We have continued our new date night tradition. Norm and I decided to go out for dinner last Sunday as we had been home all weekend due to the Two Oceans Marathon and we felt a wee bit of cabin fever. The wind was crazy all weekend which also creates it’s own form of chaos!
We popped into The Beach Bar which, as it says on the tin, is on the beach. The sun was just going down and the wind was howling and I had worn a dress so I had to hold onto my dress with one hand and my wrap with the other and dash inside.
We went early and therefore had no problems getting a table.
I fancied the spicy peri-peri chicken sandwich but did not want the bread so the waiter said he would give me a nice salad instead and he did. I loved this salad, especially the dressing and the fact they added nuts and bits to make it so much nicer than a lot of places’ versions of a boring slab of wilted lettuce and ice cold wedges of tomato (some of you may know my aversion to very cold food because of my dodgy arse teeth).
Norm ordered a cheeseburger and I gave him most of my chips.
We woke on Sunday to a gorgeous day with a bit of wind but not as harsh as it was the previous evening.
The following day we were back at work and I also saw my Neurodiversity Therapist. We decided to wait for four months to have my next visit as she and I do not see anything urgent to contend with. The psychiatrist was also happy with me and does not feel I self medicate. My therapist was concerned originally about my eating issues but as I have completely changed my entire lifestyle to align with the guidance of my health coach, my therapist feels all of that is under control. She has given me the tools to notice when I am becoming dysregulated and the tools to try and cope with my challenges. Most importantly she has given me a knowledge that I am perfect just as I am. My brain may be different, but that is usually an advantage in many things, not a disadvantage. It is just when people are not authentic or sincere that I am bamboozled into believing them.
As per my routine now, I arranged a shopping delivery for Monday. I am upping my protein but meat is expensive so I try to do a night of minced beef for dinner each week. It must be free range and low fat. But as most of the dishes I make use tomato passata it has been a challenge.
This week I cooked a chopped onion, added the minced beef and fried until browned. I then added spices and beef stock with a bit of Worcestershire sauce and simmered it until it thickened. I then added it to the bottom of a glass dish, layered on baby spinach leaves, a layer of zucchinis and then a layer of thick white medium fat soft cheese. I try to cook the spinach the day the delivery arrives because once it sweats, I cannot eat it. Yes, I know.
To go with it I roasted a combination of sweet potato and butternut cubes. I called it Deconstructed Cottage Pie as the bottom was very much like cottage pie in flavour and we had the potatoes. It also makes Norm feel like less of a guinea pig, as if I had a plan. I never have a plan.
We had pork twice this week. I cooked pork chops in a teriyaki sauce with roast butternut and fried baby cabbage.
Another night I roasted a pork fillet and served it with roasted baby carrots and brussel sprouts but I forgot to take a pic as I was starving. Oops. Imagine it beautifully plated and the sprouts not burned this time!
What I am finding so interesting is that now that I am predominantly eating ‘clean’ unprocessed foods, not eating gluten or anything of that nature, is that when I do have a ‘cheat’ food (aka inflammatory food containing gluten or a high number of carbs) then the next day my knees ache and my body throbs and my mind is foggy. It makes me question whether it is worth it. It will become the exception rather than the usual. For example Häagen-Dazs is worth it, a Twinkie is not.
This is again part of my newfound attempts to be more conscious and tuned in, to my emotions, my body, my mental state and all of me.
I have been directing my prayers in a sort of Hoʻoponopono fashion to both my ancestral lines and the ancestral lines of those my ancestors may have harmed. I call them in, I tell them I am sorry and that we love them and ask for their forgiveness, this is on both sides of the issues I have discovered.
When I went out on the hill to pray on Thursday morning, the entire mountain range was shrouded in mist. You could see nothing at all. I had taken my phone with me because every morning one of our resident doves is usually sitting just by where I pray and he sits and watches me calmly. He was not there this morning but I filmed the eerie mist.
By afternoon it was hot! In Cape Town we often have all 4 seasons in a day. It has been beautiful since then.
Friday morning Norm and I (and Finn) were up and out early to met up with a local lady who does sewing and I donated some fabric and other bits and pieces to her. Another friend was selling some sewing things so it was a perfect match! I was able to enrich two people’s lives just a little bit. It made me happy as well so that is 3, a very good number indeed.
It was gorgeous on Friday morning and I sat outside by the pool in the shade to have my coffee. Finn joined me and stood guard right next to me.
A friend went away last weekend and saw a little fairy and thought of me and bought it for my fairy garden! It was so thoughtful and she is so cute! I have to go out and regularly rearrange what the animals and the wind have unarranged so she is having a tea party on a rose quartz stone with a mini-gnome. As you do.
I have been listening to music while working again after a time of listening to podcasts or series and I am giving you two songs I heard this week and really enjoyed. Neither are new, I just enjoyed them and I hope you will too. First is the divine Teddy Swims who is like old Motown and soul soaked in whiskey and drizzled with honey. I just love his voice. This song is a bit poppier than his latest album but I still enjoyed it.
I discovered this second song, “All Life Long” on Spotify and I love it. It is by Conrad Sewell, a young Australian from Brisbane. I say ‘young’ because I am old and everyone is young to me, he is 36 at the time of writing but he looks so baby faced! He has a fabulously pure tone which is not surprising as he comes from a family of musicians. His grandparents toured with the Bee Gees and the Gibb Brothers. His sister Grace had a hit with a cover version of the 1963 Lesley Gore song “You Don’t Own Me”. I like the lyrics of this song which is why I chose this video. I think it is better to watch it with your eyes closed, he does not look like his voice and it may put you off. Not that he is unattractive, just like if your mind expects tea and your mouth gets coffee, or expects water and gets vodka? That.
I have a busy weekend. This morning I have an appointment for a facial at Skin in Hout Bay at 9:30. After that I have to rush home and shower and change for Norm to drop me off at Tam’s as she is driving a group of us girlies to Noordhoek for our monthly Social Group. On Sunday Caitlin is supposed to be popping by.
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and week ahead. Until next time, Kisses from the Kitten xoxoxoxo
Kitten in the City 