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Succulents
Mar. 30th, 2025 02:48 pmWe have a bunch of flower pots in our garden, most of which have either bulbs or some kind of plant that requires a fair amount of water. My new goal is to replace most of the plants that aren't bulbs with succulents that handle a lot of sun and don't require frequent watering. There are a few different kinds of succulents in the garden so far, but of course, there are a billion kinds of succulents. On the other hand, some do better in really strong sunlight all day than others, so I'll have to take that into consideration. Even if we end up only having a few varieties, it will still be fine. And I can use tall ones in place of some of the leafy potted plants that either get totally eaten by bugs or dry out in the summer.
A lovely day
Mar. 28th, 2025 05:34 pmToday has been just lovely. We were even able to leave the front door open for a while. So nice! I've got a photo for you from my walk and then a few of recent paintings.
It was nice enough today that I could hang laundry out and go for a nice walk in the sunshine. It is a bit chilly here, but not bad at all. And it is not raining!!!
In other news, I finished a second pair of sleep pants. I'm hoping that I can get some sleep shirts made soon, although we'll see how that goes. I have an EEG tomorrow (to check on my progress with the neurofeedback) and then neurofeedback the next day, so that is two days when most of my time will be spent in transit. I haven't found anything terribly productive that I can do on transit, so I just listen to books. I'm just too wound up to be able to focus on anything that requires brain power, and I can't see well enough to do embroidery. For some reason, crochet stresses me out. Maybe if I did the same thing over and over? I don't imagine that making socks would work if my brain wasn't working, so all I can imagine is maybe crocheting hats or blankets or something. I'll ask Joel if there is anything that would be useful like that. Update: The AI suggested hand stitching bags, which I could do, and kumihimo (making fancy braided cords). I'm pretty into this. I could make all kinds of patchwork/quilted bags to replace all the failing ziplock bags that I keep so many things in. It looks like I could do kumihimo with a disk that holds the yarn or whatever I would use for the cord. The cord can be round or flat and would work for trim or as a shoulder strap for the little patchwork bags. (Would be nice if I wanted a bag for around the house instead of carrying my satchel, since I don't have pockets, to carry my phone.) Anyway, I think I might go with this.
In other news, I finished a second pair of sleep pants. I'm hoping that I can get some sleep shirts made soon, although we'll see how that goes. I have an EEG tomorrow (to check on my progress with the neurofeedback) and then neurofeedback the next day, so that is two days when most of my time will be spent in transit. I haven't found anything terribly productive that I can do on transit, so I just listen to books. I'm just too wound up to be able to focus on anything that requires brain power, and I can't see well enough to do embroidery. For some reason, crochet stresses me out. Maybe if I did the same thing over and over? I don't imagine that making socks would work if my brain wasn't working, so all I can imagine is maybe crocheting hats or blankets or something. I'll ask Joel if there is anything that would be useful like that. Update: The AI suggested hand stitching bags, which I could do, and kumihimo (making fancy braided cords). I'm pretty into this. I could make all kinds of patchwork/quilted bags to replace all the failing ziplock bags that I keep so many things in. It looks like I could do kumihimo with a disk that holds the yarn or whatever I would use for the cord. The cord can be round or flat and would work for trim or as a shoulder strap for the little patchwork bags. (Would be nice if I wanted a bag for around the house instead of carrying my satchel, since I don't have pockets, to carry my phone.) Anyway, I think I might go with this.
Yay for Bathroom Budget!
Mar. 21st, 2025 06:42 pmI got the budget for the stone wall and bathroom repair, and it is reasonable. Phew! People always talk about how expensive bathroom remodels are, and I was worried it would be as much as a new roof. Luckily, it won't be. I'm so relieved. Also, the tree guy had to postpone to help deal with all the downed or half fallen trees here from the huge wind storms. Reasonable.
