Being Bugged by Bothersome Balderdash

It's funny how things that don't even matter can really bug me. I start my current post like this, because I've been trying to edit my previous (very girly) post about the flowers in my garden.

Irritating thing #1:

Every time that I edit the post, none of the pictures can remember where they're supposed to be. Most of the photos aligned to the right have jumped to the middle, and therefore skipped down to the next line. So, every time that I want to edit something about the post, I have to realign about a third of the pictures in the post. It's so tedious.

Irritating thing #2:

The text won't line up with a bunch of the pictures. It just won't. It automatically sits below the line that I want it to sit at, and it can't be brought up higher, because in the post editor, it's all perfectly in line. It's so irritating, and it doesn't matter at all in the grand scheme of things, and it bugs the hell out of me.

To wrap this up:

I keep telling myself that I will give up trying to fix it... But I keep on coming back to it over and over again. I gave up on it last night, but today Ben pointed out a spelling error in the post...

So I opened up the editor, realigned all of the pictures, corrected the typo, and updated the post. And checked the online version to make sure that everything looked right. (Oh no! That text looks horrible the way it's NOT lined up with that picture!) And tried about three times to fix the placement of the text again... Realigning those pictures each time. Sigh...

So, I'm making myself not look at it anymore. I'm sorry it's not perfect. But neither am I, okay? :P

NEXT TOPIC!

Today, Francois and I went on a VERY short cycle. We haven't gone in quite a while, first because of weather, then because of work, then because of... I can't remember the other excuses. Anyway. Francois went cycling yesterday and the day before, but this was my first ride in quite a while.

It was exhausting. We didn't go far. But tomorrow we plan to do that Saasveld trail that I mentioned wanting to try ages ago... So hopefully the weather holds! Otherwise I may have a valid excuse to be lazy tomorrow.

And another topic change.

After the cycle, while recovering on the couch in our nice, cool house (which will be horribly cold in winter, I just know it), Mommy asked if I was available for some face time. So, I hopped through the shower and headed over to the Hoekwil Café for a Hangout with the family. We chatted about blogging, and the ability to be honest with one's writing (which Ben is much better at than we are, or so it seems), and pulled very strange faces at each other. It was great! I like my strange, wonderful family.

Moving onto a bit of yummy goodness:

Once I used up all of my free data for the day at the Café, and cut into some of our monthly data as well, Francois and I headed on home. While he ventured into the forest to chop some trees down (he does that sometimes, it's his inner lumberjack shining through), I got to work preparing a yummy treat.

It wasn't much work. I basically made a variation of the wheat-free chocolate mug cake that I blogged about a few days ago. (There was some peanut butter and other random stuff in it this time. Yum!)

But that isn't where things ended.

Francois' mom, Janine, was here for a bit of a holiday with her Fiancé and his daughter. Before they headed back up to Pretoria, they popped by with a bunch of food that they didn't finish while they were here. We certainly didn't complain. (That means thank you very much!) Nestled in one of the bags of food was some yummy creamy pudding stuff.

So naturally, that went on top of the mug cakes.

The resulting puddings were creamy, chocolatey deliciousness!

I've only just finished mine now. It was remarkably filling, especially thanks to the added richness of the topping.


On that scrummy-licious note:

I've just made another one of these for Francois, and am now leaving my tablet for the computer, to watch some more of the silly series that I was watching the other night. It's called Shameless, and it's fairly funny. (It's a show about a huge family, but is not recommended for family viewing - so don't watch it with your eight year old.)

So, goodnight folks!

A Flowery Picture Post

Today I've decided to focus on something cheerful and pretty, to break the habit I'm getting into of thinking about depressing things. So here's a post about my garden! It includes lots of flowers and other random garden-associated things.

(I'm listening to Goldfish while writing this. Happy music!)

So, to begin with: Flowers!

I used to love popping these buds when I was a kid. These pretty things are outside the front of our house, surrounded by other huge plants, so are often overlooked.

I can't remember what these are called, but they're darn cute. They're on our balcony in a pot with other things that I don't know the names of, either.

I nearly didn't see this tiny purple flower, only spotting it because I was looking for a huge flower that I remembered seeing a few months ago. It's on the ground, surrounded by HUGE blades of grass (not so huge, actually). What a teeny tiny flower!

Little orange shower-flowers! I call them this, because they're all around our outdoor shower. They're all you see when looking at our shower-view.

