Lock-down Day 633

Still in pain. The pain waves are bad, the painless waves are wonderful! Great holiday I'm having, right? Ha Ha!

Mippies have been for cuddle sessions. Mewthos needed me to pick him up and hold him for a while, Ziva needed her cuddle cave, and Janey keeps walking and climbing all over me.

Smeagol has been for breakfast. He came for dinner last night, as well, yet his bowl was almost empty this morning. There's a flock of pigeons on the outside room's roof - I think they may be helping themselves. And, of course, they're driving mippies crazy, ha ha!

And then the power went off ... no clue why, it's not even raining! Well, I've reported it. Took less than five minutes 

Well, I've reported it. Took less than five minutes - a record!

Then I sent a message to my neighbour regarding the tortoise. Which was supposed to be here only for a couple of days. That was over a week ago and I haven't received one word! The tortoise is no problem, but the silence? That's rude!

He replied with an apology and explanation, as well as his plan. No worries. He asked how the tortoise is doing, so I put on shoes and went out to look for him, so I could send a photo. He got out! I searched the whole section. Twice! No tortoise! I eventually found him in the bed next to the gate, among the tall weeds! Mewthos showed me where he got out, so I put the bucket blocking his escape route, then brought him back to safety.

So, what am I going to do today? It rained during the night, and it's still overcast, so everything is soaking wet. Just traipsing around looking for the tortoise has soaked my shoes, and I'm  covered in mosquito bites. I can't mow. And weeding will be quite wet. Hmmm ...

For #@%$s sake! They allocated a technician from Centurion! That's far south, I'm far north of Pretoria! And I had specifically said that I'm NOT in Centurion! So, I called again, explained again ... and now I wait. And hope.

The trouble is, that I don't have an address. And with no municipal account, no clue what address they use. The nearest street is a dirt road, and there's a street with the same name in Centurion. Which is why I always make a point of saying that I'm NOT in Centurion.

I guess I had better keep my phone with me, in case another technician tries to call.

An hour later and nothing. I called again and was told an electrician had been assigned - I fear it's the Centurion one ... this is so frustrating! You get no information, no update, nothing - you're just a cog in the wheel, not human.

Anyway. I've cleared around the dog hut, which had been nagging me every time I sit on the veranda. I also cut some roses and noticed that I have some gooseberries growing! Nice!

It wasn't long before my phone rang again. Local electrician, asking for directions!  Yay! He arrived, and not even five minutes later, the power was back! He thinks it was probably the pigeons, too many birds on a wire, it sagged, touched the next wire: boom! Fuse blown! Just as my neighbour had guessed. Oh, and I asked the technician how to improve communication, he suggested I give the pole number when reporting - and that I contact our Ward Councillor! Apparently he's quite active! Sounds promising!

The pigeons are attracted to the seeds my landlord apparently scattered all over. Apparently he's trying to farm the land.

Well, as I was expecting the electrician, I decided to work out front. The tomato bed was in desperate need of attention. 

Look how many tomatoes I have! They desperately need some access to sun!
Plus, there are some squash growing - I have no clue which. Could be anything.
And then there are the two bell pepper plants - which also desperately needed access to sun!

This is the same be, just further left. Can you tell which is tomato & which is Basil? I can't!

There! Doesn't that look MUCH better? And look, another bell pepper plant!

I mostly just cut off ALL lower leaves. Most of them were already wilting anyway, and this way, all the leaves now get access to sun - there were really far too many! There are far too many plants growing there, and they're too close together! I think next year, I should sow in little pots - or peat pellets - and plant them out, once they've taken, so they all have the space they deserve!