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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, June 8, 2013

Good Sammie

Song of the day: “I hope you dance” by Leann Womack. Such an awesome song. Wish I had it in my head more often.

So yeah. Friday again. Time does fly, whether you have fun or not. Hah. But tomorrow there’s no market day, meaning I’ll have time to make a new batch of burgers. Yay. And maybe a pie or two…depending on if I can make the time.

Hmmm. Yesterday. Excuse me while I draw a blank. I’ve been leaking brain cells again, and can’t for the life of me remember what the heck happened yesterday. Darn it. Okay, getting my diary….
Right. Slept too short again. A most common problem these days, grrr.

The usual chores, naturally. You know, laundry, feeding the dogs, and all that. You’d be amazed how much time that all takes up. I did manage to take a few minutes extra to put my clean laundry in the closets, because let’s face it, my horizontal surfaces were disappearing again. Hah.

End of the deadline arrived yesterday, so big brother and I decided to mix business with pleasure and worked on the last bit of the C.H. edit over breakfast up in grandpa’s kitchen. It worked. It’s done! It’s finished! *does a happy dance* so for the remainder of the day’s computer work, we finished dotting the I’s of the letter to the publisher, and, about two hours before midnight, sent it! Yay!!! Very exciting, baby, very exciting! For the first time a real communiqué with an editor, and whether she likes it or not, it was an extraordinary experience.
As to what the response will be…we’ll see, of course.

So now the question popped up: What’s next.
We went through some debate seeing as the sending season is pretty much over by now (spring is best for that) and had three options. 1: the “Gun” story, which would be enormous fun, but of which I have about six pages by now. I mean seriously, what’s not to like about an assassin stuck at a bank that’s being robbed?
2: We can start the edit of the PNR Greek mythology I wrote last year, which would be awesome, in particular since the story has been tickling me for several days now.
And 3: would be continuing to write on E.D. which involves little romance but an awesome alien exploring itty bitty earth, and that I’ve got more than 124 pages of by now. It should be doable to finish that in a couple of months, at which time we’ll be able to maybe do one edit for the PNR before we do the first for E.D. as well…I know, very complicated all, but at the moment it looks like we’re going to go with option 3. Or at least until something comes up that changes our minds. Hah.

While big brother headed into the yard (I’m seriously POd that I have been unable to head for the yard lately) grandpa and I joined forces to pour concrete in the corner of the kitchen, where big brother had built the mold the day before yesterday. Had just enough concrete and rubble for the task, and when it was done I cut tiles so cousin Ed could tile a bit in the kitchen while big brother and I headed out to pick up some groceries.

Also managed to get some leather branding done for mom’s purses. Did some new designs, despite the fact that flower appear to be going well lately. Made a rather nice (big) Egyptian scarab and a nicely curvy lily. I was pretty pleased with the result of both experiments.

Considering Sally has been so confused lately…she doesn’t get that she’s been at the hospital for a couple of weeks at most, and not four weeks, the way she claims…big brother and I decided to go past there too. She seemed much relieved to see us, and considering I brought her yarn and knitting needles, she was nicely occupied by the time we finally left.
Actually fell asleep in the car (luckily I wasn’t driving, hah), but that revived me enough to go up the four floor stairwell at the hospital, meaning I actually got some exercise. Yay. Regretfully I did rip my favorite pants in town, which was a tad uncomfortable whenever I had to climb in and out of the car. *sigh* It was my favorite, darn it.

Once home, I tried to use the burgers with a cauliflower cheese filling, but I wasn’t fast enough so the dough kept falling apart, darn it. We ended up dining on French fries and nuggets.

Knight's lump is still there, but it doesn't seem to be bugging him, so I'm just leaving it be. He's eating, he's happy, and that is all that's really important. This three to four times a day feeding is of course torture on Chaos, who will stand at a slight distance while Knight II eats, looking at me with an expression of "why him and not me". Because he's a fat sausage already, of course, but I can't tell him that. It might hurt his feelings. Hah.

Did manage to eat some red meat today. I’ve been trying to be a good girl, but it’s friggin’ hard to get all the nutritional stuff in in a single day. *sigh* But again, I earned a “good Sammie” for choking a small slab of cow flesh. *shivers*

Managed only half a page in this morning’s writing session…it didn’t help that I had about five and a half hours of sleep, you know, but a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do. Went through the usual chores, had breakfast after bringing Jane home. Actually had a bit of conversation with her in the car. Apparently there’s an international festival in the village (who’s got time for a friggin’ party, hah) in which she and her mother in law were part of the Ukraine contingent. Apparently they’ve been busy as heck these past few weeks preparing for it, and she was very excited. Nice girl. I’m thinking of asking her to pose for some pictures once my camera arrives. Would make for a good subject, I think.

