Weekend market

Song of the day: “The Banana Boat Song” by Harry Belafonte. Still love that one, and it is entertaining to have tumbling around in my head.

Ah, the weekend. Though I am clearly on a weekend break for the blog these days, those very days are so busy that I doubt I’d even have the time to write the darn thing. Hah.
So yeah, Saturday morning. *sigh* It was still dark when I woke from the alarm. Don’t you just hate winter? The days get to be so friggin’ short, darn it. But anyway, twilight took about fifteen minutes to arrive before I’d taken care of the morning rituals and shuffled down to the courtyard. Once there I stopped dead in my tracks and look up at the pool. Arms filled with towel and outfit for the day I debated a full washing session in the shower, or a quick wake-up dip in the pool…I went for the latter. Seriously, showering takes soooo long, and I liked the idea of speed so much that I didn’t even mind that the pool water is greener than a frog. Hah. Almost forgot my coffee again, rushed through breakfast (grandpa made pancakes) were on our way…and had to go right back because both Cousin Ed and I forgot our phone. Ran down to my cabin, back up again and headed out. Yay.
Arrived only five minutes late and started to set up. We had more with us this time, so it took us at least two hours to set up. So hard to set things up in a way that I liked it. Strange how one day from the other different colorschemes go, eh. But anyway, it all looked nice and such, we managed to fit everything in, and when we discovered we forgot pen and paper, the nice lady who organizes the market offered to print our “discount” and “reserved” cards for us.

Not a very busy day, though there was some attention for both Tika Art and my tie dyes. In fact, we sold three of them, which was nice to see. A good place for tie dye, I tell ya. All that beach stuff, eh? Also sold a toy monkey. Was so cute to see the little boy run around with it through the remainder of the afternoon. Wrapped around his neck and head, dangling down his chest. He looked proud as heck. Hah.

I took an hour and a half in the afternoon to withdraw to the restaurant and do some writing. Went rather well, actually. Managed to write down a solid five pages where it became clear that my heroine used to be a Trekie in her tweens, doesn’t like authority, and that my “bad guy” military dude has a new assistant he needs to “break in”. Life is just full of surprises, isn’t it?

The lady who’d made the order the previous week, came to pick up her dog bed. Turns out something went wrong with the order. She wanted a square, not a rectangular bed, but she took it regardless. Later she came back with the intention of having us put aside one of the big beds (she wanted to gift it to her mom) for next week, or the week thereafter. Since that was a pretty steep order, I decided to give her a break and offered to take back the “wrong” bed, so mom could make a new one for her with the right sizes and the silver she kept insisting on.
The bed that was made was gorgeous enough for me to be confident that we’ll be able to sell it at some point regardless.

On the overall the market went well, and by the time we’d packed up again it was close to six in the afternoon. There was a bit of a rush to get home where the younger sibs are undoubtedly waiting to pack up for the Sunday Market. We unloaded our half, and started packing the Opel with wagon for the Sunday market at Funny Beach Marbella, this time with a lot less merchandise, since the amounts are halved, and the gaps filled with second hand stuff like baby clothes and such.

I have been using an occasional half hour here and there to read a review book. This time Adam Siffre with “I’ve been deader”. It’s seriously whacky, and fun to read…I just don’t have much time for it lately. *sigh*

But anyway, I was in bed at one, passed out, and was startled awake seven fifteen when it was time to get up for the Sunday market. Yay. There was the coffee bit, the breakfast, and off we were, once more, only to discover that the market soap had started. Other stand folks had gotten upset that the organizer hadn’t informed them beforehand that she wanted to relocate them to a different spot. Turns out they got our stand, meaning that we got relocated instead, because she figured we wouldn’t hassle her. We didn’t, of course, because it was a nice challenge to see if we could make this stand look good too. We could. But it’s a lucky thing that it was the Sunday market and not the Saturday market, because seriously, carrying the big load that far would have been nothing less than a massive biatch. Hah.

