Lock-down Day 339

Early morning. I let mippies out for some peace and quiet, so I could add the finishing touches to my Gardening Journal and publish. Done.

I woke up with a headache, which is only getting worse - I can't seem to shake it. I've taken a Disprin - no change.

Bread dough is going, laundry is folded and packed away, litter boxes are cleaned, flower fountain is cleaned and re-filled, kibble dispenser is re-filled, tobacco leaves are drying ... headache still going strong. Sigh ...

I've put the tobacco leaves through the cutter, roasted the beef, baked bread, took a Disprin and an anti-histamine, slept about an hour ... headache still going strong.

Took a full migraine cocktail, another nap ... headache still gong strong.

I've cut the beef, cut my finger ... packed my lunch. Another cocktail ... it's half six, no time to nap - if I do, I'll wake up only tomorrow morning! With mippies running outside!?! I'd better hang in there till it's time for them to come in ...

Mini brought another lizard - strangely colourful one ... I hope it's not poisonous ...

This is the 'orange' Rose. It's opening today, and it's petals are yellow with red outline!
Mini is always under my feet

The beef roast is delicious!

Again, no sign of Smeagol - except for the empty bowl. I've re-filled it ...

I think the headache is a result of too much sun on my bonce yesterday.

Seven at night, mippies re in and treated. I managed to get done all that had to be done, only the dishes still to do ...I added another Disprin to my cocktail, now I'll just watch Inspector Morse a bit, then sleep ...

Lock-down Day 338

Fairly early morning. I let mippies out, and now they are pestering me to come out with them! I wanna, but I also don't wanna. I've got the laundry in the machine, maybe a stroll outside?

Okay, the lawn is wet. Dew, not rain - I checked and we had about 0.2 mm rainfall, no more! Now what? Mow the wet lawn or hope it'll dry? Weather forecasts ±10 % chance of rain the whole day, with higher chances after four ...

I'm feeling irritable today ... I feel like I have too much on my plate ... 

Refugee spider is doing well. I've named her Phoebe -
she used to live on the streets and now she's making friends!

Okay, about 'feeling' like I have too much on my plate: it's nonsense, of course! It's caused by the demanding nature of my mippies - I'm trying to plan my weekend schedule, and they interrupt my attempts to think with their demands for attention. Time to step back, relax, then work through my list one step at a time.

First, of course: what will I eat today? Solution: I'll steam potatoes with a chicken fillet. Tomorrow, I'll roast the beef - which should be enough for slicing on my bread next week.

Then, the 'must do's': laundry is already on the line, I'll bake bread tomorrow and do the dishes again. Other than that, I need to mow the lawn. So, let's do that! Let's see how it goes with the wet lawn ... 

Right. Half past eleven and the lawn is mowed. All of it! Well, except that one partition, which I still have to clear ...

As you can see, a lot of work to do!

By three, it starts to drizzle ... I can't tell whether it's just a quick spell or precursor to rain. Anyway, I'm hungry, so, let's call it a day!

This is the 'after' photo. Almost like a 'can you spot the difference' challenge, eh?
The only real difference visible from this angle, is the height of the grass/weeds
at the fence

This is the real work I did today. Starting to clear the jungle ...

I think that would go a lot faster with a Sickle! Maybe I should just wait until the one I ordered arrives?

No sign of Smeagol! Not a hair nor whisker all day! The food bowl was empty, though - so I just hope he's been around! I've re-filled it, of course.

The drizzle didn't turn to rain after all. Two hours later, thunder rumbled and it looked like rain again - mippies came in early. They had all gathered on the veranda, hoping I'd come for my evening smoke, after which they get their yummies! I obliged!

I connected my new phone to the PC, to try and upload the photos in one go ... but that's not going to work, either. Via PC, they don't 'shrink' - when I upload them from the phone, 8 Mb photos 'shrink' to less than 1 Mb. Well, it was worth a shot. Now I'll upload them one by one ... the hard way, ha ha!

But first, I want to see if I can maybe organise them into albums - separate the one's I want to upload from the others.

Once again, I was unable to finish my blog last night, courtesy of Mewthos!

On a positive note, I heard the Fish Eagles again, first time since they've started all this environmental re-arrangement! I was worried, so I'm glad to hear them again!

I did manage to upload all the photos to the Gardening Blog. I'll still need to label them and arrange them nicely ....

Lock-down Day 337

Very early morning, for a change!

I don't get a chance to properly write much in the evenings, as mippies mip, zoom, head-butt and just want, want, want ... Well, I'm away all day, so it's good they are not afraid to ask for attention, which they need! But it means that my closing entry tends to be a hasty scribble ...

Last night, I should still have mentioned that I had a close encounter of the clawy kind with Smeagol. He has the habit of rolling onto his side, and even though I stick to touching only his head and back - never his side or tummy - well, when he's lying down, accidents happen ... and he reacts. Not a bad scratch, though, but I make a show of pain to explain to him that scratching me - even slightly - hurts me. I don't have fur to protect me, like he does. He's learning ...

I see that my 'new' blog has already got 4 views! Must have been disappointing, seeing just a one-line test page? Well, I've created posts for relevant dates now, and either tonight or sometime this weekend, I'll add photos.

I've also 'prepared plum seeds' on Wednesday. Which means that I ate some plums, cleaned the pits and stored them in the fridge.

It's been raining here, quite hard, for about an hour, so I guess mowing the lawn wouldn't have been possible anyway. I'll know for sure, when I get home.

It was five on the dot when our driver finally arrived back! I was able to leave ten minutes later!

No rain at home - well, ± 0.2 mm ... can't really call that rain, can you? I COULD have mowed the lawn ... ah, well. I pulled some of the tall grass around the rose bushes, then it started to drizzle and Mewthos wanted his treat.

Inside, I tried to load some photos to the gardening blog, it's quite tedious, because I haven't figured out how to select multiple photos ... I'll carry on tomorrow.

