Song of the day: “Leaving on a jet plane” by John Denver. I’ve had this in my head every now and then during the course of the past couple of weeks, which isn’t all that strange, I’ll admit.
So I’m back home, naturally…although it was debatable for a while there. Turns out that my flight home was canceled due to the airport strikes in France. Didn’t see that one coming, that’s for sure. Here I was already mentally going over everything that had to be done before my flight the next day, and wham, there was the SMS, followed by an email, telling me that I had to cancel or reschedule a flight…which wasn’t all that easy considering I got the mail after seven PM and the offices closed at six. Then the next morning the lines were so busy that they advised to call later, which I did, multiple times, until I finally got through the next day and sorted everything out.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. Last time I wrote while sitting on the grass in Kent, so let’s see if I can take it from there.
I had a wonderful walk through lush pastures and fields, climbed fences and hedges, soaked up the richly scented air, took pictures galore, and plucked a whole bunch of wildflowers just for the heck of it.
It was a good time to settle in the three dogs we brought there, and the cats. I think they will be fine, in time, seeing as they’re reunited with their mistress, and it was good for me to see them settled and say goodbye at my leisure.
Had times that I was seriously bored out of my mind with nothing to do but socializing in the evening (what can I say, I’m a workaholic and if I don’t put in at least a 10 hour work day, I get itchy), but still, it was a novel experience.
Did fill most of my days cooking, most of the meals worked out marvelously, which is never a bad thing. Also, I liked the challenge of cooking with hardly anything in store. It means applying creativity and frugality. Basically I recycled every single leftover, and used it in a new meal, meaning that except for some lettuce and some icky French cheeses, the fridges were empty the day before my departure. That’s when I made an actual list and had my host buy some stuff for a proper goodbye meal. All in all, it worked out fine…but boy did I drink way too much wine during my stay there. Those Brits sure can drink. Hah.
But anyway, my flight toward the Netherlands was incredibly early. Somewhere round seven, meaning I had to be at the airport at five, leave from the house at four, and thus get up a quarter to three so I’d be ready. Rushed through breakfast too much, of course, so when I had to fiddle with the navcom my stomach started to seriously complain, forcing my driver to stop by the side of the road so I could empty myself of the contents…better by the side of the road rather than my host’s new Land Rover with its cream leather seats, right? *snort*
This flight went without a hitch. Took about fifty-five minutes to reach the airport in Dusseldorf/Weeze, and I needed to wait there about twenty minutes for Cousin Ed and Tenant to come pick me up. Was a happy affair in total, especially tenant who got choked up, of course. There were long talks on the way to their new place, which was almost an hour’s ride.
First thing we did, (after food and unpacking a bit) was take a wonderful walk in a nearby park where dogs were allowed to run free. A good place there, in particular basically the whole park was accessible for tenant’s wheelchair. And everything was so wonderfully green again.
Was a tad late getting to bed again (I’ll sleep when I’m dead, we might as well say, right?) and the next day getting started was more than a little difficult. No helping it, though, a visit to Sally was in the plan, so we packed up tenant and the dogs, drove the distance, took a small walk near a big pond, and then went in the care home that is at this time Sally’s home.
It was startling to see her that way. They’d taken her out of her bed for a change, and she was sitting in the general area with her sister, who was feeding her lunch. So sad, not to mention shocking to see her now very frail body hang in this huge black chair, her head lolling to the side and her eyes swollen shut. There was little left of the boisterous woman I remember, that is to say, nothing was left, just a suffering shell. There seemed to be some recognition on her part, but communication was iffy at best. Neither Tenant nor I could hold back some sniffles as we sat there, watching her being fed. In the end, Tenant preferred to be rolled over to the window so she could look outside, and Sally’s sister and Cousin Ed had to leave to speak with the staff of the home, leaving me alone with her.
We talked a bit about the past, about her favorite food and grandpa and the dogs, and then she dozed off a bit. When she woke up again, she was a bit clearer and some more talk led to her laughing just a moment before pain in her chest hit her. She moaned pitifully then, which was hard. So I sat there, and held her hand and told her to squeeze if she wanted. She did.
It is a horrible thing to witness, I’ll admit, and watching her suffer I couldn’t do anything but whisper to her: “It’s okay. You can let go now. You did what you had to. You can just rest now. Just go to sleep and drift away,” which had her cry in relief, I thought. She calmed down soon thereafter, and with the promise of a painkiller she was soon driven away to her room so she could rest.
