Not done yet, darn it

Song of the day: “Somebody I used to know” by Gotye and Kimba. It’s been long enough now since the three day continuation of this particular song, not to mind anymore. Hah.

Still busy as heck, still way too much to do. Like today, I’m squeezing this little blog thing in here at around five in the afternoon, because I still have to go out, and probably have to do just that in just half an hour or so. *sigh* So little time, so much to do, right?

But okay, let’s stop dawdling and get down to business. Yesterday. Despite the time limit, big brother and I decided to just try and make it with the tree trimming business up in the mountains. Thirty trees, plus a handful of small ones were waiting for us, and we hoped, what with departing an hour early, we’d manage the chore…we didn’t. Hah. Ah well, can’t help it, worked hard, worked fast. Cut, sawed, and dragged, and as the hours passed it became clear that we wouldn’t make the five thirty deadline. We sure gave it our best shot, at times doubling it up the mountain, but it was all for naught. We’re gonna have to do another half day at the very least. That were a LOT of trees. Yikes. *sigh* Blasted deadline! Grrr. No matter, though, it’s only time, and as long as I look at it as fitness, who gives a bloody heck, right?

Getting home at six thirty, we unloaded wood from the car…since we have to get rid of the wood anyway, we took most of the thick stuff along for boiling of dog food and such. Got a nice batch, so in that regard we don’t mind all that much going again, there’s a bit more wood, so we’ll get something out of the extra hours. Hah.

But okay, once at home, we quickly helped cousin Ed load up the Opel for the Sunday market. It took only half an hour at this time. That done, I mixed a mayo and yogurt sauce for the potato and veggie salad cousin Ed had already prepared, at which time I was running on fumes and headed to my cabin for a nice little nap of about forty five minutes. Didn’t actually drop away, but it allowed me to stay awake afterward ‘til normal sleeping time, so, yay!

Which brings us to today, doesn’t it?
Well, I slept solidly. So solidly in fact that I didn’t even realize that it rained buckets during the night, until grandpa told me about it. Hah. Was nice enough, considering it meant that we didn’t need to go into the yard for watering at least. Just a bit of planting and harvesting instead. Hah.

For the rest of the day I worked in the carport. That decorative car I’m restoring? Well, it’s certainly getting there. I sprayed it with a lacquer that made the red paint I used on the body shine beautifully. Seriously, I will be posting pics of the process and the end result. Next Sunday the sibs and mom will try to sell it at the market.
In the end the wheels took most time, though. I had to get the rust off, and then paint all the tines and ridges. Not easy. Mixed a special paint for it too, seeing as I didn’t like silver or black with the reds and browns of the car. Ended with an iron gray/slate color. It’ll work nicely, I think.

That done, I started on restoring a small metal amphora standard that was so rusted that the old color had peeled and the shape had become oddly contorted. Ended up sanding and metal brushing the whole thing before painting it with a deep red metal paint. Will have to do the latter again, but what the heck. It’ll look nice for sure.

As for the markets, they didn’t go bad apparently, but not as good as they could have either. Cousin Ed sure had fun stories to tell. Her sunshield went flying, her clothes-rack toppled over and, well, the wind was a peach. Patrons were running all over the place trying to help her catch everything. Hah.

Editing...well, not much time for that the past few days, darn it. Time, energy and all that jazz is spread a little thin at the moment.

Akata (husky) really isn't doing well. Age is really catching up on him, I fear. He's from '98/99 at least, and well, now he really doesn't wanna eat anymore, and is just lying there, sleeping the day and night away. *sigh* So sad that.

Well, that’s it for today. Gotta go and all that. Let’s hope that the next time I write the trimming job will be done, eh? Hah.

Miscalculated

Song of the day: “Bruises” by Chairlift. Such a cute little song. Regretfully I’ve got a throat thing going at the moment, so my voice is too husky to hit all the high notes. *sigh*

So yeah busy, and late. So what else is new, right? Nothing new about that, I know. But I swear, I will take the time, one of these days, to do a proper blog again, but right now, it just isn’t possible. I’m going to have to hurry again. Like the day before yesterday, tomorrow is a work day for me, and, well I better get to telling about the last work day.