Speaking of our shower-view, this cactus can be seen from our shower, as well. According to Sean (my step dad), this cactus is used as a really potent hallucinogenic drug. I also can't remember what this is called... But I find it hilarious that it's all over our garden. :P

These two flowers are next to a potted plant that sometimes displays some very pretty snowdrop-like flowers.


I don't know what these are. They're... Yellow. Round bunches. Of things. But they're also pretty and cheerful and stuff!

I noticed these flowers on the right a while ago. They're dying now, but have lasted for a very long time, and are still beautiful, even as they stop blooming and start withering away.

These make me think of lavender... But they're not lavender. And there's loads of the pretty, wild, pretty wild stuff.

Oh look! A butterfly! That's kinda hard to see. But I saw one, and I took a picture of it. So fascinating, I know.

The vines climbing up this structure are grape vines!! We've already had grapes from this vine, but all of this climbing is a recent accomplishment for the plant. Its mommy must be so proud.



And on the right, a pretty bird-bath, or fountain, or something... How sweet.

Here I am, relaxing on the hammock that Francois' mom bought for us (for her, actually, when she last visited us), enjoying the view into the forest.

And here are some pretty ferns and gooseberry bushes that are growing outside our kitchen window. They're quite overgrown, it's a shame that the gooseberry plants aren't as huge as the ferns. :P



Okay, I am late for work. Damn it. Bye now!

Glancing Over My Shoulder

Guppy is still missing. Francois and I are starting to think that we may be cat-less... And it's getting both of us down in a big way. We're still hopeful that she'll waltz back into the house at any moment, but it's already been three days since she's disappeared, and things are looking dismal.

Every time that I walk up or down the stairs, I find myself peering outside trying to spot her. While washing my hands in the bathroom, I mistake various logs and leaves for her body and paws. Driving home today, I saw something dark in the middle of the road, and slowed down as I drove by, but (thankfully) it was just a pile of fabric. Francois takes his shoes off and I spin my head around as they squeak on the wooden floor. Trying to fall asleep, the combination of fridge noises from downstairs, with the natural rumblings of Francois' stomach, trick my brain into hearing her purring.

Every noise that I hear, and every rustling bush that I see, makes me think that Guppy is about to tumble into sight. I keep expecting to see her prancing towards me from behind the nearest shrub.

I'm not really worried anymore. Either she's been lured into living with a family that will love her better than us, or something very sad has happened. Either way, there's nothing left to worry about... There's just missing her, and feeling depressed that our kitty cat has gone.

I don't want to say goodbye to Guppy. But I think that that's exactly what this post has become.

Okay. I'm going to go cuddle with Francois now, watch some stupid series and drink hot chocolate with coffee liqueur. It may not be the big distraction I'd like it to be, but it'll help to fend off the cold, at least.

Hormones and Worrying

Hormones are very inconvenient. Yesterday I was very irritable, and I couldn't figure out why. Everything Francois did got slightly on my nerves, even though he wasn't actually doing anything wrong. Eventually, I realised that I'm about half a week away from that time.

Ohhh... It all made sense! Figuring out the cause of my mood didn't improve it, but I did try to be a little nicer to Francois. I'm not sure if I succeeded, and I'm sorry if I didn't. I also took the opportunity (using hormones as an excuse) to finish off most of a bar of coconut and cashew chocolate... And then proceeded to whip up chocolate mug cakes for the two of us, as well.

Anyway, that was yesterday. Today, I'm less irritable, but definitely still affected by those nonsensey hormones. My mood easily slips into a marginally depressed one (better than an incredibly irritable one!), which is rather unusual in comparison to my general content and happy state of being. On top of that, little things that usually wouldn't cause me too much concern are making me worry instead.

Our little guppy cat.

Our kitty cat, Guppy, has been out exploring all day. She does this once in a while, it isn't uncommon at all. Usually, I feel nothing about not seeing her for a whole day. I know that she's a cat, and she's out doing cat things... But today, I find myself constantly glancing out into the garden, trying to spot her little black face somewhere in the bushes, and I keep wanting to go upstairs to peek into the boxes that she likes to sleep in, to see if she's cosied up in one of them.

She could be anywhere out there...

I can't even begin to imagine what it must be like to have your kids move away from home... Not knowing whether they're alright or not. It must take a lot of time to teach yourself how to stop worrying about them... Or at least, to worry a little less.

I feel for you, Mom and Dad!

Sigh. Guppy must come home soon... And I must do other things while I wait for her.
Stupid hormones.