A jog! Finally!

Song of the day: “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” Tight Fit. Incredibly retro the clip that goes with it…it’s been a while since I saw it, but it could have been college kids messing around. Hah.

So yesterday was bad. I had a wee bit of a nervous breakdown, for some peculiar reason. I’d gotten bad news about Knight (the other paw was swollen badly too) I had to do Spanish, which at the moment isn’t making any sense to me. I think my brain is a little overloaded with all the carp going on. There is the stuff I need to do to get the photography rolling, the new revisions of the book, the friggin’ market, and in-between there are all the little things that need to be taken care of…not least of that being Sally and tenant. Had to finish that dratted bathroom (which we did, thankfully) and then go to tenant at the hospital. Arrived there, finding her shouting because she was most dissatisfied. First thing she said when we got in was “Goddammit, guys, get me out of here. I can’t stand it anymore.” Took us about fifteen minutes to calm her down.
She was allowed to go home, so all was well in that department at least. It took a while to get her discharged. Dressing thankfully only took about fifteen minutes, but then we had to wait for a friggin’ chair so we were wiling away the time for more than an hour. Then, when it finally arrived, suddenly the nurses started to complain about hospital policy that wouldn’t allow for us to go down without a medical escort, to which I was like, “What? Since when?” In the end, when said escort didn’t turn up, we just left and headed for the parking area where big brother was waiting for us with the car.

But I get ahead of myself. I was still telling about my temporary mental disintegration. *sigh* I ended up exploding at big brother, and then retreated to my cabin until I was suitable for company again. The pouting took a while, but I did overcome in the end, end managed to get back to my Spanish lessons without losing it again. (Good Sammie)

Luckily I was myself again this morning after a solid six and a half hours during the night. Not enough yet, but better than the past week where I was lucky to hit six full hours. Went to work early this morning. Rushed through the morning chores and then settled at my computer to get to work on the book. Rearranged scenes like a fiend, sorted through the new ones that have to be inserted, and got about two thirds of the storyline set in place. It’ll take time and effort, but we’ll get there.

Couldn’t finish, considering today was Spanish lesson day, and added to that I had to drop Knight off at the vet, which made us late, again, darn it. Luckily Maria wasn’t at her best either, seeing as she’d had a party yesterday and I think she was a little hungover. Not a bad lesson, though. Got to work on subjuntivo, which is mighty complicated. I couldn’t do anything with it during last week’s homework so she reassured me that it was a common problem for foreigners. Learned some, got frustrated some, but we somehow muddled through. Hah.

Afterward there was a pick up in town. A waste of the ride, but you gotta check anyway, and then back home where I thought to lie down for just a minute and get my foot to stop pounding, only to wake up an hour later. That was an unexpected nap for sure. Hah.

Cut the dog food while Cousin Ed prepared stuff for our own supper, and then got changed in my jogging outfit. Yay. Finally. Since we had to go fetch Knight anyway, and had to go past the vegetable distribution center, we decided we might as well go for a jog. Did it, too, which was splendid after all this time. I soooooo needed that. I don’t even care that I was once again in poor shape. I ran, that’s what matters. Heck, I even lifted some weights, which was awesome. It’s been way too long.

Got home to quickly cook supper, which worked out well, despite the fact that we were out of cheese AND cream. Drat. Managed to salvage the food, however, so supper was edible at least. Gonna have to go past the supermarket tomorrow.

Also, Knight has to go back to the vet again tomorrow too, so it’s going to be busy once more, in particular since we also need to do a pickup in town later in the day. Luckily we can mix that with the groceries. *sigh*

With a little luck I’ll be able to get a new scene down, and, since big brother is now working on it, maybe get some of my photography business cards printed. Then, well, we’ll see how it goes. Now, I’m going to get ready for bed. It’s been a long day regardless of the nap. Hah.

Healthy as heck

Song of the day: “Perfect 10” by The Beautiful South. Such a funny song, inspired as well.

Yesterday first for a change. I know I’ve been slacking keeping the blog nicely organized, but things have been a little insane, as you undoubtedly noticed. Hah. But anyway, it was another busy day yesterday. First off it started with big brother and I getting up early to take Sally to the Centro Salud in the village. It turned out to be all for nothing. The hospital claimed that she had to go there a week prior to her test (next week) and have her blood checked, but when we got there it turned out to be impossible. So it was for nothing, and by the time we got back the lack of sleep was catching up on me, so rather than crash later in the day I went back to bed for an hour and a half and woke up feeling remotely human, at least. *sigh* Had the weirdest post apocalyptic dreams, sci-fi mixed with fantasy, with somewhat dangerous pursuits going on. I’m thinking of writing it all down for a book, otherwise I would elaborate. Hah.

Did feed the dogs before the nap, and did some laundry, so once I woke up and ate something, it was editing...if only a little because big brother is way behind on proof reading the printed manuscript. So instead grandpa and I worked on putting together mom’s side table. The dratted thing broke down during the course of the last two years, so the paws had to be fortified and even some supports replaced. Since I didn’t want grandpa doing that sort of thing on his own at the moment, I figured that fixing it myself would be the smart thing. That way, he only had to assist. Of course, it isn’t as if he can’t do it himself, but that is the way feelings work, right. We worry.

Had to do a rush pick-up, only to head on back straight away because grandpa had an appointment at the GP in the village. What with all the medical terms we figured that it was a good idea to have a chat with a doctor who spoke grandpa’s language. It was very enlightening, really. Basically the hospital report declared that grandpa is ridiculously healthy for his age, and that his only problem is a slightly faulty heart-valve. That a small blood clod caused all this hassle was something coincidental at most, and according to the GP the best thing grandpa can do is take his medication (to prevent it from happening again) and live on as if nothing ever happened, because he is doing so well. Gawd, I don’t want to know what would have happened if he hadn’t been in this good a condition. *sigh*

Went past the vegetable center to get some veggies for the dog food, which took some time. Arrived home near dusk, cooked supper and then got some serious editing done. Didn’t get to bed until after one, but since there were no pressing matters waiting in the morning I could sleep in ‘til NINE! Yay.

Of course today there was our Spanish lesson, and a pick up in town right after, but what the hey. Time aplenty to get the laundry done, feed the dogs and stuff some breakfast down our throats.
Luckily, what with the good night’s sleep, lessons went a lot better for me this time round. I actually managed some sentences without being corrected all the time, so, phew.

Didn’t get home ‘till after five and by then it was time to start cooking. Since we were early, we decided to get in a nice jog. Seriously, I needed that, even though I didn’t manage all that well after all this time. Ran about half the distance with me falling back to a sturdy pace, but I don’t care, that’ll come again. New sneakers worked well during the run. It didn’t hurt, despite the fact that I’m sore as heck now.

A bit of disconcerting news is that at the moment we are facing a somewhat unusual problem with one of our dogs. Bambi. It would seem that something went wrong in his head, because from being just a bit frightful he shot straight into being aggressive. Today he actually almost attacked big brother when he tried to put an anti-tick collar on him. He’s been getting worse lately, but he’s never done this. We have come to the point that we’re not even allowed to touch him or else he’ll bite. It’s a grave problem for sure. We’ll have to figure something out because at the moment ticks are literally eating him alive. *sigh*

But anyway, after the jog I finished cooking supper (I don’t like eating before running, so I put it all to simmer) and then settled in for the night’s edit. Did a solid batch of pages at least, getting close to the end of the paper edit, meaning that soon we’ll be starting on the last edit. Yay.