We were right on time getting up and checking up on everything we had already loaded in the car the night before. Everything was in place (we forgot three items, or so we discovered once we arrived on site *snort*) and after feeding the dogs, and ourselves (had to take our time because neither caregiver or grandpa were at home) we headed out on the road and went to work.

Took Knight II along, of course, and he behaved admirably all day. Didn't bark, kept an eye on me without getting in the way, and at some point found the shade to save himself from getting overheated. Silly big lug.

Didn’t dawdle much. Just opened the house up, turned on the water and electricity, and while big brother started checking the fence, I took my tools and slogged up the mountain. Boy, is that a steep incline. Our drive sweep has nothing on it, I swear. I kept my eyes on the ground (meaning about hip height) from fear of toppling backwards and had to change course several times to prevent a collision with a thorny bush or a tree. Hah.

I pondered going with an illusion (like starting below to make myself belief that progress was faster) but then decided to go with realism and started at the top to then work my way down one row at a time. Even timed myself in the beginning, so I could make a rough calculation as to the timing (I already started to suspect that I’d bitten more off than I could chew, by then, btw) and discovered that a small tree takes about five minutes, a mid-sized tree then to fifteen, and a big one fifteen to twenty. Managed to trim an average of five per hour, and got two and a half of those done before two in the afternoon. Didn’t go bad, all in all. Had a break after two, then slogged back up (I certainly got my exercise yesterday, yeah) SIX times during the day. Hah.

The olive trees, on the overall were looking good, despite the few measly ones on the edges that had suffered some heat damage. The almond trees, on the other hand were looking pretty miserable. Poor things. Lotsa dead branches (tough as heck, by the way, definitely pulled my shoulder again trying to go through a branch that was just a little too tough) and a poor crown of leafs. Didn’t dare to do more than trim them of some dead ends. I don’t think it would be smart cutting them up with the heat of summer just around the corner. They might start “bleeding”.

The neighbors arrived while we were busy…well, I was up there (my ankles were not appreciative of the steep rocky incline, hah), and big brother was digging, while also trimming several times.
I did start getting tired around four, meaning I wasn’t paying enough attention when I cut through a dead branch where a small nest of birds had made its home. Caught the darn thing just barely in time, when, a second to late, I noticed that there were young chicks in there. They kept incredibly still in their nest, and I could hear their mum chirp in protest just a few yards away, as I called down to big brother for some help. Luckily I was wearing gloves, and the nest held on the branch, so in the end we managed to hang it back in place, hurried up with the tree and then left the youngsters to their mum.

But anyway, what with big brother needing to finish some stuff on the fence, he managed only ten or twelve trees, while I did seventy to eighty during the course of the, we didn’t manage to succeed with the task. Another trip is warranted (about 30 more trees to go) for more trimming and the clean up, which should be a doozy what with the ground over there littered with branches and leaves.
I’ve gotta admit that I’m curious as to how those trimmed trees are going to look a little time from now. The first ones that I did the other day are looking particularly healthy and green. Some, as planned have the wonderful crooked shapes of Bonsai trees, so, yay! I love those. But what with the dead stuff I had to take out some of them yesterday, some are looking downright mutilated. *sigh*

We admitted defeat around seven and headed home. Didn’t manage much that evening, first of all because we had to unload, eat, catch up on messages, and then…well, let’s just say that I was more than happy to call it a day. The stupid shoulder was killing me.

Which brings us to today. It would have been nice to go back to work today, but tenant needed to have the Opel to go to the dentist (she got her new teeth, yay), grandpa’s moped gave the spirit again so big brother had to drive him to the garage for repairs, and mom and little sister needed to go out as well, meaning that we were without a car until the afternoon arrived. Grrr. Then the plan was to go tomorrow, which would be difficult, considering the fact that the cars need to be loaded up for the markets…Sunday was out anyway, and then about an hour after having decided to go on Monday, we remembered that the Opel has to go in for repairs prior to MOT. Aaaargh. In the end we decided to get up early tomorrow, and head out anyway. The weather should be relatively cool, so if we’re lucky we manage to get back in time for the sibs to load up. If not, they’re going to be seriously POed.
*sigh*

While big brother and grandpa were out to get the moped fixed, I was home alone, and spent my time working on restoring that small decorative classic car I’ve been working on for a bit now. Needed to mix four different kinds of paints to get the right color, but in the end it all worked out well. It’s looking rather splendid at the moment. I’ll take pictures.

