Hospital toils

Song of the day: “Rapper’s delight” by the Sugar Hill Gang. Such a funny song, and definitely not bad as an earworm with the variety in the lyrics.

We had a serious hail storm during the night, yesterday. By the time I got up during the chilling morning, there were hail pellets lying about everywhere. Strange. And later, once I went up to the old horse paddock, I looked at the mountains in the west and saw that they were covered in more snow than I’d ever before seen. It was beautiful. I almost decided to hop in the car and drive there. It’s been ages since I touched snow. *sigh*

Was a quiet day yesterday. Started with the usual chores such as laundry, walking the visiting dogs, and feeding the dogs. The latter was really enjoyed by the pack, since there were two large pots of venison stew that went through it. Boy did they eat fast.

Packed tenant up in her wheelchair and took her out for some fresh air. She has been hiding away in her room lately feeling miserable (and perhaps a little sorry for herself) so I thought I give her some change of scenery. For some reason she has convinced herself that she suffered a stroke or something, and has moments that she thinks she can’t walk anymore and just wants to lie in bed. Very strange.

Was up early this morning so caregiver and I could take tenant to the hospital. This is partly because it is a disaster to park at the hospital, so I dropped the two of them off and started looking for a parking place. Found one a mile down the road behind a golf course, and had to hike the whole way back. (am paying for that dealing. What is it with walking to and fro at the hospital that wrecks my foot so?) Regretfully, it was practically impossible to properly prep tenant for the x-rays, it took longer than it was supposed to (1 hour instead of a ½) so there was loads of waiting involved. Did meet this very nice little lady, who was so worried about the procedure (she was having the same as tenant) and feared that it would hurt, and she was so hungry because of the prepping, and she was there on her own because her husband had been unable to find a parking spot, and her daughter worked in Malaga as a lawyer, while her son worked in Marbella. So fascinating (despite her soft-spoken Spanish), all the stuff you learn about folks while waiting in the waiting room, eh? I had to agree with her that waiting rooms are horrid, though. You only see sick folks come by, which is depressing.
Afterward we went to Funny Beach to (show her around) treat her to a cup of coffee and some French fries. It was nice there. No wind, nice and sunny, and she even took a few steps on the beach before she remembered that she “can’t” walk, and demanded to be brought back to her chair. *sigh* Well, at least she took three steps in the sand, right?

Mom is still a little under the weather, but slowly improving. She even managed to go out today, which I would liked to have prevented, what with her condition, but what the hey. She’s an adult after all.

Writing wise, we’re still going steady. We might finish this weekend and send out the material on Monday, but we’ll have to see how that works out. Did some today as well. Not a lot, but some at least.

Knight II is officially without a cone now. So far he is leaving his poor ear alone, focusing primarily on his paw. I don't know why, but for some peculiar reason he is determined to gnaw it off, or something.

Made new potions. I was out of my last batch, which went wrong some, because they didn't work as well, and made the new ones in the early morning after picking the herbs from the yard. It should allow me to battle the after effects of this flu better.

As for this blog. 6 more viewers and we’ve hit 10K people. Who would have thought four years ago that I’d ever get ten thousand hits on this blog, but there you have it. 10,000 visits. Let me just say thank you for checking it out…and especially for coming back. Hah.

Did some more masonry on the kitchen, yay. Still not done, but once again a little closer to completion. If weather permits I think I’m going to work on the window frames tomorrow. It shouldn’t be to hard, but then, you never should get cocky. As for the walls, they’re looking good.

For supper we made bread pizza’s, which went down extremely well. Same goes for today’s cauliflower soup. Don’t you just love the thick soups? I do. They warm you up inside.

Went out for a donation, both yesterday and today, but they were minor, all things considered. Good still, in particular the foodstuff which make up for the diversity in the dog food. Well, I’m starting to draw a blank as to what else has been going on lately. Like I said, it’s been nicely quiet, in particular since we’ve still been recuperating from that nasty flu last week. *sigh*

That’s for today, I suppose. I would like to get to bed in time tonight, so I’m calling it a night. Better hope I have something grand in mind for Monday when we’ll be sure to have past the 10K mark. Yay!

How's that?

Song of the day: “Don’t marry her, have me” by the Beautiful South.

So let’s start out with the fun tidbit. The other day I got invited to come on in for a preliminary interview and cooking experiment for this cooking contest in Gibraltar. Yep, you heard that right, I signed up for another contest, which, if I get to the next round will be on honest to God TV (in Gibraltar that is). How exciting is that…well, the TV part makes me a little, I don’t know, weary? Ah well, let’s first see about getting through this first bit and then we’ll see. Hah.
I will have to do some practice in the next few days, eh?

Well, first there was the trip to the doctor’s yesterday morning. I only had time for coffee and laundry and the cousin Ed and I were off to the village for my appointment. I gotta say that the dude, this dermatologist, wasn’t to write home about. He was distracted (did speak a word of English) somewhat condescending while I tried to explain the problem, and trying to get me out of there ASAP. *sigh* As you might have guessed, he didn’t do a thing except refer me to a plastic surgeon (tomorrow morning) and prescribe me something for my thin hair. (You know, my hair, because it’s thin from the anemia.) Strange fella, I tell ya. He hurried me through the whole thing and then, the moment he delivered me at the reception, muttered something to the receptionist and left to get his coat and mosey on out of the hospital. Like I said, strange fella. Let’s hope that the surgeon is a little less distracted, huh?

But anyway, how glamorous does that sound, right? A plastic surgeon. Now if only I went there for something fun. Not something as icky as a scalp cyst. Darn it.

Once we got home we got to work on the kitchen again, managed to add a little to the wall, and then had to head on out again for some groceries in town. That took a while, since there were several stores to visit, followed by a small food donation of that grocery store again.

Tenant was still feeling under the weather, which as usual, makes her look older than her age. It was so bad that we actually had to get the wheelchair to get her down to the house for her visit with mom. That was a long time ago, which made us all feel bad. Luckily she’s feeling a little better today, and managed the walk on her own.

Yesterday’s supper was a rather wonderful fresh Broccoli soup with newly bought French bread. It went down well after a long day.

Only managed five pages, which, along with today’s measly three doesn’t make for much progress, does it? Darn it. It didn’t help that this morning I had to go out again (like friggin’ tomorrow) to go to my dentist appointment. Was lying on the chair there, when he muttered something about protecting this particular tooth, to which he proceeded to get a drill, file and whatnot to clean out what he later referred to as “some erosion” and what was “almost” a hole.
Afterward he raked this metal pin between every single one of my teeth, which was, oddly uncomfortable and had my mouth feel swollen for the remainder of the afternoon. Seriously, I talked with a sliss for several hours. It was weird.

Worked on the kitchen wall again, and think we have finished the part on which the big front window needs to be set. Yay. It is really starting to look nice, I have to admit, and though there is still some masonry to do, this is a big step.

Had some beef with satay this afternoon, Yay for me. I ate it again. Good thing, too, since after going out again for veggies at the distribution center, and getting more rocks for the wall, we went for a nice run. Not too bad, if you have to know. Not the excruciating stabbing in the side of the foot, anyway, just the normal stuff. Meaning I could do a good run…even a sprint, so double yay! Hah. Knight II on the other hand was totally winy about the whole thing, once we did our round, he couldn't wait to get back in the car, for crying out loud!

