Song of the day: “Diamonds” by Rihanna. Not the best of songs to have in your head, considering it is rather repetitive, but what can you do, right?
Writing has been going a little slow these past couple of days. Can’t really explain why, seeing as there is no noticeable reason, it just is, which leaves me a little frustrated. Like you’re wading through mud, or something. *sigh*
But anyway, part of writing time was also used to check the pitch and blurb for the competition. Only two more days to go before everything is set and you can’t edit anymore. Scary thought that. Two more days, and then it will be locked and rolling, and there won’t be anything I can do about anything anymore. Yikes.
Yesterday I was a little on the late side. The alarm was going off, and for the life of me I couldn’t figure out what the annoying sound was for. Hah. But anyway, the day got started late, coffee got consumed, the visiting dogs were out for a run, laundry was hung, and the morning’s writing session went past.
Had Cousin Ed phone the doctor’s office for me. I’ve had it with the stupid hole in my head that just won’t heal. She got me an appointment later in the evening.
We debated working on the kitchen, only to realize that fixing the stove was by far more urgent. The hole had been getting bigger for months, and so we decided to just do it. First big brother went up to storage and came back with a piece of metal that was just too thick to bend properly. So I went up to storage, rummaged around for a bit, and there it was. Part of a rather large metal tube only a few inches narrower in diameter than the actual stove. Took it down, showed my find off to big brother for him to agree on. Took us about an hour to fix the stove, and afterward it was as good as new. Yay.
That done we had to head on out to town to pick up a donation (tiny, almost not worth the trouble) and drove straight through to the job site where we added another layer to the wall, and spent some time washing all the windows and digging inside the kitchen cupboards to give them a proper cleaning. By then it was almost time to go to the doctor’s. Quickly changed clothes (can’t go there in paint splattered clothes) and then headed over. Was let into the room immediately, only to discover that by now there was a new doctor working there…one who didn’t speak a single word of English. Aaaargh. Try explaining something like that. Went through two assistants, and then another doctor before it was finally decided for the doctor to refer me to a dermatologist. Couldn’t explain a single thing, but what the hey. Someone better look in that hole and fix it, darn it.
Food wise it’s been unimpressive…but then, I think it has more to do with my taste buds than food quality. It was all bland, sandy and…well, not nice, so let’s skip that, shall we?
Today. Again a bad writing session after the morning chores, and me being completely under temperature when I finished at last. Since I really needed to warm up, the first thing big brother and I did was head up and chop some wood. Big brother started out with the chainsaw, cutting the tree into manageable pieces that I could split. That sure got me heated up. In fact, afterward my hands were tingly warm. Hah.
Wood dealt with, grandpa made a batch of cement for us. Added another layer to the kitchen walls, bringing five spots up to the final height. Are running out of rocks, though, so we are going to have to do a rock pick up again soon. Maybe tomorrow. We’ll see.
While I worked on the outside with natural rocks, big brother worked on the inside with red bricks. We’ll get there yet. Slowly, but there. Hah.
That done we headed out to the job site again for the final layer and mopping the floor of what was left undone of the first floor. It went well, and everything got done at last…all except me taking a picture of the end result, darn it. But it's DONE.
We took Rammi along today, so that while I went vet to pay for part of our massive bill, she could get checked out. As we feared the lump on her ribs is most likely cancer, and considering her age, her skinniness and general appearance operating really wasn’t a viable option. She is fourteen or fifteen after all. *sigh*
The decision we went for now is just to let her be and wait until she starts to experience pain. That is when we will have to take that next nasty step.
Got some veggies at the vegetable distribution center, which is always a special experience. You wouldn’t believe how folks over there stare at a 6 foot woman and a 6 foot 4 inches man. Seriously, the average size there is 5’ 5”. Hah.
Well, that will have to suffice for today. I’m running on fumes, so I better cut it off right here.
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Not enough hours in a day
Song of the day: “Coconut” by Harry Wilson. Fun song to have in your head, only a little repetitive.