That took several hours, and since the old bread for the bakery was not there, dog food was postponed until we managed to soak the kibble into edible bites. Poor dogs were starving by the time we got around to feeding them after noon.

Spent the majority of the afternoon in the yard. Harvested, watered, and generally seriously enjoyed myself down there. Seriously, I wouldn’t have minded staying in the yard all day. So relaxing. But of course I couldn’t. Had to cook supper. Tortellini with fresh tomato sauce, which we devoured in about ten minutes before we had to leave to pick up a donation in the city. Took way too long, meaning we didn’t get home until after nine, and had no time to do edits because let’s face it, today was blog time.

*sigh*

Done for now

Song of the day: “Crazy” by Patsy Kline. I know, been there, done that, but what can I say, I had all sorts of songs in my head today, including (covers head in embarrassment) Miley and Billie Ray Cyrus with their Hannah Montana song “Butterfly fly away”. *sigh* Ah, who cares anyway, it’s a sweet little song.

So let’s get you up to date as to what’s been happening the past couple of days. We were up at the crack of dawn yesterday, and were looking at a sky that was pretty overcast even as the light of day began to spread across the valley. There was a miserly rain, a sturdy wind from the west, and after the usual chores such as laundry I was in the kitchen baking pancakes for our lunch. While I was doing that, big brother was checked the car and its contents, making sure we had everything we were going to need.

We were a little late, but if we kept the pedal to the metal, we were probably going to make it in time…or at least we would have if we hadn’t driven around the mountain and came upon the magnificent view of massive rain clouds masking the distant mountains where we have been working since the weekend. Seriously, there was some good black and dark gray working there, so we pulled over, debated a moment and then phoned to let the “boss lady” know that it wasn’t going to work. We had to pour concrete for at least ten poles (I forgot the count) and since that red mud has a tendency to gather around the boots like elephant skin, hah, it really wasn’t the smartest thing. Just the trip there costs a mint, so rather than waste time and money, we all agreed that it would be better that we skipped a day.

So we did, and cousin Ed and grandpa looked up funny when we returned five minutes after departure. Strange how such a change of plans can deflate you. Seriously, first I was revving to go, and slowly I started to “sag” if ya know what I mean. So, rather than hang limply around in the carport, I headed down into the yard (despite the rain) and started harvesting. Got a load of tomatoes from the greenhouse (yay), four cauliflowers from the yard, along with a big batch of broccoli. By that time I was really “sagging” so after a short discussion with big brother we decided to look up our respective beds and have a nice little nap.

Slept a solid hour and a half, and it was WONDERFUL. I had my doggies around me, they were plastered against me like a blanket and kept me nice and toasty…not to mention sore in so many places I didn’t even bother to categorize them. Hah.

Since I had a little time on my hands, I took tenant outside (we walked and chatted a little) and before the rain started up again, I managed to trim her hair. She really disliked her longer hair, and though I dislike short hair, it is in the end her choice, isn’t it. *sigh* Ah well.

What’s next? Well, big brother fixed one of the shovels. It snapped in the middle. And I started on supper of fresh cauliflower, tomatoes, and some potatoes. It was delicious, thank you very much.

The dogs have been behaving remarkably well through the entire ordeal. Sure, there were some hairy moments for grandpa and cousin Ed, but on the overall they’re managing the lot. Poor darlings. So patiently waiting all day, only to have for a couple of hours before we go to bed (of course they love the bed part as well, so, whatever). Oh, and tick season is once again in full swing. Grrrr.

There was a trip to town for picking up market stuff, which took big brother and me about two and a half hours (also in the rain) to get done. By the time we got home and settled down for the edit, we were pretty much pooped again, so we only managed about two or three pages (with both of us ending up a bit snarky about a particularly tricky sentence).

Was a little late getting to bed, of course, but was under the blankets and in the dark at one thirty in the morning. *sigh* Before I knew it (it felt like five minutes) the alarm went off at seven, and it was once again time to get ready and going.

No pancakes to make this morning, (had the ones from yesterday still in the fridge) so just a quick breakfast, lock up the dogs, except Knight II (decided to take him along again) and then heading out. Arrived right on time, again, announced our presence, and after a nice chat, got started.

