Still alive

So much has happened, so much to tell, but not the energy to do it today. Many changes over here in my world. None of them the good kind, and lots of sad news to share. Haven't gotten more than five hours of sleep per night on the average, and we have all been running all over the place since disaster struck last week.

I'm gonna tell all, but not now. First I need to sleep.
I'll be back.

Hospital toils continued

Right. Let’s do this again. I'm writing this while While waiting at the hospital I had "Coconut" by Harry Nillson in my head, which was a nicely smooth song that kept me properly entertained while we waited. Sally had to be admitted to the hospital, which meant endless waiting once more while the annoyed doctor ordered us about. Something got her knickers in a twist for sure, and it wasn’t us. Very unpleasant.
Isn’t the state hospital fun. Oh, if only we were filthy rich and able to go to some private place where you’re more than just a number, right? Ah well, on to the past few days.

There were of course the normal chores. The beauty of laundry (*snort*), getting food ready for the dogs. They were their usual monstrous selves, naturally. Flying into the food as if they hadn’t eaten in a week rather than the previous morning…and whatever snack they managed to steal, meaning a lot, because I can’t tell you how often I turn around and find a sandwich gone, or a block of cheese, or a tub of butter. Nasty dogsies. They’re a sneaky lot for sure.

What else. Well, I got a little distracted chatting online yesterday. It happens sometimes. I start talking, having fun, and before you know it quite some time has passed without me doing a single constructive thing. *sigh* But okay, just a few hours lost that did lift my spirits a little. And afterward I also managed to get the basis of the five paragraph synopsis down. Gawd that’s hard. I mean seriously, condensing a big story down to that is almost criminal. Hah. But anyway, I persevered, managed to win that battle, and can now spend some time sorting through it, polish it, and in the end send it to an agent I found who is actively looking for new clients.

Considering cousin Ed and Sally spent the entirety of the day at the hospital, first for her scan and then for the docs to check up on her leg, so I cooked a nice cauliflower soup for their return, and left it to simmer.

What else? Well, there was the yard to see to, of course, but regretfully I didn’t find the time to go there because before we knew it, big brother and I had to head for town to return a non-functioning blender to the shop, do a few groceries, and pick up a small donation. Regretfully such things cost time, and we didn’t get back home until after nine in the evening.

Luckily we still had leftovers from yesterday, so cooking was just a matter of tossing stuff into a pan and letting it heat. We managed only a little reading after that and decided to go to bed early for a change so we could have an early start. I was in bed at one. Yay!

Did have to get up earlier this morning, though, because there was a lot to do before we could go to our lessons. The usual chores, naturally, and then doing a quick run of this weeks homework because I simply didn’t get to it until this last moment. Time went way to fast, of course. Barely had time to stuff some food in my mouth and before you know it we were on our way to our lessons.
It didn’t go bad. Not at all, in fact. Had actual conversation with good sentences, and apparently most of the phrases I did for my homework were correct. Yay. Progress at least. If I ask myself if I’m learning anything, I constantly worry that it isn’t working, but considering that I can actually make our teacher understand stuff, means that I am getting somewhere.

Our lessons over, we had to head for town to pay our car insurance. A thing we get to do again in a couple of weeks for the friggin’ Opel. *Sigh* Did get to chat with our insurance agent, who’s always friendly and takes care of everything rather beautifully. She’s not looking so well lately, though. A tad pale, so I think she’s not getting out enough.

Headed back home, arriving there just after three for me to eat that obligatory bit of meat. Yes, I choked one down again (Good Sammie) which I celebrated with a much needed nap. Now, if only I had crawled under a blanket, because I only dosed until I thought of it and thus only slept deeply for about fifteen minutes. *sigh*

No matter, though. While big brother made supper (spinach with cheese on macaroni) for us, I made some for tenant who still isn’t willing to eat normal meals but insists on mashes. She finds chewable stuff to be too tiresome, for some reason. Regretfully, she doesn’t realize that that won’t get any better until she trains herself a little.

Sally had a doctor’s visit this morning where she was told, once again, to move more, and to wash herself more frequently. Hygiene is a problem for her, in particular now, when she finds any movement too much effort. This was, of course, before we got ordered back to hospital.

I was just starting on my blog when the call came. In fact, while I write this, it is almost midnight, and it doesn’t look like things are going to go any faster any time soon, darn it.
Ah well, I’m gonna see if I can post this just as soon as I arrive home. Gawd, I do hope we’ll get to bed at a decent time after getting Sally settled for the night.

I made it home after all. Hah.

Nodding off again

Song of the day: “This is it” by the great Michael Jackson of course. If you’re forced to be saddled with an earworm, you might as well have a good one in your head.

