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, June 22, 2013

Knock-off

Song of the day: “Promise me” by Beverly Craven. Such an awesome song. I suddenly remembered it the day before yesterday and downloaded it, and it’s been going through my mind ever since. It definitely was one of my favs back in the day.

But anyway, the past couple of days have been relatively quiet…with me doing a solid nap both days because I was once again cross-eyed with exhaustion in the middle of the day on both counts. Yesterday was pretty bad, almost slept two hours straight, and today another hour. Those two end burner weeks are a killer, right?

Yesterday was another example of too short a night, but okay, we had an appointment we had to get to. The Opel fix. While Big brother and grandpa took the Land Rover to the village to get bread for the dog food, I headed for town to drop of the Opel. Chatted with the receptionist for a bit while the mechanic got to work on the car and big brother phoned that he was on his way to pick me up. Was still waiting when it became clear that not only the back brakes were bent out of shape, but the front ones were basically non-existent. *sigh* Up went the price, of course, and added to that, we also needed a new driver-side rearview mirror, so caching! But anyway, they were going to try to get the car done in one day, but I shouldn’t hold my breath. I didn’t, so I wasn’t too surprised when it turned out that they didn’t make it.

There was writing both today and yesterday. Not a lot, I’m still spending some time reading up on the story, but slowly and steadily I’m shlogging myself through this particularly difficult piece. I do know that so far it doesn’t read like romance, which is good, because that is what I’m aiming for. Hah

Spent some time in my kitchen both yesterday and today. The tiles had to be scraped clean and then washed, the latter of which Cousin Ed did today. They look beautiful, by the way. In particular since I used at least five different types of white tiles. Also sorted through the lazuli and turquoise tiles which I want to use over the counters, and discovered that I might not have enough of them. Gotta ponder that for a bit, try to figure out a solution that will work for me and my wallet, eh?

Had a rather fascinating experience at this rather big pawnshop in the city. I’ve got this ancient watch that I wanted to have a price estimation on, so I decided to go to this upscale place. It’s not that I want to sell it, I just want to know the price so I can consider it in an extreme emergency. So strange. He was looking at it, mumbling, saying that it was unlikely to be anything of considerable worth (most likely a fake), fifty to a hundred bucks at most. Then he put his tooth on it, had his colleague look at it, and kept mumbling about there being something off about it. He ended up offering me sixty bucks for it, and advised me to go to a specialty shop to get another opinion. I should just go there and say that they sent me, which I did, thinking all the while why he would offer me 60 bucks for a knockoff. *sigh* But anyway, the weirdness continued at the specialty shop, where the girl behind the register knew nothing about it, the old lady who mixed in on the talk and took out catalogues to check, and the guy who suddenly appeared from the upper office, took one suspicious look at me, glanced blithely at the watch and then said that it was a knockoff. Weird! I seriously don’t know what to think. I think I’ll look around some more. If they were lying to get it for a cheap price, they made a big error, because if that really is all you can get for it, I’m not selling it. Might as well use it then, right?

While I cooked, big brother went with Sally and Caregiver to the local health center for Sally’s leg. Considering the Opel wasn’t there, they’d need him to get Sally in and out of the car. Ate, edited and, well, I was of course late getting to bed. *sigh*

Today. Well, it started at six past nine when the receptionist at the garage called me to let me know that the mechanic had come in an hour early and that our car was ready and waiting for us. Yay.
It did mean rushing about. First rushing up to Sally’s place because apparently she’d fallen in her bathroom and was no longer able to get up. Took both big brother and me to get her to her feet, and she had another gash on her arm. We’re really going to have to work with her to get her mobile again, this is not going to work.