Got in all the poles, yay. Also trimmed a few more olive trees, listened in on the Spanish neighbor talking to his gardener (good to practice my Spanish) played with puppies, (so adorable, puppies, in particular if you can just enjoy them) dug some more, hauled six piles of olive branches into the woods, (went rather well with wrapping a rope around the bunches and just dragging it along) aligned, realigned and checked the poles, and then…well, then it was the end of the day, and we spent some time cleaning up the messes we’d made because, much to our regret, we can’t finish the fence until we get the gates. And since it is Semana Santa, the gates won’t be there until next week, which means that we couldn’t set one of these today, and thus we had to inform the “boss lady” that we need two more days (while she’s out of the country) once we have the gates. I hate it when this happens, in particular since I hadn’t counted on that extra trip. So I was forced to ask for another twenty bucks, which I severely dislike. Ah well, I can give up time, but not expenses. Darn it.

Ah well, no helping it, boss lady is a nice one, and she understood, so all is well. While she’s out of the country, (and as soon as the gates are there) we’ll be back out there to finish the project, of course.
For what it’s worth, I’ve rather enjoyed the past four days. It made for a nice change, I think.

Got home right on time, and went on down into the yard to check on everything, and to harvest four more cauliflower and a basket of broccoli. Since cousin Ed had already gathered chard and boiled potatoes, all we had to do was bake the chard and broccoli, and then it was time to eat supper. *sigh*

Well, that was about it. We decided not to do an edit today, but are watching Tin Tin instead. So far so good.
I am definitely ready to call it a day.

Busy and late.

Song of the day: (as in the one that stuck in my head for some peculiar reason) “Que sera, sera”.

It’s weird, but these day’s I appear to have the strangest songs playing through my head. No matter what I do, I can’t get them out…until the next one arrives.
Yesterday it was Sinatra’s “Ain’t love a kick in the head” for crying out loud. I don’t even like Sinatra. Hah.
The way I figure it, I might as well put them down in the Blog and see if there’s a pattern, or something.

It was a busy day, to say the least. I started out late, but what the hey, I made up for it, in spades.

So let’s start with the recount: Especially the complete lack of discipline when the alarm goes off.
Honestly, I get up, go through the motions of letting the dogs out, making the bed, cleaning up a little, and then drop back on the bed to snooze for another twenty minutes.

Knight II doesn’t like it, of course. He literally jumps on top of me and decides to splay his massive body over my chest, making a nuisance of himself.
Before I know it the alarm shrills and I have to drag my tired butt from the bed to get dressed and head on down to the house.

It takes me a while to get the ol’ engine going, but in the end, after writing about half a page for “Finding Maddie” (you know, the sequel of the edit project) big brother and I start on the edit¾the rewrite one¾once more and hack our way through the plot, trying to make everything just right.

Today was a good edit day, even if it was a little short again. Managed three to four pages, so that brings the “pages to go” down to ‘round thirty-five. Yay.

Big brother has to leave a little early…more sand for cement, of course…so I’m left to my own resources for a bit. I spend it going over messages that I’ve been postponing for the past few days, for no other reason than that I didn’t manage to squeeze them in before now.

I’m just about wrapping up the last one when he returns, so I put the computer away; grab my work gloves and head on out into the deliciously warm spring day.
The sky is a clear blue; the sun is shining and though being in the full blast of it is somewhat uncomfortable, in shade of the large mimosa tree that stands behind the wall, it is wonderfully cool.

Since the wall is basically done, we are now working on a variety of smaller ones that will at some point make up for a beautiful terrace in front of my cabin, right on top of the wall. Still, in order to start on the section that I’ve elected to build up, I need to haul away a big load of rocks that have been thrown there during the course of the build.

There are quite a few big ones. But my physical health has improved considerably over the past weeks, so lifting them turns out to be less of a problem than I’d guessed.
There is also a section in the path that has been treated with several patch jobs over the years, and before I can start, I need to use the sledgehammer for the removal of it.

It sounds like tough work, but it is really quite a pleasant means of exercise to smash a large piece of concrete into tiny little pieces. Almost as good as kick boxing, actually. There is also a large tree trunk that has been literally sealed into the ground, and I have to use the pick ax to get it out from the clay that seems determined to hold it tight.

At last, throwing my full weight in it, I manage to tear it loose and moaning and grunting I toss it over the wall, figuring that we might as well use it as a decoration later on when we start landscaping. The shape is rather pretty.