Made some Nasi for supper, which worked out well, too. And then got to my writing of the day…however little that was. *sigh* Then came message of me going for the contest, followed by this very blog and me going night-night as soon as I’ve posted it. I’ve got a date with a plastic surgeon come morning, after all. Hah

Passed

Song of the day: “Crazy” by Patsy Cline.

Okay, I had a rather fretful night. Kept waking up for some peculiar reason, and yet managed to oversleep by fifteen minutes. Hah. There was the whole coffee during laundry bit, which is basically the beginning of any given day, followed by me heading up to my computer so I could start writing immediately while big brother started on feeding the dogs.

Did some corresponding in-between, but managed to write about 8 pages during the course of the day (two sessions) with during the afternoon a full cleaning session of the Land Rover. It was a bloody mess, and it took a while. Not only the washing, but the checking and fixing of small things that would totally look bad when we go to the MOT the next day. Sponged the thing down, hosed it, and scrubbed the windows until the shone. The car looks so splendid when it is clean. Even did the inside, which was really necessary. The other day we had it filled with garbage for disposal at the land fill only to have Dax and Sitabah get in there and tear everything to pieces. It was a stinking mess.
But anyway, we took care of that. It might not look new, but it was clean afterward.

Afterward we worked on the kitchen for a couple of hours. Looking good there. The wall behind the future stove is almost at height, and a few more inches here and there, and we will be able to start on putting in the windows.

As to today. We got up a little early to get everything done, and still be able to do some rewriting before we had to leave for the city and our MOT appointment. Only went the wrong direction once, but then moseyed our way to the Chinese market located nearby the MOT place. Got us some chili sauce, which is splendid over there. Drove there without error for a change, and were back in time for our appointment.

Of course they have changed stuff at the MOT again (not to mention that it’s more expensive again too) meaning that rather than going to the “appointment” desk, I had to go to some nifty computer sort out the instructions, only to get me a paper and a number. Had to wait until past my appointment when our turn came and we were sent out to wait again for our turn. Seriously, after four years when they were basically always on time, now, with the nifty computers, our turn wasn’t until forty minutes after our appointment. *sigh*

But anyway, we came through with flying colors. No prob with the car, meaning that we could head for the big hardware chain store to get a new stick for the axe and to get a garden hose. Such a confusing area over there. Lots of one-way streets, which is frustrating as heck, not to mention the highways that have too few ramps no matter which way you turn.

Headed for home afterward, arriving rather late considering all the stops we made (needed something to eat, because breakfast was a long way off, but a bag of chips doesn’t hold you for long) and we were starving. First it was off to the yard, however. Got a huge batch of broccoli and sprayed the plants with some water while I waited or big brother to come help. When he finally finished putting the new stick in the axe, I was already done, so that turned out to be unnecessary.

Grandpa had already cut the dog food so we could head straight to the kitchen and start on supper. Made fried rice with peanuts, mustard seeds and garlic, along with fried cauliflower of similar make.

Big brother made a dessert of mangos, fresh strawberries from the yard, cream and yogurt, which was nothing if not totally yummy. Hah.

Tenant was a bit under the weather today. She puked a little, and slept for several hours during the course of the day. She said she was feeling a tad better when we got home, but went to bed early again.

The weather has been downright splendid today. Heck, while we were in town and the city, it was downright warm, and for the remainder of the evening I actually managed to walk around in nothing but pants and a T. And that for January? Yep. On days such as these you’re happy to be in Southern Spain. Hah.

Knight II, the idiot, has been at his foot again, so I’m going to have to put a real sock on him, once more. The darn things only last a couple of hours, and the big bastard is smart in getting to them only when he knows I can’t see. Grrr. There was actually some blood on the spot again, last night, meaning I berated him through the entire cleaning, and bandaging session. He looked very contrite and everything, but I doubt it will have an effect. *sigh*

Today’s writing went slow, I fear. About six pages in total, only, I think, which isn’t enough by far. I really should try to get some more done tomorrow.
Well, that’s it. I’m outta here. I’ve got a doctor’s appointment tomorrow…well, a dermatologist, anyway.

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.

I had a dream...

Song of the day: “Where have all the cowboys gone” by Paula Cole. Was reminded of it the other day, and just had to look it up before I iTuned it. Hah.

So…I had a dream…no, no, no, not that one. I had a dream about a small item, which I just had to see if I could make it today. Let me explain first, because otherwise this item won’t make any sense to you (no, I don’t have pictures, my phone is at the repair shop and the temporary replacement I have really won’t do it any justice). You see, Grandpa hates wrist watches. He says that he’ll snag them on things, forget them, lose them, and that he just doesn’t like them. So we bought him a pocket watch a couple of years ago, which had him ecstatic…for a while at least. Then the stupid thing gave the spirit and he tried to have it fixed forever and ever, until the clock guy finally said that it wasn’t worth repairing. It really disappointed him, but he didn’t want us to buy him a new one.

We didn’t, instead I took an old watch (found it in a drawer somewhere) without a wrist band, took a piece of woods from storage and started working. I worked in two sessions of several hours, and these two shell shaped wooden disks, made two matching holes on either side, a ridge around one, an indentation in the other, and then tore through my room searching for an old Seiko box. Found it, and yes, memory served me right, it had two tiny hinges in it. Cut one out, drilled holes in it, looked for tiny screws and used a wee chisel to create a small indent for the mechanism (one of those that stays open, or shut, whichever position you decide on) and put it together. More sanding, engraving his initial on the lid (secretly of course, grandpa wasn’t supposed to know) and then mixing a bit of color into a clear varnish so I could treat the wood.

It is drying at the moment, but if all went well, I should be able to give it to him tomorrow. Yay. Hope he likes it, and I’ll let you know in the next blog.

Okay, back to business as usual. Let’s get up to date on the daily toils. Yesterday:
Well, there was no workout, which was a good thing since later in the day I got plenty of that after all. Hah. Did the morning chores, as usual, walked the boarder dogs, had breakfast and then headed down into the yard to add a few more of the reed fences. Only two or three more to go, thankfully. Also watered the young seedlings, the raised seedbed and then, after chatting with tenant a little, it was up to the wall and the terraced on top of it. For the remainder of the day I added layers of rock along the length of the wall.

Got several feet up to the ultimate height at last. Beautiful, in case you’re wondering, and with some seriously big rocks in it that will make for an interesting view that’s a fact. Hah. But it’s looking good. I think we’ll need to do another masonry day soon, but by then it will be high enough for us to start digging behind my cabin again so we can fill it up straight to the house.

While I was putting in rocks, I got a phone call of the computer doctor to let me know that we could come and pick up big brother’s Mac, at last. They had reinstalled everything and since big brother has been waiting with bated breath, we unloaded the car of the latest rock load, changed into something semi-clean and headed for town.

Well, I am happy to report that the Mac is once again fully functional, yay, and that big brother was gone most of the day while he was working on getting everything just-so in his electronic sweetheart. (He’s insufferable when he needs to spend a full day inside trying to sort the dratted computer out, mind you.) Hah. But no matter, he busted his knee yesterday (almost had to catch him at the grocery store because his knee refused to support him for crying out loud) so the inside-day, sitting with his computer, reading and installing, was actually good for his knee at least.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. We picked up the computer, did a few groceries that should tide us over until next week at least, (grocery shopping day is nigh, darn it) and went past a variety of stores in search of a spray can with a color that matches the Opel. Turns out that the store that probably would have it was already closed for the day, so we headed back home where big brother spent the majority of the evening messing with his computer.

