On with life...

Song of the day: “Subeme la radio” by Enrique, of course.  Don’t know why I have this one in my head lately, but there you have it. Who can understand earworms anyway. Same goes for Imagine Dragon’s “Thunder” which was going through my head on and on and on for a couple of days this week. Hah.

But, let’s get down to business. Life has been busy again with a variety of causes…the lack of a blog proves as much, I guess. Grrr.

No matter. First thing up is that a couple of weeks ago our zit car gave the spirit. Poor thing never really recovered from the accident last spring, and finally just gave up while I was on my way home. *sob* Had to call triple A for that, and the mechanic declared the little thing dead due to a busted cylinder, which made oil burn directly in the engine. *double sob* The fella towed me home…special experience, that. So strange to drive a car where you basically don’t have any control over. Added to the fun was that his navigating device would have send him in the wrong direction, so half the ride I was hanging out the window gesturing which way to go.

Anyway, that little issue mean that we had to look for a new car, which was what we had to sacrifice a free day for soon thereafter. Spent about 10 hours on the road, going to people who had “affordable” cars for sale. Tried out a total of seven before settling on one that has a wealth of cosmetic issues, but which’s engine still sounded and felt good during the test drive. It was a tough job for sure. Exhausting, too. But seriously, you don’t want to see some of the carpy cars we got to look at. But regardless. We’re two weeks, or so, into the new car now, and it is still running and not guzzling an excess amount of fuel and oil, so…yay!

I mean, I hear you thinking, why on earth do them kids need two cars? But with my other job, and the possibility of another one in the near future, mobility is vital. Grrrr.

Visited my dad and the missus a couple of weeks ago. Got to admire the new place, of which the walls were fully up at that time. Nice big airy place that should be done sometime in November. Fun to see the materials they work with around these parts. Different building blocks. Different concrete for second floor landings. And so on. Made my hands itch to get back into that sort of thing once more. I miss building.

Regretfully that was a work day, without me having had the time for a siesta, meaning that I fading pretty fast when we arrived. Seriously, I was so tired that my skin was itching and my eyes hurting. Still, I could hardly say no to a walk from their rental to the building site…a good 20 minute walk. I should have. Seriously, after that I was just about ready to pass out. Of course I sucked it up and played out the remainder of the evening, until it was time to go home again (1.45 h drive) with big brother even more tired than me, because he had worked longer, even. *sigh* Can’t complain, though. Was a nice evening. Don’t get to spend all that much time with family, so it was worth it.

Did quite a bit of experimenting in the kitchen. Made a rather splendid chocolate cake for a colleague’s birthday, and an egg cake with crème fresh and blueberries for another.

Due to my changed diet with an increase in protein. I forgot for a while and immediately  noticed it in my dropping energy levels. Now that I’ve brought it back up, I’m doing much better again. Yay.

But anyway…I’ve been working with a lot of oven dishes. Lots of egg, garlic and green herbs, which are still by far my favourite. Gawd, tonight I had a most wonderful dish. Lightly boiled rice (in broth) with a variety of finely chopped veggies, some cheese, egg and loads of garlic. Seriously good stuff. Loved it.

The past couple of weeks were busy. Very busy. While the plan was for me to work three days a week, four at most, I ended up working 11 days of the past thirteen with one day spent of the car search, and another two on other obligations that made writing/editing practically impossible for those two friggin’ weeks! That I needed to do groceries (on my own, ‘cause big brother is doing a lot of extra time at work) for the next two weeks, didn’t help any either. No matter. It’s done now. Good for another two…oh wait, ten days now! Grrrrr.

Have been working on “A Taste of Life”, since we chose that one to try next for sending out to publishers. It is hard, though, considering we have to cut out a lot of good stuff to get the word count down, dumb down the writing a bit, considering the style I used was elaborate and mostly in dialect. *sigh* Very disappointing. I’m having a hard time with it, to say the least. Ah well, can’t be helped. The writing style this day and age is just different. Will miss the main protagonist’s wonderfully Irish voice, though.

In regards to the book. The editor finally gave the okay for the latest changes!!! Yayayayay! And Saving Nina is now on the desk of the editorial director so that she can put in her two cents, prior to the book continuing on to the copy editors. One step further, at long last!

Have a new couch…it is lovely, and perfect for napping after a long day of work. It cost only 55 bucks at the thrift store, and, miraculously, we managed to squeeze it in, and on top of the Volvo, rather than spend a whopping 25 bucks for delivery! Yipee! It’s light colored, not too heavy (which is ideal if we have to move again) and comfy, all three perfectly good things for a new couch, right?

