Lock-down Day 582

I finally caught up on some of my sleep, feeling much better today, thank you!

With my focus this week being on that obstacle, I have a bit of a backlog - better work on clearing that, today.

I've been thinking of using my Monday to make the effort to go to Makro. It's time to stock up for the year-end, so that I don't have to waste my precious holiday time shopping. Plus, of course, when I'm not going to work, I can't receive deliveries. I'm especially thinking of the Whiskas. It is much, much cheaper at Makro than I can get it online, so, that alone would make it worth the trip.

Slight snag: Monday is now a Public Holiday! Local Elections are held on Monday, and I've just checked on the official site, it's been pronounced a public holiday. So ... Cancel shopping plans! Or rather, postpone them to next week.

No worries!

I also stumbled across an article regarding grocery prices, and it's shocking! Especially the produce prices! Potatoes went up by 41% - and that is ONLY in the past month! Compared to last year, they've gone up 46%! And potatoes are a staple, not a luxury food! Makes me even more grateful for this massive, big garden - and I've got potatoes growing everywhere! Previous tenants planted potatoes in the bed, where I'm growing Spinach & Carrots. I've left those areas alone, and there are potato plants growing beautifully! Plus, I have more growing under the car port, in special 'potato growing bags' - just with a flap at the bottom, where you're supposed to be able to harvest. I'll see how that works. Tomatoes have also gone up, by 22% from last year - I better focus on those plants, as well!

No wonder we're becoming a growing nation of Cabbage Bandits! Ha ha! Or should I say 'pavement gardener's? Well, the problem with this whole scenario is, of course, that our farmers, who feed the nation, are loosing out! They are not the one's putting up outrageous prices - that's purely the distributers! Who 'profit' from the bad harvest, caused by weather conditions, as well as the on-going crisis of farm murders! And if more of us start growing our own vegetables, farmers will suffer even more, as the demand drops! Distributers always win - they either take more money from consumers (if demand is high) or pay the farmer less (if demand is low)!

Regarding load shedding - I wish that there would be some reliable site to check which stages are scheduled over what period! Eishkom only tell you what stage we're in right now. They don't give any information what their plan is, i.e. from when until when they plan what stage. We have to rely on news - who get it from Eishkom ... 

If I read this right, and there are no sudden changes, I should have no more load shedding. If it really ends 05:00 tomorrow morning, we shouldn't go off at 06:00. I guess I'll know at 06:00 tomorrow morning ... 

Back at home: mowing the lawn! Phew! What a job! And it isn't even a FULL job, yet! The grass still isn't at it's strongest ... I don't know how I'm going to cope when it is! The partitions are the worst ...

Anyway, I got it done. I chose not to mow the partition under the Jacaranda tree - when I finished mowing, I moved in on that section with my weeding tools. Might as well pull as many weeds as I can. If I run out of time, or loose interest, I can always mow the rest and have another go at it next weekend.

Apart from the mowing, I'm now down to just weeding. Easy jobs, not hard labour. I'm just thinking, if that mowing gets worse, I'll have to split the job - do certain parts Friday afternoon and the rest Saturday or Sunday morning ... 

Mewthos had a run-in with Smeagol. No serious injury, I'm happy to say. He lost some fur, but not even a bald spot ... at least, none that I found. Yet. You never can tell, with Mewthos!

In the news, load shedding will end earlier than scheduled! It's over. For now ... at least I don't need to worry about tomorrow morning's coffee. Well, I've got everything ready anyway, just in case.

Oh gosh, I'm just realising, that I haven't had any dinner? Well, I'm not actually hungry. I'd better make some plan for breakfast tomorrow morning, though!

For tonight, I've got mippies queueing for attention ... time to relax, and cuddle ...