I was not pleased to find that I had left the geyser on! That's a lot of electricity wasted! To make the best of it, I decided to wash the dishes - since I couldn't mow the lawn tonight, at least one chore is done. That also means I can go straight into the garden tomorrow morning - hopefully mow the lawn - plus, I will only need to put the geyser on again tomorrow night.

I've been drooling over the pork fillet wrapped in bacon all afternoon - I decided to treat myself with that for dinner tonight. It's now done and I'm about to dig in!

No sign of Smeagol tonight, and his bowl is still almost full ...

Mewthos and Ziva, cuddling on my chair ... two against one! How can I continue writing?

And Mini is pawing at the brush to tell me that I should brush her, please!

Janey was in the lounge ...but what can I do, eh? I made my dinner - absolutely delicious! I shared some of the bacon with mippies - but not the pork fillet! Ha Ha, I have to draw the line somewhere! They didn't mind, though.

And then I picked a really large tick off Mini ... it left a really large sore behind ... it feels as big as another tick! She won't let me touch it to see ... that's one problem with black cats: You can't SEE parasites on them. And I cuddle and brush and scratch Mini every day - she is always under my feet - yet, I didn't feel it until now.

Well, an episode of Inspector Mores, then sleep ...

Lock-down Day 336

Late morning, so I started the day by grabbing Mewthos for a cuddle! He's always handy - sitting on my bed, waiting for me to wake up, so he can mewl at me for breakfast. He's not so keen on being grabbed for cuddles, but apart from wriggling a bit  to get free, he endures it.

It was raining quite hard, and I'm somewhat nervous about Soutpan Road. It's really unpleasant being overtaken left and right, with no regard for MY life!

I had coffee and by the time I was ready to leave, it was only drizzling. Quite a bit of rainfall overnight, though - I'm guessing about 8mm? I'll see tonight.

I decided to do the shopping trip today, as it was dry - and I don't know what tomorrow brings. Could be raining cats and dogs all morning, and then there's the delivery to be prepared ... with them bringing in products last minute ...

Made a bit of an oopise: I read the Best-Before date on the juice wrong. It said 1st April ... and in my mind I translated that to Monday (which will be 1st March)! I only realised the mix-up on the way back to work ... silly me! At any rate, they only had one flavour ... well, four, but pineapple juice is not a favourite of mine, orange and cranberry are 'when needed' ... so I took one bottle Berry Mix.

They also still have the Whiskas cheaper than I can get it online, so ... stocking up! With everything going up very soon ... 

I saw two interesting items in their meat section: Beef Roll and Pork Armadillo. The former was quite cheap, the latter very expensive - but I decided to give it a try. I also got some Blackberries.

I'm trying to find out about delivery of fruit juice to Rosslyn, again. So far, they've never had the courtesy to reply ... not to my e-mail, nor to my comment on their Facebook advert. Now I received a curt 'please see below list of codes for Pretoria' ... FFS! I KNOW that! Why do you think I'm asking about Rosslyn? Because it's not on the list, you mindless twatwaddle! Aaargh!

Reply: We can deliver Tuesday. Okay! So I register, fill my cart, try to checkout ... "We don't deliver to your area!" Aaaargh! So I send them a screenshot of that ... 

Well, I've created the Gardening Blog: simplegardeningjournal.blogspot.com For now, the title is simply 'Gardening Journal' - I just want to start uploading the photos I've been taking, then add links to where I got which seeds, add photos of the seeds themselves, etc., etc. Just keeping track of new plants entering my life ... 

Oh, and I wanted to share this photo:

I'm pretty sure I've posted it here before, but it is now such a rare image! It's taken inside the Union Buildings, from the back stairs overlooking the center courtyard and then Pretoria. If you look between the two flagpoles on the right, that little square building on top of the hill, that's the Voortrekker Monument.

First thing Nelson Mandela did, when he became president is to fence off all access to the Union Building. Oh, we're still allowed in the garden - but not anywhere near the building itself! That's not only fenced off now, but guarded!

This popped up in my memory-feed on Facebook yesterday. A friend commented that she remembered us knocking on the doors, then running away! Ha ha! Quite possible! I don't remember that, myself, though ...

Back at home, we had about 5.8 mm rainfall - no more. Not even 6 mm! That's about as much as I saw this morning, so ... no rain during the day.

I took care of the shopping, the basic chores, then tended to Smeagol, who wanted his lovies. I must have touched a 'no-go' spot, because I got clawed at one point. Then I cleared some of the tall grass from around the rose bushes, and I see that the next bush also looks like it's going to bloom again! Lovely!

Back inside, Mini is smacking my mippies!?! First Ziva, then Janey ... I've had to give her a smack to stop that nonsense! Now Mewthos wants me to get out of 'his' chair ... I had better comply ...

Lock-down Day 335

Somewhat earlier than yesterday ... enjoyed coffee with cuddles from Ziva, who sat on the arm of my chair.

I see that Port Elizabeth has joined the secret society, by receiving a new name (to ensure that International visitors can't find it anymore): Gqeberha. First joke about it: "I tried to pronounce the new name, and my furniture started to levitate!"

Oh, great! Alcohol, tobacco and fuel prices have gone up! When fuel goes up, EVERYTHING goes up ... and next month they want to increase electricity? What more do they want from us? You cannot get blood from a stone ...

Back at home, we had less than 1 mm rainfall! About 1/10th of a mm, I'd say. First, a walk around my garden!

As I was leaving, this morning, I saw
three of my roses are flowering!

This white rose is still opening

As always, when I walk through the garden, mippies
are trailing after me. Janey is just leaving on the left,
Mewthos by my feet and Ziva is about to join him.

My brussels sprouts are sprouting!

No sign of Smeagol tonight. I filled his bowl, though - I gather he was here during the day. I didn't feel much like gardening, just pulled a couple of weeds and some creepers off the dead tree ... not much more ...

Back inside, did my chores, now mippies are driving me up the wall with demands for attention! Too much! Mini is bouncing off the walls in their playroom ... she goes nuts that way, morning and night! Some days while I'm sitting on the bed plaiting my hair, she comes zooming past at top speed, missing me by a hair's breadth!

