Plenty to do

Song of the day: “Love Runs Out” by One Republic. I’ve heard that they’re all it, but this is the first song of theirs that jumped out at me. Yeah, I know. New song, right? Well, I have been listening to radio a lot again, meaning that I actually hear some new stuff occasionally, rather than just my favorites on iTunes.

Well, it’s been understandably busy. But for the good news is that Big brother was here for the last couple of days, which thankfully took the pressure off me for a bit. Good thing is, he managed to figure out how to operate the mowing machines, so we both spent a solid afternoon on a couple of mowing machines, mowing the two acres of lawn that had grown out of control. Was fun, for about an hour. Then it just got tedious. Added to that, it isn’t looking all that grand because the grass was so long, and really needed some serious hacking. But no matter. Will do it again in a day or two, which should improve the looks considerably.

Big brother also spent some time chopping firewood, which is one of our favorite occupations, naturally. Hah. Seriously, it is a wonderful bit of exercise.
In the meanwhile, as he sorted out the machines, the wood and a dying conifer…am going to have to order some serious support poles for a hedge of conifers. I think they were placed fully grown, meaning that they can’t keep themselves up yet. Will have to place about eighty poles when the time comes.

Been training the dogs here for quite a bit. They’re a disaster going through gates, so I’m either letting them through one at a time, or making them sit before they are let through. The youngsters are just so boisterous. Have had an occasional one sharing the night with me, which is nice. Reminds me of my four-legged-ones, which is a mixed blessing, really. Still miss them badly…but on the other hand, I’m going back for a two day visit, nine days from now, I should be able to survive that. Added to that, grandpa assures me that they’re doing fine, and that Sitabah is even rather fond of him, which is a pleasant surprise. He told me that this morning, Sitabah and Knight were playing on their way up the mountain.

So, what have I been doing so far? I’ve trained dogs, fed them, cleaned up after them, mowed lawns, hosed terraces with a pressure washer, cooked many a meal (a perk, that one), picked blackberries, fixed fences, fixed gates, trimmed trees, trimmed bushes, worked the yard, built a shoe rack, filled holes in walls, repaired a gate handle, set up a workshop, scavenged wood, did shopping, for food, clothes, and tools. Hung curtains, went to a salvage yard, several construction companies, DIY stores, vacuumed floors plenty of times, arranged flowers, cleaned out cat litter, played with cats and dogs and many more things that just aren’t worth mentioning. Let’s just say I’m keeping busy doing the stuff I know how to do. Not a bad way to spend the day…and so far the weather has been benevolent toward me. Might be it is lulling me into a false sense of security. Hah

Was a good girl and did exercises several times. Not as much as I should have, but some at least. Hah. Added to that, I had some treatments from a genuine physical therapist, who gladly tortured me for an hour both times he visited. Aaargh. Gawd, my back hasn’t been this sore in years.

Even managed an edit or two, despite the fact that after 10 in the evening my eyes start to droop somewhat badly.

My foot was absolutely fine, and then, on a dewy evening I went out for a walk on my new Wellies, and since then the stupid thing has been causing me all sorts of trouble. Seriously, I’ve been wanting to chop it off again.

But anyway, to get back to the fun parts. I did some serious experimenting food wise. Most in this place is organic and high quality and so far I’ve got a 90 percent success rate, I think. The trick is to keep cooking for yourself. The moment you start trying to guess what others will like, you mess up.
I got a squash again, so I’m definitely going for soup again. Nothing is quite a nutritional as a squash soup.

As to anything else…well, emotionally things are still iffy. I have my good moments when I’m just working pleasantly, content with whatever activity I’m busy, while there are other moments when a panic attack will hit me in the face, or I’ll miss something from home somewhat fierce. The latter doesn’t change anything, really. It is just a waste of time. I agreed to this “adventure” and I will darn well see it through, even when there is a part of me that still acts like that scared little six year old going out for a sleep over with a friend, only to end up insisting (in tears) that “mommy” comes pick her up. Annoying kid. It should just grow up. I’m nearing forty, for crying out loud! I should be friggin able to handle six months on my own, for EFFING sake.

But anyway. Three weeks in, only…well, that is depressing to think of, so let’s skip finishing that sentence, shall we. Hah.

Be that as it may, in the mean time I get to play with power tools. Got a basic set of hand saws, circle saws, jigsaws and hacksaws now. (used most already) Screw drivers. Hammers. Drills. Sanding machines. Crowbars. Axe. Got a chainsaw under way. Along with a hedge cutter and a strimmer. Got a nice assortment of screws, nails and the likes going, but that is going to take more time. I mean, I fondly remember our own workshop from way back when, before the disaster: A supply like that takes years to gather…darn it.
As it is, I got some wood from my scavenge trips all over the property, and from my trip to the salvage yard…the latter is ridiculously expensive, though, meaning that we’ll be better off getting new wood that we’ll then have to treat and batter until it looks like old. Hah.

Things I’m planning on making: A couple of night stands.
A small shelving set to hang in the kitchen. And a coffee table, which is starting to get very necessary. When I’ll have the time, that is the question. LOL
Added to that, there is loads of painting to be done. Barns, sheds, not to mention the woodwork in the house.
Then there is the garden to think of. Small trees that need to be transplanted. Bushes and trees that need to be cut back. Electrical wiring that needs to be put in for lighting around the house, as well as the fountain for the pond that I need to find and have installed. So I’ll have plenty to do this winter…and that brings us to the end of today’s blog, because it is after eleven, and already my eyes are starting to go half-mast…bloody things.

I’ll be back…at some point.

Too short days

Song of th day: “Rapper’s delight” by the Sugar Hill Gang. Cool song, in particular when you’re digging, and need to walk to and fro the wheelbarrow over uneven patches of ground. It made for quite a sight, I tell ya, and I assure you that I made very sure that no one was around to see it. Hah. Good song to swing to. Made digging a lot nicer.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Saturday’s first, then Sunday, and then, of course, today. *sigh*
Well, the usual stuff, naturally. Laundry, dog food, the feeding as much as the preparing, followed by editing.

Managed only a few pages on Saturday, which was a pain in the behind since also I wouldn’t manage a lot on market day, right? But anyway, after the edit (strangely enough like before, Saving Nina makes us break out in the occasional argument) we had to do some minor repairs in the house.

While I was doing the digging, big brother worked on the trunk of the eucalyptus tree, going through roots and in the end just wrenching the darn thing out while Cousin Ed and I loaded up the trailer for market day. Afterward big brother and I spent some time cutting wood up by the storage with the chainsaws. Got quite a bit done before it was time to head out for the food donation for the doggies. Got a good load, thanks to the drug rehab place. *sigh*

Once home we dined on French fries and other fried stuff, which went down well. Am glad to say that at the end of the day we did manage to reach our daily goal of ten pages. Yay. Which is not something I can say about Sunday which was of course spent at the market.

Started the day with a weird dream about us having to dig this massive, almost giant tree out of a pile of gravel. Where that came from I don’t know, but seriously, it was downright weird.

Yep, selling wise it wasn’t a bad day, but regretfully with today’s economy folks are in no big rush to buy anything significant. Lots of interest, lots of touching, talking and looking, but buying…? Nope. *sigh* Ah well, at least we made our expenses, and I did manage to add another two pages to the sci-fi story I’m working on.

Had a wonderful chat with this older English guy. Met him several times already, and we got to talking about how he was going back to England because his mom was getting on in years and needed help. For that reason he was on the market, trying to get rid of some of his stuff, rather than toss it away. He, and two of his friends (Austrian and Denish) decided that he would like to donate his stuff to us rather than bother standing on the market again.

He gave me his card so I could give him a ring next week and meet up somewhere to get his stuff loaded up. Since he’s a nice dude, I didn’t mind going with that arrangement.

There might be troubles up ahead for the Funny Beach market, because the customers aren’t coming in the amounts they were hoping for. There is already talk of bringing it down to once a month, which would be a pity, considering it is such a nice place. Ah well, we’ll see.

My friggin’ foot was killing me at the end of the day, but then what else is new, right? Kids that kept falling into our baskets with small toys were a wonderful distraction, though. They are just not resistant against that. Hah. Even sold a few, yay.

No more fun stuff to tell, since once we got home big brother and I headed out again immediately for a donation in town. I know. Shouldn’t do those on Sundays. *sigh* It wasn’t much, but what the hey, bits and pieces will get you there.

