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We had 37 degrees in the afternoon. It's still 29°C right now. Some idiot started feeding the flying rats (=pigeons) again, which means they like to perch on the windowsills outside and shit on them. Very hygienic - NOT!

We're still living in slow motion, doing as little as possible and resting as much as possible. The blinds are down and the windows are closed most of the day; it's like a bunker. A hot one. We do live on 53 square metres of concrete, after all, and that includes the balcony.

At least I didn't have to cook today - long live the leftovers! Tomorrow is a different case but I'm trying to cook things that are quickly made. Kleingehacktes and instant mashed potatoes are on the menu. I don't care about nutrition values; this is a matter of survival!

Under such circumstances I didn't make much progress with anything. Worked a bit on my quiet book front pages; one of the front doors are actually in working order, complete with the latch and everything, and I've sewn the flowers (actually small buttons) into the windows. Not much, but the morning hours when there's enough natural light and bearable temperatures are short.

Have I mentioned already how much I hate this weather?

Current Mood: hot and miserable

Quoted loosely after that Beatles movie. *g*

When I got up today, we had 26 degrees already. When I came back from the grocery shopping, we had 30. In the early afternoon it climbed to 34, and there it remained until 7pm or so. God, I hate this weather!

Today I also had to cook something because the Cesar salad I planned to buy at Lidl for lunch was already sold out at 9.30am. Of course it was; they had reduced the price for the next tree days. So I made some American-style pancakes because they were quicker to made than regular crepes. The temperature of the kitchen was hellish, even so.

After lunch I had a nice, long phone chat with my friend Evie. Insulation work on her tiny house had been finished yesterday; now she's struggling with the clean-up. Still, it's a blessing that she got the work done - the house was hellish hot in summer and ice cold in winter. Perhaps she'll be able to lead a more comfortable life. *fingers crossed*

I really wasn't up to much crafting after all this. I've finished one of the staircases and sewn on both stripes of border stone, but that was about it. Then I had a hour-long nap, and now I'm about to watch some silly YouTube videos because my brain has melted completely.

Current Mood: HOT

Actually, they ought to have been finished three times over. But I always get some creative idea that adds several new details to the original design. It just doesn't seem to have an end.

Today I got the idea of making the front door so that it could be opened and closed with the help of a press button. So I needed something that would be behind the door because just having the house wall wouldn't make much sense, now would it? Thus the staircase was born, complete with "stone paving", a suitably dark background, a fling of stairs and a flower-shaped sequin that serves as the ceiling lamp. Yes, I'm insane, I know.

Other than that, I've finally finished stitching on the boughs for the last bush and got another idea for a nice row of curb stones trimming the house, and I might actually add flower-shaped buttons to the windows and small red pearls to the boughs, so that they'd look better. I'm still procrastinating about a way to make smoke coming from the chimney (mind you, the house doesn't even have a chimney yet), but not all the time. This is supposed to be an interactive book, so I'd like to make it possible to pull the smoke in and out at will. Yes, I think we've already cleared that I'm insane. *g*

In other news, we had 34°C today - still have it, in fact - so we minimized any strenuous activities. I boiled some potatoes for lunch because Mum had some tummy problems (enjoyed her babka too much yesterday), and I took out the rubbish. Otherwise we've watched some telly and rested.

Current Mood: creative

Today I was mostly crafting and a little bit writing. The front pages of the two dollhouse quiet books are taking shape; only that I'm getting new ideas about embellishments and interactive parts, and so I'm adding new details, which prolongs the process considerably. *g*

Housework was moderate: I only had to make carrot soup and we ate sandwiches to keep excess bread and cold cuts from going bad. Mum had a visit from the physiotherapist lady, and for the rest of the day we tried to survive the heat.

The writing wasn't very much, but I managed to put to paper some details I had ghosting around in my head. Seeing them written down was less satisfactory, but I think I can twist them a bit so that they might flow more naturally. *fingers crossed*

We had 32 degrees today again. The rest of the week - and nest week - promises to be the same or worse. I knew there was a reason why I always hated summer, despite the summer holidays.

Current Mood: hot

Time to post about something else than my rather boring life, isn't it? There are only so many ways to say that it's hot, that I didn't do anything of import and that I wish I could travel, at least for a couple of days. You folks must be fed up to your eyeteeth with my repetitive posts, so I thought it's time for something new.

So, in that spirit I present you the most amazing piece of fanfic I've read for a very long time. It's The Unquenchable Light by Virtuella and can be admired at the Stories of Arda archive. It takes pace roughly during the Ring War and is set in the far East of Middle-earth, a place that Tolkien never explored; he didn't even mention it, actually.