In between we’re going to give ourselves a break of a couple of days to start sending out query letters for Saving Nina again. It’ll be a nice breather for sure, in particular since we need a fresh eye to look through the story to make sure that we didn’t make any glaring errors.

Spent some time with tenant to help her practice walking, but she got frightened after the first few steps and wanted to lie down again. Then, later, when we tried again by doing some exercises while she sat in her chair, I noticed a distinct disinterest in her, so then it really didn’t have any use. We’ll try again, see if it works better.

Well, I’m starting to draw blanks, so I’m going to leave it at this and see if I can get to bed before two in the morning…unlikely, but what the hey.

One more edit over and done with

Song of the day: “Walk on by” by Bryan Adams, of course. Don’t have him in my head all that much, but his music goes down well.

So what did we do yesterday?
Weeeeell. It was my B-Day, and I celebrated by making three cheesecakes, one lemon and two forest fruits that worked out extremely well. I am totally writing those down for my cook book. Hah. As to the activities of the day. We did a good edit, almost finishing, with just a few pages to spare. Were a little on the late side. And then the pie making cut into the day to, meaning that we didn’t leave for the village until about a quarter to four. Arrived at the job around four, giving us two hours to get this big closet apart and out. Didn’t go all that bad, either. Still had enough time to get out the scrapers and start on the wall. Most of it was easy enough, except that in places the mold was so bad that the plasterwork fell right off. Are going to have to do something about that before we can do any painting. By the time we finished with the wall for the day, and loaded up the debris of the closet (cleaned up a little) into the car, the across the street neighbor came over to ask if the place was going to be rented out. We talked for a bit, and I walked her through the house so she could see how many rooms were there. Turns out she has twins, with a new one in the oven. She and her husband are looking for a bigger place, so I told her to give me her number so I could send it to the home owner. She was a nice enough woman.

Afterward we had a quick run to the vegetable distribution center, before we headed back home to lemon pie for a snack and unloading, right before we had to head into town for another donation. Once home again, rather late, we had pasta and sauce for supper and tried a few more pages on the edit. One more to go at the end of the evening when I just couldn’t keep my eyes open a moment longer.

Was a restful night, with me waking up a little on the late side.
There was the usual…oh my Gawd, I need to write this down before I forget again. Remember the Wednesday market? Well, I was headed to a small restaurant there to make use of the facilities, (it is at quite some distance) when I walked past a young dude going the other way. I kid you not, he looked me over from my toes to my head and then did a “Joey” (from Friends) by practically winking and nodding his head in approval. Seriously, I almost laughed right then and there, but managed to hold it back until I went around the corner. Gawd, I thought stuff like that only happened in movies, but there you have. It was hysterical.

Okay, back to the original course of the blog. Where was I. Late side, right.
There were the usual morning chores, of course, along with feeding the dogs. Finished the edit. Yay. There’s still some checking to do of the changes we made on the story, but the main edit is DONE. Double yay. Worked a bit on the pitch, checked out what would be the excerpt, and went over the rules of the contest once more. We should have it all done, but what the hey. We’ve got two more days to go, and then we have to get up at four, or five in the morning, so we can send it out before six AM…jeeeeeeez. The things you do for a possibility, right?

After today’s edit, we got to work on the kitchen, adding more bricks, the tubing and a good row of natural rocks that bring the total up to most of half of what’s left of the project. That is not counting all that will need to be done on the inside, of course. Hah.

That done, we headed out for a jog (didn’t go splendid, but did it regardless) and to pick up a load of cement bags. While I was there I also asked how much metal doors for an oven would be, and he would look into it.

Since we ate leftover spaghetti and sauce for lunch, we had supper on fried stuff with bread, with desert of forest fruit cheesecake topped with a massive amount of whipped cream. Hah. In one word wonderful.

Mom and the sibs their van isn’t here yet, something with a meter for the cooling liquid that still had to be installed. If all goes well, they’re picking it up tomorrow. I’ll make a pic for ya. Hah.

So, the end of the week is there again, isn’t it? Gawd, that goes fast. So much to do, so little time to do it in. Ah well, wouldn’t want to be bored anyway.

Floor's in

Song of the day: “Give me love” by Ed Sheeran. Gorgeous song. Heavy, intense, but absolutely beautiful.

First off. It was big brother’s birthday today. Hah. Gawd, we’re getting old. Just yesterday we were teenagers and now he’s galloping towards forty…me too, for that matter, but I’ll always be three years behind big brother in that regard, hah.

But anyway, we didn’t do anything for the occasion, not even pie, or cake, because, let’s face it, big brother hates both. I’ll be making one for my own, of course. I’m thinking a lemon cheese cake, with lemons from our own little tree down in the yard. That sure would be splendid, but we’ll see.

A few of the dogs are not feeling all that well since yesterday. There was some vomiting, shivers and listlessness, and some overall miserable-ness, but they seem to be improving some. Most of them ate again this morning, so they should be fine by tomorrow.

There was the usual stuff, of course. Laundry, feeding the dogs, chores, and me actually managing to squeeze in sweeping the floor of my cabin, which was a friggin’ mess. It didn’t help either that what with the dogs feeling bad there were all sort of unmentionables happening on my bed, which forced me to changed the sheets and blankets twice within six hours, darn it.
Added to that, Knight II was one of the dogs with the shivers, meaning that he had to, come hell or high water, lie against me during the night, making me feel like I’d spend the night on the rack, or something. *sigh*

Headed into the yard for a bit, which was wonderfully warm, since it is out of the wind down there. I found a pumpkin hiding in the bushes, and we watered the young seedlings and plnts. Such a pity that there is relatively little to do in the yard a the moment, because the sunshine really is best down there.

The kitchen. It’s going slow, but it’s getting there. We’ve poured most of the floor now, along with two steps. Only one more level to pour, which is where the fridge and closet will be once we’re done. It’s looking good, nice and smooth, and parts of the wall are up already too. Lots to do still, but we’re getting there.

Got to haul stuff for it, which made for excellent exercise. Big 20 pound blocks of concrete, wheelbarrows of cement, rocks and shovels full to take from one spot to the next, balancing rather precariously at times. Hah.

Went for a jog today, which was going really well, right up until I put my foot down wrong, which made it nothing, if not excruciating to get all the way back to the car. *sigh* Definitely taking an Ibuprofen tonight before I go to bed, jeez.
At least I did some jogging. The rest is really not important for as far as I’m concerned.

There were logs to split, which made for good exercise as well. Still have plenty of that to do, so we’ll get around to it one of these days, I’m sure.

Editing is going slow at the moment, but steady still. Not a day goes by when nothing gets done on the book, but at the moment we're not managing our usual ten pages a day. Way too many distractions.

Big brother cooked supper yesterday, spinach with cheese, of course, while today we decided to fry cauliflower and French fries. Yummy. Did manage to get another piece of meat down my throat this afternoon, which was highly necessary. A little bigger than the last time, but still not a whole piece, darn it. It’s just too hard. The satay sauce helped, though.

Well, as for the rest, I can’t remember anything else. Dratted memory. Doesn’t work all that well most of the time, now does it.
Do know that the weekend is there again, so that means we’re going to have to prepare for market tomorrow, and then spent Sunday in Marbella again…weather permitting.

