The weather was cooler this morning with overcast skies.  However, by 10 it had cleared to blue skies and sunshine.

From today I am taking part in a Lockdown Garden Survey.  This involves noting down the number and species of birds that visit my garden during the Lockdown period. At least three times a week I need to observe and record the birds that visit in a 10 minute period in the morning.  This information must be filled in on a spreadsheet and submitted to the PhD student that is doing the research.  In addition, a list of all the birds seen in the garden can be recorded separately.   This gives my garden birding a bit of purpose and is quite fun.

Two speckled mousebirds at the water feeder

We had a visitor to our house today!   A local policeman popped in to confirm that we had given a bicycle to our gardener.   I thought it was inappropriate that he entered our house without a mask but the Earl kept a two-meter distance while he answered his questions and the cop filled in the relevant forms.  Our poor gardener was under suspicion for stealing the bicycle but we assured the policeman that it was indeed his and the confiscated bicycle would be returned to him.  Personally, I think it should not have been confiscated in the first place.  Surely you are innocent until proven guilty and not the other way round?     The poor young man has been without his bicycle, his only form of transport,  for two weeks!

Life in Lockdown is not too bad.  We’re all into a good routine and coping with our work, chores and projects. The garden has become a walking circuit,   my Italian is improving and Lollz and I are feeling the benefits of our daily workouts.

Lollz on a break from work – a quick walk around the garden.

There are now 1353 cases of Coronavirus in South Africa.  Five people have died.  

The Western Cape has 310 cases and only one death.   There are no reported cases in Sruisbaai or Cape Agulhas.

It’s the first day of a new week and Lollz was back at toiling online but during her ‘lunch break’ she and the Earl popped off to the shop to replenish our stocks.  While they were gone I mopped the floors without fear of anybody messing them up before they dried.  When they returned they reported that the car park was almost full as many other residents had decided that Monday should be shopping day!   The shelves were well-stocked, the staff were wearing masks and gloves and all the shoppers kept 2m meter distance in the queue to the checkout.

Part of my routine during lockdown is to blog every day and I love to do the Share Your World challenge on a Monday so I am combining that with this post today.

Here are my answers to this week’s questions.

Pancakes, waffles or French Toast as your breakfast favourite? 

None of the above.  I believe the above are American favourites but they certainly not popular in South Africa.  My youngest child did go through a phase of wanting waffles for breakfast when she was in primary school.  I was desperate for her to eat so I gave in and got frozen ones that you could cook in the toaster and serve with maple syrup!  She also went through a croissant stage and I must admit that when I am in Europe that is my breakfast of choice!  One day when I visit the USA, I will certainly try pancakes for breakfast.

My favourite breakfast is egg scrambled with bacon, banana, mushroom and tomato.

I am also not averse to having fried eggs, bacon, boerewors and tomato.

Do you think a person’s name influences the person they become?

I think several things influence the person you become and yes, I believe your name plays quite an important part in that.  When I was a child if you had an unusual or unpopular name you would be mocked mercilessly.   So certainly those of my generation would have been affected by such teasing.   I taught on and off for 40 years and name fashions changed a lot during that time.  In the later years the more unusual the name the better.  Children today do not bat an eyelid at whatever strange appellation you happen to have.   I have come across names such as Acorn, Starlight, Skye, Storm and many other weird and wonderful names which were unheard of in the 1960s and nobody cared.

Would things get better or worse if humans focused on what was going well rather than what’s going wrong?

I really believe that concentrating on the positive if far better than the opposite.  I believe that every cloud has a silver lining.   I don’t believe the bad should be ignored though.  If there is a problem, work at sorting it out instead of just complaining about it.  Imagine if Coronavirus was simply ignored.  Our species would become extinct.  Fortunately, the powers that be have put things in place to flatten the curve.  We need to follow the rules while still looing on the bright side.

Is math(s) something that humans created or something we discovered? Is looking at reality mathematically an accurate representation of how things work?

It is something we discovered. Mathematics is the abstract science of number, quantity, and space. Animals use mathematics without knowing what it is don’t they?   Humans have given it a name and developed it into a discipline.

I don’t understand mathematics very well but I suppose the answer to the second half of the questions is yes.

GRATITUDE

What are you grateful for right now?   I realize it’s difficult to be very positive right now, unless one is being positive that things are pretty awful.   Let’s spread the joy in gratitude!! 