Well, we should get rain over night - forecast 100% chance from one to three this morning! We'll see ...

Lock-down Day 334

Late start, Mew-larm had to work overtime to get me up! It was twenty to seven, when I finally got out of bed ...

I was shocked to learn that the young guy at the scrap dealers, we bring our off-cuts and shavings to, was dead! Cause of death: Under investigation! Apparently he was found in the swimming pool by his husband ... he was half my age!

Back at home, we had no rain whatsoever. At work there had been a cloudburst around three - just as we were leaving for the scrap dealers, but here? Not a drop!

I bullied myself into cooking lunch for the rest of the week. Just boiling pasta and veggies, cut some cheese into it ... not really what you would call 'cooking'; and yet, I had to really push myself to do that!

I had an extended cuddle session with Smeagol - he shows far more interest in attention from me, than in food! He's still very thin, much too thin for my liking ... he has such a big head! He should be filling out and get some meat on his frame! But he just loves me stroking his head and back, purrs up a storm! When I move away, he cries for more! Still rolls over my succulents ... he's started flattening another one - I quickly got a rock and placed it strategically. Still, it's so sad how much he just yearns for attention ... and I can't give him as much as he needs, because I don't want to cause any conflict with my mippies!

My Brussels Sprouts are sprouting! After only 2 days! Only the one's in the peat pellets, not the one's in the soil mixture, even though I enriched that with seedling fertilizer. I took photos of the sprouts! Will take at least one photo every day! Those will go on the gardening blog!

Anyway, I've showered, eaten, now mippies want me ...

Lock-down Day 333

Early morning, helped by mippies! It did rain sometime during the night - about a mm or so. Hopefully more rain during the day. 

Traffic was hectic, several bumper bashings along the way. As the queue was being overtaken left and right - on a single lane road - I'm just glad I got to work safe. It's frustrating to see so many drivers considering themselves 'above the crowd', risking MY life, as well as their passengers ... and for what? The illusion of 'getting there faster'! And you have to keep a space in front of you, in case they suddenly need to get 'back in line', as cars come in the oncoming lane. I'm very worried about driving that road in the dark, in winter.

Mippies went into hyper cuddle mode last night! At one point I had three of them snuggled up to me - in this heat? Not ideal! But, they're my mippies, and when they need cuddling, I give them cuddling! Although, sometimes, it gets just too much!

It's raining! And cooling down even more! I'll regret this in winter, but for now, I'm loving it!

Oh crap! Just tore my work pants! I was just pulling up the leg and it tore ... I've stapled it shut, for now. Not sure what I'll wear to work tomorrow!

Back at home we had 6mm rainfall! Nice!

I fed Smeagol, he was more keen on lovies, so I gave him ... then he ate.

I still don't know what to do about lunch ... I went into the garden. Cleared a bit in that last partition. Not much, but progress. 

I bathed, fried dinner, ate - sharing with mippies - but when I wanted to finish writing my blog, Mewthos had claimed my chair again. 

A friend's Facebook was cloned. I got a friend request,  accepted it, then got a message. Trying to start a conversation ... two teeny mistakes: first they wrote in Afrikaans (not the language that friend would ever talk to me, as she's German) and then they asked how my family is doing.

I reported it to Facebook and informed my friend. Not sure what the point is supposed to be - only thing I can think of is to ask for money. Which won't work. Not on any of her friends. 

Anyway, watching an episode of Inspector Morse, then bed ...

Lock-down Day 332

Good night, reasonably early morning.

I'm now obsessing over the gardening journal. Again! First obsession: address! I've been racking my brain for quite a while, now ... nothing really feels right.

And then Smeagol attacks Ziva! I'm running outside, out the back to the front where Smeagol has chased Ziva up one of the trees! Sorry, boy - YOU go! It takes a while to encourage Ziva to come down - my biggest worry, of course, that she might jump next door! Where the dogs would be far more dangerous to her, than Smeagol! But she comes down eventually. Follows me, while I look to see where all my mippies are ... no Mewthos! Sigh! He soon shows up, though - I think he was around the back.

I see the spider has been identified as a type of Golden Orb Spider. Relatively harmless, so she can stay.

Argh! Mippies caught another bird! Janey caught it, it got away, Ziva is pawing at it, Mini caught it ... I took it off Mini and put it in a box, but after having been caught and pawed at by three mips ... I fear it hasn't much chance! Mini was very upset at my wanting to take it away and growled angrily at me!

It's noon, and I haven't done jack! Feels like such a waste of a precious day at home! On the other hand, doing nothing is good for me. Breaks the 'must-be-productive' grip on my mind.

I had mail from the place, where I bought the tobacco leaf cutter, so I thought I should give it a whirl. I'm too lazy to wash any leaves, so I just took one out of the bag and ran it through the cutter. Perfect! Absolutely perfect! I rolled a cigarette with it - and it really does bridge the missing link in my process! Beautifully! No more glowing bits falling off, no trouble rolling it, no need to twist the ends ... just perfect! And, instead of spending a couple of hours cutting leaves, it's all done in a couple of minutes! I'm very happy! NOW I can get rolling again!

I spent almost the entire morning obsessing over my garden journal. I'm now going to stop - put it out of my mind, to carry on during the week. SimpleGardeningJournal isn't taken, so that's a possibility.

I checked on birdie earlier, and he was active enough to flutter out of the box. But clearly not well enough to fly ... I worried that he might have broken something, and I also saw some blood. I had a heck of a time trying to catch it again, inside my wardrobe! I left him in the box again ... and then Janey tried to investigate the box-that-scrabbles ... so I decided to move it to safety. I placed it in the laundry room, and as I was trying to cut some holes into the box, the bird flew out again. This time, it looked well recovered enough to release. I was able to open the back door (it was stuck when it was raining so much) and birdie flew out and away! I love happy endings!