Ah. No matter. Time to get to bed. The day was a long one.

Weekend market

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Saturday



This one too. We had a crooked Z.


Sunday


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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

Sweltering a little

Song of the day: “We are young” by Fun. Not as cool as the other song, but doable for as far as earworms go.

Bit of a wow experience. Hit 7000 viewers for the blog today, and shot right over it, yay! Isn’t that awesome? You’re part of the 7000 clicks of folks that came by here, and that got me excited every time I was up another fifty hits. Yay. I wonder if I’ll ever make it to 100K. Ah well, I am going to be pleased with this number, thank you very much (I mean that literally, by the way, thanks for dropping by occasionally). I should do something special for the occasion, but let’s just keep it to a private little happy dance, and move right along.

Just got home from a much needed jog, so I’m running late once more (pardon the pun) and better get this thing done. Went well, by the way. Did most of the distance at a steady jog, and where the mountains were just too steep, I managed to keep up a nice marching clip. Yay. Not bad for a girl who didn’t run since she was seven, or so.

Okay, writing-wise I did well enough the past couple of days. Though yesterday started out crappy with only three pages during the afternoon hours, I did manage to make up for it in the evening by adding another page, bringing me up for my daily quota. Today, on the other hand, I managed a solid six pages, despite needing to dig into the internet in search of some facts, which always takes way too much time. Was really digging into the Greek mythology today, which was a first. Earlier in the book I did some mentions on the flyby, but now we’re getting to the gritty parts. Gotta love research. Hah.

There were the normal chores of course, along with a quick trip to town to get some cheese and other groceries. Had some serious temps while we were at it. 100 up here at home, then down there mid-nineties and near the beach low nineties, which was a welcome change. Good thing too, considering that every time we exited a supermarket you got a hit in the face from the heat. That’s why I hate the ACs you know. They make life a lot less pleasant, seeing as you constantly have to readjust to the changes. I much rather be used to the heat and just enjoy the summer, thank ya very much.

Had a couple of gardening sprees. Yanked weeds, watered some plants, and harvested a few veggies. Life as usual, only a little warmer. Hah. Had to take Chaos, Labhana and Gada in the pool, because the poor darlings were just breathing to heavily. While the labs were good girls and went in and out, both times The Chaos, decided he hadn’t cooled enough and stayed on the second to the top step of the stairs, leaving his lower body submerged for more than ten minutes. Smart Basset. Afterward he was all energetic.

Despite opting to stay upstairs yesterday, tenant did decide to come down to the basin terrace, after an early morning dip in the pool. Later in the day she doesn’t feel like it, because the path down is so very hot. Understandable, of course, but she does miss out on a lot of pool dipping that way.

Cooking was a hasty affair these past couple of days. Yesterday I made chickpea dough for patties, which I had for a meal with the previous day’s leftover chili. Ended the day with some French fries, because, let’s face it, there wasn’t time for much else (stupid, I know). Today there were pancakes for breakfast, partly because tenant joined us and because big brother had to go into the yard to water what we didn’t have time for yesterday, and because on Sunday we never have fresh bread. Supper consisted of red beets with rice, and tonight, after the jog, again chickpea patties with mustard, Maggi, sweet chilli sauce and cheese. Gawd, that was good. I ate too much. Hah.

Other than that…well, not much more going on. It is still warm, though the temperature is lower than yesterday, I think. I might actually sleep without feeling like there’s a hairblower on my face. Hah.
Okay, heading out. Got a new day coming fast.

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.

R.I.P. Akata

Song of the day: “New York” by Alicia Keys again. I blame it on the latest book project, truly I do. I’m constantly searching through Google earth and maps, going through 5th avenue and Central Park west road, getting a feel of the city and finding out where my characters are going, and what they’re seeing. Fascinating!

It’s been a busy couple of days, for me it seems as if it has been a constant run for me to keep up, and not all of it was fun.

First off, we lost another of the pack. Akata. Our gray and white husky who we got as a wonderfully tiny puppy in 1997/98 I believe. He was so gorgeous. Six weeks old, bright blue eyes and back then, sort of like a dirty snowball in color. A cuddly little thing, and quiet. He was big brother’s and for the past fourteen years or so he has been a steady member of the pack. Sure, the last year or so age had been catching up with him, but we couldn’t watch him get worse. He was moaning whenever he went up the stairs…if he managed at all, and eating was a chore he didn’t look forward to anymore. It was just sad. So the dreaded decision had to be made, and big brother and I went to the vet to get it done. He went fast, big brother and me standing beside him, petting him through this final moment and then it was over. Two minutes tops, but it keeps being somewhat horrid. It’s so irrevocable, if you know what I mean. You make a choice and suddenly something you care about, something living is no longer there. I think this is the saddest moment in life, and no matter how often it happens, it stays that way. *sigh*
Perhaps now you understand why I called my first blog (way back when on myspace) Surviving the Pack. It's not as easy as it sounds.

Here’s a picture.




Wasn’t he gorgeous?

But enough of sad stuff. It is past and cannot be changed. It never can.

Let’s do yesterday and get this blog over with.

Yesterday involved the morning chores, of course. Then heading down to the basin terrace like we now do most days for breakfast and then doing some Spanish. Focus was shot, but what the heck, managed forty five minutes before my brain got to be too insistent and wanted to continue with the scene I started the day before. Managed a solid two pages before I got distracted by a personal email that kept me friggin’ occupied for the remainder of the afternoon. Aaargh. In fact, it kept me busy most of today too, and regretfully I can’t share its contents with you yet. I would if I could, I swear, but right now it is not discussable. Maybe soon, maybe never. We’ll have to wait and see. Could be good news, could be nothing. Whatever it is…well, again, we’ll just have to see.

So anyway, only managed a couple of pages since yesterday, partly because after watering the plants we had to take Akata to the vet. That done, we drove around for a bit, mostly to get our heads on straight and then needed to go to town to return a sewing machine part for mom and to pick up a couple of blocks of cheese.

Had cheese and onions (grilled) for breakfast too, and ate some soup at the end of the day so we’d get some veggies in after all. I am starting to notice a certain pattern in my eating habits. If I’m upset I get trouble eating, which is not a good thing what with my body’s inclination for deficiencies, darn it. Seriously, just eating stuff that needs to keep those levels up is a day job. Grrr.

Gawd, I just remembered, I’ve gotta can tomorrow. The amount of zucchinis are back up to the dozens, so rather than waste them, I wanna cook them into a soup and can them for winter again. Also, I have to cook a decent meal tomorrow. I’m thinking ratatouille with spaghetti, that oughta do the trick.

Got a message from a publisher announcing that my manuscript arrived, so keep your fingers crossed on that one. Seriously, all this waiting could wreck a person. Hah. But okay, this is my chosen career, and the waiting game is regretfully a big part of it. You get used to it, and I’ve got to admit that now, after going through that particular torture for the past fifteen years or so, I’m getting better at the “better next time” attitude.

Little brother had his first driving lesson yesterday too, and he absolutely hated it. He had the same teacher we did, and felt afterward like giving up on the entire thing. I remember the teacher well, he’s horrid the first time ‘round, but once he gets to know you, he relaxes enough for you to not want to run off screaming. I wish little brother the best of luck for sure. It’s a challenge.

