Song of the day: “I hope you dance” by Lee Ann Womack. Such a beautifully inspirational song, and a perfect motto in life. You should look it up…you know what, here it is, have a listen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RV-Z1YwaOiw
Sure the clip is a little sugar sweet, but that doesn’t change the song, does it. Love this one, so I actually enjoy the days that it is stuck in my head.
So yeah, what all has been going on lately. A lot actually, but even as I say as much information scatters inside my brain, hiding in dark niches where I can’t for the life of me find it. Grrr.
First off, we had our first two days off at work, so that was nice, the fact that it followed up on a really short hour and a half on Sunday morning, only made it better. Hah. Big brother and I had an appointment in Ronda, and for that reason we had asked to just rush through the chores, preparing everything for our replacement of the day, and then hitting the road. Made use of the opportunity and got all dressed up. I mean, it’s not often that I get to go out socially, so I might as well have some fun with it. Was all color coordinated, special hat, big earrings and even a bit of makeup. It’s been ages, but it was fun.
Had everything packed, Knight II in the back, apple/pears/cranberry pie and plenty of water, and then we realized we’d forgotten this big bag of dog food that we were supposed to take along. So, the forty minutes earlier we had planned on, turned into fifteen minutes later on our way into the mountains. It was a wonderful trip, by the way. We like to take the winding road, seeing as it will keep us on our toes, and were properly awed once again by the nature reserve we passed through on the way there. It’s a 1:45 trip, and Knight II loved every second of it. The lug has a need for speed, I tell ya.
Anyway, the day was a beautiful one, sunshine and a fresh breeze. What more could you possible want. We arrived at a quarter to two, missing a turn only once before driving straight to the property where invited to have lunch. A nice place there. A bit of deserted mountain slope overlooking Ronda’s valley and the mountains in the distance. Huge cork oaks, interspersed by small patches of recently planted apple trees (well, they’re tiny little things, really. Can’t actually call them trees, since they’re babies, but you get my drift.)
The moment we pulled to a halt we were welcomed by a gorgeous Vizsla under two years of age (her name’s Chi) who’s the pride and joy of our hosts for the day. She was barking up a storm, which only got worse when Knight II emerged from the car and eyed her warily from where he hid behind my legs. My hero.
The other dog, a massive mutt named Benito, came sniffing immediately, but otherwise gave no objection to our arrival. So there we went, pie in hand, into the courtyard/terrace where Chris was trying to calm poor Chi down now that the lug was intruding on her territory. It took us a moment to recognize, Chris, by the way. Last time we saw him he had a somewhat shaggy beard, hiding half his face, so we were like “who is that? Could it be…” then of course he started talking and we were both like “oh, right. Chris!” and went through the nice-to-see-yous and all that. I gotta say, bearless does him well. Hah. Anyways, Chris is the one in charge of setting up an apple orchard, so those little trees are his babies. Just FIY.
What followed were introductions to two of Chris’s friends and of course saying hi to Maggy and Maarten our hosts. Knight II was properly oohed and aahed over, and he was a true gentleman, going through the pats like the stoic Knight he is. Hah. Don’t be fooled, he loves the attention. Remember market days how he’d sit in his chair eying people who came to admire him and wanting to take pictures of him? He loves that.
But anyway, lunch was a wonderfully drawn out affair with relaxed talk, some laughter, Knight slobbering all over the place, and wonderful food. Not bad for our first luncheon, eh?
There was a quiet walk afterward (good for the Knight, too) more talking about the past and future, which was nice, and before we knew it the day came to an end and we had to load Knight into the car (he was more than eager, the big lug. It’d been a long day for him, poor darling) and start on the way back.
We couldn’t resist trying out a shortcut, of course. There’s this big looping road over there in Ronda, which is really roundabout, so we guessed at a certain small turn-off that should cut off the entire loop, and sure, within no time we were up at the main road again, shaving off a couple of miles. Gotta love the shortcuts…good thing, too, since we decided to go back over San Pedro which was a massive roundabout way of getting back. Hah. We didn’t get back until after ten in the evening where I found Labhana with a badly swollen ear. Aaaargh.
Poor darling was uncomfortable but there was little to do about it seeing as it was hardly an emergency. Would have to wait until Monday, and until later n the day since first we had to bring the car to the garage for her service, drop little sister off at work, take grandpa to a lab for some blood tests and then to our insurance broker to clear up some mess that was caused due to problems at the bank. Ever since ours was taken over by Santander all our regular billings are being messed up, darn it. But anyway, there was plenty to do once we got back, leaving the city car to mom who had to go out, too. I had planned on cooking, but it turned out that there just wasn’t any time for anything remotely elaborate.
We had to get ready for Tuesday, which was a work day up in the mountains while little sister did her second day at the job. There was the concrete mixer to fix, tools to gather, cement to load up and all those little things necessary for a day of pouring concrete. We were actually looking forward to it, in particular since the weather sites were predicting a nice sunny day.
But anyway, I left big brother to it while I took Labhana and Knight II to the vet. The latter for his checkup, and the first to have her operated. I noticed in the morning that it wasn’t just a swollen ear but an actual abscess, meaning she had to be operated. First they wanted to keep her during the night so they could do it first thing in the morning, but when I asked they agreed to do her quickly before closing time. Little sweetheart was a gem all through the examination, and was toddling after me the moment I came to pick her up right before closing time. She couldn’t wait to be home regardless of her cone collar.