First off, we’ve been working on cutting down a tree. It was the strangest weather yesterday, however, and every time we wanted to start, either the wind started blowing, or the rain started to fall. In the end there was a lull, however, allowing big brother to climb up on my cabin, onto the ladder and start sawing. Cousin Ed and I were on the ropes, but after the first few inches, the darn top got stuck in one of the others, leaving us standing there with no way to go. There was some debate going on, at which point big brother tried chopping it looser, but that didn’t work either. So instead he attached another rope, and started yanking on the other side with Grandpa. Darn thing still didn’t move, and we had to hurry because the wind was picking up. So while Cousin Ed went up to help grandpa pull the other rope, I stood there debating with big brother and we decided that he would go up and attach the rope to the car and pull. While he was doing that, the wind picked up again, and of course that is when the tree top started to go. There I was, holding on to the rope, shouting “a hand here, I need a haaaaah” as it went, and me with it. Seriously, I’ve never been so happy wearing rubber gloves. For a moment there, I was up in the air, before I managed to crouch down and lock the rope. By then Cousin Ed joined me, and grandpa, and finally big brother. There were the ropes that hung over my terrace which had to be cut, the vines growing there that had to be untangled before we could start processing the tree.
Then today, since the wind picked up after that near disaster yesterday, big brother and I were at it again. This time it was the majority of the trunk, which went a lot easier now that the top was gone. We took it down in yards, and after about half an hour the whole thing was over and done with. Yay.
Lahbana apparently has absolutely no fear of being crushed, because while I was slowly lowering the heaviest trunk to my porch, she kept lying underneath it, staring up at the massive piece of wood that was coming right at her. *rolls eyes* Insane dog! Had to actually call her away from the porch, for crying out loud.
Got to haul trunks up the mountain. Had some beauties (two of ‘m to heavy for me to lift), which are going to be fun to chop. Excellent exercise for when I get too cold in the mornings, eh?
Mom had a little bit of trouble driving the van from the yard and bumped into one of the trees. This meant that the back door was a little bent, and neither little brother nor middle sister could open it up. So I went there to help out and…well, yanked it open. Hoping that it would be easier this time round, little brother closed it again, and tried to open it…no go, so again I pulled it open. We repeated the whole thing twice until finally the door was unbent enough for little brother to do it himself.
We went over to our job twice too. First another layer of caucho that had to be applied, and then tonight the first layer of paint. Didn’t take too long, but it was late, and already dark in the case of tonight. Gawd, what with all the other stuff going on, there just isn’t enough time in the day, is there?
There are always chores to do, and cooking to be done. Like last night there were boiled potatoes, a veggie mix with a herbal sauce, joined by a fresh salad that was partly chickweed. Rather tasty if you must know.
Writing is going well…at least yesterday I did about twelve pages, and today about eight, so not bad. Sometimes my concentration is wonderful, and the pages just flow out, while today I had several moment where I had to really work at it.
There were dogs to feed, of course. No tasty meat these past few days, which is a pity, but not disastrous since the dogs like pumpkins a lot. Those were plenty in the food. Hah.
Personally I have the nausea problem again at the moment. Stupid pressure point on the head, I’m guessing. Vomited twice already, which means that I really should start thinking about visiting the doctor again, darn it.
The temperatures have been incredibly icy these past couple of days. Up on the north western mountains there’s snow. Quite a bit of it in fact, and it gives a bite to the air during the days…and nights. Boy are the latter cold. In particular since I have that extra dog on the bed who is now also hogging the blankets. Seriously, they’re vying for warm spots, and seem to think it a good idea to work me out of the equation, or something. Like last night, I had to get up so I could move Knight II over and put a blanket around him, just to keep him out of my way a little. Grrr.
There were a couple of small pick ups during the past couple of days, and Gadah is losing more and more strength in her hips. Still bravely cheerful, which is so much Labrador that I sometimes doubt that she is actually cheerful, or just acts that way while she hurts like mad. I do see that she is steadily losing weight again, which means that it’s not going well.
Had wanted to fix the stove this afternoon, but didn’t get around to it, regretfully. Like I said, not enough hours in the day. Ah well, better luck tomorrow, right? As for now? The day is to an end for me. It’s been a long one, and with a little luck I’ll be in bed within an hour. Yay.
