Not looking bad

Song of the day: “Let the sun shine” by Labrynth. Still an awesome song, despite the fact that I often have it in my head.

Sooooo, what has been happening. Not a whole lot, but that’s nothing new, right?
I overslept by half an hour yesterday, and still was tired. Don’t know what that was all about. But anyways, there were the normal, morning chores followed by bringing Olive and Jane back to the village, before getting some of breakfast, and heading out again for a short trip to town.

For some reason I was still tired by then, felt downright sickly, in fact, so I took a short nap and was really out for the count. Cousin Ed had to call three times before I woke up. How weird is that?

Got to work on the last window for the kitchen. Got it all sawed, and ready to put together when mom phoned and asked if maybe we could look at their market awning because the wind wrecked it the last time. That took about an hour to fix, and by then it was time to start on supper. Made a rather elaborate meal of mushroom pastry with fresh cauliflower, ratatouille, and baked ravioli on the side.

While cooking, I just barely managed to feed tenant, who ate well, much to our relief. Food wise it is not such a disaster lately, but the drinking…well, frustrating doesn’t quite cover it.

There was a writing session, of course, and the book is around 22K words, and well to the middle. Not bad. The progress is better than I expected. With a little luck we’ll be able to start with the edit next week.

Wanted to go to bed on time, but didn’t get there until one thirty in the morning. *Sigh* Were in a rush most of today. There were the normal chores again, of course, followed by a quick breakfast right before we had to head for our Spanish class. Were on the late side, so we had to hurry, only to arrive three minutes late. Not bad…and that without speeding. Hah.

Didn’t go bad either. She could do most of the lesson in Spanish, which is a good thing. She has a pleasantly slow way of speaking, very explicit, which makes it easy to follow. We actually managed conversation.

Afterward we headed for the vegetable center, followed by a rushed trip to town for a “last-minute” pick up, meaning we were running late for my doctor’s appointment. Then, on our way there (the road that went past home) we got stuck after a beer truck going about ten miles per hour, so I told big brother to please drive down to the gate so I could run to the toilet. Gawd, I had to pee sooooo bad.

Back on the road, he made it record time to the clinic where I arrived two minutes late, only to sit there in the waiting room for another twenty-five minutes. Seriously, there is nothing I hate more than waiting in a waiting room…in particular since I couldn’t help but worry about what the doctor was going to do. So wasn’t looking forward to more of the same, and at one point actually started to get flushed and a little dizzy. Asked for a cup of water, and sipped that before I was called into the exam room.

There was some more waiting involved since the doc was on the phone and then we went through the “how’ve you been” answered by my “it hurt a little” to which he tsked and told me to lie down so he could have a looksee.

I can tell you that, despite my worry, it wasn’t as bad as the last time. He did yank off the band-aid (taking half my hair with it *sigh*) and squeezed some more puss out, but on the overall he said that it didn’t look back and that the infection was going down. A new band-aid was slapped on, and then I could leave with an appointment with the nurse on Friday, and then another, to see how it is going, on Monday. So exhausting, all this doctor visiting stuff. The poor pack was ecstatic and frantic at the same time when we finally got home. *double sigh*

Didn’t cry my eyes out this time, heck I didn’t even drop a tear, so all’s swell. Once we got home we headed straight into the yard to harvest broccoli, lettuce and cauliflower. Then it was up to the kitchen to cook supper for tenant…made veggies with lentils for her…and preparing pizza for the rest of us.

Only managed about an hour of writing, but that couldn’t be helped. Instead this blog had to be written after all, and there are only so many hours in the day…regretfully.

That’s if for today. I’m running on fumes again, so I better hit the sheets.

Another jog

Song of the day: “Manic Monday” by the Bangles. I know, ancient, right? Not to mention a day late, but what the heck. It is still a very cool song. Hah.

Just got back from another jog, thank you very much. It didn’t go as swell as the last time, but who cares. I went the distance, and where I couldn’t keep up the pace without making sounds like a locomotive, I managed to march at a steady clip again. Success! (Ya have to celebrate the small ones, ya know. No one else is going to do it for ya.) Hah.

Right. Yesterday is first, then we go today, so I can go to bed and prepare for tomorrow. *snort*
Had an extra half hour yesterday morning, which was, like, absolutely wonderful, if for no other reason than the fact that the temps were still down. I mean, really, lying there in the blower, the sun peaking over the mountain ridge, straight into my room while an eastern breeze cooled the air was absolutely divine.

But of course the getting up part does arrive. No getting out of it seeing as there are morning chores to get through. Ya know, all the fun stuff like laundry…but not until I had a dip and some coffee. I LOVE coffee, in case you didn’t know that yet. Hah.

After dog food, the dogs devoured it all, of course, and while big brother went down into the yard to finish the watering we didn’t manage completely the evening before, I worked on fixing up the new dresser/desk I want to put in my cabin. Put four inch paws under it. Removed the old damaged handles and put new ones up and, with the help of big brother, put it in my sitting room. It is still there, because let’s face it, where does one find the time to get all the mess from my sultan’s chest to make space for the dratted thing. *sigh*

Take this morning, for instance. Big brother and I worked in the igloo. I was on my knees scraping paint off the tiles while big brother hung the wash basin for our guest, who will be arriving at the end of the month. There was furniture to move around, storage stuff to pile outside and recover with plastic against the elements. It’s starting to look like something. In particular since I scrubbed the shelves and every other horizontal surface, until the dusty smell disappeared.
The dogs thought it a bit strange that we were working there, by the way. They were all looking very confused before they found a shady spot and started snoozing the day away until I had to quit to start writing again.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Yesterday’s writing was a slow affair, allowing me only three pages before it was time for big brother and I to head for town. There was a load of wood to pick up, and a few groceries to get, which we’d forgotten the other day.

Some relief, in regard to Sally. We might have figured out what’s up with her. The medication the doctor prescribed for her, (some really nasty stuff, that) could very well be the cause of all her symptoms, the worst of which are her loss of coordination and memory. Stupid doctors. Seriously, sometimes it seems as if chemical medication only makes stuff worse.
But anyway, she’s going to try to stop with the medication, slowly, rather than risk withdrawal symptoms, and see if her balance gets better. Seriously, for a while I feared that one day we’d find her with a broken limb somewhere. Let’s hope that the medication is the only problem.

Went down into the yard after we got home, watered stuff (same as today, actually) and harvested (ditto) some veggies. The, bringing down the crop fields, is working well. We need less and less water, seeing as the basin water is history. *sigh*

Today’s writing went a little better. It was a “connect” scene, by the way. The major ones were already there, but they needed to have something in-between. Ended up reading some of a fight scene I wrote several weeks ago, and I liked it. The flow was good, and nothing seemed off in regard to the plot. Yay. Hit the 70,000 word count mark.

Pulled loads of weeds, by the way. Along with several of the dying broccoli plants. Those babies held out long, by the way. So did the cabbages, by the way, of which we’re now working our way through the last ones of the litter. It was also good to do some massive weeding again. Nothing like getting your hands dirty when you brain wants to worry.

Like us, the dogs are really enjoying the cooler weather. Found Chaos moseying through the yard three times, while last week he cloistered himself within the cool confines of the bathroom. *snort*

Cut dog veggies, of course. Sometimes grandpa offers, and sometimes cousin Ed, but I do want to do it myself sometimes. It is a vital part of taking care of the dogs, and to leave it only to
to others. Besides, I’m starting to get good at the chopping thing. Seriously, I’ll be a chef yet. Hah.

Cooking…well there was that, of course. Yesterday big brother cheated and baked tortellini for supper. So today I went all out and made patties to go with nasi and baked pumpkin on the side. All of it pretty darn good, if I do say so myself. *sigh* It was yummy.

Anything else? Well, I did see “Cold Comfort Farm” the other day. You know that nineties movie with Kate Beckingsale, Joanna Lumly, Ian McKellen and Rufus Sewell. Such an entertaining little movie. Watched it while I went through my messages and chats of the day. Hah.

Fair

Song of the day: “Grenade” by Bruno Mars. I know, right. Who’d have thought that I’d ever have a Bruno Mars song in my head, but there you have it. Nice song, though *shrugs* can’t change that fact.

Yesterday I didn’t sleep all that well, partly because grandpa needed something, about one hour after I went to bed, meaning that I was just about to drop off into deep sleep when I was jerked out. *sigh* No biggie, but, then of course my mosquito repellant ran out, and they were all through my bedroom (stupid, stupid, stupid me for leaving the doors open and the lights on) keeping me awake another two hours before I remembered having a spare re-filler lying about in my sitting room. Yay. Once I plugged that in, sleep fell over me within fifteen minutes. It wasn’t easy waking up in the morning, so since I didn’t have anything pressing to do yesterday, I decided to steal another 30 minutes rather than getting up my usual time. Gawd, that was nice.

Went down for laundry in the end, and had to skip the morning dip in the pool (which is a pain. Once you’re used to that, you don’t really wake up until you’ve had the coolness all over) because we’d drained it into the basin so we could clean it.

Fed the dogs, of course, and for a moment I considered calling the newspapers because--hold your breath--Knight II ate his whole bowl. I kid you not. Mr Anorexic ate every last kernel and was proud as a fiddle. Must have been the pots of herring we threw (donation) through the food. Who’d have thought that a dog of mine would like fish? I sure didn’t. Hah.

Went down to start on the day’s writing session and actually managed a nice five pages for the book. It was all very exciting, too. Had a fight to describe, danger and humor combined, which makes it fun to write, of course. Practically finished the scene, which is a pity because that means I have to think of a new one. *snort*

Made a potato veggie salad for supper, so that was a hasty but tasty affair on the most part. Tenant spent the majority of the day up in the old horse paddock. She had said she wanted to come down to join us in the morning, but then, when it was time to go down, changed her mind.
A pity, but her choice, of course.

Only went out for a short while, and that was to pay the vet. Almost had a heart attack when I saw the bill we had to pay…no pressure on their side, we can take our time, but, seriously! I just might need to sell my liver. Oh My Gawd *fans herself* I’m gonna stop thinking about it now, we paid two thirds so the rest we won’t need to worry about for at least another month.

