Nothing of much interest, I assure you

Song of the day: “Human”, by Christina Perri, gorgeous song, admittedly, but it has been in my head a bit too long now. It’s been going on and on and on for about three days now, so I wouldn’t mind if it went elsewhere…you want to take it as an earworm? You’re welcome to it. Hah.

Right. Time for an update, isn’t it? Should have done it earlier, but I’ve recently had a bad cold and am only now well on the way of recovery. It was bad there, for a bit, with me coughing like and idiot for almost a week, but now all I’m left with is an occasional tickle, so I’ll apparently survive. *sigh* Big brother is still in the midst of his cold, I’ll have you know, and he’s struggling with it. It doesn’t help that he refuses to wear scarfs, and sometimes even sweaters, and that he doesn’t like to use stuff like vaporub and whatnot, but that’s choice, I suppose. He’s spending a lot of time in bed, sleeping it off, so lucky for him he didn’t need to work much this past week or two.

Not a lot of interesting things happened since the last blog, at least nothing that will titillate you into reading more of this, I could of course make stuff up, but that just wouldn’t be fair.

First off, I did manage to do some writing, so the past few weeks weren’t a complete loss. (pats self on the head) Nothing earth shattering, but added several pages, which is definitely a plus. Gotta get that book written and the way to write a book is one page at a time, naturally. Characters are still developing nicely, so all in all it is not going all that bad.

The chauffeur job for the hotel didn’t work out. They could only guarantee four hours a week, which just wouldn’t do. Drat. Would have liked that kind of work, I’ll admit. Regretfully that one is out of the picture now.

Been steadily applying for jobs, of course, just like I’m supposed to.  At the moment I am aiming for facility management, night reception clerk for hotels and courier. There’s quite a few jobs out there for that, now all I’ve gotta do is snatch one…of course I am not really in a hurry at the moment. I would like to continue writing a bit longer if at all possible. That of course hangs in the balance of not liking being unemployed and not having sufficient funds coming in, but you can’t have everything, I guess.

Cooking has been somewhat uneventful lately. Basically survival food. Lots of salads with pasta, etc, small snacks in-between recovery naps. Did have a gorgeous cauliflower soup that worked out really well last week. And this week I did a nice tomato soup, which was a bit on the spicy side, and therefore extremely good. I love spicy tomato soup.

Once I was on the road to recovery I also finally managed to do some serious cleaning around the house. Vacuumed, removed spider webs and cleaned  horizontal surfaces. Was pretty necessary after I was pretty much out of it for a week. Much relieved by the improvement, can’t stand messes much these days.

Heard that our former teamleader’s baby was born, so we’re going to have to go for a visit one of these days and see junior. Very happy for them.

Went to visit tenant the other day. Brought her a present. A really nice paint and drawing set that she was really happy to get. Was good to see her pleased, especially since she said she was at the moment avoiding eating in the dining room because all the “old folk” were not doing any conversation during dinner. It just wasn’t cosy there, she  claimed and that made me a little sad.

Also visited with our father and stepmother down south, which is a trip that takes more than two hours in total. Very unhandy, but it was a nice afternoon at their new place. They made quite a bit of headway with their garden, which is starting to look nicely spacious. Later in the day they took us out for dinner at a cute little Italian restaurant in Germany. I would love to have something like that place. It’s tiny and runs more on take away than anything because their place is so tiny, but they are stacked most nights. Was nice, despite having to travel a long way afterward. I was so tired at one point that big brother had to take over driving. He did, for fifteen minutes, when he had the same problem (he was still very sick that day). At this time I had gotten a five minute nap, and managed to drive the rest of the way without trouble. Phew. Was afraid there for a moment that we would have to sleep by the side of the road somewhere. Hah.

The weather has turned to genuine winter. We’ve had wind storms, rain storms, fog, and as of yesterday the temps dropped below the freezing point. Yikes. It gets cold here with a capital C. What with winds coming from the north, it’ll hit you in the face like an icy four by four. Clothes don’t seem to help all that much, and most of the time I am now struggling with keeping my core temperature high enough not to end up with chattering teeth most days.

Well, I’m going to leave it at this. I can hardly start telling y’all about even more boring little titbits than I already have. Jeez. Let’s hope I have some nicer stuff to talk about next time, right? I’ll even try to spruce things up a little. Gotta go.

Kicking my butt

Song of the day…well, there wasn’t one. I’m sick as a dog. Got a stuffed nose, some fever, and have little aches all over the place. I had some discomfort in my nose and the back of my throat yesterday, and the fact that we went out to work in the freezing cold of El Burgo, didn’t help in the end, I think.