Had to phone the garage this morning to let them know that I couldn’t come in today. I totally forgot that Sally had to go to hospital for chemo, so I couldn’t drop the Land Rover off. They were understanding about it, and I really do have to start remembering not to pick Monday’s for the garage because I can’t cancel during the weekends because they’re closed then. Meaning I have to wait ‘till the last possible moment, darn it. I hate that. But they said it was okay to bring the car in tomorrow instead, so it’s okay.

There were the normal chores, followed by helping tenant while caregiver was out with Sally to hospital. Once I’d set her up with breakfast and coffee, big brother and I went to work at the edit again and managed about four pages before chores of the day demanded our attention.

First there was tenant to walk down to the house since she was going to visit with mom for the day.

Lots of digging afterward (involving Rapper’s delight, hehehe) and figuring out how much further we have to go. And then going up to see how we’re going to do the counters, which materials we’ll be using and all that jazz. Very exciting, all, despite the fact that the days just seem to be too short these days. *sigh*

Did cooking. Pumpkin with vegetable mix, on chickpea patties. Need the nutrients, and the taste is pretty good to boot. Had to interrupt the cooking session to pick up tenant and bring her back to her place. Once she was set up with food, (later I had to help her to bed too, since caregiver was still out) big brother and I got our own portions and got back to work on the edit once more…I know, I know, so boring eh, all that editing, but at the moment that is really part of our daily efforts…less than a month now until the competition. I would like to say I’m excited, or nervous, but I’m not. I’m not going to waste time on hoping. We’re going to see one way or other. Hah.

Then tonight, while writing this blog, well, close to midnight really, caregiver came home, informing us that Sally was going to have to stay at the hospital again, due to a very slight fever…which is why they spent the majority of the day in the waiting room of the ER. Bet that drove them bonkers.

Nasty bit of news is that Knight II's front left paw is now swollen. I don't what he did, where, or how, but he makes me want to scream. I should just strangle him, the idiot, with his crappy immune system Grrrr.
Well, that’s it for me. I’m off to bed.

Blank much? Yep.

Song of the day: “Crawling” by Linkin Park. Weird, huh? I was thinking about the song yesterday, and that I hadn’t heard it in ages, so I looked it up on youtube and it’s been in my head every since…along with Eimear Quin’s “The voice”, which is a complete opposite, I fear.

So, so, so…lemme just gather my thoughts here, because as of this very moment I am blanking about the last couple of days. Oh yeah. The weather was pretty good. Cold, sure, but sunny at the very least. So what with the sun being out we spent the last couple of days in the basin and greenhouse. Seriously, my day (today and yesterday) were spent in “the pit” so to speak, stuccoing the wall twice. It went well, so I’m not complaining. There was some sun during the process, keeping me from freezing.

Tenant spent yesterday there with us, but today she was too tired and stayed on my porch instead because the temperature was pleasant there, and she didn’t want to go through the hassle (her words) of going all the way down.

Other stuff that has been going on…hmmm.
OMG, I found a book in the recycle bin, and I couldn’t resist. It was a Jayne Ann Krentz after all, and since she is one of my favorite authors and I don’t know the story yet (Sharp Edges) I almost dove into the bin and took it home with me.

Can you tell that I am missing my book-buying-budget? I can, and it ain’t pretty. I wonder how deep I’ll stoop for a good book. Seriously, the thing is tattered, dirty and it smells a little, but I’m having a blast with it. Hah.

Where was I? Oh yes. We worked on the basin walls, and yesterday big brother finished the natural rock stairs leading up from the greenhouse. It is beautiful, I assure you, and it worked out perfectly. All the steps are of similar height and the platform at the top is flat as a dime. Seriously, it might be the best stairs yet.

While big brother worked on a second plant container inside the greenhouse, I finished the wall in the basin and went down to start on the lazy stairs underneath the lowest gate of the yard. What with our friend basically living in the old pool quarters, and the fact that she already went flying face first into the beets over there, I figured I better get to it fast. Worked out splendidly too. I was going for a ruin like appearance and it came true. It looks wonderfully old in fact.

The dogs didn’t like this particular chore, by the way, considering I had to keep the gate open, but had to keep them at bay at the same time, got them rather frustrated. Seriously, Knight II was dancing right in front of me, nose half an inch from mine the whole time, while Amri lay at a slight distance, balefully watching the show.
The rest just barged through, because let’s be honest, you can’t be away from the boss when the gate is right open, right? Hah.

There was laundry, cooking and chores, of course, but who gives a rat’s behind about that, eh? Edits have been going steadily. A.I.L. last (paper) edit is at about a quarter, and the letter is basically done as well. Soon we’ll see how this particular is going to work with the publishers.

Dog-wise: Touri has an ear infection again. I did some research on the matter, and soon I’m going to try that out…that is, if I can manage catching the little runt. He really doesn’t like for anyone to touch his ears.

Well, I’m sore, I need a shower, food and then there is more work to be done, (luckily I like to work eh?) so I better get to it. I would like to get to bed at a decent hour tonight.

A little vague.

Song of the day: “Haven’t met you yet,” Michael Buble. I know, I never would have thought I’d like his songs but this one stuck around for some reason. Hah.

Regretfully I don’t remember yesterday’s song, darn it. Ah well, never mind.
Let’s see if my memory works better for the activities…I doubt it. Hah.

Yesterday the weather was downright marvellous, I do remember that. Our tenant had a lovely (warm) time on my porch, and her ascend onto the stairs went rather well. She rather enjoys the buzz going on around her.

Middle sister and I worked on her desk, both yesterday and today (today was miserably cold the moment I stepped out of the sunshine, by the way. Gawd I hate that northern wind) and minus a few little cosmetic touches that still need to be done, she should be able to start painting by tomorrow. The new drawers are sturdy, finished and in, yay. The delicately worked finishing slats are up, and minus one little construction error that we corrected today (in a rather cute fashion, I’ll admit) it all worked out splendidly.

It still needs the back cover, and a lick of paint, but what with the new bottom I put in and the sturdy legs, it should hold for at least another decade, or so. It’ll be fun to find out. Hah.

At the same time big brother has put in the drain under the carport, which should be ready in time because the weather forecasts are predicting heavy rains later this week. Oh my Gawd. Please no…though, admittedly it would be great for nature around here. It was a rather dry summer, so it really is necessary, darn it. That doesn’t mean I gotta like it, though.

Little sister reached a milestone today, she put in her first shelve on her own. It looks great, and what with the new doors in front of the cabinet in the kitchen, for which she made it, the kitchen is finally completed. Yay.

Little brother has been tackling the patio inside door, which was looking wretched from intense use for ten years, and lots of dogs trying to get through on a daily basis. Considering that we’re going to put in thick glass this time, it should hold for a bit this time.

The laundry machine is still giving me a lot of grieve. It just doesn’t want to turn on for me, so I’m resorting to calling big brother at ever occasion, who then somehow manages to get the machine on. It’s just freaky. It’s like the bloody machine just doesn’t like me, or something. Hah,

Oh my, how could I have forgotten, we had a flat tire on the Land Rover, so we had our first experience in changing it the other day. It wasn’t all that hard, really, and now we’ve got the spare on, because we need to take the tire to the shop, to see if they can repair it. We would have done it already if the shops weren’t closed again due to a local Holiday, involving Saint Nicholas.

My shiner is…oh wait, I forgot to write about that the other day, didn’t I. Well, I was experiencing a freaky day of clumsiness, that’s a fact. First I got in the car and bumped my head on the ceiling, like, hard. Yikes. Then several hours later, I bent over while we were hanging this humongous board on the ceiling of the carport, and at the same time big brother lifted a chair…which then slammed me right in the noggin’ (forehead, this time) with the stick end of the back. Crap!
And then, last but not least, I was just about recovering from the long day, stretching out on my bed, when Sitabah (Weimaraner) decided she wanted on the bed too and tried to jump over the others to get there. I was only in time to see a flurry of gray coming towards me, and wham: Her friggin’ bony knee slams into my right cheekbone, sending me backwards, wondering whether to throttle her, or just keep quiet until pounding sensation subsided a little. I decided on the latter.
But anyway, the shiner is almost gone again, so it was minor to say the least, and though the other spots are a little tender, all things considered it wasn’t all that bad.