It is Autumn/Fall in the southern hemisphere.  It’s the season I love best.   In the Western Cape, we call it the secret season because the weather is just awesome!  There is no wind, it’s sunny and it’s neither too hot nor too cold.  So here we are experiencing glorious weather but we can’t go out and play!  I am just so grateful that at least we have the garden and the birds that visit every day.

It is Sunday today.  The sun is shining brightly and oh how we would love to take a walk on the beach!

A memory!

Instead, we have taken a few turns around the garden and kept ourselves busy with the usual tasks we have set ourselves for the duration. Routine, it seems, is working well.

Our feathered visitor after spending the day with us yesterday has not returned from last night’s hunting excursion.  We’re hoping he will remember where we are and visit again some time.  We have contented ourselves by watching the smaller visitors to our bird feeder.

Cape White-eye (Witogie)

Cape Weaver

Cape Bulbul

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder is rearing its ugly head in our household.   I am used to it from The Earl but I am usually a little bit more laid back.  However, this darned disease is making me paranoid.   Every surface, light switch and handle gets sanitised to within an inch of its life – just in case I missed a spot yesterday and the virus is lurking and ready to pounce!  Handwashing continues obsessively of course but that’s not a bad thing!

Breakfast this morning was at its usual excellent standard.  This time it was eggs scrambled creamily with tomato, bacon, banana, mushrooms and ricotta cheese.

Lollz did some research on the best times to Yoga – before or after a cardio workout.  Turns out that it’s best to do your cardio first and finish with stretching and strengthening exercises.  Warming up and cooling down is very important.  So now instead of starting the day with yoga we will do our cardio in the afternoons and finish with Adrienne

Lollz and me doing our cardio workout

This afternoon I had a long video chat with my friend in Teneriffe.  Things are not great in Spain but Teneriffe is not as badly affected.  I am so grateful for modern technology that even during a time like this we can keep in touch with friends far away.

Lollz also had a few online chats with friends both here and around the world.

Stats for today:-

Total in South Africa – 1187  – Western Cape – 271

Only one person has died.  At first, we thought there were two but the second is not confirmed. I don’t think it was from Coronavirus.

As far as I know, there are still only 7 cases in our district – The Overberg.

And so our first weekend on Lockdown ends. Tomorrow Lollz returns to ‘work’ online.  Our day should start a little earlier.   What new events will present themselves?  We need to go to the shop.  Watch this space for the next exciting episode!

As it is Saturday today, Lollz did not have to ‘go to the office’.  We woke up quite early but after checking social media on our phones we went back to sleep and only got up after 9:00 am!  Breakfast was a grand affair with our personal chef giving us a restaurant-quality meal of perfectly done egg on a fried banana with tomato and bacon.  Coffee was brewed in the Italian Pot and it was all totally delicious.

The latest stats show that there are 7 cases of Corona Virus in our district, The Overberg.  This is a large area.  I don’t think there are any in Agulhas/Struisbaai – yet!

The young German lad we met in Kruger National Park in February and who we met up with in Cape Town a few weeks ago messaged to tell me that he had managed to get the last flight home to Germany. He had a work visa here for a year and it’s so sad that his plans had to be changed due to Corona.  We wish you well, Joey, and hope you come back when all this is over!

Lollz and I both agree that no matter what we will get up, dress up and put on makeup even if there is nobody to see us! Sloppiness, I believe, just puts you into a depressive state!    So if you video-call us, we won’t look too scary.

Lollz had a few social video calls during the day,  I did my normal chores, a few Italian lessons on Duolingo and read some blog posts.   In the late afternoon, we did our usual exercise routines. The Earl is by nature hyperactive.   So he has embarked upon a project to clear up his paperwork.   Today he also did a few repair jobs in his workshop.

At midday today, Lollz and I took a walk around the garden.  She sat on the bench to enjoy the sunshine and I checked on the plants in the rockery.  Then I heard a clicking sound and looked up into these big, yellow eyes.

The sound was him clicking his beak which is its typical warning to not come any closer.  However, he did not fly away!   We have often seen this Spotted Eagle-owl along with its partner on the windowsill of a house in our street.  However, they have not been there for a long time now.   What made him appear on our garden fence?  Does he know that we’re birders and are missing seeing him down our road?    My friend, Hanny, says they are good luck!  Perhaps he has come to protect us from the virus.

On the other hand, we have a feral rabbit in our garden who was strangely conspicuous by its absence at the time we spotted the owl.  Perhaps he hopped away when he became aware of this scary raptor.  However, he reappeared at about 5 pm and he took absolutely no notice of the owl and vice versa.

