R.I.P. Sonia

Song of the day: “A living doll” by Cliff Richard.

The past couple of days were a doozy, I tell ya. It had everything to do with bureaucracy and y’all know how much I hate that, right?
Well the whole paperwork shaite was in top form yesterday, I mean seriously…I wanted to scream.

First off, the day started early with me and little brother heading for the village so I could pay our taxes and introduce him to my banker. Taxes went right and easy, right until I discovered that I would also have to pay taxes for the mopeds and Opel, which I was sure I paid several months ago. So strange. Phoned home to have big brother look for receipts. Added to that, I also discovered that the old Deawoo is still registered in my name, which is totally strange, meaning I would have to see if I can contact the young mechanic I gave it to.

Next it was taking little brother to the bank. He’s not been happy with his present bank at all, and once we spoke to mine, it turned out he had good reason. Apparently, when he opened an account, somehow the bank had him sign for a life-insurance at their company instead. Jeez. Talk about sneaky. He came there (first time ever he opened an account) to get a simple account with card and everything, only to get scammed. Even our banker said, that was very unprofessional of that particular bank. So he advised us as to what to do next, and opened a new account for little brother with little trouble…except that due to the overtaking of my bank by a big one, the computers were down so he had to do it the old fashioned way. *sigh* Had to come back the next day.

Had to go to another bank to pay the taxes, which I was too late for. Apparently, if you’re not a member of the bank, you can only do it on Tuesdays and Thursdays before 10:30. *sigh* Very frustrating, I tell ya.

The following stop was a branch of little brother’s bank where he withdrew his money, and tried to cancel his life insurance. Apparently that was only possible at the original branch. So we’d have to go there.

So, round that time grandpa arrived on his moped with the papers that had been delivered to us about the payments. Was afraid for a moment there that we’d been scammed with the taxes as well, but when I showed the papers town hall could confirm that the papers were official, even though they didn’t know why they’d been delivered. Needed the receipts of the payment though, so that meant another trip. *double sigh*

Went home, to pick up cousin Ed and Grandpa, who would go to the bank where the bills were paid, while little brother and I would go to his bank (other village than mine, of course). Arrived there, got to speak with a young man who was very friendly about it, and who explained that the contract for the life insurance was valid until December, but, if he took out all his money, waited two to three months the insurance would withdraw the contract instead. Then, after two months he could just come back and cancel his account without trouble. Decided to opt for that, and wait a bit, just to have the hassle over and done with.

Brought little brother, Grandpa and Cousin Ed home, picked up big brother, and headed straight for town for a pickup, and to have a chat with the garage folks to see how I could contact that mechanic. Luckily they were still in contact with him, and let me talk to him on the phone. According to him the car has been at the junkyard for several years now, with all the paperwork dealt with. But anyway, if it turns out wrong, he was going to have to pay the taxes. Also saw the Land Rover, all the tires off, looking all miserable mounted up there for repairs. There was no way in hell that they could have it done by Wednesday (today) darn it.

Anyway, did our pick up, headed home and quickly got to work on the edit after wasting a full day on the friggin’ road! Gawd, I hate paperwork days. Grrrr.

The end of the afternoon wasn’t nice either. Had to take Knight II to the vet, and since Big Brother’s Cocker Spaniel has been doing so very bad these past weeks, he finally opted to have her put down. Poor girl was only sleeping these days, and barely able to stand on her paws. She was gone within two minutes of the injection. Always sad to see them like that, limp, gone. I can’t help but remember the cute little puppy she was when we first got her, more than eleven years ago. She was a happy dog, most of those years, at her happiest when she followed big brother around. A sad moment, where we both shed a tear or two.

Only managed a few pages of writing the past couple of days, partly because today wasn’t any better…and today I also didn’t feel all that well, physically today. I got up a little early to go to the village again, and was right on time too, when it turned out that tenant’s tube had gotten loose and that she and caregiver would have to go along to the health center. So I dropped the two off, and was, of course, once again too late for the bank. Did manage to hop into my own and deposit little brother’s money. He is going to have to go there himself to pick up the rest of his paperwork.

