91 sleeps

What a glorious weekend! Canadians, sit back in your goose down waterproof windproof ice resistant snow suits, wrap that scarf tight, pull the beanie down a bit more and read on…

It was a proper Cape Town summer weekend.

On Saturday I went rose-picking with Mrs SS at the Chart Farm. Fellow Canadians (and uneducated South Africans, if you dare admit this) who don’t know the Chart Farm: you can pick apples, cherries and peaches when they are in season and you can also pick fresh roses from their rose garden. I picked a huge bunch of white and golden yellow roses (Johannesburg Sun) to match the lilies I picked up earlier in the week. Between the lilies and the roses and the gardenias, our lounge is a flower paradise! Quite literally, you walk through the front door and you get hit – hit! – with the aroma of fresh flowers. It's rather divine and, as theGreek would say, chickified.

Saturday night was braai (aka barbeque) night with some friends in Sea Point. Fellow Canadians, this is the South African tradition of gathering with mates in the out-of-doors at someone’s house in the late afternoon and taking in a spectacular sunset over a quiet drink. Then, you consume vast quantities of meat (lamb, chicken, rump steak and the ever present boerwors sausage featured) with a leaf or two of lettuce. After the meat induced shock subsides, you listen to some chilled music, have a glass of wine, enjoy the moon and the stars, then go home. Delish.

Finally, Sunday rolled around in spectacular fashion. Cloudless. That’s kind of rare. Windless. That’s so totally rare that I almost fell off my balcony in surprise. HotHotHot. Like me.

There is only one thing to do in that situation – HIT THE BEACH. And so we did. Jools (henceforth known as FantaPants, courtesy of Mr Starke), Mr DW, the Crazy Scot and I spent the afternoon at Llandudno. I love Llandudno. I have fond memories of that beach, especially from the late 1990s, and always enjoy my time there. We debated Clifton and Camps Bay, but both were so packed that you could run from end to end of each and be in the shade the entire time. Umbrellas umbrellas umbrellas absolutely everywhere…. No joke.

I’m really going to struggle with the weather adjustment. Cape Town has two seasons, really: Hot and Windy and Mildly Chilly and Rainy. If it gets down to about 5 degrees, the entire city is apoplectic. Canada’s four seasons run to the opposite extreme: Almost Winter, Winter, Still Winter and Construction. I don’t think I’ll go outside for the first year I’m back. As my mother succinctly put it - she's enjoying the weather now. It's - 14 degrees, which is balmy compared to - 40 degrees. *shudders*