Soledad's Journal

To all my American friends: Happy Birthday to your country. May you all have a better upcoming year. Actually, we could all use that, can't we?

In the meantime, it's still quite hot over here. We had a short cooler spell in the early afternoon, then temperatures climbed again. *sigh* I stood up at stupid o'clock to do the pharmacy run and the grocery shopping (on 4.5 hours of sleep - I kid you not!). But at least I had a few hours in the morning for myself, which I used to do some successful writing, so I'm not complaining.

We had leftovers for lunch but I still had a bit of kitchen action: made cherry compote, so that Mum could have some cherries, too. She loves them but can't eat them raw; one needs more (and better) teeth for that.

On the crafting front, I made some labels for my ginger syrup bottles, so I wouldn't have to bother with that in November or so when I'm going to make the actual ginger syrup. And in the rest of the day we were both lazing around a bit. As tomorrow is laundry day and Mum wants to change the beds, and on Sunday I'll have to do the third part of the cleaning, a somewhat lazier day was very pleasant.

All 14 sachets sewn in advance have been filled, sewn closed and decorated.

Here they are!

I think they've turned out rather neat, but I'm biased, of course. I still have enough lavender left for one more sachet, but I don't feel like sewing one just yet. Perhaps when I start making the cherry pit pillows...

My only other "crafty" activity was removing the glue left from the labels of the bottles I kept for the ginger syrup I want to make - with the help of the cold fat dissolver I originally bought to clean the inside of the oven with. It was a suggestion of our cleaning lady of old and worked like a charm. I don't know why they use such industrial strength glue for those bottle labels, it's a real pain to get rid of it.

Otherwise it was a quiet day. It's still very hot, we tried to do as little as possible. We had some leftovers, but I did cook the potatoes for the Roesti I'm planning for tomorrow - that was all kitchen activity, though. We watched some telly, took our respective naps and I talked to a retired ex-colleague on the phone; a delightful lady with whom I worked at the same school for twenty-four years. It's nice to keep occasional contact, and we are both in the choir, too.

... and when I finally woke up, twenty minutes later than usual, it was already 28 degrees outside. Then the workmen scheduled to change the flooring in our building have reached our level and started taking things apart. I decided to postpone my grocery shopping for tomorrow. The only thing on which we were running low was milk, but we still had enough for our breakfast latte, so everything else could wait.

After breakfast I started filling the rest of my lavender sachets - only to run out of lavender when I reached the penultimate one. Not a tragedy per se, I hopefully can get more lavender with the help of Erna, our art teacher, but annoying nonetheless. I so hoped to get this step done today. Ah, well. I've fixed H's crocheted Santas, Christmas wreaths and hearts on their keyrings instead, so that's another step done.

By then temperatures were up to 32 degrees, so I decided to take a break. I needed to put my feet up, as they looked like overgone yeast dough. I still had to make lunch; fortunately, Topfenknödel and Tütensuppe are easily done. I'm very opportunistic when it comes to cut back cooking time and efforts and have no shame about it.

We watched some telly and rested some more in the afternoon. Mum then heroically shuffled into the kitchen and did the washing-up - something I can't talk her out of. Not that I mind the help, but by this heat she should take things easier. Yeah, good luck telling her that!

Now we are in resting mode again, waiting for "The Repair Shop" to start.

Oh, and before I forget: picowrimo starts tomorrow, everyone is welcome to drop by even if only for reading. :)

I've processed the lavender and the cherry pits. For the latter, I had to switch on the oven in the morning, on the lowest possible setting, as they'd never have dried out properly otherwise. We don't want mouldy pits, no, Preciousss!

Since the oven was running anyway, I postponed Topfenknödel and baked up the spinach and feta parcels instead; the ones in puff pastry that I had bought during Lidl's Greek days. They were very yummy. I was afraid the feta would be terribly salty; luckily, it was not. This is a 1000-gram-bag, so we'll have at least two if not three other meals out of it - without actual cooking. Yay!