I had been wondering whether I really was now part of the neighbourhood security WhatsApp group, as it has been completely silent. I am! Good to know.

Yeah, I'm feeling out of sorts again. I'd say it's the lack of doing anything productive getting getting to me. I don't like 'wasting' weekends. All week at work, I just want to be at home, doing things ... and then, when I am at home, not doing anything ... well ... it goes against the grain, doesn't it? In my defense, though, it is unpleasantly hot again! Though only 33 degrees ... did I say 'only'? Well, anything above 30 is unpleasantly hot.

Though I see it will cool down again tomorrow, clouds are moving in and there's a 53% chance of rain during the night, going over 60% chance tomorrow morning. I'm glad about that, as my poor flowers out back are wilting! Even though I put the sprinkler on for about an hour every day! The rest of the week is forecast below 30 degrees, and lots of chance of rain! Good!

Guess what I just found? My Gardening Journal! The one I had started late 2019, still in the old garden! Now, at least, I can jot down the things I want for the blog, and I can stop stressing / obsessing about starting it.

Well, I've done what I needed, well, most of it. I haven't got a clue about lunch after tomorrow,  yet. I'll have to think of something tomorrow.

Right now I've got to deal with Ziva, who can't seem to get enough attention. She got locked in the laundry room - the only way I can think is that she crept through the bathroom window. The door was closed,  since the bird left, long before they came for munchies. 

Mewthos is in my chair again, so I'm on the phone ... again. Even when I sat at the edge, he wouldn't budge. And when I lay on the bed, Ziva started nagging. And now,  Mewthos is nagging ... I give up

Lock-down Day 331

Mewthos is back to his normal self. A bit over the top, even - I had to give him a smack for standing on my face! Just plonked his paw on my cheek ... and now he's outside ... I don't know where.

I had some trouble with my router this morning, it didn't want to switch on. For a while, I feared that I might be without internet all weekend - happily, it eventually came on!

What's left of one of my desert roses, after Smeagol loved it to death!

S

Smeagol flattened one of my desert roses! Happily rolled back and forth over it, asking for lovies! Sigh ... I had better place one of the rocks nearby, to make rolling over it uncomfortable. No worries, though - the desert roses will grow again! Each leaf will probably start a new plant!

I was going to start mowing the back lawn, but it's still too wet. I got side-tracked weeding the succulent bed but then took out the mower and started the front lawn. It's not too high, as we had no rain this week.

Half past ten, the lawn is mowed - except for the little back lawn, but that's no trouble. Phew! What a job - especially the areas I've only cleared recently. They are covered, not with grass, but some hard, tough green stuff. You can't tell whether you've already mowed or not - no mower really cuts that stuff neatly. And my mower keeps getting stuck, when a thick tuft of that comes between the blade and mower.

I'm pretty much finished ... physically. The sun was a little more than I should have risked, I think. And I can't decide what I want to do with the rest of my day - laundry is hanging, so there's no 'must' left today.

I decided to take a nap. Feeling much better now, thank you! Then I decided to clean the veranda, so I could set up the table there ... look what I found:

Spiders galore on my veranda. This is the largest
of them all, though - and I'm not sure whether
to let him stay or evict.

Not sure whether to evict my lodger? I posted the picture in a group of nature conservationists - someone there is sure to be able to ID him.

34 degrees in the shade - it's like an oven outside! The veranda, the garden - step outside and it feels like you've just opened the oven door in your face! Clouds forecast for tomorrow, yet still high temperatures. Rain forecast during the week - so, I'm glad I mowed the lawn today!

I'm amusing myself by sowing some seeds. Taking the long route, this time. First, I make a holder for a bunch of peat pellets - out of mippie treat boxes. Then I water up the pellets until they've reached full height and last I add the seed. Slow going, but hopefully more successful than my haphazard sprinkling!

This time, I'm focused on herbs. Seeing how scarce they are in stores these days - and how pricey they've become ... well, I'd like to have the basics growing again. Pity I don't have any Sage, but I do have Rosemary and Oregano. I also placed three of the Cherry seeds.

Mini has caught a lizard. She's brought it into the bathroom and dug it into my pants! Now she's playing hide-and-seek with it.

No, don't look at the curtains! That's what mippies left me!
Look at the table, with the peat containers growing happy seeds!

Found my baby destroyed - I was trying to grow another,
looks like some bird got hungry. Mippies are definitely innocent!

Still using this beautiful pot!
One desert rose and a white spekboom.
White blooms, that is ...

Brussel Sprouts! Definitely want some to grow
and they do best in cold weather.

I will have to make some holders for those pots tomorrow. When I tried to water, one of them fell over.  They are meant to be placed in containers - I just didn't buy them. 

When I got ready to bath, I found Mini's lizard - still alive! Poor thing had spent the day hiding under my bath mat! I took it outside  ... it has gone off, now. 

Smeagol seems to have been around most of today ... there was some tension, but no fighting. When I came round back, he came out for lovies - but then he rolled over another of my succulents ... i discouraged that,  but couldn't give him lovies - he just wouldn't come anywhere else  ...

Mippies want me  ... Mewthos is in my chair, so I'm writing this on the phone. 

Lock-down Day 330

Mewthos isn't quite himself. Not last night and not this morning. Last night, he didn't even come to share my dinner - though, when I placed a piece in front of him, he ate it happily. He also still favours his right leg, often keeping the left off the ground - I have a feeling, he may have either run or jumped and aggravated it. Faking injury is not a cat trait - quite the contrary. Injury = vulnerability, and they are prey to more animals than they are predator to.

This morning he also wasn't his usual Mew-larm self. I'll see this afternoon, whether I need to worry, or whether he just feels bad to have given me so much fear! They all felt it, when I was frantically looking for him - and cats are sensitive, look at how upset they get, if they accidentally scratch me!

Either way, something did happen last night, I'm pretty sure. Though I have no clue what. He also had a lot of black jacks in his fur, even in his face! He is eating, though, and he is active - though just not his usual enthusiastic self. I'll keep an eye on him this afternoon and see. I'm not too worried, though.

