25.4. 2020 Lockdown Day 30
On midnight Friday we entered in our lockdown week 5.
Our lockdown system has been categorised into 5 phases.
Full lockdown as we have it is phase 5. From next Friday, 1. May we will enter into phase 4 which is essentially the same…
This time there is no time limit which makes everything a bit harder to endure.
So nobody knows how long we will be in phase 4 and if we will get phase 3 afterwards or – i guess if the virus rages harder- we might have to go back to 5.
Who knows.
We are doing very well here in our house.
Beulah and i are getting used to the new normal. It is only our poor dogs who are getting cabin fever. Their energy levels are overflowing which ends up more often in vicious dogfights where blood flows.
Very freaky and stressful for us.
If i can only take them to the beach for a walk every now and then once we are in phase 4. Then everything will be alright.
Going shopping used to be a bit of a taste of freedom in the beginning. A treat everybody looked forward to. By now, shopping is a pain. We really don’t want to be out with all these horrible people who probably all carry the curse !!!
Only joking.
Corona is still not too bad over here. Currently we have 4220 infections and 79 deaths.
Apart from house and garden work there is not much to do.
Whenever we get a really good idea for the business we shelve it for later…
Time is on our side.
Project Unshaven
On the first day of lockdown i stopped shaving.
This sounds like the natural thing to do. Save time and troubles and just let it grow.
Oh dear…so , so wrong.
Not to shave is trouble !!!
In the beginning one looks like shit. Grey fungus is shading ones pretty face and throat.
Overnight one ages for years…
I really had to force myself not to shave. Every time i looked into the mirror i saw how damn old i really am…
After 3-4 days it starts to itch. Permanently one’s hand is in the face scratching and rubbing as if one had fleas.
A little later the hairs start to prick. Sometimes this can be really painful.
After about a week one starts looking a bit better. The fungus is gone and it no longer looks as if one can’t afford the water bill.
Then the first pimple arrives and is here to stay for weeks. One never stops pushing and scratching it.
We are learning new things on a daily basis since the pandemic.
So i have learnt that a normal person touches his face about 2000 – 3000 times a day.
Not in my case.
My hand is almost permanently in my face to scratch. As soon as i drop it, my face goes mad.
Maybe i will count it one day, but i estimate rather 5000 – 10000 times touching face a day .
After 3 weeks the stuff becomes denser. One really needs to dry one’s face after a wash. Else you carry a trail of water right through the house.
The night is also becoming a problem.
A few days ago i was lying on my side. My cheek must have been slightly squashed which caused a few hairs to touch my nose and tickle me awake.
It took some time to find a neutral position…
Two days ago i must have laid on my arm. The one i always carry a bangle on.
Some of the damn hairs got stuck in the links of my bangle….Oh man, the pain was excruciating. My night was done.
I was close to go too the bathroom and make an end of this horror show…But no, i am sticking it though.
For you, my friends !!!
Until life is normal again….
18.4. 2020 Lockdown Day 23
So, guys, i first had to check the date…but who cares ?
I also believe it is Saturday today. Really ? And then what !!???
Three weeks of lockdown have gone past. And then we got another two on top.
What will happen at the end of this month ?
Nobody knows…
I actually don’t even want to mingle with other people while this shitty virus is all over the place.
A lot of people don’t take this virus serious. They treat it as a big joke. But so far, here in South Africa we ‘only’ have about 2800 infected people and 50 dead.
It seems as if the virus doesn’t like Africa very much.
Did we not even reach the beginning of the curve ? Or are we so lucky and get away with a close shave ?
Nobody knows…
So we have no option but to spend our time in our lovely home.
Normally you work a lifetime for your home to make it really beautiful and cosy and you never get enough time to enjoy it all.
Until now…
I get up at 7am and let the dogs out.
Then i go back to bed and read my book til 8am
At 8am i go downstairs and make a cup of coffee for me and Beulah. If the weather is nice, we have it outside in the garden, if it is fresh we drink our coffee while we watch CNN and see what happens in the world.
Around 9am i make breakfast. Not just slap dash. Proper !!! Yes.
