Even if the weather on Saturday wasn’t all that it could have been, we made the best of it.
And Sunday was nice enough to be able to run on the beach and sort out the cottage ready for the summer season.
Even the drive back home wasn’t too bad. But then, suddenly*:
Monday, bringing with it vet visits, orthodontist visits, shifting of 200kg of water around from one place to another, to another, to another (actually like a heavy gym session), some lifts and a dodgeball session (not me) later on.
This week is looking HECTIC, BRU and I’ll just have to squeeze in posts when and where I can.
A long run on the beach and a bit of tidying up the garden way down south cleared up my head after last night’s football and rugger drama – and that bottle of Saronsberg Shiraz.
Now showered, suited and booted – well, t-shirted, shortsed and flopsed – I spotted this guy in the kitchen window and decided to shoot him.
Not easy to get to with a sink in the way, a dirty window from last night’s wind and rain, and some iffy dark background to avoid. It’s not going to win any awards, but, meh – it’s an ok shot for ID purposes.
And I’m fairly sure that this is a Cape Needlenose Fly (Philoliche rostrata). Fine on a kitchen window, not so great on the back of your leg on the beach. Indeed, we’ve had to abandon trips and walks locally on a few occasions when there are a few of these guys around. Very painful bite. Would not recommend.
We’re back to just 6000 miles from civilisation… later today. Hold thumbs for very limited traffic, please.
My goodness me. I’m done. You cannot go anywhere in South Africa (ok, to be fair, I’ve only tried the bit in the bottom left corner) without hearing something about the rugby. The semi-final against England is tonight at 9pm local time, and though I have headed to the most remote place I could, it’s still all rugby, rugby, rugby.
Rugby.
Despite being English and having lived in South Africa for a couple of decades, I’m really not very bothered about the game, mainly due to it being played under the code of “rugby”, which is a silly sport [citation required]. But while I appreciate the level of excitement surrounding the game, it’s everywhere. It’s ubiquitous and insidious.
And rather monotonous and laborious.
For me, maybe more even than the actual final 4 years ago.
It seems difficult for others here to understand my ambivalence, but look: different nations like different things, and rugby is not top of the list for the UK. Sure, there are people who are very into it, of course. But that is a minority. Not like here.
Rugby here. Lots of it.
If England win: great – revenge for the final in 2019. (And maybe a little bit funny, given the arrogance of many of the SA supporters this week.) If SA win: great – as I pointed out somewhere [it was here – Ed.] I completely understand the tremendous unifying effect that Springbok success has on this country. Take the cartoon in this morning’s Die Burger which my half Namibian, half French, half South African (he’s a big guy) neighbour showed me this morning:
Look at that. People of both white and dark persuasions uniting against a common foe, and being implored to “remember Majuba” and “remember Isandlwana” where the English were defeated in battle in 1881 by the Afrikaners and the Zulus in 1879, respectively.
OK, mate. Placate your breasts. Over 6,000 men from all sides were killed in those two encounters.
This is just a game of egg-chasing.
I won’t be watching this evening. United are playing at the same time, and I probably won’t be watching that either, but if I am able watch anything tonight, it will be the footy.
That said: good luck to both teams and may the better one win. What ho!
And a new album in January, which will probably be right up there for the 6000 miles… Album of the Year 2024, if the world still exists.
Incidentally, the 2023 competition – traditionally announced in December – will almost certainly be chosen from one of two contenders, both of whom have been mentioned a lot on here this year.
Once you’ve read this post, please share it so that everyone can benefit.
Pick n Pay Happy Hour??!!??
I thought that it was a bit of a gimmick, but there were a lot of signs in the local supermarket, so I updated my app, allowed notifications, and…
…then I forgot all about it.
But this morning: PING!
Happy Hour between 2pm and 3pm this afternoon. Get R250 off when you spend more than R500.
Seriously?
Well, there are two parts to this. Firstly, I needed some stuff from Pick n Pay anyway, and secondly, who turns down the chance of R250 off in this sort of economic climate? Or indeed in any economic climate?
The timing of the Happy Hour wasn’t ideal, but it was certainly doable, and so I thought I’d give it a go.
And… it worked:
R250 off, just for doing the shopping I was going to do anyway, but checking out at 2:06pm instead of a couple of hours earlier. R250 is comfortably two meals for a family of 4. It’s 7.5kg of washing powder. It’s 10½ loaves of bread. It’s 14 litres of milk. Or slightly less of each of them if you share it about a bit, obviously.
I’m not sure how Pick n Pay gains from this, but for a family like us, who always have something on the shopping list, and usually have room in the freezer, this might actually be a bit of a gamechanger.
Add in the R115 of Smart Shopper points that I used, and that’s 46% off my R800 shop this afternoon.
That’s pretty amazing.
Note: This isn’t an ad. I’m fully transparent, and I tell you when I’m doing ads. But please share this post. Everyone needs all the help that they can get at the moment, and this offer is certainly helpful.