I ... uhm ... well ... you see ... I kind of got a little carried away, online shopping. Gardening products. See, well, since I'm now almost done with that jungle lawn ... I'm ready for progress! And ... well ... I've held back for so long, I kind of have this need to make up for that time lost! I just so badly want new things to grow! Fast! Ha ha! And ... well ... there are so many things I would like ... and I left them all behind. Even today. I just shopped things I will really use.

It started out innocently enough, looking up how to measure humidity ... and then I saw that hygrometers are not really that expensive - although they don't have the capacity of keeping record. Data logging, it's called. I have only the thermometer I got decades ago, when I visited Hout Bay - and I'm wondering whether that's actually still correct. As I said, it doesn't seem to go below 30 ... though, on odd occasions, I've seen it drop to 28, 27. And I would like some means of comparing. And it would be nice to know whether it's just me (aka many paws) or whether it really is insufferably humid where I now live.

So, you see ... really innocent! I just popped it into the basket, to check out next time I place an order. And that's how it started. Next, I looked for a sickle - I had looked at various means to tackle jungle grass, and that's the one I settled on. Also not expensive, so ... into the basket.

And then I then found myself looking through all their gardening tools and things ... and they have some really useful items on really good specials, at the moment! Like, a Seedling Cloche at 60% discount! And, a Grow Arc at 58% discount! Both these are basically like little greenhouses ... means to grow herbs, even vegetables during the winter. I've looked at things like that for a long time, again and again, and they were always, always too expensive for me. So ... you can't really blame me, can you?

I also added a few small items, like rose fertilizer ... and then I saw a 4 in 1 soil meter! It measures moisture, acidity, light and temperature! The light and acidity is what hooked me ... 

I still have to check it out - giving myself more time to think, before I pay. But ... I'm pretty sure I'll take the lot!

I also added a weed guard. That's basically a sheet that lets water through, but no light. You can place it a little under ground, around plants that don't tolerate weeds. Some of the seeds I've got are for plants whose root system can't tolerate weeding - I've held them back, because I have no place for them - it'll take me several seasons before any place in my garden can be safe for them. But with a weed guard, I can go ahead! Oh, I could use newspaper ... but ... well, I don't get any here, so I have only the newspapers left from my move ...

I don't want to buy any 'guaranteed weed seed free' soil, either. I was considering filtering some soil, to use - run boiling water through it ... but a weed guard would solve that problem! I though of using the cat treat boxes, too ... but nothing really said 'this is it!' as much as this weed guard mat thing ...

Back at home, the sun is out, so I can't mow the lawn. Instead, I grab my stuff and weed the partition under the Jacaranda tree - the tree is shading the whole area! It's the only place in the shade. I've been mowing those weeds, just to keep them looking short, which - of course - just strengthens them. So, it was good to have the opportunity to pull out what would come out. Won't need to mow that area tomorrow.

When I was done, I looked for another area to tackle ... but nothing really attracted me.

Mewthos didn't move more than 5 meter from the house! He didn't go anywhere near the gate, not even cross the lawn! He stayed close to the house the whole afternoon!

Then Smeagol showed up, came strolling down the driveway going straight for his bowl ... I heard warning mewls and next thing a 2-cat-ball came tumbling through the carport! Literally, Mewthos and Smeagol interlocked so tight, they looked like one ball, rolling cat-over-cat across the carport onto the lawn, tufts of white fur flying through the air! I had to not just menacingly advance on them, but screech before they would separate!

I have no idea who started it - I think Mewthos attacked Smeagol. Having enjoyed good food all his life, he's bigger and stronger than Smeagol. Smeagol retreated to the dog hut ... until I called mippies inside, then he could finally go and eat!

As much as I'd love to give Smeagol a home - Mewthos has to come first. I can't have him fearing rejection from me ... I can only try to nudge them into getting along. But I can't admonish Mewthos for defending what's his. Whether he's defending his home or his human ...

I've paid my order - delivery due in a month! Yikes, that's a long wait! Not a problem, though.

I'm going to have to come up with a better way of watering my seeds out on the veranda. Directly from the hose pipe - no matter how small I set it - is too strong. The seedling flatten ... then die. I've brought my little watering can out front - now I'm filling the can from the hosepipe, then watering with the can. Maybe I should get one of those buckets standing in the partition outside my bedroom, I can keep that filled and just dip-fill my little watering can. I'm afraid, I've already lost 2 batches of seeds ... The Thyme and now the Morning Glory!

It's really sad, one day you see a pot green with sprouts, next day just soil ... no trace of the seedlings! I'm guessing the soil isn't good enough - doesn't retain water as much as seedlings need. Not to worry, though - I already have a plan! I did rush the sowing ... just filled all the pots with any ole soil ... 

I've taken the steel table out of the garage, I'll put that up on the veranda, put the drop sheet on top to protect it from water, and then I can place the peat seed thingamajigs on there.

Lock-down Day 329

Not feeling very well, no clue why. It may have something to do with lack of sleep ... I start watching an episode around eight, and they are 2-hour episodes, so ... silly me!

I've been thinking about the gardening blog, or rather journal, I want to start. I mean, it would be nice, say, in a decade, to look back and know exactly how each tree and plant in my garden started out, how it came to be, wouldn't you agree?

I wanted to first start with a written journal, but I can't find my notebook. It may still be packed somewhere - and I don't want to start anything with seeds now, without data. Yeah, data. I think I should keep some record, when I did what, weather conditions, rainfall, etc. so when I have a successful harvest, I can refer to that to write up a simple 'start-to-finish', or rather from seed to harvest guide. I can put the weather data into a graph, post that as a picture ... image ... and I can select the time-frame of each plant's seed-to-harvest cycle.

I have some vague idea of one day maybe selling seedlings - especially the unusual ones, like cherry trees - or maybe selling a simple, yet comprehensive 'how to' guide.