From 10am it is house and garden working time.
Unbelievable how much dust and dog hairs are daily on the floors.
Also outside, the work never stops.
Two days ago it was grass cutting time.
I have moved a lot of lawn in my life, but this is something else.
Man, oh man !!!
I am done, broken. Totally finished.
We have an almost new electric mover which works very well, but it has no gears and needs to be pushed and pulled around. Damn …
And as that box fills up with grass, soil and dog shit, it gets heavier and heavier.
Plus, my lawn is on a slope too…
First day i done about thirty squares and had to take the rest of the day off. Almost needed a doctor’s note…my back is cooked.
Yesterday i finished it.
It got stuck in the lawn all the time and tripped the power. 20 times is not enough.
When the bloody thing didn’t want to run at all anymore i flipped it over.
The blade was mangled, boet.
I unscrewed the blade and knocked it straight again with a hammer. It worked like a dream until it got stuck again.
5,6 times i had to take the blade out to knock it back in shape. In the end i just took the water pliers and bent it more or less good.
Obviously it is so worn that i bends easy. I thought at first it is my garden..uneven.
But i got the job done. It looks lovely and i was sweating like a dog and just dropped into my 20˚C cold pool.
This machine is designed to make my garden boy happy. He is as strong as an ox and loves nothing more but a good physical workout.
Keeps the worries away…and these are all over the place.
It is indeed scary if one sees what is going on in the world and how far man is from the solution. No end in sight.
All these parked aeroplanes must first be re-certified. They need to do test flights as all the oil and fuel has been drained.
The pilots must bring their flying hours up to date.
The crews and airport employees must return to work and shake off all the rust.
And when all that is done, who on earth is going to book a ticket to another country and risks getting stuck there should the virus flare up again ???
It will take time, that’s for sure.
After more than three weeks lockdown i miss the following :
1-Diving Protea Banks, for sure
2-Going to a restaurant with Beulah
3-The freedom to travel or go somewhere just to get a change of scenery
4To take the dogs to the beach
What i don’t miss:
1-Masses of people all over the place
2-Getting up at 5am
3-Having hectic stress at work
4-Running around all day doing stuff…never stopping, never sitting
5-Going from shop to shop and buying shit
6-Getting pissed off with employees
7-Never at home
8-No time for my dogs
When i am relaxed i want to take photos and read a book.
That is what i do these days. Normally this only happens on holiday.
After the housework is done i go upstairs into my loft room. This usually happens around 2pm.
I sit on my balcony, crack a can of beer and read my book.
At around 6pm i go down and make something nice to eat for us.
Of course we have zero income these days. Nothing, nada, f***all. Only the running costs keep knocking on the door.
Lucky Beulah and i have a high level of business discipline. We don’t use money we haven’t earned yet ( like deposits made ) and we don’t just blow large sums if we can.
We live a normal life, travel lots and stick away what we don’t need. With this we can hang out for a little bit longer.
We all got to go through this, and doing it positively is definitely better….
12.4. 2020 Happy Easter
We from African Dive Adventures, Roland, Beulah, Spike, Steven. Brendon and Nkosi wish you all a Happy Easter 2020.
We are in the most difficult of all times, no end in sight and outcome totally unclear.
For many if not all of us life as we know it will change.
But one thing is for sure : we will carry on living and doing what we love most.
Man is resilient and can adapt to pretty much anything.
So we will find our happiness again, maybe in a slightly different form.
For Today i think we should put the worries aside and concentrate on the peace and tranquility Easter is meant to give to us.
Be positive , think of all the good and happy times we had during our life so far and look forward to a lot of happiness and good times in future.
Happy Easter and please look after yourselves
6.4. 2020 Lockdown Day 11
I have to look back and calculate the lockdown day number and the day of the week.
The days are just flowing into each other.
We actually didn’t want to work on Saturday and Sunday but one automatically does stuff.
Since months i have actually made the effort and brought the pillows out for the garden furniture.
What an absolute pleasure.
Today is Monday, cleaning day. If actually feels like spring cleaning.
