I'd be lying if I said this was how my normal day starts;)
The supposed soothing sound emitting from my cell phone alarm is the first thing I hear most week days.

Post retirement I was so happy to turn that off but nowadays with our bnb we often have guests who order early morning breakfasts!

Off to the kitchen I go every morning to make a strong cup of freshly brewed coffee. This is the very best coffee from a local roastery; Ethiopian Arabica dark roasted beans. Just one large mug of this coffee is all I need to kick start my day!
It's quite a ritual - plunger is warmed, ground coffee generously spooned into the plunger, a little filtered water poured over so the ground coffee is not burnt by the hot water which is poured in a slow stream to the plunger. Let it sit for a bit before stirring, plunge down and our coffee is ready to be poured. The aroma wafts all the way down the passage, heavenly!

I'm not a morning person, but have to serve hot cooked breakfasts as early as 6:30 on some days.
Our current guest instantly became my best friend when he told me he does not enjoy cooked breakfasts - breads with marmalade, cheeses, cereal, yogurt, fruit and a juice is all he asks for; what a pleasure!

Time for our breakfast - hubby's one is a substantial cooked breakfast some days, otherwise it's cereal; I'm happy with just a slice of toast.
Yep cooking is my job in this house - all hubby can make is a cup of tea or coffee, toast and a boiled egg, nothing more!
Breakfast is my time for catching up on Steemit and Whatsapp, often takes up way too much of my time.

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Next up is responding to online accommodation requests and sending out quotations to prospective guests but then my computer got nasty and spiteful, I'm sure it knew I couldn't wait to get all this work done so I could get Steeming!
It started freezing, the computer I mean, the hourglass was doing its thing, going crazy till I felt like my head was spinning as well!
Tried re-booting and it got even nastier, telling me:

I managed to get it going after two more attempts, sent out the quotes but no Steeming as it suddenly just gave up the ghost!
Off to the reliable computer store we went where a really helpful young lady assured us they would do their best to see to it as a priority.

We drove down to the Umhlanga beach hoping the fix would be a simple one and enjoyed a long walk on the promenade in the hot sun; will tell you about that another time, but here is a glimpse of what we saw.

Drove back to the computer store to be told the hard drive is damaged so my lonely trusted old PC is now sleeping overnight in the computer hospital for an operation of sorts; hopefully to be discharged latest by tomorrow afternoon at some cost...ouch that hurt!!!

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Back at home, we were greeted by the local monkey troop and watching their antics and that of the little babies calmed down my frayed nerves. We see them most mornings and afternoons foraging for food - we have a couple of huge papaya trees which they raid from time to time; but I also throw out vegetable and fruit off cuts when they're not around; not good practice for us humans to feed them, but their territory is getting smaller as man keeps on intruding into it with concrete structures. They can be very destructive especially with our vegetable garden which we have still not monkey-proofed, but they give us endless entertainment!

This cheeky one came right up to the window trying to see what's inside.

We really are blessed with our green valley and all of nature right on our doorstep, like this very old Swallow's nest at our door entrance that these migrating birds return to each summer. I find it fascinating that they come back to it every year; one can see the different layers of mud that's been used over the years as they repair it. That's an old telephone cable sticking out, probably helps to secure it as well!

So at the end of my working day, I chose a real easy menu for tonight - Crumbed Hake & Haddock fillets with creamy mashed Potatoes, a fresh Basil Tomato & Onion Sauce and Baby Peas.

I’m now sitting down writing this post on hubby's PC; am way more comfortable sitting at my own desk but I won't complain as it's behaving much better than my old PC did this morning and at least I could get my post done!

The moon's come out to play, it's almost time for bed, so off to the bathroom for a good old soak to wash away all the irritations of the day and then it’s off to dreamland - just another normal day of monkey business has come to an end here in my little paradise!

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A huge thank you to @anomadsoul for this Contest and for the sponsorship by @ocd-witness and @blocktrades, so if you wish to show your support to them, vote here.

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Original Content by @lizelle

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