Yesterday I visited my aunt, which had been more than 30 years ago (weird, I know, but there you have it). Big brother couldn’t go along, regretfully. Lots of stuff going on at the sauna, including the WM Aufguss, which takes a lot out of him. So I went on my own and spent a very nice evening with my aunt, talking about the past and present, talking about what I did and didn’t remember of her house and  the afternoons I used to spent at her place when I was a little girl, waiting for dad to come pick her up for the weekend. Hah. It was very nice. We laughed quite a bit, and got reacquainted, promising to see each other again, soon.

Had the house inspected from the company that provides me with this place. Was a bit worried, because I didn’t have a lot of time to do a lot of cleaning, but it went okay, except for a mention to battle the weeds outside. Yeah. Like that isn’t on my list already.  Have been keeping an eye out for a strimmer for several weeks now, but still haven’t found one, darn it. We’ll have to get to that.

Spent Saturday helping a friend move to a new place, which meant carrying a washing machine down on set of stair and up two, which certainly was an interesting experience. Added to that was this massive closet that we had to get down in two parts (carefully too, due to glass doors) and a massive couch that didn’t even fit through the door without also sticking out into the neighbor’s apartment. Managed to get it all done with the least amount of damage. But it did take several hours, and made me sore as heck when I had to get to work the next day…only to discover that I had mixed up my days and was supposed to have had a free one that particular morning. Aaaaargh!

Did manage to do most of my exercises. Both Qigong and weightlifting. But regretfully not as frequently as I would like on the most part. If I get more free time, definitely looking forward to doing more of that.

And that sums it up for today, I’m guessing. As usual, I am sure I am forgetting a detail of two, but who gives a bloody heck, in the end. It’s not as if I’m living life in the fast lane these days.  Hah.

Gotta go.

Busy times...

Song of the day: “It ain’t me” by Kygo ft. Selena Gomez and “Issues” by Julia Michaels have been tumbling through my head quite a bit lately.

So, it’s been a while. Sorry ‘bout that. Life tends to get busy and regretfully the blog tends to take a back seat in that case. Grrr.

Quite a bit happened lately, not all of it good, but worthy of mentioning. Let’s see what I can come up with right now to put here.

Big brother and me were in a car accident. Yep. The zit car has its front folded in. It became clear, for once and for all that a slippery road and unexpected congestion up ahead don’t go together at all. Luckily no one got seriously hurt, least of all the car we rammed into. It barely had a dent, while our hood took most of the hit. I had some serious breathing issues that day, due to the seatbelt slamming into me. It wasn’t too bad while I was waiting for the tow truck, and while we dealt with the necessary forms, but as the evening progressed, there was some pressure there. Luckily, the next morning it was almost gone, so, no harm no foul…and as for the little car: It still runs, and as it turned out it was more outside damage than inside. Only part inside that was damage was the radiator and fan. Having it fixed, and if we get the spare parts ourselves, will cost around 600 buck…which is above our budget, naturally. But, considering that the damage is basically outside bits, we are going to try to do the majority of the repairs ourselves (the mechanic thinks that it is possible) we might be able to get the little zit back to functioning.

I got a job. Yay! Only part-time, which was the intention. Just a couple of days a week so that we can make ends meet. Signed up with a small cleaning company in the village next to ours, and now have two offices/stores that I’ll be cleaning twice a week. Heavy work, considering it’s quite a bit of square meters crammed within a few hours, while a lot of folks work there, making things pretty messy. Hah. Worst of it was, that my predecessor left two weeks earlier, so things were worse when I got there. Now, after two weeks of work. Things are starting to look neat again, smell better, and well maintained, I should be able to go back to a steady 100% rather than over it. Yay! It all does remind me of work at the sauna. And basically it requires very little thought, which is a good thing since I rather use brain power for writing, which I should be able to do around this job. My new boss is able to supply me with the tools/supplies I need asap, so there’s no messy making-due, and that’s a relief.

Regretfully big brother’s job is still a tad sporadic. As in, he’s supposed to work four days a week, but is lucky when he gets three and sometimes even as little as two. It makes the wallet a little tight. But, we’re managing to make ends meet, just barely. It just has to hold out until the book comes out…which could be a problem.

