry and feeding the dogs. Hah. I know, boring, right? Okay, moving on.

Mom’s and the sibs’ van arrived, and they’re very excited. So it’s a little dented, seriously used, but it doesn’t matter, it will get them where they’re going…I hope. Besides, nothing wrong being proud of your own achievements.

Ha fully planned to work on the kitchen a bit, but then Cousin Ed asked me to help sorting through some of the stuff for the market, and then load, so we didn’t get to it, darn it. Had everything up and ready by the time Big Brother and I had to leave for the rehab center donation of food…also got a nice batch of fabrics for the dog beds, and some jewelry that we could sell on the market if we wanted to.

Once back home there was supper to cook, and more checking to do of the package for the ABNA thing. And then turned in early seeing as we’d have to get up at 6:30 to go to market. That was the plan anyway. Strangely enough, both Big brother and I woke basically at 5:45, without knowing why, and just got up at that time. It was very strange, I wouldn’t be able to explain why I woke, anyway. But I did, and thus it was looking to be a long day. Went through the mornig ritual of market morning, and had just started preparing lunch with peanutbutter and honey when the northern wind and rain started. Boy was it cold suddenly, and within the hour the market was cancelled, our wagon unloaded leaving us free for other plans.

I decided to pack up tenant and take her to the Coin market to have her visit mom and the sibs, while I roamed the market in search for bargains. Got some nice dishes for my kitchen. Along with a handful of books (2 Lisa Gardner, 1 Val McDermitt, yay) before I stumbled upon the price: A brand new chainsaw of a 16” blade with a 52 cc motor that should do the trick for as far as I’m concerned. That’s when the negotiations started.

He started out at a hundred, and when down to ninety while I was on the phone with big brother so he could look up the brand and see what the price for it was. I was sorely tempted, I tell ya, actually considered it, but discovered that I only had two tens and three twenties. I apologized for taking up the guy’s time and was already on my way looking for a different one when he called me back and asked how much I had then? I showed him the bills along with my last coins (four bucks) and we had a deal. Hah.

My wanderings took about two hours before I returned to the stand and hauled tenant up to the restrooms before we headed back home…still in the freezing cold, but downright sunny. Almost a shame that our own market didn’t happen, because sun-wise it was a beaut.

Once at home, big brother got to play a little with the new chainsaw. It went through the almond wood like a hot knife through butter, so that’s a success…it is still up in the air what the quality is like, but since the last time we went for brand name, and ended up cheated with the large bills, we were willing to take the risk. *sigh*

Got myself a beautiful lamp for my kitchen. A metal rod with four chalices (looking like flowers) as the lamps. It will look gorgeous, I tell ya.

Worked a little on the kitchen, pouring the concrete of the last step, and then by the end of the afternoon went out to get another donation. Basically small household items that will help in the future.

When we got home, we were forced to tow the “new” van out of the yard. Poor thing can’t get up the steep incline, for crying out loud. Luckily, it was no trouble for the Land Rover to pull it out, but it does pose a problem for the future. By then it was time to cook dinner, a wonderful veggie mix with rice that got eaten while we went through the package a last time before going to bed.

Which leads us to the disaster of this morning.
You won’t believe this but the alarm I’d intended to set an hour and a half before we needed to send the package was still silent (both of them) when Cousin Ed phoned me awake at 5:30, half an hour before our deadline. Yikes! Turns out I’d set the alarm an hour later than planned, somehow mixing up the five with the four…on both alarms, for crying out loud. Aaaargh!
So I called big brother awake, and rushed through the morning rituals while big brother made coffee and came up by the time I had the computer up and running.

For the next few hours we worked over the admission forms, the uploads, the checks and the double checks, no matter that I am convinced that we missed an error or two that I won’t be able to catch even if I live to be a thousand.

I am now officially a contestant for the grand prize. I want to worry, I want to panic, but since that won’t make a friggin’ difference, and will only make life less pleasant, I’ve decided to just go for “We’ll see”, and leave it at that. No different than having the book out to publishers in the end, now is it? Nope. I’m going to see if I can just hide it somewhere in the back of my mind

What else. Well, the normal chores o course, followed by a rather wonderful session with my kitchen where we added considerably to the natural rock wall on the outside. Slow but steady, appears the motto with this particular project. We’ll get there, someday…I hope.

Had lunch of whole slab of beef, which was hard to eat, but which I managed without puking in anyone’s lap. Hah.
Had to go out again, twice in fact since mom was too tired to pick up Muma (little sister’s black lab) who had a small growth on his hip, and needed to have it removed.
On the way there, there was a massive police thing going on. Everyone was stopped and checked out, but the fist one just waved me through.

When I was led in, the lab lazily wagged his tail at me, and refused to get up. So, rather than wait for the assistant to come help, (didn’t actually know why she asked me to wait a moment) I carried him out to the car, and went back inside to check if he needed anything by way of medication. They were a bit startled I’d carried him outside without help, seeing as he’s close to eighty pounds, but let’s face it compared to Knight II and the Chaos, that’s peanuts. Hah.

But where was I? Right. Medication. Nope. Clean bill of health, which is why I said my goodbyes and went home…only to be stopped by the coppers again. Regretfully these two couldn’t do English, because the younger one was prime (if I may be so blunt without appearing crude? *sigh*) and I would have liked to ask what was up with the seven cop cars around the roundabout, stopping everyone who passed.
We did share some laughter, seeing as I interpreted his hand sign as “slow down” rather than “roll down the window”. *snort*
Laughing he said that it was much easier to talk with the window out of the way, and started asking me the pertinent questions. Where do you live, and where to come from. Since I am well able to lay it on thick that my Spanish is sloppy at best, I was sent on my way within less than a minute. Hah.

And thus we have reached the now. We had fondue as supper, (big brother’s making) and then went to work on the computers. We still haven’t figured out what to do next. We’ll have to see about that one then, too, won’t we?

Well, that’s all she wrote, folks. Time for sleep. Seeya.