Went into the yard. There was some harvesting to do, along with weeds to yank (when is there ever not weed to yank, for that matter) and by then the end of the day rapidly approached with the preparations for the next dog food.

Did help cousin Ed sort through clothes for Thursday’s market. We have a plan you see, and we’re going to see what will come of it. It has to do with second hand clothes and art. Let’s just say once we’re done with those clothes you won’t recognize them. Hah. Then, we’ll see what folks think.

Did some crunches in the evening, along with some reps just because I could. Seriously, it felt good.
Later in the evening, round the time I was getting ready for bed, Knight II and Jelly were making their usual racket facing off on my porch, which ended up in a near disaster since Knight II got so excited that he forgot that Dax is his best buddy and grabbed him around the chest, only to toss him off the porch. Gawd. Poor Daxie was shaking like mad.
Carried him inside, ordered Knight inside too and had him lie down on the bed while I told him how bad a boy he was. The most amazing thing happened. One second Dax was shaking, the next he saw Knight lie flat on his side, looking oddly sorry, and perked right up. He jumped about a little, played with Knight a little, and then went off in a dash. Strange. But anyway, I was vastly relieved. It could have been a disaster, since Dax is about the size of Knight’s head.

Which brings us to today. Had to get up early to drive the car to Malaga for the MOT. Grandpa had kindly already prepared dog food, so all we had to do was feed them and head out. Actually there without a hitch for a change, and arrived there on the dot of our appointment. No troubles, we were almost immediately called to line six and before you know it we were going through the hangar where stuff gets tested by the score. Passed without a hassle (much to our mechanic’s surprise, but much to our relief, since it gives us a little time for the major repair) and got our sticker for the next six month. Yay!

We made a small detour to the big Chinese supermarket for chili sauce, and then headed back to town to go past the computer repair dude. We got big brother’s computer back, the other day, did I mention that yet? Well, we did and whatever the dude did and said he failed at, big brother was able to erase everything on the computer and start from scratch…which seems to have fixed the problem. Double Yay! We figured that, since something the repair dude did was right, and since he cleaned it, fixed the frame of the laptop so that it closes again, we thought it fair that we at least paid the minimum (can’t afford much more, you understand) for his efforts, despite the wave-off without having to pay the other day. Fair is fair, and I would want to be treated that way if something I did turned out to be good. Can’t expect others to treat you fairly if you don’t do the same yourself, right?
Besides, this is a small company, not one of those big impersonal chain stores.
But anyway, when I came in, the guy behind the reception desk was a little surprised I wanted to pay regardless, but said, “if you want to pay, then sure, I won’t stop you.” Hah. I did ask if the money would end up with the repair dude, and he said it would, so, *phew*

I can’t help but wonder about his surprise, though. Why is it so unusual to do that? I don’t expect free rides in this world, and figure that fairness is something that should be important to everyone. Still, from the surprised look on his face he thought it somewhat weird…but then, I’m weird by nature, might as well be honest about it. Hah.

That done, we headed for the garage to talk with our mechanic. He explained that the back wheel was not a big problem and that all it took was tightening some bolts. The oil in the transmission box was only a little on the low side, so nothing big there, and they didn’t even charge us for it. Good thing too, since the Opel is going haywire again and since we’ll need to bring the Land Rover in for a major overhaul of the injectors in September, because right now the Spanish garages will charge an arm and a leg, while taking forever. (They have to hire out for recalibration of the injectors, or some such) August is not a good time in Spain. Everything dwindles down to near zero because of the “heat”. Insane. In particular in this economy.
But anyway, what with all the splendid service at the shop, I’m totally going to make a pie for them. Hah.

We headed home afterward, arrived at around two thirty, and settling by the basin no later than three. Of course my focus was shot, so I didn’t manage more than just a few paragraphs today, tonight included because I had to blog, duh.

So instead, cousin Ed and I got to work on the clothes for the market, which didn’t go bad at all. Got some interesting combinations going in the two hours that followed. Today, tenant did join us down there. In fact, she was already there when we got home and had cut most of the veggies for supper. Made a veggie potato dish in the grill/oven and it worked out splendidly. Only a little was left afterward in fact.

That done, it was down into the yard to harvest dog food for the day while big brother finished up watering the lot. We are slowly cutting back on the patches down there, more so to conserve water than anything else, so in a little while there will be very little watering to do.

While big brother cut veggies, I laid the fire for it, took a dip in the pool because I was so sticky, and then settled down to add the third paragraph to the book, prior to started on today’s blog…which brings us to the end of today. Bed time is just around the corner, and I, for one, am more than happy to call it.

In-between

Song of the day: “Let the sunshine” by Labrinth. I only recently discovered this one, and downloaded it the other day. Now it’s been in my head most of the day. Hah. I like it, not so much the chorus, but the other pieces are beautifully done.

What do you think of the new Blog appearance? Nice and tight, right? I’m still not completely happy with it, but I’m going to see how I like it a little while from now. Heck, I just might decide to change it again sometime soon. Hah.

So yeah, not much to write about, seeing as I’m busy writing, duh. Well, yesterday was a crappy day, all things concerned. My focus was, like, all over the place, and that drove me absolutely bonkers, screwing up the writing even more. In the end I had to satisfy myself with no more than three pages to add to the total, while I spent some serious hours behind the computer, darn it. Don’t you just hate being stuck having to write an in-between scene? I hate it. I’ll have two scenes, one done, and the other just chomping at the bit to come out, but absolutely no idea how to get from one to the next, which means I have to wing it, and find a way to keep it remotely interesting. Of course the characters ended up arguing, which had me in a carpy mood most of the day, because I got stuck in that mood, and couldn’t find the time to start on the next scene.
Luckily, today it went much better. Had focus and did four pages with little trouble. It did help that I had managed to finish the in-between yesterday, because for that very reason I could write a rather splendid fight scene today. Hah. I won’t know if it is any good until edit time arrives, but I had fun with it at least, and that is massively importantly too.

But anyway, that was the good thing of the past couple of days. For the rest things were just as normal…or at least the way normal is at the moment, eh? I am still missing the projects of building and such but on the other hand, I was missing the writing too while I was doing the projects, so what the hey. It’s change, and change is always a good thing. If you don’t change, you get stagnant, and if you get stagnant, well…you’ll have to (be more rigorous) throw everything around for a bit to get out of it, I guess. Hah.

There is of course gardening most any day, meaning we watered, weeded and harvested…quite a bit in fact, seeing as there wasn’t a lot up in the storage for the dog food. So I yanked out some misbehaving Cauliflower plants, plucked Kale leaves, gathered a couple of handfuls of purslane (which is doing splendid this year, btw) and added a couple of overgrown zucchini. Which meant that I had more than enough for yesterday and today…not that we didn’t pluck zucchini today, but what the heck, you get my meaning, right?

What else? Well, there was this cool bar stool which we repaired and should bring up some money at next week’s market. It’s an incredibly cute piece of furniture, and now that it’s fixed I would almost keep it myself, if I had a spot to put it, that is. Stupid cabin is so full, I can barely turn around as it is.

Cooking. Well, there were two sessions, yesterday it involved reheating leftovers with freshly baked cauliflower added to the mix. I love cauliflower. Today’s foray in to cooking involved mushrooms, loads of mushrooms in a white sauce (with a bit of cheese) fresh herbs and onions, only to top of a light crust of pastry dough. Gawd, it was marvelous, and tenant really, really loved it.
Of course there were normal chores, the dogs stuff, including killing loads, and loads of ticks. I’m seriously pondering giving them all a chemical dip, but then I know that it only works for about a week and then they’re back with a vengeance. Also, a lot of our darlings are getting on in years, and that stuff is really, really bad for them. *sigh* It’s a pickle,

Exercise-wise jogging is the only thing I managed to fit in last night, along with some light weightlifting. I had planned to get my exercise today by chopping wood down by the bus, but with the first whack I wrecked the ax, wedging it about an inch into the wood, and cracking the full length handle. Either the sun wrecked the wooden handle, or I’m getting to be too strong…what with Spanish weather, I’m going to guess it’s the first thing. Hah.

Nata is still going. There seems to be a little bit of an improvement in his walking now that he’s getting his pill, but there are still times when I think it is just cruel to let him struggle on like this when it is so very clear that his body is at its end. So selfish of me to not want to go out and have it end, but he’s still eating, wants to be petted, wags his tail and tries his very best to follow where he can. We’ll just have to look at it from day to day and then see.

There was the dog feeding, the dog food preparing and, well, I think that covers everything a bit. It is now almost midnight and I’ve still got some messages to deal with and some chatting to do. I’m outta here.

Past midnight.

Song of the day: “We’re gonna win” by Bryan Adams. That’s been a while. More than a year, I think.

I am totally late. It’s now (while I start) 11:35, so I doubt I’m going to make it in time with the blog. *sigh* I can’t help it, I promise. I just had to go for a jog, and that took a while. I think the run went better than the last time, more relaxed and a little faster at the same time, which is good, since I hate the jog speed. Grrr.
The moon was out, so it didn’t matter we were on the late side heading out. It was actually kind of magical, the full moon lighting the way as if there were lights on. Seriously, I could chase my own shadow. Hah.

Two days of writing behind me. Am up to page sixty five, thank you very much. The romance is starting to build seriously now, the characters becoming aware that there is more than just “like” and all that. I love this part in writing romance stories, that first moment of awareness, you know, of, “oh my gawd, what is this thing I’m feeling here?” Don’t you just love the falling for moment? *sigh*

Cooking was a hasty affair, both yesterday and today. Yesterday because we had to go out to town for a donation again. Nothing for the market this time, but that grocery store friend again who donated a few boxes of old bread and veggies for the dogs. Yay. It took some time, the loading and then unloading at home, because there was lots of stuff that wasn’t useful for anything other than the compost heap, which isn’t bad either since we’re going to need lots of that for next year’s veggie garden. Hah.