And then today, well, since I was late getting to bed again last night, so I wasn’t at all pleased at waking at eight and staring up at the ceiling, wondering why the heck I woke so long before the alarm. Luckily I did drift off again, but much to my regret woke up with the third headache in a row. Gawd, I sure hope I don’t get the two year headache (chronic thingy) again. I absolutely hated that time. The pounding was off and on most of the day today.

There were the morning chores, after I soaked in the pool for a few minutes, treating my throbbing head to some cooling at least. It helped enough to bring it down to a bearable level. Yay.

That done it was down to the terrace where I worked on that letter I mentioned earlier. The hours crawled past, partly due to the humid heat which didn’t make the weather pleasant, despite the occasional breeze from the sea. But anyway, got through the ordeal and then headed down into the yard for much needed relaxation watering the plants and harvesting the day’s veggies. Added to the zucchini pile (ergo the canning plans tomorrow) and got some stuff for the dogs, and then headed up after eating bread with grilled onions and cheese.

Big brother and I cut the veggies today, put it on the fire to cook before we went up to check on the wagon for Cousin Ed. Still have to put up that last section on it, and we did most of the preparation before taking Knight II to the car and heading out for a much needed jog.
Seriously, all this sitting (or in my case standing) is a pain in the behind, literally. Luckily the jog really helped to clear my head, and once we got back, I even didn’t really care that I had to do the blog, rather than write on the new book…well, that’s a lie. *sigh* Seriously, writing about the day’s events totally doesn’t compare to writing about the two leads that are constantly battling for attention in my head. *double sigh*

Now it’s too late, of course. Bed time is nigh, and at this point I don’t mind. I’m beat. Hah.

Writing, writing and some other stuff

Song of the day: “If I die young” by the Band Perry. It was about time that this one returned. I do enjoy it much. Hah.

I’m running way behind again, darn it, partly because most of my afternoons are now filled with writing, and, well, there’s other stuff that needs to be done as well, making me late for little things like writing the blog. So sorry. Let’s see if I can write this fast without skimming the details and still giving you a taste of my tiny little world.

Yesterday…well, it started just as usual, with me running late and going through the laundry and heading on up to start on feeding the dogs. Then, due to a rather heated discussion about politics (I know, I should just talk about what we talked about, but I have found that readers and politics don’t go together all that well. Maybe politics is just something too private. Could that be it, I wonder? I mean seriously, good friendships get wrecked over different view points on politics for crying out loud.) *sigh* So no, I’m not going blab about my views…at least not too much. I do have to say that I don’t get the whole Greece problem. Folks are complaining over there while they’ve been bailed out several times already, and are saying that they refuse to bow to austerity. It makes me wonder about where they think money comes from. I am a firm believer in the concept that one cannot spend what is not there, and though it would be nice if someone can wave a magic little wand and solve it all, the only way things will turn around if folks start thinking logically. Something has got to go. If the spending is higher than the income something is seriously wrong and yer doin’ somethin’ wrong. If ya get my meaning. Personally I would do something incredibly drastic if “my country” was in such debt. I’d probably do a press conference, show the proverbial empty coffer and say: “Folks, we’re broke. Either we continue borrowing until no one will borrow us anything anymore and we’ll leave our offspring as proverbial slaves to our debtors, or we stop all government expenditures for a solid six months. That means, no streetlights at night, no more road repairs unless people start falling into bottomless pits, no more new parks, no social security unless you’re dropping dead, and no more aid than a soup kitchen in the poor areas. No new art supplies, fancy government buildings, uniforms and gawd knows what else. Except for the bare essentials, from six months up to a year, nothing, nada, zilch.”
I know, very unrealistic, but seriously, what are the other options. I know that if my funds were in such a bad way (and believe me they were some odd five years ago) I would start some drastic cutbacks. I don’t think folks realize how little you really need to be happy anyway if stuff gets bad. I think that some of ‘m would even be pleasantly surprised about themselves afterward. I know I was.

But anyway, enough about that sort of thing. I guess it all started playing in my head while I was doing research about riots in the eighties (for my book) and read about the big riots in Argentina. It was basically the same and things got really ugly before it got better. I do know, if Spain is going in that direction, I won’t be leaving the property for a solid month as I wait the mess out. Jeez. Nothing is quite as dangerous as an angry mob. Makes ya remember that we’re not that evolved after all.

Right. There I go again. Most of yesterday afternoon (and today for that matter) was spent sitting comfortably in the shade as I wrote, wrote, and wrote some more on the new book. Got the thing up to 14 pages now and I gotta admit that I’m starting to get “into” it, if you get my meaning. Hah. Seriously, I’m smiling again during the day, and that wasn’t the case while we were hacking our way through the details of the thriller. Guess I really am too much of a romance girl to invest myself into something that would be little more than a challenge in regards to writing it. This (paranormal romance) I can get excited about. I can reach down into the bottom of my soul and do horrible things to my character that will make a reader want to weep with sorrow and wonder, “Oh. My. Gawd. How will this ever be okay again?” (I’m totally going for tear jerker this time. Hah) Don’t worry. It will be. It is romance after all. Yay!

So what else beside writing and doing Spanish. Well, there was the yard, of course. Harvesting, watering, weeding. Doing that late in the afternoons now, by the way. What with four to five hours of writing during the day, those few precious hours in the yard are during the most pleasant moments of the day, when the sun is low, the light golden and the temperatures going down. I love it.

That done, there was of course dog food to cut, and cook (today cousin Ed did the honors because big brother and I had to go out for a small donation of market items) and basically doing all those little things that we’re not getting done in time due to the writing. *sigh* Always sacrifices to be made, right?

There was cooking to be done, naturally. Yesterday part leftovers with fresh white cabbage, baked on the side, and today zucchini veggie mix on the side of baked potatoes. It was wonderful, I assure you.

I am not happy with Labhana at the moment, by the way. She is losing her hair, and her melancholy appears to be worse than usual. If she doesn’t do a turnabout, I’m going to have to take her to the vet. I am starting to recognize the symptoms of the Sandfly, and that would be a genuine biatch. Gawd, I hope that she will somehow figure out to not let her immune system try to handle it. Ah well, we’ll have to wait and see, if it gets worse, I’ll got to the vet for the test, but in the mean time I think I’m going to try the same potion as I used for Gada.

Yesterday evening we did manage a nice jog, Yay! Went a lot better than the last time. Seriously, at a certain point I was jogging, and decided, hey, I’ve got enough breath, I’m going to go a bit faster, and then again, a bit faster, and then I was running flat out feeling for just a moment as if I was actually athletic. Hah. But anyway, the jog went well, and I was pleasantly bushed by the time we got home and settled behind the computers for another short session.

And, well, that winds up the day for me, I am going to try to go to bed in time today, because, seriously, I am definitely not getting enough sleep of late. *sigh*
I’m outta here.

Change in plans...yay!

Song of the day: “This woman’s work” by Kate Bush. Had it before, will have it again, I’m sure. Good song, though, so no matter.

I’m running way behind. The days just seem to be too short, and I find I’m incapable of getting everything I want to do done, darn it.