Walked all the way to the health center, where tenant and caregiver were still waiting for her turn. Left them to it while I phoned big brother so he could prepare everything that needed preparing before my return. It was going to be a close thing to see if we’d make it to Spanish lessons in time, because it was already past eleven by then. When I checked inside the center, tenant’s turn was up, so I hurried to the big parking garage, got the car and drove up. Arrived there just as caregiver was making a new appointment, so I loaded tenant into the car, and at fifteen past eleven we were on our way home.

Dropped tenant and caregiver off, ran to my cabin to change into something a little less hot (today was a scorcher) and then headed out with big brother behind the wheel so I could eat some breakfast. *sigh* Was feeling worse by then, but what the heck, paid ahead for our lessons so I wasn’t going to cancel no way. Added to that, I wasn’t really looking forward to the upcoming photo session that was planned for the evening.

Arrived just before our teacher, so we weren’t exactly late, thankfully. Not a bad class today, all things considered, but I was more than a little reassured that the photo session would have to be next week, because my “model” was on a job interview, or some such today. I could have wept, but didn’t, of course. That meant I could take a nap once we got home. Yay.

Did exactly that, and passed out for two hours with the dogs stretched out around me as if it was a special treat especially for them. Hah. Poor darlings have been on their own for way too long.
There was cooking involved after my nap (was feeling much better…have been burning the candle on both ends again, naturally. Grrrr) eating, and then some editing, as usual, when I don’t do any writing.

Have you noticed how insanely busy the past few weeks have been? If it isn’t one thing, it’s another, and Sally isn’t helping any. Seriously, I got into a massive disagreement with her yesterday, where I had to be really, really firm with her. At the moment, she’s quite self-destructive, which is a little scary to see happening. How do you stop someone from wrecking herself, eh? You can’t, she’ll have to learn the lesson herself.

Well, this is the end of today’s blog, again. Time to get ready for bed.

A little adventure. Hah

Song of the day: “I’m in love” by Maria Mena. Had this one several times already, I believe. Easy song; catchy and fun to sing. Hah.

Okay, the day: Got up a little early this morning, and still ended up almost being late to arrive at the bank, consequently town hall where we had to pay over four hundred bucks in taxes, because they made some asinine mistake in the past few years. Darn it.
Next we needed to head for the phone store, to have the lost phone canceled. We managed to get a new phone for a reasonably low price, at which time we headed back home.

Well after noon, the heat had reached its peak, so of course on the way up the mountain we got stuck behind a heavy loader that was going up at the “wonderful” speed of 20 miles per hour at most. Aaaargh. The county is still working on that road, and apparently, they have turned up the heat for some sort of deadline because there are at least ten trucks rumbling over our road…yes, we can actually feel it in the house, considering it reverberates right through the rock. I really needed to cool down in the pool...in more ways than one. Hah.

But anyway, since we were running way behind, big brother and got our coffee and quickly started on the edit. We managed four pages before it was time to head out to the yard for outside work. Good scene, very prosaic. The rewrite definitely went well.

Big brother and grandpa head out to the old horse stable again, while the younger sibs and I are determined to break yesterday’s record by making an extra mat.
Middle sister and I set up the frames and within no time, we’re weaving mats in pairs again.
Lots of chatting about movies, TV shows and books, of course. Fun work on the overall-now that the initial backaches have receded and fingers and hands have toughened-especially since there are lots of off color jokes that will cause laughing fits all 'round.

It isn’t until eight thirty in the evening that the fifth mat is ready. Big brother and grandpa return, so we can set out with the car to get a few new batches of reed. Today middle sister has opted to go with us, and just as we’re about to head down the road, we see that it is completely closed off for traffic. Darn.
So instead, we head the other way and finally end up in a rather particular area. Admittedly there is no reed to find, but once we reach the end of a particularly windy road, steep inclines that literally go straight down and park when dusk is about to settle.

There is a big board by the side of the road, claiming there is a waterfall at the end of a small trail that follows the small river. (It also leads towards the lake (scarily blue) at the bottom of the valley; around it a large cluster of villas are located) Though the area looked pretty darn private, it was open for tourists, so, we decided to make use of the last bit of light and have ourselves a bit of exercise.