There was watering of the yard, harvesting stuff, of course preparing dog food and feeding it. All very glamorous, I know. *snort* Luckily I like it, so it doesn’t matter if it is or not. Nothing like living life with all its step by step aspects.

Tenant spent the afternoon with us today, by the way. She seemed a little less out of it, being there, if you know my meaning. She finished her Angelique novel, which she apparently didn’t like all that much. Hah. She always reads the bodice rippers with complete concentration, and yet when I ask her what she thinks, she’ll say she doesn’t like it at all.

Worked some more by the igloo. Hauled stuff up to load into the Land Rover and drive off to the local land fill. Never realized we had that much stuff stored, but so far we’ve filled up two cars with it.

Didn’t get around to making apple pie, darn it. I had so looked forward to it last night, but there just wasn’t time today. Grrr. Maybe tomorrow. Tenant has agreed to come down earlier so she can get an early start on cutting apples for it.

Oh, gross something. This afternoon I flushed my toilet and saw black clumps floating in it. Turns out it were ants. I have a friggin’ ant farm in my flusher. Yep. I kid you not. Freaked me out, I tell ya. You wouldn’t believe the amount of ants we’re having on the property this year, they’re absolutely everywhere.

We have decided to give Nata (golden) the same medication as Gada and Tridatu, and it appears to make him feel better. He’s a little more active, and when he gets it, he actually manages to climb the mountain now.

And this is it for me today. I need some shuteye and it is now almost twelve thirty so I gotta go.

Past 10K. Yay!

Song of the day: “New York” by Alicia Keys. Yeah. Don’t ask me why. Usually I can’t stand the woman all that much, but this is a nice one, and considering my present book is set in the Big Apple it seemed kinda appropriate. Hah.

Well, first off: My effing foot is killing me these past couple of days so I’m not in the best of moods. Grrr.

Okay, nothing really interesting happening these past couple of days, except that at a certain point little sister lost the puppy who came up to where we were working on the computer and decided that it was a good time to get reacquainted. Cheerful little darling, bouncing up and down, wagging its tail like mad and trying to crawl into our laps.

Well, there was laundry both days, of course, and then preparing dog food. Strange how their appetite changes from day to day. I am getting the distinct feeling that whenever there’s a lot of cauliflower and pumpkin in it, they love it, while if there’s a lot of green leave veggies in it, they’re less enthusiastic. And beets, oh boy, anything beet they get incredibly excited about.

The dogs fed and our breakfast gathered to take down to the basin terrace, I went down and took my time cleaning up a little. That sort of thing does gets neglected a lot now that writing is taking up so many hours of the day. Still, I took the time to make burger dough, for our own meal, as well as Sally, who’s somewhat dependent on the stuff while she’s on a gluten free diet. I am glad that she likes it.

That done, and Spanish over breakfast over with, it was time to start writing. The first few hours didn’t go all that well. The sentences were going at a snail’s pace, and since it was our plant to leave for town around 4:45, we were pondering to stop a little earlier until it became clear that tenant was on her way down for the first time in days. Didn’t want her efforts to be for nothing, so we decided that I would try to write for another hour or so, and then start on supper while she kept me company.
That was of course before I got “into” the scene and didn’t resurface until I’d written a solid five pages. *sigh* I did forget the time, meaning that we didn’t leave for town until five thirty (without supper, darn it) leaving tenant to Cousin Ed, who also did some watering of the weaker plants.

Did a few groceries in town, then had to head out for a small donation for the markets. Didn’t amount to much, but you don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, right? For the dogs every penny counts.

Once we got home it was time for a veggie burger. That fresh lettuce and tomatoes on top do make for a fine combination, I’ll admit. Had two before my hunger was soothed to a bearable level and got back to writing. Managed to add another two pages before the evening was over, so Yay! I crossed the 10K word mark, meaning we’re one tenth into the story. Hah.

Regretfully I was late getting to bed again, putting me not in the best of moods when I woke up this morning. I really should try to get to bed in time today. *sigh* I wonder how often I’ve been thinking exactly that for the past few weeks. Grrr. Stupid days are just too short. Heck, we’re not even managing to do any projects at the moment.

But anyway, after the usual morning chores, as mentioned at the beginning, I went down to the basin for breakfast, some cleaning, and Spanish…not necessarily in that order. Today, as opposed to yesterday, the weather was decidedly cool. There was a haze in the air that made the temperature downright pleasant compared to yesterday’s scorcher. In fact, there were moments today when I was almost regretful that I hadn’t brought a blouse down with me.

Only managed to write a couple of pages today. My punishment for doing seven yesterday, I’m thinking. Hah. Still, the scene is working out nicely, and the characters are really establishing themselves. Got a “past” scene so far, and an action scene, so, Yay.

That done, it was time to head into the yard where plants got watered (what with the dry wind and the continues sunshine…even through the haze, the soil was rapidly drying) and harvests were gathered. Got beets for our own meal, along with purslane for the dogs, zucchinis, cauliflower and tomatoes for our salad. Decided to grill the cauliflower and pepper before mixing it into freshly cut veggies. With the home-made salad dressing and a pattie on the side, it went down well after a long day of mental activity. Added to that was baked beets with cream and cheese, creating a filling meal that is still working well in keeping me satisfied. Usually, ‘round this time I’m more than ready for a snack.

Once everything was done down there, and the dishes put out soak, I gathered the contents of my bag and headed n up to start cutting the dog veggies. Had company, of course, seeing as the dogs like this part of their home-made food the most. Seriously, Rammi, Kollosus, Tadaika and Tridatu would dive into the pan if you let them. The others too, for that matter, despite them being a little less forward in their endeavors. If I’m not careful, nothing of the uncooked stuff would be left for cooking. Hah

We had planned to go for a jog today, but since my foot is being such a pain in the behind, and since Cousin Ed had to pick up Sally, we decided against it. Besides, we would have had to run by the big road, which is definitely dangerous what with all the weekend traffic.

Which brings us to now, the Blog, and the fact that bed time is only a short time away, if I can help it. Yay.

Throw me the ball

Song of the day: “Only the horses” by the Scissor sisters. I know. Don’t ask me why. I can find thought nor rhyme behind these ear worms that bother me every single day. *sigh*

Except for this morning the last couple of days were wonderfully relaxed. Garden stuff ruled, of course, which is only natural, considering it is that time of the year, but okay, let’s see if I can find some order in this gray mass I call my brain. Hah.

Yesterday…well, there was no workout. There simply wasn’t time for it, because I had grand plans for the day. I woke at the normal time, and immediately headed down to the main house to start on the days chores and laundry. As usual big brother reads up on the news, sharing the outrageous bits and pieces about world politics, which causes fierce discussions without fail. What can I say, politics get us riled big time, and at some time we had to tone it down, lest we wake the sibs. Hah.

Once we fed the dogs and went to get our own breakfast. Chatted with tenant, who slept good for a chance, now that we put a fan in her room to keep the mosquitoes at bay. She looked much better, with that good night after two bad ones. During breakfast I gathered stuff for the field kitchen, which I fully intended to set up during the course of the day. Food, utensils and pans and such. All got stacked in creates and bags, and soon we were on our way down.

First thing I did, while big brother started in the yard, was attach last year’s counters to their tables. Then the cleaning started. Both cousin Ed and I worked on that, while tenant spent the majority of the morning with mom, who’s trying to teach her some about the internet. She’s doing some reading of newspapers and such, but I sometimes doubt that she really enjoys it. I think that she rather read her Konsalik novels.

Built a couple of constructions of reed. One for our cucumber plants (plucked out first cucumber yesterday afternoon. Big brother basically swallowed it whole) and the other for the melons in the lower field. Both are different from usual, so we’re going to have to see how they work out.

What with summer so close now, big brother and I decided to change our routine again, and take our three to four hours of editing in the afternoon again. It will take some getting used to , of course, but since the edit is almost over and done with, it’s not bad to do it now. Soon, after putting a synopsis together, and a query letter, I’m going to start with the new book anyway. Let the writing commence. Hah. I am getting to be so very impatient, darn it.

As to the dogs. Fortuyn is getting crazier every day. Remember that terrier (mutt?) in Dr. Doolittle? The one that wants to learn not to go after the ball.
Mutt: “Throw me the ball.”
Dr.: “Think of something else.
Mutt: Throw me the ball, throw the ball.”
Dr.: “Think of something equally nice.”
Mutt: “Throw me the ball, throw me the ball, throw the ball.”
Dr. throws the ball in exasperation, mutt goes in pursuit.
Mutt: “He threw me the ball. He threw the ball!!!”
Remember that part? Well, there you’ve got Fortuyn. Only instead of a ball, he wants rocks, and once he gets the idea in his head, he will keep waiting for it, dancing for it, jumping for it (tail going a mile a minute) and basically making himself a nuisance for it. Sometimes I wonder how long he would keep it up. Hah.

I don’t remember the time, but there was a short trip to the construction company to get some building bricks, which meant hauling around loads of bricks from the car, of course. Which made for a nice workout, in particular since we had to go uphill, most of the time. Hah.
But anyway, the end of the day was spent doing some messages online, and chatting on the fora. Then blissful bedtime had arrived and I was happy for it…but then, I always am happy about that. Slept well, and got up in time to (not early enough for a workout, but what the heck, did carry the bricks yesterday)

Did a nice experiment cooking yesterday. Made onion cheese patties, and boy did they go well with the veggie mix I made for dinner in the afternoon. Had in fact a couple left today, so we had them as a snack during today’s edit. (Only 14 pages to go, yay!)

There were of course two harvests, with today red beets, which made an awesome supper. They were huge, I tell ya. The size of a small pumpkin, or a good sized honey melon. *sigh* Had to eat them immediately, and yes, with boiled potatoes, onions, fresh herbs and some cheese and pannier it was absolutely divine. Wish I’d made enough for tomorrow, but it’ll be a snack at most. But anyway. Got a big load of beets out, along with broccoli and zucchinis. Boy are we getting a lot of the latter. Harvested five today. Yay.

Watered plants, but frugally. Considering today was a cloudy one, big brother decided that it would be smart to save on water, rather than hose everything down. It was rather wonderful time of the day, since the sun shone some at the very least, and cast everything in a rather magical gold. Seriously, nothing beats working in the yard at the end of the day. The light is beautiful.