Yep. The editor got back with a new revision/edit, because, as expected some things didn’t work out as well as hoped after we had to cut out 15K words (50 pages, or so). Duh. Could have told you that. But anyway, there were some suggestions of how we could solve the problem, which literally made me cringe. Was hyperventilating there for a bit, but then we did some serious brain storming that got the okay, thank Gawd! So now we’ve spent the past week or so working on a plot beat sheet, with the twists and turns exposed (including some of the changes) and are now waiting for the Okay to get started on the actual changes. The waiting is driving me bonkers! We are sooooo not going to make the 20^th of April deadline. *sigh*

A sad thing that happened was that our uncle died suddenly, a couple of weeks ago. Was very unexpected for everyone involved, not to mention a big shock for the entire family. My dad was numbed, I think. And considering he had been suffering from the flu, the event didn’t help any. My other uncle got hit by the stress so bad that he had a minor heart attack, so he spent the week after the cremation in a hospital, adding to the family’s  distress. And considering that my dad’s sister hasn’t been well in a while, things are…difficult to say the least.

Anyway, we went to the cremation, of course, more to show our support to dad, than our departed uncle, whom we’d only met once since our return, and barely remember from when we were little. Still, it was oddly intense, the whole thing. Apparently there is something different when it involves family, whether you know them or not. Strange. There was quite a turnout. More than a hundred people and a long ceremonial kind of thing, followed by a reception where a lot of people that I remember from when I was a kid (and a lot I didn’t) came to show their respect. This was followed by a trip to my dad’s place so the older generation could meditate while our littlest brother went for a walk in the woods with us. Had some nice talks, and then later that evening, dad took us all out to dinner at an Italian place. Didn’t get home until midnight, though, which was when we heard about our uncle’s heart attack, and I had to go to work the next day.

Well, what else? I sowed some seeds. Herbs on the most part. But also zucchini, of which one is growing real fast. Gonna have to sow stuff soon, otherwise it will be too late. Looking forward to that. Getting my hands dirty, get my own veggies from the yard come summer. Would be lovely.

What with the news of revisions, and the stuff that needed working out because of it, I didn’t get to any writing except for the stuff of the plot changes. *sigh* Very frustrating that. I so want to be past working on this book, and on to something new…although, the new changes would be exciting to see how they work out. Hah.

So, that’s it for today. Can’t think of anything else…although I’m sure there is more. Just can’t come up with it now. Ah well…we’ll get to that the next time.

Bummed...

“Madness” a cover by Chester See and Andy Lange. Gorgeous version…so much better than the real version. And appropriate for the past few days.

So I’ve had my operation. I’ve been under the knife. Popped that cherry (there went the perfect record of only having needed to be in hospital for myself during my birth. *sigh*) and am now officially a veteran…well, sorta anyway. Totally not planning on doing that again, if I can do anything about it.

Don’t get me wrong, they were very kind, helpful and professional, but I have definitely had enough of hospitals. Seriously. I gotta ask, what is this weird thing of hospitals and taking off underpants. I ain’t kidding. Here I was, clean undies and everything, appropriately prudish and comfortable in neat bikini briefs, and the first thing they do when I’m semi-conscious is take off my underpants. I was not amused. There you are, barely coherent, worrying about your privates. Sure, I understand that for them it is nothing they haven’t seen, or shall not see again, but to me it is. I don’t show my privates to the public, thank you very much. And boy was there public. Eight or nine people in the operating room, only two or three of them female. I just don’t like it. Prude is my middle name, and I’d like to keep it that way. Grrrr.

Guess what the first thing was I did when I got back to my room?

Anyway, I’m getting ahead of the story. I just had to get that out.

I arrived at the hospital right on the dot, and was taken up to my room in about ten minutes. I had exactly five minutes to go to the little girl’s room before the nurse arrived and told me (very nicely, but firmly) to get in my gown and lie down on the bed. I had just laid down when this, very cute, way too young male nurse arrived to wheel me to the operating room. (Think 20 year-old Brad Pitt, and me at my most attractive—not—in a hospital gown. Aaaargh.) He was also nice, and we chatted a little in a mixture of bad Spanish (me) and bad English (him) on our way down to the surgery. Came across the young fellow who’d brought me to my room…he was all surprised that I was taken to surgery already…and then I was transferred to a bed in the prep room.

Met with the assistant surgeon and the anesthesiologist who started joking with me about my chart saying I did fitness and kickboxing…apparently that’s a strange thing that they never expect round these parts. Don’t see why. One of the best ways to blow of some steam and burn calories.

He assured me that I was going to get the mildest form of an epidural (not the big needle but a small one, that would cover the pain but wouldn’t make me insensitive) and a mild sedative against the stress I was experiencing. You’ll be glad to know that they checked which leg several times, and my identity, my numbers, whether I had allergies, fake teeth and everything. Almost makes you worry that that went wrong a time or two, eh?

