Where's time going?

Song of the day: “Lo Hecho Esta Hecho” by Shakira. Back to She Wolf, apparently, hah.

Let’s get this puppy on the road, the sun is shining, and even though the wind is blowing somewhat fierce, I am looking forward to heading outside right now.

Yesterday was an incredibly busy day, so much to do and so little time, so let’s start at the beginning of it and see where it gets us. I woke up at the alarm, of course, and seriously pondered snoozing for another hour (or three) when I noticed that the sun was shining straight into my face, meaning that the clouds were gone and a beautiful day had arrived. Yay.

I would like to say I got all perky and literally bounced out of bed, but considering that would be a rather outrageous lie I’ll say I got out of bed and started the day, hah.
Laundry and other morning chores were waiting of course, and once they were done, it was time to head up to our tenant for her exercises. She did a lot, actually managed to cross the old paddock to get to her place so there’s lots of kudos for her efforts.
She did end up sore all over from the effort, but it was wonderful that she managed it after all. She was really proud too, and that is a pleasure to see.

The weekly load of dog food arrived right after and we needed to haul that down to the carport, as well as our tenant, who was looking forward to spending a cozy afternoon on my porch. Considering it is located in the full sun, and out of the wind, it is a rather perfect spot for her.

Next, we started preparing the day’s work, which consisted out of removing the old broken concrete threshold under the gate and putting the beginnings of a new one underneath. It took us about half an hour to smash the old concrete and cart if off, and then another hours to set a casing before I could start mixing concrete and pour it. We did manage it, however, and considering we had to finish it before we were able to get our tenant back to her cabin, so she was a tad chilled. Luckily, the stove got her warm in record time.

Before dusk, we had to go to the village with Yama (crossbreed) because she has been getting way to skinny and needed to be checked out by the vet. After an hour of tests and whatnot, it was decided that she should stay the night, because she’s piling up fluids in paws and lungs, so they need to get rid of them while still putting her on a drip to prevent dehydration. We should be able to go over there and pick her up today.

Middle sister was with us, so we took the opportunity to go for a jog and get another load of rocks. The jog went rather well, I did the full distance and was winded, rather than ready to drop dead at the end of it. Hah.

Once we got home, I was a tad exhausted and more than a little chilled, so I took a really hot shower, changed into warm clothes and barely managed to write a page before my eyes started to droop. Since writing really doesn’t go well when one is battling fatigue, big brother and I decided to go on a “scavenge hunt” and that was a successful endeavor to say the least. Got back two hours after midnight with a full car…which we had to unload in a chilling northern wind (the stars were pretty, what with the clear night, but seriously, it was like standing in ice; my teeth were chattering afterwards) because our tenant needed to go to her monthly doctor’s appointment this morning.

When I finally got my dogs up to my cabin, Knight II got nipped at by little brother's Lab, Mati, so now he's got a couple of holes in his side, poor boy. So dangerous, these attempts from Mati, 'cause if Knight gets pissed at him, he's the proverbial toast. Nothing to serious, it'll heal, and maybe leave behind a small scar of two. *sigh*

So, yeah, yesterday was a busy day. Not much time for frivolous things such as food, rest and relaxation (hahaha) but a successful day, all things considered. Now, all I need, is hear that Yama is doing well, and I’ll take a nap or something. Oh wait, I had an extra fifteen minutes of sleep this morning. Never mind.

Sunny Monday.

Song of the day: “All this time” by Maria Mena, still a wonderful song, even though I’ve had it in my head several times now.

Well, yesterday was an incredibly busy day for all parties involved, considering the day before that was basically finishing everything that could be finished of little brother’s bed before going out for a rock scavenge that brought us home with a full load challenging the car, hah.
That, of course meant that yesterday was all about seeing whether or not my calculations and design worked out at all…it did. Yay.