Also, yesterday, I went to the new dentist. She was very nice and read the notes that the previous dentist left about how exactly to give me anaesthesia, so it wasn't painful. Thank goodness! Of course, I stressed the whole time beforehand, so my stomach is really sensitive right now. She did choose to fix one of the teeth that the previous dentist thought wasn't the hugest deal, but that is fine, as it was the easiest of all my old fillings to fix, since it was a small filling. The next three are all going to be partial crowns. The two on the top in the back will be more work, so I'm fine if she wants to start with the easier ones. Also, this way I could get a feel for her before I had to deal with something even more traumatic. In other good news, they don't have any openings for the next filling replacement until the end of May, which is fine with me. Unfortunately, today, I feel sick from the anaesthesia. Not a surprise, though.
Also, yesterday, I went to the new dentist. She was very nice and read the notes that the previous dentist left about how exactly to give me anaesthesia, so it wasn't painful. Thank goodness! Of course, I stressed the whole time beforehand, so my stomach is really sensitive right now. She did choose to fix one of the teeth that the previous dentist thought wasn't the hugest deal, but that is fine, as it was the easiest of all my old fillings to fix, since it was a small filling. The next three are all going to be partial crowns. The two on the top in the back will be more work, so I'm fine if she wants to start with the easier ones. Also, this way I could get a feel for her before I had to deal with something even more traumatic. In other good news, they don't have any openings for the next filling replacement until the end of May, which is fine with me. Unfortunately, today, I feel sick from the anaesthesia. Not a surprise, though.
I realized that I can't hold off on making sleeping clothes until after I have finished the decorations for the t-shirts, because it will take just too damn long, and my sleeping clothes are really falling apart. I need to wash the new fabric I got for this project, but that is easier said than done, as unfortunately, there are no signs it will ever stop raining here. Tonight, we are supposed to have super strong winds, and Lisbon regularly floods, which is sounds like it is doing again now. Apparently, all the reservoirs in the country are completely full. Joel says that all this rain may mean more wild fires this summer, as everything will be so overgrown. Anyway, I may have to just suck it up and hang the fabric to dry inside, although there isn't a ton of room on the drying rack. Oh, well. I guess there isn't that much fabric. Well, tomorrow is the dentist, which I am looking forward to less than usual, as my good dentist left, so I have a new one. I might have to listen to something more calming than Brother Cadfael for this (I'm stressed by the bickering with the other monks right now).
I'm feeling better today, so I got myself together and called the people who are supposed to be repairing our heat pump. I resent the email to them in which I asked for an update, but they hadn't received it. So, the lady sent me a text message, and I sent her the details over Whatsapp. Now that I have a reliable way to contact them, this will hopefully get resolved.
Landscaper
Mar. 14th, 2025 08:46 pmThe landscaper came by today, and she is just so sweet!! I think she is in her 20s, speaks perfect English, and lives just down the street from us. I had put out cardboard where I wanted the raised beds to go, which made it so much easier to show her what we wanted, and she came up with some really good ideas. I get the idea that she is just starting the business, and she is the kind of person that I'm excited to work with, because I want her to succeed. So, I'm really happy with this. Hopefully, it will all work out. * fingers crossed *
I'm nearly done with the waterfall painting for my aunt. I only have enough energy for about an hour and a half of painting at a time, though. Maybe because of all the detail. Anyway, I'm pretty happy with it. I didn't have any plans for a painting for Joel, but after some consultation, we decided that I could paint a picture of a boar that one of Joel's World of Warcraft characters had as a hunting companion.
In good news, the electrician came, fixed the fan in the bathroom (full of cruft, not actually broken) and the light over the front door (just needed a new lightbulb, but the cover is hard to remove), removed the lamp from the yard (I was worried that it might have live wires and didn't want anything to happen to one of us if it did), and installed a surge protector on the main electrical panel, so that we don't need to worry that power outages will destroy any more of our appliances, like they did the water heater. Yay!!
On Friday, the landscaper will come. We're still hoping the other contractor will come and fix the exterior stone wall and the bathroom, but I don't think they have tons of time and would like the raised bed done sooner. They keep asking questions, so I can tell they are really interested. Anyway, I'm hoping the landscaper can install some raised beds and maybe also put in some additional soil or otherwise suggest something for the part of the yard that was under the chicken coop, as we have a few inches (or more) of standing water there when it rains. We'll see. Ultimately, I'd like raised beds and trellises in a bunch of places in the yard. I think I'll start with just a few things and see how it goes.