But here are some pix for both days. See for yourself.

Saturday



This one too. We had a crooked Z.


Sunday


And this will be our stand next week. (Cute, eh?)


It's to make up (I think) for the misunderstanding with the stand, and otherwise...well, it'll be fun anyway.
My head is already busy setting everything in place. Hah. I’m bonkers that way. But I tell ya. When I was a kid, I had fantasies of setting up the windows in a shop. I’m getting all the freedom I need to live out that little fantasy.

But anyway, we’ll see about that next week. Until then…my head better shut up.

Leaving Cousin Ed in charge of the stand I headed out to Benahavis again to check out that market there…I didn’t like it. Not as a artsy thing anyway, which is basically what the Tika art stuff is. Benahavis, though paradise for the bargain hunter like myself (got two pants for 2 bucks, a skirt for 1 buck, and two books for 1, yay) is not suited for the dog beds and quilts. I chatted with several stand holders (pumped them for information while purchasing my books and pants) who informed me that even though the sales are pretty good, you’ll be lucky to sell everything that costs more than 3 bucks. *sigh* Not a celebrity in sight either…or maybe I just didn’t see them searching for bargains. LOL
Good thing I like Funny Beach, so far…heck, we even had music yesterday. Hah.

On the way back, something flew in my eye, still don’t know what, and arrived two and half hours after departure back at the stand.
But anyway, we ended the day having sold several baby clothes, and one of the Tika art purses. We offered to pay at least half of the two days, but the organizer said that we might as well agree that for as long as the market doesn’t go extremely well yet, we’re not paying them for the stand. I like that to pay my way, but I’m not stupid. That money is needed for our four legged palls after all.

Loading went a lot faster this time too, seeing as we could load everything up into the wagon rather than having to bring it all to the car and do that there. Rather good that, otherwise we would have had to do that with a wheelbarrow and our backs. *sigh*

Once at home it was time to unload (with some help from the younger sibs), get some dinner (big brother made mac & cheese with some veggies) some chats online, followed by a very late jog because I really had to unwind. Jeez. Then, of course, I put on my wrong sneakers (the ones with the rounded soles) meaning that my jogging was limited to say the least. *double sigh*

My dogs are feeling a little neglected at the moment, my poor darlings. Knight II is trying to eat my clothes, Chaos is peeing in the cabin (and I think he has a bladder infection, so I need to keep an eye on that) and the rest…well, they’re just acting all hurt and such. They know how to play it well, I assure you. I feel very guilty.

Came home to pass out and slept almost through ‘til nine in the morning. Yay. My eye’s a little swollen and hurts like heck, but it’s still there, so, that’s a-okay then. Hah.
Spent the morning on the normal chores, feeding the dogs, breakfast and helping tenant before she went down to spend the afternoon with mom. Then I washed both the cars, because it was starting to get embarrassing to travel in them, at which point I had to help big brother set the poles by Sally’s cabin for the wooden barrier we’re planning to place there while grandpa made pancakes for lunch.

That done, we headed or town to do some groceries for mom and the sibs and speak with mechanic about the leak we found under the car. Apparently it has something to do with that problem we had the last time. Let’s just keep our fingers crossed it’s not serious...but then knowing my luck lately, it will be. Aaaargh. We have an appointment on Thursday, and since I still smelled the petrol fumes in the back of the Opel we decided to drive by tomorrow with that so he could check if it was all okay.

Once at home, the groceries unpacked the end of the day arrived. Made spaghetti and sauce (half of it, anyway, cousin Ed finished it.) There was still dog food to chop, but it went well. Wrote about half a page of the book (seeing as my concentration was shot today) and then started on the blog. I’ve gotta go. I need sleep and my eye still hurts like heck. Grrr.

Blowin' up a storm

Song of the day: “Never no more” by Patsy Cline again. Though admittedly this one wasn’t stuck in my head, I just put it there to counteract another one that was really bugging me yesterday. Hah.

