Thursday & Friday

Not much to tell about Thursday, frankly, I don't really remember Thursday. Oh, yes, that was the day of crazy last-minute production for delivery at five! For myself, I'm not doing much work at the moment, just the bare essentials (like everybody else) while I wait to hear whether I'm going back to manual systems or whether I can go forward with the current systems, where I need to print regularly.

On Friday the Seeds for Africa arrived! Yay! I'm in heaven! I started downloading and reading some of the guidelines, how to get them growing - yikes! Some of them are really very complex! And not all of them are good for the current season - actually, most are best for either Spring, late Summer or Autumn.

After work, I took a trip to get more Potting Soil. Again, even though there was quite some traffic by the toll gate, it cost me only half an hour.

At home, I started a Gardening Journal! Hand written. Why? Well, it's to keep track of seeds I've sown and what's started to poke through when. And the reason I keep it hand written is, so that I can do it outside, with my mippies - not inside, here, at my PC. And I can always look up anything I'd like to include in this blog.

I did sow some seeds already, and I sorted through my collection - I've taken out some packets of seeds to give to a colleague. I'm beginning to think that, with all those seeds I now have, I've bitten off a little more than I can chew!

Back inside, feeding my mippies - the little one makes me laugh! She still dashes straight to the litter box when everyone comes inside, and when I get to Janey's bowl, she dashes out - regardless whether she's finished or not! Quite a few times now, she's dashed out before she had time to cover!

I made a bit of a mistake, though. I made myself a nice, ice cold milk shake and then took the first few sips too fast! The ice cold hitting my overheated system didn't do me good - my stomach thinks it's now time for a marathon! 

Wednesday

At work, the printer decision is still hanging over me ... I have a feeling the decision has been made, that I don't need a printer, so I had better resign myself to that. Which is seriously de-motivating me.

Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised when some of the seeds arrived! I had ordered them only yesterday! I'm impressed! My groceries arrived half an hour later! Ooooh, what fun!

At home, I first spent an hour watering my garden, as Leon had switched the sprinklers on. I gave him half the bell pepper seeds - he didn't seem impressed, though. Anyway, I am happy with the diatomaceous earth I got and happily rubbed it into Mewthos and Ziva, who were both under my feet the entire evening!

I'm also happy with the air plant I got! It's mounted on wood, so I just left it in its box for now and put it up on a bookshelf. For now. Oh, and I sprayed it with some water, of course.

When I went inside to get some milk for myself - all four mippies came inside and trotted happily towards their feeding bowls ... okay, so we come in early! Afterwards, they checked to see whether I had left the door open, ha ha!

I also got a call from a friend who wants to come visit me this weekend. It would be nice to see her again, as I haven't seen her since I moved to PE!

Leon gave me two large zucchini he says came from my garden! How could I have missed them? They are not the one's I'm still waiting to pick - those two are still growing nicely. I also sprinkled some of the diatomaceous earth over my veggie patch and the bulb patch, I'm hoping that will deter the ants from nesting there.

Since I hadn't taken out anything for dinner, I cut all the vegetables I had harvested, including the zucchini, and added some boiled pasta, then tossed a raw egg through everything with some lemon juice. Mippies were disappointed, but I quite enjoyed my dinner. I had made enough to take to work as well - and I took out a nice big T-bone steak for tomorrow night!

And that's pretty much all to be said ...

Seed greed

Sigh. My downfall! I found two suppliers for seeds - specifically Large Bell Peppers and other seeds I can't find elsewhere ... and I got a little carried away.

The first site, Sandveld Organics offers more variety on their own website than I can get through Faithful to Nature (FTN). I have already ordered some of their seeds via FTN, but on their website they also have the peppers, which are out of stock at FTN. Okay, so they offer free delivery only for orders over R700, so I'm paying R100 for delivery - but I'm getting large bell pepper seeds!

What's the issue with those specific seeds? Leon and I have been talking about those this weekend, he's also been looking for seeds and they are not available anywhere. I have also been looking for them for as long as I've had a garden - as in, I've never seen them in PE nor here anywhere. We both tried growing them from seeds saved from store-bought peppers and in both cases they produced those tiny thumb-sized peppers. So yes, I'm very happy to have found large bell pepper seeds!

Also: the red and yellow peppers are extravagantly expensive in stores! The green ones are just about affordable, but still expensive. If I could grow either, that would be awesome!

Okay and then I discovered Seeds for Africa. Very aptly named! Oh. My. Gosh! I was in paradise! And I went totally overboard! However, in my defense, they currently have 'Black Friday' sale going on - 20% off everything. I just surfed and shopped and added and added and added more and more to my cart. And then I looked at the total! Yikes! So, I culled my order ... quite drastically.

The thing is, they offer something like 5 or 10 seeds per packet ... and with my success rate, that seems a little optimistic. Take all my herbs, for example: twice now I've sown seeds and still not much to show for it. And I didn't sow just 5 or 10 seeds ... 

I found seeds for Blueberries, seeds for Strawberries, seeds for Raspberries, seeds for Luffa (loofah), seeds for peanuts, seeds for chervil, seeds for lovage, seeds for cumin, seeds for lavender, seeds for capers ... I have never, ever seen seeds for most of these things anywhere! At best, I've seen seedlings or small plants sold at nurseries, but seeds? Never!

Where am I going to sow all of those, you ask? Yes, that is a very good question :) Very good question, indeed!

Well, here's what I've been thinking: until now, I've done what most people do - prepare beds and then decide which seeds to put where. But with this lot, I'm taking a different approach. Especially, since - together with my order, I also received a growing guide for every single packet of seeds I purchased! So, I have all the knowledge of how, where, when to sow which seeds where! Isn't that awesome?

I can look through those guides and pick a packet, then look around my garden for an ideal spot, clear that, make a little bed - it doesn't need to be large, not for 5-10 seeds - and place my seeds!

I've had a look under the trees, there are loads of patches where the grass has already strangled the succulents, so that I'll have space for beds speckled throughout the garden! I'll make more of the little beds, like I did for the basil, the shady ladies, etc.

I also still have quite a few pots available - especially since nothing seems to be growing in the ones I sowed 2 or 3 weekends ago. Sigh. See what I mean? They get morning sun and afternoon shade - which may be the problem.

So, yes, I do still have space. It is quite a large garden, after all! And I haven't been able to clear even half of it. Oh, I pulled out all the tall grass - but it's already growing again, especially with all the rain we're getting now.

At home, I took time out. I was too tired to do anything, so I just baked my loaf of bread, fried my steak and that was it. Crap, and I forgot to take something out for Wednesday night. Oh and I paid my rent, so that's done. And I'm broke, ha ha!