A solid hour before dusk we finished up with setting the bed up (now it’s waiting to see if little brother slept well, or not, ‘cause he really doesn’t like change all that much, hah) and slid the trundle section of it underneath and it fit and everything, oh my gawd! I was so bloody relieved I couldn’t stop smiling the rest of the evening. Now all I need to do is attach a big ol’ piano hinge with the closure of the front and it’s all done. It looks good, that’s a fact…and he seemed happy enough with it.

After finishing up with the bed, clearing up tools and such, it was time to head out for our jog, which went well and was rather fun, since we didn’t do distance today, but versatile endurance…meaning we went straight up an incline that had be pitted and dug out by construction workers. I felt very Rocky Balboa-ish reaching the top, hah. During the cool down I did land on my butt…very embarrassing, I know, since the ascend and descend went so well, but there I went, foot lost its place and poof. The fun part is, by the time we finished gathering rocks, went home and started unloading, I lifted a particularly heavy rock, and once again lost my footing to land on my butt once more. Luckily the rock landed between my feet, rather than on it, and for a moment I just lay there on the ground, staring at the stars (they were gorgeous by the way) and marvelled at my good fortune. Hah.

Like the night before, there was a writing session, but compared to the Saturday when I wrote more than five pages in one stretch of a few hours, now I managed only two. Considering the night wasn’t over yet, I seriously pondered catching a catnap in my chair, but the next thing I new it was time to head on out for our weekly scavenge hunt, hah…I love calling it that, really. We take the week’s garbage out, and usually end up with a whole new wood supply of whatever it is people threw away. Marvelous. There is no such thing as garbage when it concerns wood; there is always something you can use it for, and we definitely do. Hah. It is actually more fun than buying new wood (though new wood has it’s charm too) since you often have to be more creative.

We didn’t get home until after two, and I can honestly say that I was more than ready to call it quits for the day…I have that a lot these days I’ve found. It takes me all of a minute to get to sleep and when I do I’m usually out for the following four hours without conscious thought whatsoever. Then the dreams start, of course, and they can be a tad annoying (I severely dislike it when they seem so real I actually doubt about events when I wake) in those final hours of sleeping.

So what else…I just might be blanking again, oh no, wait…we fixed the rowing machine. Yes, it is working splendidly now, so I might actually get some rowing in, in the near future. A nice little story about Knight II, the eejit:

I’m on my way up to my cabin in the evening, and big brother holds Knight II until I’m at the gate, so he won’t bowl over Bommel right on the threshold (he tends to do that, the big lug). So I open the gate, my other dogs dash through—gawd, I wish they didn’t make such a racket doing that—and I call out for big brother to let Knight II loose. He comes storming across the courtyard full speed, aims for the gate, which I’m holding open with a shake of my head. The Dane reaches the gate, looses his footing a bit, slams his back paw against the post (really hard) and blithely continues on on three paws this time. Now, if that isn’t insane, I don’t know what is. I don’t think I’ve ever met a dog that is this careless about his own well-being. I swear, he’d break his leg and then just try to continue on.

The weather is absolutely splendid today, the sun is shining and the temperatures are almost spring like, so I really should...Hmmm. This will have to do for now, seeing as I’ve taken more time than I should writing today’s blog. Nine veggie oven dish is baking, so I’m really going to enjoy my supper, hah, just finished preparing it before sitting down for blogging, so the place is smelling of roasted garlic, onion and green herbs…my mouth is watering. *sigh*

An update.

Song of the day: “Lucky for you” by Espen Lindt. Great song, and not at all bad to have haunting through my head. Hah.

It’s a “wonderfully” rainy day right now (yep the quotation marks are sarcasm, hah). Oh boy, did it come down in buckets this morning, and that after a clear starlight sky that was more than a little chilly. Gawd, my butt felt like a clump of ice…still does, actually.

Let’s think what all happened in the past couple of days, it’s all a little blurry for some reason, which could be caused by the fact I overslept by a whopping twenty minutes. Grrr. I hate it when that happens, throws the day out of whack.