Another thing. Everyone asked me how I was doing, and when I admitted to being a little stressed, they would look startled and then assure me that was normal but that I didn’t need to be.

Cliché for sure, but good advice regardless. Hah.

Anyway, I was transferred from the prep bed to the operating table—arched like a bridge for some peculiar reason—and a shield was set up between my head and the rest of my body as my first sedative was administered.  

 It felt a little bit like when you sit in a particularly uncomfortable position for too long and your legs fall asleep. A little tingly and way numb. Weird but better than painful, right?

Though mildly sedated, I remember only the first and the last half hour of the two hour procedure (and the underpants removal, and this particular moment when I felt some fierce burning sensation in my lower leg, after which they gave me another shot of something) the last of which I was apparently busy trying to cover my lower half with a sheet. Hah. Imagine my chagrin, lying there, having some beefy dude, (thankfully together with a young lady) wrapping up my leg and rolling a couple of socks onto my leg. Talk about uncomfortable.

Next came the recovery room where they asked me if I was in any pain, to which I answered some, wondering where this was headed. On a scale of one to ten, ten being the worst, how painful. I told the girl (yes, the nurse was little more than a girl) a 7, maybe and eight, after which she gave me a shot of something.

I gotta admit to being a little panicked, due to the fact that the pain reminded me of way back when, when I burned my upper legs with a couple of gallons of boiling water. It subsided nicely after the shot, and when the girl asked me again some 15 minutes later, I gladly told her that the pain level had gone down to a wonderful 2, or 3 on the scale. No one was more surprised than I when she sighed deeply and gave me another shot. So, apparently, you have to be without ANY pain for her to do her job well. Good to know, because those shots sure messed up my coherency in the hours that followed.

I do remember seeing my doctor at one point (he’s a nice fella. The last time we spoke we had a nice long chat about him taking up fitness for the first time in his life, and discussing the beneficial effects of kick boxing). He told me that it was a good thing we did the operation because the veins he’d treated had been a diameter of 3 quarters of an inch. Good to know I did the right thing, really.

I was returned to my room, and as promised given the choice of going home or staying for the night, depending on how I felt. First things first, though, my underpants…are you noticing that I’m a little hung up on that one? Well, I am. Seriously.

Anyway, big brother was there, waiting for me in my room. Luckily big brother is good at waiting, and entertaining himself with his phone and such. Was much reassured seeing him there after the procedure. Added to that, I was rather hungry, so he got us both something to eat from McDonalds…good thing too, considering the hospital didn’t know I’m vegetarian, so the meal that was brought to me was…well, only partly edible. But I’ll tell you this, after fasting from 10 in the morning, until 9 in the evening, a small package of pineapple juice was absolutely divine. Not to mention the handful of French fries that I managed to choke down.

Was just done when the doc’s assistant arrived and asked me what I wanted to do. At that time, I was sitting up, trying out how that would go.

I was feeling pretty okay, so when he asked I said I’d prefer to go home, to which he agreed.

Had to go to the bathroom first, though. So big brother helped me walk there, no matter how inelegantly. Was feeling just slightly woozy. Did my business, was sitting there, and the next thing I know I was staring at white and grey tiles, wondering, for only a moment, what I was doing at a train station, on the floor (I don’t know where that came from) but then I heard big brother asking me if I was okay, and realized that I must have passed out. Must say I was happy with my training, because it really wasn’t a big problem to get to my feet…foot, while my shoulder hurt like the dickens.

Don’t know what happened, or when, clearly I’d blacked out, so big brother helped me back to bed where I laid down while he went after the doctor to say that I better stay the night after all.

My shoulder was KILLING me during the night. Not when I first dropped into bed, but as the night progressed. I was woken up several times during the night, people asking me if I was alright…in Spanish naturally. Strangely enough, I didn’t even notice. I was pretty out of it, I guess. The only thing I could answer was that I was REALLY really tired. Which I was. Slept for hours, spent about thirty minutes reading around three in the morning, and then fell back to sleep until after six when some boy…seriously, BOY, came to ask me if I needed to go peepee. Not in this life-time. I was  determined to wait for big brother to help me go to the bath room (as in walk me there) but around nine the need became high, so I dared.

First I sat on the side of the bed for about fifteen minutes, then on the couch (there was bed couch in there, which I thought genius) for another ten, before I finally dared to head into the bathroom and did my thing. I persevered! I actually went to the bathroom without passing out, so, Yay! Major victory for me.

