Relatively early update, yay!

Song of the day: “7 years” by Jasmine Thompson. I know that originally it’s someone else’s but this is the one worming in my head right now. Hah

Yes. I made it here earlier. I did it. I’m here without a solid month having passed since the last blog. Yay!

Not that a lot happened since then, naturally. But it’s the thought that counts, right?

Anyways. At the moment I am enjoying a few days off. What with having worked pretty full time the past few months, my region manager and I agreed that I would work a little less this month, which suits me just fine. Been behind with a lot of stuff on the computer, and in most cases I was too tired in the evenings to do more constructive stuff than the bare necessities.

Well, still working on the finer details of the book that we’re pitching to our editor. Though she likes the idea, some elements in the first chapter don’t work for her, so we’ve been brainstorming and working on adjusting it, and came up with an idea she would like to see in writing. Which is what has been keeping me busy for the past couple of days since my days off started. Got most of it rewritten, deleting big parts, and replacing it with over ten pages of new material. Personally I think that it will work, but of course Big brother has to go through it too, and we need to discuss, argue and probably fight about the finer details before we can send it back and await the editor’s verdict.

For my part, I have been enjoying the writing bit a lot. Actual writing (rather than editing) is such a rare thing these days that when I actually get to do it, something inside me actually sings a little. Hah. Gawd, nothing feels quite like having a scene playing in your head like a HD movie, and then writing it down, hopefully in the way that you see it. First only flow of consciousness, which can be confusing at times, but after one or two tweaks afterward it definitely starts to get close. Then another edit of two together with big brother and I get pretty psyched by the result. * sigh *

I sure hope I get to do more of it in the near future. Wouldn’t that be grand, earning enough with writing so I won’t have to keep up the part-time day job.

But that would mean that the book(s) would have to sell really well, and I doubt that will be the case with the first one, or two. Would be nice, sure, but I doubt I’ll be that lucky. We can hope though.

It is reassuring that we managed to think of a solution to the thing that the editor didn’t like in the 2nd book. Basically we went farther back to the original idea for the story, with a backflash as the prologue. I like how the tone is getting more different from Girl in the Mist, every time I work on it. The drama is way heavier. So much sadness from the heroine, and so little chance that she’s going to make it in the end…and I will have to leave you to wonder about that, rather than spoil the end for you. * wink *

On ascension day we had friends over for the afternoon, which was fun. Got to make some special stuff for lunch and dinner. The first involved a rather wonderful broccoli puff pastry with a carrot salad on the side, and the second a lovely saffron rice, topped by baked chard and a sweet corn and bell pepper salad on the side. Added to the good food, the company was fun, with a promise of another visit soon. Which we should keep to. Time goes so fast, and before you know it you run out of it, right? Anyway, we all promised to see each other soon again, so let’s hope that we can make that work out in a decent amount of time.

What with having a little more time off, I have also been gradually increasing my workouts. The normal qigong that I have been doing for more than a year now—still love it—followed by and interspersed by bodyweight exercises, and some weight lifting, just because. I still haven’t got a spot to hang my kickboxing bag, but I really and determined to think of something soon. I miss boxing like crazy. Soon, very soon.

Finally found a nice new (2^nd hand) rug for our work area. The old one was really starting to wear from our office chairs’ wheels, so I took that one from there to the kitchen, where it looks rather nice along with the rattan chairs at the white table. It is also very similar to the one that I have in the kitchen, so it really lightens up the whole room. The one that is now in the oven is a nice dark blue, which separates it a little more.

Rearranged some of the plants, which was necessary too, because a few of them were not really flourishing in their allotted spot. Hope that the new spots do better. Did find a wonderful new plant, a Pachira aquatica. We already had one of them, but this one was way bigger. It was standing in the corner of the supermarket, and, if my guess is correct priced wrong for such a big plant. It was really a bargain, and so gorgeous. Neither of us could resist. So basically we bought ourselves a present.

Talking about presents, also went to Decathlon, a big store for all sort of sports apparel, and got us some necessities. Yoga pants, because mine were really starting to be worn down. I still have two from Spain that are basically threadbare now (use them as PJs) and a couple that I bought two years ago before we moved up north. So, high time. Also got socks, a bathing suit (also still had the one from Spain) and a few more assorted sports items. Was strange to buy something new. Hardly ever do that anymore these days, so I would say it was well deserved.

Did a fair amount of cleaning in the past few days too, as usual a necessity after several weeks of work. You don’t really feel like vacuuming the house after you have run around at work for hours on end. But got it done, and that’s what matters…until the next time anyway. Hah

The tension between big brother and me has lessened a little, thankfully. I think that the pressure of the book proposal was weighing on us, and now that the pressure of work has let up a bit too, seems to have helped. Neither one of us is about to go off with a short fuse when we work on something now. Thankfully. Maybe it was something in the air. I for one am relieved.

We have been having some absolutely lovely weather. Sunshine, warm temps…heck today was a rainy day and what with all the green even that was gorgeous. Driving through the woods today, with all the new spring growth, shiny from the downpour was almost magical. Wish I’d taken a picture, but regretfully that didn’t occur to me.

Had a huge computer crash the other day, which totally freaked me out. Took big brother most of the day to solve it, involving some serious reinstalling of programs, leaving the computer with some problems still, but functioning at least. It seems that the last update went wrong for some reason, which totally ticked me off. Seriously! There is nothing I hate more than a computer that doesn’t work. Well, cars, too. And plumbing. And…well, anything that can malfunction I guess. Hah.

That about sums it up, I guess. Tomorrow is an in-between working day for me, despite me being off until Friday. They needed an extra hand on Monday, so I agreed to come to work anyway. Do have to get to bed on time if I want to be worth anything afterward, though. Been getting way too little sleep again lately, despite having slept in the last couple of days.

Gotta go. I’ll be back, with hopefully some nice news in regards to the new book, eh?

Change...

Song of the day: “Let her go” by Passenger. Gorgeous song, if somewhat sad.

So, let’s start with a bit of news. Due to a friend wanting some place to send people interested in vegetarian cooking (in particular folks who were at the Christmas lunch I cooked for) I’ve decided to just add to the daily tasks, and opened another blog dedicated solely to cooking. Yep. I folded. Since at the moment I don’t have time to work on my cook book…at least not in a way that would have anyway, I figured I might as well put some of the recipes on the new blog and see if folks like it. I’m starting out with simple dishes, really, side dishes, soups, sandwiches, etc, just to see if there’s interest for it.

I’d love for y’all to drop by there, try them out, and give some nice tips if you have any about delicious chances you’ve thought of, or a particular dish that you just want to share. If enough of you do so, I’m definitely thinking of doing a once a week guest post with a recipe of my readers 0that I want to try myself.

So anyway, drop on by, tell me what you think of the place…right now the background is a standard one, but as soon as I can, I’m going to try to take out my camera and shoot some pics that I want to use for that. The text, as always, is a work in progress.

http://samayascooking.blogspot.com.es/

Right, that dealt with…what’s been going on since I’m back?!

Well, not a whole bloody lot. Hah…well, that’s not entirely true. Biggest news is that big brother and I decided to take the offer of friends to buy a new 2^nd hand car (the Izusu Trooper of all things- *sigh*)that we got for a very good deal. Here it is:

It’s an oldie (24 years old, I believe) which is part of the attraction, naturally. It’s basic, seeing as it doesn’t have an A/C, or anything, but that’s OK. It’s big. It’s more frugal than our beloved (Gawd, I get choked up about giving up our baby) Land Rover, and the insurance will be less costly. *sigh*

Now, the plan is for us to spend the next months fixing it up, so that we can get a better price for it.

