Again!

So there I was, crouched in the dark, blinking at the unfamiliar sounds all around. There was the gggrssss gggrssss off to the left that gave me the creeps, the steady drip somewhere overhead and the annoying thump thump of my heart creating a rather unpleasant symphony of utter eeriness.
That should teach me, seriously. Treasure hunt. How stupid was that. Just because I found a map somewhere that had looked legit and I recognized several landmarks, didn’t mean that this was a sure thing.
I sighed for the umpteenth time, tightened my arms around my knees in the cramped space that didn’t allow for much movement at all. I should have turned back when the big log had come sailing down from some hidden niche and missed me by a mere inch. Could still have turned back when those friggin’ spiders had come crawling from the de dark corners, meaning that I had to do some fancy dancing to squash each and every one of them. Then there had been the dangly bridge thing that had basically disintegrated behind me. That’s when it should have started to dawn on me that getting back out was going to be a problem. The thought hadn’t occurred, of course, since the first thing I did the moment I passed the latest obstacle, was check my map, and trying to figure out the next hurdle.
Troublesome, I tell you, greed. I pondered that very vice while I sat there. I had a scrape the size of Arkansas on my thigh, several rips in my shirt, and my hair…well, I didn’t even want to think about what was in there, since this latest debacle. I’d been about to cross a rather harmless looking corridor when a strange grating sound had made me freeze in the spot. In hindsight that was the worst I could have possibly done, but there you have it…or in this case, me, at the bottom of a of this roughly hewn tube that had gone almost vertically down, and had me land flat on my bum with a rather inelegant oomph.
Yikes, that landing had hurt…and added to that, the bag with my supplies had been lost somewhere along the “ride” down to this three by three prison.
“Drat!” My voice echoed through the tiny space like some sort of megaphone was aiding it. I winced at the sound of it, and then winced because the wince hurt too. *snort*
How the hell was I going to get out of here, preferably before I end up like the skeleton I had landed on top of.
I shivered at the memory. Remembering clearly she girlish squeak upon gazing into the black eye-sockets of the skull, I deliberately kept my eyes aimed at the small dot of gray from high above that had the sole source of light…right before the day had turned into night.
I’d been here for a while now. At least two hours, I guestimated, which meant that it had to be around ten in the evening.
Something wriggled between the toes of my one bare foot. I had the fall to thank for that too. The stupid sneaker had come undone somewhere midway, right in that spot where a sharp rock or tree root had ripped though my jeans and a large part of my upper skin. I pulled a face, and yanked my foot back, trying desperately not to imagine what had caused the sensation.
My phone was lost with the bag, of course, but somehow I doubted I’d have reception down here anyway.
The family wouldn’t come looking for me until much later, since I warned them I might be late, so I was pretty much screwed for the moment. Less numb from the fall now, though, my brain was slowly starting to function again. Using the wall as support, I slowly pushed myself up to an upright position. Should have tried it earlier, but somehow doubted I would have been able to. Even now I was more than a little dizzy from that effort. By the time I was fully up, and semi straight, I was breathing heavy, a sound that only added to the creepiness of my surroundings.
There was this almost uncontrollably urge to scream for help, but I knew that wouldn’t help and convinced myself somehow to save my strength.
Gawd. How could I have been so friggin’ stupid?
My palms felt slightly moist and at first I thought it was because they were sweaty. They weren’t instead it was the wall that was moist…better yet, here I found the source of that annoying drip. There, about the height of my shoulders was a small hole through which water steadily oozed.
I bit my lip, wondering whether the water was drinkable and gently probed the outline of the hole so I could bring moist fingers to my nose and sniff. Nothing detectable, except for the same musty scent that hung all around.
No. I wasn’t thirsty enough yet to attempt it, and when I put my fingers to the wall once more I noticed something odd. The section where the liquid dripped was soft, almost like a malleable clay and gave, ever so slightly, to me applying pressure.
Frowning, frustrated with the lack of light, I scraped the tips of my fingers over the clay, finding them coated in the substance, albeit only a little. I needed something stronger, something hard to do this with, but what.
Frantically, almost dizzy with excitement, I looked around my “prison” to find only a handful of tools that might do the trick. My fellow companion. The bones.
Oh yuck. The idea of handling them was repulsive, but I really didn’t see another option and reached for the biggest bone on the heap, hoping that it would serve well as a hammer of sort. Tentatively at first, I wrapped my fingers around the thinnest part of the thing, but then, discovering that it was dry and smooth, with more strength. For a moment I tried finding a proper position that would allow for the best swing, but then discovering that there was just no way for that to work, I just slammed the thigh-bone, hard as I could, against the softer surface in the wall. There, right where the joint had struck, sending a painful jar up my arm and shoulder, a slight indentation was noticeable under the gentle probe of my fingers.
Exulted I stepped back and tried again. And again. And again, until a foot by foot impression was awarded to me for my efforts.
Yes! I thought, somewhat madly, my hands, once more slippery, but this time from exertion. Again, over and over I hammered away until at last something cold and wet hit me right in the face. Water, the strength of it making me stumble backward, sputtering all the while, before I had the quick of mind to duck down and sideways out of the hard spray.
Well, that water better be drinkable, otherwise I was pretty much screwed right then and there. I wiped at my eyes and face, turning my head away from the point of impact and peering instead at where the water was coming in.
Already the icy liquid was gathering around my feet, and the smallish hole I had created, was rapidly growing from the pressure of the streaming water. Looked like a friggin’ fire hose at full blast, for crying out loud, and I shuffled passed the side wall as far away from the water as possible. I just might have chewed off more than I could handle, and I dropped the bone with a squeal when more of the wall broke free, bringing the ever-rising water level up to my hips. This was so stupid, I thought, looking around frantically as the water churned and rose at an alarming rate. I was so screwed, wondering how long I’d be able to stay afloat (I’m a good floater) in this cold water. I doubted I could hold out long enough all the way up to where I’d fallen.
Already my teeth were starting to chatter, and the water came up to my chin. So screwed.
More water burst through, the whole, taking more mud with it, almost bursting over my head, if I hadn’t set off with both feet and bobbed above the surface.
I sure was going to find out whether I’d make it, paddling like mad in an attempt to stay afloat in the center of the rapidly filling tube. I was going faster and faster, fear and relief battling for supremacy as I rose a yard, two, and so on and on. I bumped my shoulder, went under for a second or two, but managed to paddle back up. A slight bend in the tube, but going too fast now to do much maneuvering. It was all I could do to keep my head above water. Up there, the vague grayness approached, seemingly slower than I was going, but it was getting closer. My legs were burning, arm and shoulder aching, and leg throbbing like mad. Just a little longer. I choked on a mouthful of water, struggled against the panic of drowning and kicked harder. Come on! A little more. Come on…