Yesterday: ah yes, we finished the extension of the carport, yay! It looks bloody great, adding a whopping 27 square feet of roof for an area that promises to see a lot of action during the winter.
Good thing too, considering today’s weather, it was a good thing too, ‘cause else we would have been a lot wetter.

Also, during the day (yesterday that is) we also used the jackhammer to cut the rock path deeper, which was another good thing today, since it allowed the rain to follow the gutter better. Soon, well, just as soon as weather turns again (the beautiful thing of Spain; the sun is bound to come back out again within days) we’re going to pour the concrete path down to the carport. It will make the trip down for our tenant a lot more pleasant.

At the moment she is enjoying participation, and is using her time to sort out screws (those silly little boxes keep falling down and mixing up, darn it) for us. It is a good task, seeing as her left hand still only works when she is seeking balance, and she enjoys being useful. The bonus for us is that we’ll save time on needing to rummage through a massive pile of screws every time we’re building something.

So yeah, yesterday involved carpentry, such as finishing the carport roof, and chopping, shovelling and hauling rock down the mountain. It was chilly, sure, but a pleasant day nonetheless. Added to that, we went on a scavenge hunt and got home with a big pile of bricks, several poles of metal, and thirty boards that will be absolutely wonderful for making another closet, or shelving in the near future.

This morning, during a break in the rain, we quickly unloaded the car and found out that there almost isn’t any room left in the old horse stable for storage. We’re going to have to expand that roof too, hah.

Book corrections are still going on, it is an ongoing process, and I am really not in the mood to spend a lot of time writing about it right now.

Oh my gawd, some moron in town threw away several bags of screws and the likes, so we’ve got new stocks there too. Long ones, narrow ones, short, thick everything. Yep, they’ll see us through several more constructions.

The dogs aren’t liking the cold much either, seriously, during the rain they had their tails between their legs, wet and muddy, trying to find dry spots to curl up into. The idiots. Of course it wouldn’t occur to them to just stay inside. No. They gotta be out there with us, roaming between our feet, getting in the way and then looking all hurt and bothered when you just barely catch yourself before falling flat on your face.

And this is about all for today. Gotta get back to work and freeze my cold butt again. Yay.

The usual.

Song of the day: “Lucy in the sky” by Katie Melua. It just kept going and going, and even though I tried to change the tune by starting another, I would just find myself switching back to this one as soon as I wasn’t paying attention.

I basically started the morning (yesterday) with a big load of laundry…so what else is new, right? Hah. Next, it was up to our tenant’s place so we could start her rehabilitation exercises. It went rather well, actually, and she enjoyed it, which is the most important thing, I think. She walked a total of thirty yards (the biggest part with us offering a little balance on both sides) and a third of that with only minimal support and her cane…the cane was the first time, so she was thrilled.

We also did arm exercises: the doctors said she would never again be able to move her arm, and yet here she is, moving it from side to side and even clasping her fingers around our hand when she tries to keep her balance. We’ve found that when she doesn’t think about it, but does stuff on instinct the appendage wants to work just fine. I think that with the right exercises and practice she can get at least eighty percent of her mobility back…given time, of course. We will see, however, and as long as she has fun with the process, success is already halfway there.

Right, what else…Yeah, little sister’s new bed/closet is working out nicely. Tight, straight and strong, while cute anyway. Last night, at the end of our outside workday, I decided to go to her room to do my first measurements (yeah, I know, I’m supposed to do measurements up front, but I…ehm, sorta forgot, hah) and found that the design will fit, like, perfectly. Phew.

The drawers slide, the doors don’t stick and aren’t too small either, so, yeah. Good job! I’m most curious what it’s going to look like once we’re done. It’ll certainly create more room, while allowing for more storage. Yep. I can hardly wait to see the end result.