In sewing news, Joel and I went through our fabric stockpile on Monday and reorganized it so that I could order other stuff that we need. Well, it turns out that we don't need much, beyond black thread. However, since I have material for two pairs of sleep pants and want three, I ordered some cheap cotton for those plus t-shirt material for three shirts to go with them. My sleeping shirts are just in tatters. I also discovered when we were sorting that I already had cut out two shirts to replace a couple that are also in tatters. So, my first project is to finish those. I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed, so I'm just doing one step a day. So far, it is working.
In good news, the electrician came, fixed the fan in the bathroom (full of cruft, not actually broken) and the light over the front door (just needed a new lightbulb, but the cover is hard to remove), removed the lamp from the yard (I was worried that it might have live wires and didn't want anything to happen to one of us if it did), and installed a surge protector on the main electrical panel, so that we don't need to worry that power outages will destroy any more of our appliances, like they did the water heater. Yay!!
On Friday, the landscaper will come. We're still hoping the other contractor will come and fix the exterior stone wall and the bathroom, but I don't think they have tons of time and would like the raised bed done sooner. They keep asking questions, so I can tell they are really interested. Anyway, I'm hoping the landscaper can install some raised beds and maybe also put in some additional soil or otherwise suggest something for the part of the yard that was under the chicken coop, as we have a few inches (or more) of standing water there when it rains. We'll see. Ultimately, I'd like raised beds and trellises in a bunch of places in the yard. I think I'll start with just a few things and see how it goes.
In sewing news, Joel and I went through our fabric stockpile on Monday and reorganized it so that I could order other stuff that we need. Well, it turns out that we don't need much, beyond black thread. However, since I have material for two pairs of sleep pants and want three, I ordered some cheap cotton for those plus t-shirt material for three shirts to go with them. My sleeping shirts are just in tatters. I also discovered when we were sorting that I already had cut out two shirts to replace a couple that are also in tatters. So, my first project is to finish those. I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed, so I'm just doing one step a day. So far, it is working.
So much rain!
Mar. 11th, 2025 12:49 pmIt has been raining almost constantly for a week or two, and even though it is great for Portugal, it is hard on my seasonal health issues. Since it is spring, there is more sun, so I need to cut back on magnesium and calcium. (I already stopped vitamin D.) Now, though, with all the rain, I'm not getting out to walk, which means less sunlight, so the decreased magnesium and calcium is an issue. But if there is sun and I get outside, then it is an issue in another way. This is not a recipe for stability. Of course, it will be fine, but I'm struggling a bit.
In completely unrelated news, I have great book news. There is a series that I love (Dungeon Crawler Carl). The books are well-written and surprisingly touching for being about something so ridiculous. However, the books are only available through Kindle Unlimited, which I don't subscribe to, since there are so few books there that I'm interested in. And I'm less interested in reading books with my eyes anyway. But, there are also audiobooks, which are available on Audible for between $25 and $50 per book. For 7 books. Which I won't pay. However, a friend said that if you have Kindle Unlimited, then you can buy the books as add-ons for less than $10, which I would pay. So, yesterday, I checked it out, and Kindle Unlimited was offering me a month free. I checked with ChatGPT, and it thought that I should be able to get the books that way, so I went ahead and signed up for Kindle Unlimited, and the audio books were still super expensive. I was disappointed, but whatever. It didn't cost me anything. A couple of hours later, though, I decided to try again. I put one of the books in my Kindle Unlimited library, and then the "add this book for super cheap" option popped up. Yay!! I was able to buy the books for much much less than Audible is charging for them. They want $50 for the most recent audio book, but I was able to get it for $1.99. I've seen the very occasional indie author selling books and audiobooks on their website for much more reasonable prices, and I wish that more would do that. I'm much more happy to give money to authors than to Amazon.