Okay, I've just searched through my posts and found the day, when I planted the avocado tree: 16th January.

Back at home, I took out the mower and worked the dog hut partition. As I thought: it's fairly quick and fairly easy. All done! Well, as much as it can be. It's not nice, but short. That's all I care about, for now - until I'm ready to go into detail.

The west neighbour's dogs were out, and at one point I saw Janey come through the gate at top speed! I didn't see Mewthos - which bothered me a little, but I heard nothing to give me reason to worry.

By twenty to seven, I had finished that partition - tried the last one, but there, I'm going to have to pull the crap out by hand, before I can get the mower working there. So, I gave up on that for tonight. Time for my victory cigarette ... no Mewthos!

I call, I search, no Mewthos. Did the dogs chase him far from home? There's no tree left, onto which he can escape from the dogs, now. I start searching outside, calling ... dogs barking, a baby crying ... I'm really upsetting the neighbourhood ... but now I'm getting frantic! No Mewthos! Not a mip, not a mewl, nothing. Ziva comes with me, though she doesn't go too far from the gate ... no Mewthos! I go back inside, walk around the house - maybe he's just outside the garden somewhere? Nothing! I check inside, behind the bed, in the wardrobe ... nothing. Outside again, and now I'm convinced that something must have happened! I'm looking for a bundle of fur ... it's getting dark, the ground is uneven ... I come back and walk around, outside my garden, all the way next to the carport ... nothing.

It's too dark ... I can't continue searching ... I wouldn't know where else to look, either ... with a heavy heart, I come home ... there's a cat stretched in the front door ... MEWTHOS! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?

Man, those were the worst 40 minutes in a long, long, loooong time! There was no car, I'd have heard if the dogs had caught him ... I've NEVER had to look for any mip, since we've moved here (well, Ziva, once - but that was due to Smeagol, and I hadn't reached the 'worry' stage, that time) ... I could not imagine any reason he would choose to stay away, I was so scared I had lost him ... 

He hobbled around with an exaggerated limp for a minute or two, looking all sorry and pitiful ... I hope he understands the worry and fear I went through! Ziva, Mini and Janey surely heard my voice getting more and more frantic! He's his normal, limp-free self now ... I don't know WHAT got into him, or why he didn't come home with everyone else! I just hope he never, never EVER does that again!

Well, time to go to bed and tend to the mippies who want lovies ... Ziva is quite insistent.

Lock-down Day 328

Overslept, because I stayed up too late. Funnily enough, I woke up at four - then slept till half seven. Mippies woke me up, carried on for quite a while until I got out of bed.

No sign of Smeagol last night. I did fill his bowl, though.

In the news today: Eishkom will raise their prices by a whopping 15%! Unbelievable! They should not be allowed to take more money from us, until they are able to keep up their end of the bargain! We're already paying for something for which nobody takes the least responsibility to deliver - if we have any losses resulting from their incompetence ... tough! We are NOT allowed to claim, sue or even speak up! Businesses must just deal with power outages - whatever cost or losses those incur: NOBODY is accountable! And those who are responsible, are exempt from all load shedding!

Add that to the increase in petrol prices, and you'll find that basic goods will soon be beyond the average household! I, already, can only afford butter, coffee and milk if it's on special. Real special, not the 'increase the price and call it a special' kind. Then add the on-going water restrictions - not just in Port Elizabeth, but here in Pretoria, as well - and people can't even grow food themselves, even if they have a garden! All options removed, we're herded like sheep into financial disaster ...

I'm very lucky to have borehole water at home, so the water restrictions don't apply to me. BUT: I am paying electricity to pump the water into the tank, and then again to our outlets.

To take my mind off this descent, I surfed through Wikipedia. Hm! I never knew that '99 Red balloons' only happened through Christiane F!

"In der Radioshow des bekannten Moderators Rodney Bingenheimer hatte sie eine Musikkassette mit dem Lied 99 Luftballons von Nena dabei. Als er das deutschsprachige Lied spielte, löste es eine hohe Nachfrage zahlreicher Hörer aus, woraufhin weitere Radiostationen anfingen, es ebenfalls zu spielen. So kam es in die amerikanischen Charts, bevor Nenas Plattenfirma Columbia Records überhaupt reagieren konnte.^[1]"

This part doesn't appear in the English translation of the article, though. Roughly, it translates to:

"She had a tape of '99 Luftballons' from Nena with her, when she was interviewed by Rodney Bingenheimer. (In Los Angeles). When he played the German song, listeners asked about it, resulting in further radio stations playing it. That's how it reached the American Charts, even before Nena's record company 'Columbia Records; could react."

Who is Christiane F? Well, every German knows her!

Anyway, that was interesting!

I saw a voice message via FaceBook Messenger from a school friend, but, of course, at work I couldn't listen to it, as my work PC doesn't have speakers. I just listened to it now, and it's an invitation to attend the funeral of the school friend, who just passed away. Considering that only 50 people may attend a funeral, that is actually quite an honour - and very unexpected, as I'm not really close to any friends from school. Well, not particularly. I'm in touch with one friend - we call each other every now and then, but everyone else just via FaceBook. No actual contact.

High School wasn't a happy time of life for me.

Anyway, better have someone who is known by his family be there to support them. Especially, as - I believe - his mother is still alive! No parent should ever have to loose a child - no matter at what age!

At home, or rather: outside my garden, I see they've leveled the ground today. There was a big hole, where they had pulled out the tree ... now it's flat ground.

No sign of Smeagol, but his bowl was empty. I re-filled it ... I'm pretty sure it's him eating that food.

I carried on in the dog hut partition, made good progress, but I think tomorrow night I'll give the mower a try. See how far that gets me.

Lock-down Day 327

Back at work ...

Smeagol showed up late last night. He came to my bedroom window to call me, so I shut mippies in the bedroom (they were not impressed!) and went to top up his food, treat him to a pouch of Whiskas and give him some lovies - which is what he really craved!