But anyway, good news first (for me good news anyway). There has been a change in plans on the writing front. Yes, yes, yes! After long deliberation and a shared dislike for the plot based story, big brother and I came to the agreement to start on a different story, rather than the one we’ve been struggling with for the past four or five days. Seriously, that many days, ten pages of data, and nothing to show for it with any actual writing. I was getting downright depressed, and while we were watering the plants last night, we decided to just ditch the primary plan and go with something a little more stimulating. Gawd, I’m so happy. I wrote three pages this very afternoon, and already inspiration is bubbling up in my head demanded to be unleashed. I started with a dream scene, and it plays in the late 1800s, so there’s plenty of atmosphere to work with. I love it. Just writing those few pages, had me go through five “Oh, I had no idea that was going to happen” moments. LOVE IT. Hah. Even now I’m regretting the fact that I have to write this blog, otherwise I could have done another piece right now. But okay, there’s fun and there’s a promise I made to myself some odd four years ago about doing this blog thing. Hah. There will be more writing days, I assure you. We’re going for a 100.000 word book, so I’ll have plenty of space to let my imagination go bonkers.

Okay, let’s get down to business. Yesterday, after the usual chores in the morning, including feeding the dogs, it was out to town to pay for the Opel’s insurance. Gawd, that made a fine dent in our savings…and then we’re not even talking about the electrical bill we will be getting some day soon. Yep, after four years of estimates that were about half the real price, we’ll be getting a real one because the meter guy arrived. *sigh* The power company here in Spain is really bonkers, in case you’re wondering. They just send you too low bills (probably to save on having to pay the meter guy, or something) and then suddenly slam you with a bill a mile higher.

There were a handful of groceries to get, but then we were rushing back home to get started on the day. Around one in the afternoon I got down to the basin terrace where I first spent about half an hour cleaning up the field kitchen. It was a bloody mess, and the dishes were a mile high, so it was really necessary.
That done, we did some Spanish, which, for some inexplicable reason didn’t go at all well yesterday. *sigh*

No matter though, right after we got to work on the thriller, but ended up displeased with all the data cluttering up the getting to know our characters. So, while watering, we had the big discussion and ended up deciding that enjoying what we’re writing is just as…if not more important than anything.

Was a little late getting to bed again, which meant I wasn’t my best this morning while going through the morning chores. Next it was time to go down for Spanish, and getting a simple plot written down. Did just that, and started writing. By the time I had to stop (an hour and a half, at most) to make supper, (cauliflower, broccoli and pasta with a cheese sauce) I was psyched about the progress made. This is the part about writing that I absolutely love. Creation. I tend to forget that part after editing for a solid five months or so. *sigh*

Little brother is going to go out for his exams on Monday, the day before his b-day, and he is mighty nervous. So afraid of not passing that he’s making it harder on himself than he has to. Ah well, nothing to change about that. He’s working hard enough to make it, so it should be fine.

The dogs are loving the change of the new fences that allow them to join us on the terrace. All afternoon they’ll be at our feet, snoring on occasion and basically just making a nuisance of themselves. In particular when I start cooking, I’ll have about ten of them getting in my way. Hah.

Tenant joined us again today, and she seemed happy sharing the cool spot. In fact, it was so cool that she asked for a more sunnier spot where she thoroughly enjoyed the heat for a good hour before she settled at the table to help by cutting veggies.

There was watering, and harvesting, and then we hung a cupboard in the field kitchen that grandpa made so we can store food away from the dogs and rodents. It took a moment, but by the time we were done there still was the dog food to cut and then heading out for a jog with Knight joining in (by jogging. Silly dog is just too big. I’m running flat out and he’ll be trotting along calm as you please. Sooooo mean!) and seemingly enjoying the exercise. I did better than the last time. Managed some full out running, a steady jog, and a fast clip walk up the steep incline. Not bad.

The rest of the dogs were mightily upset when we got home, but settled down fast enough, once we got the computers on and got to work on the last stretch of the day.

Okay, that’s it. Gotta go. I’m starving!

Demolition

Song of the day: “Come on” by Will Young. Still a gorgeous song and I don’t mind at all to have it tumbling around in my head.

Not a lot of stuff happening these past couple of days, seeing as we continued on the same project, in this case the demolition of the wreck on the property. We have sawed, we have cut, drilled, turned, bent, hammered and all in all had a very, very good time at diminishing the blasted thing to manageable parts. Yay. Who cares that my hands are in tatters, and that big brother ripped one of his favorite pants to pieces. The eyesore is gone for once and for all…well, it will be as soon as we get rid of the old metal pieces. Hah.

I wasn’t in the best of moods yesterday. Not so much grumpy as I was a bit listless. My night had been way too short (less than six hours of sleep) and for most of the day I had trouble focusing.
Did walk the boarding dogs twice, which they appear to enjoy a lot. Did need to make some shortcuts since the other dogs were out and about, but the boarders like the challenge of having to climb the side of the wall to get back to the house.

For some reason, I don’t know when, I busted my knee, meaning it is swollen somewhat fierce. In particular in the evenings. *sigh* Most unpleasant. It made going down into the yard very uncomfortable in the morning. Later, when my muscles woke up it became less bad, thankfully. Checked the greenhouse, both yesterday and today…and even went as far as transplanting some lettuce plants from the seedbed into pots. They’re looking rather good, so I was actually not at all eager to dig ‘m out. No helping it, though; the ones already in pots took a big hit during the hail storm.
We re-sowed beets (the experiment of sowing early failed), and some rows of carrots. And also, big brother had to take out the young onions which we’ll have to replant up in grandpa’s little yard.

Though yesterday the weather was absolutely splendid, today things have been changing for the worse. From the north west clouds have gradually been sliding in, filling the air with moisture and covering the sky…pity. I would have liked a few more days of good weather. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that tomorrow the sun will be back.

We parked the car, belonging to the owner of our boarding dogs within the fence. There’s a lot of traffic going on at night, and since our neighbor once had his radio stolen, we don’t want to risk finding something gone, or wrecked for that matter.

I finished the Jack Vance trilogy of Lyonesse. I gotta admit that I had a load fun reading them. Only one more of Vance’s books to go, though. Last one of big brother’s beloved collection, and I should probably cherish it, since stuff like that doesn’t get written anymore. Not much character based, nor even plot, just undiluted adventure, which makes it special in a very different way.

Doggie news: we have a sick dog. Purna (black cocker spaniel) has liver problem, so mom and little sister are scrambling to take care of the little darling. Liver problems, kidney problems; they’re the worst kind. It is so strange he’s ill, in particular since his mood is so cheery still.

Chaos has fully recovered from his visit to the vet. If I didn’t know better I’d think it never happened. He’s barking again, sniffing around the yard, trying to make Knight II behave by going all Alpha on him, and snoozing on the bed several hours a day. I swear, sometimes he’ll be standing in the doorway of my cabin, barking his head off. Then, I will go inside and say, “Okay, go to bed than” and he will dart into the bedroom and jump up against the bed, looking up at me reproachfully. Tail high, he lets me lift him up on the bed, where he will trot to the pillows and flop down on his side. After two or three rubs of his cheek into the pillow he will promptly drop off to sleep. Such a peculiar dog, a Basset Hound.
Grandpa is upset at the moment. He lost the pocket watch I made for him, and no matter where he looks, he can’t find it. *sigh* I’m afraid I’m going to have to help search for it, otherwise he’ll feel really bad. Hah.