I need Audible to listen to the books, and at first, it was giving me shit for not being in the right region, but after I signed up for their 1 month free trial (I also changed my store to be the US store), all my books showed up in my library. Phew! And now I have one Audible credit that I need to figure out what to do with. Of course, I listen to tons of audiobooks, but mostly I get them through the library. So, I'm saving it for a book that I can't get through the library, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to find one before I cancel the free trial. I keep the books that I already own even if I'm not paying for the service, so it isn't like I'll lose access to these books.
In completely unrelated news, I have great book news. There is a series that I love (Dungeon Crawler Carl). The books are well-written and surprisingly touching for being about something so ridiculous. However, the books are only available through Kindle Unlimited, which I don't subscribe to, since there are so few books there that I'm interested in. And I'm less interested in reading books with my eyes anyway. But, there are also audiobooks, which are available on Audible for between $25 and $50 per book. For 7 books. Which I won't pay. However, a friend said that if you have Kindle Unlimited, then you can buy the books as add-ons for less than $10, which I would pay. So, yesterday, I checked it out, and Kindle Unlimited was offering me a month free. I checked with ChatGPT, and it thought that I should be able to get the books that way, so I went ahead and signed up for Kindle Unlimited, and the audio books were still super expensive. I was disappointed, but whatever. It didn't cost me anything. A couple of hours later, though, I decided to try again. I put one of the books in my Kindle Unlimited library, and then the "add this book for super cheap" option popped up. Yay!! I was able to buy the books for much much less than Audible is charging for them. They want $50 for the most recent audio book, but I was able to get it for $1.99. I've seen the very occasional indie author selling books and audiobooks on their website for much more reasonable prices, and I wish that more would do that. I'm much more happy to give money to authors than to Amazon.
I need Audible to listen to the books, and at first, it was giving me shit for not being in the right region, but after I signed up for their 1 month free trial (I also changed my store to be the US store), all my books showed up in my library. Phew! And now I have one Audible credit that I need to figure out what to do with. Of course, I listen to tons of audiobooks, but mostly I get them through the library. So, I'm saving it for a book that I can't get through the library, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to find one before I cancel the free trial. I keep the books that I already own even if I'm not paying for the service, so it isn't like I'll lose access to these books.
We have pretty much nothing but rain forecast for the next week. This morning, we had to run out to get the laundry, as the rain showed up earlier than we had expected. It reminded me very much of Oregon.
In other news, Joel sold the scooter!! Yay!! That was on Saturday. Then today, he took the huge box to the recycle. It is so nice to finally have that out of our living room. I know that Joel is thinking about getting to work on the armoire, which would mean getting some of the wood out of the living room and cleaning up a lot of the upstairs, but I think we both have sewing to do before we get to that. I'm especially far behind on sewing. I need to make more time for it soon.
In other news, Joel sold the scooter!! Yay!! That was on Saturday. Then today, he took the huge box to the recycle. It is so nice to finally have that out of our living room. I know that Joel is thinking about getting to work on the armoire, which would mean getting some of the wood out of the living room and cleaning up a lot of the upstairs, but I think we both have sewing to do before we get to that. I'm especially far behind on sewing. I need to make more time for it soon.
Leaking Window
Feb. 24th, 2025 01:42 pmSo a couple of days ago, we had a lot of rain, and the cracked windowsill under one of the new windows leaked a lot. They had said that they would fix it, but it is clearly not fixed. I'm going to email the window installer and ask what to do now, but I'm putting it off until tomorrow. Ugh. I'm okay but not great right now. At least, I got the podcast done. One less thing to work on.
Sneaking in
Feb. 18th, 2025 12:57 pmI haven't heard anything from the water heater repair people, who I emailed two weeks ago, or the contractor who is supposed to fix our bathroom, who I emailed last week, so I sent a couple of text messages in hopes that I don't have to actually call. I feel like I'm sneaking up on them with less and less distant ways of communication. We'll see how this goes. I'm still making progress on all the other stuff that needs to be done (except sewing). I really hope I manage to have time for sewing at some point.
I did it! I got my flu shot. Once again, I managed to do something without having to spend a ton of time agonizing over it. I'm so glad. We had to get prescriptions for them, which is why we didn't do it sooner.