Considering that after three times of mentioning that my aching shoulder was really bugging me, and getting some extra pain killers, I gave up trying to mention it and just had big brother help me get dressed and pack up to go home.

In all honesty, the procedure was hardly painful at all. In fact, if it hadn’t been for the shoulder incident, I would have said that it wasn’t a problem at all. It wasn’t and I would definitely advise laser to anyone who needs their varicose vein treated.

As to the shoulder, it got worse as the days past, so today big brother and I went to Trafico (I know, you are wondering where that came from, but this dates back to when we still had the Daewoo. We’ve been paying taxes for it for years, simply because the guy I gave it too, never got around to dealing with writing it out. Had to make an appointment, which was today) where I had to explain the problem and then fill in half a million forms, which was hard with the friggin’ shoulder and the bad leg, until the woman took pity on me and finished filling in the forms for me. Bet she was afraid I was going to pass out right there in front of her desk…which was a viable option, in all honesty.

Luckily the private hospital that I’m allowed to go to with my insurance, didn’t force me to wait for hours and hours and hours. Decided to not risk things (luck hasn’t been on my side lately, as you undoubtedly know) I went to the ER and had Xrays taken of my shoulder (no breaks, thank you very much) just a lot of swelling due to inflammation. In the end I just got a prescription for anti inflammatory and painkillers…not much point to those, since I’m already taking Ibuprofen, but you gotta give them points for trying. That worry taken care of we went back home in the rental…

Right, the rental. You didn’t know about that one yet, did you? Well, considering we are wanting to sell the Land Rover, and since it needs some minor repairs and fixings, we decided to rent this tiny zit of a car to get us around for the next of the month. The way we figure it’ll save enough in fuel to practically pay for itself, so that is one worry less. It’s a Fiat 500, and we both fit in it, as long as we push the front seats up against the back. Hah. It has been our savior this past week, in particular due to my hospital visits and all the other stuff that needed arranging…and still does. The days have been insane. On the overall we’re out an average of 6 to 7 hours a day, arranging stuff, and the remaining hours are spent taking care of the dogs, doing the minimal amount of cleaning in our rooms and kitchen, while still trying to get some “clearing” done. Luckily the younger sibs did pitch in with cleaning up the last storage room by the house. Regretfully they weren’t very selective, meaning that lots of stuff got tossed which could have saved them a lot of money in the future whenever they needed to fix something. But, whatever, they’ll have to cross that bridge when they get there. I’ve got other stuff to worry about, least of all being sorting through my clothes and picking what to take with me.

Not such a hard choice anymore. Anything that was remotely important (kindergarten drawings, my first hand written sentence, sculptures that I took along to Spain almost twenty years ago, first drafts of my books) was already gone due to the big disaster. Strange how this last bit…including the Land Rover, I admit, I’m finding that extremely hard…hurts just as much as the rest. You’d think you develop a certain numbness, but for some reason you don’t.

Oddly enough I have heard of many people lately the well-meant advice, “Don’t gather clutter, Sam, you’ll only get frustrated from not knowing what to do with it. It is much better to have an uncluttered life.” I guess it is different when you are not doing it by choice, but rather the lack of it. Personally I find it intensely painful, but that’s me, I guess. I wouldn’t mind taking along a little bit of clutter. Hah.

Ah well, no sense in wallowing, right? Can’t change the facts, so I rather not care, if you don’t mind. Hmmm. Is that too much sarcasm in my tone? I’ll try to restrain myself, I’m feeling a tad out of sorts lately, so you’ll have to excuse me. *sigh*

Nice bit…went to dinner with our friend T tonight. Big brother cooked, which was a big success…which is so good for his confidence. First relaxing evening, just talking, eating, drinking a little, in months, and as an added bonus T is going to help us find a home for Tadaika. Our girl behaved beautifully tonight. She was polite, didn’t make a mess, and smiled for the camera, so to speak. We were very proud.

Did another trip for the Safari tours (actually took some pictures, yay…but you’re not going to see them because I’m lazy, and it is late, and it would take way too long to load them here. Sorry.) which went to Ronda this time. Saw the old ruins, only made one tiny mistake for a change, and the customers seemed to have enjoyed themselves, which counts. In the end that is all that matters, really, and they were nice, which was good for me. Always a pleasure to have good customers. These were Canadians, and they were very enthusiastic about the whole thing. Still have to send them some pictures of the trip, because I promised I would. The whole operation thing stopped me from doing so, however. Was nice seeing Ronda and all the historical sights there. As an added bonus I got to spent time with a bunch of grumpy old men (remember the movie with Jack Lemon and Walter Matthau?) bickering together like a bunch of high school kids. Seriously, it is fascinating. Four men behaving like small kids. Like throwing rubbish into the car of one of their colleagues, just to tease him. I was asked to join in, but laughingly told them that I was way too mature for that sort of thing. Luckily they could appreciate the joke. All in all, I had fun.

