Entries Tagged 'Winter' ↓

I got new boots! How nice are they? You may wonder why the heck one would need furry boots in South Africa.  It never gets cold here, right?  WRONG!

I was on a call to someone in the UK recently, and she was so surprised to hear that the weather was miserable, cold & rainy last weekend.

For those of you who think we have sunshine and warm weather all the time, we don’t.  Our winters are not nearly as cold as in the UK, and we don’t get snow in Gauteng really, but other parts of SA get snow every winter!  Another reason why we dress a bit warmer than people in abroad is because our homes and offices are not nearly as well isolated, plus we don’t have central heating.  Resulting in very cold winters, indoors, and hot summers too.

We are lucky to have an aircon in our home, and obviously in the office too, which takes out the bite of winter and makes it much more bearable.

Still, I am ALWAYS feeling cold, so I needed nice warm winter boots, and I picked these with the help of hubby!

The weather is miserable in South Africa, and has been for the past week. After spending the whole Saturday tidying my cupboard, and packing away my winter clothes, I had to pull them all out this week!

Its raining, the wind is blowing, and its flippin cold! Typical winter in Cape Town, only I’m in Gauteng – and its not supposed to be winter!

Though this weather brings back incredible memories from my time in the UK, it also brings a nostalgia with it which makes me realize how quickly time runs out, which is sad.
I took some photo’s to show you how gloomy it is outside.

Since I was little I wished that I could have a pool party for my birthday. Since its in the middle of winter, it’s a bit unpractical, and over the years I’ve learned to accept that I’d never have a summer party unless I moved to the Northern hemisphere (Which I did for a year and LOVED). This year the weather in the Southern hemisphere was no exception when my birthday dawned, and Mother Nature dished up the coldest day of this winter so far. The max temperature was about 15 degrees Celsius, accompanied by wind and rain. Good for me I didn’t even go outside on my birthday, and just stuck around the warmth of my heated home. There are still a lot of fun things that you can do in winter, I keep telling myself. Like staying indoors, snuggling up with a blanket, some hot chocolate and a good book. However, on my birthday, I decided to cook & bake since I had some guests over in the evening.
I bought a cake mix because I didn’t want to spend my whole day in the kitchen. My big mistake however, was when I decided on baking cupcakes instead of the usual cake. Cupcakes are really fantastic! Most reason people tend to like them more? I’ve witnessed this weird phenomenon a couple of times. With my husband’s birthday I used the same cake mix, and baked cupcakes until I ran out of time, and then used the left over batter to bake a cake. At the birthday party the cupcakes were finished before anyone had even touched the cake, and people were rather reluctant to try the cake.
The problem with cupcakes is that they take you about ten times longer to bake. I only have ONE muffin tray, and ONE oven rack… And since the batter made SEVENTY cupcakes I had to go through the baking process six times, where a cake would’ve been done in one round. Now I’m not sure I’ll be baking cupcakes anytime soon – regardless of whether my guests prefer them. I suddenly have much more respect for people who buy cupcakes instead.
Anyway, what I was actually getting at. The reason why I stayed indoors on my birthday wasn’t merely the weather. I picked up a bad case of flu somewhere between Pick ‘n Pay and home, and I’ve been battling to get rid of it. At first I thought I could manage to scare it away with some Vitamin C and pain killers, but when my voice started sounding like that of a goose, I decided to give up and visit the doctor.
I got a whole paper bag full of medicine, which – wonder above wonder – seems to be working. I got antibiotics, which I usually HATE, because even though they relieve the problem at hand, they seem to break another hundred things. My voice is still not 100%… I try to sing along to songs on the radio, and I sound like a bad mix between Bonnie Tyler and Jimmy Hendrix. Good news is that my throat is not as sore anymore, and I don’t cough too much anymore. Also, I’ve been shunned to a life indoors, and I’m not even allowed to stick my head out the door after four in the afternoon (which is probably not a bad thing, since that’s when the icy cold settles over Pretoria).
For now, I am resting since the doc booked me off till tomorrow, plus my meds make me extremely drowsy. I’m sipping my hot chocolate while sitting in bed, and enjoying the warmth of my bean bag by my feet… Reading when I’m not sleeping, and sometimes finding myself drooling on my magazines from pure exhaustion

Its finally starting to warm up in South Africa, and though I know that the cold weather isn’t close to over yet, its at least a sign that spring DOES still exist, and is slowly making its way to us!!!