I see the Texas power outages have made the news ... not good! Actually, unbelievable is a more accurate description - USA is supposed to be a 1st world country, such 'lack of capacity' should not be happening! Not under any circumstances.

Anyway, I was - predictably - very busy at work, re-doing what was done on my behalf yesterday, following up on what was supposed to have been done, and then taking stock. Tomorrow, I'll have to investigate the discrepancies ... sigh ...

Back at home, I did my chores, then watered my veranda. When that was done, I fitted the hose to the sprinkler and put that one out back, so that my flower seedlings get their water. I watered the avocado tree, re-filled the bird bath - Smeagol drinks from that - and then carried on clearing the last mohawk of grass in the partition outside my bedroom. I'd have been quite happy to finish just that - but, when I was finished, I still had time. So, I started on the next partition.

The one with the compost heap is going to be the quickest to finish, because one quarter of that partition is the dog hut, and another quarter - the one next to the dog hut - is pure weeds, no grass whatsoever. Then the compost heap is taking up a lot of space by now, plus the tree also covers a lot of ground ... and, of course, I already mowed quite a lot in that partition! So, with what I managed tonight, I can comfortably say that 3/4 of that partition is done. If I can get the rest of it finished the next two evenings ... happiness!

Three mips came in without trouble - Mini decided to go for a stroll! And then tried the back door - after I had already closed it! Of course, I went to look for her! And carried her in! All mippies treated and happy, now!

Lock-down Day 326

I'm still not feeling well. Not the best of nights and I only woke after eight! Mippies have been trying to wake me for hours - Mini pulled my hair (she does that at times, pawing at my head, when I should be getting up), Ziva mipped insistently to wake me, Mewthos stood on my pillow, pulling my hair ...

My head feels stuffed with cotton. I feel drained - despite all that sleep. I'm wondering whether it isn't all those insect bites adding up ... that large bruise on my calf turned out to be a spider bite, and I got another couple on the same leg. I've also removed a couple of ticks, last one late last night. That's another reason to keep the grass short.

And then, I read on FaceBook, that a High School friend has passed away! We'd chatted during the hard lock-down, agreeing to meet up next time I go to the German butchery, as that's near his home. We never did, of course ... I haven't been to the German butchery since the lock-down started ...

Mippies aren't going out - the earth moving equipment is active, not too far away. I haven't seen Smeagol yesterday, but his bowl is empty, so he's been around to eat.

A friend from Texas is posting that they, too, are enjoying load shedding - they call it 'rolling blackouts'. In their case, they do 25 minute outages. Considering they currently experience temperatures going well below zero ... imagine being without heat?

It's now two in the afternoon and I'm not feeling any better.

Twenty past three, still no better.

Twenty to five, I've had a bath and the weather has turned quite cool. Nice breeze with a strong promise of rain. I'm still feeling drained. The worst part is, not knowing the cause. I mean, one day I'm on top of the world, happily working hard in my garden ... then, for no apparent reason, I feel listless, drained. Oh, the logical connection would be that I've overdone it Saturday - but then why was I feeling fine Sunday morning? Is it hormones, courtesy of many paws? Is it a sugar low? What?

It took me two days to finish the chores I normally do one morning! Poor mippies, I had no energy to clean their litter box last night. Well, everything is done now. The bread didn't turn out too well, it's a little hard. Not just crispy outside, but inside, too. Not having much luck with their so-called 'french bread'. Anyway, I've rested, taken it easy for two days without too much change - might as well go back to work.

I've made myself some fish fingers - I just felt like fish. I'm finally feeling a bit better. Could be the lemon juice over the fish fingers. Anyway, it's now almost six, mippies are in, I'm going to watch an episode of Inspector Morse - I finished watching Columbo, the entire series. And then I'll give this sleep thing a try ... should be okay tonight, as it's turned nicely cool this evening. I'm hoping for rain!

Lock-down Day 325

Sluggish start to the day. I only managed to get out of bed after seven - and that despite Mewthos batting me around the head with his tail for half an hour. Other cat owners may be used to that - I'm not.

When I finally got up, he promptly raced to his food bowl, demanding breakfast! I looked at the bowls - there were still left-overs from last night! No breakfast!

So Mini decides to catch her own! She's now running around with a bird in her gob, trying to find a place away from the other mippies, to safely eat it ... sigh ... och, no! Now she comes and brings it to bed? No way - OUT!

Oh, and I just remembered: I kept dreaming about bright green snakes this morning! Finding them everywhere ... what goes on in my head?

Well, it's now half nine and I haven't done anything, yet. Apart from digging a thorn out of my hand ... I better get busy ...

Started by hanging up the laundry - my right hand started to go numb. Tingly and numb, I kept dropping the pegs! I tried the back door, but with the rain, I think it's swelled shut. I had a hard time last weekend, too - I'm not going to risk it. Placed the hanger in the lounge, by the patio door.

I've sent a couple of Valentine's messages, took a photo of one of the roses in bloom, and as I was trying to get the right angle, Mewthos stuck his nose in the camera. Took a photo of that, too and sent both photos with 'happy valentine's from Mewthos'!

Bread dough is ready - I opted for french loaf today. Letting it rise in the proving basket now, then I'll spray it with water before baking and put a cup of water in the oven with it. Should turn it nice and crispy outside.

Other than that, I'm really lazy today ... I also have a headache, that I just can't shake. I've already tried a Disprin - no change. I guess I'll have to try the whole migraine cocktail - headache is just getting worse, feels like an oncoming migraine.

Sigh, and now the power goes off! No, this time it's not load shedding, I've checked. Fortunately I've finished cooking and the bread has finished baking ... only the dishes still need washing ... I can't say I mind the excuse to delay ...

I took a nap, power came back about an hour later ... I'm still feeling ... not my best. Maybe I should call in sick tomorrow?

Yeah, I think I'll do that ...

Lock-down Day 324

I got up around half seven. I'm absolutely determined to finish the main lawn today. I loaded the washing machine, played a bit online and went outside.