It is a difficult choice to make, really, considering the Land Rover basically is the last thing we have from when things were still okay. It kinda feels like giving up on everything, you know. Going back yet another step in the quality of life, for no other reason than being without a steady income. Makes you wonder how deep you have to fall before finally going back up, eh? Depressing and sad, that’s what I think of it, but one does what one needs to do, right? *sigh*

Which led to this afternoon, out on the mountain, despite the miserly rain, washing the Land Rover which is set for tomorrow at the MOT. Need to have it looking a little presentable, rather than shock the mechanics, eh? Hah. Anyways, since we need to go to Malaga anyway, we also have an appointment at Traffico to finish the transfer of the new car.

Cleaning-wise there is still a lot to do. It’s as if basically only the daily used stuff has been kept clean throughout the house, while every other spot, corner, area became dirtier and dirtier. Daunting, for sure, but I’m getting to it, inch by bloody inch.

Another thing that I’m getting used to is the new bed that big brother and grandpa set up in my corner of the porch. It is about a foot narrower than my old bed (which was necessary because I could barely turn around in my “room”) and considering I’m sharing it with The Knight, Sitabah and Dax, space is…limited. Seriously, I’ve been downright wrecked in the mornings. It doesn’t help that Knight hogs the bed and insists on being under the blankets now that it’s so cold during the nights. Poor babies…all three of them. Sure, they are wonderfully warm for me, since I’m sandwiched between them, but it also means that turning is a no-go most nights. Wrecked, I tell you. Absolutely wrecked!

I did get around to unpacking part of my suitcases (not all, mind you, but at least half…I hope) so I am able to find stuff again. Got a serious storage problem going, and am unsure how to solve it. I’ve got lots of comfortable clothes that have holes and spots in and on them, which are not good for anything other than manual labor. They’re my favorites, they fit well, and the fabrics are nice and worn. Regretfully they take up space from my “better” clothes, which don’t really fit in the closet as long as I keep the comfortable ones, and that really gets my knickers in a twist, darn it.

Did some nice cooking, lately.

Made a good batch of buckwheat burgers last week, which went down well three days in a row. Same goes for chickpea patties yesterday, which served as an excellent Mcchicken (you know, the McDonalds type)…minus the chicken, hah…this afternoon.

The plan was that I would go for a hike today with a friend, but regretfully she was ill-disposed, and is spending the days with her two adorable pugs, in bed, hoping to be well enough to go to work tomorrow, poor girl.

Had a couple of workouts…day before yesterday an extremely good one. Have been sore from it for two days. Hah. Not surprising that I did the first real session, (more than an hour) in months. Maintaining isn’t at all effective in that regard, I’ll admit. But I missed training, needed it, I fear. It explains why my time in the UK was so difficult. A good kickboxing session would have gone a long way in relaxing me.

Seriously, yesterday any movement was downright excruciating, so I definitely did well.

Are well into the edits. A hundred pages, more or less, so we just might be in time to get it all done before the ABNA competition…if they’re holding it this year. Are enjoying it, especially after all this time, but the going is slow. It is difficult to get back into shwung after all this time, I guess.

Mom’s doing reasonably well. The cuts are healing, pain is getting less, and she went out a couple of times, so keeping our fingers crossed that all is well.

Went out into the yard the other day. Grandpa has been planting some winter veggies, which are doing well, all things considered…they, opposite of us, are enjoying the rainy days. Hah. Got a load of oranges hanging on the trees, not to mention tangerines, which are just weeks short of being ripe. Yay.

Knight II is not really improving, in fact I am worried when I see him move. He is rapidly losing muscle in his back legs, going through them and losing coordination. Poor boy. He’s walking into everything, loses his balance on slippery slopes, or simple inclines. I don’t like it. His age is showing, I guess.

Dax, on the other hand, is doing a lot better. Gaining strength, in fact. A relief, that.

Hauled one of the big water reservoir tanks up to the old horse paddock, where we’re going to see if we can use it to catch rainwater that’ll allow for some free veggies, come summer.

Wasn’t easy, either, considering we were experiencing some gale-force winds that day…week, actually.

Another one we need to set up for use on the main, in case we get cut off during the hottest month. I mean, seriously, can you imagine getting rationed on water while you’ve got forty something dogs around, making a mess. You need water then for more than just drinking.

Have caught up on sleep, thankfully. Slept in a couple of times, had some naps…it’s important. Haven’t gotten over the whole uncomfortable thing in the UK yet, but I guess that that will take time. Got that, at least.

Will be going to the UK for Christmas, by the way. It would be hard to get anyone to stay there who can handle the dogs, and since I feel bad about how it all went, I offered big brother and myself as replacement for five days. That way everyone is happy…well, almost everyone.

OK. It’s late. I gotta go.

Muddling through

Song of the day: “We Can’t Stop” by Miley Cyrus with Jimmy Fallon and Roots. Heard it yesterday. It’s completely A Capella. Very cute. Took me by surprise, really.

I know, I’ve been slacking in my blogging duties. But seriously, often when I get to bed I’m too tired to do more than stare at my computer screen, maybe chat a little, and then I basically pass out for the night. The thing is, I can’t even write this thing in one go, been trying to get it done for three days now, so…Anyways…

It doesn’t help that I worry a lot about Dax, who isn’t doing much better, but big brother and grandpa are doing their utmost to keep him from doing more damage. The little bugger is making a nuisance of himself. The moment they turn their backs, he’s trying to get on the tables, cupboards, counters, roof, walls and out into the yard. Apparently he’s a handful…of course.

As for the bad news, a good friend of mine was in hospital last week with a terrible case of shingles. She’s back home now, and hopefully doing a lot better. (Best wishes to you Mags!)

What have I been up to, I hear you wonder…well, for a while it was us again. Big brother was here for a whopping five days, which made work a lot more pleasant. There was a lot to do, including mowing of the lawn, working with the animals, and loads of repairs. Actually wasn’t tired for a day or two there, seeing as the load was divided for a change.

Been doing some woodwork, which kept me semi-sane, for as far as that is possible, anyway. Nothing can quite keep the mind occupied as figuring out how to put a piece of furniture together. It was good…that and starting on an inventory so everyone knows what is where and what we have.

The woodwork was two small pedestals for PCs. They’re identical, they’re stable, so that works. Added to that I’ve made brackets in the shed, where we can store the wood away from any flooding which tends to come into the shed when hard rains come in from the east.

Been having very little time for myself lately, so not a lot of writing got done. I’m hoping that after this blog I’ll be able to do at least something, seeing as today was not a maintenance day, but working with animals instead…including cleaning, but that’s not too bad. It’s a nice change, and at least I’ve been able to give my feet some down time.

The weather is turning, winter rapidly approaching. It’s been raining a lot. And there are lots of clouds. I did see the sun occasionally, which was bliss, but on the overall it is just gray with lots of green that is slowly turning yellow with autumn. I’m not doing too badly, concerning the drop in temperature. I mean, I’m wearing sweaters now, over flannel shirts and tops, but still, I’m not whining too much, and when the cold gets too much for me, I just roll into the bathtub until I feel warm again. *sigh*

Have been doing some reading on my tablet. Jennifer Crusie, mostly, since big brother stocked up on those when he gave it to me. Only two or three more of her to go and then I’ll start on the Amanda Quick’s I think.