As for today, the fire barrel was burning cheerily most of the day, of course. That wind was a genuine pain in the butt, I tell ya.
I made dinner this afternoon, because let’s face it, when working in the cold a warm meal is detrimental for all concerned.
The dogs would have loved a bite too, but I persevered, and kept them at bay until I had finished my share. They too like the burning barrel, by the way. I swear, if we don’t watch them closely, some of the dogs will actually try to lie against it while the metal is literally scorching their fut.

…And considering I can’t think of another thing to write about, other than that we’re making good progress with the proofreading. Managed to do a total of forty pages in the past couple of days, yay. Which reminds me, I need to get to it, like, right now…

Scouring the news. Grrr

Song of the day: “Black Pearl” by Bryan Adams, preceded by “Something Stupid” from Robbie Williams and Nicole Kidman. Now this is what I call diversity, hah.

So let me drop the bomb without hesitation, Spanish political parties are as insane as any other government in the world. Let me explain why: The social party has come with a proposal to pay restitution to the descendants of the Moors, which got the choice “convert, or go in exile” and chose the latter. Now here’s the kicker, they are proposing to offer restitution for what happened…yes, hold onto your hat…what happened in 1492. Oh my gawd! That would be equal to the French paying restitution to Germany for finally throwing out the riffraff after the war, or the Indonesian people paying the Dutch for kicking their buts in the 1900s and taking back their country. Seriously, this kind of crap boggles the mind.

Next cute little bit; According to astronomers there is the disturbing news that for a while now there are less and less explosions occurring on the sun. Said scientists are afraid that the Sun might very well be dying, or DEAD…which, according to them, isn’t all bad because it would make our global warming a rather good thing (I don’t know how they can say this considering the heat isn’t our only problem, hah.) since it would mean that we are heading towards what could very well be an ice age. Aaargh.

Another nice tidbit, there’s going to be an increase in energy prices…so technically with the so called energy and money saving machines and light bulbs we’re going to pay less for more. Marvelous, how very Feng Shui. It almost makes me think that the governments discovered that if people were going to pay less they would decrease the government’s taxes, or something. Now that simply won’t do of course.

I also read a study where they say that newborns of mothers with stressful jobs often have the same shortage in their weight as newborns from smoking mothers. Huh? So does that mean they can just trank future moms during pregnancy, because otherwise her “way of life” is harmful for the baby. I mean, they are basically forcing everything else already, right?

But anyway, this revelation logically would lead me to the conclusion that maybe they made a slight error in judgment amount all those studies of smoking being harmful for babies, ´cause let’s face it, smokers are often people who have a tendency to be stressful. (which is the reason they smoke, right?) And, often smokers are of the working class so maybe the smoking theory was slightly biased. But no, this connection isn’t made. Hah.

In the UK the government can now take away ones’ kids if that kid is obese…Seriously, why not take kids away at birth while they’re born and put them in little children factories where they are prepared be useful little drones for society. *Sigh* (yes that was sarcasm for ya)

The European Union is planning to give a raise to all civil servants of 3.4 percent, and that while we’re in an economic crisis. Who, I wonder, is going to pay for that. Duh. I prefer to laugh about this sort of thing, ‘cause if you don’t, you have to cry. Hah.

The bird-flue is now and endemic in China, the Mexican flue is supposedly a pandemic and if the two mix, first one incredibly deadly, and the second contagious…why, you can say by bye. Then there is also the massive virus that is wreaking havoc in the Ukraine (it already killed over two hundred people, while at least a million are infected and yet I only saw one official notification of it) which apparently turns the lungs into charcoal. Why they would force anyone to vaccinate for the flue is a mystery to me if I think about it. Sort of defeats the purpose if there’s a risk of my lungs turning into charcoal, huh?

Yep, lots of wonderful things going on the world.

Now doesn’t news like that just cheer a body up? I mean seriously, who has time to worry about the economy with stuff like that going on. I sure don’t.

But enough about all that, let’s get on to stuff that is a little less depressing, shall we. What has been going on for the past couple of days? Edits, chores and laundry, of course, while at the same time we are preparing the expansion of the carport roof. What with the temperatures constantly dropping and the first rainy day behind us already, we figure we’re going to need it soon.

First, though, we replaced a couple of corrugated plates on the patio with transparent ones. Considering we need the metal ones for the carport’s expansion, we thought to take the opportunity to create some more light in the patio with the transparent plating. Worked out fine, allowing us to continue on with carport today. Last night I already put together the steeple, so today we should be able to put up the pillars and screw it all together.

While yesterday was miserable weather with thick, misty clouds and rain, at least there was no wind. Today, on the other hand, you can almost take flight in the wind. Yikes. It feels like ice on my skin, and that while I’m wearing a long sleeved T a thick woolen military sweater and a fleece body warmer. Aargh. Luckily, I got me some gloves during shopping, hah. I am using my electric stove for three days now, darn it, ‘cause my cabin is really cold in the evening. Even the poor doggies are clustering together for warmth during the night now.

Our tenant is slowly improving, which is grand to see. Walking (with help yet) is getting easier and more sure, and with a variety of exercises, she is slowly getting mobility in her arm back as well. Stupid physical therapists.

Projects in waiting are, another glass and wood wall for the living room this time, new stairs in the patio, along with a rock wall to cover the natural wall that is already there, and the new furniture for little brother’s room. Yep, still plenty to do…and I should get to it. Hah

Weird.

Song of the day: “Bop Bop Baby” by Westlife. That’s a first, I think. Didn’t have this one before.

It was a busy couple of days, and since I still don’t really have time, I’m going to keep it really short…I hope.

Yesterday involved some masonry, seeing as we needed another rock plant container down by the old bus/apartment, where the last of to remaining plants had to be placed. A nice big container built in one day, so it was a job well done.

Twenty-five, forty pounds bags of dog food were delivered so they had to be hauled down; excellent exercise for me. There was also some organizing and the like, which meant hauling building debris that was still lying about, up outside the gate.

Again, there was cleaning…it just never stops, does it…finally managed to clean all the kitchen drawers and decided to sweep the shelving to boot. Still doing proofreading, writing and…well then there was a slight family emergency that took up most of the night, (seriously, you don’t want to know) and the following morning.

Considering that we had already planned to do the groceries today, we were in a bit of a rush heading out, but luckily the actual groceries got done fast and everything worked out, leaving me only slightly worn down by the end of the evening.

All in all these were a strange couple of days and I need to hit the sack before I fall flat on my face. I know, a really boring blog, but it’s the best I can do at the moment.

Where to start?

Song of the day: “Forever” by Chris Brown. Boy, I have this song a lot, don’t I?

I’ve been doing a lot of “running behind” these past couple of days. The nightly ventures into proofreading keep us distracted to a point where we are at least two hours late for bed, twice in a row now…the plus is that we’re making proper headway, of course. Only a few more chapters to go and then we won’t need to worry about anything other than random read-throughs the way we did with the first few chapters.

Yesterday was a really fun read, good scenes that made us laugh and smirk at the same time, and today we came upon the (used-to-be) disaster chapter from the “edit week from hell” (remember the nineteen hours a day for a week, gawd thinking of it still gives me shivers). So it wasn’t bad at all today…thankfully. I read through it easily, didn’t stutter in the narrative once, and what in my memory was locked as a solid ten pages turned out to be only TWO.

Yeah, I don’t know how that could have happened either. But if asked, I would have sworn that there were at least more than eight…must have been too traumatic for my memory to function properly. Hah. But then, the sisters both have faulty memories about the scene too. Middle sister remembered eight, and little sister five at least. Totally weird, I know.

But anyway, tomorrow (or tonight) big brother will read the scene, so afterwards we should know whether we have to do a lot about it or can leave it as it is…I’m hoping the latter, because I kinda like the way it reads now.

So, that was the reading and editing bit for the past few days, on to the other projects.
Cleaning was par for the course yesterday, along with demolition (sorta). The younger sibs and I spent the majority of it cleaning out the corner that is going to be the office. And, oh boy, was it messy. It almost felt as if we were cleaning out an old attic, or something.

Grandpa and big brother worked on the rabbit cage…which was finished today, by the way.
By the end of the afternoon we had finally cleared enough of the mess for me to disassemble the old desk-we’re going to use the rather massive top to build the new one-and declare the area empty enough for the next step.