But anyway, we didn’t get to that edit down by the basin terrace until late today. Had to leave early to go to the bank to get my tax papers. To my regret the director was at the verge of leaving, so I was left to the mercy of the other staff, who don’t speak a word of English. There was some confusion, but luckily there was a lady there who was kind enough to translate for me. Everything had bee arranged so I thanked the nice lady, and returned to the car. Continued on to town to go past the insurance company. The renewal for the Land Rover had arrived and we had to fork that over…just as at the end of the month the Opel needs the same. Gawd, that makes me wanna sigh again.
Had to do some groceries, get glass, and dropped Cousin Ed off (she came along) before heading back home.

The day ended unloading the car, preparing tomorrow’s dog food, and then settling down with the computer and writing today’s blog, of course. Well, it’s past midnight now, so I’m heading out.

Asked?

Song of the day: “I can feel your heartbeat” by Enrique Iglesias and Nichole Sherzinger (sp?). I only recently heard it for the first time, so I only have the chorus going through my head, which is a bit annoying, of course. Hah. Still, a nice song.

Well, lots going on again, nothing massively interesting, mind you, but still, life’s busy, as it should be. First off, I had tried to do a workout yesterday, but I overslept so that didn’t come to happen (did it today instead, yay!) before I went down to the house and started on laundry over coffee, naturally. Hah.
Started filling the pool, thank you very much. I’ll be hopping in soon for sure.

There were dogs to feed (twice, naturally) and tenant to help since caregiver was at her other job once more. Went well enough, took only an hour or two to get her ready and down to my terrace where she settled in for the day. Knight II is giving trouble during feeding time again. Seriously, I have never met a dog who’s as picky in eating as him. *sigh*

There was two day’s worth of yard work of course. A good watering yesterday, and then the youngsters again today. Put in a full field of peppers on the lower terrace. Along with a small field of melons that soon will need a construction of sorts that keeps them off the ground. Had planned to do that today, but since big brother has pulled his leg this morning, we decided to postpone ‘till tomorrow. It’ll be sure to take some time, since these are going to have to be pretty sturdy. Those melon vines are strong and heavy, once they start growing.
Since that is of course inevitable, I also harvested. Got our first zucchinis, yay, and tomatoes, as usual, along with broccoli, sugar peas (the last batch, I fear) along with fresh herbs, naturally.

Once everything that HAD to be done in the yard, was done, it was back up to the carport to work on the box we’ve been putting together to transport the decorative classic car. Got it all done, despite the fact that for some reason the box ended up a bit twisted (old wood will that do to ya) so I had to chisel some edged out of the lid, but other than that it worked out splendidly. Put some papers in there to keep the thing in place, and then put it in the storage. If disaster doesn’t strike, mom and the sibs should be able to take it to the market next Sunday.

Big brother did the dog veggies, and since caregiver returned late from her job, I brought tenant back to her bungalow. She helped me make supper. Prepared chili sin carne with large pancakes on the side. It went down well to boot, so it was definitely a successful endeavor.

What followed was the usual editing session of about eight pages. And then started on writing down answers for an interview I’ve been asked to do. Oh, I hadn’t said that yet, had I? Well, Laurie (a blogger/reviewer/interviewer) asked if I would like to do an interview/feature of my W.I. Investigations, so of course I said yes, and am now TRYING to fit in answering the questions she sent to me. I’m supposed to do about six or eight, but I gotta admit that there are some really nice ones in there, so it is hard to chose. Hah.

Was late getting to bed last night, but did manage to get up in time for a workout this morning. Yay. Pounded and kicked the bag, did laundry, fed the dogs, and then had my own breakfast. Like said before I spent the majority of the afternoon in the yard. And checking storage for rats and mice. Only one mouse so, nothing disastrous. Reorganized containers, pallets and whatnot, creating space and a semblance of order down there, before it was time to head back up.

Since big brother did the cooking, I am now doing my blog in the afternoon, leaving tonight for edits…which is good, since we’re only thirty five pages, or so, from the end. Hah. I can’t wait for it to be done. I so much want to get started on the new book. *sigh*

Well, I still have to head out for a donation in about…carp! Thirty minutes! Okay. Gotta go.

Brain blank

Song of the day: “Next to me” by Emeli Sandé. Only recently stumbled on the music of this artist, but she’s definitely catchy.

So I’m drawing a blank here, which is vastly annoying. I mean, here I am, ready to start blogging, and I have not a clue as to where yesterday morning started.

Oh right. I remember dreaming I was in town (I slept rather deeply, both today and yesterday. Literally startled awake at the alarm) just when this massive alarm went off. Some sort of attack had started and huge trucks rumbled into town, soldiers in hazmat suits ushering people (and me) into a large parking garage where they proceeded to cover every exit with heavy black rubber. We, me and the sibs, were more or less huddling together, and just a loud boom sounded, I woke from the alarm. Very strange. I guess I could have fully described this dream, but let’s face it, I’m late, and this blanking thing isn’t helping me get on with it.

First off yesterday morning was laundry of course, followed by a quick session in the pool, cleaning out debris and such, sweeping the floor taking out sand and algae. It is a slow process, this cleaning bit, but since otherwise we lose hours on it, it will have to do. If everything works out…did that cleaning bit again this morning…we should be able to start filling the pool again tomorrow morning. Yay!

Next, we fed the dogs, of course, followed by breakfast and then headed out to the village to pay our taxes. Something changed, apparently. It is now, no longer allowed to pay at town hall, but you have to do it through the bank, so after getting our “bill” it was up the village mountain to my bank where the payment had to be arranged for. Normally you can only pay this kind of thing on Tuesday, but luckily the director knows me well, and offered to do it for me on Tuesday, so I can pick up the paperwork on Wednesday. *sigh*

That done we had to head to town to check with the insurance company, if the new wagon is included with the Opel insurance. It is, thankfully. Apparently everything under 750 kg is fine. I was much relieved.

Next it was on to the sports store to buy tenant a pair of hiking sandals. What with her precarious balance, we decided on getting her a pair like mine, which have and edge that prevents slipping out on the front. They fit so, yay!

In the right side of tow anyway we also dropped by our garage to check if the new rubber pads for the brake and clutch of the Land Rover had arrived yet. They hadn’t, in fact the receptionist had no idea what I was talking about, so she made a note, and would give me a ring as soon as she got her hands on them. Turns out that due to the bad economy they’re going to have to move shop to across the street. The nice receptionist wasn’t happy about having to paint her new, very small office, but there was no choice. I find it a good thing that they’re downsizing. It is, after all the only sensible thing to do when finances are not sufficient.

Once we got home, I headed out into the yard and spent about three and a half hours hosing plants. What with the rising temperatures, liquid evaporates at an incredibly fast rate. Most of the plants start hanging around noon, so that tells you something. Since I was busy there anyway, I also harvested our supper. Today was another yard day, of course, more watering, more harvesting, including dog food. Got a variety of that, so the dogs should really be happy tomorrow morning. Hah.

Supper yesterday was a hasty affair of fresh tomatoes with veggies on Spaghetti, since big brother and I worked on the box for the classic car’s transport.

Also worked up in the old paddock to fix the trailer. The wiring had to be reattached, the axles painted, and the wheels put back in place.

Edits, naturally. Not a lot, though, since we were late settling behind the computer. Managed only a handful of pages but we’re getting there…soon, I’m hoping.

And today? Well, I still have to get to it, so I’m going to call this a blog and leave it the heck alone.

Yard stuff aplenty

Song of the day: “Bruises” by Chairlift…again. This wasn’t voluntary either, I tell ya. The problem with this song is that I really don’t know it well enough. Can you imagine hearing the chorus all day long. The same problem occurred yesterday, but then with Train’s “Not a Flyby”, aaaaargh.
What is it with my head picking songs it doesn’t really know? Very annoying.

But anyway, two busy days have passed since the last post, and only three hours of those were spent away from home, so, yay!

First off both yesterday and today were mostly spent in the yard. Yours truly watered plantsies twice, a lot today, in fact so that maybe tomorrow the adult plants won’t need anything.
Also, there was planting involved. Pepper seedlings, about thirty of them, and some tomato plants. They are all looking splendid, after two watering sessions. The peppers sure are liking the warm spring weather. They’re going strong in the full-sunshine spot, with not a sign of suffering from the transfer.

Also harvested Sugar peas, along with broccoli, red cabbage, red beets, fresh spinach, and a handful of fresh herbs. Used most of it today and yesterday for supper, despite there being really too little time for cooking. Had to go out yesterday afternoon for another donation, so eating was a matter of filling a plate and stuffing it down my gullet. *sigh* Since we had to go out anyway, yesterday, we also got a handful of groceries. Didn’t come home ‘till later. Did manage a solid edit of ten pages or so, so it was not a problem.

Had to harvest dog food too, three kinds of cabbages and herbs against parasites, because let’s face it, there’re some pesky critters around these days. I ain’t kidding. Whenever I touch one of the pack, I find another cluster of ticks.

Two dog feeding sessions. The training of the pack is going rather well. These days we can just feed them from a set of six big bowls without the lot of them going at each other’s throats. And since we’re getting annoyed with the trouble of grandpa and tenant’s dogs colliding with ours in the fence, we have decided to work on that particular problem as well. Actually managed to leave the bungalow dogs outside today without the lot of them constantly attacking each other through the fence. I’m so proud of them!

Set up a new (second hand) storage shed up in the dog paddock. Nothing too big, but essential since we are getting a shortage of places to put stuff. *sigh* It took some time figuring out how to put the thing together, and to straighten a piece of ground to put it. It will work well enough, I’m sure.

Worked on creating a crate of sorts for the classic car decoration. Since it will allow easy traveling, it has to be sturdy, and since it would be best that they don’t need to unload it from the box at the markets, I’m going to make one side of the box transparent. Should work out well enough, once it’s done.