My storage trunk is being repaired and painted too, and looks rather fancy with it’s golden metal sections. I’m going to have to remove a small cabinet to place it in my bedroom, but then I’ll have room for the desk that is going to be in my sitting room, so…who cares.

I also spent some time working in the courtyard. I needed to put heavy metal hooks into the rock wall, where the laundry baskets can be hung. There was a broken closure in the window that needed to be replaced, and my old laundry table was really getting to be too rotten for use, so I put in a new one. Once I got out the old shelving there too, it looked rather neat and usable.

While the sibs and I were working by the carport terrace, big brother and grandpa put in the new door for middle sister. It fit perfectly and is of a solid white wood that will finally work properly. The old one was really falling apart, so now that looks good again.

There was another short scavenge hunt last night, considering we had to go to town to return the DVDs we rented Tuesday; they were late, of course, so there was a fine. And then we went past the department store where we found the shoes for big brother. Since they are so comfortable, and getting shoes for him is such a chore in most cases, he wanted to buy an extra pair, but they were out of that particular size, so that was a bust.

On the scavenge hunt we found quite a bit of wood, which had grandpa thrilled again, naturally. Had the cab nicely full, so that was a successful conclusion of the day. We’re starting to get a good stash of slats to cover the outside of little sister’s room…it has been an eyesore ever since we built it.

Seeing as we were late getting back from the “hunt”, we did a short editing/rewriting session by the end of the day. Slowly, but steadily we’re making our way through the already-written part, and new ideas for the rest of the story are starting to develop, allowing for a plotline setup. As matter of fact, big brother is putting it down right now, while I’m racing through the blog. Hah.

This morning the pocket watch, we got for grandpa came in, and he seemed nicely surprised with the out of the blue present. Seeing as he doesn’t like wearing a wristwatch, we thought a pocket watch would do the trick nicely.

There was a lot of sawing this morning, the backs of little sister’s bed/closet, the top of the bench drawers that’ll be at the foot end of the bed, and of course slats to finish it all off. The chair that matches my new desk got a new seat put in, this morning…very hard making a rounded board, but still, it was a successful endeavor. We also unloaded the car, increasing the supplies considerably. Our tenant really enjoys this part of it, since we’ll be working outside where she’s seated in the sun most mornings, reading, and chatting a little.

With the car empty once more, it was back down to the car port, where big brother proceeded to take mom’s AC apart for a proper cleaning.
But anyway, this afternoon when big brother and grandpa are going over to the store to get the metal for the new front gate of the property (finally), as well as cement and butane gas for the stoves, little sister and I should be able to finish the bed/closet. At least, as completely as possible, before we can put the construction in her room.

We might need to make trip to the vet soon. Nanook (a malamute husky) appears to have growth of sorts on her paw, and if it is remotely like the one Njanna (golden retriever) had, it’ll need to be removed. Angie (middle sister’s Basset Hound) was feeling poorly, but now that she’s on an antibiotic she appears to be feeling better, so that is one less dog that needs a medical consult. Phew.

And that concludes the Blog for now. I really need to get back to work, so…

Winter's near. Brrr

Song of the day: There were several yesterday, and most of them were infomercials, so I’m not going to list them all up. It was downright ridiculous.

Let me think as to what all has happened in the past couple of days. Thankfully the edit is slowly progressing, and we now have about one chapter done in the rewrite. Phew. It is so very tough to get used to the new characters after a year of Nina and Rory, but Callie and Alex are slowly starting to grow on me. The dialogue is starting to smoothen, and the actions of the two protagonists are beginning to get more natural. I think we’re getting into the swing of it.

The shelving project is all done, standing beautifully in my bedroom beside the new wardrobe. It looks great, and now that all the old closets (they were falling apart) are out and torn down into rubbish pieces and stuff that can still be used, there’s a lot of room, which I love.

There was another fight between Groovy and Mati…this sometimes happens when there’s bad blood between two dogs; it’ll take a while for them to get over it. We’re going to have to keep them apart for a bit now, but soon they’ll have forgotten all about it, they always do.

