May 25, 2008

was able to go on a spur-of-the-moment working holiday to the coast over the last four days. It was much needed and I  have more enthusiasm to gear up and get back at writing again. I have a brain back. As well as my normal job, I have been doing side-work on my 'days off' for a log home company now and sanding windows (I was working for the jewelry store for six months on my 'days off' before that). I was asked to go along on this job to be an assistant, as well as being able to spend some time with this person whom I have been seeing socially for a couple months now. Since I work when most people are off, even if I get to work at home, it makes it interesting to see anyone socially anymore. So it was a nice combination of work and holiday. The B&B we stayed at was very awesome as well as the gracious hosts. I loved my room which overlooked the harbor!

There were some new custom-made windows which had some issues upon installation, because of where the windows are made at, the wood has very low humidity to it, but when they were taken to the coast where there is higher humidity, the wood became swollen. The windows were not entirely at fault however, as the contractor who made the new rooms on this rather large, multi-million dollar home also had the frame/header out 3/8" over 4 feet, so we got most of the work done, but the carpenter also had to come back and fix a little bit for the job to be done. The person I am seeing, traveled and worked with, is a master woodworker/joiner whom also does stained glass, which is why he was called out to trouble-shoot these three windows/doors, as three other gents could not figure out what the issue with them was. I learned alot and must have built up some more muscle from taking the windows/doors in, out, in, out, in, out... I lost count on how many times. Most of these windows were pretty heavy, definitely a two person job. We had to hang them out from two stories up to get them dropped out of the frame and then hauled into the house where we could work on them. I was fearful I would drop my end and .... C-R-A-S-H!!! Fate was with us though and nothing was broken. 

I was entrusted with an extremely sharp chisel and got to work on two windows (obviously not a real critical part) as well as primering. There are these handy-dandy suction cups with handles to maneuver the windows. I am not sure how we would have been able to do it without those awesome devices which will hold up to 400 pounds each! Some of the windows I have been sanding for this company are worth $10,000 each, so these are not common every-day windows. I have no idea how much these ones were worth, but not the super expensive ones. I got to learn about shoulder planers, bull nose planers and lots of other fun woodworking tools. I am learning about log scribing, so all this woodworking 'on the job lessons' will come in handy as I still plan on building the writing cabin one day. I have started to haul stone out to the building site for the foundation. 

It was beyond beautiful where we went, I  was well fed on the trip and I am sure I should have gained forty pounds from all the good foods (and thankfully did not).  I love trying new foods, especially from different countries. My companion has traveled and lived all over the world, so I tried alot of the foods he recommended, EXCEPT for the raw oysters. I believe he ate 36 of them at one sitting. However, I had some kind of seared blue (?) fin tuna that night which was very much like sashimi which just melted in your mouth. I know alot of people would say "yuck!", but I like sashimi very much. 

I was not needed for a little bit on part of the job, so I went down to the beach for awhile to played in the surf and with the purple starfish. I love the ocean. The beaches there are not sand here like they are in Oregon, but all rocky. I 'pulled up a rock', sat, relaxed and smelled the salt air for a bit before I went back up to the house, just in time to pull a window out of a frame again. Again!

Later I found out from a friend who lives down on the islands that the starfish are just coming back after being absent for three years. There was some sort of starfish disease and many of the wildlife in tide pools was absent. 

I can now tell you the reason I have been working so much in the last several months, not taking breaks and not writing alot on the magazines, is that I was left with $65.00 in the bank account when my ex left and I have been hurrying up to make extra money to buy things I have needed, continue to make the farm payments and pay large amounts of money to the bank, lawyer and government building to get his name off the farm as a co-signer, so it is all in my name. That took priority over everything else. It was all finally finalized last Tuesday. I also now work for a newspaper, so as I was learning my new job, it seemed all I was doing was writing and learning new computer programs which most people take courses for a year to learn. After writing  all day at work, it was very difficult to write some more after I got home for the day, not to mention I do not keep normal hours by any means. For many months I was working 6 am to midnight or later each day. It all seemed like one endless day for months.  I was exhausted. Things are going easier at work for me now as I am getting the hang of my job, so it is not totally boggling my brain. It is all coming together.

When I got home from my trip, the grass, flowers and weeds had sprung up. The animals are happy to be out on pasture and my goat is again mowing my lawn. "Crystal" should soon come into milk with the fresh green grass again, as she is a precocious milker (which means she does not require to kid out before she comes into milk), so goat cheese and fudge should be cooking in my kitchen soon. My vegetables are growing, the flowers sets I started for hanging baskets are up and things are looking good.. except for the flowerbeds needing severe weeding. The grass was just starting to get a glint of green when I had left on Friday. Asparagus on the menu last night. Everything has sprung to life in a matter of days, even if the leaves are not yet on the trees.