I, on the other hand, was a good girl and dutifully worked on the book. Worked for several hours on writing the last piece of the prologue; a gloomy pursuit scene. Two people fleeing for a third and then…well, I can’t betray the story, of course, but it was awesome. The scene flowed and I was done and about five minutes later swore viciously. I’d done it wrong. Seriously, I hate it when that happens. During previous conversations we had already decided on a certain sequence in the scene. Regretfully inspiration didn’t agree, and made me forget the plan. Now I’ll have to do an effing rewrite again.
Ah well, no matter. Time is on my side still.

Okay, good news. My interview with C.S. Marks was returned last night with all questions answered, nice and proper. I, of course, got to read them already, and had a blast, so y’all are in for a treat. Either the next blog, or the one thereafter will be a nice change of pace and let you read about another crazy author. Hah. I’ll keep you informed, but I’m sure you’ll figure it out when I post it.

Today, besides working on grandpa’s “new” pocket watch, cousin Ed, grandpa and I worked up by the storage, sorting through stuff. There were several piles, one garbage, one with keepers, and one with doubters. Also found a big pile of roof tiles, which we sorted through and stacked on a pallet out of the way.
Still a long way to go, but we’re getting there. We’ll get the mess neat yet. It sure would be nice if we no longer look like land fill up there. Hah.

Am a bit tired, and I really should work on that prologue still, so I’m going to call this a blog and see ya ‘round the next time, I’m sure. *snort*

Merry Christmas Eve

Song of the day: I don’t remember the title. It was some childhood diddle anyway, so who cares. It was a little embarrassing since at some point big brother gave me a baleful look and asked, “What the heck are you singing?”
*sigh*

Ehm…yeah…thinking…darn it…I can’t…
Oh wait, I have picked up workouts again, and had a couple of excellent sessions both yesterday and today, though this morning I cheated a little by half-ing two particular reps my foot didn’t agree with. But other than that, it went well enough.

Spent most of yesterday digging into rock and clay beside the path leading down from the gate to my cabin. It has been years that we’ve wanted to finish this particular low wall, but until now, after making the parking area for the moped, we never did get to it. But anyway, because of that I spent several hours using the jackhammer on the ground and wall, until finally I cut away enough to start masonry. Finished about half of it before the end of the day was there and it was time to head out to get sand…and let Knight II run for a bit. He did quite a bit of that too, so there was a definite plus. Hah.

Both today and yesterday there was greenhouse work. Bugs to seek out, water to give and all that. I think that, looking back…in particular on this afternoon while I was crawling my way through the dirt looking for caterpillars in the borecole and cauliflowers, it was probably the absolute best of the past couple of days.

Which reminds me of this morning. We had a rather peculiar phenomena going on right outside. It started last night really. Once I was preparing to go to bed the city in the valley had disappeared under a thick blanket of clouds that only lit up at the horizon. Then, this morning when I came out for the workout, you could see those same clouds still there, only slowly, but gradually making its way into the valley and up onto the mountain. We were just about done with the workout when the cloud reached the lower neighbors, and while I was taking a shower they crawled right over the property. Seriously, it was a tad creepy. Some odd thirty feet of visibility was all that remained and the atmosphere had suddenly turned decidedly chilly. In particular compared to the rather pleasantly warm days that we enjoyed since the day before yesterday.

But anyway, tenant was attempting to catch some sunshine just outside the old horse paddock, but by the time I got there it was a waning bit of light that barely penetrated the thick mist all around us. I could see the horror movies of old, “The Fog”, “The Mist”, nothing but white all around you, and then, topping the rise, something weird, something dark, something horrific. *sigh* I definitely saw too many horror movies. Seriously, I gave myself the creeps out there. Hah.

There was pumpkin soup making, along with a fresh chickweed/nettle/chard mix today which went down well enough, despite it being a bit wiry. As desert I also experimented a little. This time with fennel. I suddenly had a certain taste in my head and I just had to see if it would work out. It did, and I am considering putting it in my cook book.

While I was doing masonry, grandpa and big brother worked on clearing a spot where they could temporarily store the new moped, without the dogs wrecking it.

Added to that, there was the unloading of sand from the car…twice, you understand. This is an excellent way to supplement the daily workout, in case you’re wondering. Hah.

I had a wee bit of a confrontation with grandpa, by the way. I was working on the small wall, and while I was explaining my technique, grandpa realized that I wasn’t going to build a straight wall. Which got him in a bit of a tiff, because he wants stuff straight, while I like to go in curves, make it more natural. Straight is what always gets him into trouble. In particular since when you are working with natural rock, straight is a relative concept. Ya gotta go with the flow, keep to the Bob Ross attitude of “There are no mistakes, only happy accidents.” But anyway, grandpa doesn’t see it that way. He’s a farmer of old: when nature doesn’t want to work with you, you ram through it. *sigh* He does forget, of course, that it doesn’t work. Nature always finds a way, and that goes for a rock wall as much as anything. Take the last straight wall we did, for instance. I spend several hours some odd ten months ago, to add a bulwark just to keep it from toppling over. There goes the straight wall. *double sigh*

I hate confrontations like that, but it can’t be help. Considering that I was the one doing the building, I compromised only a little by creating one curve, rather than two, and left him dissatisfied regardless. No helping it. If I’m charge of building something, I bloody well will build it the way I like it…I expect no different from him when he’s working on his (despite the fact that I don’t like straight walls, hah).

Okay, we let bygones be bygones, so in the end it really didn’t matter.
What else…oh dear, I’m drawing a blank again. What is it with my brain these days? I slept enough last night, darn it.

We made some repairs in the igloo. One of the support beams of the shelving had broken down, so we had to fix that. We brought the broken washing machine into the carport, where the dogs can’t mess it up again. So I washed that, along with the mirrors in the house, some shelving and all that sort of thing. Laundry, and bla, bla, bla. I know, that’s boring.

Hmmm. There was some carpentry, mostly regarding the future parking spot of the moped. Some small fixings for whicker baskets.
Tenant walked all the way down to my cabin, all on her own. Sure, big brother and I were watching her with hawk-eyes, but she managed, and was darn proud of it too.

Sawed wood! Ah, I haven’t lost my mind completely yet. Big brother and I sawed the beams for the new section of roof (for the moped) and that is always a bit of a tense thing. Big brother once sawed off his thumb and index on that big sawing table, so we’re always extra careful. It is doubtful that the docs could fix it that well again.

Still reading Jack Vance, this time “The Killing Machine”, and I’m still enjoying it. Vance does have a rather wonderful writing voice…despite it being a tad old fashioned.

Well, this is going to have to be it for today. I can’t think of anything else anyway, and I still have to go out later tonight for a donation. Maybe we should arrange for these kinds of trips during the day. Hah.

But in case I don’t “see” y’all before then (almost forget to do the well wishing bit): Have A Marvelously Merry Christmas!

Another wall, however small

Song of the day: “Never no more” by Patsy Cline again. Yep, this one’s a keeper apparently. Hah.

Let’s see if I can speed this one up a little, because I had a friggin’ long day and I am seriously contemplating an early night…again. Oh right, I forgot I had one last night as well. Okay, never mind then, I’ll probably be late. Hah. I might not be entirely coherent either. You see there was a sale of Fondue, so that just made up for my supper and it was absolutely delicious. *hiccup* It doesn’t help that I haven’t gotten around to sipping anything more alcoholic than a cherry bonbon, so seriously, the wine went straight to my head.

Good news on the interview/guest blog with C.S. Marks. If all goes well I’ll be on the receiving end around New Years. Yay! With a little luck we’ll either end the year with it, or call in the new one, let’s wait and see.

Okay, on to business as usual.
Yesterday:
It was a windy day, but not cold thankfully. The plus side of all the wind, though, is the laundry that dries incredibly fast. Seriously, by the time I get there in the morning, everything is dry as can be, which not usual for winter at all. But anyway, the green soap experiment is still going well. I kinda like the lemony scent to the clean stuff, and the fact that we could reuse the water for the yard is definitely weighing heavily in the equation.

Finished the first one of Jack Vance’s “Demon Princes” and was pleasantly entertained. Personally I truly enjoy the way he plays with words, and the way I hear some old English teacher in my head when I read it (like there’s a narrator) but I also fear that in this day and age, the way books are written now, he would not have been published. There is an old fashioned courtesy to it, an unpretentiousness and a patience that you rarely come across with new writer.
I think I will have to do a review once I’m done with the whole series.

Oh, oh, before I forget: Grandpa’s moped arrived. Yay! Big brother and I went to town to fetch it tonight, and it looks so cute…though grandpa obviously needs to get used to it. He doesn’t like change all that much. Hah. Good thing about the moped is that it’s small enough to fit in the back of the Land Rover…which was a total pain in the behind with the old one. Not this one, though. It weighs barely a 140 pounds and we got it in without any trouble.
Of course grandpa is not going to use it yet, first he’s going to ride the old Katana to death, and then start on the new one.

But I’m getting ahead of myself, darn it. Where was I? Right, yesterday:
The sun was out so I had to open the greenhouse and raised seedbed up to prevent funguses from going rampant. Did a half-hearted search for bugs, but then headed up because grandpa had already made me a batch of cement to start with the wall…after helping out tenant who needed to change and head on down to my terrace where she could enjoy the sunshine and a book. :-)

Which reminds me, she finished mine “Trust Me” said the Spy, her first English book ever, and she said she really, really enjoyed, despite the fact that she had to check every fifth word or so in her trusty dictionary. I for one, gotta commend her for making it through the book at all. If I had to check so many words, I’d have given up already. Hah.

But anyway, grandpa had made cement, so it was time to start on the wall for the moped parking spot. The trick about building a straight wall of natural rock, is not to think about it too much. Usually the first instinct of where and how to place a rock is the right one, and if you start thinking it won’t work. So I didn’t think, I just started putting up whichever rock I came across and ended up with a rather peculiar selection of jagged peaks. Now, if I had started thinking at that point (I will post pictures in the near futures, just not now, I’m too tipsy and too sleepy) I might have worried about which to fit on top of those, but for the first four or five layers there wasn’t a single problem. It was then that I decided to go for a cake shaped dist with tilted sides which really put me to the test in finding (without thinking) one to match the tilt. But I managed, and by the end of the day three fourths of the wall was standing.

Of course that meant that today I had to work on it again, but this time there was only half a foot or so to go, and I need only two wheelbarrows of cement, rather than yesterday’s five. We sure are going through our supply or rocks fast. It will be nice to see the old gate wall again after all this time, while it was hidden behind the piles. Hah.

Where was I? Oh, right. After the masonry, big brother and I went out for another batch of sand, taking Knight II along so we could take him on a short walk afterwards. Good thing too, because the big lug spent most of the day in the back of the car, which is his favorite spot because it gives him such a good vantage point of the carport.

Once I got home it was time to cook a quick supper, and then off to the edit. Didn’t get a lot done, but enough at least. Three pages at least, and let’s face it, the first edit is always a massive pain in the behind. The story’s still new then, more a road of discovery than anything else, it’s edit number two, plus the paper edit when stuff really starts to get together. I did discover that during the next edit we’re going to have to remove more than a thousand words, which is going to be massively interesting.

Like I said before I had an early night, so that basically brings us to today, doesn’t it?
Let’s see…laundry, of course, followed by tackling the mirrors in the house, taking the small grill oven up to the carport so we could clean and fix it (the on off switch broke down). Also middle sister’s sewing machine was acting up, so we worked on that during the day as well, and since he was busy in the carport anyway, big brother decided to work on the house computer as well to see if he could speed it up a little with some extra memory gadgets that I don’t know the name of.

The greenhouse and raised seedbed had to be opened again (yes I remembered to close them last night, yay) and then it was up to have breakfast and help tenant again because caregiver was at her other job. She was in a cheery mood today (tenant) and I let her walk most of the way while I took the car out to the old paddock and started to unload since Grandpa and big brother were down by the carport to catch her. So nice that she can do simple stuff like that on her own now.
The car unloaded and having spent the majority of the afternoon finishing the wall for the moped, (no wind today, it was actually a worm day with temps in the high sixties) the end of the day was spent cleaning the grill oven and carrying it back into the house. Next there was the greenhouse, which had to be checked for bugs and such. We’re going to have to transplant cabbage kinds again tomorrow. They’re getting to be too big for the multipots.

Then there was the trip to town to pick up the moped (got the call this morning) followed by some groceries, and picking up the biodegradable oil for the chainsaw, along with the new blade for the circle saw. And finally around nine in the evening we were back home where we could eat fondue, write this friggin’ blog and then go to bed early, because, let’s face it, the edit is NOT going to work tonight.

No mater, though. Another early night will allow for a workout tomorrow morning (weather permitting) Yay!
Heading out and signing off…gawd, this fondue is potent.

Oh darn it. I still gotta go fetch Amri from up on the mountain. Bye.

Pumping Iron. Hah.

Song of the day: “When I’m 64” by the Beatles, of course. Gawd, I memorized those lines back in ‘89/’90. Can’t believe they stuck after all this time.

Yesterday it was back to the grind, workout wise. Had one right on the dot, and though I was totally out of shwung, I did go through the entire session, bar none, and was pleasantly sweaty by the end. I punched, kicked and pounded, crunched, pulled and pushed and have been properly sore ever since. Hah. As for pumping iron after a week of going without, that went splendidly. That’s always the case with weightlifting, really. Pump some serious iron, don’t for several days, et voila, suddenly you’re pulling that weight with barely an effort. Awesome. Of course today I paid for it in spades, but what the heck.

So what happened after the workout…my memory is shot again, but I’ve got my diary lying beside me, so that should take care of the details at least.

First off we went to the house to re-hang the shelving unit that we’d needed to take off prior to hanging the stovepipes. This time in a different spot, and measuring the empty spot left so I could make another closet for it. It won’t be pretty, but at least mom will be able to store more of her fabrics. Hah.

So I wasn’t entirely there yesterday morning, meaning that at some point, while I was supposed to be getting that shelving unit, big brother found me standing in the doorway, staring at the dratted thing, still wondering what the heck I’d come in the round room for.

Big brother: “You know, that thing is not going walk itself inside.”
That shook me awake a little, and I watched him head into the room to grab one side of the big unit.
Me: “Yeah. I know. I was just trying to, you know…” I clapped my hands in a very ‘bewitced’ kind of way and sighed dramatically. “Nope. It just won’t listen.” And then, with big brother’s chuckle, joined him to haul the thing into the house.