Lots of wind again. Yesterday there were heavy winds from the west…which hardly ever happens…and these tore the roof plates of the old horse stable, which meant that big portions of yesterday and today were spent reattaching the plates (we had to gather them from all over the place) and taking two big ones from the courtyard roof to replace those that were damaged beyond repair. The darn things should hold now…I hope.

Though the nights are starting to get pretty darn cold, big brother and I did two more runs. The moon is no longer out at this time, but luckily the stars are bright enough to make a relatively visible road for us. The progress is slow, but I am starting to notice improvement with the runs. Big brother can already do the whole piece without needing to catch his breath, and I’m slowly doing bigger stretches at an even pace. Whenever I can’t keep it up, I just switch to a brisk pace instead, which does the trick well enough. It’s not as if I want to push myself. I want the process to be fun and natural.

There were three more “prison breaks” of the chinchilla into the rabbit cage, poor thing. It looks all harassed when he’s in with the two bunnies, and yet it continued to attempt escape. Now the rabbit cage has been fully closed off, so the chinchilla should remain in place in the future. It’s so strange that it kept trying to get out, when every time I put it back, it crawled up against its sister and immediately started to snooze.

The traumatized puppy we’re trying to get over the shock is slowly showing improvement. It’s (Niobe) less scared now, and will actually join the other dogs again without making a racket. His little brother, Morpheus, on the other hand, is starting to be a rascal though. Hah.

More carpentry projects, such as repairing (or repairing) drawers, are in full swing, and finally drawing to an end. Painting is still prominent, too, and to keep things interesting big brother and I have gone on a “scavenge hunt” at the nearby landfill. We found a lot of raw materials again, which has replenished the slowly depleting supplies. We’re going to have to go out more often in the future, since we’re going through the stuff at a fast rate. There really isn’t much that’s more fun than do actual recycling of stuff people just threw away. Something that looks downright horrid and then making it look beautiful again is certainly very satisfying.

The recently remodeled office is working out well, by the way. When the dogs join us in the space during the evening it warms up nicely, making it an excellent spot when winter gets to be in full swing. The only thing that still needs to be done is put in proper power outlets ‘cause the old ones aren’t sufficient at all.

A bit of disturbing news is that middle sister’s dog Rhumba appears to be feeling poorly. Last night the poor ten-year-old Samoyed had a high fever, but luckily, after we pumped antibiotics into him, he started to improve slowly. I do hope that he manages to overcome this particular problem; he really is too old to be messing around with diseases and such. For a while there, we were afraid that we were going to have to take him to the vet…in the middle of the night, mind you, and on a Sunday to boot.

Another bit of sad news is that we heard today that our maternal grandfather died sometime last week. It is not as if we had seen the man in a long time, or that he was an actual part of our lives, but still, it leaves an impression. From what we heard, he didn’t suffer and died peacefully in his sleep, so that is something at least.
Regretfully death is very much a part of life, no matter that there are times when we want to stop time from advancing.

Well, with that, another Blog comes to an end. I’m just about ready to call it a day now.

Two days in one. *sigh*

Song of the day: “One way or another” by Sophie Ellis-Bextor. I think I already had this one before. Considering I was unable to get yesterday’s Blog down, yesterday’s song of the day was: “Barrowland Ballroom” by Amy MacDonald.

So let me put together yesterday in a few words…or better yet one: Busy! Hah.
But of course I can’t leave it at that. I’m a yapper, and I have a serious case of TMI, so I’m just going to do a recount.

There was the edit, naturally, followed by building with rocks, plastering the upper part of an old window that has been waiting for completion since the house was built. The sand and cement we ordered from the construction company had arrived in the morning, so we had to start preparations for the pouring of concrete on top of the new terrace too.