First order of the day (yesterday) was taking Thorgal to the vet. Poor fellas neck was swollen even more, and they were going to have to put him under to treat him. Since we were out anyway, and had dropped grandpa off to pick up his moped, we did some quick groceries (bread and milk) and went over to the construction company to get another batch of cement. Loaded up and headed for home where big brother and grandpa unloaded.

Turns out that beside the busted knee (which is almost over and done with btw) I did something with my shoulders (I’m guessing the jackhammer. The new one is heavier than I’m used to) that has been more than a little uncomfortable. There are points where I can barely raise my arms, and there’s the resonating sensation from my shoulder blades that resonates straight into my skull. Very unpleasant, obviously. Hah.

But anyway, it was business as usual, and since the sun was shining rather beautifully, I decided to wash the Land Rover.
First I gotta tell ya about the wind, though. The day started out completely still. Not even a whisper of wind and I was up by the gate when I suddenly heard a distant roar. It was rather weird, really, this rumbling sort of sound, like when you’re close to the ocean and the waves are particularly high.
I looked out over the sloping hills to the west, pinpointing the sound to be coming from that side, and stared for the longest time into the distance. Nothing. Not a tree was moving, and yet the sound was getting worse, coming closer even.
And that’s when I saw it, the row of trees at the top of the first, most distant ridge began to sway like mad, and then the row in front, and in front of that, rumbling steadily closer, making a stretching meadow of knee-high grass undulate impressively. It skipped across the opening, set the eucalypti in the narrow valley below us to a mad sway and then it tumbled over us, setting my hair to dance, while the trees and plants around me took up a cheering dance. Rather awesome, actually.

Reminded me of one of my books, that’s a fact. Had never experienced the wind quite like that before, but it was beautiful to witness that way.
But anyway, I washed the car, waxed it too, kept company by Dani who was washing her car at the same time. In the beginning it wasn’t at all unpleasant, but as the afternoon advanced (heard over the phone that we could pick Thorgal up after five) and the sun lowered from its zenith the chill increased and so did the wind.

I for one, was more than happy to finish rubbing the wax out (very Karate Kid, really: “Wax in, wax out” Hah) and heading inside to cook some dinner. Opted for red beets with rice and fresh cream cheese.

By then it was time to pick up Thorgal, and since we were out anyway, we got another batch of rocks into the back of the car. Had I known then that we’d have another donation run later that night (heard when we got back) I would have opted not to get rocks. As it was, Knight II and Thorgal really enjoyed the free run they had while we loaded up.
Had and extremely short nap once we got home. I had planned to just lay on the bed for a bit and relax my shoulder and back a bit, but ended up sleeping for about thirty minutes. Felt much better after that.

Rather than only editing, I did some writing immediately after. That scene I still need to insert needs two segues, and one of them I managed to finish last night. The edit of the night done, we headed out to town again. *sigh*

Boring, I know. Didn’t get to bed until three in the morning, so you can imagine my mood when I got up this morning. Hah. Was a little haggard for sure, but today I had “I like it” by Enrique Iglesias in my head, which was a definite improvement. Great song again.

There was the usual laundry, followed by busywork up by the carport (after breakfast naturally). I had to fix a rubber curtain. The glue wasn’t holding so I bolted the rings instead, which should work better at least. Grandpa and I hung it as soon as I was done, and yep, it’s holding. Yay.

Next there was the dismantling of a small electric wagon. Since it was broken, I basically took it apart for parts while big brother worked on grandpa’s moped, which battery wasn’t working. He fixed that problem, but while he was doing that, he drilled a hole through another important part, meaning that we were standing there beside the dismantled moped, swearing at his inattention.