Why is it such a fantastic read? Well:
1) It presents an Eastern realm that is not evil.
2) It uses the Blue Wizards and the Entwives in a creative and believable way.
3) It introduces the good Eastern dragons in a way that fits Tolkien's mythology.
4) The world-building is awesome, the characters (mostly original ones) 100% convincing, the descriptions so vivid that one can see everything with one's inner eye, almost like in a movie.

I'm still only halfway through (found the story yesterday, actually), but if I'll like it as much when I finished as I do it now, I'll add it to

telekis_vendiak, my reading rec comm.

That said, nothing of import happened over here, as usual. I did the grocery shopping, we ate leftovers and I had a chat with my friend Evie. That about sums it up.

Current Mood: excited

... because we had 37°C today and everything else would be suicidal. Thank God I didn't have to cook today, and it's also my cleaning free Sunday, so I paced myself accordingly. That means I made good progress with my dollhouse quiet books... in two parts. The second front page is now well on its way: I've finished the house, and I made four bushes, two for each front page. That part was rather work-heavy: they consist of two layers, one dark green and one light green, with the boughs stitched on with brown thread in stem stitch.

Other than that, we just watched some telly and had really long naps. I for myself slept two hours in the afternoon, and that was very nice. Weather forecast promises some cooling down for tomorrow, which would be nice, as I'll have to go to the supermarket. *fingers crossed*

Current Mood: hot

Or, in my case, heat with heat. We had ungodly 32°C today, so what did I do? Right; I switched on the oven to bake potatoes and make the pulled pork. Granted, the latter was the pre-cooked sort from the supermarket, but still... I worked in my unmentionables to survive somehow. The upside of it? When I was finished and went into the living room, I was literally freezing in the 26 degrees that we had there. Mum thinks I'm insane. She's probably right. *g*

Aside from the kitchen duty, we also had laundry day. So much fun - not! The balcony, where I hung up the thick towels, is like a sauna, even now. At least they'll dry in record time... or so I hope.

Still, in the morning I managed to work a bit on the front page of dollhouse quiet book #1. I figured out a simple but convincing way to simulate the roof tiles, so I'm content with what little I managed to do.

In the evening I had two nice, long phone calls, with my friend Ilonka and with H, which was nice. Then we watched the current re-run of the GBBO, and now we're trying to air the flat a bit. The air outside still isn't very cool, but at least there's a bit of air moving around. I hope it helps for the night because tomorrow will be just as hot, if one can believe weather forecast. And when they promise something unpleasant they're usually right.

Current Mood: hot

Today we finally managed to reach the corner café, for the first time since Mum's most recent fall. The old homeless gentleman was camping on his usual bench and expressed his joy to see us again. Several neighbours were also at large and chatted with Mum in a friendly manner, including the janitor, so she had lots of fun. The trip was exhausting for us both, though. For her because she's very much out of practice, for me because I was afraid she might not manage the whole distance and besides, toddling with an extremely slow speed - her speed - is very tiring for me. But we managed, and that was a good feeling for us both.

Coming home, I dissected and pre-cooked the cauliflower I had bought yesterday; it's resting in the freezer now, waiting for its chance to become a meal. I made soup from the boiling water, with the help of Tütensuppe, and then worked a bit on my felt dollhouse. The second tree is now finished, and now my fingers really hurt. Typing is an ordeal at the moment. Still, I've started on the front page base; figured out a design that, I think, will look really cute. Or so I hope.

Afterwards we both felt a need for a short nap... well, mine lasted for nearly two hours. But it was a good day, worth the effort. I'm glad we made the trip, as temperatures will be rising steadily in the next few days. Originally, I planned to bake something during the weekend, but not by the heat they promise. So I bought a nice Babka at the corner café, that will serve as dessert. They make an absolutely delicious one, with chocolate and walnuts.

Current Mood: tired

... as long as I can. A new heat wave is about to hit us again - they promised 35 degrees for Sunday, so I'm trying to make as much progress as I can.

The day started with doing the grocery shopping, taking down the selective rubbish, bringing back the Pfandflaschen (sorry, no idea what they are called in English and too lazy to look up) to the shop where those automatons are... that kind of thing. Then we had a very late brunch and I continued working on my dollhouse quiet books.

The new concept seems to work out. The bedrooms are basically done; today I worked on the back pages, which will show a garden scene. Eventually. I've cut out the trees, the grass stripes and the clouds and saw the grass stripes and one tree on. It doesn't sound much, but the trees are complicated. First, I had to sew on the foliage (at least that was in one piece) and then lay the tree with all its boughs over it and sew it onto the green stuff. In some places that meant sewing through four layers of thick felt, and let me tell you, that was not easy, even though I used relatively soft felt this time.