Was feeling a tad poorly today. Stomach problems and such, had me chuck my lunch this afternoon while big brother and I were working in the old horse paddock, fixing the new trailer. One minute I was loosening a bolt, and the next I was doubling over in the bushes, getting rid of the pancakes grandpa had made. *sigh* I hate it when that happens. But no matter, we managed to fix most of what was wrong with the small trailer. We straightened the axels, removed rust and painted the wheels, removed and replaced broken and bent bolts, discovered cuts in the wiring and will deal with those tomorrow.

Tenant was out most of the day, giving us some serious work time, since we didn’t need to keep an eye on her. She went to the city with mom, middle sister and little brother, and really enjoyed the trip.
Also took some pics of her that I will have to send to her family one of these days. First I want to see which ones look best, and if I need to do anything about the lighting.

Today the hours were a little short for a good edit. Only did about three or four pages, but what the hey, we’re only fifty five pages from the end, so it’s not as if it is going bad. Hah.

Well, it’s late…well past midnight in fact, so I better get this posted and get some horizontal time in. I’m seriously running on fumes right now.

Way late

Song of the day: “Someone like you” by Adele. I know. I’m no fan of her at all, but the song (I don’t really like it) has been stuck in my head for the past couple of days. I’m not kidding, I’ve been trying all sorts of things to get it out of my head, but I can’t manage it. Darn it.

I’m incredibly late today, it’s like a quarter to twelve and…well, let’s get to it, shall we.

Yesterday…well, I’ll skip yesterday. It was grocery shopping day, and I’ve described it a few dozen times already. Not as if there’s a lot of difference between any of the trips. Seriously, there was the rush into the yard, harvesting what had to be harvesting, watering the youngsters, so to speak, and then out to the car to head on out. There were fifteen stores or so, seven to eight hours, (with a trip to the garage to see about a trailer hook on the back of the Opel in the near future) and then the day came to an end after cooking supper, trying two pages of edits, and then basically passing out in bed.

Which brings us to today. Woke nice and early, and headed on down for the usual chores such as…well, you know, laundry and such. *sigh* Yeah, yeah, very exciting. What can I say, life as usual. Luckily I don’t mind all that much. In fact, it was rather nice and peaceful this morning.

After breakfast, feeding the dogs, unloading the car and generally getting ready for the “big thing” of the day. Gardening! Yay. Seriously, as soon as we managed the other stuff, it was heading down the mountain and going into the vegetable yard.
First off, there was the greenhouse to check, water and to pluck ripe tomatoes. Nice and hot in there, thank you very much.

Next it was out into the yard to water the whole lot. What with the past couple of days so busy, we only got to do the absolute necessary, and it definitely was stretching the limits of the plants their endurance…of course the heat didn’t help them much, but it looks like most of them survived the ordeal. Hah.

I enjoyed it, in particular the planting of the young seedlings, and the harvesting and then heading on up the mountain again to start on supper. Made mushrooms in a cheese sauce over spaghetti, which was absolutely delicious.

Supper over and done with it was making a wooden standard for cousin Ed (she’s also doing a market tomorrow) on which she can hang secondhand clothes. What with the table big brother made the other day, she is going to have enough stuff to display her goods on…I hope. Once the standard was done (took me about two hours) we helped load the car, which was a hilarious event, to be sure. It was loading, redoing it when stuff didn’t fit (the Opel is tiny, you know) and then redoing it again, because it still didn’t fit. I had this image of a car commercial I saw once where they were stuffing a car full, and then with the last bit, the car literally exploded. Ours didn’t but in my head I saw it. Hah.

We managed in the end, and well, afterwards it was time to get to the edit (did a solid six pages before I had to start on my blog) and by now, well, I had put on Disney’s Tangled (not too bad) while I wrote this, I’m just about ready to get horizontal. The dogs, for one, are impatiently waiting for me to do so. Hah.
I’m outta here.

In the jungle, the mighty jungle...

Song of the day: “Bruises” by Chairlift. Incredibly cute song, only a tad annoying since the part “for youhoooohooo” is the most prominent in ones memory. Hah.

So yeah, I’m incredibly short on time. We’re heading out tomorrow for the second to last workday on that fence. Setting the gates this time, so plenty to do, plenty to do. Let’s hope we don’t need to dig the holes again. And that everything held. *snort* That’s my panicky side talking. Since we did a sturdy job, I don’t see how it could have gone wrong unless someone willingly wrecked it. Hah.

But anyway, let’s get you up to date so that we can all continue with our lives. *wink*
Yesterday:

A busy day, of course. Nothing new about that, is there? Best thing of yesterday was definitely the morning workout. Yay. Did a solid hour and a half despite the miserly rain that came down. I pounded, kicked and punched. Pumped, bounced and tread, working up a nice sweat (like this morning too, as a matter of fact. What can I say, I had some catching up to do) before starting on the day (same as this morning again, hah).

I totally forgot to say that the day before we put the new water tank in place. It was quite a hassle actually, since the dratted thing was so big that we couldn’t get it through the carport and the smaller gates. We contemplated taking it along the perimeter of the garden, and then lift it over the fence where we’ll need it, but finally decided against it. There’s a short path on that side, but it would be too dangerous to navigate with that massive “bucket”. Finally decided to carry it through the big gate and then OVER the small gate beside the old RV. We were a funny sight for sure. Cousin Ed, me, grandpa and big brother, rotating our way through, that tank as high as we could possibly hold it.

That done, the tank had to be hosed clean, and then gradually lowering it to the new platform big brother finished the other day. It fit like a glove, thank you very much. While cousin Ed and I were busy elsewhere, grandpa and big brother installed all the tubing, making the tank completely ready for yesterday. And boy, were they on time!

Did do laundry, but since the air was damp and the rain was coming down (most of the night as well) there wasn’t all that much to fold. By the time we finished feeding the dogs for the day, the rain started for real and after breakfast cousin Ed and I decided to get to work on 60 pounds of lemons that had to be squeezed into juice. Yep. Got a cheap batch the other day which meant we had to make lemonade to save them properly. Took most of the day, all of it spent in the carport cutting, squeezing (by hand too, since the poor little machine couldn’t hack it) and putting it in pots and bottles. Had about eight pots of lemon juice and five bottles of lemonade. Success!

While cousin Ed and I were doing that big brother and grandpa did more in the bungalow’s kitchen. It’s coming along nicely now. Looking grand with the beautiful wooden shelving behind it.

By the time the rain finally let up for a bit, all reservoirs were filled. YAY! No kidding. The new tank was filled to full capacity, the main basin as well, and of course the small pool. This means that we’ve earned ourselves a solid two weeks extra of free water this summer. Ergo, free, homegrown, utterly ecologically grown veggies. Double Yay!

Since the rain stopped we rushed down to the yard to harvest veggies for dog food and broccoli for ourselves. Jeez, everything was soaking wet, me included by the time we were done. Sweater was wet up to my elbows, pants up to my knees…as were my shoes. Hah. I would have changed clothes then, if we didn’t still need cut everything. Instead, eating mac&cheese big brother prepared, we finished preparing the dog food, at which time the sky slowly started to clear. So nice of Mother Nature that she stopped pouring the moment we had everything filled. Hah.

Managed a nine page edit by the end of the day, despite having moments of being cross-eyed with exhaustion. Went well enough, only ten pages away from being one third of the way. I’m not displeased with how the last edit’s changes turned out. I think it’s working so far.

Strangely enough squeezing lemons wasn’t good for my shoulder. The darn thing has been whining somewhat fierce ever since that. Same goes for the foot, but what the heck. Nothing new there. Hah

Was only a little late getting to bed, but managed getting up right on the dot for that workout. Yay.
Again laundry, but a lot was still wet despite the air having cleared throughout the night. The weather has definitely improved overnight. In fact, we had a wonderfully warm sun today.

After the usual chores, coffee and breakfast, I headed down into the yard to check the tomato plants for bugs (plenty of those again, blasted creatures) and then clear some of the terraced under the house. The malva and reed just got too big this winter, and we really needed to clear at least a pat. Then I suddenly saw myself standing in front of this dense forestry (the place where some odd eight years ago there used to be a path) blinking at the sound of Gandalf in my head, saying “thou shall not pass”. Hah. Seriously, the bushes, vines, papyrus and weeds were basically challenging me. So I took the big cutters, a scythes, and got to work.

I hacked, I cut, I sliced and by some sort of miracle, after several hours of work had a semblance of a path. It was really rather amazing. One moment you’re looking at a vast jungle, and the next (naturally I had “the lying sleeps tonight” in my head during this particular chore. Hah) there was an actual path to navigate as Ed and I started dragging branching and such away. It was wonderful work to do, in particular since the poplar, the oleanders and such protected the path and us from the sun. It was wonderfully cool in there.
Gawd, some of those vines were as thick as my index finger, by the way. I can’t believe how big it’s all become down there. I’m thinking that working on paving that path, and then making the stairs to the individual terraces is going to be a blessing once summer starts. It’ll actually be cool un there.

That done, we headed up to where grandpa had made us some pancakes for a snack and heard that mom and the younger sibs had a good day at the market. Then of course we got a call, that made it necessary for us to head on out with the car and do a pick up. Got a nice donation batch, so it was worth our wile. Still, it would have been better if we didn’t have that, seeing as we still had to prepare for tomorrow’s work day.

While unloading the car, we also loaded up. The three gates on the imperial. A load of sand in the back. Bags of cement in the backseat and of course a whole set of tools that we’re going to need. Luckily grandpa and big brother could do most of this while I got started on the blog. Hey. I’m about done, and only took an hour to write it. Yay.

Okay, gotta go. Need to have an early night, and I would like to do a few edits still.

R.I.P. Manni

Song of the day: “Dream a little dream” by the Beautiful South. Considering I only got about five hours of sleep last night, it was cruel of my head to get stuck on this one. Hah.