A difficult afternoon that, but we didn’t have long to linger on it, since we drove straight through to tenant’s daughter for a quick visit. Son in law was having an exposition, so after lemonade and cake (which we’d brought along) we spent some time in the gallery looking at portraits by him. Tenant really loved it, especially our visit to his art studio with smelled of oils and turpentine. It was fun.
Once home was when I got the news about my cancelled flight, so between everything, we planned a visit to the place where I lived several years of my childhood, way back when. It was really close to where Cousin Ed and Tenant live, so it seemed like a nice trip to make. It was.
First Cousin Ed and I took a really long nightly walk with the dogs, though. It was dark out already, but the night wasn’t too called, so we walked for about an hour and a half, talking of the things that had changed and the things that were still the same.
For a while now Cousin Ed has been wondering about maybe doing a visit to Spain, if only to see the last of her dogs, which grandpa is taking care of, but when I showed her some pictures, she changed her mind. It’s a sad sight for sure.
Anyways…the next day we had our outing.
For several hours we wandered through the dense beech forest that lay around the old estate that used to be home. The impressive lawns. The estate gardens and in the end even the massive villa that has at some point in the past few years been turned into an apartment complex.
We had a wonderful long walk through the woods, despite tenant’s wheelchair. There were moment where we feared we weren’t going to make it through the mulled forest earth, but I managed to lift and drag her through without incident. She did have a few scared moments where she moaned for big brother, but we got through it in one piece. Thankfully.
We met this really nice lady who lived there and we talked for a while before she offered for us to come with her into the main lobby.
It was rather wonderful, actually, to see the inside again. Where used to be the huge dining room with the endless white table-cloth tables used to stand, there was now a fancy lobby in which we got tea and a cookie as we talked and compared the changes to what I still had in my mind.
As I sat there, staring outside, I could still see the young people walking outside in their early eighties outfits, their long sleek hair, and the tents from when the workshops used to be, and all those memories that spun through my mind like some faded movie. Strange how you can recognize color schemes and shapes from so long a time ago, isn’t it. And the smell, despite all the changes, a hint of the old smell was still there. Amazing.
It was a wonderful afternoon.
The next day there were several activities planned for tenant, so Cousin Ed and I were on our own. We decided to go to another place where I used to live, to the heath fields close to the woods I used to call home. First we checked out the old village though. That is where I came upon my former stepfather, who works at townhall. There was some initial discomfort when we first recognized each other, and exchanged the usual pleasantries, then, as we went for a walk along the docks of the river, we both relaxed enough to show an interest in each other’s lives. It has been many years since I last saw him, and the resentments I used to feel have thankfully disappeared. Strange how time does that, isn’t it? Guess the distance of time does work miracles. Now there was just curiosity as to the man he has become, and enjoying the few discoveries I made during our talk.
We talked a bit about the younger sibs, who are his kids, and how there are genetics at play that remind me of him sometimes, which made him smile proudly, as it should.
Within a short time we said our goodbyes, though, that being his lunch time and all, and I was off to meet Cousin Ed for a drink before we headed up the mountain for our walk.
As for the remainder of the day, we visited Cousin Ed’s brother, who was happy to receive unexpected visitors (we picked up tenant first, seeing as she is rather fond of the man) and with whom I had a nice long talk about literature. Had crackers with cheese and tea, and plenty of talking in this cute little yard at the back of the house. His pride and joy, apparently.
Arrived back at the house before nightfall, big brother had sorted most of my new ticket out, all I had to do was reach the airplane company to sort out the remaining mess of a refund. Regretfully, due to the strikes, we didn’t manage to get a flight until Friday, and since the airport I arrived at only had a flight out on Sunday, my plane left from Köln, a good 161 km away from tenant’s and Ed’s place…that meant getting to bed on time and forfeiting the swim we had planned on, darn it. Really was looking forward to a swim at a big pool.
But okay, got everything packed, stocked the loads of licorice the family ordered into my backpack, had to leave behind some stuff to make room, and were up and about at five in the morning.
Arrived at the airport in time, made my flight and was back home just a couple of hours after noon. Yay. Big brother and grandpa were waiting for me and drove me home to the doggies in record time. The first moment I called them from my chair on the terrace they were a bit startled, but then they recognized me and came storming at me. Poor Knight slipped in his rush, and slammed into the table, but then he plunked his behind onto my lap and refused to budge for a solid fifteen minutes regardless of the heat. So that about sums it up, doesn’t it.