But anyway, we left early for it, loaded up everything that had to go to Liane. Meaning the tiles and tools, and, on the way there a big load of sand that we bought at the local construction company. The guy did apologize for this time being a little less than usual, because he has to guess the load, but then we agreed that the next time he’d put in a bit extra, so all’s well.

So we got on site, luckily with grandpa who helped us unload both sand and tiles, prior to us leaving for el Burgo where we had an appointment with a dude who’s in control of a large piece of property, with loads of trees on it that were either dead or in need of trimming. The biatch is that almond wood is pretty tough, so if I hadn’t figured out at some point that you could just rip the trees from the ground when they’re dead, we wouldn’t have managed to reach our quota for the day. One I pulled out was a bit on the big side though, seeing as when it “went” I couldn’t hold it, and landed flat on my butt. Pulled a thigh muscle in the process, darn it. Took me at least half an hour to walk that off. *sigh*
Good I was a little upset too, otherwise I would never have managed, I’m sure. Hah. But anyway, most of the following six hours were spent pushing, pulling over trees, and carrying them all up the steep, steep incline toward the car where we could process them.

Bad news was that by the time we started the processing bit, both the chainsaw’s gave the spirit. *sigh* So, in order to meet the deal we’d made with the dude (giving him a big load, ready for use) we stacked what was already sawed and chopped inside the car, so I could drive him home and unload at his place before dark, and before big brother and grandpa froze to their deaths on that deserted mountain top.

Personally I was frozen halfway through by the time I got back, and since the sunshine was gone by the time I got there I didn’t warm up anymore either. But anyway, we got the wagon full at least, and part of the back of the car, so it wasn’t for nothing. But cold. Gawd it was, really, really cold over there. Sooooo not doing that again. I think grandpa and I went up and down that mountain some odd twenty or thirty times, and boy was it steep in places. I am terribly glad that I didn’t take Knight, because he would have perished from the cold.

We didn’t get home until dark, and by then we were so sick that big brother’s teeth were chattering, and I could barely move anymore. So I went to take a shower, a hot one (as hot as I could stand it while my toes tingled) for as long as the boiler water held out, end then up to thaw out in front of the stove while trying to do some work on the computer. I couldn’t of course. The common cold had set in for real by then and I decided to just give up and go to bed at ten.

Basically slept through the night. A solid ten hours, and I will tell you that they were downright wonderful. I just slept, and slept and slept (woke a lot, but turned over and went right on) and finally got up around nine feeling still sick, but at least not at all sore from the activity. Guess my stamina for such activity has improved at least.

This morning, what with the pounding head, my leaking nose and sleepy state of mind, I didn’t get much writing done, so around noon we headed up to unload the wagon and car (the first got damaged some, by the way. Big brother went right through the wood putting in a trunk). Got a phone call from the hospital that Sally had to return asap, because her cultures came back and because she still has a fever. Caregiver took her, and she (Sally that is) has been admitted in hospital once more because her cultures showed that she had some sort of unknown bacteria that was making her blood respond oddly.
She’ll be staying there for a few days on antibiotics.

Tenant also has the same cold as us, Cousin Ed…the only one exempt at the moment, appears to be grandpa, so I’m hoping that’ll stay that way. Would be a pain in the behind if we all end up useless.

Had to take Knight II to the vet this afternoon. There was some swelling in his foot, so he’s back to the antibiotics, darn it. He did like being at the vet, though. His tail wasn’t down for a change, and he let them fuss with him without trouble. Gawd, sometimes it seems as if that stupid paw is never going to heal.

By the time we got back there was the trailer to fix, you know, from the broken barrier and back that I mentioned earlier. It took some time, and a brisk wind made it rather unpleasant. Then, after the damage was fixed, we still had to shovel it full with sand, get the wheelbarrow strapped on, and prepare that wood for tomorrow’s job at Liane.

I am going to bed early, by the way. This cold is really kicking my butt.

Sick as a dog

Song of the day: “Under the sun” by Cheryl Cole. As long as I don’t see the clip, the song is a cute one. Hah.

Well, there’s bad news, so let’s get to that before we get down to business. Practically everyone here is sick. Yep. Isn’t it grand? Little brother and sister got some sort of bug, and it spread through the entire family like a wildfire. Seriously, this is a nasty little bug. Big brother wasn’t worth a damn for the past couple of days, seeing as he had a bad fever, and is coughing somewhat fierce.

I tried, I really did, keeping away from the bug, keeping out of the house, staying in the open air, but I seem to have caught a wee bit of it regardless. Probably this is partly due to the fact that I spent about an hour in the car with Visitor who (regardless of having caught the bug too) really wanted to see mom and the sibs at the market. So I drove her there, and wandered around for a couple of hours. Actually got myself some books, yay! But I’m drifting. I was already a little woozy in the morning, and had a doozy of a headache, and though I could go past it during the course of the day, it was there in the sting at the back of my throat, and my swollen tonsils.

