Soledad's Journal

... but I forgot it. Small wonder by this weather. Especially as I was running around, doing the big grocery shopping from 8am to almost noon. By which time we had 29°C already. Brain melted, joints aching — getting old is not for wimps! But I did write a few lines of dialogue, which is more than I'd hoped for.

The changing of the corridor floors creeps forward at a snail's speed. Last night they've finally levelled the floor, so that it's completely smooth - for the very first time since 1977, as it had been holprig since the beginning (sorry, no idea how to say "holprig" in English). But apparently, they started it too late, or they messed up something with the substance, because when I tried to leave the house at 8am the floor was still wet and slippery like an ice rink. Fortunately, our neighbour (whose hubby had already taken a spectacular fall) heard me open the door and looked out to warn me.

Around noon, when I got back, there still were wet and slippery patches. Manoeuvering between them with two heavy shopping bags was an athletic task. I was scared out of my mind - well of what little hadn't melted yet in the heat.

We were accordingly lethargic for the rest of the day. You know the phase when you're so hot and tired you can't even sleep? That's what we were like today. Now the sun is gone and there's the slightest breeze, so I've torn all windows open (they had been closed, with all blinds down during the day) and we're trying to breathe.

Meaning Mum's medical appointment. To give you a quick background, we've asked for one back in January. Got one for early June. Then the ambulance called that the doctor won't be in that day, after all, and postponed our appointment for today. So far so annoying.

I ordered private patient transport on Saturday. The dispatcher promised they'll come between 11.10am and 11.15am today. So we went down and waited in front of the building by 11.am. Guess what? The transport came at 12.30 - fifteen minutes after we ought to have appeared at the ambulance. It wasn't their fault, they got stuck with another patient at a different hospital, but that didn't change the fact that Mum had to wait 75 minutes in front of the house. Halfway that time I ran up to the flat and brought down a stool, but she couldn't sit on that very long, either. So, it was no fun.

The procedure itself lasted about seven minutes, tops. Then they brought us back home, for which we paid an indecent amount of money (their prices went up by 50% or so since last year), but at least we're good for another year. The pacemaker's battery is at 90%, meaning that only 10% were used up in a year and a half, so it will probably last as long as Mum does. When she gets 104 or so we'll see.

Next time I'll simply call a cab, now that I've seen the place and know that Mum won't have to walk more than about five metres and there are no stairs to climb. But I didn't dare to go to a previously unknown medical institution on my own at the first time.

Anyway, that was the first half of our day. Getting home, we had a huge portion of ice cream and then an extended nap. Friends and family called in the afternoon to ask how things were going, which was nice. We were simply too drained to do anything for the rest of the day.

In other words: I did half of the monthly cleaning today. Bath, loo, kitchen, anteroom - all before 11am. All while it was only 23°C. Now it is 32 - quite the difference, I'd say.

Afterwards I did a bit of writing and rested. Ten I made lunch that will last for at least another two days. Which is a good thing, as tomorrow I'll have to do the grocery shopping, and the day after I'll have to take Mum to her medical appointment. Neither of which would leave me with enough time and/or energy to do any cooking.

The afternoon was as it always is when the heat descends upon us: windows closed, blinds down, we silently vegetating in the darkened rooms. God, I really hate high summer!

Oh, and I forgot to mention before: our neat little sewing supplies shop has closed for good. I'm very sad about it.

... especially when baking. What I learned today was the fact that you have to wait until your melted butter has completely cooled down before using it on puff pastry. Mine was still lukewarm, and as a result, getting the Schokoladenschnecken off the baking paper proved a little disastrous. So, instead of the intended perfect swirls I put ruinous little heaps of pastry and filling into the oven. Coming out, they looked even weirder, but they are absolutely delicious, so we don't really care. Better ugly but yummy than the other way round, right?