Okay. I’m going to start with the bad news and take it from there.
This morning, after little more than three days of “feeling under the weather” we were forced to have Tallis put down. I was handling it well enough, until I started writing this blog and started looking for a picture of him between the gazillion of pictures that I’ve got stored in a file somewhere. Dogs pics aplenty, with more than twenty of them featuring dogs that have passed away during the past few years, darn it. Have you any idea how depressing that is? Not to mention that you want a picture of a dog that was not only people shy but camera shy as well. I’m pretty sure I’ve got a pic somewhere but I’m going to have to show it later when I’m in a better mood .

Tallis:
We rescued poor Tallis from Triple A (a local shelter where we liberated plenty of dogs) when he was nigh on eight weeks old. He was this tiny dog sitting miserably in the corner of this big run filled with noisy puppies. He sat there, his back legs spread wide, his fat little tummy bulging between them as he watches us suspiciously. We were sold on the spot, what with his white fur and fox colored spots, including one eye socket, creating a rather fun effect. He was a shy, but happy puppy, right up until he was hit with a round of Parvo as a three month old puppy. He lost his tummy then, and with it his cheerfulness, I fear.
Though Tallis always enjoyed following big brother around, and continued to do that right until the end, he had, what appears to be, a stroke maybe two months ago. Since then his tongue lolled out, and he had trouble with his balance. That didn’t stop him from following big brother around, though.
Then, in the last few days things got worse, leaving us with this morning when he basically froze up and practically fell over before big brother could reach him. That was it. That was enough. We weren’t going to drag it out this time, because that just wouldn’t be right.
So, the dreaded decision was made (after I had Knight IIs bandage changed) and he passed on without a fuss and without an effort. Poor guy…except of course that he had a good long life, what with being born in 1998.

Which reminds me. I’m going to have to take Chaos along to the vet tomorrow. Clearly someone bit him in his ear, and now there’s some skin hanging there. *sigh* He’s now even more grumpy than usual.

Okay, I’ve been a little blue during the day, not to mention sore, since I apparently pulled my knee yesterday when I had to compensate to keep from falling flat on my face. *sigh* In case you missed it, yesterday was a working day for me and big brother. We were over at Liane’s and built the pillar there. At first we didn’t know if we were going to manage getting there, seeing as the weather was poor when we got up and discussed our options. There were clouds everywhere, but the forecasts claimed there was only a small chance that there would be rain.

So we decided to go…which meant loading up the entire car still, because grandpa hadn’t gotten around to it in the morning, due to the AM showers. *sigh* Not doing that again. Next time I want everything loaded and ready when it’s time to go. We loaded up food, drink and then we were on our way. Despite some rain on the way there, the weather was wonderful yesterday. A bit nippy and cloudy, but doable.

Liane was there most of the day, so there were some distractions. Added to that a friend of hers was there too, and together they took out the roses she wanted out of the way while big brother and I got started on the pillar.
Managed to get it all done during the course of the day, so, yay. Is looking good, I took a couple of pictures halfway there, but it was already getting too dark when we finally finished up and started cleaning up after ourselves.

We were a little late driving home, but when we got there (big brother couldn’t keep his eyes open on the way back so we exchanged seats with me behind the wheel instead. Not smart to do driving when your eyes want to go to sleep. Eh?) we had to quickly unload, lock up my dogs again, and head on out again to pick up some stuff.

Which was the theme for today, by the way. I was away from home for more than six hours. First taking Knight to the vet (an Tallis). Then to the construction company, some small things to pick up in the village and then on the way home. Right after we headed for town to get the load of beams we need for the balcony. Managed to get the whole lot up on the imperial, so that was reassuring, despite one beam being more than 150 feet long. But we succeeded and even managed to get the supplies we needed (screws to go all the way through). Didn’t get home until after five, and once we stored away the wood, cleaned out the Land Rover and had a quick snack, we had to go to the village again. First off to drop the chainsaw at the repair shop, and second to pick up some extra veggies for the dog food. Ended it all with a trip to the pharmacy for mom, and then it was back home where dog food still had to be finished cutting, while big brother baked spaghetti with peppers and onions.

Have a bit of a swollen knee by the way. Pulled it yesterday hauling something or other.
There was laundry, of course, cooking, breakfast and all that jazz.
Plans of the outside kitchen are once again in motion. You won’t believe the spot we’re thinking of now. I’ll take pics.

Gawd, I need sleep. I can barely keep my eyes open and already needed to delete three nonsense sentences because I dropped of. I’ll try to find that picture of Tallis later this week, or something.

Not much going on.

