Winter has arrived!

Said tongue-in-cheek...

The winter in the Drakensberg supposedly starts at the end of May. But we've had warm dry weather and slightly chilly evenings since then. At the beginning of this week - the first in August - the winds arrived and with it dust! Ergh! 

And the days were warm and summery.

We woke on Thursday morning, 9th August, which was National Women's Day in South Africa, to icy weather. Single digits! I opened up shop but had a notice on the closed door saying just that. It was freezing. Being a public holiday, there were many visitors on the veranda and many pushed open my door and entered into my warm shop! 

On Friday morning at 3am, I awoke to heavy rain on my roof. As soon as it was late enough I phoned Thandiwe and told her to stay home. She could come in to work next  week again. I couldn't bear the thought of that dear lady slipping and sliding along the muddy roads in pouring rain just to come and clean my house. 

The mountains were enshrouded in heavy clouds; in fact the skies were grey and overcast. 

Later that morning a man bought a gift with a painting of the mountains. I told him when the clouds lifted he would see them and there'd be snow on the peaks. He called his wife and repeated this to her. 

Lo and behold,  a while later the sun appeared, the blue skies shimmered above us and there in the distance were the mountains...

Snow capped and lots of snow on the colder  mounds and valleys beyond. 

This morning I stopped at the exit of the farm road and took the first two photos below.  

 Halfway to work,  on the road through the valley, I stopped to photograph a hot-air-balloon 

 The occupants were certainly getting beautiful photos of the valley below and the mountains ahead

  Closer to the mountains, I managed these photos... 

And update on John who was deserately ill a week ago: he was moved from ICU to a medical ward on Monday which meant that Debbie and all the children could visit him at the same time. He had a sinus op on Wednesday and my SIL, Shelley, who'd visited him regularly, told me he said he can smell and taste properly for the first time in years. He was discharged on Thursday and is resting at home. So all's well with John!

Regarding Ginger who's still at the vet, I've had good reason not to post. Since leaving him there on Tuesday, he's not eaten a morsel of food. Arina tried to tempt him with upmarket "vet's choice" canned cat treats. He wouldn't touch it. So she kept him on a drip. 

This morning I phoned her and she almost bounced through the phone. A breakthrough, she said. She'd changed her strategy with Ginger and bought sachets of lamb cuts in gravy. I had thought to tell her that Ginger was my fussiest cat when it came to food and only ate cuts in gravy. But I'd thought he was too ill to be fussy! Not so: she says he finished half the sachet while she watched yesterday and this morning he'd eaten the rest she'd left in his cage. He'd also drank most of the water in his bowl and used the litter tray. So he seems to be on the mend! 

Here's wishing you all a great Saturday.