In the mean time little brother heads for the “igloo” (weird name for guest quarters, I know, but it’s the only name we could think of for the tiny building that stands on the corner of the property. I’ll have to post a picture sometime. It’s hilarious) so he could varnish the door before winter starts. Five minutes later he comes back, totally out of breath telling us that there is a big fat poisonous snake lying on top of the table that stands in front of the building.

Big brother headed there, armed with shovels and scythes immediately, knowing full well that such a serpent can be dangerous around our dogs, and fully intend to “handle” it. But when we get there the nasty green scaled one has disappeared from sight. Aaargh. Now I wasn’t particularly thrilled with the prospect of what needed to be done, but still…ya really don’t want to come across one if you’re walking around with curious dogs. Lost a precious one that way several years ago, and it is really not something we want to risk again.

It might be time to have another tire burning in the near future. For some reason the smell of burning rubber keeps the slithering creatures at bay.

What with all the cleaning going on, a rather large pile of debris had to be towed off to the landfill, so the remainder of the evening was spent hauling everything into the car and driving down the mountain to the official dump site.

Now the fun part was, when we left, grandpa said: “Remember, if you see doors or glass panes, take them home.” And you’ll never guess what we saw when we got there…yep, beautiful, arched French doors that, together, will make up the complete wall that we still need to built. How’s that for Kismet…and recycling, for that matter. They’ll be downright gorgeous for the entrance of the office, that’s a fact.

And the fund didn’t stop there either. By the glass disposal unit, piles and pile of glass had been randomly set down, giving us a nice supply for at least a year’s worth of projects. Now all this filled up the cab nicely, and we were about to finish up too, when a dude came driving to the fill and in exchange for helping him unload we could take about fifteen wooden beams with us that had been used for a remodelling project and had now become obsolete. With a little sanding and shaving, they’ll be a good as new. I LOVE wood for that. So very versatile and usable.

We were on the way home, the cab filled to about seventy percent when we drive past the local nursery. I know I don’t have to ask. I bet you figured out what we found there…did you?
In case you didn’t…plants. Piles of them just dumped beside the road, and from the feel of their moist earth only hours before. They looked a little worse for wear, but in the end we drove off with the car filled to full capacity with a fir tree (it looks a little like a bonsai, and is about three feet high) two boxes-yes, the cartons were right beside it on a different pile- full of small flower bushes and two more with vines with bright red angora fluffs instead of petals.

Definitely a successful run, that. Added to another fun reading session late that night (much too late, but what the hey) it was an all-round grand day.

So today was mostly spent gardening. Putting plants in the ground during a sunny day is definitely a fun task, and they look downright cute, even though they are likely to take a little while to get to full potential. Nothing that a little TLC and time won’t cure, that’s a fact.

The gardening was followed by making plaster cement to finally fill up the big holes in the steeple of the roof, and put in a new threshold under the main door of the house.
The younger sibs spent most of the day painting plasterwork, and since tomorrow they will have to put the second layer on, big brother and I did a quick run to the hardware store for a bucket of new paint. Since we’ve already painted the new glass and wooden wall a light yellow, the walls will get the same color, of course.

By the time we got home, we had a quick dinner…little brother made Chinese…and then I settled on the veranda to quickly go through today’s messages and write the Blog. Knight II was completely insane tonight, by the way. While I was trying to work, the Great Dane kept pushing his face into me, tried to climb in my lap, and even slapped at the table until I finally had the brilliant idea to get a blanket and put it on the floor. The little sissy obviously found the tiles too cold, ‘cause as soon a he saw the blanket on the floor he stretched down on top of it, calm as you please. Idiot!

Yep, that about sums it up for the past two days, I guess. I’ve gotta remember to take some pics tomorrow because even though it might not seem that way from my point of view, we are getting quite a bit done these past few days.

Time passes fast when waiting.

Song of the day: “White Houses” by Vanessa Carlton. Had it before, and probably will again. Very catchy tune and fun to sing, can’t ask for anything better when it concerns being stuck with a song in my head.

I seriously overslept today. For some unfathomable reason I forgot to set my alarm last night so I was at least an hour late when I woke up this morning and blinked at the clock in confusion. I could have sworn that I set it before going to bed and yet…well, apparently I didn’t, darn it.

Since I was late, I pretty much hurried through the morning rituals…which were interrupted by grandpa, who delivered a package that had arrived today at the postal office. My book “W.I. Investigations: Volume 1-4” finally came. The post took 2 weeks, but luckily, it got here in time for me to send it out for Operation Desert Swap. It is so annoying that the publisher has made some sort of change in the mailing stuff. So send a single book to Spain costs me close to thirty bucks, for crying out loud…and I really need to get a few copies more for this kind of thing.

Ah well, at least I can support the troops on the “front line”. This way they’ll have something fun to do too, while they’re far away from home.

But anyway, once I’ve properly inspected the book and stored it again, I head down to the house for the morning chores, such as the laundry. The monster boxer is a tad annoying again today. For some peculiar reason she still thinks that, she has to put her teeth in something while we’re walking down to the house. Aaargh.

The morning chores over and done with, big brother and I get down to the most important thing of the day: proofreading! Yay. I know. This is so unusual…NOT. But what can I say, we want to be thorough, just in case the publisher wants to see the rest, and of course because we want to have the manuscript as perfect as we can possibly get it. Hah.

We work for a solid four hours before our brains begin to go mush from this particular task. While we were doing the corrections, I got this rather brilliant scene in my head for one of the sequels of “Saving Nina”…I have no idea what the title of the sequel is going to be, but the story is shaping up nicely in my head. I think it’s going to be a doozy, and I can’t wait to be done with both SN and “Commanding Morgan” so I can dig in.

After writing a page and a half for the sequel, it is time to head outside and figure out what it is we’re going to do first today. A short discussion ensues, a variety of possibilities come up before today’s pleasant weather makes it a perfect day for the chemical bath for the dogs. Considering that October means fleas, we really shouldn’t postpone it much longer.

Big brother drains half the pool…it was starting to turn green anyway, since we haven’t swam for almost two weeks now…and then throws in the vile stuff that is supposed to keep the little pesky buggers at bay.

Even though I don’t much fancy the idea of getting wet (it is inevitable nonetheless) and cold, there really isn’t much choice in the matter when the sibs start herding the dogs into the pool, with me dunking the mutts when they pass me on the stairs.
It takes a couple of hours, but then the task is done. There were several reluctant little buggers in the pack, of course, but in the end, it was a relatively painless venture for all parties involved. Once they’re all through, I head for the shower to wash off an get warm, and then it’s on to work on the veranda office and critter cages.

With the latter some haste is warranted, considering the rabbits are preventing two of the chinchillas to come down for food. I never would have believed it, if I hadn’t seen it myself. But rabbits, apparently, are a tad territorial. Heck, they’ll even attack human…without doing much damage, of course, but still.

While grandpa and big brother work on the cage, middle sister and I start clearing shelves in what is going to be our office. Little brother has offered to bring the excess stuff down to the storage room, and little sister makes a nice batch of tomato soup for our dinner.

After a couple of hours, with me hosing down the batch of drawers we found stacked under a batch of piled up…stuff, today’s project work comes to an end. Since mom likes to watch a show around this time, I take the small table from the courtyard and set it on the veranda, so I can work in peace and quiet, on this morning’s writing and the blog, of course.

Which brings us to a quick update of yesterday:
The publisher was kind enough to send me a "Got it" message...I'd asked in the letter, 'cause the last time the worrying drove me bonkers. So now it is all about waiting for the editor to read through the first few chapters and get back to me about whether she likes to see the rest of the manuscript.
I'm actually surprised at how accustomed I've become to the waiting. Yes, I'm still freaking out, but it's on the inside now, and no longer in the front of my brain, where it'll stop me from doing anything else. Hah.

Okay, gotta stop thinking about that. It needs to stay in the back of my mind, thank you very much. Grrr.

We were in the midst of finishing putting in the slats of the office wall, when a phone call from the garage disrupted the day. It brought the rather troublesome news that we’re going to have to shell out another 600 bucks (on top of the 500 we already had to pay for the repair job we’d brought it to the shop for) because the latter had caused damage to the new damage. Aaargh

So, instead of finishing up with the wall, and removing what was left of the big rabbit cage, (poor younger sibs had to finish it alone) we had to go to the village to check it all out. We also had to rent a car for the next few days because we really do not want another snafu like the last time, when we didn’t have a car. But boy, this is seriously going to eat into our savings. In all honesty we had counted on some repairs when we bought the Land Rover second hand, but it would have been nice if the “maybe” had stayed just that.

