I have had a rather chaotic week. First, I was living like all the single ladies last Monday to Wednesday as Norm was away in Johannesburg. He had booked the doggy day care to take Finn all day so he was occupied all day and exhausted at night. I still had 4 beasties which I was responsible for. I hate being responsible, it stresses me out. But I got myself organised and it all worked out.
I had my appointment with my Neurodiversity therapist on Monday. It went well in that she actually pointed out behaviour from other people which was toxic that I had not really identified as toxic. It makes me feel much better to be validated when I am being gaslit. My therapist is also brilliant at seeing through my own bull$hit. She calls me out if I am being self-delusional.
I had a funny incident this week. I had a delivery coming and their email said something about if you miss their delivery you have to pay to reschedule, so I cheekily replied and said “I do not have a doorbell and I am old and do not move that fast so do not leave before I get there please”.
When the delivery guy arrived I saw him staring at me from the gate in a very intense, puzzled sort of way. He held up the package and said ‘Is this for you?’ and all I saw was my name and address, so I cheerily replied ‘Yes!’. This made him look even more befuddled. I took the parcel and when I got inside I collapsed with laughter when I saw what they had written on the front of the package for the delivery guy.
It was unbearably hot on Wednesday so I managed to heave the pool cover off by myself. I did not plan my approach and made a bit of a jumble of it. I did not care, it was necessary to swim. The point is, I managed to take the cover off and put it back on. I felt so accomplished.
I took a video from my eye level when in the pool. It is a very special little spot we have.
Norm got home just before 11pm and it was still unbearably hot. We sat outside on the porch for a bit for him to relax from his flight then we went to bed.
He did not have long at home before we took off on my second adventure for the week. Friday afternoon, Norm and I set off on a road trip to a tiny little town called Malgas which is on the Breede River. We left in high hopes feeling excited to see my daughter Lily, her husband Josh and little Amelia Ray our granddaughter. But then, we were stuck in bumper to bumper traffic for 2 solid hours once we hit the motorway. It was dreadful. We were ravenous as we had expected to stop half way but it was dragging. We finally reached The Peregrine Farm Stall which is traditionally part of our trip as a pitstop for pies. I had a gorgeous hot chicken and mushroom pie and we got straight back on the road. We finally got to the turn off from the motorway and got excited until we saw that it was all dirt roads. It was rocky and dusty and a real pain to drive on. Then it started to get dark and we were panicking that we may never find the little farm we had booked our accommodation in but the GPS took us straight there other than a few risky mistakes. At one point GPS lady told us to ‘take a slight left’ and she said this exactly at a little trek into a field, so we took it. That was all it turned out to be, a little trek from a combine harvester which the trail ultimately led to. It was still stressful as it was so dark in the country and the roads were hazardous.
Lily and Josh had arrived before us and got settled in.
It was a lovely but basic venue right by the river and there was a little sun room with open windows at the back of the cottage. I took a panoramic of 3 shots of the view left to right.
On Friday night all of Lily’s high school friends who were staying nearby came over to have a drink and visit Lily as she could not make it out with little Millie who was too unsettled. It was so funny to see them all beautiful grown up young women living all over the world!
Lily and Josh left the next day about 2 for the wedding. They looked so cute. I was so glad they had some time with their friends.
Millie was in good humour and played happily for ages. She was so tired though as she had not napped long earlier that day and at one point she just needed to sleep. Norm sang to her and rocked her back and forth in her pram until she fell asleep after sobbing for ages. She was so exhausted but refused to give in to sleep without mom to put her down.
She had a nap and then woke and played and then she was hungry but I had issues getting her to drink from a bottle. Luckily Lily had a ready made baby dinner in the freezer and Norm heated that and I fed her by hand. She was obviously starving and decided no boob was coming her way and she had best just eat the flipping butternut before the visiting oldies starved her! We were both covered in butternut but at least she ate! By then I had panicked and messaged asking Lily to come home but then Millie was so happy after her dinner that I messaged back and said to stay but Lily was conscious it was past Amelia’s bedtime and came home around 9pm. Lily fed her and she was out in 2 seconds, bless her heart. But she was full of beans, Lily asked had we fed her soda, heck no I could not even get her to drink milk!
I nicked a couple of clippings which I am sure no one will miss, meanwhile they may grow into nice big plants in their new home. I do not have any like these, they grow quite close to the ground, I found these little pups trying to escape their planters.
This morning we all got up and started packing up the cottage as we needed to hit the road early. The GPS took us another route which only took about half the time as the first one and we were home about 1:30 this afternoon. Obviously GPS lady does not recognise road surfaces, just that there is one.
We saw some amazing birds on the drive. The fields of the farms had recently been cut so many of the telephone poles had birds of prey perched on top, we saw hawks and falcons and lots of different ones. The most amazing sight was a vulture chilling out on top of a phone pole! I have never seen a vulture outside of a game reserve. I think it was a Lappet Faced Vulture but I did not see it close enough to be completely certain. Many of the vultures are endangered so it was incredibly lucky.
We also saw loads of blue cranes which are absolutely stunning!
I am so tired but I am so grateful for all of the time I get to spend with my little darling granddaughter. She is just the most charming little thing, she loves to twinkle at everyone she meets. She touches your face to decide if she likes you or not, it is very funny, it is like she is reading your aura.
This week is my first appointment with the actual ND specialist psychiatrist to discuss my medications. I also have an appointment with a Functional Medicine, Health & Wellness Coach. Yeah, go figure, Lil Miss Cynical Hypochondriac. You never know, it may help me in some way. I am having an assessment and a KARNAK scan whatever that is! I will update you next week.
Back at work tomorrow, this weekend flew by. I won’t say sadly back at work because I am very grateful for my client and job. I hope you all have a lovely week ahead. Until next time, Kisses from the Kitten xoxoxoxxo
Kitten in the City 