Last weekend ended off nicely with a video call with my Mom and kids. We had such a laugh as always but we all had our PJs on and had Sunday hair so no one would let me take pics *sigh*.
Mom has not been feeling great and the isolation is not helping as she is a people person and misses having other people around her. The cat she adopted is a bit of a psycho and is destroying her house and that stresses her too. She loves him but he is crazy af.
We seem to always have at least one pet with an ailment. Panda is limping on and off and I was worried he has a subluxing patella. That is common in pomeranians and of course if there is anything he can come down with he will. But then when I researched it that applies to their back leg not their front leg, so who knows what his issue is! It is intermittent and not constant so we will just watch him.
I ordered the pets some Christmas presents and they arrived this week. There is an advent calendar for each of them, a squeaky llama, a squeaky reindeer and some balls, a bow tie for Panda who is not bothered by toys, some beef sticks and biscuits for the dogs and some liver treats for the cats.
My new Smeg kettle and toaster arrived this week as well. I am so chuffed with them, they are so pretty.
Most of the kids’ and Norm’s presents have arrived too, we have a few things which should be delivered this week and then we are sorted.
Last weekend we watched a few silly films just to keep us occupied while Norm worked and I played games.
We watched ‘Brittany Runs a Marathon‘. As it was about running I thought Coach Norm would find it interesting and as it was about a fat girl I found it interesting too. I definitely think like a fat girl and I eat like a fat girl, the problem is I seem to have reverse body dysmorphia as I still see myself as the thin girl I was in my childhood and teens.
In the film Brittany learns to love herself and grows emotionally as she shrinks physically. It was a good lazy Sunday film. I give it 3.5 Kitten Stars ⭐⭐⭐✨
We also watched a film called ‘Runaway Romance‘ which reminded me of a Hallmark film. It was about a girl who was in a reality series about a rich family. She was the girlfriend of the spoiled son and when she became disillusioned with her lifestyle she ran away and ended up in a small Amish town. While there she gets back to a sense of real reality, not the fake reality she had in front of the cameras. It was a bit of innocent fluff, I give it 3 Kitten Stars ⭐⭐⭐
The other series we started watching this week is “Dash & Lily” which is a cute little love story between an awkward teen girl and a disillusioned cynical young man. It stars Austin Abrams as Dash and Midori Francis as Lily. The story takes place over Christmas in New York where both of them are abandoned by their parents for the holidays. It is very sweet and innocent and I give it a solid 4.5 Kitten Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐✨
I did not cook last weekend at all. On Saturday we had a takeaway from the Indian Oven. I struggle to get Norm to go there after he had two bad meals of chewy chicken but this time he tried a vegetable curry which he said was good but was full of carbs. I had my usual prawn curry and we shared the saag paneer and a cauliflower rice.
After work on Monday Vanessa came to do my nails and catch me up on the local gossip. After she left Norm and I made a low carb ‘fathead pizza’. The recipe for the crust is HERE so that I do not have to repeat the info. I made a sauce with my own recipe however. At lunch time I chopped up a carrot, celery, a red pepper and an onion as my base and fried it. Once that was cooked I used the stick blender to puree it then added a bottle of passata, some tomato paste, a bit of beef stock, chili, garlic, and spices and let it simmer for about an hour. Once the crust was baked I chopped green olives, artichoke hearts, sliced up a red onion and topped it all with shredded mozzarella and parma ham.
It was really good, Norm got the crust nice and thin so it was a bit crispy and my sauce was divine. There was even enough sauce left to freeze half of it for the next time we do pizza.
On Tuesday Mzudumo came to do the garden and we had someone come around to quote on redoing the upstairs bathrooms which are incredibly old fashioned. I found a pic from when we bought the house to include as a ‘before’ pic for one of them so you get an idea what we are dealing with. This is the family bathroom (with the previous owner’s decor). The main bedroom en-suite is just as aggressive to the eyes but with royal blue tiles. All fittings are brass (well, is it still brass if it is green?). Needless to say I cannot wait to get new stylish and bright bathrooms.
We are contemplating renting a house for a month and just having them come in and do a blitz as we want the floors redone upstairs and downstairs and all 3 of our bathrooms ripped out and replaced so it will be a huge mess. If we opt for vinyl flooring then it will be less dust but if we want the tiles all removed and new ones put down then it will be a dust bowl of chaos.
Norm just got a take away that night as he had not had time to do a shop but on Wednesday he popped out and did a bit of a shop so we cooked that night. Norm cooked fillet steaks and I fried whole mushrooms in loads of garlic butter, roasted chunks of sweet potato and made our fave new roasted cauliflower dish with almonds and fresh parmesan cheese.
On Thursday night we were booked to take Caitlin and Wes to dinner at Mexicola Locale. They both had tummy bugs and so they thought it best to not have any spicy food. We invited our friends Darren and Julie to join us instead. Darren is my work husband and he and his partner Julie also live in Hout Bay and are both foodies. Norm and I arrived first and they had us sanitise our hands and the staff were all wearing masks.
We were sat in a cozy corner and ordered drinks.
We were starving as we all usually eat early so as soon as Darren and Julie arrived we got stuck into ordering quickly. Both couples shared a few dishes to start. We both had the jalapeno and cheese croquettes (there are 4 in the serving but we had nabbed one before I remembered to take a pic, oops). I was very happy to see that these were on the menu now. They are divine! Hot, creamy, cheesy and spicy little balls of heaven.
We also both shared a serving of the beefy nachos. They have a vegetarian version as well but the meat sauce is spicy, smoky and delicious. There is loads of cheese and other tasty toppings. You have to get your fingers in and get messy with these (warning for those like me who always wear their dinner, do not wear white). They are worth the mess! Jules and I got in with our forks and scraped out every morsel.