Anyway, I called quit after two hours of wrestling with the felt and had a hour-long nap. We then had an equally late lunch (no cooking, I bought Zwiebelkuchen at Lidl and we had leftover soup and ice cream), then watched some telly, and then rested a bit again. Now I've typed up what's already written to Chapter 3 of "New Horizons", and then I'll be lazy for the rest of the day. *g*

Current Mood: busy

Happy Birthday, red_day_dawning!

I hope you had a lovely day, with good food, good friends and/or family. Many happy returnings!

... I was indeed crafty today. I've selected the base felts for three different pages for the dollhouse quiet books - everything twice, that makes six pages - and even sewn on the background pieces to four of them. Go me!

Otherwise, not much happened. We had a visit from the hairdresser, so we're both pretty now - well, at least Mum is. She looks twenty years younger now. Me, I look at least more or less civilized. One should count one's small blessings.

I cooked lunch, watched some silly YouTube videos (still with the Harlequin romance equivalent revenge tales), took a short nap, charged the various mobile phones... that sort of thing. I even typed up the rest of the chapter I was working on during

picowrimo and posted it to the

otherworlds_lib comm. I won't start posting it to AO3 until I've figured out the complete story layout and can be sure that it actually has a chance to be finished. Until then, lovers of the original BSG and Star Trek - TOS can read it at

otherworlds_lib

The weather would have been very pleasant today - 25°C, actually ideal - if not the strong wind that made it impossible to air the flat properly. But at least we were neither freezing nor boiling in our own juices, so that's a blessing, too.

Current Mood: accomplished

... what parameters LJ uses to hand out their so-called achievements. Why it is that I've barely put up the daily post to

picowrimo and it promptly becomes one of the 25 most popular posts. Or why someone who hasn't posted to their journal for years suddenly are "promoted" to community leader. Among other things. Are they just pull the usernames out of a hat or whatnot?

Not that this would be really important, mind you. I just wanted to post about something else than my daily life. *g*

Anyway, today was quiet. I put away some stuff that had been lying around for weeks, I did a bit of work on dollhouse quiet book #1, even a bit of writing. Mum had a visit from the physiotherapist lady, I had two nice, long phone calls from friends. There was no need to cook as we had leftovers. So yeah, it was a nice day.

Current Mood: content

... for the first time in six years! I've visited my ex-colleague and friend of 30 years in an outlying town and had a fantastic time with her. She's about to move house in a few months' time, so this was the last chance to see her old home. She lives relatively far from the nearest bus-stop, so the visit involved a great deal of walking and mild climbing. I haven't moved this much for years! I'm sure I'll be sore tomorrow, but it was worth it.

On my way home I did some grocery shopping, then had a very late lunch with Mum and then slept an hour or so. And now the day is over again. It's baffling how fast time flows.

Current Mood: happy

I've finished the third part of the big cleaning. That means I can have a week of no cleaning at all, until I'll have to start the whole thing from square one again in two weeks' time. Gah, housework!

Other than the cleaning, I took down the dried washing, put away the jars of jam and made lunch: cauliflower strudel (sorry,

noadvertising), with ham and creme freche and grated cheese, plus soup made from the boiling water of aforementioned cauliflower. We had leftover salad from yesterday and coffee and ice cream for dessert. Yum!

As this was a particularly exhausting day, I had two naps: one in the early afternoon and one later on. They were a life-saving. But I also had the time to do some quality writing between the two naps, so the day wasn't a complete waste.

My friend Elise called in the early evening and we chatted for a fairly long while. It's always nice when people remember that I still exist.

Current Mood: exhausted

I made plum jam today. For the Christmas fair. Jam keeps, fortunately. I made it with a touch of honey, some gingerbread spice mix and a bit of additional cinnamon. What didn't fit into the jars we had for lunch with the Topfenknödel, so I can assure you that it is delicious. The little jars are now sitting under a thick, warm blanket until they cool completely. That usually works.

After lunch we visited our neighbour (the one who helped with Mum after her most recent fall) because her name is Anna, and we were late congratulating her to her name day anyway. She's a very good-hearted, helpful person but by God, does she talk a lot! And quite loudly, too. So, it was a somewhat exhausting visit, for all the less than forty minutes it lasted.

I'm planning to type up some already written stuff lately and decided to cut back on the silly YouTube videos. My eyes feel tired and dry, despite the moisturizing eye drops, so a bit of rest will be in order. I don't get any younger, and neither do my eyes, which sucks, but can't be helped.

Current Mood: tired

Happy Birthday, dear meathiel!!!

