Meanwhile

Taking a long hour out for lunch/dinner and a bit of relaxation. Famous Landscape Architect came by and poured out ideas for three hours, by the end of which we had solved most open issues and got blisters on our ears from listening so hard (as the Germans say). The plan is to finish squeezing rooms into the building today, then spend tomorrow and Tuesday on the landscaping and elevations/sections, then print and send it off on Wednesday.

I fear that I'm catching a cold: have a sore throat and a dry nose and a vague headache, not to mention extremely low blood pressure and its associated issues (due to the combination of prolonged rainy weather, stress, disturbed eating habits and tiredness).

Reading Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry, and loving every minute of it. It's a wonderful tale of the West and the people who settled it, full of realistically appalling characters. There will surely be a reading report on this in the fullness of time, i.e. on or after the weekend.

[Updated after dinner: just read a fascinating article in an old "New Yorker" about the brilliant, almost-unknown Swiss novelist, walker and madman Robert Walser. Highly recommended; his novels are worth seeking out. Now, back to the grindstone.]

[Updated again at 00:45. The competition looks good, but there is one hell of a lot of drawing still to do and it looks like I'll have to do almost all of it. Funny how situations (or rather one's evaluation of them) change(s): last week, G was worried and I was coolly reassuring, today I'm close to panic and despair while he is happy and confident. Easy for him: I'll be doing most of the drawing.

Hatches have been battened down, supplies laid in and the airlock door closed. The pile of dirty dishes in my sink at home is nearly as high as that in the office. Take a deep breath and dive in.]

Eleven down, nineteen to go.