First, I mowed the back lawn. Yeah, it could have waited, but it looked ... well, not 100%! I like my back lawn to be as close to picture perfect as I can get! Then I put the sprinkler on, because my new flowers sure need it! Some were already wilting, so: water!

Now I'm busy with the green stuff. Predictably, I'm getting blisters on my hand, so I've taken out the grass shears. They're a little rusty, so I cleaned them a bit, I'll clean them properly later. For now, I'm cutting grass.

When the sun got too hot, I first cleared under the trees, then moved to the partition outside my bedroom. I cleared the pavement at the back, the corner, along the wall ...and now I've nearly completed that entire section! I'm just pulling out the crap and then run over the grassy parts with my mower. Looking good! I, on the other hand, am not looking so good ... 

Then, as I'm on the last stretch on one side, it starts to rain! First a drizzle - which I ignore - then it turned to rain, so I had to give up. I packed everything away - but I'm not willing to give up on the patch I'm working on now! It stops raining - the friggin' sun comes out! Now, it's actually too hot to work ... bugger than! Come rain or shine, I'm determined to finish this patch!

Done. Now there's just one more patch in that partition to do - looks a bit odd, but compared to how the whole partition looked this morning? I'm happy!

After the rain, it now is too sunny to carry on working on the main lawn ... seriously! Overcast, rain - now sunny! Oh, there are still clouds in the sky ... 

The rose beds were in the shade, so I first finished the one I had started, then cleared the next one, as well. It's almost done - but I'm totally done. The second blister on my thumb opened, so I don't want to carry on digging in the dirt.

I just took a walk around, and I've really achieved a lot! 

The partition outside my bedroom - before.

That same partition, now! Only one little mohawk left to cut down.

That's one of three partitions done. Well, not finished, but back to 'before'. Also not quite true, as the pavement was completely covered before I moved in - so ... 

The second rose bed cleared. Only 5 more to do ...

And that's my home! Carport (fits 2 cars) on the far right, behind it the braai, then the garage,
the lounge is behind the ponytail, then mippies' bedroom (if you zoom in, you can see the shredded curtains), and my bedroom on the far left.
And that big tree behind the house? That's the Jacaranda! I should take a photo from this point, when it's in bloom. Next year!

I'm not likely to continue gardening tomorrow. My hands are just too blistered and sore. Plus, they're forecasting rain for tomorrow. NOW it can come, I don't mind!

And here it is: around eight, it's starting to rain. Gentle rain ... let's see what tomorrow brings ...

Lock-down Day 323

I was just scrolling through Facebook and came across Zapiro's summary of the State of the Nation address last night:

Pretty much says it all.

I'm thinking of starting a gardening journal. Again, I know! The way I was doing it, didn't really work, I'm afraid. And I didn't keep it up. But with my new home and garden, I think it would be nice to keep track of what I planted when. Or which seeds I sowed when. I still like the idea of a hand-written journal. I could then either write a separate blog, where I can label the plants (for easy search), what I did when, what worked, what didn't, etc. Although, if I post my gardening details on a separate blog ... this blog will be pretty empty? Ha Ha!

Back at home, I started mowing! Not too hard a job, though - as the grass had grown quite a bit - it took twice as many trips to the compost heap to empty the bag. And then I tried tackling that last jungle corner ... yikes, it's gotten too long again! This is going to be back breaking ... half is just going to lay flat, rather than be cut and the other half is just too tough ... I'll be done in for the whole weekend! So ... Plan B!

Yeah, I went and got my stool, my bin and my garden scissors! Don't laugh! It worked! Better than the mower! And best of all: I don't feel like I just want to drop dead!

That's that last bit of tall grass - before I started tackling it. Yet, after I mowed around it.

So you see, it's not really such a large area. If you look closely, you can see the round beds everywhere - there are patches of brown. Small patches, one at the end of the row and another next to it. No patch of brown to identify the ponytail bed, though.

And all that tall grass you see at the back, those are also beds! I still need to weed them. Roses are in those beds - one rose per bed.

And that's about half the job done. Yeah, it looks dead and dry, I know
The entire area which had first been tackled with that lawn mower
(not me) looks like that. The area I worked first, looks more alive.

Here you can see the two rose bush beds more clearly, right at the top. I finished clearing all the way to the right rose bed. The entire row. Tomorrow, I just need to clear behind the ponytail. And from then on, I only have to mow that lawn! Well ... there are some tough reeds in there, I won't be able to mow those - I'm going to have to pull them out as soon as I can. First, though, I want to weed ALL the rose beds, the last ponytail bed and along the wall!

But before I start weeding, I want EVERYTHING mowable! I'm talking about the partitions - I've just about had it with this unkempt jungle - I want everything that falls under the heading of 'lawn' to be mowable!

Okay, so just what was I thinking when I let the 'lawn' get so completely out of hand, that - three months down the line - I'm still struggling to get it back under control?

This is a close-up of what large portions of the 'lawn' look like!
No grass, just weeds! 

This, too, looks like lawn, but it is a hard patch of stalks,
a weed - which gives any mower a hard time.
By the way, this is AFTER I mowed that patch! It doesn't get any better, I'm afraid.

See that light green stuff, that looks like a lovely type of grass? Yeah ... it's not!

See how far these paper thorns have spread?

Having seen these ... let me say that, if I had some magic juice that would instantly dissolve ALL weeds - grass-like weeds included, I'd have almost no lawn left! Just a large, brown patch! And THAT is what I was thinking: I thought that clearing the weeds first would save me a lot of mowing! Which is true ... only ... it's just too much! It still needs to be done - but not first. This garden is simply too large ... way, way more work than I thought possible!

Not a problem, though - I love doing it! I just wish I hadn't tried to be clever. If I had just kept mowing, I could have made much more progress by now! Very, very hard lesson learned!

Well, it's late and I'm actually not very tired  ... which is unusual after so much gardening. Still,  I'm going to try sleep soon... Mewthos is in my chair, so I'm on my phone now.