Well, I won't need to buy any seeds again for a long time now - and those plants which do grow, I'll hopefully never have to buy seeds for again. Ever! I'll be collecting seeds on some of the plants - like watermelon, zucchini, etc - and others, like the basil, can take care of their own propagation.

The power went out again some time during the night - it wakes me up, because some of the electronics cry when they are deprived of power. It also came on again some time during the night - which wakes me up, because all the alarms go off to let everyone know they are back in action.

And yet, I woke up early! Around five! So I had enough time to pack my lunch, have some coffee and get ready. 

Monday

It's always a good day, when I wake up early! Four mips looking at me expectantly ... sigh ... and I have to disappoint them! No outies today :(

At work, with less than half the workforce left, the rhythm now is: Monday morning delivery, thereafter nothing, except for the odd consumable booked out until Thursday afternoon, when they start booking in for next Monday's delivery; although most of it still comes late Friday afternoon and early Monday. So, I basically have three days to work on my systems ... or whatever I feel like.

When I first looked into online shopping, I came across something called 'air plants'. Now, I had never heard of them, yet, in hindsight, I had come across them - only, I didn't know what they were! Well, they were on 'special' last week, so I decided to give them a try. I told At about them and he replied 'Oh! I've got plenty of those! I'll bring you some on Monday!' Which he did! He brought me about six or seven of them, including one in full bloom, to show me the type of flower it makes. It looks like a mini Orchid! Absolutely beautiful in a luscious deep red colour!

When I got home with them, I also told Leon - and he pointed out plenty of his own air plants growing everywhere in the trees on his side! Sheez, I almost feel ignorant now! Only almost, though - he he he. Anyway, I've placed the ones At brought me in the trees, carefully choosing locations where I won't mind them hanging down, blocking my view. Most of them went into the tree by the bench. I just tied them with the green gardening wire and sprayed them with water.

Of course, the first thing I did, when I got home, was to water all my new seed beds! Yikes, it takes a long time to get everything watered, now! I was very grateful when Leon turned the sprinklers on and I could use the hose pipe, rather than carrying can after can of water from the house to each bed! I don't use water from the taps, which costs double the electricity - I only use rain water, or the sprinklers, which all can be connected to the hose pipe.

By the time I was finished, it was getting dark - so I just picked some basil leaves and counted my bulbs! I now have 18 or 19 bulbs coming up! Okay, so it's out of 34, which means only about half have come up ... so far! I'm not giving up on the rest, yet!

My two Zucchini are looking delicious, Leon said by Thursday they'll be lovely! The Nasturtiums are also doing well ... sigh ... maybe I should re-plant them? I've been thinking of keeping the Nasturtiums outside the bed, behind my veggie patch, rather than inside where they tend to so quickly overshadow everything else trying to grow!

Inside, I had way too much to catch up on! After treating my mippies, I first showered! Then I got busy in the kitchen, washing the dishes, washing the cheese cloth bag, re-packing and freezing the chicken hearts, preparing a loaf of bread to be baked tomorrow night ... by the time I was done it was nine o'clock! I really didn't feel like eating at that time anymore, so I just went to bed, watched an episode of SG-1 with mippies strolling past for cuddles.

It was past ten when I finally went to sleep and I feared that I would probably oversleep ... instead, I woke up early again! Lovely!

Thursday - Sunday

Okay, I got lots and lots to tell, so sit down, pour yourself your favourite drink and enjoy!

What I forgot to mention about Wednesday night is: since mippies couldn't go out to play, they made up for that by playing during the night! And, of course, I'm included in all their favourite activities ... so I woke up with one of those hook-claw beetles crawling onto my arm in an attempt to escape excited mippies!

The lack of sleep, of course, caught up with me Thursday afternoon ... I had difficulty staying awake, and, also a result: I didn't do much at home that evening!

On Friday I got a chance to go shopping. Since I didn't really need much, I decided to treat myself to some Sushi! Yummy! I LOVE Sushi! I decided to get only meat and no fruit and/or veggies so that I wouldn't have too much to process this weekend. I still have plenty of banana, strawberry and blueberry frozen, as well as papaya, spanspek, grapes, etc. I did, however, get myself a few energy boosters of the fruit variety. Special mix smoothies. They're expensive, but quite delicious! And then I also took a strawberry juice and an aloe juice - meant to be mixers for the frozen veggies which don't mix so well with milk.

I think those energy booster thingies work, because I was very busy Friday afternoon! When I got home, I offloaded everything, baked myself some bread rolls - ooh! They turned out absolutely divine! I used some fresh basil in the dough and wrapped it around some bacon and cheese cocktail sausages! The sausages were not as nice as their price indicated - I will make a plan to go to the German Butchery and get some sausages which deserve to be wrapped in my delicious bread!

And then I got busy in the garden! I started clearing the grass next to the bench ... and then it started to rain, driving me inside. That rain turned out to be almost torrential, with some added hail! My mippies were complaining that they couldn't go outside ... only Ziva was missing! Oh, gosh - last I saw of her was on her way out!? Poor girl must be caught outside somewhere in all that rain - and there is just no place that will be dry. Every flat surface had turned into either pool or river - it was coming down that hard!

Since there was nothing I could do outside, I started washing the dishes - and high time, too! With all those power outages, they had piled up quite a bit. By the time I was done, it had stopped raining and mippies could spend some more time outside. Ziva turned up dry as houses! Not even wet paws!?

I later discovered that Ziva is afraid of the thunder and lightning and hides under the sleeper couch. Nothing will coax her out from there, while the weather is making such noise! It rained hard again Saturday evening and that time I knew they were all inside - I went to look for Ziva and found her under the sleeper couch. I never knew she was frightened of thunder and lightning - but then, we don't get that in PE. Poor girl!

Anyway, I looked at the time - I use my phone for that - and saw a message. Rose had received her surprise! Finally! I was beginning to worry. Turns out, though, that she refused to accept the delivery as she hadn't ordered anything ... until they called her and told her it was a gift! I should have thought of that - I'm also wary of gift horses!

I called her and we had a lovely chat! I'm just sorry she didn't get the Peanut Cups, as they were still out of stock. I'm also told that there's just about nothing left of 'my' garden in PE ... ah, well. The path is totally overgrown, ditto the rockery - but what we did plant is in full bloom! Oh, and Rose now has a gooseberry bush in her garden! No idea how it started growing - must have been some bird crapping out seeds! That birdbath of hers is turning out to be quite fruitful! She's got cherry tomatoes growing happily and now gooseberry!

Sigh, in my case, putting up a bird bath would be pure cruelty - with Ziva, Tynx and Janey around ...