With the nine feet stretch of ground cleared, middle sister finishes the first batch of cement. Before he starts on his own section, little brother pours down a wheelbarrow of the stuff so I can get to work.

Little sister and big brother are once again working on the step-like wall that leads to the patio door and lines the new stairs that were build during these past few days. Little brother is once again working down by the courtyard gate. He’s doing a nice job of it too. He’s got the foundation down and that’s about fifteen feet long, and by now, he has brought six feet of that up to chest level. Excellent.

I’m really in the mood for a warm meal tonight, so while I’m working on my part of the knee-high wall, grandpa thankfully offers to cook the noodles I’ll need to make a filling stir-fry later on, while we’re still working.

The work goes pleasantly enough. Lots of talk going back and forth…rather loudly, due to the grinding cement mixer, hah…occasional laughter is shared and then the sun starts to descend behind the horizon.
While the younger sibs head inside, both big brother and I use the sledgehammer some more, to smash another piece of concrete that has created a hill of sorts in the spot where we used to make cement while building the house.

While we’re working on it in the final remnants of daylight, Mosha (cocker spaniel) decides that it is rather fun to walk over a part of the new wall and proceeds to ruin half of my achievement today. Grrrr. My shout is heard over the entire valley, I’m sure, when I hurry over to smack her on the butt and send her into a tizzy…she thinks I want to play, after all…while I try to repair at least some of the damage.

I am unable to save the low wall in its entirety, but enough for me to work with tomorrow, I guess. I take the dogs inside and head for the kitchen to wash up and then start to prepare dinner while little brother feeds the dogs.

First, I grab hold of the bar attached to the ceiling of the second floor, though. All that lifting is murder on the spine, so I hang there for quite a bit until I feel my back has aligned enough for me to continue for the day.

As is usual with stir-fry, it takes me only a little while to get the mix done, and considering that we can really use the protein I add a nice satay (peanuts) sauce that really makes the dish hit the right spot when I finally sit down to enjoy it.

There’s still laundry to do, so half an hour later I head on out into the courtyard to see to it.
In the mean time big brother prepares for our last chore of the day. We need to trim Gaucho, our Afghan, and just as soon as I’ve folded the laundry and put it away, I sit down at the table to turn on the machine and start trimming.

Gaucho goes through the procedure with remarkable calm. I remember well the first few times we tried this particular approach and it was pure hell, I assure you. Not today, however. Nope. He just laid there, a somewhat blissful grin on his face as he allowed me to remove every single cluster of dirty hair: Almost as if he was looking forward to being cool again, hah.

While we’re trimming the really big dog (second largest of the pack, height-wise), a recorded episode of “Medium” plays on the TV and once we’re done, we decide to unwind for a bit with another one.

That done, I sneak out of the house before Knight II can start his usual ruckus, and actually succeed in getting to my cabin without an orchestra of dogs howling and barking.

Of course big brother comes to visit again, so we end up talking about the screenplay idea for another hour…or two, before I can finally start on this Blog.

Ah yes, a successful day any way you look at it.

Sigh...I can't think of a title.

I’m having a particularly pleasant dream when the alarm shrills and it’s time to seize the day, so to speak.
Trin Trin is being her monstrous self this morning, trying to yank the blankets off the bed before I lock her out in the small backyard. With her safely tucked away, I head for the front door to let the rest of the pack out.

Once I’ve gone through the morning rituals, I take the dogs to the house so we can start on the computers, just as soon as big brother has glued the tube of the washing machine. Rather than buying a new one, grandpa visited the local ferreteria and got glue that should close the hole in the rubber.

Today I have to work on the interview thingy, because I have been postponing it way too long already and end up going over the questions and answers for a solid hour before I can finally push the send button and see the end result just minutes later.

I think it turned out okay, but there’s no way to know for sure of course. In the end it is just a matter of wait and see what readers think of it.
Here’s the link in case you’re curious: http://whohub.com/samayayoung
Do check it out and let me know what you think.

That done, and sidetracking for a quick perusal of the Amazon forums, big brother and I get to the edit and slowly settle into the required mode of adjusting sentence structure.
Though it goes slowly today, we do manage a couple of pages before it is time to head on out to resume work in the yard.