For our mains we all had a pork taco, Norm and Julie also had a fish taco. Darren had a beef taco which he also enjoyed but said he preferred the flavours of the toppings on the pork one. Darren also had the tuna ceviche and he raved about it.
We were too full for dessert and I had far too many margaritas and struggled to wake up on Friday but did not have a hangover.
Darren kept saying ‘I don’t want to talk about work’ and then proceeded to talk about work. It was more about the people we work with than actual work activities and of course our partners all hear this too so they were not excluded. It was funny to hear Norm’s and Jules’ ideas about the people they hear on our online meetings. It was a fun night and it was good to get out and to see our friends and catch up. We had a lot of much needed laughs.
That same night President Ramaphosa addressed the nation on Covid. He stated that there are 3 primary areas where the rates of infection are starting to climb: Nelson Mandela Bay and the Sarah Baartman District in the Eastern Cape and the Garden Route District in the Western Cape. Lily and Trevor live in the Garden Route district. The greatest contributing cause of infections is that many people are not wearing masks, and are not observing proper hygiene and physical distancing.
Nelson Mandela Bay has been declared a hotspot. This metro will therefore be subject to additional restrictions to prevent the spread of Covid-19 and protect our health services capacity.
These restrictions include:
• The hours of the curfew will be from 10pm and 4am.
• The sale of alcohol will only be permitted between 10am and 6pm from Monday to Thursday.
• Alcohol consumption in public spaces, such as beaches and parks, is strictly forbidden. This is necessary to prevent large social gatherings.
• Gatherings – including religious gatherings – may not be attended by more than 100 people for indoor events and 250 for outdoor events.
• At all times, the total number of people in a venue may not exceed more than 50% of the capacity of the venue.
• All post-funeral gatherings are prohibited.
For the present time there will be no changes to the status in the Sarah Baartman District and the Garden Route but the Minister of Health will be visiting these areas to assess the situation and to engage with various stakeholders in the province.
We are being extra careful again after the announcement that the Cape is starting to increase numbers. Our suburb is far more dangerous now than in wave 1 where we had only a few infections as now we have hundreds.
From a purely selfish point of view, I hope that the second wave does not result in Norm and I not being able to go to spend the holidays with my kids. But if it is not safe then we will stay here at home rather than risk getting sick and then not spending any future Christmases with them (or any time on this earth for that matter).
As of today’s stats, there have been 5,534,084 people tested in South Africa. The worldometer counts are:
On a global scale we have held at number 16 for total cases for the 3rd week in a row despite the increase in numbers in the aforementioned areas. We are 44th globally for total deaths per 1 million population which is a drop of 2 places from last week.
The USA is still 1st in total cases and there have been 285,668 deaths. Trump is not even attending the task force meetings and is doing all he can to obstruct Biden from putting anything in place to manage the virus. I cannot wait until January when the orange terror is gone and Biden can move forward with trying to get on top of this issue.
Friday was a warm day but the wind was howling! It did not put off Navajo, he spent the day guarding us from the front porch.
That night I had sushi from K1 which was delicious as always.
We had a quiet night relaxing. Friday evening is one of my favourite parts of the week. Once I have a vodka in my hand, a doggy in my lap and my hubby watching telly with me I am a happy Kitten. Simple pleasures.
Today we were up and out as we had a few errands to run. We went down to the Bay Harbour Market to see if the designer we usually get my special jewelry from was around. Norm went in on his own but she was not there so he just came right back out. We stopped by Rockchic to see what they might have. I found a ring with a particular fossil on it which I have been looking for and a long beaded coptic cross necklace similar to a rosary and Norm got them both for my Christmas. But shhhhh it is a secret so I do not know.
We then went to Constantia to get a few more bits I need for the kids, some lights for the tree and wrapping paper. The shops were not terribly busy and we got in and out as quick as we could. We were both hungry so we popped in to Tashas and they had a table for us off in a corner by the door which felt very safe and isolated. The bench was comfy but a bit low so I felt a bit like a toddler at the grown ups table.
We both ordered a much needed coffee and looked at the online menu. They do not hand out menus so as to avoid spreading any germs, you scan a bar code and the menu pops up on your phone.
Even though it was noon we decided on breakfast. I ordered the ‘breakfast royale’ which is R116 and comes with two poached eggs, either asparagus or spinach, lemon sauce & seeded bread. You have the option of adding either crispy parma ham +R50 / macon +R36 / bacon +R28 and I opted for bacon. I loved the lemon sauce and the eggs were nice and soft, the bacon crisp and the asparagus al dente.
Norm had the Classic breakfast for R122, two eggs, bacon, two italian sausages, mushrooms & tomato.
Even at the best of times I always struggle to get into the holiday spirit in South Africa due to the heat. In case you are also struggling (where ever you may be) I am including some Christmas music for you. I hope you enjoy it.
First is pregnant Meghan Trainor featuring Earth, Wind & Fire. The song itself is reminiscent of Earth, Wind & Fire’s “Boogie Wonderland” which us 70s kids all grew up to. Meghan has released a Christmas album, ‘A Very Trainor Christmas‘.
And here is a very soulful performance from Kelly Clarkson and Tori Kelly singing ‘Silent Night’. Tori also has a new Christmas album coming out “A Tori Kelly Christmas.” This one takes you to church honey.
Until next time, I hope you keep yourselves safe. If you can stay in please do and if you must go out please wear a mask, practice social distancing and wash your hands.
Socially distant Kisses from the Kitten x0x0x0x0x
Kitten in the City 
Pingback: Second Verse, Worse than the First – Kitten in the City
Pingback: Leaving it Alone – Kitten in the City