I had bought several packets of chicken hearts for my mippies and on Friday night, after their treat, I gave them more and more and more until they couldn't eat any more! They all loved it! And I enjoyed seeing my mippies so happy! Especially the little one - boy, she just eats and eats and eats!

I figured that, having filled their tummies so full of yummies that I would be able to eat my own dinner in peace! Ha Ha Ha! Would you believe that they ate about half my steak - after all those chicken hearts? I could hardly believe they had room for more! All four tummies were big and fat and looked like they could burst!

Mine was well filled as well, by the way.

Saturday I seemed to have huge amounts of energy again! As if last weekend I had to store up to receive it this weekend. I did the laundry, washed the floors and then spent most of the day in the garden. I'm clearing areas which are still overgrown - between the red flowering succulents, where I hadn't managed to get to last time it rained. The garden is coming along very nicely! I counted some 16 bulbs poking through and I even have a Zucchini growing!

I did, however, burn my back again. Sigh. It had just finished peeling and here I go again ... not a smart thing to do!

I did have a good laugh at Mewthos, though! He thought it would be a good idea to try and catch one of those noisy birds in the garden. I'm not sure what they are, I think Crowned Plover? Anyway, they shriek whenever danger approaches and they are NOT scared of any of my mippies! I've seen my mippies watch them, but never go after them ... until Mewthos! First I knew of it, he came running home at top speed pursued by two of those birds - running, not flying! And they were shrieking at the top of their voice!

Of course, once home, he started to nonchalantly wash himself! Cats are so dignified, it's just too funny when things go wrong, their pronounced nonchalance right afterwards! Rose and I have seen it quite a few times, like when Shadow tried to claw up a post and didn't quite make it to the top.

Some time during the night, the power went out again. Sigh! It came back some time later - I don't know the times, as I just surfaced from sleep without fully waking up.

Since all the chores had been done Saturday, I could start Sunday morning with gardening - all I still needed to do was bake a loaf for work and wash the dishes ... that could wait.

I had decided to sow my flower seeds into the bed - as it is. It is in the full sun and the only times I could safely work there is after five - if it doesn't rain. And I'm up to it. Since I'm only sowing flowers there, I decided not to be thorough. So I turned the soil again, mixed in some compost and then ...

First I sorted through all those seed packets. I sorted them by size, since I wanted the taller ones at the back, so I could see the shorter ones from my chair. And then I went through them again and took out all the semi-shade one's (as in, those who would be okay in semi-shade, though they prefer sun). I was still left with quite a heap needing full sun only ... so, I separated them some more and took out the tallest ones. I decided I would rather sow those next to the cosmos, where my bulbs are growing.

That left me with a manageable number of packets. Yeah, I know - what 'manage'? I don't manage, I just empty packets of seeds and hope! Ha ha! Well, I've been so neat and organised with my vegetables, I decided to go back to my old messy habit of a 'wonder garden' as Rose calls it, as in "I wonder what's growing here?" So, I emptied quite a few packets of seeds and then added a layer of potting soil.

That's mostly where I burned my back! Even though I took breaks, and went into the sun as little as possible ... 

Which got me to wondering whether they mean 'African Sun' when they say 'full sun' on the seed packets? Because I've watched plants wilt in a single day, which the packet - made in South Africa - claims will do best in full sun!

Anyway, I was already looking like a creature from the mud pool ... when the power went out! Yikes! No shower? Grrrr ....

Well, I carried on regardless. I sowed more flowers with the bulbs, then some more between the Cosmos and the Watermelons - I first turned that bed as well, cleaned out some big roots, added compost ...

Then I made another bed next to the Basil, were I sowed some pansies and lobelia - short plants, about 15 cm. I would be able to see them from my chair without them blocking my view of my watermelons!

I'm thinking carefully about each bed and flower where I should sow them so I can get the most pleasure from them! Oh, I love walking through my garden, but I do spend a lot of time sitting in my chair, watching mippies ... and looking around my garden. So, I don't want tall flowers blocking my view.

Lastly, I made a new patch next to the bench, where I sowed the seeds preferring semi-shade to shade.

Then I sat down and wrote down where I had sown what. I planted the last bulb and sowed every last packet of flowers! That garden had better be awash with colours in three months time!

Then I continued arranging my seed packets, grouping them as makes sense to me, re-sowing what doesn't seem to be making the effort - like celery, parsley, sage, oregano, chamomile ... only to discover that I have no more rosemary, thyme nor marjoram seeds! Gosh! See why I need to organise my seed packets?

Sigh and then ... as I'm sitting with my seed packets ... Ziva starts gagging! She threw up on my car roof! Lovely! Shame, she feels bad about it - they always do! They always feel ashamed after they've thrown up somewhere. That's why I clean it up quickly, so we can all forget about it.

I also took out some more Basil and added it to the bed - one of the plants didn't like it, I'm afraid. The only one, so far - all the others are doing very well! Now the peas, broad bean and mielie have room to grow in that pot!

My gooseberry seeds seem to be sprouting! Finally! I was beginning to wonder!

Around five my landlord tells me that they estimate the power outage to last till about eleven tonight ... Argh! I'm muddy, sweaty and really want a shower ... now I have to hang over the wash basin to splash the bits I can reach, again?

Sigh ... I washed my hands, my feet and part of my arms, and the water is black! I'll need another bucket full to wash the rest ... for now, though, wet wipes will have to do.

My mippies seem to be quite happy this weekend, getting such a lot of cuddles! I watched Mewthos and Tynx curled up side by side on the towel I had put by the front door - I must get another door mat one day; I just haven't seen one I like.

Some time later, I'm watching Ziva, Mewly and Janey curled up side by side on the sleeper couch! They are such darlings!

Well, with still no power and nothing else to do ... I'm back in the garden. Clearing ground, burning some more. It's quite a large plot of land for one old lady to clear! I'm not complaining, though - once the worst of it is done, it will be awesome! It's just hard work to get things going - but if it wasn't, it wouldn't be worth it, either!

I had a bit of a laugh at Ziva. She was nonchalantly strolling in the doggies garden, when doggie came running and barking! Shame, there were two doggies - and both wary of her claws, from experience! Still, she retreated into the tree and sat there for quite some time after the doggies had left.

I did mention that time when one of the dogs thought it would be fun to chase Mewthos? And Ziva got up and chased the doggie who ran, yelping, back home?

Fortunately the power came back on sometime before seven! What a relief! Okay, so it's too late for anything - but at least I can shower! What bliss!

I had to laugh at myself, though. I'm standing in the shower and look down ... to see my feet! I wear shoes in the garden, because of all the thorns. My feet are nice and tan - except the toes and a strip behind the toes! Those are almost glow-in-the-dark white!

