My friends and family often have a laugh about ‘Lisa’s World’ which consists of what I see with my bad vision. On Tuesday I was sitting in the pool and I spotted what looked like a screen of some sort. Was it a camera? A listening device? Who would be interested in what two geriatric people and their pets get up to? Was the news out that I had gone skinny-dipping a few weeks ago??

As soon as Norm got home from walking the dogs I asked him to check it out.

He walked over and pulled down half of a bird feeder still on the string. Obviously the wind destroyed it. We both had a laugh about the levels of paranoia I had worked myself into by the time he got home.

I am still amazed at how the universe has delivered once I decided to let more people into my life and be more sociable. Every weekend I have met up with a friend and that continued last week and this week.

Last Sunday my friend Bennii came to pick me up and we went down to Rock Chic to have a look around. It was Market Day in the village and it was so busy. We found parking down by the post office and walked down to the shop. It was a lovely sunny day and it was nice to be out and about. Bennii found some things to buy. After we finished shopping we walked around to The Collective. We chatted to Chef Tam and told her how lovely it all looked. It was my first time there but I will definitely go back.

We were seated at a table in the shade and we went up to fill our plates from the buffet.

The food was lovely. There were several chicken dishes, beautiful fluffy rice, hasselback potatoes, several salads, spanakopita, a pasta dish and several types of vegetables. You could have eaten a lovely meal whether you were a vegetarian or you were a carnivore.

Bennii and I talked while we munched happily on our food. It had been several years since we had seen each other so we had a lot to catch up on. We met back in the years when Cape Town was holding all of the Twitterati events. We are originally twitter friends but even though I am not on ‘X’ we are still connected. We discovered we are at similar points in our lives and how much we have in common. The conversation flowed and we talked over each other but kept the flow going.

We talked about the kind of energy that we respond to in other people, both partners or friends. We talked about my husband always being supportive of me. I had gotten dressed and I came downstairs wearing very bright, huge trousers and a vivid pink top. I asked Norm how it looked because the trousers were new and 2 sizes too big and I am colour blind. As the new trousers were drawstring I could keep them up and he said they fell nicely and did not look too big. He told me that the trousers did not have any of the pink that matched my top and he went up to get other tops that did. He brought them downstairs and we held them up and he was completely correct. I changed to the burgundy top in my pic and it matched perfectly! I loved that not only did he not make fun of my clown trousers but he gently guided me and did not use any negativity or shame to do so. He is so perfect for me, he always builds me up and never tears me down and I respond well to the maternal Cancerian energy he exudes.

Bennii and I came back to my house and Bennii popped in for a minute to tour the house renovations then headed back up the motorway as she had a 45 minute drive home. We vowed not to leave it so long next time.

I am constantly reading from different sources about Neurodiversity. This is for both self-education and to help me understand myself and others. I thought this graphic was very on point for me. I hope it resonates with some of you as well.

Everything in the ‘Overlap’ part of the Venn diagram is something I struggle with, or is a part of me. I have been able to accept a lot of my ‘quirks’. My stimming is either increasing or my awareness has shifted so that I notice it more often. Many times it is someone else pointing it out that makes me aware of what my hands are doing. But I am comfortable enough with my needs now to, for example, say to the ultrasound technician that I am autistic and to ignore any movements or sounds I make as I find it very challenging to stay still.

Speaking of which my GP rang to discuss the results of my scan. She says that my growths are non-cancerous type and we just need to monitor it annually. I know I mentioned it last week but those were Lisa assumptions of the meaning of the medical terminology. This is now proper facts.

Back to the venn….in regards to object permanence I definitely struggle with this. Time between seeing people passes with no notice and then I think ‘oh it has been forever!!’. My focus can easily stray when a shiny object goes past or a bird tweets. We all know I have special interests and that the fairy garden is not only special to me but it also my visual stim spot. I have multiple twirling items I can watch for hours as well as my lizards. It is how I regulate myself.

On Monday morning the animals were all surrounding me as usual. The relationship between Blue kitty and Finn is so interesting. They love all over each other every morning after breakfast.

It got up to 30℃ on Tuesday. It was hot and airless. Then we heard helicopters going over the house and saw a report of another fire. This one was in the bush, not in a residential area.

Norm opened the pool for Finn and I as it was unbearably hot. I sat on the steps listening to the helicopters and watching them fly overhead.

