Excuses, excuses

Again too much time has gone by since I blogged and my only excuse has been I have been busy. So why, you may ask yourself and how can one be too busy to write a little blog?

Well, a variety of reasons.  Firstly Danilo has decided to run yet again for mayor of where we used to live. Hey ho. Apparently this time it will be different. We will see.

What that means is that he is away back there a lot, which means I have to do everything here on my own as we usually share the household and animal tasks between us.

So a typical day now starts with waking at 3 am when the cocks all crow, then they shut up after 10 minutes so it is back to blissful sleep until they start again at 5 am and keep going for two hours. Add to that noise, the dogs scratching at the door to get in, the cats miaowing to be fed, and it becomes a total waste of time to try and sleep.

So up I get and firstly let the dogs out to pee. Pandora one of the 8 month old puppies is on heat, so she has to be tied up on a long tie thingy at the back and her brother and father out the front, so there is no chance of hanky panky. As the father is a husky and Panda and Pandora half huskies, they don’t bark they howl and given that the boys want nooky they howl and howl and howl on and off all day long. I wish there was a vet here so we could get them fixed.

Pandora on the right and Panda the left

At night Panda is shut in the dog house with his dad and Pandora upstairs. She used to be shut in downstairs but Panda managed to jump out of the dog house onto the balcony, open the patio doors and get in. When Danilo returned after I had had a sleepless night when Panda kept escaping and howling on the balcony, he said he would fix it. I expected him to nail more wood on top to make the railing higher. What a surprise it didn't  quite happen like that and instead I got a Danilo special Dominican solution. It works anyway although there is now a lack of chairs to sit on.

So back to the morning routine and once the dogs are sorted, then it is time for the puppies. Meg had 9 pups which are all 5 weeks old now.

Again they make lots of noise, want lots of food and take up more time.

Once pups and dogs and cats are sorted, it is time to sort the chickens. They are spread around in four different homes, and each coop needs cleaning, and corn and water giving.

Then it is time to get down to work. As I mentioned, I lost my main job, but I have managed to find a job writing articles for an American. This pays one cent a word. The more I write the more I earn and everyday he sends me a list of things to do and they are all on a deadline so it is literally nose to the grindstone and takes around 10 hours a day, seven days a week.  I have to write in American English as well.  It is hard work and allows little time for anything else but it does keep the wolf from the door.

In addition, DRsisterhood is going well, so I have investigations and work to do for the site members as well as chatting to them on a daily basis. I am helping someone find a house here, providing information on the labour laws to another, helping another sort a Dominican birth certificate, another get their Dominican identity card and lots more.

As well as all that, the housework has to be done, daily sweeping, mopping, cooking, washing up before crawling into bed by 8 pm, ready to do it all again the next day.

I know it is a bit of a long winded excuse for not blogging – but it’s the truth!