Fortunately I had packed the meat into the freezer on Saturday, all I still need to freeze are the chicken hearts. And I had enough sausage rolls to take two to work as well - I also have two more for Tuesday. But I'll need to set a loaf to bake on Tuesday ... only, first I'll need to wash the dishes ... Sigh.

Okay, I hope you enjoyed my weekend as much as I did! Just don't ask me where I got all that energy from ... maybe the power went out and into me? Ha Ha!

Wednesday

Bit of an upset at work, when I heard that they want to take away my printer - so that I should go walk to the main office every time I print! I hope that's now sorted!

When I got to the milk farmer, I found the electricity was off ... again! Sigh. I hooted twice, but I guess he didn't hear me, which is a bit of an issue now, as I meant to give him the bottles for Thursday's milk stash. I guess I'll just have to buy plastic bottles. It's my own fault, I should have done that last night.

At home, of course, mippies were quite unhappy as it was raining! And raining! And raining! They did a bit of dashing outside, but mostly they sat by the table complaining.

My bread hadn't baked, of course. Apparently the power went out sometime around two? But the dough seems to have formed and risen, so I shaped it and put it on a tray, let it rise again and then baked it in the oven. Frankly, I don't see nor taste a problem. Lucky me! My batch of cheese was not affected by the power failure and I took it out of the bag into a dish and into the fridge. I didn't mix any spices into it this time - I'll do that later.

My mega cat food delivery arrived and I had some fun unpacking - with four excited mips inspecting every move I made!

Since we had no indication what the problem was, nor when we could expect power to come back on, I washed over the basin again - I had worked quite hard and with the rain, I really could have done with a hot shower, but at least I managed to wash off the worst so I felt less sticky.

I went to bed early - having shared my dinner with my mippies, who loved my rump steak! The little one makes me laugh, though. She'll sit on the Ottoman and put her paw on my knee with a look reminiscent of Oliver Twist asking "Please, Sir, may I have some more?" I did treat them with a tin tonight, seeing as they couldn't go out to play. Still, Ziva and Mewthos kept coming back for more pieces of rump! I ended up getting just over half the steak! It's my choice - they do take 'no' for an answer and understand that 'enough' means I have to eat, too.

Argh! Speaking of dinner: I forgot to take something out for tonight! Sigh. I'll think of something ...

Monday & Tuesday

As usual, during the week there isn't much to tell. Tuesday morning I woke around four and rather than turn over, I decided to get up. Which gave mippies extra time to nag for treats - and they got two!

I, on the other hand, got a ding on the head! Ha Ha! Tynx was playing with the wardrobe door, I bent down to tickle her tummy and as she rolled over in pleasure, her paws closed the door - and my head was in the way!

I unplugged everything Tuesday morning - only to find out that the power only went off late afternoon, and only for a short while. Sigh. Better safe than sorry, though! At least Leon was kind enough to re-plug my fridge as soon as the power came back on.

Last night I prepared another bread, which should be baked when I get home and I also made more cheese from two liters of the sour milk - leaving only one liter bottle of sour milk in the fridge.

My garden is doing rather nicely with all that rain! Last night I counted 15 bulbs poking out - or was it 16?

But really, other than that, there isn't much to say ...

Oh, I laughed at Mewthos Monday night! Lady Jane had climbed onto the shed and I was offering her my back to come down - however, she wanted to go into the shed, so I left her. Mewthos had been watching this and also wanted attention, so he walked up the tree and stood there looking at me all hopeful! Ha Ha! I obliged and he happily walked onto my back, took the 'lift' down and strutted off in the knowledge that I love him just as much!

Weekend

Let me start Friday, end of shift.

I had planned to go get Compost and Soil, which - from past experience - I expected to take about an hour. And indeed, going there, loading, getting back to work does take an hour - however, I wasn't going back to work, but home. On the way there, I saw a sign for the on-ramp to the Highway I take from work - major shortcut! So, all in all, it 'cost' me only half an hour - and I was at the milk farmer by half past three already. (I had estimated one hour to get there and back, plus the usual half hour to get from work to home).

I got lucky there as well! He was there! And, not only did I get my 5 liter milk (3 per day for the weekend, plus 2 liter for cheese), but due to the power outage, some of his milk had gone sour and he gave me a 2 liter sour milk for free! A customer had rejected it, and he said since I buy such a lot of milk from him, I may have it free! Awesome!

Okay, now in a normal store, milk that has gone sour is not something any sane person would pay for. But: a) this isn't a normal store and b) I get even better cheese from sour milk than I do from fresh milk! And since I'm not 'buying' it out of charity, but as a product - I see no reason why I shouldn't pay?

When I got home, I let mippies out and offloaded the car - Uff! What a job! Especially the potting soil - those bags are quite heavy!

I took a walk through my garden ... sigh, all I see is work! The pleasure of seeing things grow is always tainted by the amount of work I see my garden still needs. Anyway, I moved some of the eggplant, as they were really bunched quite close together, as well as the carrots. That took quite some time, as I first had to extend the bed to make space. I also used the Potting soil to fill the 'Celery' pot - it had been dug into and nothing was sprouting - and then sowed more Celery seeds. Last, I cleared a place for the Strelizia. I had placed it in the garden, but somewhat too close to the fence - now I've moved it a little further inside the garden. I hope it will forgive the double handling - I'm afraid its roots were damaged some more during this last move.

Saturday was not a good day for me. I was in a bad mood most of the day; I tried several re-starts - didn't work yesterday. I think what irritated me the most was having to spend half my weekend washing those danged floors! I started by re-arranging the broom closet, after I had washed all the dishes. It took me most of the day to sweep and wash all the floors - I take quite a few breaks when it is this hot, but still. All that moving furniture and putting it back does take a lot of time.

Late afternoon I got a bit of a fright - I feared Lady Jane might have seriously hurt herself! From the evidence I saw, I am guessing she was on top of the highest book shelf when she started hurling, and somehow she fell off. What scared me the most is that I had 2 kebab sticks stuck into a box (point down) and they had somehow got involved - what if one of them went into Lady Jane? I could find only the one - at first! And Lady Jane herself was not clean, either - she must have fallen into some of the ... urgh. And she was sitting strangely just outside, not moving, just panting. I was greatly relieved when I found the second kebab stick! Neither had any blood on them, so I'm not sure how they could have got involved, but at least they hadn't gone into Lady Jane! The were flat against the box, really, only in some freak accident could a cat have been injured - especially as the points were inside the box! Trust one of my mips to have a freak accident!