After talking with the garage, we decided to go to town too, and get some groceries that should tide us over until next week, when we have our own car back. Gawd, the tiny Hyundai really annoyed me. We barely managed to fit in a week’s supply, for crying out loud. It makes me really appreciate the big car. Aaargh.

The puppies were and are doing grand. They got some medicine for parasites and have shifted from porridge to puppy kibble, so their intestines are quieting down. Our tenant’s caregiver absolutely adores them; so the little ones are definitely loved, which is really the only requirement when it concerns pets.

So, that pretty much brings the past two days to an end. My dogs are exhausted…I don’t think they’re all that appreciative of our efforts to keep them parasite free, ‘cause even though they’re clustered around me (as usual), whenever I glance in their direction they’ll huffily turn away. Hah. Idiots!

That’s it, I guess. I wish I had grand news, but life is pretty much going on as usual over here. I am going to enjoy expanding about the office project in the near future, though. We’ve got a grand plan, that’s a fact.

Busy stuff.

Song of the day: “The lion sleeps tonight” by Robert John, apparently. Could have fooled me, I’ve known the song for ages and never even bothered to figure out who sang it. Hah. No matter, though: it’s a great song.

Well, it’s been a busy couple of days, really. Yesterday two puppies died. We had intended to take them to the vet this morning, but it was already too late. The other two are fine, so that’s a relief.

The younger sibs and I put a small wall section behind my cabin, where mud tends to pile up during the rain. It was a very basic task, not hard at all, so we were basically just chatting while we went back and forth between painting the small metal ladder we intend to use for easy access to the wall.

We also did some repairing of the fences, because when grandpa and big brother were busy burying the poor little dogs, some of the pack members decided to tear the fence (with their teeth and a lot of persistence) and then scaled it by the dozen. We put a section of another fence on it as a temporary solution…or at least until we have time to put something permanent in its place.

Then we finished the basis of the glass and wood window, and put it in place. Quite amazingly, it fit in with only a few millimeters to spare, and even without the glass, it looked downright beautiful. Fit like a glove, and during the course of the afternoon (today) middle sister and I puzzled the freshly cut glass into place. Not easy, since every square was a slightly different size, but in the end we had them all in, and mom cleaned the glass panes.

Luckily, we did all the painting yesterday because it made the job so much easier today. After the glass was put in place, middle sister moved the rabbits from the old cage into that of the chinchillas. Since we’re building a new one under there and need to take the old one apart (so we’ll have room for our office) they’ll be fine there for the time being.

Once the rabbits are out of the way, we start on the tedious task of getting the fencing off the old cage, and slowly take the majority off.
Soon the afternoon turns into the evening and after a late dinner it is time to head up to my cabin.

So now comes the fun part. We have actually finished the read through of the first chapters that need to be sent to the publisher before tomorrow. It turned out grand…grand I tell ya! I’m so curious what the editor is going to think of it, ‘cause, well, I love it. The synopsis is checked. So are the chapters, or course…page numbering, paper size, etc. etc. Now, unless I missed something atrocious, it can’t get any better. I’m keeping my fingers, toes, hands, feet and…heck I’ll even keep my eyes crossed if I have ta. Hah.

And there you have it; the end of this appallingly short summation. There just aren’t enough hours in the day, are there? *sigh*

Yep, another two at the same time.

Song of the day (well, yesterday, technically): “Open Road” by Bryan Adams. Beautiful! *sigh*

I hate it when it happens (this blogging thing is a horrible addiction) but it happened again last night: I didn’t have time to write the BLOG! (insert classic horror movie scream here)
But anyway, I’m over it…sorta.

Let’s see if I can remember everything. Yesterday:

I’m slowly getting used to the new schedule, I think, ‘cause yesterday the eye-droopy thing wasn’t as bad as the day’s before.
There were the morning chores after wrestling the monster Boxer to calm…I think it’s the moon position, or something, ‘cause she is behaving horribly again, darn it.
Okay, I’ve lamented Trin Trin’s insanity often enough, so let’s skip that.

There were the morning chores; a huge batch of laundry, going through the laundry closet to check out why so much is still in there and “certain folks” aren’t taking theirs up to their quarters, followed by digging out a cabinet that somehow was piled with so much junk that the stuff got up to the ceiling. So frustrating.

That done, and with my habitual coffee in hand big brother and I settled down for the proofreading corrections in the manuscript project. Managed another chapter, thankfully; it seems like an endless process, but we are getting closer to the end, phew.

After five hours of correcting, shuffling around punctuation and doing some more reading through the “Chicago Manual of Style” (rather handy book that, lots of interesting suggestions…or rules, whichever way you want to look at it. I prefer the first, hah). And we laughed ourselves silly over the “love scene” and needed only few improvements. Hah.

About an hour earlier than usual, we head out in the cloudy day, hearing thunder rumble behind our mountain. Just in case the rain starts, I decide to start working on the gutter/ditch again, this time with the help of little brother, since the sisters opt to paint the gates with this really pretty cobalt blue Hammerite I bought Thursday.

Rather than dump the sand that lies under the carport somewhere, I decide we might as well save it and have grandpa get one of the one-ton bags in which our sand is usually delivered.
Little brother and I set it up in the corner and start filling it up with the vast amount of sand that still litters the ground.

We actually manage to fill it up completely, which is somewhat astounding, but pleasant since that means we’ll still be able to build even though we won’t be able to buy new sand until next month. (Dontcha just hate a budget. I do, hah.)

With little brother still shoveling sand, big brother and grandpa work on the semi-new door in the courtyard and then start repairing the small stand for the drill (we’re going to need it once we start on the gate) which has been rusting somewhat fierce for the past few years.

There’s a bit more drilling to be done in the gutter too, jutting rock from underground is persistently getting in the way, but by then the thunder is no longer audible, so it really is just cosmetics on my part. The bruises on my wrists aren’t all that bad, or so I’ve found, uncomfortable yes, but otherwise they don’t hinder the chore.

With twilight’s approach more clouds pack together, but considering this is (was) Sunday night, big brother and I decide to go out on a garbage run for all the debris that have been piling up again. On the way to the landfill, a few minor drops of rain come down, but other than that the heavy clouds are just blustering. The drive there is actually kind of pretty, what with lightning flashing to the west and north.

So yeah, we dump a full load on the location, and then end up filling the back of the cab up to full capacity again. Some idiot (and I use that term with the full meaning of the word) decided to dump up to ten, 7 feet long, 4X4s of perfectly fine wood right on top of the garbage. I mean, seriously. No wonder the world is getting short on wood with waste like that. They are basically in pristine condition and, well, the moron can dump more there any day for as far as I’m concerned, because now we’ll be able to build a partition in the carport, hah.

Oh yeah, we also found a damn pretty cabinet of wood on rubber wheels that I know we’re going to be able to use once big brother and I start working on the little office. Oh yeah, we intend to make a small office on the veranda…it’ll allow us to continue work in the winter while the rest of the family is watching TV (did I mention that before). But anyway, maybe we’ll be able to make the cabinet into shelving, or something.

And with the full cab we head on home to start on a midnight dinner, more laundry and then to our quarters…I need to sweep my floor, ‘cause grandpa is putting borders in my cabin against the winter winds, and hadn’t managed to get to sweeping up the mess.
There is a quick hand-bath some proofreading and then I really need to get to bed ‘cause I was seriously done-in-for for the day. Hah.

Which brings us to today:

Song of the day: “Blame it one me” by Maria Mena. Such a sweet little song. I really do like this artist.

I wake up slightly sore from yesterday’s (and the day before) work, but after some stretches, bending and turning, I manage to get out of bed (after tossing the monster Boxer in the backyard, the nut hung in my blouse, for crying out loud! aaargh) to start on the morning rituals.

Down at the house there is more laundry to be done, and some more planning as to what we’re going to do today. It’s still up for grabs, what with the next four to five hours reserved for proofreading, so right after the morning chores we set to it.

I do some improv writing, along with yesterday’s part of the blog, and afterwards we go through another chapter of improvements, which bring us another ten pages or so closer to the ending. Done with this, I quickly hang another batch of laundry and then head outside.

While grandpa and big brother start working with the wood we found yesterday (it is going to be perfect for the new office on the veranda; heck it almost seems as if it was made for it) and I take the younger sibs up to grandpa’s bungalow, so we can start making the small wall in front of it. Up until now, he has had a temporary in front of his place, and it simply won’t do any longer.