We got into a slight argument about how to carry it into the working area and get it over the table, but then we got it there, me going first and climbing over the table, and him following behind. Within half an hour it hung back in place as if it had always been there. *sigh*

After the usual chores such as laundry, and then having breakfast, we got to work on the small storage that needed an overhaul up by the wall. There was this little section for car oil, a spare tank of diesel, etc, and since it was gradually falling apart we decided to replace the wooden walls with brick ones, while taking the time to pour a concrete floor as well.

That took most of the day, seeing as there were three little walls to build, and quite a bit of concrete to pour. Did most of it with grandpa since big brother was working in the carport to weld the braces for the pipe cover in the house that we’re designing.
By the time we were ready to pour the concrete however, he joined in and finished it up.

Supper consisted of mashed potatoes with fresh beets from the yard. The first ones this winter, and they were absolutely divine. So happy that they worked out. Not a lot of underground veggies work in out hard-packed clay soil, but the beets don’t mind at all. Hah.

There was getting the wheelbarrow of wood for the stove, followed by a nice, albeit very short archery session on the stretch of land that got cleared by the fire, and then it was time to head on out for a new batch of sand. We’ve been using quite a bit of the stuff of late, meaning that we have to replenish the pile.

Since big brother and grandpa did the loading, I volunteered to do the unloading once we got home, and took the time to take Knight II for a short walk. He behaved mighty fine, even when we came across another walking couple with a leashed dog, reminding me that I hadn’t taken one for Knight. Luckily he’s well behaved and I only needed to grab hold of his collar as we walked on, his gaze nervously shifting back to the people and the other dog, dribbling like a horse and pressing himself against me like the sissy he really is. Seriously, I think he’ll be ferocious when he needs to be, but until that time, he just hide behind my proverbial skirts. Hah.

While big brother went down to attempt at least a few pages for the new edit of V.L. (the manuscript I want to start sending out to publishers within three months if we can manage it) I tackled unloading and made a wager with myself to see how fast I could unload the 1400 or so pounds of sand. Took me less than fifteen minutes with that massive shovel big brother prefers, the one that makes my arms burn from strain, hah.
I was properly exhausted afterwards and went for a short nap of less than an hour, only to have big brother forget to wake me, making it a solid 90 minutes instead.

Well, much like the words with which big brother excused his forgetfulness, “at least I slept” hah.
Considering that after the edit we still had to head out for a donation, I needed it. This is the first edit (only half a reread), so it’s going to be a close call, I think, to get it done in time, but we’ll try.

Chaos managed to get his snout into Knight’s food yesterday evening. He ate so much of it that through the night he looked like he was going to burst. In fact, when it was time to go to bed, he could barely get his front paws up against the bed, let alone assist while I hauled him up. The bloated gut was still there this morning, and afternoon, and through out the day he kept farting. For Gawd’s sake, that’s foul! Chemical waste in nothing compared with that stink. I sure hope he gets rid of that stuff fast. Hah.

Which brings us to today then. Another workout done…and yes, I felt yesterday’s session in every movement. Hah. Did bust my friggin’ knee again, which just goes to show that I wasn’t relaxing enough during the jumps. Silly body just doesn’t do stuff like that on automatic anymore, eh? I gotta learn to just relax and let my body do it on its own, without interference. *sigh* Ah well, only one way to learn, right?

After workout it was all about breakfast, unloading the car and preparing stuff so tenant could cut pumpkin for our lunch which would consist of soup. We had some stems and leafs from yesterday’s beets left and they went well in the soup. Made it lighter somehow.

Activity wise, stuff today mostly evolved around the carport. It was pouring rain several times during the day. Painted the braces for the pipe cover, then bent metal for the chimney roof, attaching paws, which will allow us to screw it in place later on. That got painted too, followed by woodwork, seeing as I might as well get mom’s closet done. Since all the necessities were there it only took me a couple of hours to get a nice shelving unit together.

Grandpa plastered the walls I built yesterday, and later big brother and I joined him to put on the first pieces of roof. Wood first, then corrugated glass fibre. There was quite a bit of walking for me involved, seeing as big brother was doing the building and I the hauling, but it allowed me to go through the motions of keeping my foot, and knee in the right position to prevent further discomfort.

Since pumpkin soup lunch was several hours ago big brother and I snacked on the noodle/satay leftovers after getting another load of wood down, and started on computer work at last. I gotta say that I was more than ready for some feet-in-the-air action. Nothing like using the brain after a day full of physical activity.

Stupid knee

Song of the day: “Hit the road Jack” by Buster Pointdexter. Finally I found out the name, because when I looked the one from Ray Charles up, it really wasn’t the one I had in my head.
But there you go…it sure explains the “buster” remark in the song, eh. Hah.

I know, I know. I’m running way behind, and I really should have posted a blog this afternoon, but since we were working on an in-between story, I was kinda distracted and then just forgot all about it while we dove into the story. So I wrote this one (the story that is) in 1999/2000 I think, and though we worked on it a couple of years ago, I had almost forgotten that I wrote it. I know, weird, but there you have it. You can’t remember a hundred stories (even if you wrote them yourself) word for word, so it has been a wonderful discovery.

It’s a bit of a mixed up love story. A bit of Cinderella, a bit of Les Miserables, set in Chicago’s turbulent ‘20s with bootleggers and gangsters and jazz. *sigh* It’s been so long ago that I wrote it, every page is a friggin’ surprise…which worries me a little since it means that my brain is leaking again. Darn it!
But anyway. It is fun to do, and though we’re cutting a lot from the story the characters are still fun, and the writing not half as bad as I’d feared when I first opened the file. In a way the story is a lot like the W.I.s, designed for the specific purpose of distracting me during the post-writing blues. You see, after a big project I tend to throw myself head-over-heels into a new project, only discover that the inspiration dwindles after just a few weeks, leaving me with just another half-finished book in my files. And thus the “short love stories” (and W.I.s) came into existence.
They’re cute, they pack an emotional punch and are SHORT with capital letters. Translated: fun to do in a I-have-got-to-stop-mooning-over-the-friggin-long-manuscript-I-just-finished. Hah.

In case it wasn’t obvious, we finished the paper edit of A.T.O.L., which is like, wow! But still, there is this threatening sense of depression in the back of my mind, even though I am of course psyched to have it done at last. Seriously, it is not every day that you finish the edit of as 110.000 word count manuscript. YAY!

Okay, enough about that. Let’s get to the daily drag, shall we.
What with the atrocious weather (it didn’t clear up until later today) there was a lot of nasty cleaning chores to see to. There was the 26 year-old kitchen lamp (yes I am that old that I remember mom first bringing it home way back when) which’s shells (it is made of small shell disks dangling from fishing lines) were no longer white but a grimy yellow from dirt. It took a couple of hours but now it looks wonderful again.

Another thing that had be cleaned was the kitchen fan, which hasn’t been taken down in three years and really needed to be scrubbed clean by yours truly…whenever I could squeeze in an extra ten minutes. Grandpa needed help sawing long beams for what will soon be the supporting fence of the raspberries in the lower yard.

Since I was in a cleaning frenzy anyway, I also cleaned my office. It was starting to get ridiculous, really. There was such a thick layer of dust on everything that the flies were leaving tracks (so yeah, that’s a slight exaggeration, but that’s what it felt like anyway. Hah). It was a mess but now it is starting to look decidedly better. At least I recognize the yellow paint we slapped on everything during construction. Hah.