Then big brother and I (without coffee) headed out for town to pick up the car because caregiver had to leave for the hospital with Sally at 10:30. Pushed the speed limit a little, had big brother drop me off, paid the humongous bill and was back on the road five minutes later. Arrived home at 10:28 so I congratulated myself with my timing and went to have some breakfast. By the time big brother came home too, I had to head out again to bring Jane (tenant’s help) to the village. Chatted a bit of Spanish with her, and was back home in fifteen minutes or so. Put the stove in my kitchen! *bows* Thank you. Thank you very much. Hah

Made rather wonderful burgers with my patties. Again on the brown buns, which go splendidly with the lettuce, tomato, cheese, pepper and sauce. Stuffed our faces with lunch, had that nap I mentioned earlier and then had to take Knight II to the vet for his ear check-up. He still has some inflammation, so she could only take out half the stitches. Poor darling. He didn’t like it at all. Did manage to snatch a photograph of the vet’s receptionist, who’s a very nice lady, and I snatched some really good ones, I think. At least one of ‘m is going to end up at the photo blog site.

Picked up a batch of veggies at the distribution center for the dog food and arrived home in time for me to start on supper. Cauliflower with mustard seeds, mushrooms in cream on the side, and rice. Was happy with the end result, in particular since both tenant and Sally enjoyed it too.

Did some writing tonight, chatted some online including a whacky dude from Texas who’s trying to convince me to marry him. Hah. Poor guy for actually thinking that to be a good idea. He wouldn’t have a moment’s rest if I took him up on that. *chortle*

Well, that’s about it for me today. Almost one in the morning. Time for some shuteye, we have a yard to see to in the morning…oh, and there won’t be a market at Funny Beach this weekend. Nope. There’s some big party going on “San Juan” meaning that they won’t have the time nor space for stand holders. *does a happy dance* I’m gonna have a free weekend to get stuff done on my kitchen…hopefully. *winks*

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Grout work

Song of the day: “Beneath your beautiful” by Labrinth and Emeli Sandé.

Long day, as usual. The way someone so aptly said on the for a, “stuff” kept me incredibly busy, which is not necessarily a bad thing, if only it wouldn’t feel quite as useless. Hah.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. First there was yesterday. Yes, very bourjois of me, but alas, for me too the world goes from one day to the next. *snort* Wouldn’t it be grand if that weren’t the case? I mean, seriously, wouldn’t the blog be splendid if time shifted all over the place, the way my brain does sometimes? *snort*

Okay, yesterday. What happened? I’m drawing a blank. Jeez. Don’t you just hate it when that happens? Here I want to start writing it all down, only to end up thinking…and thinking some more…and more. Okay, I’m getting my diary…

Right. I’ve got it. Tuesday. *leafs forward* Here we go…
Woke at the alarm, wondering what the heck that annoying buzz was, feeling so friggin’ tired I just couldn’t help myself from calling big brother and asking him if he could phone me in another thirty minutes. I really needed those extra thirty (well, technically it was twenty) man, and felt distinctly more rested when I did finally get up.

The normal chores were waiting, naturally, but we quickly worked our way through them, fed the dogs and got to work on the computer while chewing on breakfast. Only did about an hour, and then had to go up to help Sally get ready for the day. At the moment she is so far out of it we have to help her with practically everything. Just the task of getting her showered took about half an hour, and that didn’t include getting her dressed and up later on. It is a tad sad to see that she can’t hold onto a single thought at the moment, or that she can’t make a distinction between reality and what’s in her head. I’ll tell her we’ve been there for ten minutes, with her sitting there mumbling to herself, worrying about getting up but not actually doing it. She’ll even get upset about me saying that she is not trying, and is fully convinced she’s been constantly trying (in her head). In the end I had to get firm with her, tell her to stop thinking, take my hand and let me pull her to her feet. There was some serious anger there, but she did manage to get to her feet and dressed.

That done, her breakfast dealt with, (tenant and caregiver were out and about…in other words, at the hospital) I went back down to the carport to get ready to do some work on the kitchen. Got some actual grout work done. In particular for the corner where the stove will be. For the rest the old glue remains were scraped away, tiles washed, so we’re starting to get a good idea of what it’s going to look like. I can hardly wait…but I’ve said that before, haven’t I? Hmmm. Well, it still counts. Hah.