I hope you had a fantastic day. Here, have some virtual calories:

Not much happened on my end of the connection. I took Mum for a walk; she then rested on the playground, admiring the toddlers, while I did the shopping at Lidl. Afterwards, we did - basically nothing. We hadn't been out much lately, due to the heat and her most recent fall, and even this short outing exhausted her. We'll have to practice more, so that we can reach our corner café again.

Then I got an appointment for Mum with the hairdresser, who's a nice lady and will come to our house to cut Mum's hair. I also talked to Erna, our arts teacher and an old friend; I'm planning to visit her on Monday. She lives in one of the outlying towns, and although we've been friends since 1995, this will be the first time that I'll go to her house. I'm looking forward to it very much.

Current Mood: hopeful

My battered old body decided that three days of extraordinary activities in a row had been too much. So today I collapsed like our economy. After a tiny bit of sewing in the morning (and Richterin Barbara Salesch) I simply fell asleep and slept for nearly two whole hours. The exact two hours when I was supposed to make lunch. Fortunately, Mum's rather laid back in such matters, so we had instant soup, coffee and some wafer slices. Not exactly what I planned but, well, it couldn't be helped.

We watched another episode of RBS, after which I wrote exactly two lines, just so that I could state that I had written something - it is

picowrimo session, after all - and then rested some more.

So, it wasn't a very productive day, but I needed the rest, and it was best to take a break IMO.

Current Mood: lazy

Cleaning out the drawer under my bed, that is. Good grief, I had almost as much stuff in there as on the balcony! I could open a haberdashery if I wanted. *g*

But at least things are neatly ordered now. I just hope I won't forget within a short time again where I've put what. *fingers crossed*

Other than that, we had a visit from the talkative chiropodist lady, ate leftovers and ice cream for lunch and lazed around in the afternoon. I'm still fairly exhausted from this morning's action, so I might be even lazier tomorrow.

Current Mood: accomplished

Especially if I can spend money on my secret vice: craft supplies. As a rule I'm not a shopaholic; the mere fact that finding clothes or especially shoes that fit is such a traumatic process saves me from falling into the pattern. But craft supplies... that is a different cup of espresso.

So, today I went to Tedi because they had this 30% discount for literally everything and spent a lot of money. I bought two huge bags of filling material that I needed and lots of small things that I did not but were pretty. I also bought two packages of thin felt that I can use later, and now I'm very happy with my booty.

Of course, that means tomorrow I'll have to rearrange that large drawer under my bed to fit everything in, but that's okay. It's high time to make inventory of all the stuff I actually have and bring some kind of order into the chaos. As tomorrow is the day when our extremely talkative chiropodist lady is due, this will also offer me a way to escape from her chatter while she's working on Mum.

Not much else got done today. I made more sandwiches for lunch, we watched a tiny bit of telly and then we both had a nice, long nap. I could use more days like this.

Current Mood: content

We didn't get any of those. I don't really mind; our balcony doesn't like heavy rain - or likes it too much. So much that it allows the rainwater to come in, whenever it hits a certain angle. But no rain here; not yet, at least. We just got the humidity. My weather app insists that we have 23°C, but we're sweating like pigs (more than we had when it was 36 degrees), and it's hard to breathe.

( Household woes )

That having done, we had breakfast (at 11am, as usual), then I made the salad and the sandwiches for lunch, we watched a tiny bit of telly, but I couldn't even pay any attention to "The Incredible Dr. Pol", despite the cute animals he treats. So I gave up, went into my room and slept for two solid hours. We had lunch around 3pm, as usual, tried to watch "Salvage Hunters" during it; of course, one of Mum's lady friends chose that particular moment to call us. She has a sixth sense when we ate (it varies a bit from day to day), and always calls in the middle of it. *g*

I tried to rest a bit more afterwards, watching a few of those brainless YouTube vids about wronged people paying it back their evil family (as I said before, the video version of the Harlequin romance novels from the 1970s), but my eyes didn't like watching them on the iPad. They are old and require nice, large viewscreens. Ah, well.

Tomorrow I'll go back to Tedi and stock up on various crafty supplies, as they've got a 30% price reduction on everything until July 31. Wish me luck to find the things I really need.

Current Mood: drained

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Soledad's Journal

My online rambling place

Recent Entries

God, I hate this weather!

A hard day's evening

Still tinkering with my front pages

Back to the mundane stuff

Fantastic fanfic!

Taking things slowly

Fighting fire with fire

Outing with Mum

Using the last mild days

Congratulations and felicitations!

As the icon says

Sometimes I'm wondering

I left town today

Another cycle comes to an end

Suitably housewife-y today

Congratulations and felicitations!

Backlash... sort of

It was long overdue

Some days are nice

There were torrent rains today