A very happy bunny

Close encounter with a Spotted Eagle-owl

The owl was certainly the highlight of our day.

In the evening we had a good South African braai and then went outside to look at the sky.

Is it my imagination or is the moon more beautiful than ever before?

South Africa’s Lockdown due to Covid 19 began at 12:00 am today.  I live in Struisbaai close to Agulaha, the southern tip of Africa.   It is a small seaside village where a large number of the population are retirees.   Many of the homes are only used at weekends and during school holidays.  Schools were due to close for the holidays between 20 and 30 March but because of the current crisis, they closed on 18 March until further notice. Those who planned to spend that time at their holiday homes in our area came as usual and many are not returning until the lockdown is over!   However, there was also an exodus from Struisbaai and Agulhas.  Retirees have left to spend the duration with their families in the city.   Our youngest daughter, on the other hand, decided it would be better for her to come here so there are three of us keeping each other company during our forced house arrest.  Our street is very quiet.  Nobody is in residence on either side of us and there is also nobody in the house opposite.   In fact, very few houses in our street are occupied.

We are only allowed to leave the house if absolutely necessary – to buy food, medicine or seek medical attention.

I am keeping a close eye on the progress of the disease in our country.   The numbers of people infected have risen rapidly so that this morning there are over 1000.  Sadly two young women died this morning.  One was 45 years old and the other only 28.  The older woman was in a private hospital and the younger in a government hospital.  They were both in our province – The Western Cape.

It is incomprehensible to me how some people are not taking the situation seriously.  Two people who tested positive with Coronavirus were arrested in Johannesburg.  They broke their quarantine regulations.   Other chancers in Gauteng were fined for being on the streets for no good reason.

Alcohol and cigarettes will not be on sale during the lockdown.

It is going to be a challenge getting through the next several weeks with little or no social contact.

It is a stunning day today and we would have taken full advantage of it!  But – No walks on the beach.  No visiting the harbour.  No looking for the stingrays nor watching the fishermen bring in their catch!

Instead, just after 8, my daughter, Lollz and I flung the windows wide, laid down our mats, opened the recording of “Freedom Flow yoga with Adrienne”  which was set in front of a calm river.   We imagined we were right there with her!  We plan to do a different Adrienne routine every morning.

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While Earlie made breakfast and Lollz got started on her workday online, I did an Italian lesson.  Then I swept and mopped the floors and cleaned the bathroom and kitchen. Lollz said the house is going to be so clean because I’m doing it every day just to stop becoming bored!  Well, the cleaner I have in from time to time is working from home – she sent me instructions about what to do!

I also did the ironing while listening to BBC Sounds Women’s Hour podcast.

Lollz and I took a walk around the garden and I saw a few chores I could set The Earl to do.   I’ve pulled some weeds and got him to transplant a few things from one place to another!

After Lollz finished her day ‘at work’ we did our cardio workout with Leslie Sansone.

This week Sparks asks some more light-hearted questions.  Here are my answers.

Can you bake a cake?   (credit for this question goes to Di, who asked it on her post 

https://pensitivity101.wordpress.com/2020/02/29/its-a-mystery/

recently.   Thanks Di! After last week’s SYW, we needed a little bit of sweet and light!)

Yes, I can bake a cake but I seldom do.  

I l

What’s one thing that can instantly make your day better?

Seeing the birds in my garden

Lesser Double-collared Sunbird

When you were a kid, did you eat the crusts on your sandwich or not?

No, sandwiches with crusts go stale faster, don’t they?   I refused to eat my sandwiches if they had crusts on them.  I was an indulged child – for a while my mom would make me ‘rainbow’ sandwiches without crusts but I went off those too and refused to eat anything at school.  I would come home starving and have sardines on toast and a cup of cocoa.

What’s something your family would be surprised to learn about you?

I enjoy alone time but that doesn’t mean that I don’t enjoy their company too!

AND (of course)

GRATITUDE IS AN ATTITUDE!

Please feel free to share some gratitude from this past week (or month or year).  This is purely optional of course, but it does tend to uplift everyone (I happen to think) to read some happy and/or joyful thoughts or view some uplifting pictures.    Thank you if you do so! 

Six weeks ago a routine blood test showed that both the Earl and I had pre-diabetic levels of sugar.   The integrative doctor who we’re consulting tweaked our diet, put us on some supplements and recommended taking a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in hot water every morning.  And it worked!  She tested our sugar levels yesterday and we’re both within normal range!  For this, I am hugely grateful.