Worked on another window frame for the kitchen, of course. This is the last one, so afterward, maybe, we’ll get around to putting them in. Yay! Regretfully, I could do only a little with that, because I had to cook supper, with which I asked tenant to help out. She seemed to enjoy that, regardless that it was difficult for her to cut beets.
Afterward I tried for a nap, but that didn’t work out. Every time I started to drift off, I’d wake up again. Darn it.

Had to go out again, of course. Hadn’t planned to, but mom really wanted us to check out a new evening market for her that’s just starting up. Considering we first had to go to the village and then town, it took some time, meaning we misses supper, which we wolfed down in a hurry at home so I could get started on my messages and the blog. Am a tad distracted what with the ideas for E.D. playing in my head, so it is taking longer than expected. *sigh*

Well, that’s it for today. Almost 1 o’clock in the night and I promised myself some serious zzzzzsss.

Thursday, June 6, 2013

Just stuff

Song of the day: “If I die young” by the Band Perry. Wonderfully depressing, isn’t it? But romantic in its own way.

So yeah, another couple of busy days. First off, there was a trip to the hospital. We had hoped to skip a day since Sally would be taken care of properly and would not be discharged for several days yet, but then she called in a complete panic, that everything was wrong, so we went over there to visit for a bit, and managed to lift her spirits a little.

But I’m getting ahead of myself, aren’t I? Let’s start at the beginning. The day started early, with only five and a half hours of sleep, which was way too little, naturally. Spent the first hour (before coffee) in a semi daze managed the morning chores and fed the dogs.

What followed was a ten page edit, that went pleasantly fast, and was way necessary. I like how it is going. Almost near the end now. Less than twenty pages, so Yay. Before you know it we’ll be all done and I can finally start writing on the new project.

Then, just when we were about to start on my kitchen, that phone call from Sally came, meaning that the kitchen was postponed once more. Nothing too bad, mind you. We decided to shove it to the next day and headed up to the car, only to find that we had a flat tire. Yep. Was driving backward, and there it went, flopping every which way until I figured it out.
Took us about fifteen minutes, and we planned on dropping it off at the tire dude’s place on the way back.

Since we were in Marbella anyway, we took the opportunity to go past a multitude of stores to check out the prices for cameras. There were some beauties there, I tell ya. If I had a gazillion bucks I’d buy this really awesome Nikon with three different lenses, a standard, bag and all sorts of neat extras that would photography more than just fun; it would be an adventure then. But alas, nothing there to suit me. Instead we decided to go through the internet offers and found something that should suit me. Ordered it tonight after plenty of thought. Yay. It should be here in a few days.

Oh gawd, yeah, we even checked out pawnshops. They don't have them, apparantly, but we did find this perfect aluminum pan some odd 50-60 liters big. It works like a charm, and the quality if really good. I think it used to be from a hotel, or something.

Cooked leftovers, because, let’s face it, we were late again. And then, just when we were about to get started on the edit when the cops turned up at the gate. Apparently they’d gotten a call that someone saw smoke and smelled it somewhere round here. We explained that we were cooking the dog food on a stove. They just wanted a quick peek, and then they were gone again. All very friendly, and civilized, so no trouble.

Then we did another ten pages at the end of the day, meaning we didn’t get to bed on time again. Hah.

Knight II still has the lump, so I'm a tad concerned. In particular since the anti inflammatory seemed to have had no effect whatsoever. Added to that, he's got a small skin growth on top of it that is all hard, shiny and seemingly growing. Not good, I think. Will have to go to the vet again.

This morning arrived bright and shiny, with lots of noise from the dogs since this was the day of the month that mom and the siblings did the Wednesday market. Strangely enough it woke me up (regardless that it hardly ever does) and prevented me from falling back to sleep for at least an hour. Darn it.

There were chores and all (I know, way boring), practicing a bit more Spanish, and then rushing through getting ready to leave for our lessons. Was a little late again (what else is new?) due to the fact that caregiver was off and I had to help tenant walk over to a different spot where she could sit in the sun and shade at the same time. The walking went well for her today.

Spanish was excellent today. Went over our homework, and had nice chats, mostly in Spanish, despite the difficult subjects we skimmed through. I do love the conversations about psychology, and my internet “friends”. The talks did remind me that I really have to write to my pen pal pilot. It’s been ages again, darn it. Time goes way too fast.

More edits today, and some work on the kitchen…not from me, but from Grandpa and Big Brother. The first has been working real hard on the windows, while the latter put up a barrier so we can pour some concrete tomorrow.

During that time, Cousin Ed and I changed the tire on the Land Rover, and while Cousin Ed made supper, I took the free half hour or so to brand some leather for mom’s purses. Managed three rather nice patches, before it was time to start working on the edit once more. Only managed a few pages today, but it’s now less then fifteen pages so we should be able to manage it tomorrow. Yay.

Had to blog, of course, which means that we are now at the end of it. Time for bed, finally.

