Lock-down Day 590

Well, did I say 'sit on the veranda to relax' last night? That didn't work out very well!

I had barely sat down, and was watching Ziva and Mewthos contribute to my garden - Ziva, discreetly, against the far wall (in my rose bed!), but Mewthos? Smack in the center of the garden! - when it suddenly became freakishly windy!

Suddenly I heard a creak ... and watched that big tree topple over, bounce of the carport and come to rest in front of it!

Taken from the gate. You can see my drive-way is blocked - but it doesn't show that there
are two trees. And broken off branches flung everywhere!

I saw three streaks of cat flashing through the door - they were under the bed before the tree had even come to rest!

At the same time, the wind was blowing my lounge around, so I went inside to close the back door - fortunately, I had already locked everywhere else.

From a bit closer, you can see the second tree - and mippies already exploring their new
climbing toy! And a crow perched on the highest branch!

When I went back outside, to look at the damage, I realised that BOTH trees had toppled at the same time!

Most of my plants are okay. I'll have to clean up today to see
what's damaged. But you can see the second tree now!

I'm not sure how much damage there is to the roof, but there are
broken tiles on the ground.

The second tree had fallen onto the garage roof, breaking a couple of tiles. I opened the garage door to see if it had come through - it hadn't. Only a few broken tiles, from what I can make out this morning.

Next, I checked on my mippies! I knew Ziva and Mewthos were okay - I had been watching them at the time, and saw them sprint inside. Out of the corner of my eye, I had seen another mip - I thought it was Janey - dash inside, at top speed. But where was Mini? I remember she was somewhere in the driveway ...

So, I closed up, locked up and pulled out the treats! Mewthos and Mini came to eat eagerly! Ziva showed up, but was still a bit freaked out and returned to the safety of my bedroom. But where was Janey? Well, I had to make sure - I eventually found her cowering under my bed!

With only Mewthos and Mini munching, I gave them only one pouch!

There had been some flickering of lights before six, and with this sudden storm, I feared that we'd have another power outage! Turns out, I was right! But at least the power came back on before ten last night!

This morning, I woke up in another puddle! Seriously? What is WRONG with which one of my mippies? Sigh ... I'll have to wash everything this weekend - sheets, mattress, floors ... not what I had planned!

First thing, I went outside and took the photo's above. I sent them to my landlord - he replied they would come and clean up on Monday! Awesome!

Mewthos was being an absolute nuisance, then, when I went round the back to look at the damage from the other side ... I find him taking full advantage of his first chance to get onto the roof!

With his leg, he normally stays away from heights, unless he can either stroll down, or I'm nearby for him to use my back as an elevator!

Well, I've inspected the damage a little closer: one flower pot smashed to pieces, one cracked - but all plants seem to be fine! I just need to lift that piece of trunk off my Thyme and Lemon Balm! I fear the worst damage to my plants will come from the 'cleaning up' on Monday. Ah, well ... 

My laundry is washed, now to hang it up ... fun fact: I don't have enough pegs to hang up everything! I have enough for my normal weekly load, but not for all the extras I bought this week!

I've just advertised the wood in our neighbourhood WhatsApp group! Ha Ha! Well, what else can I do? If it's all removed on Monday? Might as well offer ...

Now I'm in a very, very bad mood, of course. Because I'm now cleaning the bedroom again. I do not want to see so much as a cat's whisker while I'm working here! I've got the duvet in the machine now ... again! I'll have to wash the mattress protector and one of the blankets ... plus, of course the base cover and the whole sheet and covers. Grrrr ...

At least the sun is out this morning, so everything should dry quickly.

I'm wondering whether I should maybe steam clean the base and mattress? But frankly, I don't have the energy - nor the inclination to steam in this heat!

Yup, it's hot again, today. It did rain last night, but today? Back to 33 Celsius in the shade!

Well, the bedroom floor will need more than just a wash one of these days. Not today, though. I'm on my third water bucket - and haven't even finished half the room!

Okay, I'm going to try something with the mattress and base today. Fortunately, I have a 3-day weekend, so I'm not under pressure. What I've done now: I mixed white vinegar with water and then added laundry detergent. It started fizzing! Sigh ... I've tried using a spray can - as they suggest everywhere, but the fizzing won't allow that to work. So, I've poured that into a cup, and I'm practically soaking the base and mattress material (with a cloth)! Better the smell of vinegar than cat pee, right?