Somebody has brought all the dust and dog hair back into the house. Damn…
Same in the garden. I am sure, somebody dug out all the dog kak and distributed it across the lawn…
Total disaster.
I think my house staff deserves a raise…
Today i wanted to start the old Toyota Prado again. The battery is completely flat.
I hooked up the battery charger and left it for a couple of hours.
It does not take long for stuff to deteriorate if it is not in use.
I drove to the diver villa to check if everything is alright there.
It has barely been 2 weeks and already the place looks tired.
Everywhere there are leaves, rubbish blown in from the wind and blossoms.
The mauls messed up the lawn. The pool cleaner is in pieces and the plug for the pool pump has burnt out completely.
Palm leaves are obstructing the drive way.
Although i am not allowed, i drive through the neighbourhood to charge the battery.
I can see how everywhere nature is chasing civilisation out. It goes quick.
We see on TV what happens in Amerika and Europe…
So far we are sitting comfortably here in South Africa. Dear, oh Dear…
3.4. 2020 Lockdown Day 8
Seven days are behind us now. So far, so good.
Life at home is not bad at all.
In many ways it is a dream come true…
Yes we have no income and the costs are running, but everybody else in the whole wide world has the same problem. So for me, i push it aside and enjoy the time.
We’ll fix the damage later…or even later…
Our days at home are not completely idle at all.
Although i hardly touch the computer, the e mails and paperwork of all sorts, i seem to be busy all the time.
All the jobs one never does are calling now.
Shitty little things like attaching the bath-plug to its chain. Can you believe it?
This job can take a long time. First you have to see why the plug is not on the chain.
Then you have to think what kind of tools you need to fix it.
Go and get the tools and come back up to the bathroom,.
Fix the problem
Go back down and pack the tools in their place before they walk…
Besides house and garden jobs we also have to keep our place clean and tidy.
I am David the garden boy and Beulah is Prian , the maid.
But in fact i am Prian too…
So at 7 am i normally get a wet tongue slapping over my face. When i open my eyes i look into the cute little faces of Naughty and Nuisance, our youngest dogs.
I love it !!!
Time to get up and open the house so all the doggies can do their thing, whatever this is..
Then i go to my lovely coffee machine and make myself a Cappuccino.
With this i go either upstairs to my beloved room on the roof or , if Beulah is up to it we go sit in front of the house and enjoy the calm and quiet .
Thereafter, around 8 – 8h30 i grab the broom and dustpan and sweep the hole house, upstairs and downstairs.
There is a ton of dust and dog hairs. I swear i could make a new dog with all the hairs i sweep up. It is a bak job, that i can tell you. Sweaty and full of dust myself.
As i sweep, millions of small dust particles become airborne and settle on my sweaty skin.
All those i didn’t catch in my nose and lungs…
Today it is new bedding day as well as pool service and watering day.
A never ending workload.
Oh yes, i almost forgot, to make matters worse, it ia also collect dog kak day…
Working in one’s garden is a fruitless endeavour.
You can work up a sweat of note and get things really nice and the very next day the decay begins.
My lawn beckons me. As if it knows that i am the poor soul who will have to cut it next. There are thousands and thousands of grass leaves showing me the finger while all the other grass leaves are giggling at me.
Pissers, you can be glad you are alive , i think. Could have just as well tared the entire garden….
In the meantime i worked up a proper sweat and finish it off on the old stepper.
I want to heat myself up so much that i can just jump into our 22˚ chilly pool.
15 minutes work out is enough. The water is so, so, soooo nice. !!!!!
I am listening to the multiple species of birds which seem to be so much more prevalent since life as we knew it had come to a stand still.
Vervet monkeys are playing on the neighbour’s roof, Hadihah Ibises are openly frolicking . Even the plants seem to grow faster now…
Beulah volunteered to cook us something special as a reward for hard , useless and yet necessary work well done.
It is a 550g lazy ages steak with some healthy stuff.
A bottle of sparkling wine adds class to the moment. Stunning.
Beulah says, you gotta drink out of a good glass whatever you drink. Because you never know what happens tomorrow….
Not looking good at this stage.