I'd washed my clothes, washed one of the duvets (sigh, it had a piddle puddle in the center!) and then the towels and bed covers. When the last load was drying (in the machine - it's the only time I use the machine's dryer) Leon came to complain that the machine is using water, setting the pump to go on and off and on and off - costing too much electricity and I must do something about that. Just what the heck am I supposed to do? I only do that once a month, so really, lets keep this reasonable, okay? I mean, I pay rent, electricity and I take my own waste away - except what can be recycled. Give me some credit, please!

To top my day, the cheese also didn't seem to be turning out right. Sigh. Instead of a layer of curd as usual, I had some lumps here and there, but nothing solid. So, I decided to try a different approach and I just emptied the whole pot through the cheesecloth bag, catching every bit of cheese, no matter how small!

I'm happy to say that worked out well in the end! It's really lovely and creamy! And plentiful! I've put it into a bowl this time - looks nicer than using the soup dish.

I'm not sure what I want to do today, though. I've washed the dishes again, finished the cheese, and the milk I got Friday is busy going sour - I'm considering trying to make 'cuttable' cheese. It's a different, more complex, process ... but I'm not really in the mood.

There's also a lot of work to do in the garden, but the sun is blazing ... although there is some shade under the trees.

I'm still not in top form and definitely not feeling overly energetic. I still need to bake a loaf of bread as well, so I set that going. This time, I'm trying a rye bread. I used the recipe for brown bread and used 2 cups white plus one cup rye flour. That turned out quite nice.

Leon tells me that they plan to switch off our electricity on Tuesday from 6:00 - 18:00, if all goes well. They plan to repair the local power station to avoid the constant outages, every time the flip a switch. He also recommended I unplug everything as they fear some power surges while they repair - I hope I remember that Tuesday morning! I'm already unplugging everything I won't need - mixer, bread machine, etc. Tuesday morning I must just unplug the PC and Fridge.

I think that the Many paws is playing with my energy and emotions. This month is another period-free but flush-filled month. I'm not taking the Menograine at the moment - I don't like taking chronic medication when I don't have a condition that requires chronic treatment. My 'condition' doesn't REQUIRE treatment, although it makes life easier for me.

Anyway, Sunday afternoon, I tried working on the lawn, getting more weeds and thorns out, but the ground had already dried and hardened too much. The roots all broke off, I couldn't get them out completely. So I moved to my new Basil patch. I cleared quite a lot of ground around it, so that I could see my Basil growing from my table - the grass was hiding it. I added more plants to the patch, clearing another pot, giving the Peas free reign over that pot. I still have two pots with Basil growing ...

I'm afraid the carrots and eggplants did not take well to their new location! They look dead to me - but I'm watering in hopes of revival. Plants are funny that way - sometimes they look like they've had it, and then, with water, suddenly they stand up and carry on as if nothing had happened!

One nice thing about walking through my garden at the moment is to see new sprouts every single time! I've got some maize poking through - I counted four on my last round! And the bulbs are also coming along, last count was ten! The Alyssum seem to have finally taken and are coming along nicely. I'm not so sure about my herbs, though. Oh, there's stuff growing in the pots, but it doesn't look anything like what I sowed! Where I sowed Rosemary it looks like two Vieruurtjies are growing! Nothing in that pot looks like it could be Rosemary! I'm not sure what's growing in they Thyme pot, but it also doesn't look like Thyme. Only the Sage is clearly identifiable. I'll see next weekend what happens and decide whether to re-sow.

And then I decided to make another little round bed near the Basil bed. I took some of those succulents Leon had planted along the path and placed them on the outside of the bed. Inside the bed I sowed Shady Ladies! Ha ha! Always enjoyed that name! It's basically a mix of flowers which do better in shade than full sun - and since that bed is under the Wag-n-bietjie tree, they only get morning sun. And, they are supposedly tall plants, so, once they've grown, I'll be able to see the flowers from my chair. The bed is right behind another Spekboom, one of the mushroom-shaped types, with the large leaves and lots of stems.

Since I wasn't up to finishing this blog last night, I can also add that I was finally successful in booking appointments for At and myself for drivers licence renewals! This time the submission went through and we each got booking confirmations - still waiting for the confirmation sms, though.

Who's who in my Zoo

The day started off normal ... at work I finished the counting job and then focused on a frustrating spreadsheet problem. That, however, tired me out even worse than the physical work - especially, as I keep going in circles.

In the afternoon, taking a break, I observed our HR Lady - whom I shall name Em (hard,  proud and short-sighted) receive a delivery. Nothing strange about that, only ... once she had received her parcel, she turned and walked away, back to her office! Uhm ... aren't you forgetting something? Fortunately I was outside for a break, so I could open the gate to let the delivery guy out!

When I had to go to the office later, I saw her busy decorating little Christmas trees! Sheez! It's N O V E M B E R! Not nice ones, either - white ones with a few coloured bells stuck here and there ... ugly, in my opinion! They are now all over the factory! Seriously! Someone explain to me again, why making a profit is not as important as spending money on such ... (I'm looking for a printable word here ... help me out!).

The only HR we have here is authoritative - loving disciplinary action; but what's missing is even the teeniest bit of 'Human Resource Development'! No training, no communication, no information - relevant or not ... just disciplinary. Oh, and silliness like happy-clappy birthday singing (which fortunately has fallen away now!) and Christmas trees in the factory!

Anyway.

On the way home, I stopped to get my weekend's stash of milk ... nobody there! Oh, and the alarm is silent, too - so: no electricity! Crap! On both counts!

At home, I dug up some thorns in the lawn, then chopped celery mixed that with pasta, tuna and sour cream for dinner. Oh, and some Brussel sprouts! Taking that to work as well - especially, as I wasn't up to eating any actual dinner.

As I type this, I realise that I didn't take anything out of the freezer for tonight! Crap!

The power didn't come back on. It was still off when I left for work this morning ... 

I'm thinking that I should maybe go get the compost and potting soil after work today - that will take about an hours, so I'd be home around four ... and hopefully catch the farmer, so I can maybe collect my milk?

I've been thinking about naming the characters in my blog, and I think I've come up with some apt names.

You already know Rose, my neighbour and friend in Port Elizabeth.

Today I introduced Em, our HR lady.

My landlord, I've decided to call Leon in this blog and his wife, my landlady, Ansje. I gave their names quite some thought - and these just feel right.

I've asked my colleague what I should name him, and we agreed on At. It's not his name, but it is the name he goes by - so, it's not as anonymous, but he's fine with that.

Well, I just hope I have electricity when I get home tonight ...