There was cooking, of course, but yesterday involved leftovers from the day before, and today I baked potatoes with a veggie mix on the side. I like baked potatoes, thank you very much. Big brother and I really are potato people.

Big brother has been distracted and absent a lot the past few days again. He’s working on the computers, installing new programs, fixing old problems, and regretfully that sort of thing really takes a lot of time. He’s learning a lot, though, which is a good thing. Would be weird if he didn’t learn after reinstalling that darn OS a gazillion times.

We went for a jog. A new path this time. I didn’t do all that well (not surprisingly after that short night, but what the heck) in particular not since half was uphill. Hah. It was good for Knight II, though. He got to run proper for a bit.

Got another big batch of sand, which we will have to unload tomorrow morning because we have to go to town before midday. Grandpa has already offered to do the honors, so, yay.

Had a good edit last night, despite me running on fumes again. Managed several pages, at which time I ended up in bed on time for a change. Double yay. Hopefully the same will happen tonight…referring to turning in, of course. Hah.

And by now I am drawing blanks as to what else to write about, so I’ll stop right here…

Winds of epic proportions

Song of the day: “Numb” by Linkin Park and “I would stay” by Krezip. It’s been going back and forth all day, which is not unusual yet extremely annoying. Hah.

I’m going to try to keep this short because…well the usual reason, of course, I am running way behind and I still have to edit, and go out later. *sigh* Oh crap, I also have to head back in the yard again before going out, to cover the spinach and beets with plastic so they won’t get too cold tonight. Darn it! I hate forgetting stuff like that. I’ve made a note on my hand, so let’s hope that I don’t forget again. Grrr.

So what’s been going on? Hmmm. Tenant joined us down by the greenhouse today. Yesterday she didn’t feel like it and preferred to stay on my terrace…even though yesterday there were winds of epic proportions (freaked the pack out, believe me)tearing around us. Seriously, I don’t know how many knots it was going, but it was bad. While I stood looking it ripped apart one of the tops of our eucalypti trees. Poor thing lost another tip just a few weeks ago, so now it looks positively horrid.
Darn it. We forgot to do that today as well.

That’s our punishment for enjoying the day…in particular after all that wind. Seriously, I was afraid to walk under the trees after seeing what it did to that eucalypti. In the end we spent the majority of the day in the lower garden trimming the…oh wait, I’m telling this all wrong again. Yesterday was actually quite eventful and I should tell it in the right sequence, damn it.

Okay, I got up at seven in the morning because tenant had to go to the police station to get her resident card. It was a hassle thing, really, since there is never any parking available. I had to stop in front of the police station, which is something I like to avoid at all costs.
But anyway, she and her caregiver got out at the curb, and I headed on ASAP, due to the car that was impatiently waiting behind me.
Strangely enough there was a parking place right ahead, allowing me to catch up with tenant even before she reached the stairs that led up to the entrance. We walked up together while her caregiver went up ahead to check with the bureaucrats inside.
The English guy, there only to help foreigners was a nervous wreck but at least he did his best to help out. Turns out there were papers and forms to see to prior to getting a resident card, and yet the guy at the town hall had failed to inform caregiver of that.
Ah well, it all worked out in the end, and tenant and I just sat there at the police station watching other people while chatting noisily of course. Two hours later we were on our way back home with the new card in the bag and tenant properly tired.

At home, big brother was already halfway into making pumpkin soup, and since he had hung laundry as well, for a moment I considered calling the newspaper because, well, just because. Hah.

We headed down into the yard later on, and while grandpa and big brother climbed onto the roof to start putting down the tubing we’re putting there for a free hot water supply, I started trimming reed and the fig tree under the house.
It took some hacking, sawing and cutting, but in the end there was enough room, giving a slight inkling of what needs to be dug once we start on the foundation for the veranda wall. Oh boy that’s going to be a lot of work. Hah.

But it was awesome working down there. Seriously, it was the only spot in the yard where the wind didn’t mess with my balance. Added to that, what with all the work going on there, we’ve discovered that it is really a wonderful spot for tenant once we start spending a lot of time down there.

We went for a jog last night, and since he really needs the exercise, I took Knight II along. He’s starting to like it, I think. Heck, he now even dares to wander off ten times his body length before he comes racing back to my side. And then, when other folks walking there dogs there came ‘round, he was calm as you please, standing at my side while a small pack of maybe six dogs stood around us, barking their heads off.

Editing went rather bad last night, considering I could hardly keep my eyes open. I’ve definitely not been getting enough sleep these days, and I was feeling it by the time I finally fell in bed and past out ‘till eight thirty this morning. My foot does not agree with the exercise, by the way. It hurt like heck…but it’s worth the discomfort, if you ask me. It’ll just have to cowboy up.

This morning was rather busy, what with grandpa and big brother having to go out. After we had unloaded yesterday’s rocks, they went out to get cement and gas for this month. Along with our order of dog food. Which meant I had to scramble a little, of course. While tenant and her caregiver headed down, I took the pots off the new cauliflowers, took the plastic covers off the potatoes, beets and Spinach and watered the upper yard berries. Caregiver had offered to do those in the lower garden, and since Dani wouldn’t be by until later, that was rather nice.

Next, I tackled the remaining four bags of cement that had to be turned and checked. Two got wet after the last rain, so I put them on a slight elevation and tucked the damaged ones in plastic for the foundation concrete rather than the actual masonry that’s to come.

I’d just about finished that when big brother and grandpa returned. At the same time the delivery guy arrived with the dog food and so did Dani, who helped out hauling the twenty bags of dog food, cement and gaskets before we headed down to the garden pit to start on the day.

Plants had to be watered, put outside and transplanted, fencing finished up and painted, and the big oleander by the side of the greenhouse had to be rigorously trimmed. Poor bush worked so hard, but it is simply taking too much light from the greenhouse.

Tenant sat on the terrace, happy as you please when mom came down for a bit and chatted with her for a bit. There was more soup, some reading for the book (before I nodded off for a five-minute catnap) and then heading back into the yard. So far, I’ve got all the new patches of veggies surrounded by fences of reed. At least it keeps Knight II out, who actually notices them whenever he comes storming after me.

We planted the white endive roots, made a dark niche for them under one of the tables in the greenhouse and then headed up to grandpa’s place because he’d made us mashed potatoes with carrots. That was awesome.

More rocks to get, and…well, that should be enough for today. I hope that made some sense at least, because I am not going to bother reading this all back. Hah.

Bureaucracy...aaargh.

Song of the day: “This is the life” by Amy MacDonald. I like! Hah.

Had a rather splendid dream during the few hours of sleep that I managed to catch prior to today’s rather early start, but it was private in all the ways that matter, so I’m not going to share.

Let’s see, where did we leave off…I don’t have a clue. Well, there were two runs/jogs for the past couple of days. Both of them rather late, on the outskirts of dusk, which made for interesting challenging while mounting the pitted hill that I so much enjoy. No accidents, however, so it is still my favorite spot. Actually managed to take the hill, down and then a full mile. Yay.

But anyways, well, all things considered the last couple of days were quite uneventful. There were some minor chores such as working on the fences, hauling rocks down the mountain and on the overall just doing busywork on what were some splendidly sunny days.

Oh, we also did another outdoor cooking, which was great. Baked potatoes with onion and herbs in the cast iron wok and it was downright delicious.