For anyone who has seen the movie, “The Last of the Mohicans”-the end scene, with everyone going after Alice-will get the general idea of how our run up the incline looked. Not as gracious as the actors, or course, but we had a steady pace going, went up the rocky incline, through underbrush, over fallen trunks using every available muscle for a solid mile.
It was a little tricky what with slippery rocks jutting all ‘round, and dusk, but it felt rather invigorating, even though we couldn't actually reach the waterfall and headed back at the same pace. I wasn’t even out of breath when with the last bit of gray light, we crossed the final distance back to the car.

Now the exciting part: Guess what we saw? You won’t guess, I know, so I’m just gonna say it. Hah.

We saw a small family of wild boars. I know, it surprised the heck out of me, but there they were; a mom, dad and two tiny piglets, all pitch black, storming off straight up the incline when we had startled their evening stroll past the stream. Fast little buggers, and darn good climbers, I do know that our dogs wouldn’t have easily managed that incline - let alone anyone of us. Heck, I didn’t even know that this area had wild boars, but when we checked the board over where we’d parked the car, otter are supposed to inhabit the area too. I wish I had been able to take a few photos but it was really too dark. Pity.

But anyway, the evening has cooled considerably when we finally arrive home and after a rather late dinner, it is time to call it a day. Another edit to go, of course, but then I sure as heck am ready to hit the sheets. Sure was an interesting day…even if we didn’t manage to get any reed.

Edit, eDit, edIt or ediT!!!! Insanity.

I feel a little brain-dead after spending more than eight hours of working with the computer and filling in papers, so I’m hoping that I can keep this short and turn in early today.

I am right on the dot when the alarm shrills this morning. Strange dreams visited this night. Snakes, long and short everywhere, they made walking around the house and garden a hazardous endeavor, to say the least, and make me itchy when I wake up. Hah.

Little more than thirty minutes later I walk towards the house in bright spring-like sunlight that actually makes me smile. It feels as if the new season has started, though I don’t think that it officially has, and that there might be a storm or two waiting in the next few weeks.

Either way, it is lovely outside and I’m actually sorry that a long day behind the computer monitor is lying in wait for me. Laundry is first though, and I revel in it with the scent of “green” (I don’t know what kind of smell green is, but it’s the only description I can think of at the moment) drifting under the roof, and the slashes of sun that warm me as I take down the dry fabrics and hang the wet.

Yadzia is still limping, and I can’t figure out why. He’s also dreadfully unstable on his feet and that worries me a bit. I think I’m going to see if breaking the dose in half works better. They’re a new kind, so maybe the vet has prescribed a wrong dose because of it.

He also appears to have an aversion to sleeping for some reason, and will sit beside me for hours on end, putting his head on my leg, and then nodding off, only to jerk to attention and put his head back in place. Sad really, as if he’s afraid of something.

After giving Yadzia his breakfast, and having some myself, I chat with big brother and grandpa while we set up the computers and prepare for a day of editing. We set to it for several hours until the sibs are down and have gone through their own morning rituals.

We all sit down to discuss plans that need to be made. The passport renewal that’s coming up (such a hassle, all those documents to go through), maintenance chores for the house, the garden, the car and all those little things that need to be done in the next few months.

The younger sibs look somewhat troubled, but they do realize that a lot needs to be done and that we’re all going to have pitch in to make it all work smoothly and in a timely fashion.

Lots of plans that feel daunting, by any means…but also exciting in a strange way that makes me alternate between wanting to scream and wanting to crawl into a corner. Strange how that works. Still, I think it is more than just a little sweet that the sisters offer to organize my book files for me, and convert papers to computer files to boot. That is going to spare me so much work and time...that I really should be using for more important things.

Dusk is already nearing by the time we finally get everyone’s paperwork down right, and by then I feel so bloody brain bruised that I decide to put the computer aside for a bit, so I can prepare dinner and eat it during a fun episode of “Medium”.

Afterwards I lounge for a few minutes and then get back to editing, which brings the mind to the present state of deadness. Hah.

A boring Blog for sure. Sorry ‘bout that. I’ll try to do better in the future.