Other than that, I worked a bit more on my quiet book today. The window, the curtain and the bedside table for the second bedroom are finished; and so is the bed cover. It doesn't sound much, but there were a great many time-consuming, fiddly little tasks involved, so I'm very satisfied with my progress.

Not much else happened. I tried to rest a bit, as yesterday was exhausting and tomorrow promises to be eventful... plus temperatures are expected to rise again. So yeah, I tried to make the best I could of today.

Yeah, we do have them sometimes, too. And this time more than one. So, let's have a list.

1) Remember when I whined about my spicy apple jam turning into gum drops? Well, last night I decided to open the jars, carve out little balls of the stuff (with a kitchen utensil used to carve out melon balls) and sell them as actual gum drops on the fair. Well, after opening the first jar, I discovered that the jam didn't actually turn into gum drops. It is a bit thick and jelly-like, but it can still be used for pancakes and the likes. So I decided not to open the remaining jars, and the one opened will be used up for Topfenknödel or whatnot.

2) I actually managed to finish all four cherry pit pillows, and there were enough cherry pits for all four - well, barely, but still. So I didn't butcher the bigger old one just yet. We'll see if I'll feel up to sew more pillows or not, but four will be enough, too, considering how much other stuff I'm making.

3) Today I gave the so-called Turkish honey a try. It's an abysmally sweet treat, consisting of, well, honey, sugar and bicarbonate of soda. That's it. I saw it on the GGBO, and it looked so funny, so I wanted to make some for the fair. I found a very easy recipe - and in Hungarian, too! - so I thought I need to see first if it works at all. Well, it did. I made a few mistakes, but I know what those mistakes were, and I'm fairly optimistic that I'll be able to make the real thing in the right manner, eventually.

4) As my brain cells managed to solidify again, I gave my problem chapter a close eyeball and realized, to my eternal relief, that it's only one short paragraph that I'll have to throw away, after all. The rest needs some adjusting, true, but in the end I'll be able to use those parts. That was the best news of the day!

The hoped-for drop of temperatures hasn't really happened - not drastically, at least. We still had 31°C in the afternoon. Apparently, it won't climb above 24°C tomorrow morning, so I might take Mum out for a walk. *fingers crossed*

My excuse is that I was seriously sleep-deprived during last week. So I tried to catch up with my missed sleep, both in the morning and in the afternoon. Of course, in the afternoon I couldn't really sleep - perhaps I got too used to way too little sleep? - but lying on the bed, with my eyes closed and thinking about various unfinished stories, unfinished craft projects and other such purely entertaining stuff proved very restful, too. *g*

Mum volunteered to make potato goulash today, which meant that I peeled and cubed the potatoes for her; due to her most recent fall her right arm hurts even worse than usual when she over-extends it. In the end, we didn't eat the goulash, as we had a very late breakfast (due to my first, very proper nap), and had only some melons, coffee and ice cream for lunch.That meant an early supper - earlier than usual - but our daily schedule isn't written in stone. Not after the morning routine, that is.

Still, I brought up the energy to do some crafting: I've sewn together the other three cherry pit pillowcases in the flip side with running stitch. Then I turned them back to the right side, and tomorrow I'll start edging them with blanket stitch. That will most likely take me the rest of the week, but that's okay. I'm not in a great hurry with them.

Writing-wise I would have reported some decent progress - I wrote about a page, after all - but I've discovered some annoying mishap with the parts done earlier, so I'll have to restructure the entire chapter to make it work. Granted, it's only four pages, but I'll have to throw away at least half a page, and that's very annoying. Especially considering my slow overall progress. But it can't be helped.

Today I actually left the house. Go figure! I find it increasingly hard to get dressed and go out, which means I definitely need to do it more often.

Anyway, I went to the Telekom customer service to ask a few very basic, very stupid questions regarding our mobile phones. The young man on duty must have been bored out of his head because he was very forthcoming; now I know how to check how much money I have left on my way-too-smart phone and that I don't have to get my personal data checked by them till next March. Yay! Always a relief to have such things out of my hair.

