This week Norm was travelling again and I was trying to remember where he had gone but all I knew was it had a lot of vowels in it. He was in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. I kept telling everyone he was in Abu Dhabi which is the capital of the UAE. This is common with my autism, my brain always remembers the first letter but after that, the ‘sound’ of some of the combinations of letters and then usually it is just an old Crown Velvet bag full of scrabble tiles banging around. And now I wonder is the Crown Velvet bag a universal repository of scrabble tiles or was that just my redneck family?
Therefore I have had a solo week where I was in charge of everyone keeping alive. All of the animals were so sweet. In the morning Blue came up to join us and meowed loudly until I fed him. (Do not notice the pile of partially dirty clothes on the chaise longue in front of the window.)
The dogs slept with me every night. Finn settled down on Norm’s side, with Poppy alternating between the foot of the bed and my pillow. They keep me company and amused in equal measure.
Last weekend went by in a flash. On Saturday the spa took up a lot of the day and then it was so cold I could not bear being outside and it was raining on and off all day. However on Sunday it was clear, just chilly. I loaded up Poppy and we set off about 2.30 and arrived just after 3pm at Caitlin’s. Wes was still out for lunch with Bree so it gave Cait and I a bit of time to chat. Bree came home just afterwards and she had fallen asleep in the car so she was out of sorts. There was no getting her back to sleep once she saw her Mama so she only had about a 10 minute nap. We gave Bree her lunch and then I had a chance to play with her before I left. Bree is such a wee character she has so much personality and was performing for me. I had to leave at 5 as it gets dark at 6pm and I cannot see in the dark.
Poppy sat so nicely in the passenger seat on the way there and she was well behaved on the way home, but as we hurtled around the curves from Constantia she was sick. I had put a pee pad on the seat and brought a towel so once it was safe to do so I just made a clean spot for her and she lay back down. Such a good baby!
The whole drive I would look her in the eye (when safe obviously, not when hurtling around a curve) and say ‘I love you so much, you are the bestest girl, I am so glad you chose to come and live with us’ and things like that. She would look at me in such a soft way.
I do this with my two granddaughters as well. While Bree was in my lap I would say ‘you are so beautiful, you are so clever, you are so kind, you are so loving’ and then go a round of ‘I love you so much, Elisi loves you so much, You are so loved’. Bree would look at me and carry on chomping viciously on the set of car keys she was grasping.
I like to think of it as ‘speaking love into them’. Language is not key for either Poppy or Bree but I hope that they feel my energy and love being sent to their souls.
Caitlin gave me some beautiful flowers from the 3 ‘kids’ for Mother’s Day. I put them next to the ones from Norm. I am loving looking at them all day. The kids also gave me a voucher for a massage so I am looking forward to getting spoiled.
Yesterday the lilies opened up. Now they are even more beautiful.
You know how I have mentioned a few times how my Creator and Ancestors like to tease me to show they are listening and a powerful presence in my life? It happened again several times this week.
I had ordered these cute little stones for my garden because they were cheap as chips and I liked the messages. They arrived on Monday.
I receive an Elder’s Meditation of the Day and the message that day was so aligned with that delivery of stones. Our guardians are always with us, listening and providing for us.
Then on Tuesday I was sitting in the back garden watching the lizards and thinking about my Mom and her health issues. I was listening to Chappell Roan singing ‘Pink Pony Club‘ and when she got to the line ‘Don’t think I’ve left you all behind, Still love you and Tennessee‘ a beautiful bright Sunbird flew down and landed on the metal butterfly right in front of me.
Hummingbirds are my grandmother’s messengers but in SA our closest is the Sunbird so she improvises. Sunbirds are sometimes quite shy, especially the males but he sang a huge song and perched and looked at me. It was so amazing and another message to reassure me.
Then on Wednesday when I was sitting at the back a Dark Capped Bulbul stopped in and visited me too. It landed on the tree in front of me but I was not looking so he chirped lots and once he had my attention he flew down and perched low down on the tree and looked at the hanging moon with the plants in it. He is obviously used to the many feeders in the trees at the front and was looking for a snacky-snack.
Then a fat squirrel came and did a Cirque De Soleil routine in the trees. I love the way that Poppy just watches the squirrels with awe and confusion but does not hassle them.
We have a lot of butterflies this year. Mostly I see the pale yellow / white ones which are so common. But I watched the smallest butterfly I have ever seen flitting around my plants and landing gently on them. He spent ages and seemed to focus on the new planters, almost like he was familiar with the landscape. Afterwards I looked him up and he is a Dwarf Blue butterfly.
I also watched a lizard shoot out his tongue and it seemed like it was almost twice the length of his body! I watched one of them leap down from the base of a tree and fall what would be the equivalent of a 5 story building and then just bounce off. The lizards have such confidence in their skills, they leap from one surface to the next so easily.