In the late afternoon I made the dough for some scones. It's an unusual dough, using créme freche, and it has to rest in the fridge overnight. I'm curious if I'll be able to use it properly in the morning. *fingers crossed* If it works, we'll have a soup and scones for lunch.

In the early evening I all but emptied the balcony because the second part of the cleaning is due tomorrow. Just the balcony and the anteroom, but considering how much stuff we keep on the balcony, moving everything back in place will take days - considering that it literally took days to move them into the study/craft room to begin with. And people wonder why I hate housework...

Anyway, it was a busy day (we had the laundry to do, too), but I'm content with all the things I've managed. I even talked to H. in-between, which was nice. We can talk endlessly about crafts and baking and things like that. *g*

We had 38 degrees today. Oh, merciful God, it was HOT! It's still 32 degrees outside, although they promise one somewhat easier day on Friday. We'll see - and feel, I'm sure of it.

Nonetheless, I was somewhat crafty today. I've started filling the lavender sachets, now that I can hope for more raw material. Seven are filled and sewn closed, seven more to go, depending on how many lavender I get tomorrow... and perhaps even later on. But that was about the full amount of my activities today.

Other than that, we ate leftovers, watched some telly and rested a lot. Mum feels marginally better, even though said margin is really, really narrow. But we keep up hope. The heat doesn't help, of course; all our joints are suffering from it.

I even did a tiny bit of writing - still just jotting down ideas that might or might not be used in actual stories, but building up a solid background is important for me. I need to know those things, even if nobody else is going to ever hear of them.

Speaking of writing: I've been swamped with PMs from FF.Net, in which so-called visual artists are offering to turn the one or other story (mostly "Timescapes, though) into a comic or make illustrations to it or whatnot. I steadily ignore them, but I do find the whole thing slightly odd.

... we'd be all riding, right?

I wanted an easy day. Preferably without cooking. So I bought a grilled chicken in hope that it would be enough for the next two days. Which it would have, in theory - only that it was so overcooked there was no way Mum could eat it. So I switched to Plan B, removed all the meat from its bones, cut the meat into microscopic pieces and made our bastardized version of pilaw. Which is a seriously simplified version of risotto, basically rice cooked in chicken broth, pieces of cooked or grilled chicken and, in this particular case, cubed tomatoes. Since it needs to be stirred constantly (like risotto), I spent almost two hours in the overheated kitchen and was close to fainting when the dratted thing was finally done.

In the meantime Mum had a visit from the PT lady, and we both were too tired to eat a cooked meal. So we had a brioche, each, and ice cream. Our diet isn't the healthiest when the weather is hot. But at least I won't have to cook in the next four days or so, I've managed to make such a huge pot of pilaw. It will be a bit boring, but it beats cooking something else. And I've bought more ice cream, too.

Accordingly, I didn't do much else today. Grocery shopping and slave labour in the kitchen have just about done me in. Everything else can wait.

Minor ones, but again, leading a quiet life can be a blessing sometimes, can't it?

Mum's slowly recovering. She's still in pain, but at least could sleep in the night, thanks to the painkillers. She's only allowed to take one a day, so we time it for before turning in. Restful sleep is important. Being a tough cookie, she's soldiering on during the day, with lying on every three hours or so a bit. Her right shoulder, arm and knee are really interesting shades of purple and red and black. We keep treating the bruises with comfrey ointment and wet wraps and hope for the best. At least she can use that arm, even if it hurts.

I did one third of the cleaning today. I wanted to do the usual half, but was so exhausted from yesterday's shock that I simply didn't feel up to it. I did the kitchen, the bathroom and the loo, which were the most urgent parts, and I'll have to make an extra cleaning day for the anteroom and the balcony. The actual cleaning isn't that bad in itself, but I have to empty each and every room first to be able to wipe them, and then put everything back to its place. That's time consuming like whoa.

