Lock-down Day 640

Despite everything, I struggled to go to sleep. One neighbour asked whether anyone knew WHY our power was off ... well, the storm, I guess? Power always goes out during storms - well, almost always.

I was sitting and thinking about that, I mean, imagine you're in the middle of cooking Christmas dinner when suddenly the power goes off? Seriously, think about it? We've got so used to it here, it's become 'normal'. There's a whole generation of South Africans who don't question the power going off without warning. Who don't remember a time, when the power ONLY went off, when something tripped a fuse in your house!

And then I remember what happened in Texas a few months ago. That's a first world country, right? I mean, USA is a first world country - I know Texas is a state in USA! The power went off in the middle of winter, it was days before they restored power ... people died! So, I guess, we're better off, in the sense that we're so used to it, we're prepared. Plus, of course, only the highest mountains get snow.

Well, this new CEO at Eishkom seems to be getting things back in shape. And with the DA having mayors in all the major cities, the municipalities will also start to get back in shape.

Another thing I contemplated last night was just how light it is outside at night! I mean, there was no power, no lights as far as I could see - yet the sky seemed to glow, and I could see quite well outside. I could even see the distant mountains out back! That's also not natural! Two memories confirming that:

1986. We went out to the plot my parents had bought. Camping. It was a new moon, so there was no moon light. We had chosen that, because the reason for this camping trip was to be able to see Halley's comet. The sky was clear, no clouds, yet, it was so dark, you could barely see your hand at the end of your outstretched arm! We kids played hide and seek in the dark! In those days, there was no electricity within 50 km - so no lights from houses, roads or anything. It was pitch black.

1996. Salt Rock. I drove to a lonely beach, to watch the sun set over the ocean. Daft, as I quickly realised - the coastline in Natal faces east! Ha Ha! Anyway, I parked on top of the Dune, then went down a staircase to the beach, sat down and ... well, learned that the sun doesn't set in the east! The dunes cut off all electrical lights - separating human settlements from the ocean. With the dune at your back, it is pitch black, as far as the eye can see! When you turn around, you can see the glow from the lights - like someone is shining a torch behind a wall. But the beach was so dark, it took me half an hour to find the staircase, so I could feel my way back to civilisation!

Just thinking ... since I was up till well past one, I did quite a lot of that!

I was about to fall asleep, I think it must have been around eleven, when Mini came and licked my face! She suddenly decided she must get cuddled. Now! So, I was wide awake again ... then struggled to go back to sleep ...

And yet, this morning, I woke up quite early! I got up around six! It's still overcast, and lovely and cool! Not cold, but not at all hot, either! I let mippies out ... well, I opened up, but mippies all parked atop their counter, insisting on breakfast! Led my Mewthos, of course! I obliged ... then made myself coffee ... looks like we had around 30 mm rainfall over night! It kept raining for hours on end, then stopped a while, then started again!

The power was back this morning! I got lucky, and remembered all the lights. Well, with the light switches, it's easy - up is on, down is off. But the bedroom is a little tricky, as I keep the fan on - and pull the chain, to turn the light off. So, I have to remember, whether the light was on or off, when the power went off. As I said, I had remembered correctly, so the power coming back didn't wake me up.

Good thing, too, as the torch on my cell phone somehow got turned on and drained the battery during the night! I can't charge that phone without electricity. What I mean, is, I can't charge it from either power bank - the charger cable can't be plugged into a USB port.

As I was saying to my sister last night, this year, the weather has been lovely! After the mild winter, I feared for an extremely hot summer - yet, temperatures have mostly stayed in the twenties, rarely even touching the thirties! Last year, temperatures rarely went below thirty! I didn't have my Hygrometer then, so I don't have any record, other than my blog - and I didn't mention temperatures much. It'll be interesting to compare this recorded year to next year's records! I must make a plan to capture the data in a spreadsheet, so I can put together a graphic representation.

That is going to go on my gardening blog ... which I've kind of stopped completely! For now ... I've been thinking that I should maybe first get more experience? Well, mostly, it's a matter of time - or lack of! I've got all the dates and some photo's to go with that ... 

Interesting news, by the way: The Kiwi have sprouted! Let's hold thumbs that I'll be growing Kiwi's here, one of these days!

I've also had a look at the peach tree, it looks good. If memory serves, then the peaches now on the tree are quite a bit larger than last year's abortion! Hold thumbs, that they survive!

Those are high up - higher than I could reach, even with the step ladder. Lower down, you'll find only one, maybe two peaches per bunch, not a whole cluster, like you see here. Yes, with my new ladder, I COULD reduce the load on that poor tree - but I just really haven't felt up to it.