The whole strike thing made the adventure a lot more expensive than planned, of course. I had planned on spending maybe 100 bucks on food and treats, and ended up spending more than four-hundred due to car rental, mostly, and food and treats, of course. A week’s wages gone without a trace, but what the heck. It’s not like there will be a lot more opportunities to see both tenant and Sally.
First thing I did once the dogs calmed down was take a nap, and then we had to go out the grocery store because big brother and grandpa just used everything up and didn’t get anything new while I was gone, grrrr. Didn’t get to bed until after two in the morning, of course. Too many doggies to pet and correspondence to day, I guess.
So today was the first day back home for really, with the first day back at work, and it was okay. Nothing too strenuous, just the usual.
And that, sort of, concludes today’s blog. I gotta go.
Saturday, June 28, 2014
Friday, June 20, 2014
The trip...so far.
Song of the day: “Little Things” by (this is a tad embarrassing) One Direction. I mean, seriously: A boy band?
So, let’s get to the important stuff: the Trip. Yep, I survived it. It was a close call for a minute there, but all in all we came through the “ordeal” undamaged.
At the moment I am sitting in the middle of a massive lawn, a pond with a spigot spraying cheerily in the center, trees swaying gentle in what is called a perfect English summer, sun, some clouds, fresh, but warm, my bare feet in the grass, my bum slightly moist and birds screeching through the music I have on on my computer. Bliss, I tell ya. I can’t remember the last time I sat in REAL grass like this. I’ve been walking barefoot basically from the moment I got here which is a pure pleasure for my poor foot. It’s been so grateful it hasn’t complained once today.
But back to the beginning.
Wednesday we had to get up at five in the morning—this is not something you wanna be late for after all—rush through the morning routines and be on our way to work at a quarter to seven. We were, the three of us, little sister, me and big brother so we could get everything packed up and ready to leave for the airport in time. We made it in spades, the only hiccup was that the owner of the animals we were transporting still had to say his goodbyes, which took longer than anticipated…luckily I did calculate that in, and the deadline of departure was five minutes after we drove out of the gate. There we were, one dog on my lap, two more in the back, big brother in a van with the luggage and six cats. Luckily we were being driven, otherwise that might have been a problem.
We arrived at the small airport with about five minutes to spare, had to wait for fifteen for the handlers to arrive, not to mention the pilot (Simon) and his steward (Tim). Then the real difficulty started. Customs. Aaaargh. Seriously, try moving six nervous cats from one travel box to the next, so the boxes could be run through the X-ray, and that while I was waiting with a 100 pound invalid dog, and two scared lapdogs…poor darlings did great, though. They walked their leads, didn’t pull, and the big lug was lying on this huge trolley while he was taken from Land Rover to airport van. Big brother did a quick trip to the bathroom, and then we were on our way to this tiny tin can that they called an airplane. Is a jet plane supposed to be with propellers? Anyway, it took about half an hour just to fit all the luggage into the tiny tail hold, and the seats that Big Brother and I didn’t occupy. Then there were the cat boxes, the big dog who gratefully plonked down in the middle of the aisle where we’d put his most comfortable pillow. Next big brother and I got in with the two teeny doggies…well big brother did. Since there was only a commode on the plain, no actual room for it, the steward suggested I go back to the terminal for a quick wee. I did…not that it helped much, I fear.
Flying a small plane is very different from a big one, I tell ya. Take off took a while, we were in a queue of sorts, and since we were still on the ground, it was rather hot in the back where big brother and I both sat with our feet propped up on the opposite seats, big lug under our knees and using our feet to keep two cat boxes on the seats. It was interesting, I’ll say that much for it.
Lift off felt like we were sitting in a wet rag. The thing seemed to be pulled up by two ropes attached to the wings, and rather than pulling both at the same time, they went one at a time…much like swimming the crawl, or something. Both of us got downright giddy from it, the cats screamed, the small dogs shivered in our laps, and the big lug…well, he laid his head down and went to sleep. Lucky bastard.
Although longer than my poor bladder found comfortable, about an hour and a half into the flight I was starting to feel “restless”. We got a nice lunch, though, egg sandwiches and cheese sandwiches with lettuce and cherry tomatoes, and a big dish filled with fruit. Added to that we got soda and coffee…which, in the end, didn’t make me any more comfortable. Hah. Steward Tim was very nice, though. Took the time to explain any questions we had, prepared our “orders” and basically made himself indispensible.