Sally did come down to look at the kitchen, and ended up tripping on one of the steps, and scraped open her shin…not a smart thing to happen what with her blood thinners. *sigh* She was unable to get up, so when it became clear that support to her arm wouldn’t be enough, I had to move in behind her, wrap my arms around her from behind her, and literally put her back on her feet. Good thing I’m tall, otherwise that would never have worked. Gawd, her leg was a mess. I had to put my brain on zero in order to apply bandages (blood doesn’t have a good effect on my stomach, ya know) while big brother came up from the lower yard and cousin Ed got the wheelchair. We shipped Sally off to the local health center where they took care of the mess. We were afraid that we’d have to take her to the ER but they said that if it didn’t keep bleeding during the night, it would be okay. She stopped bleeding, thankfully.

Did get some edits done, thankfully, and I am slowly reading up on E.D., so I can get into it again to resume writing. Came at a good scene yesterday, which was fun to read…in particular since I no longer remembered writing it. Hah.

On the overall the dogs appear to be doing well. Knight II has been making a nuisance of himself by trying to get his collar off, Sitabah appears to be doing a little better, and Tadaika, the meloxicam appears to help against the pain of her sprained foot...did I mention that we took her to the vet the other day because we were afraid she broke something? Well, she didn't. It appears to be a sprain instead. Yay.

Had a bit of wine during the course of the evening, which had me in a jolly mood by the time it was time to go to bed. *snort* Was a little late, which wasn’t a smart thing to do, but there you have it. It made me less than jolly when big brother called this morning to make sure that the alarm would wake me…since it had been friggin’ bleeping for ten minutes already it was pretty good foresight on his part. Hah.

No time for sleeping in today because today is Spanish lesson day. *sigh*
After the usual chores and feeding the dogs a mix of kibble and veggies (grandpa was unable to get dog food at the local bakery, darn it), I was on my way up to tenant who needed help getting ready for the day. Getting dressed, settling outside in the sun and having breakfast just barely fit with my own breakfast and those last few sentences of homework, before it was time (were late by ten minutes again, darn it) to head out for the teach’s place. Did a wee bit of speeding her and there, so we were only five minutes late by the time we settled down for our lesson.
Didn’t get to go through all those laboriously constructed sentences, but spoke at length about life and such. It is fascinating to realize that you’re recognizing more individual words during the course of conversation. Apparently we’re not tossing the money for lessons down the toilet, eh?

That done, we had to head for the city (stopped several times along the way to take some pictures) to pick up a donation, but first some groceries, which was over and done with in about an hour. Then the donation took way longer than planned. Had to load it all up, reorganize along the way, and drive back home. It was already after six by then, and unloading took forever too, which made me rush through making supper. There were plenty of patties, so we used a batch of those on wholegrain buns with lettuce, cheese and tomatoes, which went down splendidly.

By then I was pretty much running on fumes and flopped down behind my computer to do some chats, to check my messages, and…well, to write this thing. Hah. Meaning I’m done right about now. Yay. I’m outta here. The car goes to the garage tomorrow. The brakes, ya know.

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Pic update

Song of the day: “Grenade” by Bruno Mars. Embarrassingly I am still a sucker for romantic songs. Hah.

So another weekend over and done with, right? Lots has happened, and just because of that I’m going to do a bit of a picture blog to boot.
I got several folks to pose for me, and since a couple of them have their own sites, I figure I do some networking and help them out by posting their links right here for y’all to see.

First Lynn, who organizes the market. So pretty, but terribly shy. Like me she prefers to be behind the camera, rather than in front of it. First she only wanted to be on it with cousin Ed, but then I explained that I really wanted a portrait, at which points she got all self conscious. So we laughed some, talked a bit, and then, in a moment of relaxation I shot this one.


It shows off her splendid smile, eh? If I ever get her to pose properly, I’m going to do her more justice, though.

Then there is this lady, who I’d really would have liked to make a portrait off, but when I explained what I wanted, she was adamant that I couldn’t do a facial shot, only of her with her products, and her cause.
So hereby…


And the link to her cause. http://mujeresenlasveredas.blogspot.com.es/ Apparently it is some sort of effort by (mostly) women who head on up in the mountains to open up old paths for hikers, and re-educate them about the flora and fauna of the area, and letting folks find pleasure in walking the paths that folks walked for necessity in the past. Sounds like fun, and if I actually had time for such things, I’d probably join up occasionally. Hah.