What else? Well, like taxes there was laundry of course. Lots of it my own, even though I haven’t gotten around to changing the sheets on my bed yet. I really should do that tomorrow, darn it. What with the weather cheering up that should lessen a little in the near future, I’m thinking.

The majority of this morning was spent unloading the sand from the car, and though we’re going to have to do the same thing tomorrow too, I’m not going to bother to explain much more than the fact that I had shoveling out duty, and taking care of tenant (her caregiver was out to her second job again). It takes time, but we do chat, and that’s fun enough. It was good that mom and middle sister took her out to town this afternoon, because she has been spending way too much time inside these weeks past.

We checked out the engine of the Land Rover. Oil, cooling fluid, etc. Went over the tire pressure, the paperwork and then messed around with the engine some more. Hah. The dogs made moving around “interesting” as usual, of course, preferring to stay in front of our feet at any time, and almost causing near disaster while I was trying to turn around a full wheelbarrow.

Rocks got hauled down the mountain again…not me, though, seeing as I have only lifting duty these days, what with my bum knee and all. It’s a total pain in the behind, but rather than risk permanent damage, I am not allowed to wheelbarrow heavy stuff down anymore (for a while at least). Instead I shovel sand into the wheelbarrows, or unload rocks, which is what I spent yesterday’s afternoon doing, FYI.

This afternoon was spent doing masonry on the wall, of course. We brought it up another foot, meaning that we’re well past half of the wall. Only lifting and masonry for me, no hauling, darn it. It is beautiful, in case you’re wondering, and I am taking daily pictures to show off once it’s all done. Not yet, though. I want the end-result too.

Which reminds me, it is almost midnight and the end result of this blog is me saying: “Seeya later alligator.”

I know, tacky, but what the heck. Hah.

Yay for kickboxing

Song of the day: “Getaway” by Bryan Adams. Well, that’s something different at least. Though I love his music, it isn’t stuck in my head all that often. A good thing, I think. Hah.

Let’s see if I can keep it short today, because I was incredibly tired this morning and dozed off just now, meaning that I’m behind, again, darn it.

A bit of good news is that the paper edit is almost done. About ten more pages to go, so either we’ll get it done today, or tomorrow. Yay. Not bad. I’ve gotta say that I am rather pleased with how it turned out. The characters are splendid, the humor vastly entertaining, and the story…well, simple but nice, I’m thinking. What more can I ask? It is exactly that what I would look for when I’m browsing for something new to read.

Activities the past couple of days have been limited what with the horrible weather. In fact we had to take most of the plants that we’d put outside in the garden pit for hardening back into the greenhouse, because the poor darlings were dying of cold and wetness. *sigh* The plants already outside are surviving, but not doing well at all because it is almost as if we’re back to wintery temperatures. Darn it.

We did get a bit of sunshine yesterday afternoon, which made working on the wall rather pleasant. Got a good section up now. One more layer and we can continue widening the wall towards where the new septic tank will be. It’ll be gorgeous once we’re done, mark my words. Hah.

The day before yesterday (in the afternoon again) we had a bit of sunshine too when we went out to get more rocks. Knight II went along, of course, and at least he ran around a bit…he’s still a whiner about exercise, though. He goes around the place once and then wants to get back into the car. Silly dog.

Yesterday morning was spent looking for wood to put new bottoms in the drawers that grandpa wants to set up in the carport. After that we cleared the spot and prepared it enough so we could work on it today. We did, and now the thing is standing there. That should make grandpa happy, ice he can toss metal supplies in it. Hah.

There was of course the car to unload yesterday. Which was wildly fascinating, as I’m sure you can imagine. (NOT) Neither was the stint of laundry worthy to write about, so let me this just wrap this up by sharing that I spent last night working out in the carport, kickboxing the boxing ball to an early grave (it ripped, can you believe it) and bumming my knee some more. I guess I got a little over-enthusiastic, because none of the movements hurt…at least not until I got to straight forwards kick which was, like…ehm, totally uncomfortable. Hah. So I did that one only a few times and then got back to the good stuff, yay.

So yeah, today my knee’s a little sore again, but other than that, all is well. Okay. Big brother finished reading A.T.O.L. (paper edit is officially done) so now I should open up the file and put them in. Yay. I can’t wait to start on a new project!

Goodbye Kimo sweetie.

Song of the day: “Ordinary day” by Vanessa Carlton.

What to say, what to write? It is one of those days again that my brain hardly functions, and I can barely remember what I did an hour ago, let alone yesterday.

The fact that this very morning we had to go to the vet to Euthanize old Kimo, (red haired husky) doesn’t help the matter much. It was not really unexpected, all things considered. She’s been with us since ’99 or ’98 even, in fact she came to us the same day old Iris did, and led a good long life, in particular for a husky.
The vet wasn’t at all surprised when we arrived with both Kimo and Akata (the latter needed his vaccination) and discussed our options with her.
Muscle tissue was already low on her, Kimo’s hips were shot, her eyesight was half of what they could be, and all things together, with medication and such we might have been able to prolong things a bit, but would have made life only more uncomfortable for her.
In the end, after going through the motions for Akata (also a husky) the dreaded decision was once again made leaving us with another pack member gone. So hard to say goodbye.

It always threatens to make me sad, but what is the use, really? This loss too will wear, and then life will continue on. As it should, I guess.

It is a dreary day, which suits the events with which it started, I would say. The sky is overcast and there are times when we are completely in the clouds, not allowing me to see further than the nearest tree at the end of my terrace. Weather like this makes me lethargic and down, so I don’t if I’ll be good company here today. Hah.

Okay, let’s get down to business before I get as gloomy as the weather. Later today we should get the washing machine back, so that should be all fine within no time whatsoever.
What did we do yesterday? Not a clue here, but I do know that the weather was absolutely wonderful.
There was gardening, of course, because there is no way in heck that I was going to spend it inside.

The first cherry tomatoes in the greenhouse are turning red, yay. They’re delicious, in particular with a leaf of basil, parsley and a stem of chives. You just wrap the green around it and stuff it in your mouth. Gawd, if only I hadn’t eaten the last one yesterday, I could go down there right now and…

But anyways, edits have been going a little bit bad these past couple of days. Stuff of ordinary life got in the way, and edits, therefore got the bad end of it. Meaning that project wise remarkably little got done. We manage to ad another row of rocks to the wall yesterday afternoon, so in that regard things are going well. And last night we did manage another trip to get rocks, which are always low in stock once we start on the masonry part.

Tenant’s been a bit distracted of late, but this morning she was really looking forward to watching the wedding of Kate Middleton and Prince William. I’m glad to see that she likes it, even though I can’t really see the attraction. Ah well, to each her own.

I should get to work, because what with yesterday’s distractions I really should get some writing/editing down. Hopefully I have something more interesting to write about the next time, eh?

This and that.

Song of the day: “The boy does nothing” by Alesha Dixon.

Stuff is basically going steadily on, much like the track we’ve been on for the past week or so.
The new office is going slowly, but is showing considerable promise. Plans have been altered a little, however, considering big brother and I spend the majority of an average day working on the computers, we’ve opted to make the office slightly bigger. At first we were going to make it nine by twelve feet, but now we’re going to make it nine by twenty instead.