Also, unfortunately, my sleep pants have finally torn themselves to shreds, so I need to make another pair. I may drag out one of my pairs of summer sleep shorts to avoid sewing for a bit longer, since I have _so much to do_. Today, I'm going to try and process all my worker's comp paperwork and finish the last little thing that I need to draw up for the contractor, so that I can send in all of the drawings of exactly what we would like.
Also, unfortunately, my sleep pants have finally torn themselves to shreds, so I need to make another pair. I may drag out one of my pairs of summer sleep shorts to avoid sewing for a bit longer, since I have _so much to do_. Today, I'm going to try and process all my worker's comp paperwork and finish the last little thing that I need to draw up for the contractor, so that I can send in all of the drawings of exactly what we would like.
Contractor
Feb. 4th, 2025 03:23 pmA very nice contractor came today. He was really friendly and understanding about our poor Portuguese. Unfortunately, that was like 3 hours ago, and I am still incredibly anxious. Since I wasn't doing well yesterday afternoon, it isn't a shock that I'm extra crazy now. I think I'm going to do the minimum today, play a lot of video games, and hope that I will calm down.
All the contacts
Feb. 3rd, 2025 02:53 pmMy goal for today was to contact all the people we would like to do work on the house and garden, and I've done it! I also tried to work on getting some insurance stuff done, and that was too much. However, I've already heard back from the person who we would like to do the exterior stone wall and the bathroom walls. So, hopefully, that will all get underway soon.
In other news, Joel's old electric bike has come back from the company, which was doing repairs. They replaced a bunch of parts. He is out on a test ride now, so I'm not sure how well it works. If all goes well, I will start taking the new bike out to get used to it, so that I can ride it to and from the train station on days when I need to go into Lisbon.
In other news, Joel's old electric bike has come back from the company, which was doing repairs. They replaced a bunch of parts. He is out on a test ride now, so I'm not sure how well it works. If all goes well, I will start taking the new bike out to get used to it, so that I can ride it to and from the train station on days when I need to go into Lisbon.
I'm feeling kind of meh. I assume that I'm stressed, but who knows. Anyway, it is fine.
In other news, while digging up weeds in the garden, I discovered that there is a huge stone (like at least a meter by 2 meters, maybe more) in our yard under a thin layer of dirt and gravel. Joel thinks it is probably part of the structure that keeps our yard from sliding down the hillside. So, we're talking about cleaning it off and maybe putting in some more stone like that. We've also decided that we would really like the little raised beds to be natural stone, like the stone wall on the side of the house. We'll see how much it would cost us for the first one.
This morning, a book came up on my reading organizing app (The Storygraph), and I thought that now would be a good time to start it. It is called 'Year of Wonder' by Clemency Burton-Hill, and it has a piece of classical music for every day of a year with some information about the song and composer for people who would like to learn more about classical music. I decided that since it is something that is fairly controlled as far as reading speed (a song a day is a song a day, you aren't going to go speeding ahead), it would be good for The Storygraph's Readalong feature, which I've never used before. There are forums, so that people can discuss what they read, which seems like fun. I set it all up. A woman from my writing group joined, as well as one mystery person. I'm excited about this! This is the readalong. You need a Storygraph account to read join in, but it is free. I'm going to start with 1 February (the songs are linked to a day) in the book and then swing back around to January, which is at the beginning of the book, next year.
In other news, while digging up weeds in the garden, I discovered that there is a huge stone (like at least a meter by 2 meters, maybe more) in our yard under a thin layer of dirt and gravel. Joel thinks it is probably part of the structure that keeps our yard from sliding down the hillside. So, we're talking about cleaning it off and maybe putting in some more stone like that. We've also decided that we would really like the little raised beds to be natural stone, like the stone wall on the side of the house. We'll see how much it would cost us for the first one.