Anyway, flying over Spain took about an hour and a half, then we did a bit of ocean, France, which was slowly getting greener, I tell ya. And then, at long last we reached the coast of England, where we got this lame arse route that took us all the way to the most eastern coast while we were guided toward the airport. It was marvelous. There were clouds (not to mention turbulence) but also sunlight, so it was like some glorious movie while we slided (hobbled) down through the clouds. Landing felt more like dropping onto the tarmac, but what the heck, it was a grand adventure, and a row of three cars with flashing lights were waiting for us.
There was a whole reunion thing of owner and animals, but that’s private so let’s move it along to us saying thank you and goodbye to our crew. Turns out that in the aviation world, we were known as Noah’s Ark because that was the biggest amount of animals transported by charter, ever. Hah. Then it was rushing to the bathroom for me, which was a massive relief, and then an hour’s drive to the new home of the animals. The remainder of the evening was a bit of a blur, seeing as it involved getting the animals settled, eating a selection of snacks, standing outside and looking at the GREEN, getting a tour of the place (very nice) and then sitting down for supper.
Supper was a tad too spicy for me, but the wine was delicious so you can imagine what state I was in when I finally conked out in the guestroom. So far I have only forgotten one thing (almost forgot my blouse when we got on the plane, hah) which is a packet of something that no woman likes to be without during that certain time of the month. Yikes. But I had a couple, so I managed to hold out until the next day to go fetch some at the supermarket.
Didn’t sleep well that first night. For some reason I woke up my usual time, which means an hour earlier over here, and couldn’t get back to sleep. Helped out with the animals, unpacked boxes and suitcases, and then went to town…a friend took both big brother and me out for lunch, after groceries, which was nice. Though we had a bit of rain yesterday, the weather has been nice…and big brother flew home without incident.
I had a wee bit of a panic attack after he did, nothing new there. Apparently I’m doomed to suffer from that whenever I’m away from home for the first, or second day. After that, it becomes a bit easier, thankfully. I’m a whiner, you know. Hah.
Did some cooking, which is always a pleasure. Nothing keeps you quite as occupied as thinking of menus…and writing a blog, of course. Went for an hour's walk, trekking straight through deserted (green) paddocks and rows of trees. Got a little lost, then found my way again and plucked flowers on my way back to the house. Nothing is quite as relaxing as arranging flowers, is it?
Which just about sums up the trip so far. Won’t stay too long, I suppose. The animals and their owner appear to be managing just fine, so let’s see about getting a flight back.
Gotta go.
So, let’s get to the important stuff: the Trip. Yep, I survived it. It was a close call for a minute there, but all in all we came through the “ordeal” undamaged.
At the moment I am sitting in the middle of a massive lawn, a pond with a spigot spraying cheerily in the center, trees swaying gentle in what is called a perfect English summer, sun, some clouds, fresh, but warm, my bare feet in the grass, my bum slightly moist and birds screeching through the music I have on on my computer. Bliss, I tell ya. I can’t remember the last time I sat in REAL grass like this. I’ve been walking barefoot basically from the moment I got here which is a pure pleasure for my poor foot. It’s been so grateful it hasn’t complained once today.
But back to the beginning.
Wednesday we had to get up at five in the morning—this is not something you wanna be late for after all—rush through the morning routines and be on our way to work at a quarter to seven. We were, the three of us, little sister, me and big brother so we could get everything packed up and ready to leave for the airport in time. We made it in spades, the only hiccup was that the owner of the animals we were transporting still had to say his goodbyes, which took longer than anticipated…luckily I did calculate that in, and the deadline of departure was five minutes after we drove out of the gate. There we were, one dog on my lap, two more in the back, big brother in a van with the luggage and six cats. Luckily we were being driven, otherwise that might have been a problem.