Me: “Why’d you do that?”
Big brother: “I didn’t do it on purpose. I just wasn’t thinking for a moment?”
Me: “Does it still work?”
We checked, numerous times. It didn’t.
Grandpa: “What happened?”
Big brother is mumbling.
Me: “He drilled a hole through the Ducatti part?”
Grandpa: “Ducatti? What’s that?”
Me: “This thingy.”
Grandpa: “Oh darn. I think that’s the power diverter.”
Me: “The what?”
Grandpa: “Power diverter. It’s connected to the fireplug.”
Big brother (mumbling still): “I can’t believe I didn’t notice that.”
Me (exasperated and amused): “Yeah. How could you not notice? That plastic is an eighth of an inch and you drilled through about four inches of material.”
Big brother: “Dunno.”
Me: “Can we take it out?”
Big brother: “Dunno. Let’s check.”
We do manage, examine the little gizmo, stumped as to what it does.
Big brother: “Darn. We’ll have to go to the village and order a new one. This won’t be stocked.”
Me: “Not much choice.”
Big brother: “Stupid. Why didn’t I…”
Me: “Hey, you know, you could just flog yourself and get it over with. Jeez. Accidents happen.”
He mumbles some more, shakes his head, and then lets it go while he tosses the broken part on the table.
Me (the proverbial light bulb pings): “What about the Honda?”
Big brother: “What about it?”
Me: “We can’t fix it and won’t it have the same, or similar part?”
Big brother (perking up): “Probably. We can check.”
Grandpa: “I doubt it. Most engines have a different firing point.·”
Me: “Let’s check anyway. You never know.”

We check, and yes, the part was exactly the same. After we broke through the old plastic of the Honda we managed to get it out easy as you please. About half an hour later we had it in the Katana and it started on command. *phew* Major relief. The stupid moped has to hold out ‘till the new year at least until the new one arrives.

But anyway, for the next hour we put the carcass of the moped back together and then head on up to the horse paddock where the imperial waits. Since big brother treated it’s rust spots yesterday while I was washing the car, it was now dry enough for us to paint it again.

By then the sun was starting to lower on the horizon. Big brother headed down into the yard while I went to the kitchen to make dinner, partly with yesterday’s leftovers. Tenant helped out. She had a nice afternoon with caregiver who took her to the library and then out for coffee and pie.

Which wraps up the activities of the past couple of days, really. Right now I’m (dogs and big brother alike) sitting by the stove enjoying the sit down and preparing to get started on the day’s edit. Yay.

Getting worried

Song of the day: “Fireflies” by Owl City. Just recently rediscovered this particular song and it’s been on my mind ever since.

What’s up? Well, I don’t really know. My brain wants to blank out, but luckily I jotted some stuff down on a list so I actually have some stuff to write about. Hah.

First off we’ve got yesterday, which was spent in the full sun (was wonderful, considering there was a cool Atlantic wind) washing the cars. Seriously, it was grand, and though I knew that I was going to end up sunburned (got to get sunburned at least once in the summer, right?) I did it in shorts and a bikini top anyway. Hah. It was just too nice

The washing done, and after hauling in the dog food that was delivered while I was washing the car, (lugged down ten bags of 44 pounds a pop), I waxed the Land Rover proper. Though I have no trouble with the Land Rover being dirty, it does fit the image a bit. You know what I mean, right? Cross country, mud, dust and all that jazz. The wax does a wonderful job of keeping the persistent dirt off. Unlike the last time, I managed to wash the car with only a sponge, which is definitely a first.

While I was doing the cars, big brother and grandpa worked on the gate of grandpa’s place. It broke down the other day, so they built a new one. This time with an arch overhead that grandpa wants to put some sort of fine in. It will look really nice once it’s done, that I know.

Also, the new boarding for tenant’s ceiling got painted. All primed and colored yesterday and partially put in place even today…but I’m getting ahead of myself. Hah. Back to yesterday.

The painting as good as done, tenant and I started on our way down to the basin where we made dinner together consistent of lentil/chickpea patties with a vegetable pot roast on the side. That went down well after a full day’s work, and while I did some edits on V.L. because big brother needs to do his fair share for S.N.