Which was just about when my alarm went off this morning. Don’t you just hate it when a vivid dream gets broken off just before the climax? I tried to go back to sleep for another ten minutes to see if I could finish it, but alas it was not meant to be. The dream was gone, and I didn’t get to know if I got out of there, or if I found the treasure. Funnily I don’t even remember what the supposed treasure was. Hah.

So, Song of the day: “If you’re going through hell” by Rodney Atkins. Dontcha just love country music? I sure do.

It’s been a crazy couple of days. First off yesterday started early when grandpa phoned me out of bed to get me an big brother to come up to help Sally who had fallen in the bathroom, and whom he and caregiver couldn’t get up any more. We couldn’t do much either, seeing as the moment we tried to get her to her feet she started screaming as if the end of the world was nigh and we were torturing her to death, even after we both let go she continued to swear and cry. *sigh* Ended up calling the ambulance people to come and help out, because there was no way to convince her that they were going to do the same when they arrived.

And they did. They each went to one side of her, tried to lift her, at which point she started screaming again. At that point caregiver warned her that if she didn’t let them help her up now, they were going to leave again, which she apparently believed, because the next thing you know they grabbed her by the armpits and set her right on her feet. Of course in her memory there were five strong guys who came to her aid, while in truth they were two medium sized middle-aged men. *double sigh* The old noggin’ just ain’t working all that well. Same goes for her lying down. The doc told her that when she sits she has to put her legs up on a chair, but when she sits, she doesn’t. No, instead she puts them on the chair when she lies down on the bed, which is, in turn wrecking her back, a new problem. The ambulance folk suspected a mild hernia. *triple sigh*
Added to that fun, today she had her appointment at the Málaga hospital for a full body scan to check if perhaps her cancer has spread to the bones, because she complains about a lot of discomforts.

That was part of today’s fun filled activities, by the way. First Sally had to go to the village health center for her legs…they’re still not healing well, and she has to start taking antibiotics again…after which we had to go to the consulate for Cousin Ed’s passport, then on to the Málaga university hospital, where we dropped caregiver and Sally off, while big brother and I rushed back to the MOT appointment for the Opel.