Took lots of tinctures from my own herbs, made some good mixes, because despite some feverishness, I managed to get through the today without too much trouble (and one nap) without it affecting work.

So let’s do a cabin update. The floor was varnished today. I didn’t have time for it, so grandpa did the honors. The floor in the bathroom is all set, and big brother, who was feeling better today, managed to get most of the toilet installed. If all goes well that part should be done tomorrow. The roof of the bathroom is in now as well, which was something grandpa and I did today. Though I didn’t mind working with the circle saw with my feverish head, I drew the line at the sawing table, so grandpa ended up doing that too, poor fella. What I did manage to do without too much trouble was put together the window frame for the bathroom, and yesterday afternoon, together with Cousin Ed, putting together the bed I designed for Sally’s cabin. It’s a beauty (I’m taking pics for an update soon), in particular since Cousin Ed painted it a soft peach today. Sally is really looking forward to moving in. She told me this morning that she barely slept a wink during the night because she was so excited about her cabin. That’s always nice to hear.

There were two cooking sessions. Pizza yesterday, which Sally helped prepare while Cousin Ed and Big Brother watered the yard, and Pasta with fresh tomato sauce today, for which tenant cut the tomatoes, onions, and bell peppers. Both meals went down rather well at the end of a long day.

Sally is working hard trying to make herself useful. We’re keeping a close eye on her, not wanting her to overdo things and nap whenever she’s tired on this comfortable foldout couch that we put outside so she can sleep out in the fresh air. She’s loving that after almost three weeks of imprisonment at the hospital. Tomorrow Cousin Ed is taking her to the hospital in Malaga for her first radiology treatment. Sally’s taking it well enough, and is handling the entire affair with loads of her old aplomb.

Tenant’s rather tired these days, practicing her walking, and doing more of her own dressing and such. Sometimes I worry a bit about her, but it is always her choice, of course. She will have to find her own boundaries, and the only way to find those, she’ll have to push them a little.

After a quick dip in the pool this afternoon (despite the temps dropping, working out there in the old paddock in full sunshine makes you sweaty and dusty…and the feverishness is not helping any) we drained it. What with everyone being ill, Big brother forgot to throw in chloride so the entire thing was green. Ended up deciding to fill part of the basin with it, and go for new water, rather than waste half a bucket of chloride. While I went to my cabin for a much needed nap, (my doggies sure loved that!) big brother went down into the yard to water the yard. Once he finished that, he woke me up because he had to go out to pick up a donation, while I was left to head for the pool and clean it for reuse. We’re really going to have to do some repairs before spring. There’re cracks and some missing tiles that will cause considerable leakage.

Beside all the building stuff, there are the normal chores, of course. Laundry, as usual, dog food to prepare and feed, and the cleaning that I am just not getting to, darn it. Seriously, where are those extra hours in a day I keep asking for. *sigh*

Last bit is the writing, naturally. At the moment (in particular being feverish and all) I’m lucky to get two pages a day, and the fact that I also need to do my blog again today, doesn’t help that much either, hah. No matter, though, there is some progress and that’s all that matters right now.

Well, that’s it for me today. I need to get horizontal and do something about this whacky immune system of mine. *sigh*

A tad nippy

Song of the day: “I hope you dance” by Leann Womack. Whenever I hear it, I keep thinking that it’s Dolly Parton, but there you have it. Gorgeous song, and it has been in my head more often, if memory serves me right.

First of all, it has been effing cold. I know, compared to the northern parts of Europe our measly 30 degrees (they’re having zero, thank you very much) is nothing, but still, I have become a worshipper of warmth, and these freezing temps are not my thing. Makes me want to crawl into bed an hibernate until the summer returns. *sigh*

No matter, though, life as we know it continues, and stuff needs to be done. I had fully planned to dig under the storage under my bed yesterday, getting out my winter sweaters, but for some reason didn’t get around to it. First off I headed down into the yard for some harvesting. I had hoped that the cold wouldn’t be as prominent there (it often is, due to it being behind the ridge of the mountain) but was disappointed after I checked up on the greenhouse (I took as long as possible in there, hah). The wind was coming from the west, so it blasted me full force while he checked everything and then quickly headed up.

There were chickpea patties for breakfast, both today and yesterday. There was no bread, so we had to make due. Didn’t work bad either with a slice of cheese on it, and a pancake to take care of the morning sugar craving. Yay. Since the below freezing temperatures weren’t doing anything for our productivity, big brother and I decided to get our computers and get to work on the edit, rather than try to brave the cold. We lit up the stove (the dogs loved that. It took them five seconds flat to come inside and cluster around the heat) turned on the machines and got to work.