Wednesday

It rained again during the night - lovely! Slight problem, though, as my safety shoes are cracked, so I can't walk on wet ground with them. Not a big problem, though, as I put on my garden shoes to get to work. At work, I can stay indoors - no risk of getting wet feet!

Oh, and did I complain on Monday about having to receive a mere 165 kg? Well, today I'm working on those crates we received yesterday. So far, I've counted and packed about 300 kg, and still have about the same amount to go! Sigh, it's very cumbersome, though - take a small bin to the crate, bend over, scoop about 20 kg into the bin, carry that to the store, then count and pack. Not a job for a 50-something secretary!

Yes, of course there's an easier way. Do what they did in the past: just assume the quantity is correct, and just cart the whole crate into the store ... of course, the problem here is that we never checked whether we got what we paid for, plus, we have to do the whole counting & packing when we receive an order ... usually done in a rush and ... again, accuracy plays no part.

Anyway ... that's what I'm doing all day today at work. Fun, eh?

At home it had rained quite a bit, so I carried on in the garden. The ground is so saturated, I can get out some deep roots in the patch of grass in front! My landlord was somewhat upset - apparently some of the grass I dug up was planted and not the creeper stuff. Sigh. Live and learn! I'm afraid, though, that means I shouldn't continue farther along the fence, as the next patch is all that grass - which is growing nicely!

After the work today, I didn't have much energy left - I worked purely on willpower! I did nothing more, though - just turned that same patch over yet again, pulling out more grass creeper roots.

As I started making my dinner, Mewthos came to annoy me. I gave him a piece of butter to quiet him - only, it slipped out of my fingers and stuck to his fur! Right under his chin! It was so funny! He's trying to lick under his chin and Janey and Ziva came and licked under his chin! I had a really good laugh - or rather, a chuckle, as I don't want to hurt Mewly's feelings!

After dinner, I sat at the open door enjoying the rain ... only, it started to hail! Not good! All my little planties just poking through - they can't take this kind of pounding! Fortunately the hail wasn't too big and didn't last very long.

And now, I'm pretty sore all over, especially my lower back, from all that bending today. I'll be glad to get to bed now ...

Tuesday

I woke up in the middle of the night by the rain gently kissing my face! Lovely! I enjoyed it quite a while. When it got too much, I closed the curtains and moved out of reach. It rained quite hard and for quite a while! Lovely! Only ... I suppose seeds don't have anchors, do they? Grin, I suppose some seeds will have gotten washed away.

I noticed last night that the Celery pot had been dug into - and that wasn't mippies! I noticed that when I was watering, before mippies had been near! Ah, well. I really need to make a plan to get more soil & compost this week. I've used up all the soil and I have only one bag of compost left.

I was woken again, when Tynx picked up my hair brush and dropped it off the bed! No, she didn't push it off, she literally picked it up and dropped it! I quickly grabbed my phone and glasses! When the alarm went off, she became quite excited, wanting to claw her way to the phone! She's a strange one, but a really dear little darling! I suppose, since the others are not yet fully accepting her, she's bonding more with me than with them. Oh, there's hardly any hissing anymore, and she does keep trying to engage them - but I suppose they are a very tight family, having been together for over 2 years ... a newcomer has her work cut out for her! But she's persistent!

Oh, and I've really burned my lower back on Saturday! It's been quite tender, when I try to lie on my back, as I turn over. I showed my colleague at work and he went 'Oh my!' so, that tells me it's not just a little. Ah, well. I enjoyed my gardening!

At work I have a horrid task ahead. I'm sitting with approximately 8000 of a product to be counted and packed. And, their weight varies so greatly, I can't use the scale to bulk-count them. To add to the fun, production has tossed them all into large, unwieldy crates - so I have to scoop them, bent over the crate, into bins, which I then get to carry to the store. And, of course, I get asked 'how long until we can deliver? The client is waiting!' Not cool! Well, I packed enough to satisfy the client, so tomorrow I can do the other 7000 or so.

The more I see how management operates, the less surprised I am that we're not financially viable ... yet. The more I work on tightening the screws on control - the more I'm being bypassed ... doing things right takes longer, so that makes me 'difficult' and it's much faster to just bypass this tedious counting and verifying ... who cares whether we actually receive what we pay for? It's not important! Well, it's not worth the time it takes to know for sure.

Yes, I'm a little miffed.

Anyway, I'm home now. It seems to have rained here during the day - and not just a little! I took that opportunity to dig more thorns out of the ground. And then I turned over the new bed once again, getting a little deeper today as well.

Lady Jane went and climbed on top of the roof of the shed round the back, then mipped for me to provide my back as a means to get down! I happily obliged! These are the little things that mean such a lot to both of us!

Mewthos took a few running jumps at me as well. Not onto my back, but rubbing against my leg! He just loves that! That's one of the special moments with Mewthos!

It was seven, when I came inside. I started with a shower and then washed the dishes. Although it wasn't much, I wasn't in the mood to make dinner anymore - and I'm not too hungry, either.

Mippies are mipping for lovies, so I'd say I've got some cuddling to do ...

Monday

Traffic was absolute madness this morning! Only that bit by the toll gate near home, the Pyramid toll on the on-ramp. The 'problem' most people have there, is an absolutely extreme fear that on-coming traffic could 'cut in'! The on-ramp is on the right, so we need to cross the on-coming lane into on-ramp. And there tends to be a queue in the mornings, sometimes going quite a ways back over the bridge. Now, on-coming traffic can simply turn into the lane ... so people have this tendency to completely block the road, queuing across the on-coming lane! Which means that people coming around the corner suddenly find the road blocked! I have seen people drive up the off-ramp! As in, one-way traffic, one lane, all on-coming! They get impatient and just by-pass the toll altogether! Imagine taking that off-ramp and suddenly finding a car coming towards you! Honestly ...

This morning, there were some on-coming cars taking the on-ramp and they sort of all bunched together - naturally cutting into the queue. After all, what are they supposed to do? Drive past the on-ramp to the back of the queue and join the queue? Anyway, so I'm now waiting for that bunching up to clear, so I can take my turn. Right, my turn. I start to move - when the car behind the truck behind me decides to go past the truck, past me and join the queue on the on-ramp ... by blocking half the on-coming lane!

Of course, a car comes along ... has to slow down, and glares at me, because the corner of my car is in his lane (I was busy turning, when I saw the &^%$) while the &^%$ blocks the other half of the road! I reversed a few inches - the truck starts hooting - but the car can get past. &^%$ won't move, of course.

Next thing, the truck behind me goes past me into the 'e-tag only' lane and bullies his way into the queue a few cars in front of me! What complete *&^$#'s, right? Absolute madness! And all over a minute or two! Seriously!