Afterwards we went out to get reed canes. An old spot again, and though it wasn’t a marvellous spot like the later one we found, it was closer and access was a lot easier. Rather than drive back the usual way, we decided to head the opposite direction, just to figure out where near town it led. On the way there a large truck was unloading old doors at the local landfill (probably from a hospital or motel, or something) which we just had to have.

Grandpa would like to have the rock wall in his kitchen covered up against dust and such, so for that the perfectly white doors would be the perfect solution. With just a little work we could put them together, slap on some paint and turn them into a beautiful wall. But, of course the car was already filled to full capacity so first we had to head home to deposit the load; not an easy task with the road construction going on.

We did, in the end, manage to get the doors (just barely, since the seven almost didn’t fit in the car) but by the time we were finally back for the second time, it was already midnight. We were pretty darn bushed, so after another hour of editing I really couldn’t muster the energy for the Blog…thus explaining why there wasn’t a new one yesterday.

So, let’s move on to today - yes, it was busy too, and I almost decided against doing today’s Blog as well, but my blogging addiction prevailed and here I am. Hah.

Okay, today: I was about half an hour early today, as was planned when we went to bed last night.

Concrete pouring day has arrived, so if we want to get any editing done we’re going to have to get cracking fast. We actually manage a solid six pages before two hours earlier than usual.
The temperatures are still remarkably pleasant these past few days. Staying well under 30 degrees on the most part, and that is downright marvelous considering we’re doing so much outside work.

But anyway, first thing that needs to be done is remove the large rocks that are still lying on the terrace that we’re going to work on today.
Next is removing and cleaning everything else on it, before fences are set up to keep the dogs from getting in the way later on. The dogs are not happy, I tell you. They literally cluster around the new fencing the moment they’re erected, looking as if we’re giving them corporal punishment rather than keep them at a two-yard distance from where we work. Gawd, they are so darn dependent. Hah.

But it works; they are safely behind the fence when middle sister and I start making cement.
The two youngest sibs have taken control over the sand supply, with little sister up on the mountain outside the fence where the sand is stored, little brother brings down the sand so we can supply big brother with cement.
Middle sister is soon preparing the cement and I disperse it wherever big brother needs it and so we start making the concrete floor.

Hours pass but the progress is excellent. After two hours of shoveling cement over the terrace, grandpa takes over from me, so I can help big brother create a smooth surface. Things really start to speed up by then, and before dusk arrives we have finally finished the floor. It’s looking gorgeous…I’ll add pictures at the bottom so you can see. Hah.

Big brother and I are both sore all over from the lifting, bending and squatting, so while the younger sibs head inside (They’re off to different ventures. Today the venture is a Soccer game on the TV…I don’t know where they’ve got it from, but for some reason they love it) big brother and I decide to head for the sea for a quick dip. After bending over most of the afternoon, doing a total different exercise is just what the doctor ordered, so to speak.

It takes us ages to find a parking spot in town. For some reason today the tourists were all out on the Boulevard, but we do manage to park the car in the end, and dive in to crawl a little and then float in the waves for a bit. The sea was rather pleasant today, nice and warm, and the waves gentle but reasonably high.

Once we’re back home, I’m running a little late on the Blog, so it’s a relatively short one, so who cares.

Here’re the pics of today’s project:



One side of the before.



The other side before.



After. Nice and smooth, isn't it?



After too. Yeah, it stunned me too that we actually managed it, but working together you really can get a lot done.

Well, that's it for today. I'm gonna be out like a light in no time tonight, I'm thinking.

A wonderful evening in the woods.

I am properly on time this morning, doing about fifteen minutes of stretches on my porch…the sun is shining wonderfully when I get up…before I start on the morning rituals and then head for the house. Trin Trin the Monster Boxer is her usual crazy self, while we walk down, tugging on the stick I carry and bracing her paws every which way in an attempt to tear it from my hands.