Went through the registration bit without a hitch, then had to wait for half an hour for our turn, at which point we had to let the car jump through all the proverbial hoops. We passed just barely, because the errors with the car weren’t deadly…or at least, that’s what our mechanic said when I went by to have him look at the results of the test. He told me not to worry about it now. None of them were something that was mandatory to fix, and we could do that whenever we have enough fund. *phew* A relief that.

Once the MOT was done, we headed for a supermarket for some cheap ice cream because it was hot and we didn’t have cold water with us…which reminds me of yesterday…I’ll get to that afterward then.
With ice cream to battle the heat, we received a call from caregiver that Sally would be another two hours, so that meant we better find a cool spot where we could take out our computers (we were smart enough to take those along) and get some work done. Did part of this blog, with the aborted dream in it, and before you know it it was time to go pick ‘m back up.

Once at home I took a quick dip in the pool, made supper of sandwiches grilled in garlic/herbal butter and loads of fresh veggies, which I just finished eating. Hah.

So, yesterday. After the ambulance was gone, we basically started planning. The small shower cell tenant and Sally have been sharing with grandpa just won’t do anymore, so we’re going to have to put together a new cell that is accessible for someone with a walker and a wheelchair. It is going to have to be behind Sally’s place, so we had to skip the morning editing session (drat) and get to work.

Because the big fridge was standing there where the bathroom is going to be I quickly had to tile that part of the kitchen floor so we’d be able to put the machine there later in the day. Got that done while big brother went to the yard to quickly water the veggies.

Then the planning bit started. We talked materials, budget, and sorted through storage until we had something to work with. It’s not going to be gorgeous, but it will be serviceable. We’ve got the tiles, the plastic partitions for the walls, and the space, so…
Most of the plumbing got set up during the course of the day, with me playing gopher most of the time.

Good bit of news is that tenant came home at last yesterday. She was in good spirits despite the fact that she is once again carrying a urine bag...at least until the latest kidney stone has passed through.

Had to leave early to boot, because Knight II had a vet appointment. His ear was a problem again, several inches of swollen tissue once more, and added to that, he wrecked his paw, again, too. Gawd! That dog will give me ulcers, I tell ya. Had to leave him there, again.

Regretfully we couldn’t do much on the bathroom afterward because big brother and I had to go to town to get a donation for the dogs. A big load of canned goods again (remember that friend with a store?) a good variety of them to boot, giving us something to fall back on if we can’t get fresh veggies some day. Loading took forever, so I had to phone Cousin Ed to ask her if she would please go to the vet hospital with the moped, before closing time and pick up Knight so she could wait outside with him until I arrived.

Luckily we came only fifteen minutes later at which time Knight was in a near panic and basically jumped into my lap the moment I opened the door…while we hardly had space for him yet. *sigh* Poor guy. He was not a happy puppy.

Was too friggin’ tired yesterday, meaning I could hardly get any work on the edit done at all. In the end we decided to go to bed early and see if we could catch an extra hour, or something.

Which I’m going to call the end of today’s blog. Gotta go.

Vaccination stuff

Song of the day: "Dream a little dream" by the Beautiful South. Love this song, and I have it my head a lot, but I don't mind.

So, yesterday was vaccination day, meaning we rushed through the morning rituals, fed the dogs quick as possible, and then waited for the vet to arrive. It went on without a hitch, and we did the whole vaccination bit in no time at all. Went well, we'd prepared properly, the vet was relaxed, and we processed the lot, and had her quickly check those we thought who might not be in a well enough state for their shots. In the end she decided that the shots wouldn't harm them, so we got them all done, as planned.

Here are a few shots throughout the thing. I didn't do them all, don't worry. Hah
The Vet. Paqui Torrico from the veterinary in the village. She was nice enough to pose for me.

The poor four-legged ones waiting for the vet.

The intended spot of the coming event...regretfully it didn't work out that way. Hah.

Tiny Atma went first, trying to be brave, and managing really well. I was afraid she would scream instead.

Olivier, looking as if he's going to be slaughtered, naturally.

Chamea, all brave with big brother right behind her.

Tadaika, aware that something is going to happen, and wary of it.

Ama, giving moral support to Sita III. She didn't like it.

"Okay, they've killed me, I'm sure of it" Tammi seemed to think. *sigh*

I had little Manni on here as well, but he was acting like an energy bunny once again, and disappeared from view the moment I took the shot.

She also looked at Knight II's ear, but it looks like she's going to have to add another stitch, or two, but it will be tomorrow.