Been doing fence work, which was definitely one of the highlights this week.
Big brother was still here, and the rain hadn’t started yet, not much anyway, so we got a nice amount done. About ninety feet of fence, dug into the earth about 1 foot. I liked it. Fencing, for some peculiar reason, always feels very satisfying.

Do have a rather disturbing thing going at the moment. Yesterday, during the night, every time I turned in my sleep I’d wake up dizzy as heck. Have been nauseous ever since, and nothing seems to be helping much, least of all this faint, pounding headache in the front of my skull. Wish I had dried Juniper berries, that at least would take care of the nausea.
Can’t help but wonder what it is, though. Stress? A bug? Whichever the case, it is vastly annoying.

Worked on getting an Aga fired up…wasn’t easy either, but I got it done…thankfully. Haven’t had time to cook on it, though, which should happen soon enough…like tomorrow. Got it on Friday, which was fish and chips day (for me spring roll and chips, but what the hey. LOL) and then today there were veggies that had to be used, while I wasn’t at the main house to cook. *sigh* Wasn’t happy with today’s meal either. The taste wasn’t good enough. Needed a sauce but I didn’t feel like making it.

Been hosing down terraces again, and a wooden pergola, which I’ve got clean about a quarter. Luckily it goes rather well with the high pressure machine. A lot of work, though, not to mention that it is bound to leave the one doing it soaking wet. *sigh*

Trimmed some plants, bound up roses, did loads of walking, which would explain why my feet are killing me again…also, I decided to start drinking a little less wine, and since that has anti-inflammatory properties, that might have something to do with it. I could of course just start again, but seriously, a bottle of wine a day is not a dependency I want to deal with at the moment. Added to that, even though it is nice to be numb in the evening, it does not improve on my state of mind during the course of the day. *sigh*

Don’t have a lot else to talk about. My mind is still an emotional wreck, but that is nothing new, my body apparently as well (duh) so…I guess I’ll just have to muddle on through and see where it’ll all get me, eh?

I’ll keep you informed.

Another blog, another week...or two???

Song of the day: “Rude” by Magic, I believe.
Very cute song. It’s on the radio a lot round these parts, and I enjoy it.

So I am feeling decidedly nasty at the moment, so I’m going to completely ignore that, and focus on the positive instead. No sense in maudlin, no matter that there are parts of me that want to. Hah.

First the good news. Well, sweet news, really, is that I got a very nice present involving a short trip home so I can see my doggies. It will be Tuesday, early morning, and three days later I’ll be flying back. But not before I’ve spent two nights between my four-legged ones, which is all that matters.
It is very strange, it is not as if there is so much to go back to. I mean, most of my possessions (I know they’re not supposed to mean much in life, but losing everything except your clothes, does leave an impression) are gone, my cabin, anything about the place that was home, and yet there it is, you miss what is familiar, you yearn for that freedom that allows you to just leave those dishes when you’re in a rush, or not do that one nasty chore that one day. It’s ridiculous really. You have to do the dishes anyway, and the chores need to get done regardless, so why something inside me would make an issue of it, is just strange. I don’t get the way my own mind works sometimes, if you must know. It seems perfectly content to just wreck my day. *sigh*

But anyways, back to being positive.
I made a semi-successful foray into the city this week. Needed to get loads of bits and pieces from the DIY store, went past a local charity shop to look at furniture, only to discover that they had a very nice table, which I loved, but they were located in a part of town where you’re unable to get your car to the storefront to pick up your purchases. Insane! I gotta say that the town is a friggin’ maze. Basically any road is one way, so despite the TomTom it is very confusing, because your course keeps crisscrossing.

Anyway, I did manage to get proper jeans from another charity shop, this one for animals in distress, which looks rather nice. A very nice pair of black jeans that actually fits…looks nicely slimming, in particular since it is not one of those awful models that are way too wide at the waist and hips.
Also got a turtleneck long-sleeved T and a nice turquoise green sweater, so that makes for a successful trip.
Had wanted a body warmer, but alas there were none to my liking. Did find a carry on suitcase, which was necessary because mine is falling apart. Cost me only four bucks, so, yay!
The day I was there, was a wet one, but thankfully the three hours I spent there, it was dry enough to do what needed doing.
There was even a Lidl there, meaning I could get some stuff that’s way cheaper than the local grocery store. Yay.

I do admit to still being in somewhat of a culture shock. Everything is very different here. The country, the towns, the people…not in a bad way, mind you, just different. Like the other day in the city, there was this strange pounding in my head, and I have no idea why. Guess it takes getting used to.

As to the work…I’ve been doing some carpentry, which is always good. I like it when I’m able to keep busy, because if I can’t, then that “bugging me” bit starts again, of course. Also did some serious gardening. Trimmed bushes, took out loads of thistles, and started on a compost heap for real, so yay.

Will need to mow the lawn again, in particular before Tuesday, so I hope that the weather will cooperate and stay dry. I mean, I don’t much like the lawn mowing, except that it looks nice now that I’m getting a hang of it, after several hours I feel very “Forest Gump” and not in a good way. Hah.

As to writing…haven’t gotten around to it much lately, much to my regret. I have had ideas playing in my head lately, but none have come to the proverbial paper…mostly because I am just so friggin’ tired when I get to my room in the evening. Let’s just hope that winter will allow for some writing time…it will, because according to rumors that I am not listening too, claim that it will be dark at four soon. Aaargh.

What else? Well, I’ve been cooking. Cooked my first (successful) lamb chops. I was actually surprised that they worked out the way they did, but my clueless volunteers truly enjoyed it…according to them. Yay! Should I put it in my cooking book, do you suppose?...Nah, it just isn’t my thing, is it? Still, it was nice that it worked out.

As to the other meals. I had a pasta that worked out splendid, and a stew, not to mention a rather nice apple pie.

Actually managed a workout or two. Not full blown but enough to lubricate the muscles.
Also have been chopping wood, meaning that I’m using muscle at the very least…and added to all that, this property is huge, so I get to walk long distances, if for no other reason than me forgetting one thing or other in the work shed while I’m working on the other side of the property half the time. Hah.

Have been experiencing loads of rain here lately, and last night a proper storm. Yikes it was blowing hard! On the overall the temps are still comfortable enough that I can manage. Have had some serious beefs being cold in the evenings, so I took several baths, which is very helpful when I’m cold, I must admit. It is just that at the end of the evening my engine stops, and I don’t have any choice but to suffer through that. *sigh* I’ll have to get used to that, I guess.

Had some scares with the Knight. He had a fever again, didn’t eat, and the wounded foot he’d been walking around on for several weeks, swelled up a little again, despite the wound on it being tiny. So he’s back to two socks, the silly boy. Added to that, he had an inflamed muscle in his neck, for some peculiar reason, so that had him off his feed too. Poor baby.

Now tonight I heard that Dax isn’t feeling well. He’s listless. Shivering. Keeping his head down. They can’t figure it out, and I can’t do anything from here. Let’s hope he feels a little better tomorrow.

