Sunday Musings #180

If you ever get an email about pork, ham, salt and preservatives, don’t open it. It’s spam!

– Unknown

Tee Hee! Have a good Sunday!

 

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Winter Solstice 2019

Winter Solstice

Today, Friday 21st June 2019, is the winter solstice here in Cape Town; the shortest day and the longest night of the year.

We finally had some good rains (it rained twice in May and, counting today, twice in June; our rainy season!) and the temperature dropped. It has been 10 C in my lounge and has dropped to 6 C just before dawn. I don’t have a heater, (just as I don’t have an air conditioner) so we just wear extra clothes.

I realise that this will not seem cold to my Northern friends. Then again, when they complain of a heatwave at 25 C, I understand. It is the difference in temperature that affects you. If you are used to 15 C and suddenly it is 25 C, you will feel too hot. Likewise, if you are used to 25 C and suddenly it is 6 C, you will freeze!

Also, every morning, I open all the doors and windows. This may seem crazy, but once the sun has risen, and I can stop seeing my breath when standing on the stoep, it is warmer outside than in. Certainly during the day, the sun will warm up the air and hopefully some will penetrate into my cold house.

I have to keep quiet about how happy I am, because everyone else is moaning about how cold it is! At least, with the drought, they don’t moan about the rain anymore!

But I love it!

 

Red Sky at Night

Red Sunset 1

Haiku 122

Pastel colours bright

Last rays of a winter’s night

Set the sky alight

.

Red Sunset 2

Sunsets are very brief here in Cape Town. When I notice the light outside is slightly different at night, I grab my camera and try to catch a few shots of the sunset before the colour’s gone.

Moments after I took these photos the reds faded, leaving the dark blues and purples of the approaching night.

 

post script: Many of you will know the expression, “Red sky at night, shepherd’s delight. Red sky in the morning, shepherd’s warning.” Alternatively, it can be sailors instead of shepherds.

You can read more about this prediction, and whether there is any truth in it, here. 

 

Sunday Musings #179

If a man says he will fix it, he will. There is no need to remind him every six months about it!

– Unknown

 

This made me smile, because I have a friend who is forever asking her husband to fix stuff around the house. He’s pretty good at starting things, but very bad at finishing them off!

 

Happy Father’s Day to all the Dads out there. 

 

Sunday Musings #178

Life is too short to be serious all the time. So, if you can’t laugh at yourself, call me . . . I’ll laugh at you.

– Unknown

 

I realised long ago that I would always say and do embarrassing things. (A gift I have passed on to my kids!)

All you can do is laugh about it!

 

I Just Want to Find the Dead Body!

Comfort Flowers 1

Haiku 117

Scuttlings in the night

An unwelcome visitor

Scare me half to death

.

 

I just want to find the dead body!

Yes, I said these very words the other day. Taken out of context, they might seem a little strange!

This is the story.

I was fast asleep one night when I heard the deep drone of a heavy flying insect; the kind that are too big to fly, but do so anyway. It flew right past my ear at 12.30 am; crash landed in some boxes in the corner of the room and proceeded to dig its way inside.

This totally freaked me out!

Now no-one else hears these tiny noises when fast asleep in the middle of the night. But I do. I think it is compensation for not seeing too well, though I could do without this “gift”.

I know, without seeing it, that it is a giant cockroach. Shudder!! Even typing the word creeps me out! How did it get in the house? It must have crawled or flown in through the bathroom window before I closed it for the night.

These bugs are massive, easily 4 cm. It is an American cockroach, which, despite the name, is native to Africa and the Middle East. If you are very brave, you can click on the link here and be scared half to death along with me!

So here I am: The Last of the Great Hunters; bug hunting in boxes.

I have sprayed everywhere till the floor is sopping wet (maybe I can drown it!) and the fumes are suffocating.

Take That!

And Die Already!!!

 

post script: To date I still haven’t found the dead body, but I can no longer hear the scuttlings. I am hoping for the best!

Due to the nature of this post the accompanying photo is not of the bug, but a gratuitous one of pretty flowers. You’re welcome!

 

Sunday Musings #177

Behind every great man is a woman rolling her eyes.

– Jim Carrey

 

This makes me smile, because I am sure it is all too true!