Sunday
Today was the day…
I swam in the sea for the first time in a number of years. It was wonderful. It was the first time I swam when the shark nets were out. It afforded me the opportunity to swim out to the blue buoy and back. With the shark net in place, I felt so safe, not from sharks, I must add, but just having a barrier to grab onto if I needed it. I’ll definitely be doing that again. This is an old photo but it has the shark net in it…
It is possible to swim to the end of the shark net and get out onto the cat walk, but there was a lot of sea weed and far more pleasant to just turn around and swim back. I loved every moment.
The visit to the beach to swim was the second walk of the day. The first was to the shop to pick up some final ingredients for the cake. The Christmas cake turned out to be quite experimental. When Granny used to make it, she was very particular about keeping the doors and windows to the kitchen closed. She didn’t want to upset the temperature inside the oven. Well today was a beautiful day. This is from our balcony…
Here are the doors, thrown wide open with Mike reading the paper…
The cake would have to get with the programme because on a day like today, these doors were made to be opened. The cake went into the oven and baking began. Then Mike and I decided to go to the beach. With the cake due to be checked on at 2:15pm, we had plenty of time. On our return, the moment we walked in the door, I knew something was wrong. I couldn’t smell the cake. On investigation, our cake became an even more experimental model. The oven only works when the timer is on and I didn’t leave enough time on it for our beach visit. When the time was up, the oven turned off. Instead of a steady 140C, it was now 90. Oh dear! I put it on again and hours passed. At the 3.5 hour mark, I took it out and it was still raw inside, so back in it went and another one and a half hours passed. Voila!
It turned out well. If I have any criticism, I think it may not have risen quite as much as previous ones. One down, two to go.
The wind has picked up this afternoon. It’s due to die down tomorrow again. One of the things I did not expect when we moved here is that because we are high up and have more view than previously, it brings us closer to nature, making the wind and weather patterns far more noticeable. This morning on our way out, we saw one of the starling chicks had ventured out. A scrawny little thing with scraggly feathers sitting uncertainly in our tree. Mother bird was close by, just keeping an eye. It was fun to see, although they mustn’t decide to nest under out eaves!
Another walk is about to happen. We need milk!
Covid numbers in the Western Cape –1454 new cases over the last 24 hours.
Covid 19 stats – South Africa –
- Friday 24th July – 13944 new cases (maximum we had in a day)– 250 deaths (245 771
- Sun 29 Nov – 2563 new cases – 38 deaths (730633 recoveries/35592 active)
- Mon 30 Nov – 2302 new cases – 58 deaths (731242 recoveries/37227 active)
- Tues 1 Dec – 2295 new cases – 109 deaths (732531 recoveries/ 38124 active)
- Wed 2 Dec – 4173 new cases – 65 deaths (734305 recoveries/ 40458 active)
- Thur 3 Dec – 4400 new cases – 94 deaths (739367 recoveries/ 39702 active)
- Fri 4 Dec – 4932 new cases – 160 deaths (740,450 recoveries/ 43,391 active)
- Sat 5 Dec – 4645 new cases – 104 deaths (744,298 recoveries/ 44084 active)
Total cases: 810449 Total deaths: 22067
Psalm 118:29
Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever.
The best is yet to come.
Keep the smile going.
God bless you.
In His Grip,
Helga xx 🙂
Braces:
2 years and 23 days.