Much ado

Song of the day: “Royals” by Jasmine Thompson covering Lorde, who I’d never even heard of until I heard the girl sing the song. Hah. Gorgeous song, though, and the Jas does sing it lovely.

Finally, a day that can be arranged to my own liking, and therefore a moment available to write a proper blog. Yay.

So, what’s been happening…instant blank, of course. Well, let me just get my diary and see what pops up, eh?

Ah, working our way backwards then. Last night I was asked to come over to Ronda, you know the place big brother and I went to lunch a couple of weeks ago? There’s going to be a gathering of sorts so for two days I’m going to be helping out in the kitchen, which should be fascinating. Nothing like getting a good meal put together with all sorts of restrictions. It’ll keep the mind flexible, and the taste buds busy. Ideas are already popping through my head and I’ll let you know if I get to try any of them out.

Yesterday I was feeling a bit under the weather, so big brother stayed the afternoon at work in my place. Good thing too since I was balancing precariously between bursting out in tears at any second, or dropping down in a dead faint. Hah. Got to do a humongous load of laundry once at home (was way behind) and had a wonderfully long nap that restored some of my spirits…and actually had me hungry for the first time in days.

Am way behind on my correspondence as well, by the way, which is something I’ll need to see to today. Lots of “still need to write to…” fill in name, waiting, so plenty of computer work to do still. I do hope to find a minute or two to work on a new story that popped up in my head the other day. Working title: “Good morning Mr Pratchett” A short romance, really. Light on the plot, heavy on the romance. Hah. I’ll explain more about it some other time. Right now all I’ve got is the first paragraph and a page plotline.

Did a bid on putting up a fence. It’ll be hard work, but good earnings, so let’s see if we get it. I doubt it. We’re peanuts compared to a construction company with big discounts due to stock buying, but you have to try, don’t you? It’ll be fifteen work days at the very least with digging some odd fifty holes, pouring concrete, hanging fence and all the fun stuff that will have you working in the wonderful fresh spring air. *sigh* Keep yer fingers crossed.

Had a job re-installing a lady’s satellite. It involved me doing the business side of the whole thing while big brother worked on a three story roof setting up a new metal “foot” while I called up “instructions” from the safety of the ground. Me and heights, ya know. Hah. The lady was particular. Nothing bad about that, of course. It’s always better when folks know what they want, rather then those who just say “take care of it” and afterward complain why you did it “That” way.

Went to visit a kennel up in Almogia. “In the Doghouse” it’s called, and it’s run by this lovely couple who also do animal training. Nice place, if you ever need to board your dog or cat, and if your dog if unmanageable, they also offer bootcamp. Here is the link if you want to check it out.http://inthedoghousedtc.com/
I find that the place has a nice atmosphere and the animals appear happy, which is always a plus, isn’t it?

Did some painting. Nothing interesting, really, just a wall in pale-ish blue to see if the owner would like to have the whole house painted that way. Of course the blue of choice was soooo light that the owner didn’t even notice until it was pointed out. Hah. Ah well, got another bit of painting done yesterday to make the doorway white again to create some contrast. Luckily I like painting well enough.

Took Knight II and Labhana to the vet for their checkup. Knight was declared fine, so now I have to finish up his antibiotics for safety only, because at his age pneumonia is really dangerous. Labhana’s ear is healing properly, and her antibiotics have stopped now. She does still need anti-inflammatory while the last bit of her ear heals up, but then she should be fine. Am still a bit worried about her having lost so much weight, though. And her walking is still not great…although the “No Ake” from the Neem Team is doing her well. She walks better than before, and doesn’t have the heavy breathing from pain anymore. Arthritis is really horrid!

Went out for some groceries. Such a pain, groceries, always when you least expect it you run out of the essentials, don’t you? If I could, I’d do a big batch once a month and not think about anymore. Not possible now, though. Just not enough space to store stuff.

The Land Rover had to go to the MOT, which is always a tad stressful. Strange, huh. It’s designed to protect you from garages out to swindle money from your pocket, and yet every time feels like some sort of test. Hah. Passed, though. Went through without a hitch, which means that we have another six month’s reprieve of doing mandatory repairs.

