Thursday 31 December 2020, Day 3 of adjusted Level 3, Day 281 of Lockdown. 😷

Corona Gratitude 🙏

#grateful for another special day, the last one of this amazing year ❤️❤️❤️; for a cooler day, with a little rain this afternoon; for a Bakoven and Camps Bay walk with my Camps Bay Clean helper Carmen, back at work today while Imtiaz is still off ill, with lots of dreadful litter in Bakoven; for Woolies keeping a roast chicken for me until I could fetch it; for my SwitchBitch trilogy order coming through, so I collected a courier bag for it from Pick n Pay; for getting my preparation for my client Status meeting completed in good time, very happy with what I have achieved for my client, and what I have learnt too; for the amazing kind compliments paid to me by Utopia waitrons Ruramai and Alain, thanking me for filling the restaurant so well, it obviously affecting their tips too, so touched by this ❤️; for Hartlief keeping some German treats for me, all ready to collect at the Garden’s Centre; for a good efficient Status meeting, I being up to date with all our Marketing activities; for meeting and later sharing a glass of Lautus de-alcoholised red wine, with 0,05% alcohol, with Astrid Gillwald who lives a few blocks from me, and her friend Brandon from London, who were lunching at Utopia; for the treat of a movie and popcorn at The Labia cinema, just a pity it was such a disappointing movie; for a short burst of fireworks from Clifton/Bantry Bay, which I could see from my home, just before Curfew; for the fabulous dance music which Kfm’s Jonathan Duiguid is playing, such a pity he has to talk so much….🥵; and for being happy and healthy. 🙏💙

Camps Bay’s Victoria Road was surprisingly busy when I drove to Gardens this afternoon, but town and Gardens itself were very quiet. I popped in at Fideli’s Deli quickly. I didn’t buy any prepared foods, and there was no bubbly to pair with their oysters. 🥲

I have never heard of Lautus wines, and find the generalized name of ‘de-alcoholised wines’ interesting but not very sexy. Utopia has a few such wines, also offering alcohol-free beer and cider, as well as four Virgin Cocktails.

I made myself a celebratory dinner of the roast chicken, potato, squash and carrot salad, paired with some of my wine. ❤️

Camps Bay sounded like one big party until 21h00, with music blaring from various homes, but was promptly switched off at 21h00. I can see blue lights flashing, roadblocks being set up in Camps Bay and probably towards Clifton too.

‘Love, Weddings, and other Disasters’ was a disaster… slapstick deluxe. What a waste of the talent of Diane Keaton and Jeremy Irons. What surprised me was recognizing leading German actress Veronica Ferres playing the role of a campaign manager with a Russian accent, not matching the theme of the American movie at all. 🥵 I should have checked upfront: it got a score of 4% on Rotten Tomatoes!

There was a lovely sunset which I photographed from Camps Bay Drive on my way home.

My heart bleeds for restaurants ending this difficult year with announcements of temporary closures, perhaps signalling permanent closures: La Mouette, Nelson’s Eye, Bones.

SA Corona Status 1057161 cases 28469 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, lowered to Level 2 from 18 August, and lowered to Level 1 from 21 September, 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

About Chris von Ulmenstein