We arrived at the small airport with about five minutes to spare, had to wait for fifteen for the handlers to arrive, not to mention the pilot (Simon) and his steward (Tim). Then the real difficulty started. Customs. Aaaargh. Seriously, try moving six nervous cats from one travel box to the next, so the boxes could be run through the X-ray, and that while I was waiting with a 100 pound invalid dog, and two scared lapdogs…poor darlings did great, though. They walked their leads, didn’t pull, and the big lug was lying on this huge trolley while he was taken from Land Rover to airport van. Big brother did a quick trip to the bathroom, and then we were on our way to this tiny tin can that they called an airplane. Is a jet plane supposed to be with propellers? Anyway, it took about half an hour just to fit all the luggage into the tiny tail hold, and the seats that Big Brother and I didn’t occupy. Then there were the cat boxes, the big dog who gratefully plonked down in the middle of the aisle where we’d put his most comfortable pillow. Next big brother and I got in with the two teeny doggies…well big brother did. Since there was only a commode on the plain, no actual room for it, the steward suggested I go back to the terminal for a quick wee. I did…not that it helped much, I fear.
Flying a small plane is very different from a big one, I tell ya. Take off took a while, we were in a queue of sorts, and since we were still on the ground, it was rather hot in the back where big brother and I both sat with our feet propped up on the opposite seats, big lug under our knees and using our feet to keep two cat boxes on the seats. It was interesting, I’ll say that much for it.
Lift off felt like we were sitting in a wet rag. The thing seemed to be pulled up by two ropes attached to the wings, and rather than pulling both at the same time, they went one at a time…much like swimming the crawl, or something. Both of us got downright giddy from it, the cats screamed, the small dogs shivered in our laps, and the big lug…well, he laid his head down and went to sleep. Lucky bastard.
Although longer than my poor bladder found comfortable, about an hour and a half into the flight I was starting to feel “restless”. We got a nice lunch, though, egg sandwiches and cheese sandwiches with lettuce and cherry tomatoes, and a big dish filled with fruit. Added to that we got soda and coffee…which, in the end, didn’t make me any more comfortable. Hah. Steward Tim was very nice, though. Took the time to explain any questions we had, prepared our “orders” and basically made himself indispensible.
Anyway, flying over Spain took about an hour and a half, then we did a bit of ocean, France, which was slowly getting greener, I tell ya. And then, at long last we reached the coast of England, where we got this lame arse route that took us all the way to the most eastern coast while we were guided toward the airport. It was marvelous. There were clouds (not to mention turbulence) but also sunlight, so it was like some glorious movie while we slided (hobbled) down through the clouds. Landing felt more like dropping onto the tarmac, but what the heck, it was a grand adventure, and a row of three cars with flashing lights were waiting for us.
There was a whole reunion thing of owner and animals, but that’s private so let’s move it along to us saying thank you and goodbye to our crew. Turns out that in the aviation world, we were known as Noah’s Ark because that was the biggest amount of animals transported by charter, ever. Hah. Then it was rushing to the bathroom for me, which was a massive relief, and then an hour’s drive to the new home of the animals. The remainder of the evening was a bit of a blur, seeing as it involved getting the animals settled, eating a selection of snacks, standing outside and looking at the GREEN, getting a tour of the place (very nice) and then sitting down for supper.
Supper was a tad too spicy for me, but the wine was delicious so you can imagine what state I was in when I finally conked out in the guestroom. So far I have only forgotten one thing (almost forgot my blouse when we got on the plane, hah) which is a packet of something that no woman likes to be without during that certain time of the month. Yikes. But I had a couple, so I managed to hold out until the next day to go fetch some at the supermarket.
Didn’t sleep well that first night. For some reason I woke up my usual time, which means an hour earlier over here, and couldn’t get back to sleep. Helped out with the animals, unpacked boxes and suitcases, and then went to town…a friend took both big brother and me out for lunch, after groceries, which was nice. Though we had a bit of rain yesterday, the weather has been nice…and big brother flew home without incident.
I had a wee bit of a panic attack after he did, nothing new there. Apparently I’m doomed to suffer from that whenever I’m away from home for the first, or second day. After that, it becomes a bit easier, thankfully. I’m a whiner, you know. Hah.
Did some cooking, which is always a pleasure. Nothing keeps you quite as occupied as thinking of menus…and writing a blog, of course. Went for an hour's walk, trekking straight through deserted (green) paddocks and rows of trees. Got a little lost, then found my way again and plucked flowers on my way back to the house. Nothing is quite as relaxing as arranging flowers, is it?
Which just about sums up the trip so far. Won’t stay too long, I suppose. The animals and their owner appear to be managing just fine, so let’s see about getting a flight back.
Gotta go.
Monday, June 16, 2014
Review for "The Secret of Sanctua: A Bengt/Tian Novel"
Since I can't find the time to write a blog this week (I might a little later on, but then I'll be in the UK, hopefully) I'm going to post a review of a book I read last week.