Let’s start with the bad news and get it over with. One of the pack died. Yep. It was that time again. Age caught up with little sister’s Cocker Spaniel, Manni, who’d been with us since ‘98. Gawd, I remember the day we got him. He was about four months old and his breeder couldn’t get a home for him because one of his kids had carried the pup wrong when it was younger. It had caused a problem with his neck, making him tilt it awkwardly most of the time. Manni, on the day we picked him up, was locked in a tiny little cage and was peering around the corner at the strange people trying to catch a glimpse of him. He was a sweet little dog, black and white in color, timid sure, but incredibly loveable. He’ll be sorely missed, but age was eating at him, his body failing, so yesterday morning mom and little sister went to the vet to have the poor thing put out of his misery. It just wasn’t working anymore.

Then this morning we almost had another start. Mesha (another Cocker Spaniel) was unable to get up, and since his health has been a troubling thing for more than a year now, we did ponder for a bit to take him to the vet, but after a bit he managed getting up again, and the red alert was brought back to orange in regard to the black cocker.

But I’m getting ahead of myself, first there’s yesterday of which most of the day was spent in the yard. Tenant came down to the yard with me and cousin Ed who yanked weeds (loads of those) from amidst the veggies, harvested a solid load for the dog food and heightened the fence of the sugar peas by another foot or two.

Big brother harvested a big load of chard, which he would actually prepare for dinner after he and grandpa were done working in the kitchen. Of course we didn’t have time for an actual meal, since we had to go out for a pick up (and to drop Sally off at work), but what the heck, we ate it afterward once we got home and got to the edit. Managed only 8 pages, much to my regret, but eight pages is eight pages and always better than none (which will be the case today, darn it) is my estimation.

And though I am sure that there was more stuff that happened yesterday, I’m just going to skip to today.
Got up a little early to be able to do a workout, and actually succeeded. Yay. Did a solid hour and a half workout, which set a nice tone for the day.

Workout done, and with caregiver off to her other job, I headed up to help tenant into the car. Her daughter and family was picking her up for a day out and about, clearing some time for us. First thing we did after the normal chores and such was go down to the greenhouse to check for miners and caterpillars. After a short tour through the yard to make sure everything was alright, we went back up to start on the small platform for one of the new water reservoirs.

While big brother and grandpa started to dig for the foundation, I started hauling rocks down. Did a total of maybe 1400 pounds. Rocks that were basically too heavy to carry and took up a whole wheelbarrow. Did at least ten of those little trips before tenant returned. By then caregiver was back too, though, so I basically just said hello and went back down to continue with the small wall. Finished about a three quarters of the construction, so if we’re a little lucky we can poor the concrete tomorrow afternoon.

By the time the afternoon came to an end, we had to do another pick up, along with a few groceries to see us through the next few days, so we didn’t get back until after nine in the evening, darn it. Gawd, what with only sleeping so few hours, I’m seriously running on fumes by this time, so another edit tonight is definitely not going to work. I’ve a suspicion that I’m going to be seriously sore tomorrow, already my muscles are complaining.

Am playing a bit with an experiment in my head for a lemon cheesecake tomorrow, or the day after. I’ll let you know how it works out.

And that’s it for today. I’m going to call it a day, if ya don’t mind.

Socializing

Song of the day: “A happy place” by Katie Melua. Considering I was a tad under the weather today, it was an appropriate song. Do you know that feeling, that everything seems to be going a little too fast and that your head just can’t keep up. Well, that’s what today was like for me. Hah.

Be that as it may, I had a little nap, and that improved my “state of being” considerably, so all is well again. I think it was partly due to all the excitement going on the past couple of days.

First off yesterday morning, I headed out to the vacation cottage to pay the owner for the week’s use. Was a nice little visit, talking about how she ended up in Spain and how she built her home there with her ex, and how she now spent her life. Sometimes I wonder if I should start writing about real life. Seriously, sometimes the stories I hear are just better than fiction. Hah. Lovely woman, though. Friendly, chatty and all the good stuff.

While I was there, tenant’s daughter phoned because they needed the exact address for the car rental, so there was some confusion about that. The connection wasn’t all that grand, so the owner gave the phone to me so I could explain, then son-in-law couldn’t hear me properly and gave me to the car rental agent, whom I had to tell to hand be back to son-in-law, who could finally hear me so we could sort out the mess. That dealt with, I departed and went back home.

There was still tenant’s place to mop the floor and sort through the last bit of the mess together with cousin Ed before we helped tenant outside to the table we had rearranged to welcome the visitors. It looked so nice, and thankfully, despite being occasionally cloudy the weather was very accommodating.

Tennant was out there under the umbrella since noon, watching every car pass with grave impatience. She firs decline supper which we had there with her, but then, after seeing us eat, asked for “a nibble” anyway. Hah. She always changes her mind afterward. She was positively psyched when they called that they were coming, and then promptly arrived. Tenant’s daughter of course asked for a moment alone with her mom. The question made me laugh a little seeing as that was what we’d planned to do just as soon as we’d supplied everyone with drinks. Hah.

For the next half hour or so we went down to my terrace where we prepared the dog food for the next day. As for the rest of the day…well, didn’t get a lot done, really. Later we were invited to join the reunion, so I got a taste of what it was like to sit for an afternoon, petting Knight II and listening to stories of the past. It was a cozy and sociable occasion. The relatives were friendly and tenant’s granddaughter a sweet little thing that was definitely on the shy side. The most important thing of the day was that tenant loved every minute of it.

I did, at some point notice that all the adult stuff was boring the kid, so I offered to give her and her dad a tour of the premises, leaving tenant and daughter a moment of privacy. Always a pleasure to show off the yard, of course. All the trees that weren’t there when we got here, the yard, the greenhouse, the paths. You never realize all the work you’ve done until you see it through the eyes of others, so in that regard I really liked giving the tour.

The dogs were at their best. Not a single one threatened to bite, and even Tadaika behaved wonderfully as we walked down through the majority of the pack. There was some barking (Chaos in particular) from the scared ones, but on the overall they were just curious and sniffed “the strangers” with wild abandon. Guess all the years of taking in new dogs, the occasional visitor, and just easy living has mellowed the darlings enough to have this be such a pleasant experience.

So after the day came to an end. Presents presented (licorice for Ed and me, lots of cute little doodads for tenant with pictures and everything on it) cookies eaten, drinks drunk and the usual chitchat exchanged, the relatives departed for the vacation cottage…oh, before I forget, that was a success for sure. They love the place, so yay!...where they were going to unwind, have a dip in the pool and generally enjoy their vacation prior to returning the next day.

The aftermath talks followed, asking tenant how she felt and if she was happy (yes, of course) and then eating a snack before heading down to start up the fire for the dog food and turning on the computers for the day’s edit. Got the prologue done, thank you very much, and we were both pretty satisfied with the end result. Definitely improved lots after the last edit.

Were in bed on time for a change. Seriously, it was five past one in the morning when I pulled the blankets up to my chin and turned off the light. *blissful sigh*

Which brings us to this morning. I was running a little behind, but since Cousin Ed had things well in hand with taking care of tenant until her relatives arrived to take her out on the town for a day, I took my time. It was raining when I got up, which is splendid for the yard, mind you. Added half an inch to the basin during the course of the day, so YAY!

I had a shower prior to getting started on the morning chores such as laundry, chatting to the birds, chinchilla and rabbits for a bit. The new bird is adjusting nicely, though he doesn’t like dogs at all. He will move to his biggest perch as soon as he sees a dog. Hah. Poor fellow. He’ll have to be more like Tika, who has taken a liking to giving the dogs “the eye”.

What followed was preparing the dog food and starting the feeding frenzy. They loved the meal, of course, seeing as we had bread again and they do love that so. Even Knight II ate slightly more than his usual half of the bowl. But anyway, the dogs fed, I was just in time to help tenant settle in the rental and wish her a good day.

The remainder of today was spent in the yard where we hunted bugs in the greenhouse, planted pumpkins, broccoli and herbs, while yanking weeds, harvesting our own supper. In one word: Wonderful. Despite the clouds still being there, while we were in the yard we didn’t have rain and could even occasionally enjoy the sunshine. Of course there was the interruption of Sally, who had missed her bus and who needed to be brought to her job, so I headed back up the mountain (all the way) and drove her. I was back in the yard within 20 minutes, though.

But like I said, I was feeling a bit off today, so I took a nap after supper of fresh veggies with patties and then got to work on preparing tomorrow’s dog food. Grandpa made a deal with the local vegetable store who gives us all the “bad” stuff he can’t sell, for the dogs and today he got a rather nice batch to supplement the small amount I’d gathered in the yard. They do love those mushy tomatoes. Hah.

Okay. I better get to work on the edit, big brother is getting a mite impatient with me, I’m sure.

The wall, the wall...almost there

Song of the day: “Living Doll” by Cliff Richards. The one with the Young Ones, of course, which is just too funny for words. Hah.

I’m going to have to stick with a disorganized sum-up again because it’s been a long day and for the life of me I can’t recall the right sequence. I know that there were two workouts, so that covers both mornings, doesn’t it. I was a little late, but I did manage to do the full sessions without dawdling. This means that I was only fifteen minutes later than usual. Am adding a new three minute routine to the whole, step ups, which should improve my stair walking some…I hope.

Rather than going for chickpeas, lentils or white beans, I made soy bean burgers yesterday. I’d put the dried beans in water for a whole night of soaking the evening before and after boiling them for a couple of hours they were ready to use. I like the result, I’ve got to admit. They’re a bit tougher than I usually make them, grainy too, but it gives you the idea that you’re eating something properly solid. In fact, since there was no bread this morning, I ate a couple of the burgers for breakfast. Hah.

Edits…it’s tough going at the moment. Whether big brother is a bad mood, or I am, I don’t know, but we get into fierce discussions about every other paragraph, darn it. First edits are a pain, I tell ya. So much to keep track of, and big brother watches different stuff than I do. *sigh* It is bound to give friction. Ah well, no matter. Seventeen pages to go and then the first edit will finally be over. Yay.