Me and ladders are not really friends. Even with the little step ladder, when I'm on the second rung, with nothing to hold on to, I start swaying like a sailor in a gale! I have to keep one hand touching the handle, even if only with my finger tips ... weird, I know. As long as I'm surrounded, or have something to hold on to, I can manage heights. Not like them, but I can manage. When I must.

Well, today's forecast says, it'll be overcast all day, with more rain expected this afternoon. The UV Index going up from six now, to 8 of 10 around eleven, then drops to 6 of 10 by noon. Then climbs to 8 of 10 by one - with isolated storms, and some rain, before it drops again.

I have never, in my entire life, paid so much attention to the weather! Apart from complaining, when it's too hot or too cold - but otherwise? Weather is outside. My life was always inside. Mostly. Oh, I'd go out - quite a lot, at times. Like, when I lived in East London, when I went on so many hikes along Nahoon beach - but there, I paid more attention to the tides than the weather!

I remember, in 2015, when I lived in Pretoria North, I did a lot of photography from my balcony. Mostly clouds and the moon. Night sky. It just came up on my Facebook memories - the Christmas Moon album. At that time, I paid a lot of attention to the moon - when it would be full, particularly, so I could experiment photographing it. And when it would be new moon, so I could photograph the stars.

That year, we also had thunderstorms almost every night, and I did take some photos of the lightning. Yes, I managed to actually photograph lightning!

My blog only goes back to 2017 - when I started writing. I've now opened today's page for each year ... One day, when I have some time, and feel like it, I still want to transcribe my Holiday Journal from East London. April / May 2015. I explored and photographed just about every day, the historic sites, the beaches, driving up to Port Alfred, Bathurst, King Williams Town ... taking photo's of everything and anything. Then, back home, I'd look up the history, references, just anything interesting ... 

Back to the present! I think I've sprained my right index finger yesterday. It's tender and looks a bit swollen. How does one sprain a finger? By wrapping though, long grass around it, then pulling hard to get it out ... 

Hmmm ... I'm watching Rosemary & Thyme, the episode where they're working in a vineyard. The problem they face is weeds. And they solve that with steam! Which got me to thinking ... can I solve my overgrown pavements by simply steam cleaning? Apparently so! I've googled, and it seems that it really works! This is the only article I found on a quick search that isn't trying to sell a product (and therefore withholding all the interesting information). Apparently it takes about five days to really see the difference - but it then stays clear for the rest of the season! Well, I can't fill the gaps - although I have been thinking of trying to fill the cracks in the pavement under the carport, and the driveway.

Hmmm ... didn't I think of (& write about) this before? I seem to remember ... and this isn't the first time I'm watching this episode ... why haven't I tried it? Why am I mucking about with all those covers and crap?

Right, I'm giving that a try! Turns out, it's quite laborious - ideally, I should steam each individual weed for about 8-10 seconds. Much less laborious, than pulling each weed once a month, though! Plus, I don't scrape my fingers on the pavement all the time ...

I'm particularly interested in seeing how that works on the creeper! I have on growing at the house, under the kitchen window. Since it's growing under the house, and behind plumbing, there isn't a chance in hell to get anywhere near the bulb - and even less chance getting it out! I've steamed it for a good 15 seconds ... I'll be keeping my eye on that, in particular!

And even if it works only for one season, since I can't fill the cracks - it'll still be a win! And then, next year, when they try to re-emerge, I just steam them again! And again! Until they give up!

Pity I have only the little steam cleaner, though! Ha Ha, no, I'm not buying a bigger one! I have plenty of extension cords, and there are plugs all over, so I'll have no trouble reaching any place I need. And I've just thought of something else: you know that bed in front of my succulents? Where I'd been growing the spinach and carrots? Well, once I pull out the carrots, I could actually just steam that entire bed! Beats weeding it over and over and over again! And those weeds outside the fence? Ha Ha! I just aim the steam at them and clear them out!

Oh my! The possibilities are endless! It'll be a crap load of work - but if it really works? Wouldn't that be fantasmorgasmic? Just think of all those horror patches of grass! Which I can't mow! Yes, it's going to run up a massive electricity bill ... so, I'll have to see how long it lasts ... but still!

10:38 - Before

Close-up of the first three rows, which I focused on

12:03

Already a difference, just over an hour. Some of the weeds turned brown right away, under the steam, others showed no effect at first.

Cor blimey, I'm like a kid with a new toy! I've dug out my longest extension cord, and now I just want to steam everywhere!