Sigh ... Mewthos is driving me absolutely nuts! I'm scrubbing and washing and wiping and cleaning what he chose to contribute to my bed and mattress ... and he wants cuddles! Really? Not the right time! He really thinks that, while I'm knee-deep in his pee, I want to show him love?

At least I think there is finally some hope! That vinegar concoction seems to work! That base was practically black in Mewthos' favourite pee-spot - and, although no way near back to the original colour, it is definitely a LOT lighter!

Shame! Mew-Mew brought me a lizard! Just for me! He put it down right between my feet! Sigh ... Well, his piddling isn't out of malice, so I suppose he can't make the connection between the cleaning and my not wanting to cuddle him, now.

Okay, the vinegar concoction is working on the cleaning. What I should do next, is to sprinkle baking soda over everything, while it's still wet, and let it dry for 8-10 hours, then vacuum it up. Yeah, that's not an option. At least, not today. Oh, I'll sprinkle baking soda over everything ... but it's already past one, and I have only this one bed to sleep in! So ...

I've sprinkled Bicarbonate of Soda on the base, put the base cover on, followed by the not-yet-quite-dry mattress. I've soaked the mattress in more vinegar ...the protector is hanging outside to dry. With the protective layer, that's taking a long time ... even in the blazing noon sun! Well, I've decided not to wait until it is 100% dry.

It's now almost two and I'm knackered! Internet is not working ... it goes on and off, I can type, but half the time it doesn't update (aka save) what I'm typing ... and in a few hours we're due for load shedding again. And again during the night.

I am really not happy spending my entire day cleaning up after Mewthos! Yeah, I can't be sure, he's the culprit, but I have caught him with his tail up spraying my home on more than one occasion, yet never any of the ladies! You'd think having a cat sit atop you, emptying his bladder would wake you up in time to catch the culprit ... well, with 4 cats who ALL treat me like their personal cushion at one time or another ... if I had to wake up every time, I'd get even less sleep than I already do!

Washing machine has been going all day - first my weekly laundry, then the base cover and protector, now the sheet - which I first had to cold-wash, as there was some blood on it. Oh, neither mine, nor mippies! Mini's prey! 

I lost quite a bit of writing between here and what follows. 

I decided to shower early, which turned out to be a very lucky decision indeed! As I was drying myself, the power went off! Not load shedding! Even if they escalated to Stage 4 again!

Well, I put on my new comfy clothes ... now what? I brought in the bedding, made my bed ... then started to see if I could sharpen the lawnmower blades. They are completely blunt by now - still work, but ... well, sharp blades work better. I was making progress, the blades were getting an edge again ... when I heard my name called!

One of my neighbours, the one who used to stay next door and now moved to the other side, was at my gate. He came to take up my offer to help himself to wood! His whole family followed, as did another neighbour. We sat in my driveway, while the men sawed branches off the tree with a power saw. Petrol, of course.

They worked really hard, and went the extra mile to clear ever branch that blocked the driveway, so I could drive out, should I need to. They were even kind enough to cut some of the dead trunks on the other side!

Okay, so it is lovely fire wood and they loaded their van, but for me, it was a major help! I had tried  sawing them myself and they are just too hard for me. They want to come back tomorrow to cut more trunks - awesome if they do, but even if they don't - I'm already grateful for what they've done!

Mippies, of course, were very unhappy about all the people making so much noise! Ha ha! Even worse, a dog came into the yard and stayed the whole time! That was my new neighbours dog, he got out early this morning ...

Well, I watered while they loaded, despite the rain last night, a lot of my plants were looking droopy. Now it's raining, long and strong. More than last night.

I see on our WhatsApp group that a large section of the road past Onderstepoort is closed due to a major accident. Presumably an electrical pole was also hit. Well, at least they'll know WHERE to look. And I can only say how grateful I am not to have been involved in the accident. I've mentioned several times how recklessly some people drive on that road - overtaking regularly on a solid white line. Andy accident on that road is bound to be fatal. Bound to be head on.

At is still no better. He really needs to see a doctor! Trouble is, how? He has no transport ...

I'm now typing this in Samsung Notes, since I can't open my blog on the phone. It claims 'no network', yet I can WhatsApp and even Facebook on the phone. I just hope I'll be able to copy and paste! {I couldn't - I spent half an hour last night trying, no go! Now I'm copy typing}

Well, it's past eight, still no power. With my luck, it'll come on just in time for the next load shedding outage.

And now even WhatsApp is not working ... it's almost nine, so I might as well go to bed. There is hope that the power will come on before morning.

And there it is! Twenty to nine, power back! Almost six hours!