There’s some digging while little sister makes cement, and then we start hauling rocks in to make a wall of about one foot high that stretches in front of the bungalow. It works pretty well, and I even managed to find a reasonable amount of square shaped rocks that will make up the pillar for his little gate.

The dogs don’t particular enjoy this project, since I am behind the fence while building the low wall, they lie along it to stare at me rather miserably, trying to get in every time little brother comes through the gate with the wheelbarrow full of cement.

By the end of the afternoon, we quit building for the day…can’t get those pillars higher until tomorrow when everything has dried a little. After cleaning up the majority of the day’s mess, I head down to the carport to help grandpa and big brother for a bit…the frame is almost done…and then, once we’ve cleaned up we go inside for dinner.

Little sister has made mac & cheese (it’s really all my stomach can take these days) along with some fresh tomatoes in it. First a shower, of course, and then food, which is pretty much the conclusion of the day.

Maybe some proofreading later on, but then I’m definitely ready to call it a night.

Sick as a dog.

Song of the day: “Complicated” by Avril Lavigne. And boy was it appropriate.

I don’t know what the heck happened last night but for some reason I got sick as a dog after we got home from grocery shopping. Seriously, there was bowel movement going God knows where, vomiting and then, basically, passing out an hour before my bedtime.

The fun continued through the night, and then persisted during the morning where I woke (beyond being able to snooze some more) still feeling “the love” so to speak. I went down to the house under a cloudy sky, had several trips to you-know-where during the course of the morning.

We did some proofreading, and when big brother and grandpa left for the village to get a wheelbarrow (it’s been driving us daft to have only two what with all the projects going on) and cement for today’s outside work, and I dozed off in my chair for ‘bout half an hour. Afterwards I did some more proofreading, studied the Chicago manual thing, and then went out to start for the day.

The project of the day is pouring concrete, but instead of being able to just haul sand down from our supply I have to scrape the majority off the ground (it’s a collection of the spills from the last few weeks) sieve it clean of dirt and then use it for mixing concrete.

It’s a slow process, what with me still feeling poorly, but luckily after an hour or two, I’m deep enough into the project not to mind. With the younger sibs coming at the usual time, we manage to put down the path rather well. We finish at least and hour before sundown, and by then we have one wheelbarrow of concrete left.

Big brother and grandpa have worked by the old stable, finishing up the roof and walls, in case the predicted rains come. Though big brother is supposed to finish up the last bit of concrete, middle sister and I end up laying in a small concrete ditch by the lower gate, so the water won’t erode the ground.

Strangely enough the stomach ache doesn’t return until we’re done, so I take a long hot shower, which does improve my condition enough for me to have dinner - big brother made mac ‘n cheese - and start on the Blog. Hmmm. So now, I’ve recounted the day and I’ve not a clue as to what else to…oh yeah.

A bit of good news: Since the day before yesterday I’m officially under the triple digits (kilo wise, of course) with my weight.
Oh my, who’d have thought that I’d ever see the day that I’m going under the weight I haven’t been under since I was twelve years old; I sure didn’t.
But I gotta admit I’m noticing the weight loss more and more, heck, almost every day I’m finding bones in my body I never thought I had.

Apparently, I’ve got hipbones, shoulder blades, knees and even tendons…and I can actually just look down and see them, go figure! Hah. Big brother is warning me that a handful of pounds more and I’m going to have to be careful that I don’t get to skinny. Seriously, if someone had told me that I would need to watch out for weighing too little, I would have laughed in his or her faces.

Just pictures.

Song of the day: “Mr. Rock & Roll” by Amy MacDonald.

Seeing as I’m way too tired. Spend four hours finishing the supportive wall, then digging ditches up by the main gate in case the weathercasts are correct and rainstorms drop in.

So instead of doing the usual blog today, I’m throwing in some pictures, just for the heck of it.

The support wall underneath the veranda day one. Right hand corner are the first two rocks, hah.



Day two. Coming along nicely. Sonia is taking a nap on top.



Day three. Big rocks all 'round.



Day three too. Wish I'd taken some tonight too, but I was too late.



The path leading towards the new support wall.



This is the outside wall of the courtyard.



Another one, just because.


The inside of the courtyard, taken from the east.



Other way round. That's our "big" olive tree in the center.


The view down from the terrace of the house. We're thinking about a veggie garden here.


My cabin and the new terrace below it. Love it!



The stairs big brother worked on today and yesterday. It's beside the wall that crashed.



The square between all the walls, with on the right the stairs you see above, and on the left last week's stairs. Yay.



The garden by the wall. Finally managed to capture the flowers.


This 'll do for today. Tomorrow is grocery shopping day. Aaaargh.

Autum's approaching rapidly...darn it!

Song of the day: “Pop goes my heart” by Hugh Grant and band from the movie Music and Lyrics. The song cracks me up every time, especially when I imagine the clip they made for it.

Today’s proofreading went well after the usual morning chores. We managed a solid chapter in the hours that passed, doing a few more random fact checks while we were at it. Yep, definitely a good day for the manuscript.

The weather was wonderfully (at least the sibs thought so) cool. Me? I’m already missing the heat of the summer darn it. Still, the sun was shining, a fresh breeze came in from the sea and well…it was an excellent day for outside work, and we used it wholeheartedly.

Went out about half and hour earlier than usual, and since the sibs were still doing…well, whatever the heck they like to do before the workday starts, I go down to the new wall to start hauling some rocks to the site. I’ve got a nice stash going, when little sister begins making cement. The wall goes really well today, middle sister and I add a good foot and a half on top of the section we did yesterday.

The dogs are constantly in the way, of course. They love nothing more than lying down exactly there where we have to walk back and forth. Now the little cockers aren’t much of a problem, but labs Knight II (Great Dane) well, they’re hard to step over, especially when they decide to get up just when you’re trying to step over them. Aaargh. Almost fell flat on my face while carrying two huge buckets of cement up the narrow path.

Big ass rocks today, make it a speedy process. One rock was actually so big I couldn’t lift it at first, but then after warming up with some smaller ones, I do manage it…of course by then I’d already forgotten that I tried the weight out and found it too heavy…still, I didn’t remember until I had already placed it beside the wall.
We use cement for the façade of the wall, clean and smooth for the flat big rocks; concrete in the back and then pour a really thin mix over the entirety. That wall isn’t going anywhere, that’s a fact. I’m going to have to post pictures to do it justice. Hah.

What with the days getting shorter, about half way through a bikini top gets to be too cold, so I had to get a shirt. Soon I won’t be able to do shorts anymore either, darn it. I’m actually cold during the cleanup afterwards, but manage to warm up a little when I start hauling down wheelbarrows of sand for tomorrow’s work.

That done and with twilight already starting up, I head towards where big brother is finishing the three steps of yet another stairs he is making. I help out, by throwing in some rubble and then we smoothen out the last step of the day.

It is almost completely dark when we continue on our way up to make measure out the gate so big brother can start making plans for the new gate we intend to build in the next few months. What with yesterday’s batch, we should be able to make it too. Yay. The only thing we need now is steel, which we’re going to have to buy next month or so. I’m actually looking forward to it.

So that brings another successful day to an end. Maybe some more proofreading tonight, and then I’m done.

Foundation.

Song of the day: “Foundations” by Kate Nash. Very appropriate in reference to today’s activities I think. Besides, it’s a happy song so maybe we can say I was in a cheerful mood, hah.

The alarm goes off as usual and I start on the morning rituals, stiff and slightly sore from yesterday’s sand hauling. Once the morning’s chores are over and done with, breakfast had, big brother and I settle down for a working session like yesterday too. It goes rather well, this fact checking kind, and it is rather necessary, considering we made so many changes during the rewrite edit.

We steadily work our way through three different scenes before it’s time to head out into the cool afternoon. What with the preparations done already, little sister can start making cement immediately while I head to the old terrace below the house and prepare the section where we’re going to need to build the fortification wall. Though big brother had intended to start working on a new set of stairs, it soon becomes clear that I’m going to need some help to get the foundation in.

In the next few hours, we dig, hose dirt away and then start laying the foundation of the new wall.
Big loads of concrete and rocks get hauled in, piled together until we end up with a solid wall that is one foot high, two and half wide and solid enough to hold a house, should such a thing be necessary.