Well, that’s it for me for now. It’s almost midnight, and I need to get up on time tomorrow morning. Got dogs to walk, stuff to do. Ya know…

Sway

Song of the day: “Sway" by...well, some female voice. Not the one by Dean Martin, Michael Bubblé or Rosemary Clooney. Neither the one from the Pussycat Dolls, which would have been downright embarrassing. Hah. Nice song, though.

To start up where we left off the last time, the day after I wrote the last blog, was ridiculously hot. We had spent the majority of the day working on the book, doing small tasks and picking up a donation, and finally on our way to the sea for a much needed refreshing dip in the sea that appears to be downright freezing this summer. I don’t really know what is causing it, but it has to do with a particular current and something that is supposed to be very scientific. *sigh* Whatever it is, I like getting refreshed as well as the next person, but if the water is so cold that you can’t even submerge your head, I don’t like it. Doesn’t stop me from swimming, though…despite that on that particular day we didn’t get to go. Nope. Had a call from one of our work sites, with a semi emergency, and if we could come ASAP. So there went our dip, *sob* and in was a long evening doing chores until it was close to midnight. Luckily we did manage to join up on the actual work, meaning that we got in about an hour of edits while we waited for the boss to come home.

Yesterday’s swim worked out a lot better, though. Swam a mile or two, if for no other reason than that the water was a bearable temperature. In fact, it was downright lovely. Big brother and I had a bit of race going, and we just kept at it until we were completely out of breath. Crossed quite a bit of distance that way, which had both of us impressed with our prowess. Hah.

Had some disturbing dreams this week, which I won’t bore you with. They’re mostly about daily stuff that just keeps repeating over and over, without me being able to change it. I get frustrated from dreams like that. I suppose that it has something to do with our present situation, and how the lack of space is hampering basically everything. The days are hot, outside it is sometimes almost too warm, while inside is not any better, and too small. It adds to the dilemma, I guess, there used to be plenty of spaces to do stuff in. Makes you miss it, which once again makes it worse. I gotta get over this shaite. Mourning the losses is not going to help any. Besides, it’s been almost a year now, time to move on. The only thing to do with the status quo is to change it, so as long as I’m not willing to do that, I shouldn’t bitch about it so much.

A variety of meals this week. There was a Nasi with fried egg on it. Don’t you just love a good rice dish holding a variety of colorful veggies? Triple colored bell peppers, carrots, cauliflower, onion, leek, white cabbage, sweet corn, green beans all fried together with the rice. It looked purdy and tasted yummy. Can’t ask for more than that, can you?
Then there was the red beets with onion, potatoes and cheese, which was just too good to be true.
And of course today I am preparing buckwheat burgers for tomorrow’s hike. Those should go down well after some exertion, at least. I’m hoping for a small decrease in the temps, though, things are going to be might uncomfortable if the heat index gets as high as today. We’re hitting the hundreds, in case you’re wondering. Hah. Am hosing down a lot of our dogs these days, especially Knight II who gets downright panicky when he gets too warm. Can’t say I blame him.

As for work, there was quite a bit this time around. Washed a couple of cars (excluding our own, which I did yesterday, hah) both inside and out, which was a fascinating task in 100 degree temps. In particular when I was working the vacuum, man did I sweat like a pig. Luckily it didn’t smell.

Did a tree trimming session (work related, ya know. I would never do it this time of year, but if your employer tells you to trim back bushes and trees, you trim them back) which luckily could be done before noon when the temps were still bearable. Most interesting part were the palm tree that were a solid 25 feet high, and rather painful when the branches came tumbling down.

Had to go to our old job to unload a big delivery. Not that I’m jumping at the bit to go back there, but it pays the bills, ya know. Took a couple of hours, which isn’t bad at all. Another week of food on the table, eh?

Cleaning a pool…regretfully not our own (pump’s till busted)…which would have been fun if I could have “accidentally” fallen into it. Couldn’t because the water was so effing hot that the outside air was cooler. I kid you not. I stuck my arm in and had to pull it out because it felt like I’d stuck it in a hot bathtub. Apparently the pool is located on a terrace that catches so much sunshine during the day, that it heats the pool up that badly. Yikes. Talk about gross…and it totally defeating the purpose of having a pool. Aaaaarggh.

Worked on irrigation, which was another couple of hours, if you must know. Turns out that dogs (again, not ours, we have already sorted the yard in such a way that they can’t wreck out irrigation. Hah) really like chewing on tubing. Nice that this gives us a paid job, you know, but it does start to get tedious when you have to fix the same stretch of irrigation over and over again.

Another job was sorting through a humongous stack of rugs and pillows that had to be hauled from a big stack to a basement apartment. They had to be “beaten” clean, then rolled up, and the brought into storage, as slowly the sun crept up toward its zenith. Yikes.

Did have a couple of good workouts this week, so that’s a plus. Didn’t eat meat, except for some chicken. Was extremely tired the other day. Got all grumpy from it, and then the fact that it was so hot and I couldn’t go to bed because I would just melt away, didn’t help any. Grrr. Slept in the next day instead, which helped.

Knight II. He’s not doing poorly…although he doesn’t like the heat at all. The fever seems to be under control, and as long as I keep his socks on he can’t open up his feet…which he did regardless, just the day before yesterday, jeez! But other than that, he’s well enough. Same goes for the other lot. The majority is liking the daily sprayings, some in fact come looking for it. Hah.

And that wraps it all up…except if you want to know about grandpa’s visits to the acupuncturist, or that we had to bring his moped to the garage, or that I did laundry, or did some cleaning in the yard, or spent some time tossing out stuff from the kitchen cupboards. Or editing, which's description I could cut from last week's post, because that's still same old same old. Yes, I know, very glamorous, all. *sigh*

Enough, then? Okay.

Passed

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It's that time of the year

Song of the day: “Love is in the air” by…gawd, I don’t remember his name. I just know that the song was for Strictly Ballroom. Fun song, even if he does have a bit of a wonky voice.

First off, let me just get this one out of the way:

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!

*phew* Almost forgot it, but I didn’t. Kudos for me. Hope you’re having a splendid one.

Right. Let’s get to it then….

Well, today was a total bust, so I’m just going to ignore if for no other reason than the fact that we didn’t manage to do much today. Only thing we did was the piping for the future kitchen, which wasn’t much. Normal stuff, too of course, hauling some wood for the stacks, laundry, dog food, and cooking, but nothing remotely fun, so let’s turn this toward yesterday’s market which…well, which wasn’t a big success either, I fear.

Packing-wise, it was a lot easier seeing as big brother opted to go along. Loading, and unloading was a matter of an hour, rather than two in that regard. Had it all set up before noon, in fact, and we did manage to get home before sunset. Yay. But that was the only real plus to yesterday.

Not that I minded, on the overall my day wasn’t a bad one. We sold for the wondrous amount of two and a half bucks, and my day was…well, okay. Hah. The market was a slow one. If there were fifty customers it was a lot. Did manage to get some nice chats in with Dutch and German folk. There was a couple, who were vacationing these parts, who loved dogs (they weren’t in the market for a dog bed, regretfully, because their dog was killed through the means of poison) and we ended up chatting for a long time about how to train dogs.

Then with a father and son, who were there enjoying the day with friends and family and their little girl. Lots of laughter there, which was fascinating to observe. Big brother and I took a couple of hours in the middle of the day to sit down in the back of the restaurant where we edited over coffee. Managed about five pages, which wasn’t too bad, all things considered.

