I spent all of last Sunday doing my favourite things: bird watching and faffing about my garden. I took wild iris seed pods from the pool area and crumbled the pods and scattered the seeds in another area that is very shady and full of tree roots, so not much grows there. Let’s see what happens. I spoke to the seeds and I asked them to take root and to grow. I have just been shoving everything in that area in the hopes that something thrives, so now there are various cacti, plants and a few pots just to create something visual in that space.
The birds were out in all of their glory. This has happened a few times just after a rain that I see so many different types, they were just zinging around so quickly all day long. I wonder does the rain bring out the worms and insects from the ground?
I adore the little Swee Waxbills with their bright red beaks.
Then later in the afternoon, I managed to film a few of the brightly coloured Malachite Sunbirds, first eating from the butterfly bush with a friend that looks like a Cape White-eye, but I could not be sure.
Then a Malachite Sunbird moved over to munch on my strelitzia / bird of paradise plant.
I literally spent all day in the garden, mostly just sitting still watching the birds. I know that my mind needs a lot of down time to get regulated and the wonderful busy Saturday meant I needed Sunday down time for my sanity.
And that is OK.
I am not ‘lazy’, I am not ‘being unproductive’, I am not ‘being useless’. I am resting my brain. I have to turn off all of those old voices that speak badly to me, and learn to do what is best for me. No one else can determine what is best for me or right for me, only me. I need this down time in order to function.
We have so much going on at the moment.
Norm booked our flights to the US this week. It is a bit risky booking without a house sitter, but I am trusting that someone appears who is trustworthy with both our home and our animals. I have a few names now as options for contacting once Norm is back from his latest adventure.
The guys came to finish our balcony railing on Monday morning. It was pouring rain and freezing cold. That is another job complete!
I popped down on Monday afternoon to have my photos made for my license. I was anxious about driving in the pouring rain even though it is 5 minutes down the road, but I did it and felt very proud after. Sounds silly to some but it is a big deal to me and I congratulate myself on my small wins!
On Tuesday Norm drove me over to Fish Hoek to get my drivers license renewed. It was pouring with rain.
We went to that branch even though it is a long drive because it is a smaller branch and the queues are usually shorter. First you get approached by a very friendly security guard type guy who had an amazing smile and we chatted, laughed and giggled while he sorted my paperwork. Then I went to a window where a woman collected all of my bits and pieces of documentation that I was told to have. I forgot to bring any proof of address docs but they got around it because my registered address has not changed since the last time I obtained a license. Phew. If we had to drive back across that mountain because I forgot some paperwork Norm might just kill me.
Then I joined the 1st queue for the Eye Test, electronic photo and fingerprints. The SA version of a queue is seated. The new person takes the next available seat in the row and each time a person is taken into the room to be served, you get up and shuffle along to the next seat in the row until you are next.
Some people chat to their neighbours, some people stare intently at their phones, some people (me) disassociate as an anxiety reducing measure. I can tell you every item in each of the rooms. Not people, do not ask about people I am not interacting with them. Except the odd lady ahead of me. I only interacted to ask her to shuffle along as there were 3 empty seats and other people had come through and eyed up the seats and I was not in the mood for any contention. I was low blood sugar mean and full of caffeine and just wanted to get the hell outta there.
I took the eye test and did not do well. Luckily I had made pals with the guy administering the test so he fiddled with it and I retook it and passed but just barely. He pointed out that my peripheral vision is not very good (as if that was news he needed to impart – dude I know I have 3 pairs of glasses and cannot see with any of them). I did not want to say to him I have an eye disease which means I have clumps of floaters drifting about so my vision is patchy at best. My vision changes per minute, floaters here, floaters, there, floaters everywhere, then poof, all clear.
Then he takes an electronic photo which is what actually appears on your license, not the lovely photo I had driven to have taken the previous afternoon, paid for and attached to the forms as requested? Why do you have to take hard copy photos for them to not use them? I had clean, combed hair and a face of makeup for the professional photo. On the day of my license my hair was dirty, damp and frizzy from the rain and I had on zero makeup. Why???
Next I had to queue to pay for the license (and the temp license in my case). Once again shuffling along the rows of chairs. After I paid we drove back across the mountain grasping my temporary license. I have to go back in a few weeks to pick up my proper license once it is ready.
That night I was going to make lasagna as I had mince and some mozzarella. I got the meat out and chopped my onion and garlic and put it on to fry. I took out the mozzarella which I discovered was green with mold. I could not eat that. I saw I did not have any tomato paste either. Plan redirected to Mexican. I had my spicy mix and added that to the beef and added a bit of water to simmer. I had some borlotti beans so I heated those and made some guacamole. It was really tasty even if it was not exactly pretty!
On Wednesday the sun came out for about 5 minutes. I took out my cushions and went to my fave shady corner to have a coffee.
I came back in to my desk and a few minutes later I noticed that the sky was getting very dark. I decided to go get my cushions and as I got there the skies opened and it poured rain. My newly washed hair (and the rest of me) got drenched.
