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Monday, May 18, 2020

Lawn mowing services; Lockdown levels and playing with images

Hello dear Blogger friends. It's Sunday afternoon, winter in the Southern Hemisphere and I'm still sitting in my outdoor office and able to watch the garden birds flit in and out of the shrubs while the sun warms the lawn around my little cottage.  

On Friday I was sitting here working on my Weigh-Less menus and admin, when I heard the ride-on mower idling at my gate. I jumped up and opened the gate and let the driver in.

Normally John, my 75 year-old neighbor, mows my lawn, but today it was the garden lady, Nurse. Resplendent in skinny jeans,  gumboots and wearing her face mask.
 Nurse enters the garden riding the mower 
Doing a splendid job of mowing my lawn 

Watching Nurse on the mower, took me back to the days we lived on the mines in Africa. Grant used to tell me that women operators were far more reliable than men. They were never late; they never booked off sick; they treated the machine with great respect and kept it in immaculate condition. 

We're still in Lockdown although we've moved from Level 5 (complete house arrest) to Lockdown 4 where we are able to shop for clothing and have your vehicle serviced among a few privileges.  We are not permitted to visit others and to gather at all. We have to practice social distancing and wear our face masks when out in public. So far many South Africans are abiding by the law although there are several who think this  VYRASS is a white-man's disease which makes them invincible.

The sale of cigarettes and alcohol is still strictly prohibited which has created the sometimes dangerous brewing of your own liquor. There are illicit alcohol and cigarette sales at exorbitant prices. There is an ongoing argument against this law but only time will tell when it will be lifted. 

When we entered Lockdown level 4, Thandiwe asked if she could return to work.  I told her that she isn't permitted by law to work indoors so she cleans my veranda, hangs the washing and irons on the veranda table.  Once again, she has her midday meal here and takes fruit, vegetables and cat pellets home.  She also has more time to care for the garden which was a bit neglected when she had household chores. 

Last week s Joyce, Ron's house lady, and also working in the garden, helped Thandiwe to dig beds for vegetables. The next day John took them to the river where they cut intungas (branchlike poles) and brought them back to my garden. On Friday, Thandiwe cut these down to size and made a fence to keep Skabby out! 
Ambrose on the garbage bin. Thandiwe can be seen in the background 
building the protective fence with the poles lying on the lawn 

While walking along the farm road with Skabby, I stopped and took a photo of a thistle. It's a dreaded invasive weed, but made a beautiful subject. Back home here I decided to play with the functions on Word.
Original
Burlesque
Sauna
Zeke

The last image is my favorite; do you have one? 

Here's wishing you all a great new week. Be safe and keep well. 



11 comments:

  1. Love your photographic experiments.
    Your lockdown was considerably more severe than ours - and I hope it is working.

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  2. Like you Jo we have been on lockdown for weeks and only today you are allowed to go to plant nurseries and dumps but apart from that there is no change adn I think it will be a while before there is. I have been extremely busy particularly with my bird group who i teach on W A 5 days a week. I keep in contact with all my other groups in different ways. I am now trying to think" out of the box" in ways that some of these groups could operate when lockdown is lifted but we are still asked to social distance and that is a big challenge but keeps my mind active. Been doing a lot of gardening but miss going down to my old caravan and am dreading the height the grass will have grown when I do get down there! Anyhow stay safe and well.

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  3. Glad they have lifted some of the retrictions for you. I wonder why the ban on cigarettes and alcohol. I know a lot of people around here who would pay any price to get both.
    All your photos are lovely, I can't even choose a favorite.

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  4. Hello, Cute shot of Ambrose and I liked the original photo out of the edited versions. It will be nice when everyone can go back to their normal routines and jobs. Take care, stay safe! Enjoy your day, wishing you a happy new week!

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  5. my favorite is the orginal of the thistle but the filters, zeke is my favorite and i use it a lot also.. i am so happy for Thandiwi getting back to work. i know you will be happy when she can help inside. we are much the same here except starting today they have opened a lot more places. of course half the country are up in arms and protesting about the gove taking away our freed.om rights, 1/2 the country is about every subject... life is not simple for sure and I wish the news from here was out there for the ones who think it is a white man diesaes. here in USA the death rate for people of color is double what it is for white

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  6. My fav of the thistles is the last one. But my Number one pick is the garden with the fence assembly in progress. What a lovely environment. Thanks for the glimpses of a spot on the globe I will likely never see in person!

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  7. The version I like is the burlesque, it has a dreamy feel to it. Pubs are closed here until August. We just entered phase 1 of 5 phases. Some workers can go back to work but not much really has changed for us. If you don't have to go out then we are advised to stay in. Only can go 5km from our house for exercise. We have been busy reading, going for a walk and grocery shopping. That's about it. I hope you are doing fine and have a wonderful week. Stay safe, Jo!

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  8. I like Sauna. Every country seems to have different regulations. Our restrictions are slowly being eased. We are in Level two now. We are allowed 5 visitors inside and groups of 10 outside with distancing. We can go 150 k away from home. Its getting cold here now.

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Thank you for visiting my blog and taking the time to leave a comment. I appreciate your feedback. Jo