I’m so exited about wearing summer clothes again!! I hate layering like I do in winter. For those who live abroad, you might think that it shouldn’t be so cold in South Africa as in Europe or North America, but at times our winters can get a bit worse. Not that the temperatures outside are lower, but remember, our houses aren’t half as well insulated. I don’t think that our houses are insulated at all – except maybe for those of us who have ‘think pink’ in our ceilings?

My experience in England was that as soon as I was inside I could almost wear summer clothes because the central heating was just so warm. In South Africa, even if we have heaters on (cause we don’t have central heating), we can’t walk around with summer clothes. I actually wear the same amount of layers that I would outside, and I watch television in a sleeping bag – haha… Picture that!

But this whole discussion was just to let you know HOW MUCH I’m looking forward to SWEATING. To be able to wear strappie tops and sandles and drive around with the aircon on. *sigh* Summer and winter has its pro’s and con’s, but summer is really my favourite

For the international visitors’ interest, it snowed in Johannesburg this morning - for the first time since 1981. There are photo’s of it on the Highveld website, pop into their gallery if you’re interested.
In the news this morning they also said that a man had died of exposure. This troubles me deeply. Whenever I think about people dying of cold or hunger it makes me so sad I want to cry.
I found a beautiful, sad, and very true piece of writing on the Highveld site too…

Please see Highveld’s terms and conditions before using this content.

“Holding on for a hero…

I will not look at the news today. Not a glimpse, not a stolen glance over the shoulder – nothing.

I will avoid all things bad, drink two bottles of water, buy salad for lunch, and listen to the sounds of people going about their business. Today is a day for deep breaths, for taking stock, for sitting quietly reminding ourselves that winning hearts and minds is more important than standing on a podium, clutching reward.

With spring waiting patiently for winter to have its evil way, the lazy 7am sunlight makes for stark viewing. I saw an old man today, hiding from the wind against a posh Bryanston wall. Everything he owns in one trolley, everything he dreams about frozen in that moment. Bowing forward, begging for respite from a life which has offered him very little, the man battled for survival.

I wonder what he has to say. I wonder if he has a family. I wonder why he’s on the street, alone, fighting for his life. Does he ever look up at the stars, amazed at their beauty, does he ever admire the fireworks display of a highveld storm, will he let the sun rain down upon him on a glorious summer day?

Will he make it that far?

Chances are that the man cannot afford to enjoy the simple pleasures of life because he is too busy finding lunch in a gutter, searching for dinner in a trashcan – pushing his trolley along, hoping for a kind face in a cold world.

He is the soldier of misfortune, the gladiator of the underworld – ignored, ridiculed, pursued, haunted. Yet, he is the one who will risk another cold shun and wave a trembling hand. He is the one who bravely takes it on the chin when gleaming 4X4’s pretend he does not exist.

He has no job to strike from, no car to speed with, no agenda behind what he says. No company in which he can commit fraud, no wife to abuse, no family to murder. Yet, HE, is regarded as a third-class citizen. This man, guilty of nothing but boldly facing adversity – is what we point at when talking about the failure of the human race.

Armed with nothing but a trolley and the will to survive – he is the hero, the champion, the bastion of hope for every director, CEO, superstar and common worker in the world. For every day he survives, we can survive a hundred, for every smile he gives, we can give a thousand.

This man: cold, frozen, bowed forward . . . is the symbol of human triumph, the award-winning advertisement of unwavering courage.

I will not look at the news today. I will not think about all that I want changed in my life, all that I desire, all that I’ve not yet achieved. Today I will celebrate being alive. Today I will admire the setting sun, honouring the courage of one man to survive winter alone.

I hope summer warms his heart . . .

I hope he makes it that far.”

Have you got any idea how cold it is in Pretoria at the moment? Apparently its the lowest recorded temperature in 52 years! On Monday morning 5am, they said over the radio, that the temperature, taking into account the wind factor, was nearly -10°C!!!

Here are some photo’s which were taken close to my office. The sprinklers were left on over night, and we thought it a novelty at first, but it happens every day now. In the morning on my way to work I see these poor plants covered in ice. Such a waste of water if you ask me! Anyhow. I’ve been fluish – spent the whole of yesterday in bed with lots of medicine and sleep. I feel much better today, but not a 100% just yet.

But even though its flippin’ freezing, and I have a headache, and a scratchy throat, there is one good thing about today: ITS FRIDAY!!!