Njanna’s stitches are doing well, and so are Shamira’s. All pluses too, aren’t they, and the manuscript is now up 70.000 words, which means I’ve been a positively good girl by working steadily still. Wrote a rather steamy love-scene yesterday; I could post it, of course, but I’ve decided not to since it still needs to be edited (thoroughly) and because…well, because I don’t want to. Not yet, anyway, it’s still too fresh I guess. Hah.

And then this morning, well that was just grand. We had to get up early to her for the power company, which is only open from 9 to (you’ll never guess) 12. Yep, imagine how that works, huh. We got a wonderful freshly printed ticket (apparently the roll out ones just won’t do, this day and age) from this wonderful modern gadget with a green button on it. Isn’t progress wonderful, rather than just getting a stub from a roll, it gets printed just for you. Hah.

So there we were, waiting a solid two hours (wasted hours, mind you, basically picking our noses) until finally our number was up. We informed the lady behind the desk of our problem…we’re getting estimates (rather than actual bills) of 14 bucks at most, and then every four or five months a massive bill, plus a fine for over use, or some such. Aaaargh. I don’t think that anyone could spent only 14 bucks in a month, not even if they were out and only standby machine buttons were on.

But anyways, we explained the problem; she nodded and, once again, filled in a silly form (like all the times before) that is going to send a meter man to our gate to bring us the exorbitant bill of this fall. Seriously, it was a wasted effort, and I really shouldn’t be happy that someone is going to come by to make up a bill for us, but I am, ‘cause for a while this little problem is dealt with.

Afterwards…we were sluiced out the back door since the front door had been locked at exactly twelve O’clock, and those, like us who were still inside could take the back way out. Strange service, really.

Once at home, we made a stop to get some extra groceries that should see us through another week at least, the temperatures were a lot lower than on the coast. It’s actually chilly and that makes me more than a little uncomfortable. My dogs were nutters, of course, but once they settled down, I could start on the blog and then on the day.

Let’s hope today is more fruitful than the start of it.

Breezing by.

Song of the day: “Walk on by” by Bryan Adams.

I am so not in the mood to do the blog today, for some reason I would much rather be outside doing stuff in glorious sunshine, or hit the sheets and snooze the day away. Since I won’t do the latter, I’m going to keep this short and head on back outside.

Seeing as yesterday was mostly spent cutting up a tree that had fallen down during the night, there’s only little to report anyways. Such a damn shame ‘bout the Mimosa tree, though. Poor thing, we’d spent a fortune on water for the past ten years or so, and then it goes down like a log. It looked like there was some sort of disease in the roots that caused it.








The dogs found the entire endeavor grand, of course. Fortuyn was constantly sniffing around the dead tree, and the labs wanted nothing more than to nest underneath the fallen crown. Hah.


On the overall, it took big brother, grandpa and me about two and a half hours to cut the massive tree in pieces and haul everything away, and ended up with a batch of about one square meter of wood.

Other than that, big brother, little sister and I went for a jog, since we had to get rocks (if we’re going to make that aqueduct I mentioned recently, we’re going to need to do a lot of trips for rocks again. Got a nice stash, and got some good, reasonably big Eucalypti tree seedlings too, of which 7 went into the ground immediately. It was friggin’ cold however; running was downright draining (little sister felt like she was going to drop dead afterwards, hah) what with the chilling wind from the north, and putting in the trees at home wasn’t at all pleasant either. I can honestly say that I can’t wait for summer to come back. Jeez, I’d rather roast than freeze, thank you very much.

Did some writing, of course; only two pages, though, seeing I was a tad tired and really just gave up for the day to watch a new episode of Dexter instead. It was fun.

The night was the coldest yet…view of the snow when I got outside this morning. Isn’t it gorgeous?



Something went wrong with the camera, cause I had to blow a thumbsized pic up, darn it. You get the general idea, I think.

It kept the day cold too, even though the sun shone brightly, but we got all the Eucalypti in the ground, finished up hauling wood and unloaded the rocks from the back of the car.
I also decided to make an apple pie for my birthday tomorrow, so later on I’m going to see how it worked out. It smells deliciously, so I see no reason why it wouldn’t have worked out. Hah.

Which is it for me, ‘cause I’m going outside right now. Yay.

Just this last one because Knight II is just too pretty for his own good. Hah.

Great edit, short projects.

Song of the day: “When you taught me how to dance” Katie Melua. Cute little song from the motion picture “Miss Potter”.

The morning starts off with a tiny little accident. The dogs rush out of the cabin, as is their habit, and somehow Amri lands wrong when they bounce off the porch. In all likelihood, Knight II bowled over him, or some such, whatever the cause, the poor old feller is limping considerably and slowly makes his way back into the cabin, rather than explore the yard.
A quick check shows no broken bones or such, so I think he just bruised it.

I head down to the house, quickly go through the chores and get down to the edit.
Excellent scene today: The heroine’s hurt, suffering from a terrible fever, when their cabin is attacked, so the hero is forced to deal with the intruders expeditiously. Okay, so I might have a gotten a little enthusiastic in the rewrite and…yeah, well those who are against violence might have to search elsewhere. Hah.

But anyway, I have to keep it short today, ‘cause I’m already running behind.
Let’s see, after the edit, we head up to the old horse stable in search for wood. Since the weather is rather pleasant to work outside, big brother and I decide to start making windows and frames. You see, the younger sibs have rooms at the back of the house, and for some reason these chambers retain all heat that drifts up. So, to deal with the problem, we are going to put windows in the back walls to solve this particular problem.

The old stable is pretty rundown these days, holding a supply of woof, old cabinets and closets and just about anything that we could need in the future. It takes a bit of searching (and a rather close encounter with a wasp hive, Yikes) but in the end we find what we need and head back down to the carport.

First, we have to deal with the reed we got yesterday, however. For about an hour we strip them of leaves, cut them to the right size, and then tie them up in neat bundles that soon join the ones that we’ve already stored on top of the carport roof. We’re starting to get somewhere with the supply at least

Next, we work on measuring, sawing, and fitting the pieces together until we have two windows and one frame assembled. While big brother and grandpa are still working on them, I head towards my porch to varnish the new table and its supports until they fit perfectly with the rest of the cabin.

Since the weather is so darn pleasant, around dusk we decide to head up the mountain in the car for a short jog. I really needed it, since my back has been killing me these past few days; it feels decidedly better afterwards, and with that in mind, we head over to a place where we saw a pile of wood that had been discarded.

With the wood piled high in the car, we head back home and arrive well after dark. A quick dip the pool, fifteen minutes quieting down my insane pack, and then I’m already running behind for the day’s blog - darn it.

But anyway, with the last batch of laundry hung, I’m don for the evening, and head up to my cabin to start on the second edit of the day.

Well, I sure am ready to call it a day. Phew.

Too many topics.

Song of the day: “Mr Rock & Roll” by Amy MacDonald. Good one to have in my head for most of the day. And while I was hanging laundry Paul Young featuring Clannad with “Both Sides Now”, which is a wonderful song that I first heard at the end of the motion picture “Switch”.

I am right on time this morning, as planned and head down to the house posthaste, so I have time for a quick dip in the pool, some breakfast and coffee, of course. Big brother and I need to head to the bank to arrange for the payment that needs to be cancelled before it is too late.