Did some writing, of course, both today and yesterday. Along with edits of the stuff that Big Brother already worked his way through. It took several hours, but it had to be done. Had to go to the veggie center, yesterday and today, in particular because yesterday there wasn't enough for more than one dog meal. *sigh* Luckily we got a good batch today.

Today was Spanish lesson day of course, meaning we got up a little early this morning so we'd have some time to practice our Spanish before leaving. Arrived only a few minutes late, more because I forgot to check my watch along the way. No matter, though. Got there, did our lessons, and then made an appointment for next week where we'll meet after lessons with the lady who is willing to pose for me, and our teacher and her daughter, which should make for an interesting session at the very least. Let's hope nothing gets between that...and that the car will be back around that time. *sigh*

After lessons big brother and I went up to the hospital to see tenant, and hopefully take her home, but regretfully her infection hasn't been brought under control yet, so she has to stay another day...maybe even too. She was a bit down from the news, but it couldn't be helped. She's hanging in there.

There was cooking to be done, ratatouille with patties yesterday, and chili with bread today. Went down just fine, thank you very much. Didn't have time to do anything in the kitchen, heck, didn't have much time for anything, but what the hey. Well, this will just have to be a short blog, because I am going to call it a day.

Bummed

Song of the day: “Don’t worry be happy” by Bobby Mcferrin…again. Not necessarily a bad thing, but some diversity wouldn’t be bad. Hah.

Saturday market’s first up, after a carpload of laundry that had somehow ended up on the lines. Hah.
Not a good day for a flea market. Folks were very “focused”, had no time for chats, which is bad for a gal like me who wants to get her kicks from some nice talks at least, if at all possible. But alas. At least the woman we share the stand with was in good spirits…and like me, she likes to set up a little different every day, which is of course the fun part of set up time. Hah.
What followed was the waiting, of course, and yes, there were a few minor chats and a remarkable interest in my tie dyes. Ain’t that cute? Sold four items. Yay!
But anyway, as planned mom and little brother arrived after noon, so big brother and I could split and head for the hospital to visit with tenant.

We could only sit with her for a short while, half an hour at most, considering we had two hours in total before the end of the market, so we had to cut it short, which she didn’t like all that much, I tell ya. Not to be helped, however. We were lucky to make it there at all.

Came home about 20 minutes late, finding mom and little brother already busy with the packing. We took that over, and waved them off so we could finish with the majority of the products. Made our way home where we quickly had to partly unpack so we could head out again and pick up some things in the village. Had to toss out a load of garbage at the same time, at which point we found this tiny little kitten in the mess. It was four weeks at most, and something had mangled it, leaving it with this gash in it’s ribs. Poor thing was mewling like mad, and stumbled toward me with paws that could barely sustain its skinny frame. It didn’t take a vet to figure out that there really wasn’t anything to do for it, so the best we could do was have it put out of his misery. Always makes me sad, stuff like that.

That done, it was time to cook supper, after which it was time to load up once more. It’s endless, ain’t it? Hah. Managed to do some writing at the end of the day, but not a lot. Was pretty much running on fumes by then, but did have a few nice chats online and worked on my pictures before heading to bed.

Sunday started early with baking patties to have folks try out on the Funny Beach Marbella market. We left on time for a change, partly because big brother and grandpa pitch in to get the wagon hooked and everything checked. Tried to doze a bit on the way there, but couldn’t really drop off…good thing, all things considered, seeing as otherwise I wouldn’t have seen the poster hanging all over the place announcing the upcoming concert of Bryan Adams. Yay. Was soooooo going there.

Set up took almost three hours for some peculiar reason, and once we had that done, it was time for me to head for the hospital to see how tenant was doing. She was a little down, which wasn’t unexpected since she was transferred to a new room without a roommate this time round. She loves keeping track of roommates when she’s at hospitals, so now she was bored out of her mind.

Once I came back at the market, I managed to eat a big burger and then quickly went to the restaurant where I got my usual table to write some. Managed to get two pages on the proverbial paper, and then it was time to call it a day and go back to relieve cousin Ed for a bit. Discovered where to get tickets for the concert while she went for a quick swim. Then it was my turn for a swim. Actually swam a mile, or something, which was awesome, despite the current that threatened to drag me closer to Marbella. Gawd, it’s been a while, and it was wonderful.