About three hours later we resurfaced, both of us mentally drained and ready for a break. Since we had to go out later in the afternoon we opted for a nap. Poor Chaos was freezing, so I took him under the blanket with me. He was still shivering then, but with the arrival of a sudden weight slinking its way between us, started to growl ferociously. A glance down showed Knight II, crawling on the bed with us, wedging himself higher and higher until I caved and threw the blanket over him as well. Thankfully that made him settle down real fast, about midway between Chaos and me. I dozed for a few minutes and then…another thump, followed by desperate scratching at my shoulder I growled and looked up in time to see Dax dive under the blankets and settle into the crook of my knees. Nice and toasty. I didn’t mind overly much. Another five minute doze later, thump, and Sitabah just barely missing my nose as she vaulted over Knight II, Chaos, and my head to settle on the pillow and curling herself around my skull like a hat. She was shivering like mad, and ended up sticking her head under the blanket by my shoulder and promptly falling asleep. I didn’t have the heart to smack her out of the way, so I ended up lying there sandwiched between the dogs, enjoying the warmth, rather than actually sleeping. Isn’t it weird that of my dogs the Labs are the only ones who are not bothered by the cold?

But anyway, my so-called nap done, it was out and about again, braving the cold to head on down into the yard to water the plants. This infernal western wind is simply devastating. Already we have lost several plants to the chilling cold.

Afterwards it was to town for us, picking up an order and a small donation to boot, allowing us to come back home around 10 in the evening at which time I went through my messages, chatted some online and then worked on the edit once more.

Didn’t get to bed until two in the morning, but that was okay seeing as I overslept anyway. Hah. Yep. My alarm went off at nine and yet I somehow managed to not become disturbed by the beeping sound until nine forty. Boy was it could. I folded right then and there, yanked up my mattress and dug through the many bags underneath until I found all my winter sweaters. Yay. Am wearing one of them, thank you very much. A wool fisherman’s sweater from Norway, or some such country which is so long it covers my butt and wide enough to allow for multiple layers underneath. Double Yay. Seriously, my upper body hasn’t been cold all day. As for the lower part. I am wearing sweats under jeans, and could do with another layer but fear that I would look like a Michelin man if I did. Hah.

After breakfast and laundry, it was down into the yard again. The greenhouse was blissfully warm, and I spent at least half an hour in there to search for bugs. I would have stuck around longer, but again the plants down in the yard had to be watered, requiring time an effort. No matter this time. Though the wind was still the same as yesterday, the sun was also fully out warming us at least a little.

What else. Well, there were repairs to make. Alta (perro the agua) recently wrecked the rubber wind block strip (rubber) so I put a new one on. The tarp closure that we made to keep the wind out of the carport had a rip in it ad a slat broke due to the massive winds. Both had to be fixed and even replaced.

There was a trip to the storage to get supplies, and there was my cabin floor which absolutely had to be swept today. Seriously, I don’t mind a little dirt on the floor. On the most part I arrive in my cabin late at night, about half an hour before bedtime. I turn on the light, change into my pjs, crawl under the blankets, turn off the lights and pass out. It’s as simple as that. But it was getting bad. I startled the other day because a pluck of dog hair made think there was a rat lying in the middle of my room. Now it’s clean as a whistle…sorta anyway. Hah.

Well, that’s about it, I guess. According to the weather reports temperatures should go back up again the day after tomorrow. I for one can hardly wait. I am really spoiled when it comes to temperatures, or so I have found.

Right. I should get to work. Let’s hope I have more interesting news to report two days from now, eh?

Currants: Yummy

Song of the day: “Stay” by Shakespear’s sister. Gorgeous song, but difficult on the high parts…ergo some folks were upset with me on occasion. Hah.

Oh. My. Gawd! It is icy out, and it has been since yesterday…more or less, anyway. In fact, I cannot say that it was the same yesterday considering it was grocery shopping day and I was out most of the day.

Seriously, I am not going to bother you with all the boring details of what all we did or did not do yesterday, but will say that we found red current bushes for the yard. Also, white currant, real raspberries, orange raspberries, blue berries, brambles, black currant and a Reinata apple tree. Gawd, they are going to be so good…if they survive. Hah. Bought a whole load of them all, seeing as they were relatively cheap, and considering that once they start giving fruit we won’t need to buy any, well…none of that matters, since they’re just friggin’ delicious. I’m calling dibs on the white ones, by the way, and the raspberries, because those I absolutely love.

