Norm and I ended up having a lovely Sunday last week, even though we had no plans to do anything at all. I had been wanting to go to the Under the Trees Market in Constantia for ages but we are terrible about getting organised and out of the house on weekends. We decided the night before and got out and about relatively early and headed to Constantia. It was a beautiful sunny day. Norm stood in a queue for ages to buy us both a coffee at the coffee van and as we were both ready for something to eat, we then went to order some breakfast rolls from another food van. I had bacon and egg and he had egg, bacon and a cheese griller.
Norm managed to find us a seat at a picnic table under the shade of a brolly. As my kids always remind me, I am not great about my timing in photos and when I leaned in and said ‘selfie time’ and snapped, I caught Norm chewing a mouthful of a cheese griller.
I had a few vendors in particular I wanted to visit, one was That Pot Guy whom I have bought plants and pots from previously. This time I bought this big concrete one which I wanted for my little cluster of pots at the end of the front patio. It is the perfect height.
The other vendor was a woman whose family invented a product which is brilliant for molding little models. She and her sister hand make all of their products. Even their little gift box is adorable!
The lady I chatted to is Charmaine and her daughter Kiara was with her in the background. Fay was the family matriarch and here is their website: Fairies
I bought a few little bits and pieces from the ‘Fairy Lady’.
I think this little metal watering can is one of the cutest things I have ever seen! It came with the little mushrooms and sign. Charmaine gave me the little lantern as a gift, because I bought so much I assume.
We had a wander around and chatted to many of the vendors. I bought this little metal hummingbird drinking from a flower and popped him next to the pool.
Once we had seen everything we hauled our goodies back to the car with Toby carrying our new pot and came home. I loved the market and on sunny days when we are out and about on a Sunday we will definitely be back. Straight away once we were home, I put out my new little prizes.
My fairy garden needed a tidy up anyway so I mixed in the new pieces with my old pieces. I love that the succulents are now popping up all over the garden, I want it wild and without structure. Have you ever met an anal fairy? Of course not, they are all very relaxed. I just have lots of whimsical bits and pieces.
How sweet is this little fairy door?? I love the tree of life pattern and the sweet mushrooms on the edges. The details are just so amazing.
I had invited our friend Mark to pop by and after we had gotten settled in he arrived with his boy Hunter, Finn’s bestie and Pixie’s idol.
They ran around like loons. OK, Finn ran around like a loon and Hunter got annoyed with his nonsense. Pixie trotted about cautiously on the edge as she is easily injured by Finn being a thug but she is desperately in love with Hunter (and Mark too if truth be told).
We gave the boys a treat each and sat outside until it started to rain and then we came inside for a bit before Mark headed home since it was a school night.
On Monday Norm went to the shops. I cooked pork chops that evening but my carrots took longer than expected and even though I turned the oven off, my chops dried out to the texture of an old shoe. The baked potato, carrots and brussel sprouts were divine luckily! Norm was out with Finn so I ate outside since it was a lovely evening.
I have upgraded my phone and on Tuesday we popped down to get a new cover for it and then went to the local gardening centre for some potting soil. I bought some succulents for my new pot and planted them when I got home.
I can spend hours sitting outside. One thing I have noticed is that the birds respond when I speak to them. I have told everyone who will listen about the convo I had with the red winged starlings and our agreement for them to not bully the other birds. This week I noticed that when I sat next to the bird feeders that the birds would be cautious about coming near me to eat. I then said softly out loud ‘you are safe’ and suddenly they all flew down to the feeder!
I had been out of the tiny seeds and so we had been missing the presence of one of my favourite birds, the swee waxbill who is a tiny little fellow who eats tiny little things, and the seeds they love had finally been replenished so when I did my morning prayers I asked them to come and visit me and they did! The garden has been full of them since.
On Thursday evening we had our monthly zoom session with the group I am studying my Path of the White Wolf course. We are studying the direction ‘Below’, the Divine Feminine, Mother Earth, Pachamama or whatever you prefer to call her. We were given our lesson, did our guided meditation and then we all gave our input since the last session. I told them all I am struggling with forgiveness. However a lot of stuff has been coming up that I had forgotten about as the conscious mind can only hold so much trauma at once. Tass said that if it is coming up, then it is on the way out. So I will keep acknowledging each new memory, thank it for reminding me of what I endured and what I survived and then I can release it. I will thank Young Lisa for doing her best and for getting through the trauma that breaks so many.
My goal is to try and channel the pain and anger into gratitude. Gratitude that I survived. Gratitude that I am safe. To thank my bruised inner child for standing up for me.
Tass said that the real goal of our studies is to be aligned with nature and that I have, animals speak to me, the universe channels them to me in all sorts of ways. I just have to learn to trust myself and those messages.
I found another online quiz and I again scored high (22) that I am a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP). It is also wrapped up quite often with other neuro-divergent things such as autism or ADHD, both of which I also scored high on. I score high on depression because I cry a lot and that links to the HSP traits.
As silly as this sounds this knowledge helps me understand myself so much better. They say that trauma is what creates a good healer. For me I need to understand “why” with everything. I love to problem solve. Understanding myself is giving me more insight into why I have done some of the things I have done in my life. The self understanding is leading to self forgiveness.
I am also trying to take better care of myself, watching what I eat and this morning I went for a treatment at Skin, one of the local salons. I had booked in to have a special treatment and some threading. I had the 75 min Winter Nourish Package described as: The jam packed winter nourish package includes a facial with gentle, hydrating skin peel, deep cleansing, face & neck massage, LED phototherapy, a Jelly mask and 1 full sized OptoDerm Hydrating Serum for home use. Suited to dry, sensitive or ageing skins.
My skin feels like a baby’s bottom it is so soft, hydrated and plump. I am going to start doing this regularly as my post menopause facial hair is a nightmare and I am too blind to deal with it myself. I will also see how the peel effects my skin and maybe start going in once a month to have some sort of facial done. I will never have any injectables, that is not my vibe, but a wee bit of spit and polish never hurt anyone. Why not? It is nothing permanent, it purely penetrates the top layer and the peel did not make me look like a lizard shedding his tail.
Tonight I am going to Cheyne’s with the girls for dinner. There are 4 of us going and I am looking forward to seeing everyone as well as trying Cheyne’s menu as I have not been there in ages.
Tomorrow we have nothing on but I have the girls coming for book club at my house on Monday evening. Norm is complaining about having to clean. I am not house proud, if you do not like the dog hair do not visit (which is usually good to keep randoms away!). Mr Cancerian Norm is very clean and has been washing and vacuuming while I was having my facial.
I hope you have all have a good weekend and week ahead. Until next time, Kisses from the Kitten xoxoxoxox
Kitten in the City 