What else, there was some cooking (of course) cleaning, and all that basic stuff like cutting dog food, feeding them, etc.

Had a nice chat with my doctor, who has recently started doing fitness (surprised me too) and we got to talking about how I was really enjoying mine and that it can be addicting. He was also really interested in kick boxing, so I wonder if he is going to pick that up at some point. Would be fun if I talked a doctor into doing kick boxing. Hah.

Well, this it for me, really. Gotta call it a blog. Almost two in the morning, and I definitely, definitely need my beauty sleep. You’d be amazed at how quickly you get tired when you’ve got a bum leg and a bum shoulder. *sigh*

Change...

Song of the day: “Let her go” by Passenger. Gorgeous song, if somewhat sad.

So, let’s start with a bit of news. Due to a friend wanting some place to send people interested in vegetarian cooking (in particular folks who were at the Christmas lunch I cooked for) I’ve decided to just add to the daily tasks, and opened another blog dedicated solely to cooking. Yep. I folded. Since at the moment I don’t have time to work on my cook book…at least not in a way that would have anyway, I figured I might as well put some of the recipes on the new blog and see if folks like it. I’m starting out with simple dishes, really, side dishes, soups, sandwiches, etc, just to see if there’s interest for it.

I’d love for y’all to drop by there, try them out, and give some nice tips if you have any about delicious chances you’ve thought of, or a particular dish that you just want to share. If enough of you do so, I’m definitely thinking of doing a once a week guest post with a recipe of my readers 0that I want to try myself.

So anyway, drop on by, tell me what you think of the place…right now the background is a standard one, but as soon as I can, I’m going to try to take out my camera and shoot some pics that I want to use for that. The text, as always, is a work in progress.

http://samayascooking.blogspot.com.es/

Right, that dealt with…what’s been going on since I’m back?!

Well, not a whole bloody lot. Hah…well, that’s not entirely true. Biggest news is that big brother and I decided to take the offer of friends to buy a new 2^nd hand car (the Izusu Trooper of all things- *sigh*)that we got for a very good deal. Here it is:

It’s an oldie (24 years old, I believe) which is part of the attraction, naturally. It’s basic, seeing as it doesn’t have an A/C, or anything, but that’s OK. It’s big. It’s more frugal than our beloved (Gawd, I get choked up about giving up our baby) Land Rover, and the insurance will be less costly. *sigh*

Now, the plan is for us to spend the next months fixing it up, so that we can get a better price for it.

It is a difficult choice to make, really, considering the Land Rover basically is the last thing we have from when things were still okay. It kinda feels like giving up on everything, you know. Going back yet another step in the quality of life, for no other reason than being without a steady income. Makes you wonder how deep you have to fall before finally going back up, eh? Depressing and sad, that’s what I think of it, but one does what one needs to do, right? *sigh*

Which led to this afternoon, out on the mountain, despite the miserly rain, washing the Land Rover which is set for tomorrow at the MOT. Need to have it looking a little presentable, rather than shock the mechanics, eh? Hah. Anyways, since we need to go to Malaga anyway, we also have an appointment at Traffico to finish the transfer of the new car.

Cleaning-wise there is still a lot to do. It’s as if basically only the daily used stuff has been kept clean throughout the house, while every other spot, corner, area became dirtier and dirtier. Daunting, for sure, but I’m getting to it, inch by bloody inch.

Another thing that I’m getting used to is the new bed that big brother and grandpa set up in my corner of the porch. It is about a foot narrower than my old bed (which was necessary because I could barely turn around in my “room”) and considering I’m sharing it with The Knight, Sitabah and Dax, space is…limited. Seriously, I’ve been downright wrecked in the mornings. It doesn’t help that Knight hogs the bed and insists on being under the blankets now that it’s so cold during the nights. Poor babies…all three of them. Sure, they are wonderfully warm for me, since I’m sandwiched between them, but it also means that turning is a no-go most nights. Wrecked, I tell you. Absolutely wrecked!

I did get around to unpacking part of my suitcases (not all, mind you, but at least half…I hope) so I am able to find stuff again. Got a serious storage problem going, and am unsure how to solve it. I’ve got lots of comfortable clothes that have holes and spots in and on them, which are not good for anything other than manual labor. They’re my favorites, they fit well, and the fabrics are nice and worn. Regretfully they take up space from my “better” clothes, which don’t really fit in the closet as long as I keep the comfortable ones, and that really gets my knickers in a twist, darn it.

