I was now pretty much self sufficient when it came to food, as I had my own veggies, fruit, and although I still depended on Sheila for my milk, on gas for my cooking, and of course I still needed Eskom, our overpricing eletricity provider for my lights and things like my toaster and such like.
I was still in the habit of buying my bread in bulk and freezing it, but after Irma helped out in the Krakeel bakery for a while, and told me about how much chemicals go into every batch of bread, I went to George and bought Rye flour, yeast, and other stuff needed, and started on experimenting with different kinds of bread.
I have made bread before, so it was not quite new to me, but Rye bread I had never baked before, and my first batch was a bitty loth to rise, but although it looked like some kind of flat bread that I took from the oven, I think if it was used as a missile, it could have done a lot of harm,but  it was nevertheless delicious, specially with a smear of farm butter, topped with my own home made jam!Yummy! Being me, ever hasty and never stopping to look things up or think it over, I had of course just rushed home and used only the rye flour!
But I soon got behind the mystery of baking rye bread, and found bread baked with half rye and half flour the nicest, and soon I started putting in a handful of nuts, or raisins, cranberries, and even a handful or two of oats. The idea of putting in this stuff I borrowed from Irma, who had become the best baker ever, and when she took bread to the Uniondale market, people queued up to buy, and she was usually sold out before we had really even started.
To make a bit of extra money I paint coasters on hardboard, and it sells very well, and that help me to buy some extras, and pay for my only real indulgence, my beloved but also loathed DS television!  The young man at the hardware shop where I buy the hardboard and have it sawn up into the required sizes, would give me a desperate look when he spots me making for the wood department, and would sneak away very softly, but he had no way out, as the floor manager would simply go to the back and bring him out!Sometimes when there is just a lot of crap on, or things are shown over and over, I swear to terminate my account as in immediately, but then the next day new progammes start, and all is well again.
Living so alone and far from my friends, and my kids having their own busy life, I just need some company when the world goes to rest, and the box brings me that, making all the serious homesteaders shake their heads and I think grind their teeth!But I am working on all of this, and hopefully, in the not too distant future, I would have my own bio gas thingy, and maybe I could learn to live without a lot of the modern amenities, but for the time being, I am still pretty much spoiled for a bit of comfort!