Also had a chat with the nice lady who organizes the market. She was a little down, as is the case these past few times. She’s taking it rather harshly that the customers are not coming, and since that makes the stand holders unhappy, she gets tossed in the middle a little. Not her fault that folks are watching their pennies, if you ask me, but I can relate. She is putting lots of work into it.

But anyway, afterward it was rushing to get to town in time for the weekly donation bit. Still haven’t managed to arrange it for a different. Well, we did sorta, seeing as Saturday we had another. That guy I met at the market the other week, who wanted to get rid of his stuff before moving back to the UK? Well, I got around to calling him, and we made an appointment at the mall for him to give over his stuff.

Gawd, that guy had some stories. Turns out he’s been away from the UK since ’66. And has basically traveled all over the place. First off he traveled all the way to Timbuktu, and then hitchhiked from England to South Africa. It took him a year, but he got stuck over there in…Mozambique, I think, for the following twenty year.
Then, he somehow ended up here in Spain where he put up this cute little business of designing terrace gardens, which he also maintained. And now he’s returning to the UK to take care of his 90 year old mum, which he feels he should do (as is the right thing, of course) but which he also dreads since he hasn’t been in the colder countries for more than thirty years. Yikes.

Did have a very good edit day on Saturday. It made yesterday’s five pages less disastrous for sure. I think we managed a total of twenty pages, so we’re not actually behind with today’s nine. Yay.

Cooking…well, I didn’t do any yesterday. We settled for fried stuff. But Saturday I made an Indian dish that didn’t work out the way I’d planned, and today there was a rather nice pasta fungi that went down really well.

Digging was part of Saturday, preparing for pouring the concrete foundation (which we didn’t get around to today, darn it). Finished digging the gutter for the tubing, set the concrete blocks of the wall in place (I carried two up while big brother used the wheelbarrow…almost wrecking it…with the remainder) and basically scraped as much rock as possible away.

Still haven’t gotten around to cleaning Chaos’ ear, nor Carla’s. That is something we’ll have to do tomorrow…after the edit. *sigh*

Weather wise we’ve been very lucky (except yesterday, since Funny Beach Marbella was completely in the fog) with clear skies and a warm sun. Strangely enough the valley has been mostly obscured by this thick blanket of clouds that lay on the hills and valleys like a thick fog. Up here, we’re not bothered by it, but the village, town and the sea have been utterly obscured for days. The only thing visible is Africa. The mountains are higher than the clouds, which makes for a rather splendid view. Jutting peaks of green in a blanket of cotton. Fascinating. Reminds me of horror movies, really. You know, the Mist, the Fog. Ya can just imagine dangerous creatures lurking within, or some sort of acid raining down and eating your face right off, or something along those horrible lines……I know, I have a rather gross imagination going there. Hah.

Well, that’s about it. I’m sure I’m missing something vital, but since you won’t know if I do, we’ll just leave it at this. *snort*

Knight's improving

Song of the day: “New York” by Alicia Keys. I never thought I would like a song by Alicia Keys, but there you have it. The one and only that sticks in my head without me hating it. Good song.

What to say, what to tell. Nothing major going on, except for the fact that Knight II had some of the tiny plastic tubes with several stitches removed today because he was looking so much better. He didn’t give a peep and when through the ordeal with stoic bravery. The darling. He’s starting to get really popular at the vet’s place, I think. Both the vet and her assistant are starting to use baby talk on him. Which reminds me. The vet assistant is going to leave for Madrid to join her family there, which is a pity, seeing as she is very pleasant to have working with our dogs. Ah well, times change, and so does everyone, I guess.
Be that as it may, I won’t have to go to the vet tomorrow for a bandage change. Yay! In particular since (unless it pours) we’re going to work at Liane’s tomorrow, starting on that balcony. I made some drawings, allowing us to visualize it a little.
We have the sand loaded, bricks, cement and tools, so we should be all set tomorrow. Keeping my fingers crossed on that one.

Had a rather weird dream yesterday. Got my knickers in a twist when I woke up out of breath. Seriously. In the dream I was at the market. It was a beautiful day; the sun was shining the temps were wonderful and the tent-like flaps overhead provided comfortable shade. I was walking toward our stand I saw a guys stand with Knight II. It looked like he wanted to pet him, but then he started going after the dog with a knife. I jumped into the fray before he could hurt Knight, got the knife from his hands, only to have him pull a big bread knife the tried to slash into Knight’s flank. Jeez. He just kept going and going, and I ended up grabbing his wrist and twisting it behind his back to keep him in place. I was just shouting for the cops when I woke up, like said, out of breath. *sigh* I hate dreams that vivid.

Yesterday’s trip to the vet was a near disasters. Julia, Cousin Ed’s dog, had a dislocated tooth, and she had to go along. She and Knight II don’t see eye to eye, so in order to drive together I had to put a barrier in the back of the Land Rover and put Knight there, so Ed could sit with Julia in the front seat. Luckily grandpa was along as well, since he kept the fence thing in Knight’s face whenever he tried to climb to the front.

It rained all day (yesterday), meaning that there wasn’t a whole lot we could do outside. Instead we stayed in the carport, Cousin Ed, Sally and I, working with beads. Made a whole load of necklaces for the market, just to see if there’s any interest for it.

There was supper to cook, of course. I had planned to do leftovers, but since there weren’t enough of those, I ended up making noodles and stir fry veggies the Asian way. Today we had fresh Pumpkin soup, which worked out really, really well. I love it how the butternut pumpkin tastes so very creamy.

Writing-wise things are still going slow, but steadily on. Passed the 40 page mark, and the characters are still going strong. The biggest problem at the moment is that my body seems to think that writing times means napping, because the moment I sit down, my eyes start to droop, darn it. This afternoon, while I was trying to add a couple of pages, I ended up giving up and heading for my cabin for a quick nap instead. I’m going to need my strength tomorrow after all.

Compared to the incredibly nippy day, (northern winds) crawling under the blankets for an hour was absolutely divine. The fact that we spent the majority of the afternoon up at the old horse paddock , chopping and sawing wood, didn’t help much in regard to me feeling cold. Seriously, the moment I stopped chopping wood the cold hit me in the face like a left hook. Jeez. The temps were in the low fifties, for crying out loud.
Did get a nice load of wood done, (almond wood is a biatch, by the way. Hard and twisted.) which means that for the moment we’re still set or winter weather…which if the depressing hints at a cold winter are definitely implying we’ll need a good stock.

Tenant is still spending loads of time with mom, which has her ecstatic. She does love sitting with mom. Makes her feel less self-conscious, I think.
Well that’s all for the update of the day. I’m beat, and need to get up early tomorrow morning. Gotta go.

Going out

Song of the day: “Wherever you will go” by Charlene Soraia. Gorgeous song. A cover, I understand, but what the heck. I like this version.

Ten thirty in the evening, meaning that I’ve gotta hurry a little.
Had another scorcher, not unpleasant, just warm. The only thing that made it pleasant was the occasional breeze from the sea.

Writing went well today…yesterday wasn’t bad either, for that matter. Three pages yesterday fitting in a scene written out of chronological order and adding another half so all the pieces fell together where they should. And Five and half pages today, so, yay. Getting there. Just eight pages short of one hundred. Had a good scene today, it took off, meaning that after page two, I suddenly lost track of time and just kept rattling on the keys (faster and faster because I had to go out and didn’t have enough time to cook, hah) ‘till the last possible moment. Et voila, five and a half pages added to the whole.