Did some nice cooking, lately.

Made a good batch of buckwheat burgers last week, which went down well three days in a row. Same goes for chickpea patties yesterday, which served as an excellent Mcchicken (you know, the McDonalds type)…minus the chicken, hah…this afternoon.

The plan was that I would go for a hike today with a friend, but regretfully she was ill-disposed, and is spending the days with her two adorable pugs, in bed, hoping to be well enough to go to work tomorrow, poor girl.

Had a couple of workouts…day before yesterday an extremely good one. Have been sore from it for two days. Hah. Not surprising that I did the first real session, (more than an hour) in months. Maintaining isn’t at all effective in that regard, I’ll admit. But I missed training, needed it, I fear. It explains why my time in the UK was so difficult. A good kickboxing session would have gone a long way in relaxing me.

Seriously, yesterday any movement was downright excruciating, so I definitely did well.

Are well into the edits. A hundred pages, more or less, so we just might be in time to get it all done before the ABNA competition…if they’re holding it this year. Are enjoying it, especially after all this time, but the going is slow. It is difficult to get back into shwung after all this time, I guess.

Mom’s doing reasonably well. The cuts are healing, pain is getting less, and she went out a couple of times, so keeping our fingers crossed that all is well.

Went out into the yard the other day. Grandpa has been planting some winter veggies, which are doing well, all things considered…they, opposite of us, are enjoying the rainy days. Hah. Got a load of oranges hanging on the trees, not to mention tangerines, which are just weeks short of being ripe. Yay.

Knight II is not really improving, in fact I am worried when I see him move. He is rapidly losing muscle in his back legs, going through them and losing coordination. Poor boy. He’s walking into everything, loses his balance on slippery slopes, or simple inclines. I don’t like it. His age is showing, I guess.

Dax, on the other hand, is doing a lot better. Gaining strength, in fact. A relief, that.

Hauled one of the big water reservoir tanks up to the old horse paddock, where we’re going to see if we can use it to catch rainwater that’ll allow for some free veggies, come summer.

Wasn’t easy, either, considering we were experiencing some gale-force winds that day…week, actually.

Another one we need to set up for use on the main, in case we get cut off during the hottest month. I mean, seriously, can you imagine getting rationed on water while you’ve got forty something dogs around, making a mess. You need water then for more than just drinking.

Have caught up on sleep, thankfully. Slept in a couple of times, had some naps…it’s important. Haven’t gotten over the whole uncomfortable thing in the UK yet, but I guess that that will take time. Got that, at least.

Will be going to the UK for Christmas, by the way. It would be hard to get anyone to stay there who can handle the dogs, and since I feel bad about how it all went, I offered big brother and myself as replacement for five days. That way everyone is happy…well, almost everyone.

OK. It’s late. I gotta go.

Recharging!

Song of the day: “Relax” by Frankie goes to Hollywood, I think. Technically I had it in my head yesterday, but since it is still early, I can’t say which one is going to bug me today, so we’ll stick with that one.

Ah, another week gone (almost anyway) and very little to tell about. Still, I’ll make and effort trying to make it remotely interesting regardless…though my imagination might not stretch far enough for that. Hah. I could fake it, of course. Spin some might yarn just for the sake of it…Hmmm. Tempting…Nah. Some other day, maybe, when I’m really desperate, just for the heck of it.

So what’s been going on, you wonder?...or not, depending. Hah. Anyway, first bit of bad news is that The Knight has developed an infection on both back feet. I know, right? What is wrong with this poor creature’s immune system? He is driving me insane with all these little cuts that he gets from his incredibly boisterous behavior (remember my comparison to an elephant in a china cupboard?) that turn into a massive infection at the drop of a hat. I blame the antibiotics that have been pumped into this creature from early age, and bad breeding. It is the only explanation. This is why I went out to find dried Echinacea which I will start adding to his food from now on. This is just ridiculous. Poor dog is now walking around with two bad back paws, for crying out loud…worst of it is, I clean it four to five times a day, which has no use at all, since he keeps licking at them. I’ll have to think of something.

Big brother and I worked a bit on my future bed. It’s a classic (40s, 50s) wide single metal frame that’s originally from a hospital, we think. It’s nice and sturdy, and now that I’ve got less dogs it should be possible for me to sleep on it. Not easy, mind you, considering Knight has a tendency to stretch out and take more than his fair share of the bed, but perhaps it will help me feel a little less claustrophobic in there. Not much, mind you, considering the bed is only ten inches narrower, but still. Every inch helps, right?

