Tuesday 15 September 2020, Day 29 of Level 2, Day 173 of Lockdown 😷

Corona Gratitude 🙏

#Grateful for a sunny 16C day, lifting the spirits, before more rain arrives tomorrow ☔️; for a quick Blogpost write followed by a Camps Bay walk; for a trip down south, buying plants, dropping off pearl bracelets at Caroline Smith in Claremont, needing restringing, meeting her for the first time, and driving to Kenilworth to see Fat Harry’s renovation, due to reopen in October under new ownership; for popping in at Flower Café at Petals in Woodstock; for a walk through Bakoven, bumping into my Lauren and my nephew Nick Solomon ❤️, staying in Cape Town while the hotel of which he is the GM in the Seychelles is still closed to tourism; and for being happy and healthy.

My Blogpost today was about the Western Cape province being the first province to offer an online Tourist Guide registration service, hopefully being faster than the current manual registration service.

Western Cape Tourist Guiding registration goes online, will it speed up the process?

I did a quick walk in Camps Bay to meet my deadline of leaving home and getting to various stops on the way.

My first stop was at Stark Ayers in Rosebank, where Gary Peterson had shopped for plants last week. I wanted to buy a strelizia for my garden, it being my Alex’s favorite. I bought another Jssmine, and was impressed with the knowledgeable staff member assisting me, having studied horticulture, he told me. What an impressive nursery, a wide variety of plants, seedlings and seeds. I was not impressed with its coffee shop Fraiche Ayers Café, where I had tea and a scone, the weirdest scone I’ve ever seen, big and flat. Strawberry jam seemed to come out of a tin, jelly-like. Staff were shouting at each other, with no respect for the customers. A business meeting was held at a nearby table, loud too, as if they were the only ones in the section in which I was sitting. Owner Kyle Miller didn’t like my feedback, saying that they serve up to 30 scones a day, and that their clients like them big. There was no Covid compliance other than the staff wearing masks, the owner telling me that it is the duty of the nursery, as one walks through it to get to the Café. There were no Covid procedures at the nursery entrance.

Caroline Smith was a delight, and seems to really love her clients’ pearl restringing. She offers restringing classes, and I can’t wait to go on one of her courses.

My friend Stuart Bailey is driving the renovation of Fat Harry’s, it being more of a pub in its past life, but will become a renovated restaurant offering Pizzas, Burgers, and Tapas. Next-door Rare Grill owner Greg Bax came to say hello.

I decided to combine my trip with a pop in at The Flower Café at Petals in Woodstock (it is it Salt River?). I walked around the front and the side, but couldn’t find the entrance. I called the cellphone number I found via Google, but that went to voicemail. The landline was answered and I was told how to get inside from a back entrance. No surprise that it was empty. Petals has been there for 10 years, but I have never noticed it before. The Flower Café is new, having opened a month ago. It is only open from Wednesdays to Saturdays, with a very limited offering of cakes, chocolate brownies, and rusks, with tea and coffee. That’s it. But the interior is a flower fantasy land.

Needing tea desperately I decided to stop at Café 48 in town, recommended by a friend. Unfortunately the owner was not there, and I struggled in every respect with the staff member on duty. As I had been recommended it for its baking, I ordered a slice of carrot cake, with tea. I won’t go into any further detail, out of respect for my friend.😱

SA Corona Status 651521 cases 15641 deaths 😷😢

FitBit 10000 steps 7 km 👣

Lovemylife❤️

 

The Corona Virus Lockdown (Level 5), announced by our President Cyril Ramaphosa earlier to commence on 27 March and to continue until 16 April, subsequently extended to 30 April, lowered to Level 4 from 1 May, lowered to Level 3 from 1 June, and lowered to Level 2 from 18 August, is an unprecedented event in my lifetime. I am posting my daily Facebook post to journal this Corona Lockdown Journey, perhaps to serve as material for a future Book.

Chris von Ulmenstein, WhaleTales Blog: www.chrisvonulmenstein.com/blog Tel +27 082 55 11 323 Twitter:@Ulmenstein Facebook: Chris von Ulmenstein, My Cape Town Guide/Mein Kapstadt Guide Instagram: @Chrissy_Ulmenstein @MyCapeTownGuide

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