Prior to leaving we did hang the rather gorgeous glass and wood cupboard in the kitchen, and it looks great there…not to mention that it is incredibly handy for all the dry foodstuffs I’ve stored there now.

A good bit of news: We finished the edit of A.T.O.L., meaning that we can finally start on the paper edit of both A.T.O.L. and A.I.L….which isn’t going to be as easy as I had hoped. Seriously. Reading this other write style, so called strong, just made me sad. It didn’t have the beauty, the complexity to and the creativeness of what I prefer to write. Seriously. I just might end up depressed, or so bloody frustrated I’ll throw out the book entirely. *sigh* I’m just going to have to restrain myself, won’t I. Can’t have three months of experimental work go down the drain. You have to try everything once at the very least.

But anyway, we managed about ten pages in the paper edit last night, and though it isn’t as much fun as I’d like it to be, it just has to be done before we start sending it out to publishers. Okay, getting depressed again. Let’s skip the frustrating bit and move on today, which was freezing, remember? Mercury went as low 45 degrees, and I didn’t like it one bit.

There was laundry after I hauled my butt out of bed. I wasn’t in the best of moods because the dogs were lying on my blankets, consequently leaving me without cover. *sigh* My back was icy when the alarm went off, so I slapped some dogs off the bed and dug back under the blankets for another five minutes to warm up. But of course, I did have to get up in the end and faced the day bravely. Hah.

After making barley soup (finally found barley, yay) for our lunch, we brought the new plants to the greenhouse, made the final section of wood to close off the gap over the door…the wind was sucking out what little warmth there was in there…sowed some orange pepper seeds, and counted the growing pumpkin plants. Twenty came up. Yay.

The transplanted zucchinis in the big planter are doing well, and so are the tomatoes. We are going to have to fertilize the lot by hand, of course. That’s going to a tad embarrassing. I mean, seriously, I am always apologizing to the plants for having to check up on their genitalia and babies, what am I going to have to do when we do that? Buy them dinner first? *sigh* This farming business is harder than I imagined. Hah.

By the way, little brother has a job interview in the near future. He’s going to try his hand at distribution as well. Oh boy, now we’re going to be competitors, hah.

But anyway, it was time to take Touri and Sita III to the vet. The first had to have his stitches removed and even though I could have done so myself (heck, did it a gazillion times before) the vet wanted to check the stitches herself, and see if there was any swelling left. There wasn’t, so Touri got a clean bill of health.

Sita III has a flea allergy, apparently, and due to the fact that the vet shaved off some fur to check what the scratch marks were, she now also has dermatitis because of the itching the new hairs cause. Other than that everything is fine. Such a relief. No offense to the vet, but I do seriously dislike trips to the vet.

Afterwards, congratulating Touri with a big hug, (he was psyched) I got back home to continue with the day. While big brother and grandpa worked in the carport, I tacked the big Mimosa on the terrace in front of my cabin. It is looking rather miserable, and since there are a lot of dead branches, I figured it was high time for a trim.

So, I don’t like heights all that much…well, I have a severe dislike for falling, as I always say (an effect of falling off a roof when I was a kid, I guess)…which would explain that after about half an hour of sawing cutting, and climbing, my nerves decided that it was more than enough. I was shaking on my legs, I kid you not (such a whiner) so I gave up for the day and decided to tackle the rest at a later time. Let’s just hope that the Mimosa will start anew after this trimming, eh.

Well, I’ve got a letter to put together, addresses to look up and…well, stuff to do, so I’m leaving it at this. Not much of interest anyway. Hah.

P.S.
Five more views for the Shape-Shifter trailer and then it will be on 1000. OMG. A thousand people saw a gorgeous trailer for my book. Rather stunning, that. Hah.

Colder still.

I wake up nice and toasty for a change, the wind having died down and the sun shining warmly overhead when I let the dogs out and discard a good three layers of clothes until only my pjs are left.

Pleased with the warm temperatures, I calmly go through the morning rituals digging through my closet and find that I don’t have pants to wear now that I’ve brought my laundry down yesterday.
Scowling at the meager pickings, a light bulb goes off in my head when I walk past my storage chest. If my memory serves me right, there are still several jeans that I haven’t managed to squeeze into for six years at least.

Warily I dig through the mess, until right there on the bottom the plastic back shows the outline of the familiar jeans design. Three pairs, no less, and after taking them out, examining the size somewhat doubtfully, I toss them on the bed and try them out.

Success! They fit perfectly, and are even loose around the legs. That is something short of a miracle, to say the least. So, dressed in the new-old jeans I head on down to the house, for once wearing only two layers, with my vest hooked around my bag, just in case.