I guess I should mention that I broke the bit to which one can fit all sorts of attachments - in a fit of temper, when I was cleaning the mattress! Now I can't fit any of the fancy attachments anymore, except for the floor cleaning one. I fretted over that for a while, but those attachments are actually not much use - it's the steam I use, none of the brushes and things.

Anyway, I think I'll do the driveway now! Or should I finish the pavement outside the kitchen, first? I've steamed a couple of those creeper bulbs between pavement - I'm really keen on seeing it work on those! That would be awesome!

Well, we've had 31 mm rain over night! And more to come soon ... so I'm steam cleaning until it starts raining. I can do the indoor tasks when it's raining. Specifically, I want to wash mippies fountain and one of the kibble dispensers, before I re-fill it.

My mind is spinning out of control! I'm just thinking of all the possibilities ... for example: every time I dig a new bed, I can steam clean - sort of - and kill any weed seeds, or roots left behind!

Well, I have about an hour before the rain ...

I'm being very thorough. I cover every inch, every hole and every crack. I stop at every weed, count to eight, before I move on. Some poor insect came to hide in one of the holes - so, I've skipped that one.

Going on two, rain imminent - according to the forecast, at least. I finished out back, I've just steamed all those bricks, then up to the wall and the entire corner. Now I'm moving on to the driveway, starting with the bricks just in front of the driveway. I've been cleaning that patch again and again ... yet it is completely covered in weeds, already!

Before pictures:

Trying to cover each individual weed for 8 seconds is just not possible! So, I just slowly moved the steamer back and forth around the paving.

Sheez, but the sun is burning my back! Especially the small of my back, which - I'm guessing - is already tomato red! Half past two, 56% chance of rain at three, then less and less until midnight! But I really must stay out of the sun!

So, I've decided to move under the carport next! Boy, oh, boy, am I having fun! I'm also experimenting with some of those horrid grass things. Targeting individual plants, which are some distance from where I'm working - so I can tell whether the individual treatment works, and if so, whether it affects the surrounding grass. I mean, can you imagine if I could get rid of ALL the horror grass / veld bushels, this easily? Mowing will be the walk in the park it should be! Plus: I won't be dependent on heavy rainfall to be able to do something about them!

I've tried thoroughly watering, but it's not the same. I can water for hours, until the ground is soggy ... and then, when I try to pull them out, it's dry and hard just a few cm down - not enough to get the roots out. Yet rainfall, like last night? Which is less water? Works like a bomb! But, like I said, I can't always wait for such rainfall ...

Well, I've done all the cracks in the shade ... gone along the fence ... but the sun is really burning! So, I've decided to work the pavement outside my bedroom next! That's in the shade!

Okay, doing that pavement is just dull! No instant gratification, ha ha!

Can't tell what I've already steamed and what I haven't yet touched ...

See for yourself: the right hand side is done (i.e. behind the nozzle of the steamer, all the way to and including the pavement, and in front of the nozzle still to be done. And I should wait about 5 days, to be sure what's affected is totally dry - and then I have to pull it all out, one by one, like your standard weeding. Only, it should come out easily.

I just hope THIS finally works! Have a closer look: I've sprayed vinegar, thrown salt, sprayed weed killer, covered it with a weed guard for weeks ... and the flippin' grass is STILL growing! Most of it still looks dead ... but it isn't. I've tried, but I can't pull any of that crap out!

Okay, I know I've been raving on and on about this steam weeding, as if it's the best thing since sliced bread ... and I don't even know, yet, whether it really works! Or, if it does work, just how well. I'll only know whether it works in about a week. (Well, in the article, the first weeds came out easy on Day 4, which would be Wednesday.) And even then, I'll only know how long it lasts ... well ... until I see new weeds growing. If I'm lucky, that'll only be in about a year's time ... as in: when the rains start next spring.

In fact, this IS the best thing since sliced bread, for my garden! Even if it doesn't do ALL I dream it can do, right now - it will still solve such a lot of my problems! So many laborious tasks could become fairly quick and easy! I'll know more by Wednesday ...

Smeagol came to visit again. Poor bugger seems to have been in a fight, and not come out on top! His face is all scratched and his poor nose looks painful! I wonder why he doesn't just stay here? I mean, he's got food, water, shelter ... everything he needs. So, why does he keep straying?

Well, this has turned out quite an unusually long post! Sad news today: Archbishop Desmond Tutu passed away. Now there was a true icon! Truly intelligent, and a lovely sense of humour! His wit is legendary.

While I was in the bath, I heard a loud crash! When I investigated, I gather Mewthos tried to help himself to extra treats! He must have tried to jump into the shelf where I store the extra boxes, and since there isn't enough space ... clatter, bam, crash! Ha Ha!

Okay, I'll call it a day now ... this post really is long enough!