They exhibit such personality if you watch them for a bit. One of them was swaggering around and flicking his tail like a whip. He then charged one of the other ones and afterwards the victim lizard kept licking his foot and I think Tail Flicking Guy bit his toe off. There is a lot of action in lizard land.
This graphic came up on my social media and it made me realise that all of the time I spend sitting and staring at things (lizards) in my garden is a form of stimming. I marked off the ones which I am aware I do, however I am sure there are others I am not even aware that I do! What about you? I have no shame in my game, whatever it takes to keep me sane. I could give no cares about what other people think.
In the same delivery as my stones I also received this adorable fairy solar light. I loved the little fairy and the fact that it is also a windchime. It gives me another stim focus!
I knew it was cute from the pics but I never imagined it was going to be so divine at night! I love it so much I ordered another one and it arrived on Wednesday.
I also received a metal planter in my shipment which I have now planted and put out in the fairy garden. Ultimately I want the entire ground covered in plants. I love that the back wall is lined with a variety of different plants.
Monday was my daughter Caitlin’s birthday. I gave her a spa voucher. I love seeing how she has succeeded in life and what a lovely marriage she has with a man who understands her and in return, whom she understands, they really are good together. I am so blessed, all 3 of my kids are just amazing special humans.
I also had groceries delivered on Monday and I ordered the things that Norm does not like since I am on my own. I had chicken wings, corn on the cob and these mashed potato croquettes stuffed with mozzarella on Monday. It was gorgeous and I had butter all over me. Norm would have keeled over at the mess.
Tuesday Tamlyn came for dinner. I cooked a very easy mostly prepared meal. I baked breaded chicken breasts, boiled fresh corn on the cob, then added a broccoli and cauliflower bechamel sauce side dish. I also had these gorgeous thinly sliced crispy potato stacks from Woolies that I just pop in the air fryer. I described them as a potato Mille-feuille. They are divine.
We chatted and caught up with everything happening in both of our lives. It was a lovely evening, very casual and chilled (other than my animals).
On Wednesday night I baked the rest of the chicken wings. This time in a sweet chili sauce. Again I did lazy prepared potatoes, corn on the cob and an Asian salad but I forgot to take a pic. I am just proud of myself for not ordering take away and cooking. I had ordered prepared fruit salads and some green salads which have meant I have something prepared I can just open. If I am hungry and have to prep a lot I just eat snacks instead.
Finn went to doggy day care Monday through Wednesday so at least he was not so annoying in the evening. Poppy and I are happy just banging around on our own.
On Thursday the dog groomers came early and the dogs were outside so it took all of us to catch the little devils. She would not let me take a proper pic afterwards but she looked gorgeous, smelled amazing and felt so soft for at least 3 hours.
Norm was exhausted and slept about 12 hours straight but was back working that afternoon. We had pizzas sitting outside on the patio. It was so lovely having him home.
This week I randomly discovered this Drag In the Dark episode while scrolling through YouTube. Anyone who knows me is aware of my Drag obsession but I also have a Paranormal obsession and I have found the culmination of both. Ep 1 stars Divina de Campo and was so funny. I loved this show!! It is absolute nonsense and I give it 3 Kitten Stars so far but I shall be watching every episode. ⭐⭐⭐
I also started watching another dreadful show called ‘Bravo’s Love Hotel‘.
It stars Ashley Darby & Gizelle Bryant from the current Real Housewives of Potomac, Shannon Storms Beador from the Real Housewives of Orange County franchise and Luann de Lesseps who is a former member of the New York franchise. Of course Shannon is crying and Luann is being very sexual and both of them are scaring (scarring?) some of the men.
The best thing about the show is the theme music which reminds me of White Lotus and the beautiful scenes from the location in Mexico. I again give it 3 Kitten Stars and I will also be watching every episode of this series. ⭐⭐⭐
One thing that it made me think about is compatibility from a ‘past experiences’ point of view. First of all, my man is not on the market, this is all supposition as an autistic brain does. Norm and I have both had such unbelievable bucket list experiences that if we were to try and date someone new they would think we were jaded or arrogant or cocky if we talk about those things and they have never been further than the motorway to the other side of Cape Town. I would need a wealthy worldly man, except they are all looking for 20 year old yoga teachers so this old crone is pretty much going to be single if Norm finally decided he could not tolerate me any longer.
Please let that not happen. I shall stop thinking in case I manifest something dreadful.
*Blanks out brain*.
Today I have a women’s group get together at one of our friend’s house. She has just recently bought and taken ownership of it and we are all so excited to see it. Sunday I have some new planters to put some clippings in and my birds to look after and that is just enough to occupy my day.
I hope you all have a lovely weekend. Until next time, Kisses from the Kitten xoxoxox
Kitten in the City 