Had two sessions in the yard. First one was checking up on everything after the massive hailstorm the other day. The cabbages show some damage, but they’re flourishing regardless. Seriously, I don’t know on which steroids the red cabbages are on but when I checked on them they were standing proud and strong as if saying: “Hailstorm? What hailstorm? I’m growing here dammit!” Hah. Got a nice batch of broccoli from the yard yesterday…and then again this morning, which was once again spent in the yard. There were bugs to be hunted, and the greenhouse and raised seedbed to take care of.
Then there was the borecole that we gathered or supper. Big brother is preparing it as I write this, which is nice because I didn’t particularly feel like cooking today. Hah.

Big brother and I have been working on a toolbox kind of thing for in the back of the Land Rover. The friggin’ package of obligated warning triangles, reflective jackets, and all that stuff, is constantly sliding through the entire car, meaning that a proper box is necessary. Got the necessities from storage and sawed most of it in the afternoon, creating a big, multiplex tube that we’ll (at some point) attach in the back of the car.

My stomach is giving me some trouble again the past couple of days, so after making and eating dinner yesterday, I just had to take a nap rather than risk losing the whole lot again. Eating, at the moment, is not a pleasant endeavor for me, I have to extremely careful lest I risk chucking it all up again. Dontcha just hate it when you’re being reminded of your sick days? I do.

I was of course freezing after my nap. I don’t know why but for some reason my body thinks it’s a good idea to shut down while I sleep. It makes keeping warming practically impossible…you’d think that the nap would help with my foot, but nope, that one’s still bugging me too. I am definitely looking forward to getting my new insoles the day after tomorrow…heck, if I could get away with it, I’d call the guy now and demand them. Seriously! He’s taking forever.

We’ve spent about four hours working on the wall, which means hauling freaky big rocks, wheelbarrows full of cement, but once again we have added another foot or two to the height of the majority of the wall. Got about fifteen feet the way it’s supposed to be, with drainage pipes in it, and attachment points for the future balustrade. It’s looking, folks. It’s really looking good. I was standing under it after working there most of the afternoon, and, boy, is that wall high now. Seriously, you do not want to fall off that one.

The dogs were, of course, their usual annoying selves during the work. At one point there was a line of six dogs lying on the exact path that we were constantly traversing with the wheelbarrows. All of them stretched out in the sunshine, literally ignoring us when we tried to get them out of the way. No respect. Hah.

Though working on the wall was absolutely divine due to the sunshine, I am now starting to get seriously chilled because I am standing on my terrace and the wind is coming from the north here (behind the house there was no wind, thankfully). I need to get this blog done and then get the stove on. I don’t like this cold at all, it is undoing all the good the sun did this afternoon.

Tomorrow is going to be a busy day. First the Land Rover to the MOT and then once we get home, hopefully working on the Opel’s flank. I finally managed to get my hands on the paint (we ended up at a specialized shop in town where they had to mix it up for me) and lacquer so with a little luck we’ll get that done tomorrow.

Well, that’s it for me. I still have to go out later tonight, but before that I do hope to be able to get some pages edited. I’m not holding my breath, though. Way too dangerous. Hah.

Hunting party. Hah

Song of the day: “I like how it feels” by Enrique Iglesias. Another cute song by this particular artist. Very catchy, albeit a little less profound than his older work. Ah well, not everything can be profound, I guess.

A strange couple of days really. I can’t really explain how, it was just weird. Maybe I should explain, but I don’t really feel like it. Besides, I wouldn’t know how to explain anyway. I’ll stick to the facts and leave you to guess for a change.

First off, we got the new washing machine delivered yesterday. Finally! Due to the repair dude never showing up in the past five weeks, a new policy started, meaning that we could either get a new (the same) machine, or another one where we paid the difference. Decided to do a better brand (Samsung) and paid for a difference of 120 bucks, rather than risk a third Daewoo washer in two years. Seriously, we’ve had nothing but trouble with the latter.
Let’s hope the Samsung does better.

So the guys delivered it in the morning, and for some reason it was a busy morning visitors wise. First a friend of mom’s whose dogs will be staying with us for about a week, next week. While she was inside, the delivery truck arrived, and while cousin Ed and I went up there to deal with them a small dog came trotting down our drive sweep.

I picked the little feller up, rather than risk him getting under the truck, and heard someone shouting from up the mountain. There was a lady waving there, and calling out that she’d be there in a minute. Cousin Ed was still dealing with the repair dudes when a black car came down the incline and walked towards it with the small curly dog under my arm. Turns out the lady was all surprised that I’d picked it up, because usually it doesn’t allow anyone to do so. Ah well, good thing I didn’t know that up front. Hah.

Chatted with the English lady for a bit, and then, as she drove off, returned to cousin Ed and the delivery dudes. They unloaded the new machine, loaded the old, and had me sign half a million papers before they were off and we could admire the new machine.
We took it down, added the usual protection (grating at the bottom) against rodents and such (they do love the noisy dark spots for some reason) and then wheeled the thing down the mountain towards its spot in the courtyard wash corner.
I was pleasantly surprised that we didn’t hear a thing from the engine when we started it up. Guess the quiet drive text on the front of the machine wasn’t for show. Hah.

Spent some time in the yard gathering borecole for dinner, and some broccoli because mom was really in the mood for it. When I offered the borecole to little brother, he pulled such a face that I almost laughed. Little brother is not a cabbage fan.

Finished the last of my birthday pie in the afternoon, spent some time with tenant who prepared the potatoes for dinner and helped me rip the borecole.

Did a sand fetching trip (followed by a walk with Knight II) and headed into the village to get Gada’s prescription for prednison at the vet’s. Also some supplies for mom at the sewing shop, and a quick stop at the ferreteria where I needed to get a light bulb for a sewing machine.

Did some more work on the moped shed (I still haven’t found the right descriptive word for this spot) did a spot of cleaning and spent the majority of the afternoon and evening working on checking the plot of V.L. We have momentarily suspended the edit in order to check details that really have to be correct for a suspense story like this.

Did a workout this morning, which might not have been the smartest idea since later today, in the afternoon we went to town and decided to do a jog past the boulevard with Knight II, and cousin Ed with her own dog. The dogs sure liked it, and I really noticed that I hadn’t done that for more than six months. Jeez. Of course my foot totally didn’t agree with that, but what the heck, I ran! (and so did Knight II) Yay.

This morning after the usual chores, we spent several hours in the yard. First of all we took out the last harvest of potatoes, which amounted to a total of two full 40 pound bags (all together that is). They’re looking splendid too. I took the opportunity to roast them in the woodstove just an hour ago. They were grand!

That done we watered what needed watering and sowed Alfa alfa and red beets in the lower yard. It was nice too, considering the sun broke out every now and again. We even harvested a late pumpkin and some tomatoes.

On the good news part, the computer doctor called and told us that they could repair big brother’s Mac by installing some replacement parts. This of course had big brother ecstatic, since he wasn’t looking forward to having to break in a new computer. So, for the price of a new computer, his old one will work again (knock on wood, cross my fingers) sometime next week.

We had to take the dogfood from storage again, and came upon a nest of mice (they’ve been breeding like rabbits the little bastards) underneath thirty bags and loads of droppings. Arthur finished one off, and was walking around proud as a peacock while Sitabah and Fortuyn were eying him like ostriches (“what’s that? What have you got there? Can I eat that? Is it a rock?”). There’re a whole lot of possibilities, but still ostriches are the best description. Little Dax took care of the baby mice, and Tadaika had a blast getting rid of all the spilt kibble (she’s like a doggy vacuum cleaner, for crying out loud).

While we went out for a visit to the phone shop and our insurance agent grandpa put in a tile threshold in the dog kibble storage, and hopefully that will keep the rodents out in the future.

There was soup (made with the help of tenant) which went down rather nicely, all things considered. I am going to try out a new recipe for red-bean patties. I found a pot of those, and am more than curious.

That done, and some last minute groceries tossed in the car, we headed for the boulevard and ran for about forty minutes. I think I’ll be sleeping really nicely tonight.

Well, I’m going to leave it at this, I’m sure I’m missing stuff, but what the heck, you’ll just have to fill in the blanks yourself.

Heavy cleaning

Song of the day: “The voice” by Eimear Quin. Wonderful song, but then a lot of Irish music falls that way with me.

First of all, I saw the motion picture, Hanna, yesterday evening, and was vastly disappointed. Such a wonderful premise and then to see it done in that way…I mean, really, the actor’s did a fine job, the plot was good, but then the way it was done.They put the emphasis on all the wrong stuff, as if they were taking a photograph of a beautiful landscape but chose the wrong spot to shoot I from…just a terrible pity. It could have excelled, darn it.

But anyway, it was a movie, so in the end, who cares, right? It usually is a fifty fifty change anyway. You like the movie, or not. Simple as that.

Right, yesterday.
Yesterday was kind of busy with small tasks that took more time than effort, even though I was properly exhausted at the end of the day.
We started using the stairs, yay, and they work fine, thank you very much. So much easier getting down now.

Well, even though I am threatening to draw a blank at this moment, I do remember doing a bit of harvesting. The tomatoes are drawing near to the end of their season, which is a terrible pity, but inevitable. Yesterday and today combined, I harvested maybe twelve tomatoes, which is a terribly low number, compared to summer where we took up a basket a day at least.

The majority of the stuff I did involved cleaning up. In this instance attacking spider webs in the house, they were humongous, if not a bit scary. Hah. It took me half an hour just to do the main parts of the ceiling, and then I haven’t even tried to tackle the ones hiding in corners and such. *sigh*

Next, after helping tenant get ready, and walking her down to the basin and getting her settled for the day, I got to work on the garden pit. It has been a genuine mess for more than a month now, and yesterday it finally got to be too much for me. I dug through the plastic trays, pots and…well, lotsa stuff, with a stick, you understand, because of the two snakes that have already wandered down there. Jeez. Whenever a breeze went through the leaves I almost had a heart attack. And seriously, you do not know what I did when a frog jumped at me from an empty pot. Yikes!

Be that as it may, I finished the garden pit, along with the greenhouse, which was a friggin’ mess as well. Pots were all over the place, the floor littered with stones and messes that I didn’t bother to identify prior to dumping it in a garbage bag. It was wonderfully warm in there, by the way, and I was dripping sweat like a race horse. Phew.