Yesterday’s dinner involved slices of zucchini with herbs and cheese baked in the grill to a fine crisp, with fried rice on the side. It was light, it was tasty and somewhat different. In other words, splendid.

Today’s main meal consisted of the same (leftover) rice, but with fried beets on the side, which were crusty with cheese and paneer, making the meal absolutely filling…something that I needed today. But I’ll get to that later.

Yesterday, besides, the usual chores like laundry, dog feeding, dog food preparing, and all that jazz, big brother had to head up to grandpa’s place early. Grandpa really wants a fence up there so he can let his dogs walk free during the day, so big brother helped him with the first piece while Cousin Ed and I headed down into the yard for some serious watering.

Harvested enough for the dog food, and some for ourselves (we should do another canning session soon) and then had to get back up to cut the dog food before big brother and I had to go out for a donation. Didn’t come home until close to midnight, so, yikes. Didn’t get to bed until two in the morning (stuff to do, and all that) so I was not at all my perky self this morning. Hah.

Strange night, by the way. Though oppressive warm, I woke up being cold around six in the morning. Had to grab my sheet just to be able to continue sleeping. Being cold doesn’t help my sleeping pattern, hah. Already I’m starting to look wearily at the calendar. Summer is passing way too fast, darn it.

Big brother discovered that there was something wrong with the chain saw, so the plan was to go to Malaga today to bring it to the store because it is still under the warranty. Then, of course, by the time I was done getting dressed and rushing through supper (stuffing my face, ya know) while running up the mountain, he managed to fix the problem, meaning we didn’t need to go to Malaga anymore.

Since we were dressed anyway, we decided to drive to the village to drop grandpa off at the moped repairman. The stupid thing had to stay over for the weekend, because it was being a pin again, and luckily he could drive it home today. Grandpa feels somewhat hampered if his transport isn’t there. Hah.

Also went to the vet to pay for the latest dog bills…most likely we’ll have to go there again tomorrow (Nata is not doing well), and made an appointment for this week to have the dogs vaccinated for this year. Gawd, that’s going to take a chunk out of the savings, I tell ya.

Had lots of dips in the pool, which was a necessity, considering he temps were approaching 100 on several occasions. Take yesterday evening for instance, when Cousin Ed and I were working in the yard and stood in the full glare of sunshine. Yikes. I was sweating like a racehorse by the time we were done. Hah.

Dog-wise. The smart ones prefer the bathroom down by Sally’s apartment, what with all the cool tiles, and the not so smart ones also prefer that spot, meaning there will be five dogs lying in there heating the place up like a sauna. Hah. Seriously, I wish I could take a picture. Chaos and Labhana will be lying in the open closet, pressed against the walls and floor alike, and then, without a single hesitation, Sitabah will rush inside and just flop down on top of the two of them. *sigh*

Knight II on the other hand, prefers tenant’s chair when she’s not there (she was yesterday, since caregiver was out, so we were basically on our own) and will lie there in the strangest positions. Folded double, stretched out with all fours dangling over the arm rest, his head high into the air, or on top of his hip. It’s embarrassing really, he had absolutely no shame or pride. *snort*

The markets went relatively well for such a warm day, by the way. Regretfully tourists are not the best buyers for stuff that you can’t take along on the plane ride home, eh?

Well, this is it for me. Almost midnight (I got momentarily distracted by my messages, darn it) and I still have to finish my messages, so I’m outta here.

In the jungle, the mighty jungle...

Song of the day: “Bruises” by Chairlift. Incredibly cute song, only a tad annoying since the part “for youhoooohooo” is the most prominent in ones memory. Hah.

So yeah, I’m incredibly short on time. We’re heading out tomorrow for the second to last workday on that fence. Setting the gates this time, so plenty to do, plenty to do. Let’s hope we don’t need to dig the holes again. And that everything held. *snort* That’s my panicky side talking. Since we did a sturdy job, I don’t see how it could have gone wrong unless someone willingly wrecked it. Hah.

But anyway, let’s get you up to date so that we can all continue with our lives. *wink*
Yesterday:

A busy day, of course. Nothing new about that, is there? Best thing of yesterday was definitely the morning workout. Yay. Did a solid hour and a half despite the miserly rain that came down. I pounded, kicked and punched. Pumped, bounced and tread, working up a nice sweat (like this morning too, as a matter of fact. What can I say, I had some catching up to do) before starting on the day (same as this morning again, hah).

I totally forgot to say that the day before we put the new water tank in place. It was quite a hassle actually, since the dratted thing was so big that we couldn’t get it through the carport and the smaller gates. We contemplated taking it along the perimeter of the garden, and then lift it over the fence where we’ll need it, but finally decided against it. There’s a short path on that side, but it would be too dangerous to navigate with that massive “bucket”. Finally decided to carry it through the big gate and then OVER the small gate beside the old RV. We were a funny sight for sure. Cousin Ed, me, grandpa and big brother, rotating our way through, that tank as high as we could possibly hold it.

That done, the tank had to be hosed clean, and then gradually lowering it to the new platform big brother finished the other day. It fit like a glove, thank you very much. While cousin Ed and I were busy elsewhere, grandpa and big brother installed all the tubing, making the tank completely ready for yesterday. And boy, were they on time!

Did do laundry, but since the air was damp and the rain was coming down (most of the night as well) there wasn’t all that much to fold. By the time we finished feeding the dogs for the day, the rain started for real and after breakfast cousin Ed and I decided to get to work on 60 pounds of lemons that had to be squeezed into juice. Yep. Got a cheap batch the other day which meant we had to make lemonade to save them properly. Took most of the day, all of it spent in the carport cutting, squeezing (by hand too, since the poor little machine couldn’t hack it) and putting it in pots and bottles. Had about eight pots of lemon juice and five bottles of lemonade. Success!

While cousin Ed and I were doing that big brother and grandpa did more in the bungalow’s kitchen. It’s coming along nicely now. Looking grand with the beautiful wooden shelving behind it.

By the time the rain finally let up for a bit, all reservoirs were filled. YAY! No kidding. The new tank was filled to full capacity, the main basin as well, and of course the small pool. This means that we’ve earned ourselves a solid two weeks extra of free water this summer. Ergo, free, homegrown, utterly ecologically grown veggies. Double Yay!

Since the rain stopped we rushed down to the yard to harvest veggies for dog food and broccoli for ourselves. Jeez, everything was soaking wet, me included by the time we were done. Sweater was wet up to my elbows, pants up to my knees…as were my shoes. Hah. I would have changed clothes then, if we didn’t still need cut everything. Instead, eating mac&cheese big brother prepared, we finished preparing the dog food, at which time the sky slowly started to clear. So nice of Mother Nature that she stopped pouring the moment we had everything filled. Hah.

Managed a nine page edit by the end of the day, despite having moments of being cross-eyed with exhaustion. Went well enough, only ten pages away from being one third of the way. I’m not displeased with how the last edit’s changes turned out. I think it’s working so far.

Strangely enough squeezing lemons wasn’t good for my shoulder. The darn thing has been whining somewhat fierce ever since that. Same goes for the foot, but what the heck. Nothing new there. Hah

Was only a little late getting to bed, but managed getting up right on the dot for that workout. Yay.
Again laundry, but a lot was still wet despite the air having cleared throughout the night. The weather has definitely improved overnight. In fact, we had a wonderfully warm sun today.