The book is from Indie published Teresa McCullough, and I had fun reading it. In my own star system of 1 to 7 stars this one rates a solid 5
* * * * *
The basic plot: Two very different people sharing a single life, and have for such a long time that they have made peace with this somewhat unorthodox arrangement caused by very powerful magic. The classic “Ladyhawk” idea? Not quite. There are some interesting twists and turns, not to mention memorable distinctions.
The world: Contemporary with some fantasy elements. There are weres, sorcerers/witches and vampires but still it is the basic world that we all recognize.
The characters: I found myself liking Bengt and Tian, the characters McCullough created, despite the fact that both were a little too casual about the “who wants to live forever” drama they could have experienced. This is personal taste, however, I am sure that there are people who would deal with such a possibility far better than others. These two magically bound characters (they were titled a Dual) were described to have regretted or mourned certain dramatic events in the past, and yet I could not feel the emotional backlash, which was a bit of a pity. In my reading I prefer to feel what the characters feel, rather than be told. But there are many readers who do not and rather keep it matter of fact.
Perhaps the characters’ acceptance was very accurate in regard to the fact that they were very old and had gone through all that emotional trauma long before the story commenced. Also, from a romantic point of view, neither of these characters were romantically inclined, which, to a romance reader like myself, was a tad disappointing. Whatever the case, McCullough managed to hold my attention throughout the read and kept me going straight to the end for the sheer pleasure of finding out where these characters would lead me. Well done.
Writing style: Concise and easy to follow sentence structure. Personally I would have enjoyed McCullough to have taken a little more risk in her sentence structure, more of a rollercoaster ride, rather than the merry-go-round’s steady rhythm, if you get my meaning, but that is personal taste again. On the overall I could not find fault in her writing and enjoyed the ride, which is definitely a plus.
I only came upon a handful of typos at most, which is admirable for an independently published book.
End conclusion:
I really enjoyed the story McCullough created with this original-to-me concept. Technically it was well put together, and thought out into the tiniest details, kudos to the author. I recommend the story to readers and hope that they find pleasure in this story as well.
------
That's it. If you're curious to read it for yourself, (and support the arts, so to speak) here's the link.
The Secret of Sanctua: A Bengt/Tian Novel
The book is from Indie published Teresa McCullough, and I had fun reading it. In my own star system of 1 to 7 stars this one rates a solid 5
* * * * *
The basic plot: Two very different people sharing a single life, and have for such a long time that they have made peace with this somewhat unorthodox arrangement caused by very powerful magic. The classic “Ladyhawk” idea? Not quite. There are some interesting twists and turns, not to mention memorable distinctions.
The world: Contemporary with some fantasy elements. There are weres, sorcerers/witches and vampires but still it is the basic world that we all recognize.
The characters: I found myself liking Bengt and Tian, the characters McCullough created, despite the fact that both were a little too casual about the “who wants to live forever” drama they could have experienced. This is personal taste, however, I am sure that there are people who would deal with such a possibility far better than others. These two magically bound characters (they were titled a Dual) were described to have regretted or mourned certain dramatic events in the past, and yet I could not feel the emotional backlash, which was a bit of a pity. In my reading I prefer to feel what the characters feel, rather than be told. But there are many readers who do not and rather keep it matter of fact.
Perhaps the characters’ acceptance was very accurate in regard to the fact that they were very old and had gone through all that emotional trauma long before the story commenced. Also, from a romantic point of view, neither of these characters were romantically inclined, which, to a romance reader like myself, was a tad disappointing. Whatever the case, McCullough managed to hold my attention throughout the read and kept me going straight to the end for the sheer pleasure of finding out where these characters would lead me. Well done.
Writing style: Concise and easy to follow sentence structure. Personally I would have enjoyed McCullough to have taken a little more risk in her sentence structure, more of a rollercoaster ride, rather than the merry-go-round’s steady rhythm, if you get my meaning, but that is personal taste again. On the overall I could not find fault in her writing and enjoyed the ride, which is definitely a plus.
I only came upon a handful of typos at most, which is admirable for an independently published book.
End conclusion:
I really enjoyed the story McCullough created with this original-to-me concept. Technically it was well put together, and thought out into the tiniest details, kudos to the author. I recommend the story to readers and hope that they find pleasure in this story as well.
------
That's it. If you're curious to read it for yourself, (and support the arts, so to speak) here's the link.