Once back things were still incredibly quiet, only sold a minimum of items, at which point there were suddenly the ladies we’d seen earlier came to fetch three packages of my burgers, and wanted two dog beds to boot. Then two girls from Liverpool came to chat, and they loved everything we had, and we really had to stop trying to talk them into buying more after one bought several bracelets and one of mom’s purses. They had some great tips for sending abroad. Gawd, I loved the accent of the one who was this petite little woman, with bright magenta hair that was partly braided to her skull. There were tattoos all over the place, and she claimed to have spent the previous evening getting snoggered, and was well on her way of getting there again, if it were up to her. (It was) The thing is, her voice totally reminded me of Patsy from "Absolutely Fabulous", which was…well, fabulous. Hah.
But anyway, in that last hour we sold another tie dye and jewelry, meaning that we had a lot less to pack when it was finally time to pack up for the day. Took us forever, of course. Didn’t drive off until seven, meaning that by the time we got home we’d been at it for 13 hours. Sigh. Not bad, though. The folks who made the expensive order two weeks ago came to pick the stuff up and paid without a hassle, so this was possibly the most profitable day we’ve had so far. Not the best day, mind you, but the most profitable one, most definitely. Hah. This was the last market during the day, instead the next one will be on a Saturday evening (the 13th, in fact) lasting only 'till midnight. :-) Luckily that will be solely crafts, so it'll mean less packing for us.

Once at home, big brother had supper waiting for us, so since my foot was effin’ killing we did that before unloading the car form the day’s “adventure”. After which big brother and I headed out again for a quick pick up of a donation, and to see if El Corte Inglés was still open so I could buy a ticket. It wasn’t, and I couldn’t, but no matter, the donation was a good one, so it was worth it going out. Didn’t get home until after ten, darn it.

Did some reading of the book, chatted a bit, posted a picture on the picture blog, and discovered the disaster. The concert tickets are waaaaaaay more than I can afford (seriously, that’s three dog vaccinations, for crying out loud) meaning that I have been somewhat bummed ever since. Seriously, I’ve been waiting for this grand event since 2005 (with the disastrous scam that robbed fans of their money all over the place), but what happens, it goes above my friggin’ budget, for crying out loud. Seriously, 30 bucks I could have scrounged together, but this…this is just too bad. *sobs* Finally I just went to bed for a much needed night of sleep. *sigh*

Woke on time, this morning. Strangely enough I was dreaming of finding a two year old toddler at the garbage. Was a cute little girl with pig tails and quite a mouth on her. Hah. Was momentarily confused by the time I woke up and figured that the person she reminded me of was me at that age. *shakes head* Wonky, I tell ya.

There were the normal chores such a laundry, followed by cutting bread because the dogs had somehow managed to get to the day’s food supply. Sneaky sneaks, the lot of them. Grrr.
While I went up to help Sally get ready for her doctor’s appointment, big brother fed the dogs, after which I could eat breakfast and start writing at the same time. Did manage to squeeze out Knight’s ear (like yesterday evening) but I’m worried that it’ll only get worse. Vet visit later in the day.

Caregiver went to hospital today, to see if she could tenant home, but she couldn’t. She had to stay at least another day. Luckily, she didn’t appear to mind.

Big brother and I had to get some groceries after lunch of Smacks with milk, and then came home to prepare a really late lunch of my patties on bread with lettuce, tomato, cheese and a load of sauces. Asked Sally if she wanted to eat, but she said she didn’t. Decided to let it go and try again later. Were preparing the lot of them when she came marching past with her stroller, claiming she was going to go to the Chinese bazaar to buy one thing or other. Rather than wage a whole battle trying to convince her, I continued making our lunch, and asked big brother to keep an eye on her. She hit our steep incline, at which point big brother asked if she was really going to climb it, at which point she said “yes, of course I am!”
Big brother remained silent, watched her go several steps, at which point she stopped and asked, “you think it’s too steep?”
“Yeah,” he answered, at which point she said, “okay” turned around and headed back to her cabin.

She’d just settled in her room, at which time lunch was ready and I went there to ask if she was hungry yet. She was, and cheerily joined us at the outside table for a quick lunch. That done big brother and I headed out again, this time to the vet with Knight II, and to get a load of old veggies at the veggie center in the village.

The vet wasn’t displeased with Knight’s ear, and said she wasn’t going stitch him again…thankfully. It is just so nice to see him without a cone, for crying out loud. She did the same thing I did with his ear, and told me she’d look at him again tomorrow morning when she will be coming over to vaccinate the dogs.

Got home after getting a small load of veggies from the center, did some writing, and then got down to blogging for the day…meaning I’m done now. I’m outta here. Hah