After the usual chores, coffee and breakfast, I headed down into the yard to check the tomato plants for bugs (plenty of those again, blasted creatures) and then clear some of the terraced under the house. The malva and reed just got too big this winter, and we really needed to clear at least a pat. Then I suddenly saw myself standing in front of this dense forestry (the place where some odd eight years ago there used to be a path) blinking at the sound of Gandalf in my head, saying “thou shall not pass”. Hah. Seriously, the bushes, vines, papyrus and weeds were basically challenging me. So I took the big cutters, a scythes, and got to work.

I hacked, I cut, I sliced and by some sort of miracle, after several hours of work had a semblance of a path. It was really rather amazing. One moment you’re looking at a vast jungle, and the next (naturally I had “the lying sleeps tonight” in my head during this particular chore. Hah) there was an actual path to navigate as Ed and I started dragging branching and such away. It was wonderful work to do, in particular since the poplar, the oleanders and such protected the path and us from the sun. It was wonderfully cool in there.
Gawd, some of those vines were as thick as my index finger, by the way. I can’t believe how big it’s all become down there. I’m thinking that working on paving that path, and then making the stairs to the individual terraces is going to be a blessing once summer starts. It’ll actually be cool un there.

That done, we headed up to where grandpa had made us some pancakes for a snack and heard that mom and the younger sibs had a good day at the market. Then of course we got a call, that made it necessary for us to head on out with the car and do a pick up. Got a nice donation batch, so it was worth our wile. Still, it would have been better if we didn’t have that, seeing as we still had to prepare for tomorrow’s work day.

While unloading the car, we also loaded up. The three gates on the imperial. A load of sand in the back. Bags of cement in the backseat and of course a whole set of tools that we’re going to need. Luckily grandpa and big brother could do most of this while I got started on the blog. Hey. I’m about done, and only took an hour to write it. Yay.

Okay, gotta go. Need to have an early night, and I would like to do a few edits still.

Going all out

Song of the day: “Perhaps perhaps perhaps” by Doris Day. For some reason I felt very domestic today, and ended up humming that oldie quite a bit. Hah.

I better start with yesterday, seeing as my brain isn’t all that clear today. After my last blog, I got way distracted and ended up going to bed around two thirty, which did nothing for my night rest. *sigh* Woke at the normal time to rain, meaning that the day was going to be a slow one since there would be only a little, if nothing to do outside.

After the usual chores in the house it was time to make some serious pie. Tenant’s daughter would be having her 30th anniversary, so we figured we might as well make some pie to celebrate the happy occasion. Opted to go with the idea which had been spinning in my mind for some time. A cookie crumble bottom, with vanilla cream over it, topped by sliced peaches with mango juice. Worked out rather well. Very soft, with a light tartness to finish it off.

We fed the dogs, which was a messy ordeal and utterly appreciated by the dogs that were starving for some peculiar reason. I don’t see why they were going at it like wild wolves, but if I didn’t know better I’d have thought that they didn’t eat the day before, or something. Had enough, though, and afterwards they were quiet as lambs with satisfaction. Hah.

That done, the rain started again and I was forced to retire to the carport to work on restoring a small decorative classic car that should do well on the market if cousin Ed can find the right buyer for it. It is rather damaged (probably fell several times at some point in the past) so I used liquid glass fiber on the broken parts. I am going to have to fully replace parts of the hull, then make two to three types of paint that match the original, so it will be a challenge to say the least.

There was a trip into the yard, followed by cutting new dog food veggies. Lost about a quarter on the dogs since it is simply impossible to keep ALL of them out of the big bowl where we put the newly cut stuff into. *sigh* Thieves, the lot of them.

Managed a nine page edit for a change, so, YAY! Seriously, I was astounded when big brother told me the amount we did at the end. That was around eleven in the evening, at which time I took an hour or so to catch up on my correspondence. I’d been slacking, but I took care of that, for sure. Got a message back today from my pen buddy in Afghanistan, in fact, so that was nice. He’s doing well.

No time for a workout this morning, there were the normal chores to do, dogs to feed and then down into the yard. I opened up the greenhouse, and then went down to gather fresh veggies and herbs, and of course all the extras to feed the dogs today. With a basket full, (and a crate for the dogs) I went up to start cooking for the lunch we planned to cook for tenant’s relatives. Tenant was all excited about it, and helped out by cutting the veggies.

First off I made the bean/chickpea patties. I like how they’re light colored and crust in a wonderful golden brown. Not to mention that their taste is very soft.
We ended up preparing a wholly fresh salad (all ingredients from the yard, except the red bell pepper) a sauce on the side, fresh veggies baked in olive oil, spiced up by green herbs. Had fried rice with peanuts, coconut shavings and onion, and a dish of white and red cabbage with similar green herbs. Was nice to go all out for a chance, since usually we settle on a stir fry for expediency sake…and the guests were appreciative, so that is always a pleasure.

Ended the meal with a dessert of the pie I made yesterday, topped by whipped cream that was still liquid enough to seep off on all sides. Yummy.

Supper over we all headed into the yard for another tour, (dogs behaved splendidly again. None of them tried to bite...only Chaos made a racket) tenant along with us, of course. It was have been a splendid little walk too, if it hadn’t started raining again. *sigh* Ah well, the basin is as good as full, so there was a good side to that at least.
There was the cleanup afterward, along with tenant and her relatives chatting for some time, followed by goodbyes and see-you-soons before I headed down to my terrace where big brother and I prepared the dog food for tomorrow.

Now, the blog as good as done, dogs de-ticked once more, I really should see about editing another page of two before calling it a day. I sure hope that tomorrow the sun will be out, because it was friggin’ cold today and I want to work in the yard just to make up for the two to three hours that were spent in the kitchen today…if only my outside kitchen was done already. *sigh*

Gardening, yay

Song of the day: “Man down” by Rihanna. Had this one before, I think. Good song to have in your head, in particular with the accent, hah.

Sooooo, what’s been going on? I’m not entirely sure since I’m drawing an embarrassing blank again. *sigh* What’s with this forgetful head of mine anyway, two days disappear without a trace, and yet I can remember a mortifying incident 20 years ago at a supermarket of all places. Grrrr.

But okay, I know I have been taking it a little easy these past couple of days. Lots of yard stuff going on, because, let’s face it, it’s that time of the year. Spent several hours in the greenhouse hunting miners in the tomato plants’ leaves. Been slacking in that regard this past week, and it was noticeable. I found at least a hundred of ‘m, and can tell you right now that they weren’t all. Hah.

There was some transplanting involved with the young seedlings. A few cauliflowers, some Chinese cabbages and onions had to be let out into the wild, so to speak. And of course we had to place the smaller ones that just barely came from the ground into pots.

Weather wise we’ve been having a lot of clouds and a south eastern wind that was downright chilly. Grandpa calls it typical eastern weather. One minute it’s hot as heck and the next a cloud moves in front of the sun and ya wanna get out the winter coats for crying out loud. But no matter, stuff had to be done.

Harvesting, of course. I’ve been getting out beautifully big cauliflowers for three days now, along with nice batches of broccoli, chickweed and some tomatoes. Are getting loads of vitamin C these days, eh? No matter, since we all positively adore cauliflower. I’ve been doing loads of experimenting with this particular veggie of late.