Considering that the summer is rapidly approaching the younger sibs would rather start on construction of the courtyard wall as soon as possible. So, with that in mind, big brother and grandpa head out for another batch of rocks while the youngest sibs climb on top of the house to resume cleaning the roof tiles.

Middle sister and I descend to the small garden…or it used to be one, before the dogs got to it and ruined the flowers I’d planted…to start the laborious process of preparing the sleet rock mountain face for construction.
Once again weeds need to be removed, decorative stones put aside, and anything that could be ruined in the near future, gets placed in a far corner, just so it’ll be out of the way.

Branches of trees get cut off, fences removed…no easy task, that. Even with the heavy bolt cutter I manage only three tines of the thick metal. The task literally makes my muscles scream their disapproval and I decide to leave it for big brother when he returns with the stones.

Then comes the fun part: Hacking into dry clay ground and digging a gutter in which the future wall will be settled. We dig, we chop and we groan as slowly, but steadily the first foundation of the work is created.

By then big brother and grandpa return, giving me a short breather as the younger sibs gather by the car to unload the truck bed and add another 500 kg of stones to the rapidly growing pile by the side of the main path.

They’re still at it when I head into the tool room. My ground ax is slipping off the stick during the having chopping and I need to apply a small wedge at the top so I can keep using it without sending the heavy metal disk flying at some point.

That done, and the rocks finished, we all resume our tasks. Big brother comes down to cut through the tines of the fencing. He grunts and swears, but in the end he manages to cut through them all and lifts the barrier away.

The sun is setting by the time we decide to call it a day. My shoulders and arms are numb from picking at rock and clay alike…and trying to dig out a large brick that fused with the soil. In the end the stupid thing got me so frustrated I just smashed it to pieces, which was a rather satisfying thing to do. Hah.

Grubby, sore and wary we head into the house where little sister has prepared a quick meal. We all dig in without even bothering to sit down, filling our grumbling stomachs in record time before we separate and settle in for the last few hours of the evening.

It takes me a “CSI” episode to rebuild some of my usual energy level, and when I’ve got that back, big brother and I decide to give Vara (Golden retriever) a trim. The poor thing has been roaming the yard for days now, figuring it’s fun to roll through the mud, so now he’s caked with dry mud and dirt all over the bottom side of his furry body.

The trimmer gets through the mess in record time, and since “Bones” follows anyway, we figure we might as well do Nata (Vara’s brother) too.
Luckily both retrievers enjoy the attention in equal measure, allowing us to set up our computers again right after the end titles of the show begin.

The edit goes slow again, what with mind and body being somewhat exhausted, but still we bring today’s total up to a nice round figure of four pages. I have to admit that working on an edit like this (it almost feels like a complete rewrite, actually) is daunting but I think that the end result will be well worth the effort.

It is well past midnight when we finally finish off and, without hesitation, I take my dogs up to the cabin for the night.
Just a feeding, today’s blog and a quick fun visit to the forums to go and then I can drop off into the sweet oblivion of sleep. Hah.

Splendid edit and maintenance.

Apparently I was a little absentminded yesterday. I forgot to mention several things during the day’s description, one of which being that we moved Tika (our parrot) to a better vantage point in the room. The poor dear was feeling neglected now that we’re working outside so much, so we decided to hang her cage beside the other birds, giving her a bit of company during the days.

Of course I’ve now forgotten what else I failed to mention, but no one is likely to mind. Hah. So let’s move on to today and leave it at that.

I’m a tad lazy again this morning. After the alarm goes off for a good three minutes, I reset it for another twenty and quickly snooze off into sweet oblivion. When it screeches for the second time I can’t deny it any longer. The day has begun.

Getting out of bed, I first let the dogs out and then start on the morning rituals on this rather bleak, yet not cloudy morning. During the night we’ve been cloaked in a thick mist that didn’t allow me to see past the courtyard, and though it has cleared a little, fragments of that same mist are still present in the higher layers of the atmosphere.

The dogs don’t mind, of course, not with the temperatures as pleasant as they are, and storm down to the courtyard with their usual jubilance while I follow at a more sedate pace. Trin Trin is trying to grab the stick I’m holding up to keep her distracted. If I don’t she’s bound to try to use my ankles as toys, so with her dangling from the stick once more, I make it to the house.

