Song of the day: “International love” by Pitbull and Chris Brown, of course. Not the deepest song you can imagine, but what the heck.
Right. Lots of time past since my last post, hasn’t there? Well, I’ve been keeping busy, a necessary thing also because I get bugged a lot (in my head) if I don’t keep active. Rather annoying, but since I get paid to work anyway, I’ll consider it a good thing.
Sooooo, what’s been going on? There have been some trips into town. Basically getting the necessities that any workshop needs. Haven’t been able to find a proper work bench, either on-line, or at the local shops, so I decided to wait until I find something affordable, and good. Instead I’ve put together a couple of work benches from old pallets, and dove into the big pile of wood that was meant for burning in the near future to take out old wooden beams that have now been incorporated into perfectly fine work benches.
Did buy some wood. First to heighten gates that the dogs have been scaling. Managed one without needing to buy anything, but I simply didn’t have enough for two. Secondly, the main house needs proper shelving in one of the cupboards, so I need to get those cut…by hand, mind you, because I don’t have a circle, or a jigsaw yet. *sigh* Life is hard when you’re cooping. Hah.
Also been sorting through the meager supplies of tools, so far, digging through rubbish and finding old ones that are perfectly fine to use too. I’ll get this set up yet.
Also ordered three proper shelving units. Sure, I could have made them myself, but I’d have needed more tools too, along with wood, etc, meaning time. So I’ve got three proper units, nice and sturdy, that I’m putting together bit by bit.
Since the digs through the waste stack in the yard, I have managed to scrounge up some workable woods, which is reassuring. Not by far enough, but I can work with it at least.
Been trying to familiarize myself with the area. Went out a couple of times…first time I got lost on all the tiny little roads, found my way back, thankfully, and now there’s a TomTom in the car making that a lot easier…of course the second time I went out I’d tried so many roads the first time that I already knew where to go without it. Hah. Will be handy for new locations, though.
The supermarkets are very different here. The sequence of how the products are placed, the products themselves, the people, lots to learn…like the other day I had to gas up and couldn’t get the blasted thing to open. So I asked three guys that passed if they had a clue, and they either looked annoyed with the question (didn’t have a clue in other words) and one looked frightened as if he was expecting me to rob him, or something. Anyway, in the end I found this little lever under the front seat that opened it up. Phew. What a relief. Also had to “top up” my phone. Didn’t know it was called that, so the poor boy at the gas station was all confused when I asked if it was possible to charge my phone there. Had a good laugh about that later.
Had a visit at a builders supplier, which was fun. I’m going to need a friggin’ dictionary because they use completely different words for everything here. I asked him about certain sizes, materials, and the poor guy looked at me as if I was talking Chinese. We did figure it out in the end, though. And though they doubted that it would be possible before the weekend, the next day they came to deliver the lot for me. Yay. Then I didn’t have my work area yet, though, so all I could do with the stuff was put it away, but still. Yay. Nice fella. Will probably be seeing more of him in the near future.
What else. Well, I’ve been doing some tree pruning. I know, not the right time of year, but some of these babies are looking completely neglected, and I just can’t help myself. Spent about an hour doing that yesterday, and since the sun was shining that was rather nice. I mean, what more can you want, right? Sunshine, a bit of music, plants to talk with. I was very relaxed afterward.
Since no one is vying for the honor of cooking, I’ve been doing a lot of it, which is nice. Had a nice curry yesterday…I know, curry’s are not my favorite either, but it went down nicely enough.
Also, there was a rather impromptu dinner for a supposedly picky eater (nothing too spicy or too strong in taste), which came out rather successfully. There were jokes of stealing me away as a cook, so, I’m thinking it went well. Hah. The meal did work out nicely. I had a starter rainbow salad (all the colors I could get basically) with deviled eggs. They are very fond of their eggs here, apparently, so that whetted the appetite for the main course. A penne pasta with a white wine/cheese sauce, tastefully enhanced by fresh garden herbs. I was told that the guest didn’t like spices or herbs at all, but the way I figured it had more to do with the combinations and effects of said spices and herbs. I kept the tastes mild, soft, and creamy, and it was good.
Today I made a pumpkin soup for lunch, because I am trying to maintain my diet of proper feeding despite me keeping busy and sometimes forgetting to stop and eat. Luckily around six the work day comes to an end, and I can focus on cooking something that will keep my nutritional intake up-to-date, so to speak. Hah.
So far the weather has been relatively mild. There’s been rain, sunshine and lots and lots of clouds…which reminds me, there are lots of air balloons around these past, just yesterday one almost landed on top of us, which drove the dogs here a wee bit bonkers.
As for the proper attire over here…I’ve got myself some willies, aka rubber boots, (yay!) a good wax raincoat, and a matching Australian bush hat of real leather that is supposedly water proof. Let the rains begin…well, not right this instance, and not permanently, please, but I’ll take ‘m all for a “test drive” just as soon as the opportunity arises.
Hauled around some trees…nothing big, mind you. 5-6 foot long at most, ten, maybe fifteen inches thick. The gates here are not properly installed to keep lively dogs inside, so I needed to put in some emergency thresholds. They won’t be permanent, since it needs to look better than this, but for now it’ll do. I call it a workout. *wink*
Been working with the animals some as well, in particular obedience training. They are eager to learn but working with bigger groups than just one or two, is difficult. You’ll have the full attention of a dog, and are trying to make it sit, or lay down, only to have it be distracted by some other nimwit jumping at the treat you’re trying to use as a lure to make it obey. Hah. Still, all things considered; not bad.
I might have good news in the near future, but I don’t want to jinx it, so I won’t share just yet. Might be nothing too, so it has no use to get you all excited about it anyway. Hah. We’ll see.
Will be going home for a visit in September, by the way. First big brother will come to visit, help me out a little, and then I’ll fly back with him to be home with my lovelies for a day or two. Can wait to see my Knight and Sitabah and Daxie…even Tadaika, and Indigo, and Jelly, and all the others. Very difficult to be away from the lot like this.
Less than six month to go, I have to keep reminding myself of that.
But, it’s not all bad. I am adjusting, I think. There are moments I can just let go and enjoy the scenery, or the work. Right now I’m still running on a basis, “be busy or crash” thing, but even that should get less bad at some point…I hope.
The foot…well, on that part things are pretty good at the moment. I wonder if it has to do with the flat ground, or the softness of it, or something, because despite the heavy boots I’m wearing most of the day, I’m not suffering from extremely painful conditions. How’s that for strange, eh. A positive thing.
Well, that about sums up the past week. Sure there have been unpleasant moments, and frictions and human interactions that might have gone better, but I rather focus on the nicer stuff, ya know. Heck, I even got some edits done.
Saying that, I have some concerns about the home front. Apparently Knight II is having some trouble eating, which could have to do with the warm weather there, but still. And grandpa had himself a scare while he was out in the yard. He stubbed his foot somewhere and ended up bleeding all over the place. Makes me worried that his blood thinners might be doing their job a bit too well. Apparently he had to apply pressure a long time before it stopped bleeding.
As to anything else. I’m too tired now…sorry. I’ll be back.