First off, we’ve been working on cutting down a tree. It was the strangest weather yesterday, however, and every time we wanted to start, either the wind started blowing, or the rain started to fall. In the end there was a lull, however, allowing big brother to climb up on my cabin, onto the ladder and start sawing. Cousin Ed and I were on the ropes, but after the first few inches, the darn top got stuck in one of the others, leaving us standing there with no way to go. There was some debate going on, at which point big brother tried chopping it looser, but that didn’t work either. So instead he attached another rope, and started yanking on the other side with Grandpa. Darn thing still didn’t move, and we had to hurry because the wind was picking up. So while Cousin Ed went up to help grandpa pull the other rope, I stood there debating with big brother and we decided that he would go up and attach the rope to the car and pull. While he was doing that, the wind picked up again, and of course that is when the tree top started to go. There I was, holding on to the rope, shouting “a hand here, I need a haaaaah” as it went, and me with it. Seriously, I’ve never been so happy wearing rubber gloves. For a moment there, I was up in the air, before I managed to crouch down and lock the rope. By then Cousin Ed joined me, and grandpa, and finally big brother. There were the ropes that hung over my terrace which had to be cut, the vines growing there that had to be untangled before we could start processing the tree.
Then today, since the wind picked up after that near disaster yesterday, big brother and I were at it again. This time it was the majority of the trunk, which went a lot easier now that the top was gone. We took it down in yards, and after about half an hour the whole thing was over and done with. Yay.
Lahbana apparently has absolutely no fear of being crushed, because while I was slowly lowering the heaviest trunk to my porch, she kept lying underneath it, staring up at the massive piece of wood that was coming right at her. *rolls eyes* Insane dog! Had to actually call her away from the porch, for crying out loud.
Got to haul trunks up the mountain. Had some beauties (two of ‘m to heavy for me to lift), which are going to be fun to chop. Excellent exercise for when I get too cold in the mornings, eh?
Mom had a little bit of trouble driving the van from the yard and bumped into one of the trees. This meant that the back door was a little bent, and neither little brother nor middle sister could open it up. So I went there to help out and…well, yanked it open. Hoping that it would be easier this time round, little brother closed it again, and tried to open it…no go, so again I pulled it open. We repeated the whole thing twice until finally the door was unbent enough for little brother to do it himself.
We went over to our job twice too. First another layer of caucho that had to be applied, and then tonight the first layer of paint. Didn’t take too long, but it was late, and already dark in the case of tonight. Gawd, what with all the other stuff going on, there just isn’t enough time in the day, is there?
There are always chores to do, and cooking to be done. Like last night there were boiled potatoes, a veggie mix with a herbal sauce, joined by a fresh salad that was partly chickweed. Rather tasty if you must know.
Writing is going well…at least yesterday I did about twelve pages, and today about eight, so not bad. Sometimes my concentration is wonderful, and the pages just flow out, while today I had several moment where I had to really work at it.
There were dogs to feed, of course. No tasty meat these past few days, which is a pity, but not disastrous since the dogs like pumpkins a lot. Those were plenty in the food. Hah.
Personally I have the nausea problem again at the moment. Stupid pressure point on the head, I’m guessing. Vomited twice already, which means that I really should start thinking about visiting the doctor again, darn it.
The temperatures have been incredibly icy these past couple of days. Up on the north western mountains there’s snow. Quite a bit of it in fact, and it gives a bite to the air during the days…and nights. Boy are the latter cold. In particular since I have that extra dog on the bed who is now also hogging the blankets. Seriously, they’re vying for warm spots, and seem to think it a good idea to work me out of the equation, or something. Like last night, I had to get up so I could move Knight II over and put a blanket around him, just to keep him out of my way a little. Grrr.
There were a couple of small pick ups during the past couple of days, and Gadah is losing more and more strength in her hips. Still bravely cheerful, which is so much Labrador that I sometimes doubt that she is actually cheerful, or just acts that way while she hurts like mad. I do see that she is steadily losing weight again, which means that it’s not going well.
Had wanted to fix the stove this afternoon, but didn’t get around to it, regretfully. Like I said, not enough hours in the day. Ah well, better luck tomorrow, right? As for now? The day is to an end for me. It’s been a long one, and with a little luck I’ll be in bed within an hour. Yay.
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Strange
Song of the day: “Torn” by Natalie Imbruglia. It’s been a while, but it’s still a good song.
Been a strange couple of days. I am not entirely sure why, but still, fact’s a fact. Strange.