A bit of bad news. Our regular dog food is out of storage at the store and management doesn’t know when they’ll have a new supply. Something about the factory not delivering. So, we’re trying to be frugal with the dog food, hoping we can coast this until they’re back, rather than go through the hassle of getting the dogs used to new food…which is a disaster for their bowels. Rather than giving them their usual “dose”, we’re mixing it with freshly cooked veggies from the yard, and old bread sticks that we got per box the other day. With a pumpkin added to the mix they were downright cheery devouring the lot.

Had a couple of nights of decent sleep, by the way, up to eight hours, which was absolutely divine. Yay. And the dogs, you won’t believe how much they enjoy sleeping ‘till our usual time. Chaos was stretched out along the length of me, Knight two curled against my back (curving my spine into an unnatural angle, of course), Dax under the blankets between my ankles, and Sitabah (grrrr) rolled into a ball in my neck. Blasted dogs. Hah. It’s a good thing I love them to pieces, or else I might…ah well.

Oh yeah, stupid moment of the day: I was drinking my first coffee this morning, slipping my right arm into my vest while checking the time…Yes, I wear my watch on the left side, and yes, I was holding the coffee in that hand. *sigh* Like I said, stupid moment.

Made patty dough yesterday morning. Went for a lentil/red bean mix this morning, which wasn’t bad, but also not the best. Ah well, it doesn’t really matter it will be gone a few days from now and then I’ll make a new combination. They did go well with supper, though. Even tenant loved it.

There were plants to water, despite the weather being somewhat rainy of late. Just not enough water coming down for the poor plants. All the new trees appear to be working out well. All, except for the apples, which are late bloomers, are now in bloom or in full leaf. And they look so cute too. We might actually get some cherries this year. Yay.

Had to go out yesterday, and thus we had to unload the car this morning. Same will have to be done tomorrow, of course, but who cares.

We practiced some Spanish today, as we’ve been trying to do every day for a while now. Nothing too serious, more like doing small talk. Tried to involve tenant as well, but she had a hard time of it because her hearing is not the best. The important thing is that she’s trying.

Did an edit/proof reading session of several pages, but since big brother had a headache we didn’t get very far (well, I did, just not the changes on the computer) getting through the changed pages. I hate it when we get into arguments about sentence structure, but we do, and yes, I was once again going through moments of wanting to bean him. Hah.

Okay, that’s it for today. There’s still that edit to do, and let’s hope that I don’t give into temptation this time either.

A tad nippy

Song of the day: “I hope you dance” by Leann Womack. Whenever I hear it, I keep thinking that it’s Dolly Parton, but there you have it. Gorgeous song, and it has been in my head more often, if memory serves me right.

First of all, it has been effing cold. I know, compared to the northern parts of Europe our measly 30 degrees (they’re having zero, thank you very much) is nothing, but still, I have become a worshipper of warmth, and these freezing temps are not my thing. Makes me want to crawl into bed an hibernate until the summer returns. *sigh*

No matter, though, life as we know it continues, and stuff needs to be done. I had fully planned to dig under the storage under my bed yesterday, getting out my winter sweaters, but for some reason didn’t get around to it. First off I headed down into the yard for some harvesting. I had hoped that the cold wouldn’t be as prominent there (it often is, due to it being behind the ridge of the mountain) but was disappointed after I checked up on the greenhouse (I took as long as possible in there, hah). The wind was coming from the west, so it blasted me full force while he checked everything and then quickly headed up.

There were chickpea patties for breakfast, both today and yesterday. There was no bread, so we had to make due. Didn’t work bad either with a slice of cheese on it, and a pancake to take care of the morning sugar craving. Yay. Since the below freezing temperatures weren’t doing anything for our productivity, big brother and I decided to get our computers and get to work on the edit, rather than try to brave the cold. We lit up the stove (the dogs loved that. It took them five seconds flat to come inside and cluster around the heat) turned on the machines and got to work.

About three hours later we resurfaced, both of us mentally drained and ready for a break. Since we had to go out later in the afternoon we opted for a nap. Poor Chaos was freezing, so I took him under the blanket with me. He was still shivering then, but with the arrival of a sudden weight slinking its way between us, started to growl ferociously. A glance down showed Knight II, crawling on the bed with us, wedging himself higher and higher until I caved and threw the blanket over him as well. Thankfully that made him settle down real fast, about midway between Chaos and me. I dozed for a few minutes and then…another thump, followed by desperate scratching at my shoulder I growled and looked up in time to see Dax dive under the blankets and settle into the crook of my knees. Nice and toasty. I didn’t mind overly much. Another five minute doze later, thump, and Sitabah just barely missing my nose as she vaulted over Knight II, Chaos, and my head to settle on the pillow and curling herself around my skull like a hat. She was shivering like mad, and ended up sticking her head under the blanket by my shoulder and promptly falling asleep. I didn’t have the heart to smack her out of the way, so I ended up lying there sandwiched between the dogs, enjoying the warmth, rather than actually sleeping. Isn’t it weird that of my dogs the Labs are the only ones who are not bothered by the cold?

But anyway, my so-called nap done, it was out and about again, braving the cold to head on down into the yard to water the plants. This infernal western wind is simply devastating. Already we have lost several plants to the chilling cold.

Afterwards it was to town for us, picking up an order and a small donation to boot, allowing us to come back home around 10 in the evening at which time I went through my messages, chatted some online and then worked on the edit once more.

Didn’t get to bed until two in the morning, but that was okay seeing as I overslept anyway. Hah. Yep. My alarm went off at nine and yet I somehow managed to not become disturbed by the beeping sound until nine forty. Boy was it could. I folded right then and there, yanked up my mattress and dug through the many bags underneath until I found all my winter sweaters. Yay. Am wearing one of them, thank you very much. A wool fisherman’s sweater from Norway, or some such country which is so long it covers my butt and wide enough to allow for multiple layers underneath. Double Yay. Seriously, my upper body hasn’t been cold all day. As for the lower part. I am wearing sweats under jeans, and could do with another layer but fear that I would look like a Michelin man if I did. Hah.

After breakfast and laundry, it was down into the yard again. The greenhouse was blissfully warm, and I spent at least half an hour in there to search for bugs. I would have stuck around longer, but again the plants down in the yard had to be watered, requiring time an effort. No matter this time. Though the wind was still the same as yesterday, the sun was also fully out warming us at least a little.

What else. Well, there were repairs to make. Alta (perro the agua) recently wrecked the rubber wind block strip (rubber) so I put a new one on. The tarp closure that we made to keep the wind out of the carport had a rip in it ad a slat broke due to the massive winds. Both had to be fixed and even replaced.

There was a trip to the storage to get supplies, and there was my cabin floor which absolutely had to be swept today. Seriously, I don’t mind a little dirt on the floor. On the most part I arrive in my cabin late at night, about half an hour before bedtime. I turn on the light, change into my pjs, crawl under the blankets, turn off the lights and pass out. It’s as simple as that. But it was getting bad. I startled the other day because a pluck of dog hair made think there was a rat lying in the middle of my room. Now it’s clean as a whistle…sorta anyway. Hah.

Well, that’s about it, I guess. According to the weather reports temperatures should go back up again the day after tomorrow. I for one can hardly wait. I am really spoiled when it comes to temperatures, or so I have found.

Right. I should get to work. Let’s hope I have more interesting news to report two days from now, eh?