After that first short session we headed into the yard for a bit. We harvested the last of this batch of tomatoes, there are some more flowers blooming, but it will be a while yet. The peppers are still going strong, and the zucchini’s are in their second “life”, and soon we’ll be able to get the harvest of red beets in.

While out to harvest, I also started on gathering the herbs I needed for one of my potions. Sure, Kenneth might be too far gone by now, that cancer is a nasty biatch after all, I’m hoping it will keep her comfortable a little longer at least. While I was making the potion I also the took the opportunity to get some aloe vera, which worked miracles on my sunburn. Seriously, I was red as a lobster last night, but this morning there were only a few remaining spots. Yay.

There was the edit, of course, but since that will be basically what I’ll be doing for the next few months, let’s leave it at that description, eh? I also finished reading that thriller, and even though the ending face-off scene with the bad guy made up for a lot, the lead did it all naked and that image kind of ruined it for me again. *sigh* What’s with the nakedness in inappropriate moments, people. Are average people going around naked at so many occasions without me knowing about it? Jeez.

So I started reading another thriller this morning…and it got me a little worried. Here I was thinking that the thriller genre would be a good way for me to write my stories without be obligated to add in-gratuitous sex, only to start reading another thriller that has, I kid you not, three sex scenes (of the villains no less) in the first four chapters. Now don’t get me wrong, I got the importance of it in one scene, but the other two??? I don’t get it. I’ve read this author before, and from what I remember of his previous stories he wasn’t obsessed about the whole S word thing at all! Please, if you, my readers have a good suggestion for my research reading in the thriller genre, let me know, this is…well, disparaging. *sigh*

Let’s get to the day, shall we. It started off with the usual: a dip in the pool, followed by coffee and the laundry, before we headed up to tenant’s place to have breakfast and putting tenant’s new ceiling in. Got most in too, before we decided on a different technique (we’ll have to do that tomorrow) because the one we had settled on didn’t work as well as hoped. No matter though, we’ll get it right tomorrow.

What with the change of plan needing grandpa to do some preparations, I went down with tenant and caregiver. While the ladies went for a dip in the pool, I headed down to the prickly pears (cacti) and plucked a big batch. Next I burned of all the tines, of which a solid dozen or so still ended up in my fingers, and then peeled them to make syrup and compote. Worked out well too, and turned out to be pretty darn nice to boot.

Made the same patties as yesterday for supper, only added onion and cheese to the dough, which worked out really well. Afterwards we had dessert of yogurt with cream, brambles, some prickly pear and sugar, which made for a nice touch for a change we hardly ever do desserts anymore. Hah.

Which brings me to the end of today’s blog, seeing as I still need to head down into the yard and check everything before it’s time to call it a day and get started on the edit.

Semi-rest day. Yay!

Song of the day: “La principe valiente” by Amistades Peligrosas. Gawd, I haven’t heard the song in years...at least not deliberately...so I wonder how I managed to even remember the (Spanish) lyrics, let alone the melody. There were a few other songs, a brave attempt on my part to “change the tune” so to speak, but LPV was definitely the main theme.

I’m a tad late this morning. I just couldn’t open my eyes during wake-up time and ended up snoozing an extra ten minutes. Ah, well, no harm done, I supposed. I remove the wrappings and test my wrists. Since they’re reasonably well, I leave the wrappings off and get out of bed.

Dreadfully stiff and with my eyes at half-stock (I hate it when that happens) I do a few stretches prior to getting dressed for the day, and then head on out the cabin into the bright, but fresh morning air. Beautiful weather again; sunny but cool, just like the younger sibs like it. Hah.

After breakfast and the usual morning chores, sincerely hoping that my eyes will open appropriately, we start on the edit. Again it goes slowly, but steadily, going through a couple of pages in the hours that pass, and during which we get distracted a lot.

We stumble a little on a particular phrasing here, a wrong punctuation mark there, but other than that, it’s not going too bad when the time arrives for us to head on out.
Since little sister and I are both having some discomfort in our wrists…definitely overdid the lifting part these past few weeks, hah…we tackle the car for a good washing.