Writing has been going rather well. Yesterday I managed a solid twenty pages, the day before thirteen, and today, again ten. The story is definitely getting there. There are rare moments that I really have very little to change in a sentence, and then other moments where I basically have to throw out the entire sentence, or paragraph and start over. I gotta say that I am happy to notice that I have improved considerably. These days, I can read a paragraph, and continue on reading while I am already starting on rewriting the beginning of the sentence. It makes for speedy rewrites, that’s a fact. Hah.
At the moment I am waking to Tadaika using me as a rubbing pole. Very painful, I admit. Silly dog thinks it’s a good idea to ram the top of her head into my shoulder, chest, of back, whichever spot is in her reach. Waaaaay too affectionate, but what can you do, right?
The usual stuff, ya know, laundry, cleaning, feeding the dogs, chores, blah, blah. Nothing special to report there. There was stuff to do in the yard, of course. Bugs to find…rather nice since there was a bit of sunlight and less wind down there…and plants to water.
Saturday night, before cooking dinner, we first loaded up the Land Rover in case the market would go through on Sunday…it didn’t. Despite the clouds having evaporated during the night, the winds were apparently horrible over by the beach (here too, for that matter), meaning that it had to be cancelled. Meaning we got to unload again, for no real reason, and fill our day with other activities.
In this case I opted to do some serious writing (ergo the twenty pages) and cleaning in my cabin. Took out the two chairs that the dogs wrecked these past six months or so. The rug, and then proceeded to sweep the floors, mop them, and tuck away some of my clean laundry, at last! Looks much better in there with a new chair and rug. Hah.
Since we were cleaning anyway, we hauled stuff from around the yard to the car as well (were going to do a garbage run later in the afternoon) and took the opportunity to fix a loose plate on my roof. The thing had been flapping during the night, which could drive me bonkers.
Hauled wood up to storage for drying. Got quite a bit of wood from that last eucalyptus. The lower part really was massive. Had to get up at least five wheelbarrows…and the chainsaw works really well.
Manage to eat some meat, which earned me a “good Sammie” pat on the head. Hah. Strangely enough it didn’t manage to keep me awake when we had to go out for a donation again, so I napped in the passenger seat until it was my turn to drive. Once home supper consisted of a fresh salad and fries.
Poor Knight isn’t feeling all that well at the moment. I suspect it has to do with the cold. Neither he nor Chaos are fans of low temps with lots of wind.
Which brings us to today, right? Well, there were the usual chores, naturally, followed by a much slower writing session and then me going up to trip tenant’s hair. We’ve decided to try out a pageboy-bob. It will take a while to develop, but what the heck.
That done, big brother and I packed up our tools and headed for the village for our paint job. Did a final circulation of fire on the wall…that really helped against the mold, by the way. There was none this time either. That done we applied the latex (caucho) layer to the stripped wall, and went on to clean the bathroom, (gawd, does that bring back memories of carpy cleaning jobs) the bedrooms, and generally mopping the floor all over.
Two, maybe three more trips to go, and then it should all be done. With a little luck we might even be able to do it cheaper than promised, which would be a nice change.
Did notice a parasite problem while working there. The woodwork is riddled with holes, so unless they had the place fumigated at some point, it doesn’t look good. Yikes.
The cleaning of the day done, we headed for the vet to drop of the muzzle I had borrowed for Knight II some time ago, along with mail and a school graduation book for one of the kids of the house’s owners. Then it was off to town to pick up some groceries. Actually did a good Samaritan thing today, hah. We were driving to the village when we noticed a box in the middle of the road. We debated for a moment, and then stopped to pick it up and check its contents (there’s always the fear of live puppies that were dumped after all). Turns out that it was a delivery that must have dropped off a delivery truck, so we debated again and then decided to see if we could find the address in the village. We couldn’t, so we stopped at a local farmer’s market (to a guy we know there) and asked if he knew the street name. He didn’t either, but he did offer to phone the number on the box and reached the woman it belonged to. He explained what had happened and the woman promised to come and pick it up by the time he put down the phone and assured us that he’d take care of it from there on.
Before you know it we were headed home where big brother made spaghetti and cheese for supper so I could start writing immediately.
And so we have reached the end of this weekend’s rundown. Nothing really strange to explain the hinky feeling I’m experiencing, but what the heck. Tomorrow’s a brand new day and I’m going for it. Hah.
Been a strange couple of days. I am not entirely sure why, but still, fact’s a fact. Strange.