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Running late

Song of the day…I’m not sure. There were too many this weekend to just settle on one.

It was a busy weekend, and now it is late, so I’m going to have to do this fast.

First off, I'm a little worried about Knight II. The lump on his chest is still there, darn it.

Saturday market didn’t go bad. Had the booth set up in about an hour and a half, which meant that the waiting game started almost immediately. Hah. Stuff almost went wrong when we arrived a little late, and there was this guy standing there, acting if he had the right to be there. I immediately dug out my phone to check things out, but before I finished dialing he was off to his car, mumbling like a lunatic. Hah. Sold more than just the expenses for a change, and did have a nice chat with a Finnish woman and a woman from Canada. They were nice and one of them actually bought something, so that was a double treat. I also sold a tie dye shirt, which was very nice. She actually said she’d come by again to see if I have new stuff.

Started loading at two, and drove straight to our donation address afterward, hoping it would fit on top of the market stuff. It did, just barely, but it took time. When we finally did get home it was late, and I still had to get started on making the pumpkin chutney, yogurt sauce and of course the two mango cheesecakes. Yep, decided to make one for the market, and since making two mangos doesn’t take any longer than just one, I figured, what the hell.

Did manage some edits on Saturday. A good thing, considering Sunday was a bust in regards to edits. Didn’t get any done, but did manage to write two pages of my “Gun” story. That was of course after getting up at the crack of dawn, baking 12 burgers and driving to Funny Beach where we got to set up the stand once more. Good thing I like to set up a lot, because now I get to do it twice a week…did get a rather nice compliment the other day that I “dressed up” the stand so nicely. Almost like a cute little store. Hah. Good to see that it at least gets appreciated.

Made my first real profit with my patties, cheesecake and sauces. Came away with some odd ten bucks after the expenses were taken off. Yay. I loved those expression on some folks’ faces when they tried for the first time, and ended up totally surprised. There were plenty of responses that went like “Wow. That is REALLY nice” or “Very good, and there’s no tofu in this?”
Sold about a dozen of ‘m. Along with seven pieces of pie, and a bottle of sauce. Yay! One dude even bought some of everything. Hah. Nice.

Were done setting up within a couple of hours, at which time I took over the stand for about half an hour so Cousin Ed could take a quick dip in the sea. We’ve been trying to for the past few weeks, but what with everything going on we just didn’t get to it. But anyway, once she had her swim, it was time for me to get into the car and go to the hospital to visit Sally. She’s not doing well, I think. More so mentally than physically. She’s doing stuff that had me a tad shocked when she told me, and I don’t shock easily. It made me a little ditzy afterward. Heck, I even forgot my water bottle once I left.

Once I got back I stuffed my face with some crackers and cheese, and then headed into the restaurant where they were nice enough to let me have a table (despite it being busy) so I could write for an hour and a half. That went rather well. Character development is coming along nicely, as is the plot. I actually had to laugh several times while writing.

But anyway, once done with my writing, it was another hour before it was time to start packing up for the day. Didn’t finish with that until well after six (my friggin’ just about ready to be chopped off) and arriving at home around seven. Then there was the whole unloading bit, shoveling food down our throats and then sitting down for some relaxation finally. Did have some nice chats (regardless that the other participant is nicely nutters) before finally dropping into bed and passing out for the night.

Which reminds me. I was totally miffed this morning when I woke up from the alarm right when my dream was starting to get interesting. It was a continuation on my “Gun” story, and I was just about to kiss this Brad Pitt-ish dude when the friggin’ alarm went off. Could have had a bit more of that, thank you very much.

Did manage a ten page edit. Both big brother and I are pretty pleased with how things are turning out so far. The new scenes seem to match nicely, while still keeping the tone of the story intact, which is all one can really ask for, right?

Then, of course, we had to head into the yard, where I yanked weeds, planted some herbs and big brother watered. It took us about an hour, at which point it was time to have some lunch. I took my dose of meat, thank you very much. (Good Sammie) And we did a bit of Spanish when Cousin Ed, Grandpa and Tenant came home from the hospital. Tenant had an appointment for her kidneys, and grandpa visited with Sally, so that went all really fast.

Lunch eaten, big brother and I headed out for a pickup. Since we were out anyway, we went past several stores to look at prices for cameras. I’m playing with the idea of getting a digital one. I’ve been leaning toward it for a while, and who knows, I might actually try to get a job with it, here and there. We’ll see.

Well, once we got home it was almost nine, so I quickly cooked dinner and then tried to get to work. Regretfully I got a mail which took way too much of my time, so once again we didn’t get to edits. Darn it, we’ll never make that deadline now. I hope that that publisher won’t mind C.H. being late.

Well, it is almost two in the morning. I need to get some sleep, in particular since I am a little tipsy (had a nice white semidulce). If I don’t I might say something stupid.