This morning, a book came up on my reading organizing app (The Storygraph), and I thought that now would be a good time to start it. It is called 'Year of Wonder' by Clemency Burton-Hill, and it has a piece of classical music for every day of a year with some information about the song and composer for people who would like to learn more about classical music. I decided that since it is something that is fairly controlled as far as reading speed (a song a day is a song a day, you aren't going to go speeding ahead), it would be good for The Storygraph's Readalong feature, which I've never used before. There are forums, so that people can discuss what they read, which seems like fun. I set it all up. A woman from my writing group joined, as well as one mystery person. I'm excited about this! This is the readalong. You need a Storygraph account to read join in, but it is free. I'm going to start with 1 February (the songs are linked to a day) in the book and then swing back around to January, which is at the beginning of the book, next year.
Bad brain day
Jan. 27th, 2025 02:07 pmMy brain is feeling sick today. I'm hoping it will feel better later after I've eaten more. I might end up skipping a lot of my usual early afternoon tasks and just start painting. I think I can probably get the podcast mixed, since that doesn't take a lot of functionality.
I was able to contact a company by email to take a look at the nice natural stone wall on the outside of our house and the really terrible walls in our shower. I'm glad I can just tell the AI what I need and not have to be at all functional myself.
I was able to contact a company by email to take a look at the nice natural stone wall on the outside of our house and the really terrible walls in our shower. I'm glad I can just tell the AI what I need and not have to be at all functional myself.
HOT WATER!
Jan. 17th, 2025 06:13 pmAfter two months, we finally have hot running water again!! It turns out that the compressor in our fancy water heater/heat pump (which does do a great job for less electricity than you would expect) is broken. So, right now it is working like a regular water heater (without the "fancy" part). It will cost us more money to run, but we will have hot water. And the guy was able to get the top off without cutting it, unlike what the previous guy said. So, that was also great. Yay!!!
Also, the tree guy came this morning, and he seems just fantastic. Very helpful and thoughtful. We definitely need to have the olive trees cut back if we want olives. Pretty much every other tree on the property needs to be cut back too. I'm going to hold off on getting the raised beds put in until the trees are done, as the olive trees are right over that area.
Also, the tree guy came this morning, and he seems just fantastic. Very helpful and thoughtful. We definitely need to have the olive trees cut back if we want olives. Pretty much every other tree on the property needs to be cut back too. I'm going to hold off on getting the raised beds put in until the trees are done, as the olive trees are right over that area.
The physical therapist and I finally made some progress. Now, he understands that I have problems when I'm distracted, and we were able to reproduce this. I can walk fine if I am focused on walking. I can walk backwards. However, I cannot walk backwards and speak Portuguese. Likewise, I can't walk forward and bounce a ball at the same time. So, now we have a way to identify the problem.
I really like saying hi to the neighbors around town, but I can't talk very much with them, because my Portuguese is still very basic. Because of this, I dread seeing them, even as I look forward to it. I finally realized that the solution is to focus on improving my small talk. If I can talk about the weather, their health, their pets' health, local events, and a few other topics (probably my own health since everyone asks about the hiking poles), then I'll be able to more comfortably talk to people. Sometimes, I forget that the actual number of topics I need to know in a specific situation is pretty low. My flashcards usually focus on the situations that the language tests cover, like going to a restaurant or a hotel. However, I don't do these things. I talk to Uber drivers and the old people and construction workers along my walking route.
In other news, I'm pretty sure I'm going to paint the rocks in my flower zentangle. I don't think they work being white, and I think they would be too much if they were filled in with design. Hopefully, it will work.
I really like saying hi to the neighbors around town, but I can't talk very much with them, because my Portuguese is still very basic. Because of this, I dread seeing them, even as I look forward to it. I finally realized that the solution is to focus on improving my small talk. If I can talk about the weather, their health, their pets' health, local events, and a few other topics (probably my own health since everyone asks about the hiking poles), then I'll be able to more comfortably talk to people. Sometimes, I forget that the actual number of topics I need to know in a specific situation is pretty low. My flashcards usually focus on the situations that the language tests cover, like going to a restaurant or a hotel. However, I don't do these things. I talk to Uber drivers and the old people and construction workers along my walking route.
In other news, I'm pretty sure I'm going to paint the rocks in my flower zentangle. I don't think they work being white, and I think they would be too much if they were filled in with design. Hopefully, it will work.