Tomorrow we need to go to Liane’s finish up on that cabin, meaning that at the moment we need to get a door done (where the opening to Sally’s bathroom used to be) the finishing boards of the roof, the “coping” or ridge of the roof need to be sawed and painted, and concrete paint has to be mixed up into the color of ceramic tiles. Fascinating, I know. Hah. But when Liane asked how to get her concrete floor to look nice beside her tiles, I suggested to make a color matching her tiles, and then continue the pattern as if it was all tiled…me and my stupid mouth. Hah. No matter, though, I’ll figure it out.

The pouring concrete went rather well last week. The floor looked good once finished, the roof plating all fit and got on in time for us to finish the biggest part of the cabin. Now all that needs doing is the aforementioned items, which should take half a day at most. Less profit than expected from the entire thing, but it is better than letting the wood rot away in the open air.

Later on big brother and I need to go out to get a sick goat to a vet in Malaga. Don’t ask how we got around to doing that, it’s a long story. Hah.

Am totally planning on doing some serious cooking today, but don’t know if I’ll find the time. Will make pattie dough, though, will make for an excellent lunch tomorrow.

Were at the consulate last week, middle sister and me. It’s that time again that our passports need to be renewed, meaning a lot of hassle and BAD passport picture. Seriously, I had to have them done by this guy who knows all the specifications, and he should be SHOT for making a picture like that. Seriously, I look like some misshapen eejit in it. Why do they always do that with passport photos? I mean I’m no beauty, but I’m not as bad as that photo. I bet I could make a fortune offering myself as a passport photographer who’d make you look your best at least. Hmmmm. There’s a thought.
Anyways, middle sister looked great in hers, but then, the guy seemed to really enjoy taking her pictures. He shot her, like, fifteen times, while he took only three of me. I almost laughed in his face about that. No challenge in shooting pics of middle sister. She’s cute!
Got her B-day coming up, by the way. About a month and she’ll be thirty for crying out loud. Time does fly. Am making pie…chocolate, probably, because she likes that.

Had a few bad days since the last blog. Stomach is playing up lately, which is bad. Nothing hurts the reserves like puking, and I did that twice this month. Grrr. Must be the lack of sleep (am getting the luxurious six hours at most, bad Sammie!)…at least that is what I tell myself. Hah. Must eat proper…should even do some meat today…I’ll let you know if I manage. *wink*

Had a bank visit, and our insurance agent because we’re having lots of problems with payments lately. Something is wrong with the account number, and I needed to set that straight. So time consuming, bureaucracy.

The car got a service the other day, don’t know if I mentioned that already. But anyway, it is always nice to hear your mechanic say that she runs like a dream. Hah. Considering we passed the MOT, I’m taking his word for it. Also, he told us that there is a paint for cars that you can apply with a roller and yet ends up looking like spray painted, and when we explained that it was tough to do at our place because we’re in the country, he offered that we use his shop in a weekend some day to do it proper. I found that extremely nice…made them pie as a thank you, of course.

Summer time is hard to get used to this time round. My inner clock is still on winter time. Even grandpa is complaining about it, which is a first. Guess all the busy-ness is getting to him too.

At the moment my Sitabah (Weimaraner) isn’t feeling well. A stomach thing, I think. She’s been off since yesterday…not that it stops her from making a nuisance of herself, of course. Even now she’s running to the gate to bark at the other dogs. Silly girl.

Tenant’s Birthday is coming up, and since I can hardly make her a pie (darn it) big brother, grandpa and I pitched in together to sent her a present via Amazon. It should arrive a day before the big day…hopefully she’ll be home by then, since she was feeling poorly last week and got admitted to hospital. Finally they found out why she’s dehydrating so fast. A thyroid problem, apparently, meaning that she gets too much calcium in her blood. Hopefully they’ll manage to resolve it this time.

Sally is still the same, and soon she will be moved to a permanent care facility, rather than the hospice where she has been staying until now. Regulations say that you can only stay at such a hospice for 3 months and she’s been there 5. She’s hanging in there, much to everyone’s surprise.

Well, this will have to do for now. I still have much to do, and to prepare for tomorrow’s finishing of the cabin. I’ll be back…I hope. Hah.