Busy ambitious morning…

Nina and Norman are reunited. with their baby but she/he has yet to jump the little fence. This is a bushbuck that hangs out with Nina.

This morning, after breakfast of eggs and bacon, we headed to Komatipoort for groceries, wine, toiletries, over-the-counter products, and a few birthday cards for friends. The strip mall parking lot was packed, let alone the stores. We hadn’t shopped in a few weeks and needed quite a few items.

When we arrived at the pharmacy, generally our first stop, they were closed for another 40 minutes. We decided to do the other shopping and return. When we were done grocery shopping, amid the crowds at Spar Market, I walked down the outdoor mall to the pharmacy. I could barely open the door to enter. It was unbelievable.

We try not to purchase much frozen or perishable food but based on it requiring almost one hour of round-trip driving time to go to Komatipoort; we don’t like to go any more often than we have to. We can always make short trips to the local Marloth Park shops only five minutes from here, but they don’t always have the ingredients we use.

The baby is cute, but we still can’t determine the gender of the one-month old.

Somehow I managed to find the items I needed at the pharmacy with the help of a few helpful staff members and was out the door in about 20 minutes. Back at the house in the heat and high humidity, we sweated profusely while we put everything away. It’s a good thing we have the chest freezer and the outdoor refrigerator since the kitchen fridge doesn’t have much space, nor does the upper single-door freezer, which is mainly filled with ice cube trays and large zip-lock bags of ice.

Tom loved the chocolate cookies I made for him for Christmas, and I could tell he wanted more. Last week, I made a double batch which only resulted in 21 cookies, and we gave six of them to Louise and Danie, who also loved them. So I decided to make another double batch today and see if I can end up with 24 cookies, making them a little smaller. I never ate one of the cookies or tasted the dough. But I do remember them from years back and how good they are.

All the cooking I will do today is making the salad which is done, and baking the cookies in a few hours. The dough needs to chill in the refrigerator and will be ready around 4:00 pm, 1600 hrs., which is late to start baking, but the oven is big enough that I can bake them all at once.

This morning, the mongooses were here as soon as I went outdoors. Tom was in the bedroom while I chopped the paloney for them while in the kitchen. Suddenly, I noticed ten of them had followed me into the house. It didn’t take much to scoot them outside since I had the plate of paloney in my hands. Funny!

It feels good to have everything put away. The only project I have to complete this week is getting a call back from the insurance company to file the claim for our missing bags and make the food we’re bringing to Flo and JJ’s New Year’s Eve party. There’s enough pizza and uncooked, defrosted chicken breasts to get us to Friday when we’ll head to Jabula for dinner. The party on Saturday night is at a yet-to-be-determined location, but I’m sure we’ll hear soon.

I’ve managed to stay on track with my diet through the holidays and haven’t gained anything back from what I’ve lost so far. As mentioned in an earlier post, I made a keto cheese pie but only had a small piece each evening after dinner, which would last a few more days. Yes, we do indulge a little here and there during the holidays, but overall, we indulge very little. Rolling into the New Year with my diet will be easy, with no weight gain from the holidays. The same goes for Tom, who hasn’t gained weight, even eating the cookies.

A bushbuck. a kudu, and a duiker were all looking for pellets.

We just moved into the bedroom for some rest and some fan time. Some afternoons, around 2:00 pm, 1400 hrs., we try to nap for 20 minutes. I am only fortunate enough to fall asleep one out of 20 times, but Tom seems to do much better, never sleeping for more than 15 or 20 minutes. This is refreshing, especially on a scorching and humid day when we can cool off a little in the bedroom with the powerful fan sweeping over us.

As for my headache and facial pain, they are mostly gone. It only seems to bother me occasionally, and I can do nothing about it when it returns. Paracetamol/Tylenol doesn’t help, so I tough it out and go about my day. I have continued using the morning and evening Salex Nasal Rinse and four doses a day of Phytomer, all purchased over the counter. This combination has seemed to be the most helpful in keeping these horrible post-Omicron sinus issues at bay, 90% of the time.

That’s it for today, folks. Have a pleasant day.

Be well.

Photo from one year ago today, December 27, 2021:

On a drive in Marloth Park, we encountered this giraffe munching on a tree. For more photos, please click here.

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