Then there is Monty Monteros who sings Spanish flamencos, some pop and basically entertains the folks at Funny beach, always ready with this big grin. Here’s a pic.


He didn’t mind posing at all. Makes all too clear why his chosen profession is performing, right? Being able to pose without a prob is an excellent talent then. Hah.
And his link is. http://www.montymontero.com so if you’re in need of an entertainer at a party, or some such in the Marbella area, he’s the one you have to contact.

Alright, enough advertising. I picked several of the portraits of the market for the Photoblog, but some will do splendid over here. So here we go.

The stand:

One of our fellow stand holders, who was kind enough to pose for me. Maria Carmen

So kind always, and talking a mile a minute, whether I understand her or not. Hah. I took a rather great pic of her mum, who’s in her nineties, nearly completely blind, but proud as a fiddle that she’s allowed to go along to the market. She really enjoys it, and gotall aflutter when I asked her to pose. She’ll be going up on the photoblog, so you’ll see soon.

Also this cutie, the kid of a young couple who were nice enough to let me take a pic or two. She was smiling soooooo sweetly.


Market wise the day was a bust. The only thing that saved our earnings was an order for three yoga mats at the end of the day, which need to be delivered two weeks from yesterday…which is fine. We’ll be there anyway. If I understood it right, the guy wanted them for the loft playroom he has for his grandchildren, which they are perfect for, naturally. Hah.

Did get some writing done, and some reading. Had planned on a dip, but didn’t go for it since it turned out that the weather was turning. Twice during the course of the day, a strange fog came rolling in from the sea. A Stephen King moment waiting to happen, I tell ya. Hah. Had some nice chats, and the day passed fast as you please. Was friggin’ starving at the end, an oftentimes occurrence these past few days…which reminds me that I should still mention Saturday.

I slept terribly. I mean it. I was out like a light, woke up at five and then was unable to fall back to sleep. Grrrr. Added to that, when I came up it turned out that grandpa was sick and wasn’t able to do any of the preparations he usually does. Like bake pancakes. Meaning no breakfast, and what’s worse, I had not time to make anything for lunch either. Meaning I was starving twice in a row. *sigh* (Poor Sammie)

I also had shots of the other the market but it’s getting late so I’m not going to put them up. Let’s just say I took some really nice shots, a few of which were these. LOL
The rest I’m keeping for the photo blog. *winks*





















Our neighbors.



















Very well…had low sales there, which is partly due to the fact that the weather was just too nice for people to bother with the market when the sea was only a few hundred yards away. *sigh* Didn’t mean that I didn’t have some nice chats with folks, or that mom and little brother turned up with the money purse I forgot in the mess of the morning.

Afterward we did have to do a pick up, and then, once home, there was the potato veggie salad to put together…which wasn’t half as nice as big brother’s mac & cheese that was waiting for us when we got home after seven in the afternoon yesterday. Hah.

A bit of good news for today was that tenant finally agreed to let me help her onto the toilet. Yep. The first time in months, which is one step on the way back to recovery, at least. Went really well, meaning that I can actually help her more if she keeps it up, freeing some of caregiver’s time now that Sally needs so much help…Sally being terribly confused still, mixing up locations from the past, events, not to mention things that haven’t actually happened at all, just in her head. It is rather disturbing. If she gets any worse, we’re going to have to make sure that the gates are locked, or else she might head out thinking she needs to be somewhere. A scary thought, what with the busy road up there.

Today was a busy one, once more. You know, right, the chores, the dogs (had to take Sitabah back to the vet, and Tadaika too, who had a swollen toe, which we feared was broken). Knight II’s ear is on the mend, but he’s making a pest of himself by constantly trying to get rid of his cone collar, the sneaky eejit. He was bleeding somewhat fierce yesterday. Definite plusses of the day would be that I managed to wrap my teeth around a small piece of meat (good Sammie) and practiced my Spanish.

Well, this is it for me today. Time to start getting ready for bed.