Recently, when Spar Market had some confusion over ordering my new favorite wine, Spiers 5.5% (very low alcohol) Chenin Blanc, I resorted to contacting the winery to ship 24 bottles from their website. The cost of the wine, with free shipping, was only US $108.80, ZAR 1765, which equates to US $4.53, ZAR 73.42 per bottle.
This tasty low alcohol wine is perfect for me since I get the “feeling” of enjoying a glass of wine without the effects; no tipsy feeling and no hangover. Typically I drink only two glasses in the evening. A regular white wine can have an alcohol content of 13.5% to 15%. This Spiers wine at 5.5% is ideal for me. We keep it in the outdoor fridge, where it stays ice cold.
I placed the online order last Friday, and it was scheduled to arrive at Louise’s office, the Info Centre, on Thursday. But as it turned out, Louise and Danie were out for part of the day, so I asked the winery to have the driver deliver it to our house nearby. For some odd reason, the driver couldn’t find our home and drove around Marloth Park for an hour.
Finally, he reached me by phone, and I suggested he return to the Info Centre, and Tom would meet him there to collect the wine, which worked out in the end. House numbers here are inconsistent and don’t necessarily run in sequential numerical order. A driver unfamiliar with that fact could easily get confused. For this reason, we have everything we order shipped to the Info Centre.
Yesterday morning when Vusi was cleaning, he replaced the ceiling light in the kitchen. He turned off the power to install the new fixture. When he tried to turn the power back on, it wouldn’t go back. Within a few hours, the electrician was here, looking for a solution. We were without power for about five hours. Tom placed the bowl of ice in the refrigerator, and our food survived. By afternoon, the power was back on.
The electrician is back again today, fine-tuning whatever he’d done to fix the power and working on a few other issues. The washer repairman was here to repair the washer, but it’s still not working right. TIA, This is Africa, and stuff happens. But Louise and Danie stay on top of all this, and we don’t have a complaint in the world. They couldn’t be more conscientious and thoughtful of our needs.
Once the electrician is done, we’ll be off to Komatipoort to do our grocery shopping for the last time before we leave for Zambia and Botswana in eight days. Mainly, we’ll be getting food for Sunday night’s friends/readers sundowner party. Tomorrow, we’ll share the menu in the post.
The animals began to return to the garden after the holiday period ended on Tuesday. Today, we’ve seen kudu, bushbucks, warthogs, wildebeests, nyala family, impalas, hornbills, and more. Last night, the mongoose stopped by at sunset for dinner. We gave them meat scraps, eggs, and paloney, which they devoured in seconds.
We had a lovely dinner of leftovers and hunkered down well after dark to stream a few shows and get outside our heads wrapped up in mindless drivel. We love each aspect of our everyday; breakfast on the veranda with good food and coffee, later working on our post and financial projects, listening to podcasts while we work. At 4:00, we do sundowners, sometimes with my wine and a drink for Tom, and at other times, iced tea in our mugs. Then, we have dinner on the veranda or at the dining room table.
We never eat snacks at sundowner time unless we have guests, preferring to be hungry for our delicious dinners. Neither of us snacks during the day, preferring to avoid excess calories we don’t need.
We are taking off for Komatipoort for a quick stop at the pharmacy and then to Spar Market. It’s a perfect weather day at 84F, 29C, with a cooling breeze. Right now, one Big Daddy, bushbuck Gordon Ramsey, three impalas, and Norman are hovering in the dense bush. Lollie has been leaving in the afternoons to take a mud bath nearby. When she arrives here, she’s covered in mud. Photos will follow next time we see her.
Be well.
Photo from one year ago today, August 12, 2021:
