My first Watermelon!

I woke up the the lovely sound of rain! Rain, beautiful rain! Finally!

Of course, mippies don't feel the same way about it - but it wasn't coming down too hard, so they went outside anyway!

I first made myself coffee, sat at the PC, had breakfast and then went outside to enjoy! It was so lovely and cool, perfect weather for a hot meal! So, I took out the Rouladen.

Leon had already re-filled my drum with rain water collected in his numerous containers, all I had left to do was empty the drum under my drain pipe.

First, I started with my new flower bed, next to the lawn. Just loosening the soil and pulling out the grass again. As I stood there bent over, Mewthos decided to not just sit on my back for a short while, but to settle down! He made himself comfortable and showed no intention of leaving! He even started kneading! Which was somewhat uncomfortable, as he has those razor sharp claws and no matter how careful he is, it's not comfortable - although he doesn't pierce the skin. It must have been quite a sight, with me bent over, hopping sideways to avoid dislodging the cat sleeping on my back! He was just has happy as a pig in muck!

Next, I decided to start clearing the row just outside my garden, where a few weeds had already grown quite high - it wouldn't take long, but would make a big difference! Then I carried the two round pots outside to use as 'gate stops'. I'm getting tired of the little rocks I've been using, which keep shifting and I keep having to move them back, the pots at least won't shift. Plus, with them standing on sand instead of grass, means I won't have to keep moving them to avoid bald spots in the lawn!

I also carried the large white herb pot to the new beds. Eish! That pot is heavy, even when it's empty and it's also an awkward shape to carry, especially as it has no handles! I had to put it down half-way. I placed it between the two rows of beds I've just made, where I don't want anything to grow.

Then I leveled the path between my spekboom and my peanut bed. It had a bit of a bump in it, which I found uncomfortable every time I walk over it. As I worked there, I notices little specks of green poking through in my peanut bed! The Peanuts are growing! Cor, I'm quite surprised! I didn't expect they would grow! First time I ever tried growing peanuts!

I asked Leon's advice about the Avocado trees I'm growing in my kitchen and he suggested I first bag them. First see whether they will grow before planting them, and give them a bit more chance to grow stronger before putting them into the ground.

Then I started clearing myself a path along the cosmos bed - to get rid of that constant tickling every time I walk around my garden. As I was working, the clouds dissipated and the sun came out! Sigh!

It hadn't rained much, either, just 3 mm! Which is about as deep as I was able to dig into the ground ... well, better than nothing.

But with the sun out, I could not continue working along the cosmos without risking a major sunburn! I looked around and found the watermelon bed was safe and moved there.

And that is when I saw: My first Watermelon! Okay, so it's about the size of a cherry tomato, but still! It's my first Watermelon!

With all the interesting veggies, herbs and flowers growing in my garden, why am I so excited about the watermelon? Bit of a long story: When we first arrived in South Africa, the first house we rented had a garden. And I started a bed outside my bedroom. Watermelons are small and expensive in Germany, so I decided to plant Watermelon! I turned the bed, cleared it carefully and then sowed Watermelon seeds! Two months later, we moved ... that was 37 years ago! I never made effort again, as we kept moving again and again - and then I was living in flats most of my life, with no garden.

Until now! So, this is the first watermelon in my garden - something I've kind of started 37 years ago finally coming to fruition! Okay, so it's still got a long, long way to grow and there's no guarantee it will, but still! I'm excited!

Quite a lot of weeds had grown in and around that bed, so I cleaned it up - carefully - and mixed more compost with the soil!

I also cleared more of the path. Slowly but surely, I'm getting my walk clear!

And then I started the Rouladen. I took out the electric frying pan for that, because it's the only pan with a lid. I looked up a recipe online, then ignored it completely and did my own thing. Especially with the sauce, as I had none of the ingredients - but I did still have a sauce mix for Rouladen from the German butchery! With that, of course, I made Klösse! Love those!

Weekend

Ooops! As I decided to write another post, I saw that I hadn't published the last one! Sorry!

The past two days were overcast, yet it was still hot - although not quite 40 degrees anymore! And not a drop of rain came down! Both days, all day, it looked like it would start raining any minute ... nothing. With the rain hanging in the air, it's also humid, so: not too pleasant.

Sunday, I quite enjoyed relaxing without any 'must' chasing me - no 'must' bake bread for the week's lunch, no 'must' wash the floor or laundry or wait another week, no 'must' at all!

On Saturday, I experimented with another bread mix. I used the cheese bread recipe and added fresh basil as well as bacon cubes! That turned out really delicious! I used most of it as a pizza base - which also turned out delicious. 

I still haven't processed the watermelon - and I'm not feeling guilty about it! That's a new one, he he. I normally have a guilt complex when I'm not productive. I'm getting better, though!

I had put the sour milk into the bowl to make butter ... and, even though I covered it with a wax sheet plus held it down with the baking tray ... blerry flies got in! I eventually had to throw it out! 

Mippies are having regular cuddle attacks! Mewthos comes running & mewling wanting to be picked up, Ziva comes running and mipping wanting her roly poly tummy tickled. Janey comes running and mipping wanting to be picked up. Mini just turns onto her back every time I'm near wanting her tummy tickled!

A walk around my garden is still unpleasant. The grass tickles my ankles and all the hoppies hiding among it jump and bite me! I really wish it would rain, so that I can clear that up! I do pull out patches every evening, but I can't get the roots, of course, so it will grow again in no time!

Mewthos came back from a walk with a bloody cheek again! Oh, and proudly brought a hoppy, too! Sigh, I don't know what he does to himself! This is the ... what, third time? Or is it the fourth? It looks like his fur simply got ripped off - but he doesn't seem bothered by it at all! I let him play with his hoppy and when he was done, held him down, cleaned the wound and put ointment on it! He was NOT happy!

I keep hearing the crackling noise which is driving me nuts! Eventually I tried to find out where it's coming from ... turns out, it's in my ear! I have no clue why, or what, but yeah. Well, at least it's just a crackling noise, and not permanent - better than me cackling, eh?

Saturday night I woke around one, feeling somewhat hungry. So, I got up, had a slice of pizza, drank some milk, sat at the PC and eventually went back to bed. Doesn't sound worth writing about - but it's a delightful abnormality for me! Normally, if I wake in the middle of the night, I try my best to just go back to sleep - for fear of oversleeping the next morning! Actually getting up, all relaxed, doing whatever I feel like? That's novel!

Saturday night I still hoped for rain, but Sunday night I gave up hope and watered the garden.

Friday

Gosh, it's Friday already! This week has just flown by so fast!

Last night I created the perfect thirst quencher! I've been really thirsty all day, even though I've been drinking water continuously. So, last night, I decided to try a smoothie. I put about two cups of Aloe Juice in, added 2 slices of cucumber, 2 pieces of paw-paw, 2 grapes and 4 cubes of orange juice - all frozen. Mixed it - LOVE IT! Just the right amount of sour!

This morning, I tried to get mippies to come inside around nine. I called 'breakfast'! No reaction. So, I called 'munchies!' Zoom, zoom, zoom, zoom! This time, I made sure the kitchen window was closed! Ha ha! Gave them their treat and went to get milk.

Funny thing, it rained here Wednesday night and Thursday night. Not much, but it rained. Just one km down the road, where the milk farm is: No rain! Not a drop!

Today, I spent most of the day designing a new layout for my game city - the small one. Yeah, that takes about a day. Mostly, because when you think you've won - you realise you forgot something and get to start again. This was my second attempt, so I had been past that milestone already. I can only really do that, when I have more than just a weekend.

At least I also did a load of laundry! I put on my last panties last night, so it was high time! Other than that ... nothing. Oh, I cleared some more weeds from my walk-about path. It's really irritating with all that ankle high grass everywhere - after my walk, I always feel as if I walked through a flea-pit! Everything itches! So, slowly but surely I'm pulling the grass and stuff out from the walk I normally take through my garden.

The bulbs are already pushing up a flower! I wonder what it will be? It's not the Gladiola, but one of the others. All of them are making flowers already. I'm also finding many tiny indigenous veld flowers here and there - I'm carefully uprooting them and planting them in beds. I don't care if they're a weed - they're pretty! 

Mini is developing quite a paunch! She absolutely LOVES to eat! Anything! Everything! She still 'makes space' for every meal, too! And doesn't stop eating, until the very last crumb is finished! And she's always the first one scratching up the counter when I'm in the kitchen.

Her and Mewthos are bonding nicely now. I see them curled up together quite often, and Mewthos washes her every chance he gets! She's still a little ... apprehensive? About being washed - I guess she's not used to affection from other cats. She doesn't lick my face anymore, though - I'm quite glad about that! I don't particularly like it - though I do appreciate the intended affection.

And here is Sir Galahad! Outside the window! Sigh. 

Midweek

There really isn't much to tell. It's too hot for me to do much, which is a bit sad. My whole vacation and it's too hot to party!

I spent most of yesterday with my online game. Not so much playing, but on the infrastructure for my smaller fellowship. I finally came to a decision where I'd like to go with that. It's part of the fun of the game, the social part of it!

Today, more of the same - it's been 40 degrees every day! Seriously, 35 is bad enough, but 40? Yikes! Yesterday I baked some more bread rolls. I tricked mippies into letting me eat alone, too! Nasty, eh? When I fried my steak they all came strolling in, then, when it was done, I let it rest while I went outside for a smoke ... mippies followed me out, but didn't follow me back inside when I ate! Well, mini did - she is very attached to me, being the baby of the family. She got a few pieces.

When I had a fresh roll, though, Mewthos got his share. I spread lard on it, and he, cool as ice, stood on the armrest and licked it off my bread! Yeah, I let him! I went back to the kitchen and re-spread my bread.

Today, I tried to make butter. I failed. I think I know why - I mixed everything back together, I should have just scooped the fat / cream off the top and mixed that. Once it separates, when you mix it back together, it won't separate again. So, I'm trying with another batch. I've got enough sour milk, after all! Those two bottles I got, when his fridge broke down again - remember? Yeah, I still haven't done anything with them. Actually, I was afraid I'd have to throw them away, as I waited so long, but apparently, since it's 'raw' milk, it never goes bad!

Oh, and I also processed what was left of the strawberries as well as the bananas. The last bananas were a bit soft, but I'll use them anyway. Tomorrow I should process the watermelon, and then I've got a clear fridge again.

The little one had me laughing again at dinner! She usually takes the piece I put on the rim of my plate for her - carefully, but sometimes she claws it off. I mean, she just fishes at my plate without looking what she's fishing for. Today, she hooked my whole sausage and pulled it onto the floor! I don't know who was more shocked! She didn't take a single bite - not even what I offered her after I had saved my dinner!

I did give them more chicken hearts as well. I had been wondering why they don't dig into them when I put them on the plate for them - spoiled little darlings much prefer quality time by being hand-fed! Ha Ha! I've said it before and I say it again: pets don't 'beg' for food off your plate for the sake of the food - but for the love and attention of sharing!

Tuesday

I woke up even before half past four this morning! And guess what? I decided to get up! It took just over half an hour for the sun to light outside, so I could let mippies out.

I'm again in an obsessive mess, so, I spent most of the day taking the mess out of my head and putting it ... yeah, into my blog! Ha Ha! Well, I gave it the 'rant alert' - and I feel better, now that I've said my say.

Around nine this morning, I found all my mippies spread around the bedroom! Oh, goodie! Perfect chance for me to get milk! So, I closed the door and off I went ... when, to my surprise, I saw Ziva coming towards me! Outside! Towards the car! Mewthos behind her ... I followed the trail of cats right to my kitchen window! Which I had left open! It was such a hilarious scene, I had a really good laugh! It literally was a trail OF cats, not a trail left or made by cats ... they all trailed after Ziva!

So, I went back inside, lured them with 'breakfast' - their current favourite word, by the way - and set off again! I took 3 liters of milk and came back.

It's another hot day today with no relief from the heat, so I'm not up to much, anyway. My energy is fairly sapped as well, and with temperatures going up to 40 again ... yeah, not exactly activity-inducing!

I also have another problem: my waste! Once again, I've got maggots in my bin - and I've cleaned that thoroughly! Why? Mippie sachets! It is so hot, that alone is producing maggots! I had, at least, put them into a separate bag - that's how I know. Although, it could also be the moldy strawberries? My problem is simply that I can NOT keep this in my kitchen for the next two weeks! So, I need to come up with a solution!

And then, this afternoon, I suddenly felt very, very tired. Probably a combination of the sapped energy, early morning and the relief of the solution, but I'm struggling to keep my eyes open.

Around six, I decided to lay down for a while - fortunately, I didn't fall asleep! Mippies were still out! I had just gotten up and decided to sit outside to see when they're ready to come in ... when the power went out! Again!

Fortunately it came back on about half an hour later. I brought in mippies, gave them their treat and then enjoyed a lovely cold shower!

And now, I think, I'll go to bed. It's not yet eight - but I'm really struggling to keep my eyes open ...

Might vs Right

Rant alert :)

I woke up some time after four this morning still obsessing about this online incident - which started me on a different track: Just why is this bothering me so much? It didn't take me long to figure it out - once I put the incident itself out of my mind. Quite simply, what really smarts the most is that I'm being bullied by being called a bully! That's the personal smart I'm having trouble getting over. But there's a bigger picture, too. One that's a fairly big Leitmotif in my life: Might always beats Right! Again and again, in so many aspects of my life - from family to work - and throughout my entire life. Looking back at them all, now, I can see the same pattern over and over:

First, I am part of (or join) a group. Then, as I grow in the group, I'm given (or volunteer for) a task or position. At first, I simply do as I'm told - which meets expectations. Once I've mastered the basics, I start investigating, questioning, researching. 

In other words, I 'read the manual'. And that's where it starts to go wrong!

And task, or even tool, that has been in use for an extended period of time is naturally changed by each individual performing the task or using the tool. The longer it has been passed on - just from one to the next, with no reference to it's 'manual' the less effective it becomes.

Of course, many times tasks are just taken up by the next person, with no actual hand-over - and tools are obtained without manuals. In both cases, the monkey-see, monkey-do principle of learning tends to be applied - we either saw someone else use the tool or perform the task and imitate what we've seen. Any parts we didn't see, we don't do.

Individuals always apply changes, however small, to suit their own personal preference. If such a change is continued, then the next person adds another change - often intending an improvement, yet ultimately perverting the task or use of the tool.

I suppose that's the evolution of any activity, from function to tradition?

As so many memes depict: Tradition is just peer pressure from dead people :)

Here's my problem: Any change changes the result. And any change applied without consideration for the full and actual effect on the result, can only by the rarest coincidence be an improvement!

The problem is, that negative implications are felt most by the 'light weight' / smallest / lowest participants. The minority. Who often don't understand just why they no longer receive the same results - and being small, they FEEL the difference. Mostly, they don't even know that a change has been applied. So, they either leave, drop out or fall through the cracks.

Now here's where the Leitmotif comes in: I'm one of those people who read the manual. I like to do anything to the best of my ability, especially volunteer service. Part of that also means that I want to read the history - and usually find that, contrary to the current 'spin', it's no longer as effective as it was in the past. So, I want to understand why. The current 'spin' usually involves some self-inflicted reason why minorities no longer participate or dropped out. Research soon reveals the facts, though. And so, I start 'changing back' to the initial methods ... 

However, one effect I have found to be common in every single task / activity / use of tool is that some 'objective' decision process has been replaced by 'subjective' personal decision. Usually now made by either one of the 'heavy-weights' or simply by majority vote.

Going back to the objective decision process then leads to an outcry by 'the mighty'. Who don't want explanations. Any mention of minority is always dismissed with the accepted 'spin' the group has already established.

In this latest instance, a 'drop-out' was even held up as proof that I'm a bully! Even though that person left at a time when I had absolutely no involvement with the task in question!

And so, Might shouts down Right.

On a personal level, that is always painful, of course. Especially since 'public humiliation' is always a key element of the denunciation.

On a broader level, however, it is pure perversion.

If you've ever been in any committee meeting, you know that when any one (or group) hears something that is disadvantageous to themselves, they tend to start refuting it while the person is still talking! Emotions immediately dominate over reason.

Nobody ever HEARS the point that person tried to make.

There are some groups who have become aware of this perversion and have implemented a platform giving the minority a real voice. Some business' use the Fishbowl Discussion Method, where everyone gets a fixed time to make their point (with plenty of time to prepare!) and nobody is allowed to interrupt. Most 12-step programs have a Service Concept designed to give the minority the same opportunity to speak without interruption. Sadly, I've seen the latter utterly perverted into 'permission to defend yourself'. I have, however, also experienced just how absolutely powerful this Concept can be, when it is applied correctly!

Rant over :)

Monday

I did indeed get a lot more sleep last night! It's lovely and cool today and the whole garden is thoroughly soaked! Perfect gardening conditions!

I'm not in perfect condition, though, nothing serious, just discomfort.

Oh, I didn't mention when I dug the last Carnation deeper into the ground, I was still putting away my tools before getting the watering can ... when Tynx was already busy watering! She makes me laugh such a lot!

By the way, the Carnation is looking a lot better now! Much less yellow, looks like it's recovering and very likely to do well!

I went for a photo-walk around the garden, such a lot of pretty new flowers and, of course, I need to capture my very first cucumber! Mewthos went with me every step of the way and photo-bombed almost every picture I took!

The sun has come out again, so conditions are no longer ideal for gardening - at least not my new beds. Tough! The ground is lovely and soft, first time since the last rains! I considered the layer of compost at the bottom, and then I looked at all the seeds and roots and thought "why would I put it all back, after I took such a lot of trouble working it out of the ground in the first place?" I think, if it was dried and seedless, that would be different, but it's all still too fresh.

So, I just turned the ground again, pulled out the new weeds and some more roots. And then I planted peanuts! Well, sowed the seeds. I'm not really all that fond of peanuts, but it seemed such a novel thing to grow! I've never, ever come across seeds for peanuts before, so it never occurred to me to try growing them! Well, basically, the peanuts ARE the seed, so any raw peanuts would be just as good as seeds. As long as they're in their hulls, shells would be better, but hulls will do. So, lets see what will come up!

Oh, and I didn't 'space' them as suggested, but kept three seeds together and just stuck them at the suggested depth, in a row. Then I took the potatoes from my kitchen ... they were already growing by themselves, so I stuck them into the ground. What's the worst that can happen?

I enjoyed a long afternoon nap, as always, with Tynx by my side. She is such a little darling! Yes, they all are, each in their own way. And they are each very special to me, again each in their own way.

I should wash the dishes, but I'm really not in the mood. I'm still quite upset about that incident in the game yesterday. It sapped more energy than I'd like to admit - these things always get to me. I'm just tired ... 

Anyway, I went outside and slowly, slowly continued clearing the ground for my second bed. I finally managed to finish the row! I wasn't able to dig as deep at this end as I was at the start, the ground just isn't soft enough.

Mippies came inside without any trouble. They like that mommy is home so many days! Mewthos stayed out when it was raining, earlier, then came home sopping wet! I was beginning to worry!

Well, it's not quite as hot, so I hope to get a good night's sleep again!

Sunday

Without power, I couldn't shower - a serious problem! I was hot and sweaty and the mosquitoes were driving me crazy! I practically covered my arms in mozzie repellent, but they didn't seem to care.

I had a very bad night, waking up again and again. My arm looked like an alien keyboard! On one of the earlier wake-ups I went to for a smoke and the temperature at half past nine was still over 30 degrees Celsius!

After such a bad night, I slept rather late - surprisingly, mippies let me sleep! I let them out when I was finally ready to get up.

First chance I got, I showered! Having no water is the absolute worst part of every power failure. Oh, I've got a store of drinking water, but not being able to shower is a serious problem, especially in summer!

I spent most of the morning at the PC, my mind was too scrambled to do much good, but I managed to get some issues resolved. I'm getting a little tired with some attitudes, I'm afraid. Yes, it's nice to finally be drama free - but instead of a team it now feels more like a kindergarten. We now spoon feed anyone unwilling to put in the same effort as the team. No, I'm not talking about the smaller cities needing help to match the team targets - I'm talking about so-called adults unwilling to play by the rules. Volunteers are not appreciated for the play-time they sacrifice for the team - it is apparently our place to go however many extra miles any individual requires. Hello? Volunteer! Not 'paid servant'!

Well, this is exactly why I handed over leadership. This gives me the freedom to move whenever I'm ready. For the most part, I'm doing my own thing anyway, putting most of my efforts into the younger fellowship I started a year ago. I'm working on turning that into a full fellowship, rather than ONLY for new players. It's going very, very slowly though - but that's okay. The game no longer has much priority in my life.

It was very different when I first started. I was in a temporary home and had evenings to fill. Now my evenings are filled with mippies and my weekends with building a proper home, rather than a temporary residence.

I didn't get much done most of the day, though, a bit of weeding here, washing dishes there, just pottering around.

Mippies enjoyed themselves nonetheless.

I still haven't made any cheese, but I did at least manage to cook the chuck. Turned out quite nice, too, but it's a bit too much for a normal weekday. So, not a good choice.

In the evening, temperatures dropped quite a lot. It was no longer just overcast, but lightning was giving me a good show some distance away. Still, I watered the dry beds - better safe than sorry!

Mippies came inside, we had our quality dinner time ... mini STILL dashes right into the litter box when coming in, and dashes to her food bowl - regardless whether she's finished - when she fears I might forget her! It is too funny!

Later on, it started raining. It built up to quite a storm, coming down by the bucket load. The storm did cause some power fluctuations - which switched off my PC every single time! I really must make a plan to get a new UPS! But first, I need to work out my budget.

Last night temperatures had dropped to 20 degrees Celsius, promising a much better night!

Starting my vacation

I slept reasonably well again, but stayed in bed till about eight, dozing. Of course, I let mippies out very early or I wouldn't have been allowed to doze at all! By eight, mippies decided that I should get out of bed, they came and crowded me until I got up, ha ha!

I forgot to mention that, on Thursday, I also took the opportunity to visit an Optometrist. The one nosepad of my glasses had broken off. They replaced both - free of charge! I took that opportunity to also enquire about reading glasses. I'm currently using multi-focals which seemed a good idea at the time; but I'm forever sitting with my nose in the air at the PC to align the lower section of the lenses with the screen. I also have quite some difficulty reading a book, it's very, very uncomfortable, so I tend to take the glasses off and sniff the book as I read it, grin. As I haven't done much reading in the last couple of years, that wasn't so much of an issue - although sitting at the PC with my nose in the air, was somewhat irritating. I do want to read more, though, so reading glasses seem a good idea. They are not too expensive - but the anti-glare doubles the price! Since I spend more time at the PC than I do with my nose in a book (very sad state of affairs, in my opinion!) I'd say it's worth the investment.

Interesting note: when I was sitting outside last night, before dusk, I was shocked to see that the temperature was 40 Celsius! And that's in the shade! Sigh, Pretoria is much hotter (not just warmer) than PE! And where I live, it's always a few degrees warmer than Pretoria. Fun, eh? Well, at least there's a breeze going here ...

This morning is the perfect weather to burn the crap out of myself, if I garden! It's slightly overcast - just a thin layer of white, no real clouds as such - giving a lovely impression of shade, but it's over 35 degrees ... again: in the shade! So, if I were to go work in the sun, I would spend the rest of my vacation in bed with sunstroke! Not a good plan!

So, what shall I do today?

I took a stroll around my garden - but first, Mewthos threw himself at my feet to get his tummy rubbed! He loves that! The Oregano doesn't seem to want to grow, I'm afraid. Oh, and last night, I finally took the time to properly plant the one Carnation bush. I hadn't dug it in deep enough and many of its roots were above ground - now it can hopefully recover! The sage is doing well, with quite a lot of more seeds sprouting. The Rosemary, I think the three or four tiny growths in that pot ARE Rosemary, but I'll only know for sure when they grow a bit more. The Marjoram is not making any effort, I'm afraid. Ditto the Parsley & Chamomile. There were a lot of green sprouts, but now the pot is quite bare. I fear mippies are responsible, ha ha!

The flower bed is very busy! I can't yet tell which are flowers and which weeds - being my usual 'wonder' garden - but the six bulbs at least are definitely flowers! The succulents I got from Rose are all doing very, very well! I've got some flowers at the moment - all dark orange ones. I think they're called 'Ice Plant'? 

Moving across the car port, I see that the new beds I made, especially the paths, are already covered with growing weeds again! Ai, ai! I've been planning to dig the whole bed up, then put some of the 'compost' into the bed before covering it with the mixture of soil and compost again. All those weeds I pulled and grass - if I put them under the bed, they would help with drainage. The ground goes so hard that rain mostly just flows off it, with too little getting deeper into the ground. That is going to be a lot of hard work, though! And with that patch being in the full sun all day ... 

I'm hoping that the sprouts along the fence, behind my Spekboom, will turn out to be the daisies I sowed. In the old bed, next to the cosmos, I think only the bulbs and the cosmos will grow there. Apart from the sunflowers, I don't see anything coming up that I recognise. Well, I recognise some of the weeds coming up - so, hopefully the rest will turn out to be flowers? I doubt it, though. I never really did dig very deep into that bed, nor mix much compost into the soil - the top layer is still very hard. Ah, well!

The Cosmos are doing well, though. The row is in full bloom and starting to turn brown from the bottom up. In a month or so, it'll be time to pull them out - by then they will have dropped such a lot of seeds that I'm sure to have another wall growing very soon!

The watermelon are doing well, although they do seem to be heading east, into Leon's garden. The Spanspek, on the other hand, is just crawling along the pots, heading north. No flowers on the watermelons, yet, but lots on the Spanspek.

I picked the first pod of peas of the season! Nice and large peas, too! I noticed that peas - contrary to the 'instructions' on the back of the seed packets - do much better when they are all bunched up together. Where I've given each plant 'adequate' space, they are wilting without even growing. Interesting, eh?  My Shady Ladies are still growing, they've passed ankle height now and are really making an effort! The Basil is doing well, with lots of little specks where I sowed the last seeds. The mustard is making its first flower as well! Yes, I know, if I want to keep harvesting leaves, I should discourage flowering - but I'm curious to see the flower!

The sunflowers I had sown at the beginning of Spring are now creating their first flower! It's just a tiny little knob of green so far, but: Yay! Sunflowers seem to be quite as hardy as Cosmos - they're all coming up, growing, doing well. Even the one where I accidentally snapped the stem - it was pushed down by the cucumbers, and I tried to be careful when freeing it, but the stem bent. It seems to have fully recovered, though and is still going strong!

And then, to my delight, I see that I have a cucumber growing! My first home-grown cucumber! Happy dance!

I'm a little miffed about the gooseberries, though. Yes, they are still growing, though very tiny ... but, well, here I am, carefully selecting the best possible seeds, preparing a nice place, mixing in good soil, walking every day with the watering can to nurse them ... and what happens to Rose? Some bird craps a seed in her garden and she's got a lovely bush growing ... just like that!

Yeah, I'm not really miffed - I think it's funny!

I think that I should maybe give some thought to food for myself.

Okay, so I've started by picking some basil. A walk through my garden near noon is very sad ... everything is suffering in the sun and droopy! I'm glad I don't often see that! For now, I've got the machine making me a loaf of french bread - well, only the dough and I've added some grated cheese and some herbs. Lets see how that turns out!

It doesn't feel like holiday, yet - more like any other Saturday. Shouldn't there be more happy spirits bouncing around? Ha Ha!

I forgot to mention that the white Geranium are in full bloom! It looks absolutely lovely! I've got some five heads filled with white blooms on just the one plant! And the chervil is also coming up en masse - although it's not growing solo, a horde of mushrooms are coming up in the pot as well!

Crikey! Now I'm miffed! I just made myself a milkshake, and thought I'd add a few of the fresh strawberries ... guess what? Half of them are covered in mold! I bought them on Thursday, they were refrigerated the whole time - they really should not be covered in white mold, not this soon! And they weren't exactly cheap, either! Hrmph!

And then some eejot drove into the electrical pole and our power went out. Just like that!

Last work days for the year

I've been sleeping very badly all this week - the mozzies just keep waking me up all night long! Mini loves that, of course! She still sleeps next to my head and whenever I stir, she rolls onto her back to 'mummy tickle tummy'! She LOVES to have her tummy tickled!

As a result of the bad nights, I've been struggling to wake up on time in the mornings - and the afternoons have been a struggle to stay awake.

Last night was the first night I got at least a decent amount of sleep! Still with interruptions, but not as bad as the previous three nights.

Of course, I also didn't do much in the evenings - being way too tired to have any energy left! Monday night I did still manage to get started on the dishes - but that's about it. Last night, I didn't even cook myself dinner ... just went to bed.

I had an encouraging conversation with my boss on Monday, where he supported my suggestion of starting systematic continuous improvements throughout the factory. He asked me to prepare a presentation - and was surprised that I had one the very next day!

How? Easy! I had already done that same presentation to him some five years ago! Nothing has changed, so all I needed to do was edit it a little. This time he agrees that a) we desperately need to improve and b) a systematic approach to improvement is exactly what we need!

So, I am spending my last days at work tailoring the systematic approach to our business.

And, to my chagrin, I've come to realise that, although I've been advocating this approach for a long, long time - I've never before been involved in actually applying it! Ha ha! So, I've got a lot of learning to do here, as well!

It's a challenge, and I love it, though! The trouble is, that I know a whole long list of WHAT needs to change - but I'm a little fuzzy on just how best to start implementing! Well, actually, I have already started, of course, but so far it's been confined to just the store. Everything I implemented outside the store - in production, for example - has long ago fallen away. When I was moved out of production and confined to the store, he he.

Grin, personally, I'm enjoying this challenge so much, I'm already dreaming about it!

Anyway, it's Friday and I've had a reasonable amount of sleep last night, so I'm looking forward to this afternoon, when I get home! When I picked up my milk yesterday afternoon, his fridge was again being repaired. Poor farmer! A whole shelf full of sour milk again! But I've already got plenty of sour milk at home - I'm afraid I can't take any more off his hands. The repairman had overheard that I make cheese with the milk, and was quite intrigued. Last night, his wife was with him and he asked me to give her the recipe - which I did. She took my number & I hers, so if she has any questions, she's welcome to call!

I arranged to come on Tuesday for milk again. I meant to get 2 liter on Tuesday, but I had left the second clean bottle on the kitchen counter ... sigh. I'll probably buy an extra 2 liter on Tuesday. I'm thinking of getting 2 liter on Tuesdays and 3 on Fridays while I'm on leave. I'll need to shut mippies inside when I drive off - but they come in and doze around the place from around nine onward anyway, so it shouldn't be a problem. He's usually there before 11 am and after 4 pm.

Yesterday, I caught a bit of a break - they were working in my office, so I asked if I could quickly go to the shops (since I couldn't work anyway). I treated myself to another Sushi! Yum yum yum! And I also managed to get some fresh produce - more bananas, more strawberries and a watermelon as well as a stash of juices. Those little energising booster bottles - expensive, but really good! That was an unexpected bonus! I didn't think I'd get a chance to stock up.

I caught an interesting episode on the mip-show the other day! Mewthos was near Sir Galahad when suddenly one attacked - I don't know who; and Ziva and Tynx ran to Mewthos' aid like a shot! They didn't attack Sir Galahad, but made it very clear that Mewthos is not alone! Sir Galahad backed off and Mewthos came slinking home to me.

I know Ziva is very protective, but I was surprised to see Tynx rush to Mewthos' aid without hesitation as well! I was also a little surprised at Lady Jane's inaction - she just stayed where she was!

Another interesting revelation is, of course, that clearly cats don't have chauvinistic ego issues - they simply let each member of their society fill the role they are best suited for, regardless of gender, size, etc.

At work, after lunch, I went back to the office, when I came outside for a smoke some time later ... I found everybody outside enjoying a beer and a fire going! Nice, eh? Well, I joined them. I left around four.

Mippies were happy to see me, they don't quite know, yet, that I'll be home for two weeks now. Every day! They will love it!

But before I can start my holiday, I have to catch up with the housework I couldn't do during the week ... so, I cleaned the kitchen. That was about all, by the time I was finished, it was pretty late. I sat outside for a bit, then mippies came in, and now I'm ready for bed to start my holiday nice and early tomorrow!

Two day rest of the weekend

I had an absolutely awful night! Whenever I dozed off, the mosquitoes just would not let me sleep. They kept buzzing and feeding - my skin felt like bubblewrap with all the bumps from their feast!

I got up around six, let the mippies out, then sat at the PC to play while I had my coffee. I spent the rest of the day in the garden, clearing a patch overrun by grass. I still haven't decided what I'll plant there, though.

Some time during the day, I found a frog sitting at the passage door! A frog! Man, what will they bring in next? I wasn't able to catch it - it hopped to the washing machine then wriggled under it. Later in the evening, I managed to catch it, though and was able to release it.

For dinner, I made myself my pork chop! That was absolutely delicious! Lovely and juicy, yet well done - absolutely perfect!

When mippies came to try and get their share, I held out a piece of the skin - which they rejected, he he he. So I had my lovely pork chop all to myself! Having had a sausage roll around lunch time already, I wasn't sure I could finish it - but it was so tasty, I couldn't stop eating!

In the evening, I relaxed and watched the two Stargate movies which followed after the Series. Next, I'll re-watch Stargate Atlantis.

Monday morning I also got up around six again, and I'm taking it easy the entire day. It's still sunny outside, although there was a little drizzle last night, but even working in the shade burned my shoulders a little. So, today, I stay indoors.

Every now and then I go outside for a smoke - and I'm surprised to find that Ziva, when she sees me standing next to the chair, gets up and lets me sit in my chair! WOW! That is really something! Seriously, it's happened several times now. I don't always dislodge cats, when they are sleeping on the cushion on my chair - sometimes I sit on another chair and sometimes I just stand next to the chair (after all, I'm sitting at my PC). And when I do that, Ziva gets off the cushioned chair and stretches out on the pavement!

Tynx, on the other hand, caught a mouse. Killed it, too. And then brought it into her fortress to play with! Yikes! Her fortress = my work pants! It was too late to start a load of laundry - they wouldn't be dry by tomorrow, so ... yeah ... manual wipe and clean as best I can.

And then Ziva gave me such a fright! I saw her going after what looked like a lizard! And then it moved: it was a snake! And NOT a harmless brown house snake! I don't know WHAT snake it was, I was focusing on Ziva, hoping I could make her give up on her prey! I added a note of hysteria to my voice, to let her know I was scared. I think she understood, because she turned away and let it go! She really is an exceptionally understanding cat!

I, once again, got caught up in my game. Okay, so that hasn't happened for quite a while; but it's the problem with a short holiday, aka long weekend. On the second day, I just relax, leaving any work for the last day ... and on the last day, I get caught up in something else ... and the work doesn't get done.

It's ten to eight at night and the loaf of bread I'll need for this week is only now in the oven! I made a bit of a mess of the dough as well. I'll see how it turns out. I didn't wash a single dish - now my take-to-work coffee cup is unavailable. Mippies bowls are messy from the tin treat last night - so I gave them some of my dishes to use for tonight. I didn't make any cheese, either. So much for my discipline, ha ha ha!

Funny thing happened earlier, when I went outside to look for my mippies as it was time for them to come inside ... they were coming inside to look for me! We really are an awfully close family - I'm wondering whether that's a good thing? I'd say love is like that. Wonderfully warm when everything is fine - yet, if anything goes wrong, it's equally painful. As long as we're all healthy and together, it's all good!

Indoor mommy, outdoor mippies

Mewthos, again, mewled me awake very early. I stumbled out of bed, opened the front door and went back to bed. I'm not sure why, but I felt like sleeping late. Well, not too late, I got up some time after seven. Well, that's when all four mippies came and crowded me out of bed, ha ha!

Starting the day slowly, I first spent an hour or more online on my game. We have recently had quite a lot of new members, and chat is - once again - buzzing! I love it! It's fun to chat with people all over the world!

The kitchen was a disaster area, what with all the dishes which had piled up during the week - you'd think, as I was home, I could have done them, eh? But with all the power failures, when I could have done them, I didn't feel like it. So what? Mippies don't mind!

Speaking of mippies, they managed to topple my fly-catcher over! Sigh, silly of me to put it on the window sill, really. It's just a plain 1-liter plastic bottle with sugar water. I cut the top off and placed it back, just upside down, so it forms a funnel. Flies can get it, but they can't get out.

And, as everyone knows, sugar water is lovely on the floor! So, I started with the dishes, which wasn't actually much. Then swept the whole place. I got some litter crystals yesterday, as I'm not sure I've got enough of the eco-fiber to last through the holidays. So I cleaned the small piddle box and put the crystals in that. Hopefully that will attract Mewthos more than my curtains, too!

And then I washed the floors. Mostly the kitchen, of course, and the lounge - where mippies had trailed mud from end to end! At thought it would be a narrow path - as most animals have their preferred route. Not my mippies! They made sure the mud is spread everywhere! No single-file direct route walking for them!

The Avo's I'm trying to grow are also finally shooting! All three of them! I've just moved them to the counter opposite from the sink, as they get more sun there! I have no idea where I could possibly plant them, though! But it's lovely to watch them grow! I guess they'll need to go outside when they've got a couple of leaves. For now, they just have these long sticks coming up, with a promise of leaves at the tip.

I bought three types of thin sausages yesterday, the 'Berner' (cheese grillers wrapped in bacon - very, very thin bacon, though), the Speckwurst, and then another type with a hint of garlic and such. I can't wait to taste them in one of my sausage rolls!

First, though, I'll have to make the sausage rolls! I made the dough, wrapped it around the sausages and they're now baking. I made a bit of a mess of the dough - I accidentally started with the right recipe, then added the quantities for quite a different one! Fortunately, all I had to do, was add more water to turn it into a 700gr herb loaf. I meant to make only 450 gram! Ah, well ... now I've got 7 rolls baking!

Then, while the dough was being made, I first processed the bananas from last Friday - peeled them, sliced them, put them on wax paper in the freezer. And then I also re-packed the meat I bought yesterday and packed that into the freezer as well. Different drawer, though.

I left one pork chop out, which - just for fun - I crumbed! I don't usually do that, because it uses such a lot of dishes - one for flour (into which I usually mix some lemon pepper), one for a beaten egg (to which I usually add a bit of lemon juice) and last one for the bread crumbs (to which I always add sage). That's now sitting in the fridge.

I kept forgetting that Monday is a public holiday, and I have a three day weekend! I don't HAVE to get everything done today - but, with a third day, I can finish what still needs to be done at my leisure tomorrow or Monday. And at least, all the work is now out of the way - there's no chore hanging over me! Well, the laundry, if I want to. I don't need anything, though, so it's not a must.

And if we have any more power failures, at least everything that had to get done, is now done. Nothing to worry about.

I now have way too much milk on my hands, so I'm thinking of making some cheese tomorrow. Let it sit over night, again.

I've put myself into quite a dilemma now: What shall I have for dinner? The lovely crumbed pork chop or try one of the new sausage rolls? That is such a tough decision!

Lazy me opted for a sausage roll, one of the new sausages - yummy! I've covered the pork chop, it'll be even better tomorrow night!

Friday the 13th

They say on Friday the 13th you should hug a black cat ... gosh, that's the easy part! What I'd need is instructions on how to STOP cuddling a black cat! Tynx is really cuddly, and once you get her going, she doesn't stop! She forever rolls over inviting me to tickle her tummy! And she is almost constantly under my feet, no matter where I go or what I do!

Well, it was a pretty normal Friday until lunch time! That's when they set up a grill and started grilling some sausages. While everyone else could go outside and relax, having brought all finished goods to the store - at the very last minute ... I had to receive, check and mail our client the exact quantities; as we had promised.

When everyone else had finished eating, we were all called for some 'words from management' so that THEY could go home.

Anyway, I did finish soon afterwards as well and so I could do my shopping trip to the German butchery and get home just after three!

Mippies were happy to see me, of course! I let them out, carried the shopping inside and then went outside myself. I carried on working on my second bed - and almost finished it! I mixed some compost into the bed as well and added lots of the fertilizer granules.

The rain has really done a lot for the growth in the garden. Everywhere I look, seeds are now coming up, looking good! Sigh, of course, so are the weeds ... so there's a lot of work for me! I'm looking forward to that!

Back at work

I was mewled awake before five this morning! Oh, Mewthos! Why? Sigh ... he did another spray-job! Man, I think I should blerry cork him! The litter boxes were clean! Only one of them had used each, so ... WHY? Mewthos, why?

They were all disappointed that I had to go to work today, so they started bouncing around the place, zooming past at top speed going here, there, after this toy, after that toy ...

The power had gone off yet again during the night, so I boiled water in the pot again. Getting the hot water past excited mippies - who only know that, when I use cups, they get milkies - is somewhat hazardous, but since I know they will be underfoot, I'm careful.

At work, I was very happy to see At back as well! Shame, poor soul - he's sleeping on the chair because his mattress is soaking wet! His whole place is still damp! He's just as happy to see me ... funny thing, he tells me that my company calms him! Yeah, I know - I've been told of many effects I have on people, but calming? That's a new one!

I made an oopsie last night, I was busy typing in the chatroom, in my online game, when my fingers slipped on the keyboard and I accidentally pasted yesterdays blog into the chat ... and entered, so it popped up! Lol. Only part of the first paragraph fitted - and suddenly everyone's reading about Mewthos spraying my curtains! Somewhat embarrassing, ha ha!

On the bright side, some of my fellow players want to know more - so I may get another reader!

This morning, I also learned that I must make it an absolute habit to shake out my work pants before putting them on! Tynx now stashes toys in them - and to her, dead lizards are also toys! Not the nicest thing to find in your pants when you try to put them on!

At work, I learned that it had been decided that Friday would be the last day of production. We have outstanding orders, but next week, we will not be producing to fill them. A lot of people have taken next week off as well, so it should be nice and quiet.

In the afternoon, the internet went off at work - not really a problem, but when the server was unavailable as well, that meant I couldn't do much, as all my files are on the server.

On the way home, I stopped for milk - the farmer had been worried that something had happened to me, since I hadn't showed up all week! Well, I got five liter of milk - cor, that's a bit much! Especially as some of it is already turning, courtesy of all the power failures.

I was glad to have power at home, though. I spent time in the garden - the ground is dry enough now for me to walk on, I loosened the soil in my new beds, though and then sat down to continue clearing the second bed I'm making.

Yes, I could very simply pull out only the big weeds and be done in a jiffy - but then all the teeny tiny mini weedies currently sprouting, thanks to the rain, would be taking over any bed I make in no time!

Reminds me of this colleague, who 'helped' me in my garden one weekend. He covered all the weeds with my best potting soil! Then planted my tomatoes into plain soil - which most did not survive! But it looked like a lot had been done! For a few days.

That's not my way, though. I can spend hours clearing just a small patch - but clearing it thoroughly! I'm hoping I can get the second bed finished before the ground becomes too hard again.

Mippies had great fun in the garden and came to talk to me, use the soil I had turned - it's so lovely and loose! I don't mind! I've noticed as well, that, once plants have established in a bed, they stop using that bed. Like the watermelons. Oh, they'll walk in the bed, but they don't damage the plants and they definitely don't dig up plants! Seedlings, yes - they don't count, ha ha!

Anyway, I also saw, to my delight, that more of the bulbs are coming up! Not in the beds where I first planted them - there, I still have only 21; but in the new flower bed across the lawn. Of the 8 bulbs I planted, I counted 6 poking through!

Inside, I wasn't actually hungry and didn't feel like eating ... nor did I feel like doing anything in the kitchen. So, I first showered. Then sat in the arm chair waiting for energy to somehow motivate me! Yeah, that didn't happen, so with a lot of grunts and groans I levered myself out of the comfy arm chair and trotted off to the kitchen. I only packed my lunch and fried my dinner - the dishes will have to wait!

Then I watched an episode or two of SG-1 with mippies coming for cuddlies in between and went to sleep.