Luckily grandpa was there to take care of her the next day while big brother and I woke early for the last few preparations for our construction job. Knight II went right along, but I already noticed that he wasn’t feeling well when he got into the car. He was pulling his leg a little, and had refused to eat in the morning as well as the night before. Regardless, we had to head on out, drop little sister off at work and then drive through with the trailer in tow.
A good day pouring concrete. First setting up, of course, taking out big rocks, unloading the future cabin from our big trailer which we brought there some weeks ago, and then leveling the ground so we could start on the cabin. Went well, but I was mighty worried about Knight whose paw for some unfathomable reason had started swelling from noon, and who started shaking somewhere in the middle of the day and still refused to eat. Finally called the vet to ask if I could hop by before closing time, and luckily they were willing to wait for our arrival. His pneumonia had gotten a little worse again, and his paw had, by this time, swollen to twice its size. He was so miserable, and considering he had a fever once more, he is now back on antibiotics, darn it. Luckily the swelling, quieted down as soon as I started giving him homeopathic Apis, meaning that I was right when the small lump on the bottom of his foot reminded me of an insect bite. By now it’s almost back to normal, thankfully. He’s also eating normally again, so the worry is subsiding a bit.
What else? Well, we finally managed to get in some exercise today. Made a decision this morning to go for a jog after work, and went through with it, Yay. Was nice, even though my stamina is down to half the distance I used to be. My foot was a little battered afterward, but not excruciating, so I would say it was a good thing. I missed jogging…also it was excellent for Knight who trotted after me reluctantly. He would have preferred riding the car with grandpa, following closely behind. He went the distance, though, so he was a good boy.
Managed to eat some meat the other day, so I was a good Sammie…kinda. It was only a teeny slab, but it’s the thought that counts, right?
I have an appointment at the consulate this Monday together with middle sister, so I figure I might as well clean myself up a little by cutting my hair this morning. Took of a total of an inch and a half (I know! Don’t gasp. It’s horrid, but it had to be done. The ends were getting way thin again) which no one noticed of course. I mean, I come into a room, look around once and see in a single glance if someone cut their hair, but over here, unless I stand in front of them, saying “so, what do you think?” turning this way and that, practically aiming neon signs toward the area, anyone is unlikely to notice unless I decide on a Mohawk, or something. *snort* I mean, seriously, I came in at work the other day, was one step into kitchen when I saw the cleaner and said, “You cut your hair!” which no one had noticed yet. It’s insane. How can you not notice something like that. Mostly it changes the entire facial shape, for crying out loud.
Okay, that was my rant for the day. Hah. It is not like it’s important, or anything, it just astounds me sometimes how rarely people notice such things.
Had two trips to the garage for the car, since they couldn’t finish up on Monday, and needed it back on Wednesday. Had a nice long talk with our mechanic, asking him how much a new paint job would cost. €1200,- Yikes! But, he told us, we could also order this new kind of paint that you roll on with a small roller, and which dries just like spray paint, for around € 100,- Really fascinating and tempting but really not doable in the campo where dust is, like, par for the course. Which is where having your favorite private garage of five years, with your own mechanics (I consider them friends these days, actually) comes in. He offered that if we wanted to, we could come to the shop some weekend and do the painting there ourselves, if we wanted to.
Duh! That would be so cool. It would make the car look nice again rather than just like the work-horse it is. Hah. And we also think that in case of an emergency it would make the car more likely to bring up a good price in the event that we are forced to sell in the future. Of course this had the mechanic sputter that the car ran like a dream and wouldn’t get much more with a paint job. Always nice to hear that a mechanic thinks that your car runs like a dream! Hah.
Cooking: So there was the pie experiment for the Sunday lunch. It was a chestnut and normal flour mix for the dough, and added to the spices that I used, it was a potent pie. You should try it sometimes when you’re using nutmeg and cinnamon to add a bit of black pepper. It really adds some kick to the mix. And the vanilla, bitter almond drops, and lemon concentrate only add to it. I’m so going to add this one to my cook book. Yay.
As for other experiments…I had another good back of pattie dough. Buckwheat again. Finally balanced out the herbs, cheese and structure. Even little sister complimented that the last one was a particularly tasteful batch.
Spent the afternoon, after getting home from work and our jog, getting together metal roof plating and wooden boards which had been sent flying during the last storm. The wind was blowing, so it was a tad dangerous. It all went well enough, right until I was going downhill with one of the large plates, and lost my footing. Had a slight dislocation of my hip going there, which had me freezing on my sore bum needing to ask big brother to pull my leg straight. Darned loose joint. Luckily it popped right back, making me sore is all.
Been doing a lot of reading lately, seeing as I finally have a touch screen phone (hate the darn thing for anything except reading and music. Strangely enough it has particularly good sound. Hah) and am able to fit in a reading session every free minute during the course of the day.
Neither tenant nor Sally are doing well at the moment. The first is feeling poorly with some sort of strange virus, and Sally is on a downward slope that is going faster by the day, according to the health workers at the hospice. She has stopped wanting to drink, and they have decided to stop forcing her simply because he body his barely functioning anymore. The quality of her life has reached a point now that maintaining her life would just be unfair to her, seeing as she is only lying in bed now, her eyes closed, and no longer responding to anything. Sad news that, but we knew it was coming, I suppose. Not much longer now.
And though I hate leaving the blog on that note, there isn’t much more to tell at this time. In regard to town hall, we’re still waiting. No news on any of the publishers. On the overall the other dogs are all still doing well. Life is still busy. And anything else that happened has fled my brain completely…don’t you just hate only weekly blogs? I can’t even keep you properly informed of everything going on. *sigh*
Gotta go.