What else…lots of trips to town with grandpa for his acupuncturist treatments. I’ve been using the time of waiting wisely. I slept through most of them while sitting the in the car…and in case you’re wondering; yes, I am still constantly tired. Can’t really explain it…well, I can: Three years ago was heavy already with running to the hospital on a weekly, and often daily basis for the sick ladies, then the whole town hall mess, the getting the two of them to safety, followed by a very demanding job while at the same time having to break down everything; we haven’t been able to take a breath and relax in years, so I suppose I’ll have to see that as all the explanation I need.

Regretfully we’ve been doing all this going back and forth to town in the Opel, because the car is at the garage for fixing. They’ve assured me that it’s time consuming due to the waiting for parts, rather than the amount of hours they need to spend on it. Not so expensive, they’ve said, so let’s hope that their idea of not so expensive is similar to mine, rather than heart attack worthy when I get the bill. *sigh*

Exercise wise I’ve been taking it easy. Lots of stretches, which feels wonderful, followed by some mild kick boxing and pumping iron. As soon as we’ve caught up on some necessary sleep, we’re going to try to pick up jogging again, which should improve my disposition vastly.

Been doing quite a bit of cooking. Most of it, yummy (naturally, who’d eat carpy food if they can help it?) but also high in nutritional value. Been missing way too many meals this last year, so I’m trying to catch up, which should also help with the tiredness. Have you ever noticed that when you don’t sleep enough you eat more, and vice versa? Well, the body’s got to get the energy somewhere, right? The way I figure, if I balance it nicely, it should be alright soon enough. I'm recharging!
Discovered that you can make wonderful patties of barley cooking in spices with garlic and onion. Definitely one worthy for the cook book…not to mention wonderfully different from the usual recipe.
Also made a wonderful mushroom quiche the other day. We still have a load of canned mushrooms, and we really should start using them, ergo the experiment. Hah.
Since it is high summer (temps are still wonderfully low, by the way) we’re eating loads of raw stuff. Mostly slices of all sorts of veggies on bread or patties, which goes down well and is high on the nutritional value scale.
Same goes for the veggie, lentil, egg mix I made the other day, which saw us through three different types of meals during the course of the week. Yay. Don’t you just love being frugal AND healthy at the same time?

Did a painting job a few days ago. A roof that needed a new layer of waterproof paint. Won’t work, of course, not the way the owner wants it to. This way he’ll have to do it again within a year, is my guess. But, of course, he won’t take our word for it, so we just slapped the first layer on, as asked. Boss is king, and all that, and if he wants to be stubborn about it, that’s his prerogative.

Did an afternoon of washing dogs, which went well, and allowed us to check on our former charges. They’re doing well enough, all things considered, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed in that regard.

Something horrid: We were dumping garbage the other night and found a crate with four tiny puppies in it, dumped by a set dumpsters right beside the road. I mean seriously, what is wrong with people. Through some contacts with local shelters, there is a scary overflow of dumped puppies in the area. They are getting an average of one to two puppy litters a day at the shelter, which is just ridiculous. Thankfully they were willing to take these puppies into their care, because otherwise we would have been so screwed. It’s so hard, such finds, but we could hardly have left them there by the side of the road, could we. Some folks should get shot for doing shit like that. Have your dog neutered, for crying out loud!

What else…well, not much. No groceries, except for one batch of veggies the other day. We’re trying to hold out two weeks at least, but three if we can manage it. Shopping I’ve found is way cheaper if you only do it once, maybe twice a month, and then only with a list. What’s not on the list doesn’t get bought. Nothing protects the wallet better than that technique…also foregoing anything precooked and “special” helps a lot with that as well. Hah.

Did some cleaning around the yard. Stuff just keeps stacking up, doesn’t it? Did laundry, naturally, and finally did get around to putting away stacks and stacks of clean laundry in my closet…still haven’t found the time to unpack my bags from the trip, by the way. Hadn’t even thought of that one yet. Hmmm. Maybe I’ll manage to squeeze it in later today.

Got some writing done this week, which is a good thing. The characters are developing nicely now, becoming actual people in my head, finally…they should, to be honest, considering that this will be the first book I ever did that is partly based on true life…sort of…with a very fictional twist to it. Hah.

Well, that’s about it, isn’t it? I’m sure I’m something, but what else is new, right. Time to get going, and see if I can get anything useful done today…shouldn’t be too hard, should it?