Sir Galahad caterwauled me awake again! He sits on the window sill right by my head, bold as brass, and wakes me up! Well, he's calling my girls - but I'm right there!

This morning, the power was out, yet again! Sigh. Boiling water in the pot again ... milkies for mippies ... then off to work.

Still at home

I got up fairly early. Mewthos was mewling to be let out – I listened to my bladder, instead. As I was finishing I heard what sounded like a stream of water hitting fabric? I got up and found Mewthos looking me full in the face while he was spraying my bathroom curtains! What the … ????

I picked him up mid-stream and plonked him in a litter box! What is he thinking? The look in his face could either be proudly showing me “Look, mommy! I is big boy! I stand up to pee!” or defiantly challenging me “I told you I need to go out! You don’t open the door, this is what I do!”. Since cats have no capacity for malice, I like to think the former. And if it’s the latter, then he’s expressing a need, not defiance. But yeah, that explains all the puddles I keep finding … or rather, confirms their source – I still don’t understand the reason!

I think, in part, mippies don’t really like the eco-fibers I now use instead of the ultra fine sand. But I can’t afford to keep using the sand, I’m sorry, mippies! They use the large box for solids and the small one for liquids – so the small one gets filled quite quickly. Maybe I can get another small box? Or maybe I should get a second large one?

The power is still out, so I boil some water in a pot on my gas stove. By the way, I learned that Leon had lied to me: there is no spare gas bottle! Oh, I can get one, but I had specifically asked about that a while back. Grumble.

Leon told me that the power outage was no longer due to Kwagga power station having burnt down, but that several poles had also fallen down due to the flooding. We might get power back late this afternoon – IF they’ve discovered ALL the fallen poles! If not, it might come on, then go off again – and then they’d have to go investigate the cause. Sigh.

At least the weather seems to be clearing – even last night some clear sky could be seen between the clouds. It doesn’t seem to have rained during the night, either – or, if it did, not much. My most pressing problem, however, is the water issue. My stomach is on the run – courtesy of my monthlies; sigh, I had hoped they were gone for good! So, today, I’m off sick. Even though I had been taking my tissue salts, I’ve got quite a lot of cramping today.

I’ve picked a gardening book to read today … which is somewhat depressing. Gosh, I have a long, long, long way to go! Such a lot to learn! So much I didn’t know! Here I was, just happily turning soil, plonking down seeds and enjoying the results! No wonder my results are so meager, though.

I also read how indigenous plants will attract the helpful insects and birds – biology is a subject I failed badly in high school. I just figured all birds and bees are good for plants, but I read how each plant is designed to attract exactly the one insect it needs to propagate. Makes sense – grin, I wish we humans had a similar design; it would eliminate all the break-ups and divorces, eh?

Anyway, the red flowers are indigenous – so, I got some help understanding Leon & Ansje’s point of view. They ARE very much about conservation of the natural flora, fauna and wildlife here. But then again, THEY have a massive piece of land, where they can plant and grow as much of anything they want, whereas I have quite a small piece – at least, when you deduct all the space already taken up by trees, spekboom and those red flowers … there’s not much left, actually! I still don’t know where I’ll put the last of the spekboom growing from cuttings I got from Rose!

Well, I got a lot to think about, now! For one thing, I realise that I don’t actually know what soil I’ve got. I keep calling it sandy, because it’s yellow and granular on top, but it bakes into one solid mass in the sun! Yet, under the trees, it’s quite a different story. Sigh, most of the garden is ‘under the trees’, I don’t really have all that much sun to work with – and that whole area is also covered with those red succulents! But they are not doing so well on the outskirts of the shade, giving me an opening to start working inward.

Around half past ten the power came back on again. This time, first thing I did was flush the toilet! Ha ha! And the next thing I did was start a loaf of bread dough! The PC started without any trouble, but I still don’t have internet.

Then I saw 7 missed calls on my phone! Work! I called back to be told that I must decide whether I want to take leave from next Friday (13^th) or the following Friday (20^th). Huh? I get to choose? Typical! This information SHOULD have been given to ALL staff well in advance – giving us time to consider and plan accordingly! Not just ‘I must know now’ at the last minute! Seriously, human resource management leaves … not just a lot, but practically everything to be desired! Well, I have a delivery coming next week and I don’t have another 5 days leave, either. So I opted for the 20^th. The next week should be nice and quiet then, with all the posturing noise-boys on leave.

Anyway, the bread is rising in the oven – the dough was very sticky this time. I just made a small loaf, but whole wheat with added herbs. I’ll probably regret not spending this time finishing the second bed … but the reason I took the day off sick is sapping a lot of energy. Also, the sun is back in full force – I could get yet another sunburn … ironically while loosing a shoe in the mud! Ha Ha!

Internet is still not back, it’s past one now, so …

I feel quite drained, must be the monthly … gosh, I’d forgotten just how much energy that drained every month! Yes, I managed to forget that over a period of two months! Well, I don’t HAVE to do anything, so I decided to take a nap.

I was woken by Leon shouting something right outside my bedroom window! Yikes!

Internet is back on, so I published yesterday’s blog. I’m still writing in Word, for now – just in case. I’m still not very energetic, it started raining again, though not as bad as these past few days. The sun was out most of the day, so this bit of rain will be good to keep the ground soft till I can work it some more this weekend.

Another thing I got from all that reading during the power outage: I badly miss reading! I really must make time to read again – I really, really miss it! Reading online just is not the same, no matter how interesting. There simply is no substitute for a book, especially a good one!

I packed my lunch, considered dinner and then just fried the Bockwurst and ate it with some curry sauce. I didn’t even feel up to boiling some pasta to go with it – although I did fill the pot with water, then changed my mind.

I sat inside watching SG-1, then went outside, watching mippies, then back inside … now I’ve got mippies inside – Janey and Ziva each on a shelf on my right! I’m shelving cats!

The mini keeps me company a lot of the time! Like, when I was on the bed watching SG-1 – she comes and snuggles up to me! When I get up, she gets up. I go to the bathroom, she snuggles in her fortress. I go outside, she comes out. And she makes me laugh such a lot! I’m just so grateful she’s with us!

Make no mistake, my other mippies make me just as happy! Nor am I neglecting any of them – they come for cuddles, each in their own preferred way: Ziva with the roly poly on the ground, Janey walking along my shoulders – or, sometimes she just flops into my arms to get her tummy tickled! And Mewthos, my darling Mewthos! Despite the spraying, ha ha!

Well, time to post and publish, then to bed.