Tomorrow we need to take the car to the city for it’s official check up with the traffic bureau of the county. Our “permiso de circulacion” needs to be renewed, and for that the tedious chore of heading over the there and probably wait there for hours on end (aargh) for our turn is jotted down in our mental day planner. I am not looking forward to it, that’s a fact, but what needs to be done has to be done in the end.

So, we wash the car, remove the tattered and torn coverings from the seats (can’t give a bad impression after all) and replace it with a new set that we bought on sale six months, or so, ago. It’s a rather heavy task, twisting and turning into all sorts of shapes while we attempts to attach the coverings to the seats, but in the end, with the car gleaming, the dashboard cleaned and the “new” seats, the truck is looking mighty nifty.

While little sister and I did the car, the other sibs emptied yesterday’s dirt load from the back of the truck, and then went off to different ventures while we finished up the cleaning.

Once we’re done, it is time to change clothes, bring the dogs inside and get ready for the run we planned to take today. Though some exercise won’t go amiss, the ol’ bod is complaining somewhat fierce as I dress in my workout clothes, slip into my sneakers and then head up to the car where little sister is already waiting.

At last, the three younger sibs have come to a point in their lives where they want to learn how to drive - not so much getting a license, but just “knowing” how to handle a car without driving into a ditch. This is why we decided that, since we head out onto narrow dirt roads in deserted areas for our running anyway, we might as well take the opportunity to start with lessons.

While little brother had his turn during the last run, little sister takes hers today. It is quite charming to see her excitement (little sister always literally glows when she enjoys something) when we finally reach the dirt road and we change places so she can settle behind the wheel.

Basically, this is the first time that she’s driving our wonderfully clean truck, so there are a few hiccups at the start…the lower gear does make it a lot easier on her…but once she gets a hang of it she is carefully touring towards the small parking area where we stop to go for our run.

The run goes well, taking less than an hour, and afterwards we’re all standing around the car going through the cool-down stretches and other exercises that will keep joints and muscles flexible. Since we need to turn the car anyway, little sister gets to drive almost four miles in total and she is delighted by the time we return to the house with her very first driving lesson behind her.

I’m actually quite relieved that little sister is doing the driving on the bumpy road. Every jerk and bump is bothering my wrist, so if I were holding the wheel I’d be sure to be in some serious pain. Ah yes, I’m learning to see the positive side of things these days, hah. Upon reaching the main road, little sister and I exchange places again and I drive home…on the smooth and bump-less blacktop, thankfully.

Mom has dinner waiting for us, so after washing up and greeting the dogs we heartily dig in. Excellent meal: Curried zucchini, green beans with coconut shavings and basmati rice. It always reminds me of my childhood for some reason.

With dinner behind us, big brother and I resume the edit and add another two pages, ending the last chapter with gleeful pleasure…for us, anyway. Only the epilogue to go, along with the new scene, and then the re-write edit will actually be completely and irrevocably, DONE! Yes, yes…Yay!

Sure, it will need a read-through edit still, and probably another read-through after that, but the hard work will be over. Phew. I can hardly encompass it when I think about it; maybe I’ll have better luck tomorrow. Hah.

I’ve a feeling that I’m missing something, and event that I wanted to write down for today, but for the life I can’t remember what it was. It’s so frustrating. It’s like trying to think of a word and it’s on the tip of your tongue, you just can’t figure out what it is. Darn it!

Lemme think. I wrote about the edit, the car washing, the run, little sister’s first driving lesson…nope. I’m coming up blank. Don’t you just hate it when that happens? Ah well, maybe I’ll have remembered by this time tomorrow…I wonder if I’ll be able to state that the epilogue of “Saving Nina” is done then too. That sure would be something. I’m still trying to think of a way to celebrate.

So, with that bit of pleasant news the evening comes to an end, and with it today’s blog.