After that I headed out into the yard and took my time trimming the cherry tomatoes. The poor plants have been looking miserable for quite some time now, and I feared that they were already dead. They weren’t, in fact I actually found all sorts of new branches hiding in the weeds. Even hung them back on the reed construction. Poor little darlings.

Gada, my Labrador, is really not feeling well. If it goes on like this I’m going to have to visit the vet with her, because she is really not enjoying herself at the moment. In fact, she appears to be in pain every now and then, and that I do not like at all.

During the last hour of daylight we (big brother and I) hauled compost to the raised seedbed, cleared out the old, and put in a completely new layer so we can start sowing there again. After two years of use, the old compost had almost turned to sand. Hah.

No edits yesterday. In fact, big brother and I finished writing the synopsis for ATOL, went over all the other required data, and send it to a publisher. Yay. Keep yer fingers crossed. It’s a good story, and though it might need some tuning from a professional, I think it would do well. We’ll have to see how it goes, eh?

I totally overslept this morning, which is not a smart thing to do, but was also unavoidable since I didn’t manage to get to bed until after three in the morning. Don’t you hate it when that happens? Things get out of hand, and before you know it, two hours have past.

But then we come to today.
This morning, what with tenant’s caregiver being at her other job again, I headed up early and helped tenant down to the basin terrace. She settled there comfortably again…we are trying to get as much from this summer (the past couple of days were a little warmer again, yay) so she’s coming along as often as she can.

Leaving her to chop the veggies for our afternoon meal, I set to continue cleaning. I cleared the main gutter over the terrace, the path covered with carob leaves and bamboo leaves, the stairs leading up to the courtyard, and the muck that lay on the floor of the garden pit. All in all over three wheelbarrows of the stuff, making me nicely overheated by the time I could start supper.

Supper worked out well, by the way. Baked potatoes with onion, garlic and garden herbs, and a vegetable mix on the side. Enjoyed it, and was pleasantly full afterwards.
Just finished eating, in fact, and since I still have more to do tonight, I better wrap this up and call it a blog.

Picking up archery

Song of the day: “Living Darfour” by Mattafix. It’s been going through my head off and on for a bit. Took my by surprise this song, by the way, I had stupidly presumed that it was sung by a woman, so when I then youtubed the video, I saw that I was completely wrong. Guess what that say about assuming is true, eh?

Lots of small things getting done these past couple of days. Nothing major, just little chores that need to be done and just take a lot of time.
First of all, we’ve been turning earth again. What with September being here now, time to plant potatoes has arrived and we’re going at it with a fervor. Every single spot that wasn’t used for potatoes last year, we’re preparing.

Afterwards, Dani, tenant and I, headed down to the basin terrace, where we were going to spend the majority of the day canning green beans and peppers. It was a cosy chick-day, once again, even though I missed the beginning of it. Since grandpa and big brother were digging, I went down into the yard to water the veggies that are, at the moment functioning without drops.

Then it was blanching beans, and peppers that tenant and Dani had prepared already. Filled a total of nine pots with beans and three with peppers, which look splendid, so colourful and yummy in their pots.

Next we made cream cheese, because, let’s face it, to buy cheese you’ve got to sell a kidney these days. We overdid with the herbs a little, but who cares, variety is the spice of the soul they say.

That done, along with supper of chilli sin carne with arepas patties, we had to hurry to get everything that wasn’t supposed to get wet under cover, because from the south west massive clouds (thunder) came rolling in. We didn’t get much rain from it, but the temperatures did drop drastically since then. It’s been 66 degrees off and on since then.

Grandpa wants a new little wash basin outside by his bungalow, so he and big brother put that in yesterday afternoon and poured a concrete square in front of it. I cut the tiles they needed to lay on it.

The end of the day was spent with edits, along with a wonderful workout session that had me pound the bag considerably. What with more than a week of too little time for a workout, this one was rather necessary. Did forget to do the cool down exercises afterwards, meaning that my shoulders hurt like heck all day today.

Got to bed way too late, but that didn’t stop me from getting up in time this morning.
After the usual morning stuff, you know, laundry and coffee, I headed on up to have breakfast at grandpa’s prior to going out to the old horse paddock where we were going to pour concrete this morning. What with the Opel being slightly lower than the last car, it’s been scraping against the bottom, so we’re filling the sweep up a little to prevent that from happening.

And since there was little more than wheelbarrowing the concrete in for big brother, and since grandpa could do that just as well as I could, I headed down to the carport to saw strips of the large MDF plating we have stored them temporarily. We need them to be shorter in order to store them in the storage up the mountain.

After wards I put together our new target for archer practice, after which both big brother and I took some time to practice. Hit the bullseye three times, the target 15, the board surrounding it, three times, and overshot twice. Progress, yay!

There was some more rain, but that didn’t stop us from going down to the basin terrace where we cooked dinner, made cacti lemonade, and I washed Gada. She’s not been doing well at all, and I’m really going to have to do something about that, or else take her to the vet.

I tagged yesterday’s preserves and took them up to the storage. All closed well…or at least they did so far, and since this seems to be the last batch of them, I think we had a successful canning season.

Now I’ve got to go. Got another edit to do after all, and…well, you know, busy, busy, busy.

Bugged...sorta anyway

Song of the day: “Haven’t met you yet” by Michael Bublé. So I’m not his biggest fan, but since this particular song is rather nice, I don’t mind all that much. Hah.

It’s been a busy couple of days, and by now I am more than ready to call it a day for today. Hah. Considering it is only six in the afternoon, this is a bit of a premature feeling, but what the heck. Can’t help the facts, can I?

So lets get this thing going, I still need to go out to get a new load of rocks. Grandpa is wanting to build a small wall in his little courtyard, meaning that we have to get some hand-sized rocks. Big brother and I prefer to work with rocks of more than sixty pounds each, and even though grandpa tries, this is a bit too heavy and unhandy for him. Not that it matters. I’m in need for some exercise anyway. Hah.

Yesterday morning was the morning rituals and the ever-lasting chore of hanging laundry, big brother and I quickly headed out into the yard to check if there was watering needing to be done, harvesting, and so on and on. After about an hour we were done, and headed on up with another basket full of veggies. Yay.

Then it was time to head on out…yes, have you figured out what time of the month it is yet? You know, that day I dread from the moment it is done? The day of……..grocery shopping. *sigh*

Added to the day’s fun-stuff, was the fact that two of my sibs, mom and I piled into the Opel, and basically held our breaths on our way to town. Considering the car had barely managed to get us home the other day, and the fact that going to the village and picking up Sally was almost too much for the poor dear, it wasn’t outside of the realm of possibilities that the car might not make it to town without loosing every last drop of its cooling liquid.

Suffice it to say that we made it to the garage, where the Land Rover was ready and waiting. We could continue on with the breaks for another 700 miles or so (give us a couple of weeks *sigh*) and they had to refill the transmission box’s oil (still a problem there, apparently) but other than that the car was in top shape, allowing us to head on out into the day (leaving the Opel there) and face the grocery shopping.

All went as planned, and around five in the afternoon I could come and pick up the Opel again. The mechanic had taken a test drive before and after the repairs, he but in a more sensitive switch for the fan, which was a bit tardy for cooling the engine. Since he’d heard a strange thumping sound he also tightened some sort of tube (I had no idea what he was talking about but what the heck) which solved that problem. Yay.

So we got the groceries done and headed on home with both cars, where we unloaded, had a quick supper of yesterday’s leftovers. Afterwards big brother and I immediately got to work on the edit, interrupted by going through messages, followed by me, starting on a letter to a literary agent I’ve been thinking about contacting for quite a bit now. The letter is…hmmm, different, perhaps just a tad too honest and elaborate, but I do think that the message comes across. I’ll have to reread it a few more times, check everything a dozen times and then maybe, just maybe I’ll send it over. Hah.

Got to bed a little on the late side, but did manage to wake up in time, and as planned, around noon we were working in the yard taking out the green bean plants since this was the last harvest. It was a rather wonderful day for it. The temperatures mild, the sun bright and a cool eastern wind rolling in from the sea. Big brother and I were each tackling different sets of vines when suddenly it happened, from within the deep dark vestiges of the constructions I once so happily built, an egg-sized bug flew up and buzzed around me. What followed was five minutes of the creatures volleys towards me, the dogs--as a matter of fact it chased Sonia for a bit--and then it happened. I felt a stab in my lower back and with a squeal I dropped the basket full of beans I was holding. Madly I slapped at the painful spot, felt, and soon saw that the bug was literally ripping through my skin and crawling underneath. I started the screaming then, flaying my arms all the while, “Get it out! Get it out! Big brother is chasing me, trying to get to the darn thing while I’m basically running around like a chicken without a head. I can feel it crawling under my skin, a burning sensation similar to acidic, and then I see it. The moving bulge coming over my shoulder, going to my chest where my heart beats like mad. I scream louder, faintly hear big brother mutter something calming as he takes out his knife and comes at me. And then…I wake up.
Yeah. What did you think? That we have skin crawlers a-la “The Mummy” around here? Jeez. Of course it was a dream!
One that made me uncomfortable as heck, considering today was gardening day, and we did plan on taking out the beans while going through their last harvest. Got a nice full basket too, and even though there were unreasonable moments when I feared that it would, no flying bugs trying to attack me, or crawl under my skin. Hah.

Added to the beans, we also harvested four more pumpkins, bringing the total up to ‘round thirty, I’m guessing. Along with several zucchini, which are finally producing something again.
While I was working on the beans with big brother, grandpa got started on turning earth in preparation for the potatoes that we’re going to plant just as soon as we can.

That done, head on up to the outside kitchen where for the remainder of the afternoon tenant and I prepare supper and then wash pots for tomorrow’s canning session. Yay! Got 22 of them, so we should manage getting all those beans in just fine.

Which brings us to the blog, doesn’t it. I started on it while I’m sterilizing the bottles, and have been doing exactly that for the past two hours, or so. I for one, am more than looking forward to getting a big load of rocks later on, if for no other reason than being able to use some serious muscle power again. It’s just a pity that we’re getting small rocks, eh?
Hah.