Song of the day: “I’m too sexy for my car” by Right said Fred. I know, talk about inappropriate while I’m still pretty much sick as a dog. It ain’t pretty, I tell ya, and well, therefore (my that sounds fancy) I’m going to keep today’s blog as friggin’ short as I possibly can.

It’s not like there is a lot to say anyway. It’s not like I’ve done all that much these past few days, except sleep, and maybe having feverish dreams, which, of course would be interesting to write about, if I were so inclined…but since I’m not…ah well.

Lots of napping going on all ‘round, seeing as all the sibs are ill as well, so there really isn’t all that much to report. I don’t think I’ve slept this much in years, and it did do a world of good compared to the way I was feeling yesterday, and the day before that.

Heck, I barely managed bringing grandpa to town yesterday, to get butane canisters with the car. Yikes, I really had to pay a lot of attention while driving.

Today was a little less bad, and we actually managed to get some work done in the yard, seeing as the sun came out again.
The raspberries and brambles now have fencing with which they can grow high. And I put in the kiwis down by the fence, which are going to need extra support in the near future, but will manage just fine for now.

Also, some of the young eucalypti were really disappearing below the weeds, so I had to free them, and by the time big brother trimmed the big mimosa and I’d cut out some dirt from the path little sister is working on, the afternoon was over. Though it kept the water from the guest quarters, there was some mud gathering during the rain, so a gutter was necessary. By then, I was running on fumes only and figured it was enough for a day.

And so’s this blog, ‘cause I’ve just about had it and wanna go take another long nap.

PASSED!!!!!!!!

I’m at least twelve hours late with today’s Blog. I know, it’s dreadful of me, but I needed to get to bed really, really early in order to make it to the exams in time. The exams were the reason why I didn’t have time to write yesterday, so we’ll start with a short sum-up of what happened yesterday.

Very little happened, I’ll tell you that much. Hah.
It was all about the lesson (five friggin hours again, aargh) and the delicious pizza little brother prepared just for the occasion. It worked perfectly too. On my insistence he used real yeast, which certainly made all the difference.

Let’s just say I ate way too much–on purpose, of course–and was seriously stuffed, even when it was time to go to bed. Hah.
I read for a bit, just for relaxation, and then went to bed without my usual ritual of doing the day’s Blog first. That did feel a little weird. In the past 150 days or so, I’ve gotten used to writing it in the evening. Sort of like at the movies; “And…that’s a cut!” but then for my day. I kept having a feeling that I was forgetting something huge.

Ah well, it was worth it, I guess. Though I was only in half-sleep until dawn–the exam day already whirling through my head, constantly and without pause–I did drop off for three solid hours, leaving me feeling semi-revived when it was time to get up and get ready to depart.

First thing’s first, however: The moment my alarm shrieks, I sit up immediately, blinking owlishly at the dogs and trying hard to sort through my brain until recollection of the reason why the alarm is going off surfaces.

I groan, roll out of bed and hurry to the door to let the confused looking pack out the door. They hesitate for only a moment and then storm out into the early morning, dashing into the yard at their usual speed.

Shaking my head at their noisy antics, I head back inside to wash…with cold water, mind you, ugh…get dressed in house clothes and then go down to bring the dogs to the courtyard.

I meet up with big brother in the kitchen, constantly exchanging reminders of stuff we need to remember for the exams, chewing on a slice of bread and slurping down strong coffee.

Within record time we’re both heading up to the car and pulling out of the gate to head to town. Seeing as our instructor has a tendency to be late, we really don’t need to hurry. When we arrive at the school and see that he isn’t there, we have a moment to relax and wait in the car until he’s there.

Fifteen minutes later he comes tearing around the corner and soon we are on our way. The practice run goes smoothly and without error, and since I’m first, as soon as the exam guy arrives we’re on our way. Within fifteen minutes my turn is over and I get to pull into a stop, feeling more than a little relieved that I’m done, no matter the end-result.

Big brother and I exchange places and for the next fifteen minutes he tries his luck. By the time we’re done, we are send away while our instructor discusses the exam with the man “of power” giving us five minutes of worry.

When the two men get out, our instructor is smiling and declares that even though big brother would have failed with another instructor, we both got a “passed” and are finally utterly done with the chore of sacrificing and average of fifteen hours a week. Yay.

WE PASSED!

Our theory exam teacher is thrilled, bouncing about and cheering…what can I say, she’s enthusiastic…and then looking proudly at the form that says, “passed” before carefully filing it away. With a final payment of sixty bucks and a handshake we say goodbye and leave the school for the very last time. Yay!

I call home as soon as we’re done, of course, receiving an immediate “congratulations!” from grandpa…who shares a lot of the credit, since he is the one responsible for us learning to “drive” in the first place. Through that we managed to get our exams with only eight hours each with a professional instructor at our side, rather than the required fifteen.