During the course of the past two days the walls have been painted, repairs have been made and the foundation of our future desk has been set up. It doesn’t look like much yet, but we’ll get there in the end.

So yesterday (I had “Staying alive” in my head from the moment I woke up, by the way. It was insane, really) there was a garbage run again, due to which we ended up with a nice stash of wood that is going to come in really handy during the latest (and future) project. It looked like some sort of carpentry store got rid of leftovers because there were all sorts of sizes, wood types and whatnot, so we’ll definitely be able to use a lot for sure. Grandpa was pretty much ecstatic, hah.

Mom spend the majority of today making soy-veggie burgers, which made for a sturdy dinner and filled the house with delicious scents. Afterwards she pitched in with starting the paint job of what is going to be our desk, so that is one task less for us to take care off in the next few days.

I, on the other had was busy walking back and forth to the carport to get tools and supplies…because I kept forgetting stuff, aaargh. Ah well, at least I got my exercise, just like yesterday when I hauled this week’s dog food DOWN to the carport where they’re all nicely stacked under the roof now.

Though yesterday’s weather was downright marvelous,-sunny with a fresh breeze-today started out cloudy but around noon, those very clouds started leaking a soft drizzle that does miracles for the garden, but makes me crabby. It does the same for the dogs, naturally, since they want to go with us everywhere and end up soaking wet.

I worked a bit with plaster cement, both today and yesterday, covering up holes and the likes before the sibs painted the lot, but it was definitely worth the effort when I hung up two lamps tonight that light the place up. I can hardly wait until it is ready.

While big brother departed for another garbage run, I stayed behind to hang a small kitchen cabinet (the mess on top of the ones already there was driving me bonkers, so I decided to add a new one) and then settle down for today’s messages and the blog, of course. Can’t forget the blog, now can I. Soon I will have been at it for a full year, and I should at least describe every single day until that time.

Yes, I might decide to make some changes by the end of the year…I don’t know what yet…but still. Doing this for a full year was a deal I made with myself, and I will see it through, come hell or high water. Hah.

As for the proofreading…it is going relatively well. Remember that scene I mentioned the last time? Well, even though big brother stumbled one a few snags, we did manage to get through it without major arguments, (which was what happened the last time…it was so darn frustrating) and could just focus on adjusting said snags in a mutually satisfactory fashion. Phew. I was seriously worried there for a bit, and had to do my very best not to watch him wield the pen on the ones so pristine pages like a butcher. Hah.

The scene leading to it was good, though…which was a surprise since we remembered that one being a hassle too. But all in all, we’re getting there, I think. Just five more chapters or so to go and then we don’t have to worry too much when (and if) the editor wants to see the rest. Some of the random reading, sure, but no more editing, thankfully.

I have found out that I’m going to have to get some new pants soon. The ones I have are now official at least four sizes too big, and even the ones that I used to wear around the age of sixteen are starting to sag, so…yeah, waiting for sales to begin. There really is no helping it, unless mom manages to take them in, in a way that they won’t look like…well, crap. Hah

Well, that about does it, I guess. Not much more to tell other than that I am missing about an inch of skin on my thumb because the idiot Knight II decided to flop his paws down on a board I was in the process of lifting off the floor. Yikes! That skin went off as if someone decided to use a cheese grater on me, for crying out loud. He’s just such a moron sometimes. Heck, there are days that I think he’s a small pony, rather than a dog.

Oh yeah, I had the “brilliant” idea to do some exercises last night…it was high time for it too, since I was sore as heck this morning. I really need to start doing exercises again…and I will, just as soon as I can find some extra time…somewhere.

And that brings today’s sum up to an end. I feel like I’m slacking, but for the life of me I can’t come up with a way to drag this recount out. Sure, I could whine a little about politics, ‘cause lets face it, there have been some doozies…don’t get me started ‘cause I get riled when I think of those who are supposed to rule the country. Morons, the lot of them!

Close call.

Song of the day: There were two for a change. “Forever” by Chris Brown and “I know what I know” by Paul Simon...oh my, it’s been a while since I last heard any Paul Simon that was a decent as his Graceland CD.

Okay, let’s get down to the day, ‘cause I wanna watch Blood Diamond and it’s already past ten. Hah.

So yeah, five minutes before my alarm was supposed to go off, my phone rings, pulling me from a deep sleep. Our friend Danni has a flat with her moped and asks if I can come and pick her up near the village, or else she needs to walk home. I do of course, offering to drive her to town, because she was on her way there when the moped broke down, and get the groceries she needs.

This means that I’m away a solid two hours before I get home, have a quick dip in the pool and then start on the day’s edit. We hack our way through several pages in the hours that follow, it goes pretty well however, so I don’t really mind - a good scene too, excellent dialogue that relatively needs little rewriting, or even editing. What with the difficult scenes these past few days, it is a rather nice change.

Four hours into the edit, my brain is rapidly turning to mush again, requiring a change of scenery for sure. Time to go outside…right after another dip in the pool. The temperatures are still relatively low and since we made preparations yesterday, it is time to start pouring the concrete in what soon will be our tool area in the carport.

I start making the concrete while big brother evens out the ground on which it has to be laid. Soon we’re pouring in the loads, with me working the mixer, little brother hauling in wheelbarrows of sand, and little sister changing shifts with me. In the mean time, middle sister is laying the last few rocks on the plant container on the wide path.

Okay, a bit of disturbing news: Apparently, I was close to death while I was making concrete. You see, the power line somehow got stuck between the mixer and motor, and they were completely bare before grandpa noticed what was going on. Phew. If I had wrapped my hands around the wheel to empty the mixer...well, can ya say medium rare? Gawd. Stupid, stupid, stupid, that's a fact. Should have paid better attention, I guess.

The dogs don’t like today’s work at all, especially not since they are not allowed inside the carport because they’ll walk on the new concrete every chance they get. I don’t know what it is with the pack and freshly laid concrete, really, but for some reason they must and shall walk on it, come hell or high water. So yeah, they need to be held at bay, and it isn’t easy at all to go back and forth through the gate, especially not when I need to take the wheelbarrow along. We manage, however; with the dogs looking pitifully at us through the fence.

Seeing as the small floor is soon laid, and big brother needs to head up to prepare for pouring the border on our tenant’s bungalow, I join middle sister so we can continue on the border wall that needs to run by the dog fence. We toil for several hours, and when the sun begins to set we finish what is left of the cement, and I head up to help big brother pour the last batch in the cast he has set up.

It is around dusk when we help our tenant down to the terrace in her wheelchair, she has been telling her caretaker that she wants to see all that has been done for days now; so seeing as we’re not going out today, big brother and grandpa carefully wheel her back and forth.

In the last half hour of daylight, we haul old banister pillars from the small garden in the courtyard and plant the two jasmine bushes and the small spruce we still had in a pot. They’re all looking quite good, and the garden is becoming quite civilized, all things considered.

And with a final dip in the pool to wash off the grime, and the hanging of a big batch of laundry, I finish up today’s work to head inside for dinner. Mom’s prepared us baguettes, so I pretty much stuffed my face with the meal. Nothing tastes better than a couple of tasty, crispy pizza rolls. Hah.

Next there’s today’s blog of course, and as soon as I can I’m going to head up to my cabin and see if I can fit in another hour or two on the edit, without falling asleep at the table. Hah.