The Secret of Sanctua: A Bengt/Tian Novel
Monday, June 9, 2014
Chats aplenty
Song of the day: “A new day” by Celine Dion, of course.
Gorgeous song.
So what’s been going on? Nothing glamorous, I assure you, just the usual which I shouldn’t even bother you with, but I will regardless. Hah. Life is continuing on as usual, slowly but steadily…and summer appears to have arrived. Yikes. Temps are rapidly rising, added to an abundance of light that is forcing me to wear not only a hat or glasses, but both the moment I step outside. Most annoying.
For me it was a long week, actually. What with the two jogs last Monday and Tuesday, along with an iron pumping session had me running on fumes most of this week. Considering that I didn’t get enough sleep either, didn’t help much at all, as I’m sure you’ll understand. What can I say, I’m a moron in that regard.
Since last week’s two days of writing, I didn’t get any done during the course of the week. Part of this can be blamed on the fact that we’re out for a whopping ten hours most any day, and also because I’ve been desperately trying to catch up with the lack of sleep with a nap. Only had two, mind you, one of which was yesterday after we got home. Intended to pass out for an hour to get me through the remainder of the evening, only to be woken up by big brother who was standing in my doorway, smirking a little. “What?” I asked, looking around. It was dark. Shaite! I’d slept for three hours, meaning I’d basically lost the entire evening. But boy, that was a nice nap. Hah.
Went out to take a friend out into an authentic Spanish village and got treated to drinks and tapas. Was a wonderfully relaxing couple of hours with plenty of talking. He’s this guy from the UK who’s been visiting the area for the past month or so, and he’s had quite a fascinating life. So many stories, our JM. Seriously, I could do a fascinating biography with just his yarns. Hah. It was fun. He’ll be leaving for the UK again soon, though, so we’ve been invited to come for dinner Wednesday evening, which should be an experience at the very least.
JM had his computer wrecked the other day, so that meant a visit to the PC doctor in town to see if they can fix it for a reasonable price. They could probably fix it, sure, but it would cost more then JM was willing to spend, darn it. It was a bloody good laptop, so it’s a pity.
Had 13 dog tags made at a big store the other day, which took forever. But in return I had a very nice chat with a girl working there. She had come from the UK at age nine, so her Spanish was pretty good. Didn’t even know she was British until I asked. Turned out she was vastly annoyed with foreign customers just barging and expecting the staff to speak English without asking first. Therefore she refused to speak English. So I apologized for speaking Spanish rather poorly, but she told m that I didn’t do all that bad and at least I tried, and then gave her the courtesy of asking first. So we talked some more about crazy bosses (she knew all about that, too) dogs, bad dog food, her one year old child, her boyfriend, my dogs, and all in all it was time pleasantly spent. Hah.
Got myself another pair of pants. Basically it’s a jogging pants/harem pants, which is so darn comfortable that I fear I’ll be wearing it for the remainder of summer. Just hopped into the store this morning and got it, because let’s face it, it’s not easy finding something that looks nice and is comfortable at the same time.
Sitabah is as good as new, Yay! Her wound has closed completely, so now she only has a small bald patch there that bulges a bit with scar tissue. Silly girl really needs to be more careful.
What with the temps rising, Grandpa finally managed to hang a fan in my room/corner. Sure the place is a mess, but I’ve got a fan that makes sleeping there absolutely bearable. Yay. Gawd, during the days it is getting to be so friggin’ warm with the sun shining on the roof.
Heard from cousin Ed and tenant over in the Netherlands, and they’re staying nicely busy. Sally is still hanging in there, enjoying food at least. Better than nothing, I suppose.
Had a useless trip to garage this morning. Had an appointment for the engine that is not starting up when we turn the ignition. Had to push the darn thing on at least 8 times this past week. Can’t figure out what the problem is…which is the problem the garage is facing. As long as the engine actually starts, there is very little they can do. Sure they can just start replacing parts that “could” be the problem, but that would be a costly risk. So the advice is to continue driving, and then return when the problems shows itself again. *sigh* That’s what we’ll do then.
Reviewed a book by Teresa McCullough. I’ll be posting it here one of these days, so come and check every now and then to see if I got around to it yet.
And there is of course this blog.
Worked quite a few hours this week, which accounts for very little to write about, doesn’t it. Well, soon I’ll be taking my trip to the UK, so then I’ll be sure to give you glorious details about what all happens there.