What with all the activities going on these past two weeks, I’ve decided to take another rest day (workout-wise) and head on over to the laundry to get part of yesterday’s batch inside. By the time I get the basket with the wet pile outside and hang about half of it, it hits me: Right in the center of my face!

A breath taking wall of cold, slamming in place and eradicating every hint of warmth as clear white mist streams out with my breath. Oh. My. God! It’s like “The sixth sense”, or something. In all the twelve years that we’ve lived in Spain, I have never felt my lungs hurt with the cold. It’s literally astonishing. Like there was a temperature drop of a good ten degrees in just seconds.

Feeling it inside too, big brother closes the heavy curtain in front of the open door and starts lighting the heaters, by the time I hurry on inside, the dogs eagerly coming in my pursuit, since they’ve obviously felt it too.

I’m not feeling my best today. Somehow my mood has drastically changed in the hour that has passed since I woke up, and when big brother and I settle down to work on the computer, it’s all I can do to work on the editing job.

We hash through the notes he’s made, while I struggle with my incapability of dealing with criticism today. Most of the time I can handle it well enough by ignoring big brother’s occasional sigh of frustration at some scene where his reading got blocked to some error he can’t locate. But not today, with chilling cold penetrating my legs right through my jeans. Each sigh, grunt and shake of his head makes me want to shove my computer off the table, before stomping off.

It’s one of those “everything sucks” moods, for sure. I can’t focus on editing; every change feels like a major disaster–even though I try not to show this, of course–and by the time we reach the last chapter I’m pretty much chomping at the bit to get the heck away from my computer, lest I do something drastic.

Explaining the problem to big brother, I head to the kitchen and start on dinner instead. I know better than to work on editing when I’m in this particular mood, but of course I didn’t want to disappoint big brother, who feels an urge to get the story done for sending it to the publisher ASAP.
With a little luck we’ll manage more tomorrow, but I’m not holding my breath. These moods tend to linger.

Looking through our supplies, I decide on baked potatoes with carrots and cauliflower on the side. While pealing the potatoes, grandpa is making himself useful, cleaning up kitchen appliances which I intend to put in one of the empty drawers, and by the time dinner’s done, they’re all neatly set on the counter, waiting for me to put away.

Dinner goes down well enough, even though my mood hasn’t improved yet. My attitude towards the food matches the one I had towards writing today, so it tastes both bland and too potent at the same time. I know, it’s impossible, but it’s really the only way to describe it.

Not feeling up to wasting any time in front of the TV, I stay in the kitchen and get to work on cleaning up and putting appliance away in one of the smaller drawers.
Miraculously it fits…but then, considering that the smaller drawers are twice the size of any normal drawer, it really is no big surprise.

Cleaning up the rest, I prepare for the continuation of the remodeling project. The old china cupboard needs to be removed, and cups, glasses and plates get carefully placed in the corner of the section of the old kitchen that is still standing. One by one the sibs join me, the sisters returning to their sanding and painting while big brother and I start tearing away the old cupboard and end up literally tearing it off the wall when it becomes clear that the old attachments are no longer useable.

Clearing the wall with a certain sense of victory we continue by hanging the top cupboards. 5 layers of paint are visible in the cleared section.
The biggest one goes up first. A stretch of 144 cm is attached to the brick wall and the wooden beam of the second floor, when we realize that it’s crooked. After a quick examination, it turns out that the beam overhead is slightly bent, requiring some adjustments to the attachment we’ve just made.

In the meanwhile, little sister has painted the last drawer cover and has started on varnishing the oak bar that stretches over the raised section in the center, and the pedestals on which the faucets stand, making the wood gleam prettily as we try not to get any mess on it.

The second cupboard follows soon thereafter, before little sister and I start preparing the back of the cupboard for fastening, and big brother sees to the crooked problem.
There’s some debate as to how we will attach the whole, but in the end some heavy bolts into the top of the casing, keep it nicely in place.

Middle sister is still sanding by that time, going through the last of the painted backs that got treated yesterday.
I pretty much play “hold-it-steady” while little sister drills hole after hole and starts putting in screws for when big brother declares the main cupboard ready for back-attachment.

With little sister climbing on top of the counter to use the heavy drill-the battery charged one is out of power, again–on the board that fits perfectly on the frame that awaits it.

The third, and last, cupboard will need a support, so while I help middle sister with the back of the squat casing, big brother cuts out a triangle that is going to support it in the air.
It takes us a solid hour to finally attach the last one, the sisters adding the final touches of paint before we finally step back to admire the latest almost-finished part of the kitchen.