19 hours and counting. Need some Zzzzs

Gawd it was a long day! I’m so friggin’ tired that I can hardly keep my eyes open. I’ll apologize in advance for any spelling, grammar errors and typos, ‘cause I know I can’t muster the energy to check it all afterwards.

I’ll start at the beginning so you know why. Hah.

I went to bed early, as planned…though not as early as I should have. For some reason I could not get to sleep, and when I finally did, I kept waking up and there was no excuse for it…well, Trin Trin (the monster boxer) was the evil doer at one point, but that’s not unusual. When I finally did fall asleep, the alarm seemed to go off with dawn’s arrival.

I blink at the ceiling, momentarily at a loss as to why the alarm goes off, but then remember and quickly start on the morning rituals. We have a busy schedule ahead of us today, and I need to get to it, if we want to make it all in time.

After dressing, bringing the dogs to the house, having a quick coffee and then hurrying back up to the car, big brother and I are right on time for today’s plans and head to the city in the company of our friend Danni who has offered to chauffeur us for the occasion…again.

We are on our way to Traffico (DMV, basically) where big brother and I can get out temporary drivers license that will see us through the next couple of months until we receive our permanent one. Upon reaching the city there is a moment of confusion, along with annoying (not so pleasant) nostalgia when we get lost in the exact area where we did our exams. Finally we reach our destination and are lucky enough to find a tiny parking spot outside the huge building where large crowds are wiling away the hours to handle their business.

Figuring that there will be a long wait, I head for the bathroom first thing, leaving it to big brother and Danni stand in line for the information desk. Three minutes later when I re-emerge, they are nowhere in sight, so I head into the crowd, and see them stand at the service booth.

The entire procedure is over in less than a minute. Our IDs get a fleeting glance and then this tiny bit of paper gets printed and we’re on our way out. It’s all a little anticlimactic, and I say as much to big brother and Danni when we head outside to return to the car.

I get in behind the wheel, finally carrying a genuine Spanish Permiso de Conducir and start the engine to set us on our way. It feels strange to be in the truck again after more than a year, especially after having had the lessons in the tiny Seat Ibiza. It’s a good strangeness, however. The seating is so much higher, almost like a chair, and the view of the traffic around me far less daunting as we head west in the direction of home.

Rather than wasting another trip, I drive Danni to the senior home, where the woman she takes care of these days, spent over a month to make sure that she didn’t forget anything, and then we’re heading towards the consulate to pick up the younger sibs’, grandpa’s and mom’s passports, which should have arrived.

Since our passports will be run out in the next month as well, we need to renew ours as well, and arrive at the office two hours before closing time. There’s only one couple before us when we arrive, and since we have already printed and filled in the necessary forms it takes only a short amount of time to get everything done. The pictures are correct, and only the date and location need to be added before the task is done and we’re on our way again, carrying the rest of the family their IDs with us.

Big brother gets in behind the wheel this time, setting us on the way to town where we need to make a quick stop at a supermarket. The driving goes well, all the technicalities that got pounded into our brains during the lessons blissfully subsiding when old routines return and we head on home, infinitely relieved to have most of “official” business dealt with.

It is a beautiful day (though I could have done with a bit more moisture in the air), the sun shines brightly, not a cloud is in sight, and a cool southern breeze swirls upward from the sea. You can’t have a better day for construction, really.

When we arrive home and have shared the morning’s events with grandpa, big brother and I are certainly up for some relaxation and resort to going online to read up on the latest news, answer our messages and then surf the forums of choice. We want to edit some, but what with the day rapidly advancing we really can’t seem to get ourselves to it.

Besides, I am barely done with my messages when it is time to head on out into the yard, where another truck full of rocks is waiting to be unloaded.
That done, grandpa and I get back into the car to head for the local construction company. We have planned to start on the wall today, so with that in mind we need to get sand and cement.

Upon arrival and ordering the huge bag of sand, grandpa and I agree that we might have made a slight miscalculation in the size of our order. As the weight slowly lowers in the truck bed the separation between metal and hind wheels, literally decreases a foot, making an extremely return trip inevitable.

Never going over 15 miles per hour, we slowly head back home. The truck feels like it’s struggling through mud all the way, but in the end we manage to get it home where the younger sibs and big brother are already hard at work hauling stones to where we’ll need them.

For a while we debate whether or not the truck cane make its way done (the incline is rather steep) but even this goes without much trouble. In the end, with back of the truck sticking out of the carport a few inches, the large cement mill is put in place and is connected to power…nothing.

The machine has not been used for almost two years now, and after half an hour of checking wires and connections we find that it’s the on and off button that is causing the problem. In the end big brother circumvents the switch entirely and we’re ready for business.

Since the sand bag is so high and full, it is decided that I will make the first batches of cement while the sibs start on the wall. I do have to say that with this kind of work it doesn’t matter at all that there is no time for a workout. Using a shovel to get sand from shoulder height does the trick really well. Hah.

Six batches later with two wheelbarrows full of fresh cement paste, big brother’s back is bothering him somewhat fierce (while I got supplies, he was lugging seventy pound rocks around) so we change places. He’ll get the last batch into a wheelbarrow and clean everything up, while I head down to spend the last half hour of daylight, finishing off the cement already made.

With middle sister shoveling cement where we need it, little brother supplying the right rocks, little sister and I add another foot of rock to the beginnings of a wall that stretches to a length of fifteen feet at least. Though backbreaking and lengthy, this kind of masonry is the most fun. It’s like puzzling. You see a particular spot of some indistinct shape, and look at a pile of rocks to guess which one is going to fit.

It takes time and experience, but when doing this kind of masonry you get a certain feel for it. It is quite satisfying when you pick out a rock and find that it fits exactly where you want it. And as time passes, you get to find the perfect fit faster and continuously, just because your eyes manage to guess the right dimensions.

When doing this kind of building, I’m often constantly talking (to the rocks it seems, hah), which goes something like this: “I need that one! No, not that one. The one with the bend on the right and the point on the top. Yes, that one. Lemme see, oh, yes you’re going to fit right there, lemme just turn it so…no, this way, yes, beautiful. Perfect.” It makes the younger sibs chuckle, really, but I can’t help it.

By the time we finish up for the day (everyone’s more than a little tired) we have the wall up to a foot and a half, which is a solid start to say the least.
Though mom has a stir-fry noodle dish waited, I cannot have dinner yet. There’s a big batch of laundry to be taken down and a new one that needs to be hung, so I get to that before my system crashes…which I know it will, just as soon as I relax.

With muscles sore from the work and energy levels already low from twelve hours wakefulness, it takes me a little longer than usual to get the day’s laundry done, but finally I’m done and happy for it.
I quickly wash up, change into sweats and then get my dinner. It’s spicy and what with the extreme dryness in the air today my lips are chapped to a point that food actually hurts. I’m too darn hungry to care, though.

My system…everyone’s actually…crashes the moment I relax, just like I knew it would, and I lounge in a chair for a couple of hours. Though I make an effort for keeping my fingers busy by picking off an endless amount of ticks off the multitude of dogs that keep coming in reach for that very purpose, it seems, the last thing I do before heading to my cabin an hour early is hang another batch of laundry.

The usual evening ritual ensues, though at a far more sedate pace than usual, after which I finish today’s blog and hope for a restful night. I sure need it after being up for a full nineteen hours. Hah.