Writing has been going rather well. Yesterday I managed a solid twenty pages, the day before thirteen, and today, again ten. The story is definitely getting there. There are rare moments that I really have very little to change in a sentence, and then other moments where I basically have to throw out the entire sentence, or paragraph and start over. I gotta say that I am happy to notice that I have improved considerably. These days, I can read a paragraph, and continue on reading while I am already starting on rewriting the beginning of the sentence. It makes for speedy rewrites, that’s a fact. Hah.
At the moment I am waking to Tadaika using me as a rubbing pole. Very painful, I admit. Silly dog thinks it’s a good idea to ram the top of her head into my shoulder, chest, of back, whichever spot is in her reach. Waaaaay too affectionate, but what can you do, right?
The usual stuff, ya know, laundry, cleaning, feeding the dogs, chores, blah, blah. Nothing special to report there. There was stuff to do in the yard, of course. Bugs to find…rather nice since there was a bit of sunlight and less wind down there…and plants to water.
Saturday night, before cooking dinner, we first loaded up the Land Rover in case the market would go through on Sunday…it didn’t. Despite the clouds having evaporated during the night, the winds were apparently horrible over by the beach (here too, for that matter), meaning that it had to be cancelled. Meaning we got to unload again, for no real reason, and fill our day with other activities.
In this case I opted to do some serious writing (ergo the twenty pages) and cleaning in my cabin. Took out the two chairs that the dogs wrecked these past six months or so. The rug, and then proceeded to sweep the floors, mop them, and tuck away some of my clean laundry, at last! Looks much better in there with a new chair and rug. Hah.
Since we were cleaning anyway, we hauled stuff from around the yard to the car as well (were going to do a garbage run later in the afternoon) and took the opportunity to fix a loose plate on my roof. The thing had been flapping during the night, which could drive me bonkers.
Hauled wood up to storage for drying. Got quite a bit of wood from that last eucalyptus. The lower part really was massive. Had to get up at least five wheelbarrows…and the chainsaw works really well.
Manage to eat some meat, which earned me a “good Sammie” pat on the head. Hah. Strangely enough it didn’t manage to keep me awake when we had to go out for a donation again, so I napped in the passenger seat until it was my turn to drive. Once home supper consisted of a fresh salad and fries.
Poor Knight isn’t feeling all that well at the moment. I suspect it has to do with the cold. Neither he nor Chaos are fans of low temps with lots of wind.
Which brings us to today, right? Well, there were the usual chores, naturally, followed by a much slower writing session and then me going up to trip tenant’s hair. We’ve decided to try out a pageboy-bob. It will take a while to develop, but what the heck.
That done, big brother and I packed up our tools and headed for the village for our paint job. Did a final circulation of fire on the wall…that really helped against the mold, by the way. There was none this time either. That done we applied the latex (caucho) layer to the stripped wall, and went on to clean the bathroom, (gawd, does that bring back memories of carpy cleaning jobs) the bedrooms, and generally mopping the floor all over.
Two, maybe three more trips to go, and then it should all be done. With a little luck we might even be able to do it cheaper than promised, which would be a nice change.
Did notice a parasite problem while working there. The woodwork is riddled with holes, so unless they had the place fumigated at some point, it doesn’t look good. Yikes.
The cleaning of the day done, we headed for the vet to drop of the muzzle I had borrowed for Knight II some time ago, along with mail and a school graduation book for one of the kids of the house’s owners. Then it was off to town to pick up some groceries. Actually did a good Samaritan thing today, hah. We were driving to the village when we noticed a box in the middle of the road. We debated for a moment, and then stopped to pick it up and check its contents (there’s always the fear of live puppies that were dumped after all). Turns out that it was a delivery that must have dropped off a delivery truck, so we debated again and then decided to see if we could find the address in the village. We couldn’t, so we stopped at a local farmer’s market (to a guy we know there) and asked if he knew the street name. He didn’t either, but he did offer to phone the number on the box and reached the woman it belonged to. He explained what had happened and the woman promised to come and pick it up by the time he put down the phone and assured us that he’d take care of it from there on.
Before you know it we were headed home where big brother made spaghetti and cheese for supper so I could start writing immediately.
And so we have reached the end of this weekend’s rundown. Nothing really strange to explain the hinky feeling I’m experiencing, but what the heck. Tomorrow’s a brand new day and I’m going for it. Hah.
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