I’m so friggin’ relieved I still find myself releasing a sigh of relief, every hour, or so. Which brings this Blog to a conclusion.
I’ll write about the rest of the day tonight…I hope.

Overslept!

Way overslept this morning. It was at least two hours after my usual waking time and I could have snoozed on without any effort whatsoever, for as far as my bodily functions were concerned. The dogs, however, thought otherwise and were making their usual racket when it became clear to them that the alarm wasn’t working and I just kept on sleeping.

I had a rather interesting dream. We were traveling in the camper, it’s dimensions slightly larger than they in fact are, and far more luxurious than the bare essentials it holds reality. But luckily such thoughts don’t bother to surface in dreams. It was just pretty, and the way it was supposed to be.
I think that we were in France, in the dream. It was a warm autumn day, and we were staying at a camping ground that I remember well from the past.
I was taking a walk in the woods surrounding the camping, Knight (the first one) darting around me like he was young again, when in the distance I could see the familiar shape of Porky.
It is strange, but in my dreams he is always dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, which, admittedly was his outfit of choice. Hah.
In the dream I didn’t miss him as much as in real life. In the dream he was just there. Still, I was so happy to see him, laughing and increasing my pace so I would reach him sooner.
He smiled at me, reaching out his hand to take mine by the time I drew up to his side and together we moved along the narrow trail that curled through what appeared to be some sort of orchard. We talk, the way we used to, about pretty much everything, just being together, enjoying the late summer sun.
I’m still smiling when a choir of dogs begins howling in the distance, slowly drawing me away from the dream that I wouldn’t have minded sticking to for another hour or so.

Blinking awake, I stare out the window for a minute, slowly forcing myself to roll over and stretch out to hear the kinks pop in my limbs. It is then that I see the clock and notice the time, making me groan and get up and out, lest I mess up an entire day with lazing around.

My lungs still feel clogged, more than a little strained and they want to cough, but I fight it down while popping an extra dose of vitamin C. This unreliable body better fight this bug off, otherwise I’m going to be really pissed that’s a fact. Hah.

Once I get dressed and pull the blankets straight, I follow the dogs outside and start on my way to the house. The sun is shining again, and though the temperatures are still low for southern Spain, the warm beams on my face do make me feel a bit less frazzled by the time I reach the courtyard and let the dogs dash in ahead of me.

Yesterday’s laundry turns out to be dry, so as soon as I’ve discarded my bag, I head back outside and take it all down for folding. Only one quilt was washed during the night, so with that hung, I start on breakfast and set the coffee to percolate.

I’m a little fuzzy in the brain, so the first thing I do is wake myself up with some messages and chats, and then open the book files for some more writing today.
It doesn’t go as well as it did the past few days, but then, I didn’t actually expect that it would.

Continuing with the start of yesterday’s scene, I only manage to add about three pages before a rather short morning turns into evening. By then I get too distracted by activity of real life going on around me and I am unable to focus on the story any longer.

Realizing as much, I shut down the computer and carefully put it out of the dogs’ reach. Time to make dinner has arrived, and what with yesterday’s stir-fry still being a reasonable amount, I decide to add a few more veggies for a re-bake.
It takes only a little time, and soon everyone’s once again enjoying the meal that, as usual, tastes even better on day two.

I’m not feeling too energetic today, but still I manage to make myself put latches on the supply closet that has been gaping open ever since we made it. It was bugging the heck out of me, and though I tried to put in magnets, they weren’t strong enough to keep the heavy doors in place, thus ending up with the heavy latches that I now keep the doors firmly shut.

Afterwards, big brother and I talk for a bit, discussing possible projects and the recent positive feedback I received for one of my vegetarian recipes. What with the kitchen being pretty much done, we might be able to squeeze in a few hours to work on the recipe book I’ve been putting together for the past few years.

It’s not going to be mass publishing or anything, but perhaps those who wish to venture out into vegetarian eating with easy-to-make dishes that are definitely favored by the family, will be interested enough to check it out.

At the very least it’s a nice project to occupy ourselves with during the evenings, when writing the novels isn’t working anyway.
We spend several hours working on some nice pictures, and formatting the recipes that I’ve already placed in the cooking book after which midnight soon arrives.

Since–if the darn bug allows it–we need to go to school tomorrow (we already postponed it today) another good night’s rest is certainly detrimental to both of us.
So there I go, like every night following the dogs up the mountain and towards the cabin so I can feed them.

While they eat I manage to read a few more pages of the review book, and after changing into my pjs I set up the computer for tonight’s session.