That evening 4 of us were supposed to go for dinner but we did debate cancelling due to the weather. We decided to brave it and on the way I saw that the roads were underwater and flooded in some places. We were meeting at Izakaya Kukai, the restaurant owned by sushi master Arata Koga. There were hardly any people there since it was midweek and the weather was so abysmal.
It was lovely to see the girls. Everyone remarked that Lou and Tam were both looking so relaxed.
Yvette and I were opposite them.
We all ordered a variety of things. A few of us had the Gyozo pan fried dumplings. They are delicious but I forgot to take pics. I had the tempura prawns.
A few of us had the Crispy Bang Bang Prawns (prawn, avo and jalapeno in a thin pastry).
Tam had the tempura eggplant which was so interesting and beautiful looking.
She also had the tempura vegetables.
As her third dish Tam had the panko crumbed calamari which looked luscious. I will try that next time.
We all chatted and caught up with each other and had such a laugh. It was a brilliant evening. We laughed because we were leaving with full bellies at 7.30pm! But we met at 6pm, the food comes quickly and 2 of us were not drinking and it is not a place to linger, especially when the staff wanted to get home.
The rain continued all week. It was bitterly cold as well with the occasional bout of sunshine warming things up, then quickly disappearing again.
Thursday was my son’s birthday, I cannot believe I have a ‘child’ who is 38 years old.
That day we also had our monthly online meeting with all of the consultants who work for my Consulting House. I have been told that the current client has no more funds to keep me on board. This means interviews and possibly being forced to work on a client site, as well as the dreaded driving to the city and home again in rush hour or get up at dawn. I am so full of anxiety about it all.
I was feeling a bit overwhelmed by life: not being down in George for my son’s birthday, the work uncertainty, the need for a house sitter for our trip, Norm going away, etc., etc., etc…..
I went out to my porch and sat down with my white sheepskin on my knees, then Lola spotted me and jumped onto my lap. The sun was just dimming and then about 5 or 6 mousebirds appeared on the hedge in front of us. They had long beautiful tails and appeared to be doing some sort of ritual for the benefit of what appeared to be a single female mousebird on the bush covered in flamboyant males. I am too blind to be able to see exactly what sort they were, just that they had a crest and a long tail. With my poor visual track record they might not even be mousebirds.
Whatever they were, it was fascinating and beautiful to watch the little dance they performed. It calmed me down so much.
That night I went for something easy for dinner. I had Kassler Chops and they only take about 6 minutes to fry. I steamed a head of cauliflower, put it into a pan and just layered on some slices of Emmenthal cheese and popped it under the grill for a few minutes. I sliced up a pack of zucchinis and popped them into the air fryer. I had some beet root chunks and added those to the plates. A relatively healthy dinner in no time at all with minimal effort.
On Friday my Managing Director phoned to ask me to be patient he is trying to sort something with the same client and it will also be remote. I thanked him as I was feeling so anxious. I think they know that Data Architects are in demand so he wants to keep me sweet. I get a message on LinkedIn at least once a week asking am I interested in applying for a role, but I am happy with my current contract house. I am not ambitious enough to trawl about looking for the highest pay or the best opportunity. I am an acquired taste and I do not have it in me at my age to wait for another contract house to cultivate their taste buds.
I had an appointment with a potential house sitter on Friday at 12. She popped over and met Finn and Panda but unfortunately she is booked when we need someone, so I am back to square one. I have a few others on the list, I would prefer someone older. I am manifesting an older man who is not a party animal, but a man so that they are strong enough for Finnie and mature so they are reliable enough for Panda’s medications.
I went to check on my fairy garden after the rains. Things are growing so beautifully despite not getting a huge amount of sun at the back. This garden is left to self-propagate and every now and then I pop in something new if I find a spot that needs filling. Some of my metal pots are disintegrating so I will have to replace those when needs must.
I had ordered some bits and pieces from Hello Indigo Halo which arrived this week and I wanted to place a few of them out back. I love the stained glass fairy and she fits in perfectly in this garden. I had wanted one for ages but did not know where to put her where she will be safe. Only the small animals can get into the back garden and they tend to just leave things alone or at most pee on them.
Last night I ordered a food delivery from Yesca’s Teahouse. I love their food but Norm has not tried it, nor does he want to. So when he is faffing about late with work and I am hungry, I get Yesca’s delivered. I fancied some snacky bits so I had the panko crumbed chicken pops, prawn steamed dumplings and prawn won tons with chicken chow mein. As usual I ordered much more than I can eat so Norm has some noodles for lunch today while I am out.
Our alarm went off at 6.45am but I was already awake. I woke Norm as I cannot see and he said it was the bedroom alarm. The alarm company rang and I croaked ‘it is our bedroom and there is nothing happening here’ to which the woman giggled, then I giggled. I went ahead and got up soon after as I was wide awake. It was a stunning day.
This morning we woke to some sad news about a family member, I do not want to publish anything as yet but if you can spare a wee prayer for our family I would appreciate it.
Today I am popping around to see my friends for our monthly women’s social group. It is so lovely to be able to just relax and chat to people who are always in your corner. I have a head like a bumblebee with all of the things going on. Hopefully I do not wear them out, we generally have such a laugh though.
Until next time, stay safe and love your people. Kisses from the Kitten xoxoxoxox
Kitten in the City 