Today’s cement and rocks put in, we spend about half an hour cleaning up the mess we made, before big brother and I haul two wheelbarrows each down for tomorrow’s building session. By then the sky is fully overcast, and rather than spend some time on minor chores, big brother and I decide to head out to get the batch of wood we’d intended to get last week, but didn’t get around to.

The trip goes well, and when we arrive, the wood is waiting for loading. Within half an hour, we have the cab filled to full capacity. Once I’ve shut the door…it didn’t go all that easy, but I managed in the end…we start back on our way home. Grandpa is thrilled when we return, especially since the batch will replenish his supplies considerably. By now, we should have enough to actually build a new gate for the property. Yay.

A very late dinner follows when we get home, and the temperatures have dropped to such a point that it is actually too cold for a dip in the pool, darn it. Well, that about sums today up, I guess. Hopefully there’ll be another proofread check, but if not, I’ll be happy to turn in for the night.

Some update pics and the day.

Song of the day: “Yes sir, I can Boogie” hah. Yes I can…sorta. This one’s by Sophie Ellis-Bextor by the way and I’ve had it come by a time or two already, haven’t I? No matter, considering it’s a fun song, and it got the sibs singing along…sorta.

I overslept by fifteen minutes today, which was stupid since it made my eyes fall half-shut again most of the morning while big brother and I were making the proofread changes, again. Seems kinda endless, doesn’t it, but I like to look at the process like fine tuning, or even polishing the manuscript. We are actually coming to a point where it appears to be quite impossible to make any more improvements. Changes, sure, but not correcting errors. A good thing, I’m thinking.

There was a big batch of laundry, some other chores in-between the session, and then, because our focus feels a little shoddy today, we head out early.
The weather was downright beautiful today. A solid 29 degrees a fresh eastern wind, 41 % humidity and only a handful of tiny clouds dotting the clear blue sky; in other words: Absolutely perfect. Hah.

Because we’re early, we decide that today is the perfect day to start pouring the path that leads into the courtyard. The rocky, uneven ground has been an eyesore since the day it was dug for construction and finally we start putting in concrete that will allow for easy passage, and keep away mudslides in the winter to boot. Yay.

The preparations done, outcroppings chopped away (the jackhammer’s drill broken, for some reason, aaargh) and grandpa doing the removal of the debris, middle sister and I move the leftover piles of flat rocks out of the way. Little sister and brother start mixing cement, and by the time four batches are made, big brother is ready for the concrete and I begin hauling buckets, and shovels full with the stuff to cover up the path.

It takes some time and effort, especially because the dogs have this amazing NEED to walk on recently laid concrete. And yep, you can see this one coming, halfway into the path, Touri, (my black cocker spaniel) manages to climb over the temporary fence we put up, and gleefully barges through. Shouting and swearing ensues, the damage is fixed and by the time we get the path another foot farther, Arthur (he’s a timid one) tires to rush into the courtyard going, right through the path. Aaaaargh.

There’s more fixing and we’re just about reading to start adding new concrete once more - this time the courtyard gate is firmly shut, and the fence to the back yard open so the dogs can mess around there, behind the wall - when Alta (Portuguese waterdog) jauntily decided to scale the 7 feet high fence. He lands slab dab in the middle of the recently fixed path, of course, rushing straight at us, and then doubts, spins around uncertainly when we’re snarling at him (I know, not smart; it’s a knee-jerk response, hah) to get his butt out of the wet concrete. Grrr. By then we decide to chase the majority of the pack into the house so we can fix it…for the friggin’ third time



Looking good after all, especially compared to what it was like.

But anyway, after that rather troublesome venture of laying a path, we finally finish up, quickly fence the entire thing up and disperse into different tasks. While big brother and grandpa head up to the carport for…I don’t know what, actually, hmmm, I head down to the balustrade we put up yesterday.



The big vine that grew over the old one needs to be put up again and I spent about twenty minutes doing exactly that (little brother, the sweetheart, brings me a plate of fries to fill the hunger gap) and then head up to join grandpa and big brother at the construction site of the day.

Some cleaning and organizing follows, the concrete mixer needs to be hauled back up to its old place, tools cleaned, plants watered (like every day) and straightening out the mess.
That done, we head for the carport for a few more minor woodworks and setting up tools. In the final minutes of daylight I work some more on my new window - tomorrow we’ll put the glass in - and we chat for a bit before heading inside to have dinner.

A quick dip in the pool follows, changing into house clothes, and then it’s BLTs some more fries and digging in.

Here're some more pictures.



So, since I'm doing them anyway, this is from the BIG wall and the plants that grow there now.




This one too.




These are the stairs big brother worked on this past week. Downright perfect.




The seat over on the left was my doing, it's attached to the island and a big bowl for a rose or something.




Oh yeah, and this was the wall that crashed last week...or at least this is it's replacement. I love the old ruin feel to it.

Well, this 'll do for today.

A little distracted.

Song of the day: “Ain’t love a kick in the head” by Westlife (originally Frank). Gawd, I’m having this one a lot, and I don’t even like Sinatra, hah.

Like planned I got up early this morning to take our tenant to her doctor’s appointment over in Marbella. Strangely enough the day started off hot, which was a first this summer. Really weird, but then, considering the temperatures usually start to drop exactly after the seventh of August, maybe we’re just going to have our last hot days…personally I’m hoping for some extras, nut we’ll see.

Hmmm, where was I; got a bit distracted, I think. Ehm…oh yeah, had to leave early for the doctor’s appointment. Right. So we took the beach road, and were making good time - considering we were about ten minutes late leaving home - right until a police car came tearing past, lights flashing. I knew it right then, and the next thing I know the road is jamming up, and we’re stuck in it for at least an hour. What are the chances, of picking this road for the first time in months and then getting a traffic jam. Darn it!

In the end, it isn’t such a big problem after all, since the delay allowed for our tenant to go on to her doctor immediately, rather than wait the habitual hour. I’m actually regretful of it today; I’d taken the computer along and I’d fully intended to do some writing while I waited, so now I only managed half a page or so.

The trip home is pretty uneventful and after a much-needed dip in the pool, (greeting the pack, of course) throwing some laundry in the machine and a very late breakfast we start doing the proofreading corrections. In the hours that follow, we get a full chapter done, making them pass really fast.

It is still hot when we head out, and rather than stand in the scorching sun working with rocks and cement we decide to do more carpentry. I’ve been wanting a small window in my bathroom ever since we built the cabin, so since there isn’t much else we can do, this particular project gets started on.

What with the supplies we’ve gathered over the past few months we’ve got everything we need stored away, so it is not a difficult task at all. So while I start sawing a square out of the wall, little brother paints the frame big brother made and within a couple of hours it can be set.

While little brother finishes up with adding some final licks of paint big brother, middle sister and I head down to the old pool where the new balustrade still needs to be set. Considering all the wood is already cut and painted, this only takes an hour and by then night has fallen.

So it might not have been the smartest idea to have little sister make one batch of cement (we hadn’t figured it would take a whole hour) because when we’re done the light is really gone and we still need to finish it on the small sections around the new stairs.

When we’re finally done, I’m more than happy to call it a day, (hauling those last rocks was like…exhausting, hah) and head for the pool for a quick dip. This morning’s laundry still needs to be hung, but once that’s done, we head inside to have a late dinner and relax a little.

Yep, another busy day, and since I’m on time with the blog for a change, I think I’m going to do a little surfing online now. Hah.

Getting there.

Song of the day: “This kiss” by Faith Hill. It’s been a while. Kind of cheery, isn’t it?

With considerable effort I manage to drag myself out of bed in time this morning. I know, surprised me too, but I can’t stand this urge I have (every now and then) that makes if practically impossible to get up in time. But anyway, there were dreams; something about some strange dude sticking a syringe in my gut…freaked me out a little. Hah.

First thing up when I head out the cabin and go down the mountain, is take pictures of the stairs (I’ll post the progress of them sometime in the next few days) and straight on to the laundry so big brother and I can start on correcting the errors we found during proofreading. A chapter is soon finished, which means that it’s time to start on the other tasks for the day.

First one up, is repairing the kitchen drawer, which hasn’t been sliding properly in its casing, so a small adjustment is necessary. Second one, is a similar problem in the laundry closet which keeps pulling apart in the center so a short support beam has to be attached in the center.