Just a few more suspension additions and we’ll be able to put away all that the old kitchen is still hiding.
We’re all, once again, pretty much pooped by the time midnight arrives and rapidly go through our habitual cleanup. No one is feeling too perky mentally, for some reason, and after a quick snack of crackers with cheese I head on up for my quarters.

The cold astounds me. I think this is the worst temperature we’ve had since we moved here when I enter my living room and see that the thermometer is showing the God-awful temperature of four degrees, with outside being even colder.
Hardly able to believe it I quickly feed my dogs and than start pulling on even more layers than I usually do.

As the cold settles into my body, a sweater is added to two and the vest I’m already wearing. Along with two pairs of sock and fur-lined house shoes that just barely keep the cold floor from chilling my feet as I move around the cabin, hurrying through finding more blankets that I’ll need to get through the night.

Luckily I find another one in the metal chest under my bed, and am most pleased when I realize it’s made of old fashioned wool rather than synthetics, which aught to work a lot better. After I’ve washed my hands I start to really fret, ‘cause my hands literally freeze up, hurting as if I’ve just cleaned out the freezer, as I dig through my drawers in search of gloves.

The knitted ones really don’t help at all, I find after little more than thirty minutes, and start digging again until I locate a leather pair, padded thickly that finally do the job. Though sitting out here, freezing while writing the Blog (with more use of the backspace than actual keys) I’m dreading the coming night just a little. Poor doggies, too, since there really isn’t enough room to accommodate more than six of them on the bed.

Arctic winds.

I wake up from a vivid dream that is going to be an absolute perfect setting for the next vampire short story that’s a fact. It was in the Bayou, honeyed speech, dark nights, and creepy creatures all ‘round. Perfect! I’m determined to write it down the moment I get down to the house, so I hurry through the morning rituals because I know I won’t have time for much of anything before we need to get ready for the day’s schedule.

Heading to the house isn’t a pleasure today, though. It doesn’t matter that the sun is shining brightly when an icy wind blows mightily down the mountain. According to the weather reports it comes straight from the Arctic, literally chilling me to the bone as I lug my bag down and try to tone the dogs a bit so they won’t bowl right over me.

My hands are literally numb by the time I enter the house and stand in front of the heater big brother has already lit, in order to seep some heat into my bones.
The night wasn’t any better either. I’ve slept under three blankets, dogs piled around and on top of me, with only my nose exposed to the air and still I wasn’t warm enough to stand those fifty yards to the house without ending up feeling frozen.

There’s too little time for me to do the laundry today, but what with the chill working so “marvelously” on my limbs, I don’t particularly mind. My stomach’s upset too, so I only some cereal with yogurt in hopes that it’ll stay down well enough.
It does, just barely, so with a hot drink between my hands I switch on the computer and go over the day’s messages.

With big brother opposite of me, babbling about…I can’t really say what since by that time I am writing down my idea for the new vamp story, which is to be our next project. Getting the beginning just write is always a must for me, if I have the scene set, so to speak, the rest will come with little effort most of the time.
While I chuckle and grin in a silly fashion, I shush curious big brother on occasion, urging him to be patient as I write down the images I remember so clearly from the dream, for him to read, just as soon as the first scene’s finished.

He LIKES! Which is an author’s greatest pleasure for sure. It’s rough, it’s filled with little inconsistencies, but no matter, the first page is here and with it the rest of the story is bound to follow soon enough.
All around us the dogs are piled in front of the single heater that’s on, what with only one gas keg left to use. Like me they don’t appreciate the cold at all, and is noticeable when Ahmbah, one of our older, frailer and almost blind cockers comes up behind me seriously wanting to get on the seat behind me. He’ll squeeze himself between my back and the chair if I let him, just to be warm. Instead I pile my long woolen vest on the table and deposit him there, barely pausing in the frantic write.

I’m most annoyed by the time the sibs come down, announcing our departure now that everyone is up and the dogs have human company for when we’re gone for the afternoon.
Quickly I head to my cabin, this time leaving the dogs in the house, and change into something descent, before heading out to the car where five fully-grown adults squeeze into the truck cab and start on our way to the village.

The Vet’s is our first stop. Clue’s bill needs to be paid and with a bit of dread in our stomach’s we head inside to receive it. We’ve been warned about the bill going well into the hundreds of Euros. Somewhere around three or so the younger vet had mused on the day we got Clue to take him home, but much to our surprise a bill well below two hundred faces us. The regular vet had promised to give us a discount due to the fact that he had found the case so interesting, but this was a lot more discount than we’d anticipated. I wonder if a mistake was made, but until we hear something, I’m going to cheer our good fortune on that matter.