After that, I visited the craft shop one level higher and bought some very small, very basic things, not of which I really needed, just to be able to say that I have new craft supplies. Then I took the escalator two levels down to the Lindt shop and spent an indecent amount of money on Lindor chocolate balls. We haven't had any for some time, and frankly, why not spend our sourly-earned money on things that make us happy? It isn't so as if anyone worthy would inherit after us.

Then I went to the shoemaker's and finally got my newly-soled shoes. That was a relief. I don't need them till Autumn or so, and the repair cost me four times as much as the shoes had cost when I bought them, but if they only serve another season or two, it was worth the money. My puffy feet are a nightmare to find shoes for them that actually fit... and aren't four or five sizes too big.

Coming home I had one nap (no longer used to hop around), then we had lunch, then I had another nap, and then I actually did a bit of writing. After that, one of my young (ex-)colleagues called and we had a nice chat. I so love social life!

So, all in all it was a good day.

I've finished Chapter One of my new original BSG/original Trek story, which is now posted to the otherworlds_lib comm in its entirety, in case anyone wants to see, and will try to return to my previous WIP, "EMV 3 — Hunter, Prey". If I can. We'll see whether I manage to throw the switch in my head or not. It would be nice if I could at least finish the pending chapter during this pico session.

Crafting-wise I've sewn together the parts of the Santa-shaped pencil holder. All that is left is the face, and then I can glue it onto the tin can that had previously housed the green peas. *g*

I also did the grocery shopping in the morning, made a mushroom Pörölt and mashed potatoes for lunch and talked to my friends, Evie and Elise on the phone. Evie is very happy; she's found a good car mechanic, so her old Peugeot doesn't have to be crapped, after all, which is a double win: she doesn't have to sell an arm to buy a new car, and she doesn't have to learn how to use a new car. I'm very happy for her. I hate to get used to new tech, too.

Not much, only for about three minutes all four times it rained in the morning. Just enough to crank up humidity several magnitudes. Still enough for the dratted balcony to capitulate. Joy, joy - NOT!

BUT I've made the promised picture of the pencil holders, to look at them:



Other than that, I've nearly finished the first chapter of "New Horizons", typed up everything and posted it to otherworlds_lib. It can't be viewed just yet, but I'll unlock the post as soon as I've added the last couple of paragraphs, I promise. I also cooked lunch, boiled the last batch of cherry pits that are now drying for later use and read some fanfic. A short nap was had in the late morning, but that was basically all.

Tomorrow I'll have to leave the house, regardless of the weather. Grocery shopping can't be postponed any longer, and I'd like to go to the Telecom customer service and fetch my long overdue shoes, assuming the repairs are done. *fingers crossed*

... that make our life a sweat-soaked hell. Today we "only" had 32 degrees - compared with the 36-38 from the previous days - but on those previous days we had wind, which helped a lot. Today the air has been entirely unmoving, and it feels actually much hotter. As if the previous days hadn't been bad enough. :((

At least the morning was somewhat bearable, so I brought up the energy to sew a 15th lavender sachet. It wasn't really necessary, but I didn't want to push around the plastic box with the remaining lavender (which was little enough) until next year. So that's out of my hair, too. Invigorated by the success, I also cut out the necessary parts for two more pencil holders, one penguin and one Santa. The penguin will look like these and the Santa like the one in the lover right corner. Unless I mess up something hopelessly, which is always a possibility.

Other than that, we had laundry day - complete with changing the beds, oh joy! - but not much else was done. We watched some telly, ate leftovers (I took that pilaw out of the freezer) and rested as much as we could. I tried to call H. but couldn't reach her; I hope she was just busy. Will give it another try tomorrow.

Tomorrow's cleaning got postponed. Apparently, next week won't be quite this hot, so I decided that a couple of days won't count. I'm not sacrificing myself on the altar of housework.