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Writer's pictureCathie Rooyen

Sushi, swimming and sparkling lights

Updated: Dec 21, 2023

Wednesday 20th December 2023


The heatwave started returning today so after a quick grocery shop, I drove past the estate swimming pool and saw that it was fairly quiet. After a quick lunch on some sushi, which is nice and light in this heat, I put on my costume and packed a bag for the pool. I slipped out of the house trying not to let Rusty see me leave on foot without him, and walked down the road to take a dip.



The estate is an old staff village of the dynamite plant from the gold rush days and I love seeing glimpses of history tucked in with the new. The old water point was the fresh water source for the original houses of the staff that lived here so I smiled and took the necessary photo.



My swim was glorious, the water was warm. The shallow depth probably helps the temperature stay high. A young swimmer asked if I was Scottish and I was surprised by her picking up the accuracy. Turns out she has a Scottish dad, so she recognised my brogue. I floated around the pool after realising that I'm not at all swimming fit, so my idea of a few laps turned into dolphin dives and backstroke.



On my walk back up to Rusty and the cats, I suddenly remembered that he goes to work daily with his owners so he must be really bored. He slept all morning after our run, so I decided that we'd go look at the Christmas decorations that we see on our morning run. I laughed when he looked at me in surprise when I opened the Smartie door, his look saying 'am I supposed to get in that?' But he made himself quite comfortable as I drove slowly around the streets admiring all the sparkly decorations and lights. Rusty was unimpressed with the lights but keen when he heard a bark or two.



After we checked out most of the streets he seemed a lot more settled and we both watched some easy movies on the couch. The frogs are back tonight with a vengeance, shouting at the world and looking for a date. One was on it's way to the front door but I managed to shoo him away before he became pet food.


Tomorrow marks mid-summer and I'm enjoying it all.

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