Anyway, I put poor Tynx in a state this morning! She had gone and picked up my cellphone and put it on the floor behind the nightstand. Not just 'pushed it off', but picked it up - as it was on the bed with me, not on the night stand. So I had to do some yoga to get to it - at least I could find it, when the alarm was going! But my glasses? I couldn't find them at all! Of course, I need my glasses to find my glasses ... I looked under the nightstand, even got a broom and swept under the bed, but I just couldn't find the case! I was getting somewhat frustrated and vocalised my feelings ... poor Tynx seems to know exactly that it was her fault! She rolled a tinkle ball to me as a peace offering! Poor little mite - I didn't mean to frighten her! So I picked her up and cuddled her. I hope she understands that, okay, so I get cross sometimes - but I never stay cross, and apart from loud words, I never do anything to hurt my mippies! And I also don't stay upset very long, either. It did make me wonder, though, whether that might be how she ended up homeless? Well, no matter what any of my mippies do - I will never, ever, under any circumstances abandon any of them!

Speaking of which, I have a feeling that Mewthos' piddle phase is finally over! There have been no new puddles in a while. Sigh, I really, really hope that's over! Oh, and he twirlied again this weekend - something he hasn't done throughout the entire piddle phase!

See? If I don't get rid of Mewthos for piddling on my walls and furniture ... there really is nothing that would ever even lead me to consider parting ways! The only possibility would be, if something happened to me and I can't care for them anymore - in which case, I would find a home for them. But abandon any one of them? NEVER! May that day never come, though!

Oh, and I keep forgetting to mention, my poor Geranium did not survive the mippie piddles, I'm afraid. Mippies use that part of the garden as their toilet ... right by the cabbage plant, same as they did Rose's garden. The cabbage plant is doing well - but the Geranium died, I'm afraid.

On the other hand, the Pelargonium seems to have settled quite happily in its new home in the garden! It's producing lots and lots of new leaves!

This morning I checked the NaTIS website, to see if there were any openings for drivers licence renewal - and there were quite a few on 27-29 November. So, I booked us for the 27th. I'm not sure the booking went through, though - as I haven't received a confirmation sms? I'll see if I can check up on that somehow.

Oh, and Tynx also switched on the torch on my phone, so now the battery is really low! I think that may be why she picked it up and put it so far away?

At work, I started the day receiving raw materials. Urgh! They arrived Friday afternoon, and we don't have a 'receiving' area, so they just drop them on the floor outside the store. I had to unwrap them on the floor, pick them up and carry them into the store. A total of 165 kg! Not fun!

I wasn't up to re-arranging the store after that, I also didn't have much energy to start with, so I worked on some of my systems.

We booked our appointments today ... I'm not sure whether they went through, though? We're supposed to get sms confirmation. Sigh, this is more complex than I thought - and I'm just thinking: How are the elderly supposed to cope with all this electronic gadgetry? I mean, you don't need computer skills to drive a car and be a responsible road user ...

On the way home, I dropped off another 5 bottles, paid, and picked up a bottle of milk. I'm now paying the same price as 4 liters and get 5 liters! That's the difference between bottles he must purchase and bottles I provide. I think, I'll add a 2 liter Cola bottle into the mix for my cheese making. Grin, I really drink and use a lot of milk, now! I've always loved milk, it's always been my favourite drink! It has just become so exorbitantly expensive at stores that I have to budget. Milk shouldn't be a luxury!

At home, I just watered the seeds - I noticed that none of them needed much water, so the sprinklers had been on during the day. And then I sat outside ... getting munched on by an entire society of mosquitoes! Yikes!

I've recently taken to smearing some insect repellent on my feet and calves, which seems to help somewhat. But I don't like the smell of it, so I don't put it on my arms ... and that's where I got chowed last night! Unusual.

Mini was hiding indoors again, for some reason. I had to carry her to the front door and even then she mostly just lay stretched on the ground nearby. Only when her Sir Galahad came caterwauling did she finally go out and run around somewhat! Yeah, that ginger cat can not stay away. Can't call him Romeo, that name is already taken by a ginger cat. And since he is really not aggressive, but such a gentleman - as I observed Tynx romancing him when she was on heat - that Sir Galahad seems to fit.

Anyway, I didn't have much energy, so I just packed my lunch, fried dinner, ate ... and went to bed. Early.

Sunday

Again, I woke around half six only to turn over and wake again around seven. Sigh. Ah, well, I probably needed the rest. At least I had no nightmare visions last night!

The weather is absolutely perfect for gardening: overcast with a pleasant breeze! Unfortunately, I have some indoor stuff to do first.

When the cheese didn't seem to have settled properly after the 11 hours per recipe, I decided to leave it longer. An hour later, it seemed to have settled somewhat more and I decided to leave it overnight. This morning, I've got a healthy lot of cheese. It's in the cheesecloth, dripping away - again, I didn't squeeze out too much whey, as I prefer it somewhat wet.

I used the whey instead of water for my bread! I've prepared a wholewheat loaf and added some Marjoram and Thyme as well as some sunflower seeds. Should be interesting!

I've packed away the frozen strawberries, then cut the bananas and put them in the freezer. I've re-packed the meat and it's in the freezer as well.

Oh, and last night I tried out that 'Gardener's Hand Balm' - that works really well! Any cream or moisturiser I tried in the past still left my hands hard enough to use as a scratching tool, but this stuff? Truly softens all the hardness from working in the ground!

Right now Lady Jane is tripping on cuddles - I had better tend to her until she's had her fill, she, too, has quite an annoying mip when she demands attention!

Och, does she only want lovies today! I wonder what's gotten into her? She understands the word 'busy' - I use it often enough. So, when I'm busy, she curls up nearby and waits. When I'm done, she mips for attention. I've picked her up, I've scratched her ears, I've sung to her, I've sat with her in my arms in my arm chair ... and still she mips! Sigh. Here she is again!

I've washed the dishes - urgh! A colleague told me last week, how he enjoys washing the dishes, he feels it therapeutic, as he clears his mind of everything but the dishes for that time! All I could think as he told me that is "no wonder you have such a volatile temper, if your mind is forever time travelling? Never 'here and now', with your body; except while you're washing dishes?" No wonder his first reaction to any new thought is aggression! I've learned to introduce new thoughts to him only when I've braced myself for the onslaught ... then let him ramble without interruption ... then go away to give his brain time to catch up with what I actually said. Then wait until he's ready to discuss the matter in a decent manner. It's unprofessional and emotional - exactly what women are reputed to be! Ironic, eh?

Anyway, ... uh, here's Lady Jane again!

