LS 4 3 4 Sunday

Had another episode with Mewthos last night. When the power went off, I went to sit by the center bed and started weeding the other half ... Mew-Mew came to sit with me, snuggled up to me. Then he went after a bird ... came back, turned around and peed on me!

Yeah ... I have no idea why! But he got such a smack from me, he stayed away for an hour!

I managed to clear another quarter of the bed - still need to do the section most visible from the veranda.

I got up half past five. Nice! Although, with load shedding again at ten, I have to wait till it's over to start everything. I want to make the same dough I did this week - try and add the oil from the start, see what quantities work. Then write that in the recipe book. I've also decided that I'll finally make meatloaf! I've checked, and the bread tin is good to go. Maybe I can also make another batch of tomato paste.

Yeah, if I have to fire up the oven, I want as much as possible baking at the same time. Especially as the meatloaf should bake for an hour!

And preparing everything is going to take more than four hours ... especially since I have no intention of working flat out. I'll be taking breaks. And I can start some of the preparations during load shedding ... so everything should be done by six, when the next load shedding starts.

Fun, eh? Scheduling your Sunday around Eishkom? Or, to be more accurate: around ANC looting! See, the REAL problem is not just mismanagement over nearly three decades ... the biggest problem is the organised crime. Every single enterprise / business / money-flow operation controlled by the ANC is now completely controlled by some mafia. Below an excerpt from a FaceBook post by Helen Zille:

"As everyone now knows, Eskom is controlled by criminal syndicates that make it impossible to save the institution. It is in its death spiral.

But this does not only apply to Eskom. It is only a matter of time before the truth about the ANC-criminal syndicates running other state-owned enterprises is fully exposed as well.

In fact, almost every sphere of government controlled by the ANC since the dawn of democracy, has been turned into a battle-field between interlocking networks of criminal syndicates, seeking to advance their own enrichment. (...)

Despite the crisis of load-shedding, the criminal syndicates running various line functions in Eskom, continued to loot the entity dry. They will take us to Stage 8 loadshedding if they can profit enough from the process of getting us there.

The same is true of almost every other ANC institution. That is why we have to remove the ANC from power and replace it with a better alternative. But even where the DA takes over, the rot is so deep, and the corrupt interests so entrenched, that it will take super-human efforts, within the framework of the current laws, to change things.

Fixing South Africa will not be a quick-fix. On the contrary, it will be the work of decades. But it can, and must, be done."

That's a very bleak outlook, isn't it. Sadly, it's not speculation, but fact. I just saw a report accusing the Tshwane government of financial discrepancies. Yet, Tshwane has had a DA Mayor for at least 6 years! I don't know what to think ... 

Anyway, mommy brought her babies for another visit last night. Seems like she's decided to keep them here - I just saw them outside the Wendy in the corner, hiding in the weeds. I hope she keeps them there, at least they are safe there!

Well, I've washed the clothes Mewthos marked last night. Since that's not enough to fill the machine, I also added the blanket off my armchair. I've hung it in the laundry - tenant is using the washing line, he always does his laundry on Sundays, and it can hang in the laundry all week, if need be.

Internet is dodgy again. There's a problematic power outage affecting Pyramid, apparently - so tricky, they can't find the fault. Some people have been without power for two days, going on three!

I was getting worried about Ziva. Yesterday morning I found so many piles of vomit - it looked as if she hadn't been able to keep ANY food inside! She ate in the morning, and threw it up ... not long after. Last night she ate mostly her special food - and nothing's come out! At least, I haven't found anything. I always give her her special food, when she asks for it - like, when she sits at her wet food bowl but not eating, or when she sits at her special dry food bowl, I always fill it. It's no use keeping that food out, when she isn't showing an interest - Mewthos will gobble up everything! And he's fat enough!

I've washed the dishes, so I have a relatively clean kitchen ... I should wash the floor, but I don't feel like it ...

Here's another change I'm introducing into my life: I'm no longer putting off ANYTHING 'till year-end'. I used to put off some bigger projects for this annual holiday - and then feel guilty over all the one's I didn't get to, plus feel pressured throughout my leave to get things done.

Some projects are just too big for a weekend - so now, I'm going to break it down into components. An example: baking apple pie. I need to cut, peel and seed the apples; make the pie dough, then put the two together and bake. See? That's three components - and with my 'new' chest freezer, I no longer HAVE to do them all in one go!

The only problem is, that I will need more vacuum bags - and they are expensive! I'll have to work that into my budget. In the long run, though, the cost savings of buying when its cheap, then freezing for when I need will more than cover the price of the vacuum bags!

Sigh ... ten to ten ... time for load shedding ... 

I spent the past two and a half, three hours with my tomato plants! Cutting off wilting leaves, untying, retying the plants, so they stand up straight - as much as I can get them to ... Anyone who believes that growing tomatoes is 'saving money and eating healthy' ... is living in a romantic fantasy! If I didn't enjoy all the work it takes to keep those cherry tomatoes coming? I'd be better of taking an hour's drive to some fancy market to get a handful! Then add the time and effort to turn them into paste? Yeah ... the only reason I do it, is because I enjoy it!

Aaand announcement from Eskom that the current Stages 3 & 4 will continue indefinitely ... no, I don't believe that, either! It'll go up at least a Stage tomorrow! Wish I could find someone to bet money on ... 

Anyway, it's just gone one, I better start my baking missions ...

Oh, okay! Cutting the tomatoes only took about half an hour! Mixing the meatloaf will take even less ... even adding the time to make the glaze!

All ready. Just heating up the oven, then I'll put the meatloaf in the bottom rack, the tomatoes in the top ... when they're done, the rolls go in. It's past three ... so you see: four hours is just not enough time! The bread rolls are what takes the longest to prepare - hour and a half for the dough, then another hour, hour and a half to rise & bake. Plus ten minutes to mix, another ten minutes to knock back & shape ... so that's my timeline.

Not surprisingly, I'm now hungry. Ha Ha! Made myself a cheese roll. Fresh rolls are still in the oven - tomato paste is settling in the blender, so I can pour it into a plastic tub to freeze.

Okay, almost five and everything is baked, cooling and the kitchen is clean. Now I just need to pack tomorrow's lunch, shower ... and I'm set for work. Load shedding again at six. And again midnight till two ... the next two turns will be while I'm at work. 08:00 - 10:30 and 16:00 - 18:30. Okay, so I'll have half an hour, hour before power comes on ... no biggie.

So, I started around one, finished by five ... total just over four hours.

Meatloaf tastes great! Well, after all, it's just Frikadellen (meat balls / hamburger patties) in a different shape. But the glaze? Yeah ... never again! Only Americans can come up with a recipe that puts ketchup on a perfectly good meal! So then why did I do it? Well, I had some ketchup that's been irritating me for months, taking up space in the fridge. It's gone now.

Anyway, half six now ... mommy cat has brought her kitties to entertain me with their playtime - I LOVE watching them! They are so adorable! So off I go to sit outside ... turn off the PC, load shedding in half an hour ...