Other than that there was just a lot of running about…which means that we have reached the end of today’s blog. Have a good one.
Gorgeous song.
So what’s been going on? Nothing glamorous, I assure you, just the usual which I shouldn’t even bother you with, but I will regardless. Hah. Life is continuing on as usual, slowly but steadily…and summer appears to have arrived. Yikes. Temps are rapidly rising, added to an abundance of light that is forcing me to wear not only a hat or glasses, but both the moment I step outside. Most annoying.
For me it was a long week, actually. What with the two jogs last Monday and Tuesday, along with an iron pumping session had me running on fumes most of this week. Considering that I didn’t get enough sleep either, didn’t help much at all, as I’m sure you’ll understand. What can I say, I’m a moron in that regard.
Since last week’s two days of writing, I didn’t get any done during the course of the week. Part of this can be blamed on the fact that we’re out for a whopping ten hours most any day, and also because I’ve been desperately trying to catch up with the lack of sleep with a nap. Only had two, mind you, one of which was yesterday after we got home. Intended to pass out for an hour to get me through the remainder of the evening, only to be woken up by big brother who was standing in my doorway, smirking a little. “What?” I asked, looking around. It was dark. Shaite! I’d slept for three hours, meaning I’d basically lost the entire evening. But boy, that was a nice nap. Hah.
Went out to take a friend out into an authentic Spanish village and got treated to drinks and tapas. Was a wonderfully relaxing couple of hours with plenty of talking. He’s this guy from the UK who’s been visiting the area for the past month or so, and he’s had quite a fascinating life. So many stories, our JM. Seriously, I could do a fascinating biography with just his yarns. Hah. It was fun. He’ll be leaving for the UK again soon, though, so we’ve been invited to come for dinner Wednesday evening, which should be an experience at the very least.
JM had his computer wrecked the other day, so that meant a visit to the PC doctor in town to see if they can fix it for a reasonable price. They could probably fix it, sure, but it would cost more then JM was willing to spend, darn it. It was a bloody good laptop, so it’s a pity.
Had 13 dog tags made at a big store the other day, which took forever. But in return I had a very nice chat with a girl working there. She had come from the UK at age nine, so her Spanish was pretty good. Didn’t even know she was British until I asked. Turned out she was vastly annoyed with foreign customers just barging and expecting the staff to speak English without asking first. Therefore she refused to speak English. So I apologized for speaking Spanish rather poorly, but she told m that I didn’t do all that bad and at least I tried, and then gave her the courtesy of asking first. So we talked some more about crazy bosses (she knew all about that, too) dogs, bad dog food, her one year old child, her boyfriend, my dogs, and all in all it was time pleasantly spent. Hah.
Got myself another pair of pants. Basically it’s a jogging pants/harem pants, which is so darn comfortable that I fear I’ll be wearing it for the remainder of summer. Just hopped into the store this morning and got it, because let’s face it, it’s not easy finding something that looks nice and is comfortable at the same time.
Sitabah is as good as new, Yay! Her wound has closed completely, so now she only has a small bald patch there that bulges a bit with scar tissue. Silly girl really needs to be more careful.
What with the temps rising, Grandpa finally managed to hang a fan in my room/corner. Sure the place is a mess, but I’ve got a fan that makes sleeping there absolutely bearable. Yay. Gawd, during the days it is getting to be so friggin’ warm with the sun shining on the roof.
Heard from cousin Ed and tenant over in the Netherlands, and they’re staying nicely busy. Sally is still hanging in there, enjoying food at least. Better than nothing, I suppose.
Had a useless trip to garage this morning. Had an appointment for the engine that is not starting up when we turn the ignition. Had to push the darn thing on at least 8 times this past week. Can’t figure out what the problem is…which is the problem the garage is facing. As long as the engine actually starts, there is very little they can do. Sure they can just start replacing parts that “could” be the problem, but that would be a costly risk. So the advice is to continue driving, and then return when the problems shows itself again. *sigh* That’s what we’ll do then.
Reviewed a book by Teresa McCullough. I’ll be posting it here one of these days, so come and check every now and then to see if I got around to it yet.
And there is of course this blog.
Worked quite a few hours this week, which accounts for very little to write about, doesn’t it. Well, soon I’ll be taking my trip to the UK, so then I’ll be sure to give you glorious details about what all happens there.
Other than that there was just a lot of running about…which means that we have reached the end of today’s blog. Have a good one.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)