Lock-down Day 278

Good night, relatively early morning ... nobody showed up to mow the lawn, so I let mippies out. Made myself coffee, relaxed.

By half ten, I called to find out what's going on ... some issues, but I'm told he'll come as soon as he can. That'll have to do, as it's either I continue mowing myself or trust that it will be done. Apparently he's low on petrol, he asked whether I'm going to town anytime soon. Sorry, only Monday.

Yes, I have been contemplating going to Ninapark Superspar, but it IS a half hour's drive away, and if you know me at all, you'll know how much I dislike leaving home, unless I have to.

Mewthos kept mewling for some unknown reason. He's in the mippie playroom, and keeps calling me. Yes, tummy tickles is nice ... but that's clearly not what he wants. I eventually figured out that Ziva was 'hiding' in the closet and he just wants to join her! They are both in the closet, now!

As much as I enjoy gardening, I do have some indoor chores that I want done before the end of the holiday. At the moment, all indoor chores seem like millstones, keeping me from doing what I enjoy! Like a kid wanting to play, ha ha!

The first of those chores I really, really want done is to thoroughly deep clean the waste bin drawer! I took out the bag yesterday, and the place was crawling with maggots, again! Yeah, from the chicken meal. No matter what I do, I sprayed the bin with insect poison, I spray the whole area with it - I remember the same problem in East London. There, I found maggots UNDER the drawer, coming out of the floor! Even though I had sprayed the drawer, got a bin, a bin liner inside the bin ... just seemed like there was nothing I could do! And here, I can't get UNDER the drawer, so the best I can do, is steam clean the entire drawer and keep spraying poison inside. But I do hope, that will avoid the pong!

I've also re-instated my 'wash everything before it goes in the bin' efforts. I keep the sink filled with water, and when I have bags, pouches or sachets, I rinse them thoroughly before I bin them.

Step 1 is done: I've wiped off every last maggot corpse - everywhere. Then sprayed the whole contraption with a strong cleaner, which is now setting. I've wiped the bin, inside the drawer (which is somewhat awkward, as I can't get it out), under the drawer and ... well ... everywhere.

Why am I writing this in such detail? Well, if I have to suffer having to do this crappy job - I like to spread the suffering :D Nah, that's not it. It's simply, the more time I take writing, the longer my break ... 

It's still hot, it's still humid, so this is not a pleasure. There are clouds in the sky, but ... well, they're just floating around as a tease.

My rose bushes are now in full bloom: white, yellow, red and orange! It looks lovely from this distance! I guess I had better go and cut them soon ...

Got a call, the lawnmower is outside, if I could please take it into the yard, where it's safe. I get the impression, the mowing will still be done today.

I've completed Step 2: wiped everything clean. And I've assembled my steamer, so the next step is to steam clean everything. Steam = hot. So I'm not really keen on getting started. It's half past noon and going on 35 degrees.

Step 3, part 1 also complete. The bin itself is clean. You might think 'why put so much effort into cleaning a plastic bin? Just replace it!' only ... I tried that before. Well, not replacing an existing bin, but finding one. At my East London flat. I went through every household shop available, and then some! Only two options: highly overpriced one or ugly one. Since the bin won't be visible, I bought the ugly one - which cost less than a third of the overpriced one! I spent about a week going around looking at every place that might have something suitable! Much less effort to clean the bin!

It ponged quite a bit, as I'm lifting dirt that's been stuck to the bin for a long, long time! Next, I'll get to enjoy doing the same for the drawer! Only, that will take a lot longer and involve some elastic posturing to reach some of the worst places ...

Man, what a shit job! And I'm gathering this is the first time it has been done! I would guess, the normal 'going through the motions' method of cleaning has been applied here ... for many years!

Done! No yellow areas, no grease spots, no streaks ... it looks as good as new! But what a mission! Well, let's hope I won't have to do that again for a long time!

I was contemplating mowing the lawn out back. I went outside for a walk around, and felt some drips of water: rain! There was a bit of a shower, not much, though. Sigh ... I've got mippies inside, especially Mewthos! But it's not even five ... I think I need to let them out again.

Half a mm rainfall! That's it. No more. And temperatures dropped by a whole degree! Just one. Down to 34 Celsius!

Yes, I let mippies out again and went out myself. I worked a bit in the bed next to the grill, where I've placed the first of my succulents from pots. Weeds are showing up again, all around the succulents - because that's where I water. Cleaned those out again, then worked towards the other end. The ground is too hard, though, so I settled for pulling off the tallest weeds. I'll dig them out after it has actually rained.

Then I cleared the weeds from the grill along the fence toward the back, working around the corner up to the back of the outside room. I left the prickly ones, though. I'll pull them out another day, when I feel like putting on gloves.

I see a pack of dogs visiting, sniffing excitedly around my gate. I say a pack, but there are just three. Small dogs. Not wild, but somebody's dogs. I'm just a little concerned about Ziva. She usually goes outside around this time of day - as she always comes running through the gate, when I call her. Well, she's not supposed to be outside! As I've got ready to go out to 'rescue' her, if need be, she comes over the wall from my neighbours side. The outside, not inside their yard! Those dogs would make mince meat of her! I think, by now, they all know that ... though, I fear, Mewthos may not know it, yet. He's the only one who can't jump up to the wall.

Half past six, mippies are inside and treated. I've just fried my dinner ... left it a bit too long. That always reminds me of the joke song, about the best part of the steak being between the burnt and the raw side!

I see that, along with Level 3, we're also getting load shedding back! I have no clue which block I'm on, so I can't plan ... just have to wait and see. Sigh. Well, at least this version of Level 3 is not quite as bad as the one we had in June! Only thing I must remember - apart from wearing a mask in public - is, not to leave before six, as the curfew is in place until six every morning.

Shared dinner with Ziva ... Mewthos wasn't interested. No clue why - it's good sirloin! Not that I'm complaining: more for me!

Well, I'm boiling water for coffee, just in case.

Twenty to eight. I'm kind of tired ... not really sure, why. Yes, I worked, but again: not extremely hard. Ah, well ... play a bit, watch a bit, then bed ...