Okay, she got more cuddles. Maybe it's time I go outside into the garden! It's already eleven - fortunately the weather hasn't changed. First, however, I should start baking my loaf of bread.

Yeah, by the time I got to the garden, the clouds were beginning to break up. I tried using the towel again, sitting half cross legged, one leg foot flat and up ... until I noticed the inside of the other leg was the colour of ripe strawberries! The towel is also somewhat cumbersome ... so, I gave up.

Tynx made me laugh, though. She absolutely had to know what I was doing - and join in! I dig a hole, she fills the hole! Then she sat down and I wondered whether she was going to piddle right under my nose - fortunately she didn't. Next, she walked under my upright leg investigating the inside of my shorts!

I had started a thorough cleaning of the bed alongside the fence by my lawn, but, as the sun started baking me, I changed strategy. I used the big fork to loosen quite a stretch and then, whenever the sun wasn't too bad, I'd pull out just the big stuff. It looks like a lot got done - actually I just scratched the surface. Literally!

I pottered around the garden for most of the afternoon. When the sprinklers came on, I gave everything a thorough soaking again and pulled some more grass from various places. The grass is a real problem, it's got these long, tough roots going absolutely everywhere. And I don't want to end up with grass as tall as the fence again!

Anyway, mippies are inside and had their treat. I finished the cheese - it's quite bland without any flavouring! And somewhat crumbly this time. Well, I added avocado oil, funky ouma biltong salt and the spices which came with the kit. The bread looks good, I'll know how it tastes tomorrow.

I packed the frozen banana slices and then put the left over bread rolls into the freezer - each in it's own bag, so I can take them out one by one, if I choose.

When I was cooking my dinner - the second half of that massive steak - as I tried to turn it over, it slipped off the fork and went splat on the floor! I wish I had cleaned the floors, now! Ha Ha! Well, I put it back in the pan and ate it anyway. No cat hairs on it.

Well, that's about all for today. It's already half ten, so I had better get to sleep soon!

Bulb and seed day

I woke nice and early ... and turned over, ha ha! I got up just before seven, though. Mippies were darling quiet and let me sleep!

I wasn't feeling very energetic, so I played the 'take the body and the mind will follow' game. You know, when you behave as if you feel something positive - happy, energetic, relaxed, etc - and as you act it, you start to actually feel it. Well, it's not so much a game as a life skill? Is that the right word? Anyway, it works for me. But it does require effort - and I'm not always up to the effort.

Today, I was up to it. I hung up the laundry, got the cheese going, washed the dishes, made myself some milk shake ... smoothie, milk shake, it's all the same to me. I do use milk as a base, so ... whatever.

And then I got busy in the garden. I mixed in the compost and placed the bulbs - unbeknownst to me, Tynx dug up the bulbs and placed them next to the hole! Ha Ha Ha! I firmly placed them back where they belonged and explained to Tynx that this is gardening, not playing hide-and-seek! I didn't have space for all the bulbs, but most of them are in the ground. I'm hoping my landlord will put on the sprinklers tonight, so that everything can get a thorough watering!

I decided not to add any seeds to the beds where I planted the bulbs. Well, I did throw the Cosmos seeds, but nothing else. Let's first give the bulbs a chance to grow, see how much space they want and THEN I can add seeds!

I thinned out the Brussel  Sprouts somewhat - they were bunched too closely together. I hope they survive! The melons are doing awesome!

There is a meager looking Spekboom behind the parking bay. It has leaves, but isn't covered in thick green foliage, like the others. I also noticed that this type has a way of 'shedding' the tips of it's branches. Weird, I know! They sort of dry out and drop off! At first I thought it was a problem, but every branch drops it tips in winter! And now, in Spring, it is in bloom - white flowers! Not the usual pink ones, but white!

I did a lot of work today, I planted the Strelizia - and understood just why it didn't seem to be growing: the roots filled the entire pot! I sowed Celery into that pot. Then I took the carnations out and sowed Oregano in that pot. I made a little round bed in the garden, near the tomato pots, and planted many of the basil in that little bed. I'd like them to grow into a big, healthy bush! Oh, and I'd also like to free my pots! The basil has done so well - it grew in every pot I had moved it to. And now it's getting so big, I can't sow anything else in the pots. They still have two pots to themselves - let's first see how these ones do.

So, that freed up two more pots and I sowed Spinach in one and Gooseberries in the other!

I ended up spending quite a bit of time in the sun - my back feels quite hot and I'm told it is fiery red! I've also got a bit of a headache - I sure hope I didn't catch sun stroke! I did make a plan later, though. I put a wet towel over my back when I worked in the sun.

I've cut up the strawberries and put them in the freezer - I still have to do the bananas and the meat I bought yesterday. I've just looked in on the cheese - and it's a little disappointing, it only needs another hour, but it's all just thick liquid, not the thick layer I had last weekend. Possibly because this time I used fresh milk? Maybe add more buttermilk? I'll do some reading!

Oh, I also sowed some maize! In my veggie bed, where I had pulled out the Nasturtiums. I sprayed that entire bed with the soap-oil-water mixture to try and discourage the ants there - I hope it works! That ground is now so full of soap, you could wash your dishes in it!

I was able to get everything done, that I hoped for. Everything I hope to harvest is in the ground - now I just water, wait and see! My landlord put the sprinklers on tonight - even though clouds moved in and it looks like rain - and I was able to give everything a thorough soaking!

But the best part of my day? Having a chat with my nephew! It was his birthday yesterday and he replied to my message today and we had a lovely conversation!

After all that work today, I was really hungry. I fried myself the Texas Steak I had bought yesterday as a treat. That thing is so big, it filled my frying pan completely! That's my biggest frying pan! And you know what? I ate fully half of it! I must have been really hungry!

I remember, years ago, when I stayed near Hartebeespoort Dam, I also used to fry myself a Texas Steak every now and again - at that time, I was going on 100 kg, and I'd finish the whole steak in one meal! I used to fry it outside on my Skottel. Why not now? Well, I lent that Skottel to a friend ... ex friend now. Sigh. Anyway, I've got a lovely griddle cast iron frying pan now, which works just as well - also on gas. So, I don't feel the loss ...

And now I'm really tired. Hopefully I'll have a better night tonight. Last night, I fell asleep just fine ... and then had a really awful dream! I dreamed that a beautiful chocolate brown and white puppy was wandering across the highway ... the one outside Johannesburg, coming from the Free State. I stopped the car, got out and was just about to hold up my hands to stop oncoming traffic when the beautiful, sweet puppy got run over! That image shocked me awake and I couldn't go back to sleep. I have no clue where this came from or why I would dream such an awful thing ... I hope I never have such awful imagery again!

But for now ... sleep.