Next, a new supply of butane gas needs to be bought, and full ones soon replace four empty kegs in the truck-bed, before we head for town instead. Our first stop there is the telephone shop, where, upon arrival we realize that big brother has forgotten the necessary forms to get the new phone.
A quick call to the house sets that straight, though, as he gets the numbers we need…after the second try…and the real hassle starts.

For some reason the saleswoman is unable to get things working–I think she’s new–and it takes us a good hour before we finally leave with the new phone packed and bagged. We’re about to drive off, too, when suddenly the new phone rings. Somewhat taken aback by this–what with no one knowing the number–I answer the call; only to hear the saleswoman ask, very apologetically, if we could possibly return, because she forgot to activate the thing for outgoing calls. Go figure! It is only because she was nice about it, and somewhat embarrassed that we aren’t annoyed when we finally head further into town.

Tonight is our study night, and even though I’m not looking forward to it with my iffy nerves jumping around in my stomach, it goes well enough. It’s a quiet evening in the computer room, only three other students, quietly working at their computer while we dig in for an hour of tests.
I’m pretty pleased when by the end of the hour we’ve covered six of the tests, two flawlessly and the others with an average of two errors. Passed…at least we would have if these questions were to come up in the exams looming somewhere in the near future. Hah.

That done, we can go back home, much to our relief: In town the temperatures were low too, but still when we get out of the car icy winds tug at us, once more, making me hurry through getting out of my neat close and into the casual ones, before I hurry to the house and the ecstatic dogs.

As is their habit, I am physically assaulted by my personal pack of nine, what with Knight II locked in the pantry with Trin Trin, as I take a few minutes to dodge Mosha’s happy teeth–she likes to grab my wrists in her enthusiasm–Sitabah and the Labs jumping all around me, and Chaos throwing his considerable weight against me. He perches up on his hind legs and stabs his snout into my stomach while I try to keep my balance under the eighty pounds of his huge body.

When they finally calm down, and I’m working on putting some extra veggie toppings on a Margarita pizza from the freezer, Knight II and Trin Trin are released. Another bout of evading the enthusiasts ensues, but it’s doable, what with there being only two of them now.

Thirty minutes later, with the pizza divided between mom, and me, I settle into a seat and have my dinner while keeping an eager Knight at bay with my foot. I’ve got to say one thing for the Dane; he is nothing if not persistent. No matter how often I push him back from slobbering all over my dinner, he’ll keep trying time and again until at last nothing is left for him to take.

I know the meal’s not going to stay put once I’m done–my stomach’s rolling even more by now–but I valiantly try, sitting very quietly throughout another rented DVD. Edward Norton as the Hulk this time.

We’re disappointed by it, really, finding it a poor substitute for the Ang Lee version a few years back, even though that one wasn’t brilliant by any means. Norton played it well enough, but the special effects were a little…I don’t know, less pretty I guess. The previous Hulk moved with a certain grace, while this one appears unrealistic, and ugly, no matter how silly that sounds.

William Hurt’s General Ross isn’t as grand as Sam Elliot–who played the grumpy military officer marvelously–nor did Liv Tyler do justice to the role of Betty. She’s a great actress, but there was definitely something lacking here. A pity really.
But who knows, perhaps yesterday’s screamy/headbangy/ichy feeling is still lingering a bit, not allowing for much pleasure when watching TV. Lord knows nothing seems to be able to hold my attention for long these days.

The stomach’s still upset by the time credits roll over the screen and by then it becomes painfully clear that it’s all for naught. I hurry for the bathroom to hug the porcelain bowl for a bit.

Being pretty used to the entire procedure, I feel empty in the stomach afterwards, but not necessarily worse when I settle behind my computer with a cup of tea and a glass of water, to resume this morning’s writing.

Not much of the actual story gets written, what with big brother, and me brainstorming about locations, settings and names that will be necessary for the story. Louisiana we’re thinking. The vampire born and raised in that area while the heroine comes from the north, NY probably. Dates are discussed, and details jotted down until at last midnight passes and the day has come to an end.

Plans that had been made for today, were only partially covered, but I suppose that tomorrow’s another day for such things as cleaning the parrot cage, hanging some more kitchen drawers and of course the laundry. Heck, I might even be able to squeeze in an exercise session. Hah.

By the time I get to my room, feed the dogs that are always quite hungry in the winter months, and settle down with a packet of salty crackers, I’m yawning constantly…as expected bedtime last night was late again, bringing me close to dawn by the time I finally crawled under a pile of blankets and dogs.

I’ll be doing the same tonight that’s a fact. I can barely feel my fingers and toes, something for which warm canine bodies are excellent heaters. This is definitely an advantage when being in the company of so many dogs. They’ll crawl forever closer when the temperatures drop, and today I can hardly wait for that to happen!