Having to do the washing-up from yesterday as well (usually Mum does it, but she can't right now), we decided to have a very simple lunch - basically scrambled eggs with cucumbers and a coffee. As it's over 31 degrees here, we don't have that much an appetite; Mum didn't even want ice cream, which is a first. At least she's still eating chocolate bonbons, so her sugar intake is ensured. *g*

I labelled 12 more cellophane bags (the ones that'll -hopefully - contain the Turkish delight), but that was all I was able to do crafting-wise. We called H. on Viber, so that she could see that Mum is still in one piece, and then I slept for an hour and a half, too. I'm emotionally exhausted, and the heat doesn't help.

I had to get up an hour earlier, so that I could prepare everything (including Mum's breakfast) before the chiropodist lady would arrive. It turned out, I could have slept in - she didn't arrive before 10.30am; by then I've made 9 more cellophane bags. She then worked on us for two and a half hours and talked us to death in the process. Especially Mum, as I escaped as soon as she was done with me to do the second half of the weekly shopping.

When I came home she was gone, but then I had to rearrange the living room to its usual configuration. Then I made the remaining little bags; now they are done and I've run out of cellophane. But I think 64 bags ought to be enough. *g*

No cooking was done today; we ate leftover soup and some sandwiches. Temperatures have dropped a few degrees - for now, tomorrow they'll start climbing again - but the invasion of the flying dinosaurs continues. When I went out today, the scenery reminded me of that Hitchcock movie with the birds - only with oversized insects instead.

Considering that the frigging beasts are supposed to be night-active, they were certainly swarming - literally swarming - all over the place the whole morning. They're still around, but since we keep the windows closed at this time of the day they can't get in now. A couple of them are still inside the flat; when I can I chase them out of the window, but last night I managed to kill two of them... that was very satisfactory. I don't know what happened. I've never seen so many of them, especially during the day, since we moved here almost fifty years ago.

Today, I was busy again. First, Mum and I made our weekly trip to the corner café. It took longer than usual because her knee was acting up, but we managed it nonetheless. We wouldn't miss this for the world, as long as the weather cooperates.

After that, I made some more cellophane bags. 16 pieces in just under two hours, to be accurate. I'm really getting the hang on this. 32 done, the other 32 to go - then I'll run out of cellophane. *g*

I didn't need to cook today (bought some goodies at the café and only made a Tütensuppe to go before them), so I gave one of the spicy apple jam with raisins recipes noadvertising suggested a try. Well, it was a bastardized version of the recipe by someone called Marion, as I replaced the orangeat with aromatised orange zests and left out the almonds completely, but so far the little jars look great. I just hope the lids will remain sealed after they have cooled down. *fingers crossed*

That about took care of the rest of the day. We also watched some telly, and are now lazing around - with all windows closed, unfortunately, to wear off an unexpected attack of huge Nachtfalter - no idea what they are called in English and why have they suddenly decided to invade our home, but I don't want the disgusting creatures around us. Annoying, though; it is the evening hours when we can actually air the flat, as we get direct sunshine all afternoon. *sigh*

I've found a YouTube video (see here about a quick and easy method to make paper gift bags. I'll need an ungodly amount of cellophane bags for my Christmas fair wares, so I gave it a try. Admittedly, cellophane is a lot harder to handle this way than wrapping paper, but I managed 9 bags nonetheless. 7 more are due tomorrow. All in all, I have the raw materials for 64 bags - that ought to be enough, I think. At least it's faster than weaving those little paper baskets... of which I'll also have to make a lot yet. And there are only five and a half months left till the fair. *sigh*

Other than that, I did the first half of the weekly shopping today. Aside from the groceries, I also bought myself two long, lightweight summer blouses and some underwear at Kik, since they had a 30% reduction in clothing prices, assuming one had a customer card. Which I have. So, that was really a bargain.

Temperatures were up to 30°C when I came home, sweating like a pig. As soon as I finally was at home, the wind started blowing and temperatures dropped eight degrees. Speak of lousy timing, eh? They promise rain for tomorrow - let's hope the balcony can withstand it. *fingers crossed* Otherwise, I don't mind the rain; it cools down the weather a bit and besides, I'm not planning to leave the house tomorrow. I'm still very, very tired from yesterday and from today's activities, plus the heat, so staying indoors sounds nice.