Once I’ve deposited my luggage, I hang and fold the new batch of laundry and then have a quick breakfast as the coffee percolates. Considering I’m early this morning I’ve already finished my morning meal when big brother and grandpa arrive, and start their usual morning discussion.

I listen to them with half an ear when I set up my laptop and get settled to read what I wrote yesterday. I do only a few alterations, shuffle some sentences around and then remind big brother that we still have today’s edit to do. At long last he joins me and in the following hours we manage about six pages of the manuscript.

It’s a good scene. A character builder, if you will. I think it will give another interesting angle to the hero of the story, making him more sympathetic and ehm…deep. It works well, for as far as I can see, creating a background for him, which was something one of my test readers complained about, and at the same time, humanizing him. Big brother is pleased, and that is always a good thing when editing is concerned.

We start working on the wall a little early today, since afterwards we want to head out into the woods for more rocks, and the sun is shining bright through the sporadic clouds that mark the vibrant blue sky overhead, there’s no reason to postpone it. There is a sweet scented breeze coming from the sea, making the temperatures perfect for heavy manual labor.

I get outside first, taking off my sweater when the warmth beings to seep into my limbs. Without hesitation I start hauling rocks, piling them up on the edge of the old wall, so that when the sibs arrive we can lift them down into the strip of garden that takes up a small section of the courtyard. Fifteen minutes into the chore I exchange my long sleeved T for a top, fully enjoying the sun on my skin.

Since most of the main wall has been brought up to height already–only a small section needs to be build up still–I decide to start working on the old section that needs to be build up another foot or so in order to give it the same height as the rest.

While big brother helps little sister with the section she insists on finishing herself, little brother helps me with the broad section on the old wall by supplying me with the cement middle sister is mixing for us all.

Today I might even get a bit of tan, considering I am standing in full sunshine for most of the building session, it is a viable option. It is actually kind of invigorating, the breeze, the warmth, all in all a wonderful combination, and by the time the sun is lowering towards the southwestern mountain we call it a day.

Big brother left a little earlier, since he has offered to prepare dinner, but he comes out again by the time we have chased the dogs into the courtyard and he and I prepare to head on out to get more rocks for the next few days.

With grandpa joining in, we make it to the other side of the mountain in record time…it is Sunday nonetheless, and traffic is minimal at most…and slowly make our way up the narrow trail that leads us to a section where construction has torn up the ground.

There are plenty of rocks to pick from, and for the next half hour or so we haul piles of them to the truck bed, until it is filled to the top. That done we get momentarily distracted by the multitude of young plants that have sprung forth from the ground during the rather wet winter we’ve had.

Considering that we intend to cultivate the small garden that borders the wall, we’re going to need a lot of plants, and for another half hour we scour the mountainside in search for suitable growths that are young enough for easy removal.
We find quite a few, and dally quite a bit as we admire the beautiful spring greens that have sprouted everywhere.

There is a scent of thyme in the air, combined with fennel, mosses, grass and spruces that grow tall on blackened rocks and thin layers of soil. Grandpa is fascinated by the fact that there are so many young oaks all over the place, especially since they seem to have sprung out of nowhere amidst the somewhat morose spruces.

At long last, when the sun is lowering behind the horizon we start on our way home. By the time we exit the path, and with it the wooded area, the sky is a mix of bright pink and gray, creating a rather impressive view as we drive into the village and make our way around the mountain.

Darkness has fallen by the time we arrive home and place the plant sprouts in water so they’ll make it through the night. Once inside the house we eat a quick dinner, prepared by big brother before we left, and watch a TV show before the night has drawn to an end.

Dogs get cleared of more ticks then, plans for tomorrow are made, and the time for me to head on up to my cabin arrives. With my dogs in tow I make my way up the steep slope and let the dogs rush ahead of me.

I do some quick cleaning, while my dogs eat and then change into my pjs before setting down for tonight’s Blog and messages. I’m pretty exhausted, so in that regard I’m rather happy that nighttime has fully arrived.