The village is busy as heck with tourists, milling about, so when we finally arrive at the bank, it is only 45 minutes ‘till closing time…a nasty side effect from living in Spain, in the villages, and even most towns, everything except the major supermarkets, is closed during the hottest hours of the day.

Luckily, the bank’s director is a nice guy, and he immediately helps us set the problem straight, and then assists big brother to set up an Internet profile so we can check his account on-line as well.

Less than an hour later, we’re back home. I take another dive, and hang laundry; head inside and start up the computer. Rather than begin on the edit the way we usually do, I take a while to work on a new scene for “Commanding Morgan” and manage to write two pages before we start on the edit.

Only an hour is left and since we get sort of stuck on a particular paragraph (seriously we got into a full-blown discussion of where the punctuation had to be, which words were more appropriate and didn’t manage to get it “just right” until forty minutes have passed. Aaargh!) but then our time for editing is up and we head outside.

First another dip in the pool. Hah. Next, I go to the carport to prepare a batch of cement for some more masonry on the wall. While little brother and sister continue with the paintjob, middle sister and I add thin layers to the top of the wall, and then finish up the last bit of cement on the fourth plant container that really needs to be finish at some point, but now only gets about eight rocks added to the whole.

Big brother and I head into the courtyard then, where we remove leftovers of the metal construction that held the roof, back in the day when we still had the entire courtyard covered up.
It takes some heavy machinery, but in the end, we get the metal away, and thus a much less cluttered area. Since we’re busy here anyway, I decide to remove some old paneling as well, and then remove the pile of towels from the pool for washing.

I’m just about done fixing the fence on top of it, when big brother decides that we’re going for a run after all.
Okay, that got me by surprise for a bit. We had planned to go, but then it turned out that the younger sibs wanted to play soccer tonight, so I had reset my mind to do without…which I now have to change again. Grrr.

But anyway, the run goes grand. I do the first stretch at the same pace as big brother, yay. And on the way back I manage to do in two quick top-speed sprints. Awesome! After about twenty minutes of stretches and other exercises we head back home where I quickly hang two more loads of laundry, try to calm down my INSANE dogs, and then head inside to have a very late dinner.

Phew. I’m a wee bit…ehm exhausted, but other than that, I would say that the day worked out just fine.

Memories and the day.

The other day, while we were cleaning out the office supplies, I finally found some pictures I’ve been trying to find for years (they were hidden somewhere between the clippings I used to save for my books) that illustrate rather prettily, how fire can seem like a living creature. Have a look/see and decide for yourself.

They’re a little grainy, seeing as they were newspaper clippings of a fire that raged rather violently all over our mountain. We were forced to evacuate and everything, including the dogs, and it was an “experience” to say the least.
Strangely enough it is almost exactly eight years ago…minus a week, so I think that it is rather apropos to show them off today. The weather sure is a lot more pleasant compared to then…I remember feeling as if I were melting back then. Hah.

If you want to read about the day in question (from when I wrote it for a local paper)click on the title of today's Blog and you should be transferred to my Myspage Blog page, where I posted it in 2007.

Enjoy.



Now this one was just downright pretty. It's the village three miles from us.


We're just around the corner on the right, below the section that was burned, darn it. See the helicopter on the left? 'T was quite impressive.


Scary, huh. But gorgeous too. I'm thinking of using the image for a story. Hmmm.


Okay, on to the day:

Song of the day: “Valerie” by Mark Ronson & Amy Winehouse.

I was a tad annoyed with the sibs today. After two edits, four read-throughs and Gawd knows how many discussions, the overall consensus of a certain scene in “Commanding Morgan”, the prologue, is that it had an inconsistency that needed to be dealt with and supplemented.

Now, personally I don’t have any problems with this so-called inconsistency, but since they’re the readers I had to resign myself to a slight rewrite that took up to an hour to get “just right”. It would be amusing that they think that writing goes with such ease, even complimentary, but since to me it requires a complete change of the entire scene’s image, it gives quite some frustration after we had pretty much made a joined decision that the prologue could be considered done last week. Aaaargh. Couldn’t they have of it a little sooner, I find myself thinking from time to time, during the course of the day.

Ah well, ‘tis over and done with now, so I better put it aside and see if I have anything of interest to mention in today’s Blog.
Hmmm. There was the edit, of course; laundry, naturally; some general chores, like always; picking ticks of a variety of dogs and without fail adding another sixth to the pillar in the courtyard. Strangely enough, the rocks started to float sooner that usual, so we had to stop sooner too, and took the remainder up to my cabin to fix a tap into the small wall that adjoins the foundation.

Once that is done, we decide to go for a nice jog…even though both our paths have been closed for the duration of summer, darn it. So, we had to look for a new spot that would be slightly off the beaten path, rather than where cars are constantly raging back and forth between the villages.
Finally, we found a rather uneven path - at a downward slope, yay - that served rather well for the day’s exercise. The run went well and about an hour later, we returned home to have dinner; mom prepared it during our absence.

There was more laundry, more ticks and another edit, and then the day came to an end, which concludes today’s rather boring Blog. Good thing I started with the rather pretty pictures. Hah

Poem.

I’m exhausted, and I don’t feel like writing a full Blog, so we’re going to deviate from the path again, with a poem I wrote a few years back for one of my books…other than that, I’ll settle for some quick tidbits for today.

The usual chores got done, of course, only a short edit, followed by more work on the project outside. The weather was just too beautiful to stay inside; a cool breeze there to keep the heat at bay, the sun still shining brightly and clouds rushing overhead. It was really quite beautiful.

Did lots of digging, filling up the container of rock that was made yesterday, preparing it for planting at some point in the near future. The younger sibs finished up with the one in the small yard underneath “the wall”, big brother added another step of the stairs that will lead up to my porch, and I prepared the foundation for two more walls that will hold plants.

Prior to getting a new load of rocks…we’ve got a good stockpile now, so we might decide to stop getting new loads for a bit…we went for a jog, and I found that I could actually run over a hundred and fifty yards without being completely out of breath. Yay. I love progress!

Okay, that pretty much sums up the day, so here’s the poem.

“Our Leader Slain”

With eyes as bright as the sky
He made us think we could fly

Eons had passed in which we’d searched
Wanting that one thing evil would have purged

One Titan, hidden from the beginning
Stood tall and brought the crowds to singing

His praise, his wisdom so very clear
Erasing with a word, everything…but most our fear

He was our leader, the one who knew it all
He would save us forever, from our eternal fall

His battle fierce and cruel
Lasted only shortly when the coward took our jewel

Murdered this Titan was
Leaving nothing but a statue of brass

After a life of struggle and dedication
All he left was an indication

A name to write in history’s tales
As the one who rises, and then fails

Those who stood behind him from the start
Regretted most, his untimely depart

For what they saw in this Titan, fair and strong
Could have righted every wrong

He stood for goodness and what was right
Raising a revolution for justice’s fight

He would have led the world if not the universe
But what we saw in him was not perverse

It was how it was meant to be
He was creator’s only key

His destruction will make the earth tremble and shiver
Making his enemies fearful and quiver

This Titan shall rule
It is not to ridicule

The way the world was meant to be made
Will come soon, and never fade

When the Titans rise
And the dragon flies

Then this world will know perfection
This time, without election.