There’s laundry to do…something is wrong with the washing machine. There seems to be a leak somewhere so we’re going to need to fix it later today…and with grandpa’s help I take down the old and hang the new before I head into the house to fold what’s been taken from the lines.

Once breakfast is dealt with, big brother and I settle behind our computers, resuming the seemingly endless task of “the Edit”. After several hours of rearranging sentences, shuffling commas and periods we finally reach the 50 % marker we’ve worked so hard for, and are pleased to realize that we’ve managed to add a total of four pages throughout the edit.

Though bolstered with the realization that we’re now officially halfway through, and willing to continue with the task a bit longer, outside work is waiting, calling for us to start, so to speak.

Today we work in the central yard, the messy path that connects the three parts of the property, the trail that goes from the carport to the patio entrance…and in effect my cabin…and the roof.

Another load of rocks were hauled in this morning, so the first thing we need to do is get them from the truck bed, and carry them over to the steadily growing pile against the rock wall overlooking the courtyard entrance.

The top step of my porch broke in two several months ago, so when we finish with the rocks, I get out the wonderful power tools to make a new one. While I start with this, little brother climbs on the roof to start with the weeds that grow on, and between, the roof tiles. Middle sister takes up the task of cleaning the main path while little sister sets out to help me with the stairs.

In the mean time, big brother and grandpa head on out with the truck to get another load of rocks. We are going to need quite a lot in the future, so an extra trip will certainly speed things up, if just a little.

In order to make the step to my porch strong enough for the wide expanse that it has to cross, I cut a strip of heavy metal and attach it to the underside of the step before putting the board in place. I’m just about to screw it too, when grandpa and big brother return. The two sisters help him unload while I put the step up and then get to work on the rocky ground leading to the patio.

Over the years, erosion has been scraping away at the ground, creating a jagged surface that no longer hold the steps of the brick stairs that lead to the patio. Since mom’s hernia makes it hard for her to mount even normal steps, I chop out rock and clay alike, creating a wide path that will make her passage a lot easier. I also make steps from stones and bricks that will considerably lower the risk of crossing this way.

It’s close to dusk when we decide that we’ve done enough for the day. Half the roof is done. Middle sister has vigorously attacked the center path, which now looks beautifully even, and the new rock path from the patio is sound enough to see us through the next few months, until we start on the project of building a new wall on the north side of the courtyard…and in effect the proper stairs leading all around.

Though properly weary from the work, we return to the house in good spirits, and eat the meal little sister has prepared. Once dinner has settled and we’ve watched the latest episode of “Medium” I get Bommel on top of the table for a much-needed trim.

It takes a few minutes to prepare the electric trimmer, but once it works properly the job progresses satisfyingly. The Bobtail, well familiar with the procedure, stretches out on the tabletop, moaning his appreciation as his thick fur is removed. Inch after inch of the gray and white hair comes off, allowing his skin to breathe, and showing me his eyes for the first time in months.

Though the cataract disease hazes both pupils, he does notice movement, and appears genuinely pleased when I finally finish the task and carefully set him back on the floor. He spends several minutes scratching himself (obviously delighted) and then actually manages to follow my progress around the room as I clean up the mess I made and then move to the pantry to help big brother.

While I worked on Bommel, he decided to check out the washing machine. Apparently there’s a hole in one of the rubber tubes underneath and we remove it so grandpa can go to the village in the morning to see if he can find glue to fix it, or otherwise a new tube.

I start on the blog a little early, figuring that I’ll get distracted again later on and then switch over to “Saving Nina” when big brother joins me for our last edit of the day.
It’s midnight when we wrap things up, delighted with the fact that we managed at least eight pages during the course of the day. It is getting to be pretty darn good, and I don’t even mind that I’m saying as much myself, hah.

Of course we get distracted while discussing future plans. Once we’ve edited this one and it’s prequel, we have to decide on a different story, so we’re leaning towards a horror story I started back in ‘01. The way we figure we’ll be up to a challenge after all the mind-numbing edits, so something exciting and chilling is definitely in order.

Just the thought of actual writing thrills me, and my fingers literally itch with the prospect. After two romances, two thrillers, and the W.I.’s a genuine horror is just what I need.

Well after midnight I force myself to stop thinking about all the possibilities of the upcoming project…if I allowed it, I’d be writing the night away…and take my dogs up for the night’s feeding and sleep.