Then we all head outside to start on the day’s task. While little sister and brother start on cement for big brother’s step, middle sister and I head down to the guest quarters to put in the large Persian rug (it has been washed considerably these days past) and oversee the final touching ups before our guest comes to stay the night, tomorrow.

The room is looking pretty good, cozy too, so while middle sister finishes up with washing the windows I go outside to get down to opening up a path towards the ancient wall under the veranda…remember, the one we have to fortify. Lots of branches, reed and vines need to be removed, but after a few hours, we’ve got a good passage that should allow us to start on the wall just as soon as the weather starts to cool down a little. Today was pretty intense, especially with the work, within no time we’re all sweating like mad.

Luckily the temperatures start to drop just as soon as the sun nears the mountain in the west, and with that middle sister and I use the hark and pickax to even out the ground behind little brother and sister’s wall. It doesn’t take me long to see options for the newly flat surface; veggies, probably, some more zucchinis, or tomatoes, or onions certainly wouldn’t go amiss. Hah.

While middle sister and I are working on this particular section little brother hauls some more rocks down, and then a big pile of debris that has accumulated over the past few months. Since the night isn’t over, and little sister has already gone inside to make dinner, I spent the remainder of twilight putting in a couple of basil plants into the ground with grandpa and then help big brother finish up with the sixth step of the stairs.

Both dusty and more than a little weary, we take a quick dip in the pool…one of the last times this summer, I’m thinking; what with the wind that picked up it is already starting to get too cold for late swimming.

Dinner is next, followed by this Blog and of course a quick course through the messages (I’ve got soooo little time these days, I even had to give up un my much enjoyed Amazon fun, darn it). But the day has come to an end, and we still have another proofreading session ahead of us. I’m actually looking forward to it, considering yesterday’s went so well. So great to see how much the manuscript has improved over the past few months.

Well, gotta go.

Mind awhirl.

Song of the day: “Don’t turn of the light” by Enrique Iglesias. Awesome song, though without instrumentation it might not be the best one. Hah.

I overslept this morning so I’m running a little behind. Yesterday’s play-around writing session kept spinning through my head during the night, so today, rather than edit, big brother and I delved into the possibilities for an actual novel with the piece as a prologue of sorts. I don’t know, but for some reason I found the idea of an alien, such as described in the previous Blog, rather fascinating.

I mean, just imagine, that being lands on earth and…well, has to learn to function here. It’ll be my first extraterrestrial story, so it’ll definitely be a first. I don’t know where it’s gonna lead, I sure need to finish those edits first before I can dive in, but who knows, it might turn out into something interesting.

Anyways, we’re doing research, and the location I picked will be suitable for the story (it is exactly like I’d thought during the night). It actually always surprises me to see when I get it right. Hah.

Research takes hours so we really don’t manage a good edit at all. When it’s time to head outside the sun is shining brightly. In the shade it is wonderfully cool, but when I start hauling big buckets of rocks down the mountain, and fill up the center of the island I’m creating beside the new stairs, perspiration gathers rapidly. Still, we make good progress, topping it of, and then continuing with the plant container attached to it.

The dogs are of course being a nuisance. They keep want to walk on the new step, through the walls of the new container and then on the top of the island as soon as it is closed off, shifting the flat rocks every time they attempt it. It causes both hilarious and frustrating scenes.

Several hours later the island, along with another step of the stairs, is done. It’s looking rather grand, but I’m not going to do any pictures until this section of the project is fully done. I like the look, and I can’t wait to either plant a rose bush, or a Chinese rose. It’s going to look so darn pretty.

Like yesterday and the day before that, I used the last hour of the day to do some useful exercise by hauling several wheelbarrows of rocks down the mountain. By now, day three, the pile down by the old bus is starting to grow nicely. I think we’ve got at least half of what we’re going to need for the support wall of the veranda.

A much needed dip in the pool follows, and then some more laundry (yep, big brother managed to fix it) and finally dinner around ten thirty. And with that, the last activity of the day is over. Just another proofreading session to go…if I manage it, since my head keeps spinning with new ideas…and then I can drop in bed and pass out for the night, hah.

Nothing of much interest.

Song of the day: “9 million bicycles” by Katie Melua. The first one I ever heard of this particular artist, and she’s stuck with me ever since.

Got too little sleep, of course, since big brother and I ended up proofreading an hour later than usual, but then I took a five minute catnap during the manuscripts improvements this morning, so no harm no foul. Hah.
Made excellent progress during the course of five hours behind the computers: caught a few more technicalities, shifted around and removed some punctuation, and actually found another typo *gasp*, other than that, there is little to nothing memorable to today’s proofreading.

The dogs enjoyed their usual howling session once they got outside, so they had their fun while we started to work on the projects. The younger sibs and I finished the last bit of yesterday’s small wall…I’m gonna have to post pictures soon…and started on the small island beside big brother’s stairs (he did the second step today).

Considering the day was still relatively young, I spent the remainder of it cleaning the terraces and stairs, and then, since I’ve a hankering for some exercise, but think it’s a waste to do it with useless fitness, I grab the wheelbarrow and haul rocks down the mountain.
I manage four full ones before I’m thoroughly out of breath (the trick is to go back at a semi-jog, hah) and am sweating considerably when dusk has settled fully and I headed inside for a nice dip in the pool.

What with the low temperatures these past few weeks, evening dips have become rare, so it was rather nice, really. Next followed dinner the blog, and I’m thoroughly tired so regretfully this is all for the day. Maybe I’ll manage another proofreading, and if not, well, I might need to make it an early night and get some proper sleep. Hah.

Building a little more.

Song of the day: “Apple Jack” by Dolly Parton. I don’t know why, but for some reason I’ve got the little lady on my mind these days.

Okay, the day. So yeah, I would love to have a little rant about new writing styles that are popping up all over the place. It makes me want to scream because apparently “strong writing” amounts to short, to the point, sentences that, for as far as I can see, can be read by a ten year old.

I mean, I don’t have anything against being to the point (though, I do like to spin a sentence around, hah) but if you have to break apart beautiful descriptions, bring them down to a bare, rather bland minimum, for the sake of word count, I want to bare my teeth.
Let’s look at this in perspective, shall we? Here we have the civilized world where the majority goes to school, and some even college, and yet some are under the impression that standards need to be lowered for books to sell.

I don’t get it, I really don’t. For the past few years, since this has become sort of fashion trend, I’ve been enjoying books less and less. I didn’t understand why for the longest time, especially not when even my favorite authors started to go on that downhill slide. But there you have it; the simplicity trend, the less is more, and all that crap carries the blame. I’m sorry, but sometimes more is just more. Hah.

But enough of that, if I don’t keep a lid on this we’ll be here ‘till next week before I’m done with this particular issue. Ah well, I wanna watch the Fifth Element, so let’s quickly get down to the day.

There was the proofreading of course (thus explaining my aggravation) and a particularly frustrating exploration on the net, explaining some particulars of what publishers are looking for these days. Aaargh.
Okay, I’m trying not to think of it in favor of holding on to my cool. Hah. Let’s skip this particular part and move on to the rest of the day.

We’re running behind a bit when we finally get outside, and while big brother works on mom’s computer wire (it was broken, so the battery wouldn’t charge) the younger sibs and I start on the other projects of the day. Middle sister is making cement while little brother helps me throw the bundled reed canes on top of the carport roof, so the dogs won’t pee on them…yes that is something they like to do when they’re set on the floor.

Once the cement is made we start hauling rocks because the place where we removed the old fence yesterday needs a higher wall, or else the dogs will be able to get up on the roof. It goes rather well, seeing as we get it almost completely done in the hours that ensue.
When we finish, and the younger sibs have returned inside, I finish up the last bits and head down a ways to check out the step of the stairs big brother is making. Beautifully big, flat and made completely out of flat rocks…yep, we did find a few wonderful batches.

By the time we finish up covering the new step up with pieces of old fencing, it is getting dark, so we head inside for the dinner. It’s almost ridiculous to say this, especially in August, but by now the pool is already getting to cold for a late night dip, darn it. Instead, we just continue on our way into the house and put on the macaroni I boiled this morning. Mac and cheese, nothing goes down better after some hard work.

Oh yeah, we also put in some tomato seedlings in the ground today, what with the new plants still relatively small we figure we might as well use the ground for some veggies later on.

Well, that’s it for today; hopefully I can get some more work done on the edit, and of course finish watching the movie. Hah.