It was loud but at least it was interesting to watch.

They carried on until almost 7pm when the light started to fade. It is too dangerous to fly at night obviously.

I spent the evening in a sarong and t-shirt and nothing else, it felt like being on holiday. It was just too hot to be civilised.

Norm went to get something for dinner and he picked up sushi for me. I had my usual, prawn tempura, prawn roses and prawn cucumber roses. Can you tell prawns are my fave thing in the world?

On Wednesday we woke to a gentle rain which proceeded to get stronger as the day went on. We heard the choppers start up soon after we woke up. When I went to the hill to pray I saw the fires were starting up again and could be seen clearly from our house.

The rain grew steadily until it grounded the choppers and the pilots handed the responsibility over to Mother Nature. We had gentle rains on an off and the choppers stayed grounded until very late in the day. We thought it strange they would start up again so late.

Our dinner had arrived by then so I sat at my desk to watch a series while I ate and Norm went outside to watch the choppers. After a few minutes he heard a loud noise and saw intense flames around the chopper and most of the residents of the cul-de-sac all came outside also. A chopper had crashed. It appears the rotor clipped the side of the mountain.

We could see the rescue teams converging on the flaming chopper. We then heard that the pilot was safe and we rejoiced that they survived! It was terrifying to watch, you felt such anguish for the pilot.

The following morning it was much cooler weather and we could see no remnants of the chopper, either it burned or was removed. I assume burned as it would be hard to move in the dark?

That day I had to facilitate a workshop with my new client. I am always so nervous when I had to present because you have to be able to interact as well as keep track of your presentation when people ask questions, basically an AuDHD nightmare and I was feeling panicky.

I put on FINNEAS ‘For Cryin Out Loud‘ and I sang it at the top of my voice while dancing. It shifted my energy from anxiety to excitement. I was very up during the presentation but crashed afterwards, however I think it went very well.

Yesterday I felt odd all day. Slightly out of sorts, just off key, nothing in particular other than not being ‘right’. I was riddled with anxiety about going out that night.

Last night Norm and I were invited to join some friends of his for dinner who are over from Europe. They booked at one of the wine farms at Jonkershuis Eatery in Constantia.

I was worried before hand about the evening as I always am. I chose a new kaftan that has beaded strings at the neck so that I would have something to fiddle with in the hopes it kept my hands busy.

We were first to arrive just as the sun was starting to set. As we walked closer to the restaurant we heard what sounded like an opera singer. As we got closer we realised it was just some dude who had been there all afternoon guzzling wine and was drunk off his face. Eventually the staff must have managed to convince him to either shut up or go home as the singing stopped.

There were 6 of us for dinner. From left is Grant and his wife Dr. Debbie, our hosts for the evening, Dame Sarah, my husband (MBE) and lil old anxious me. Sarah’s wife Rosie took the photo.

Debbie, Norman and Sarah have worked together internationally and the other three of us were spouses. The conversation flowed between the three of them and I had no clue who or what most of the topics of conversations were about.

Eventually we ordered, I was starving!! No one had starters. Three of us chose the kingklip that was on special for our main course. It was a lovely piece of fish and the crispy garlic potatoes were divine. I detest green beans.

Several people had the Seafood Linguine and it looked delicious.

We all had dessert except for Sarah who had an Irish Coffee. I had the cinnamon milk tart, a common South African dessert.

Norm had the Chocolate Nemesis.

Eventually we finished our dinner and headed home quiet late. When we got home we faffed about and went to bed even later. It was only then that I realised I had missed my morning anxiety medication. No wonder I was so agitated.

This morning I had an early morning appointment at Skin for a facial and threading. I spoil myself every 5 weeks or so. I was dead asleep at 9am when Norm came into the bedroom to ask if I had to be somewhere at 10. Oops. I was obviously in need of sleep. I just brushed my teeth, threw on a t-shirt and some comfy pants and headed to the spa.

After my facial I popped into the shop to get some snacks for tomorrow as I have some ladies coming over for a visit. One of them, Renata, owns a little pom like Poppy and she is bringing him. It is a boy and his name is Enzo. I hope my raucous beasts behave themselves and are nice to their new friend.

I hope you all have a great weekend. Remember to take your meds and drink water. Until next time, Kisses from the Kitten xoxoxoxo