Forward Planning...

This sign is on my walk up to the library, I love it.
You can just imagine the guy (has to be a guy) drawing the square, writing CCTV IN...and then..ah ,  Fuck it!

Makes me laugh every time I see it!

A Bridge too far?

Speak like a pom

Nearly choked laughing the other day when The Hubby said "Haff Passt two" and not "Harf Parst two"

We both say BBQ now instead of Braai, without even thinking.
Corner shop instead of cafe, we use bungalow, high street, well good, it is creeping up on us, this Pom talk.

We have probably turned down our speaking volume by at least 40%, but Dr Lauren says we are still LOUD.
Must be because Saffas are used to being in wide open spaces and we have to shout to each other.
The Hubby can be anywhere in the wee house or the garden and all I have to do is quietly say his name, even with his encroaching (selective) deafness, he can hear me.
Must admit, if there is a Saffa on the bus or tube or in a shop...yup! You sure can hear them.

Indian Summer

Phew! It is really hot hot hot! 27C. I am sitting outside in little intervals as it is actually too hot for me.

Yesterday the autumn/winter clothes I ordered arrived.
I love shopping online.

I have realised that in South Africa, you dress to be cool and stay cool, or be warm and stay warm.
No good here. You can't be in a big bulky jersey and then have to deal with central heating/heated transport/ heated shops...you would be doing an eternal strip tease.
So I have bought light cardies and jumpers to wear under my coats. This seems unimaginable now, in this heat.
 I have packed all the new clothes away.

The Hubby is doing some computer stuff upstairs , but in a bit we shall head off to The Worst Pub in The World, which, strangely, is growing on me.
They had 2 events recently, one in which they paraded through town and sprinkled/threw talcum powder on everyone (?) and  2, Talk like a Pirate Day. They are mad.
But...they have tidied up a bit in the garden, and at the minute the pub is festooned with pirate stuff, including a large fishing net and a shark.

X Factor

Yes, I do watch it, yes,  I Love it, and I am nailing my colours to the  wall for this year, Janet Devlin has to be the winner.

Is exhausting, Sunday night:  X Factor, Downton Abbey and The Only way is Essex which I can't stay awake to watch, but will watch tomorrow on the strange miracle that is Catch up TV.

Headline!

                                                        The Daily Mail is SUCH a hysterical paper, hence the fact that I took a pic, rather than actually buying it. The Hubby and I are terrified of turning into Daily Mail readers.
83 F is only about , what 25? 26 ish? Never mind...I welcome the heat wave.It has been a fabulous week weather wise anyway, amazing that it is going to get better!              
 Notice too, that The DM can't just let us enjoy the bloody heat wave, it has to be accompanied with a warning about The Big Freeze.  
How I managed to get a shot on top of the photo of the paper that looks like Muizenberg taken from Strand on a summer's morning....pretty impressive seeing as the pic was taken on my phone, in Sainsburys.              

Disposals

So  awfully organised are the Poms...I got through the letter box a leaflet asking for clothes, toiletries, shoes etc, so I did a quick sort out , put them in the bags, and voila! Picked up the next morning.
I am still getting rid of clothes I brought over from South Africa and have never actually worn. Or clothes that have proven themselves useless in Pom weather.
Like my Woolies Jacket which actually is not waterproof, and has a hood that is worse than useless.
Unfortunately the winter clothes are still vacuum packed away, so they will have to wait for the next cull.

The books, too, have been sorted, both The Hubby and I have Kindles now, so we are no longer stacking books all over the wee house.
We do, however, have about 200 books on the Kindle. Takes up no space at all. So very clever.

I feel very pleased with all this de cluttering and downsizing. It is a very satisfying way to live.

Squirrel Update

 Whoops! Dropped it!


Dear little Meisie who has totally bonded with the (somewhat odd) squirrel  statuette.

Asian Pear

I am epicuriously adventurous, so when I see something new, I am never afraid to try it.
This Asian Pear (3 for £1.50) tastes like a cross between a turnip, an apple and a bucket of water.
Bleh

Shocking Shopping .. SA versus UK

Well, consider me shocked!

Friend of ours has just returned from SA and said that grocery shopping was so expensive there now...must admit I was a bit skeptical, even though I do know the prices have gone up since we left.

So, today , I did my online Tesco shop, and a virtual shop on the Pick 'n pay online site.
Tesco is comparable to Pick 'n Pay. Asda is like Checkers, and Sainsburys more like Woolies.
 I always look for the bargains and the offers, so I have compared them to Pick 'n Pay own brands, and tried to be as fair as I can. It is easy to work on R10 to the £, but actually it is R11ish, to be fair.


This is the shopping list.


Product                                          

                                                              SA price                                  UK Price

Marmite 125g                                       R18.49                                           £1.51

4x soap                                                 R28.00                                          £1.69

Nescafe original                                    R54.89 (200g)                              £4.00 (300g)

mushrooms 250g                                  R6.00                                                 50p

spaghetti 500g                                      R7.99                                                  18p

Light Marg Spread 500g                       R25.99                                           £1.25

Baby tomatoes                                      R7.99                                                  69p

Blueberry Juice 1litre (is good for
preventing alzheimers!)                          R20.99                                              £1.00

Aquafresh 3 way toothbrush                  R38.99                                              £2.00

3 bean salad 400g                                 R16.99                                                   65p

Dishwasher tabs                                    R55 (for 18)                                      £5.09 (for 33)

Spring Onions bunch                             R8.99                                                       60p

Pork chops                                           R60 /kg                                               £3.99/kg

Mature cheddar                                     R89.97/kg                                          £9.00/kg

Stuffed Whole chicken                           R46.99/kg                                          £3.13/kg

sparkling water                                      R5.99 1 liter                                            17p 2 liter

eggs                                                       R1.31each                                              8p each

'Best of both' bread                                  R10.99 (700g)                                 £1.15 (800g)

Sweetcorn                                              R4 each                                                 50p each

Diet coke cans                                       R36.99 (for 6)                                     £4.89 (for 12)

Loo Roll   (9/2 ply)                                R49.99                                                £4.00

Lurpack butter 250g                              R27.99                                                 £1.60

Tampax 20                                            R31.99                                                 £1.88


Must add Fillet steak....I didn't buy any, everything else on this list I did buy (yes, and the tampax, do you mind??)

Fillet Steak                                              R171.99                                                        £24.99

Ha ha ha ha ha ...we never eat Fillet steak!!

There was more, but I am now exhausted from looking everything up on the Pick 'n pay site which is hard to work with. To be fair, a LOT of stuff is unavailable, but only because they only have online shopping for 6 cities in SA. Also, most prices are quoted in per/kg, and also, you don't get the price on the site, you get the price on the day in the store.

Tesco charges anything from £3.50 to £6 for delivery, depending on the time of day , and how far in advance you book. I usually pay £4.50.
Pick 'n Pay charges a flat rate of R60 for delivery.

This has been a very interesting exercise indeed.

Stepping up

In South Africa, the most walking I did was from the house to the car. As old blog followers know, here in Pom Land, you have to walk 500 miles a day.
I may have exaggerated, but initially, that is what it felt like.
Now, it is a doddle.
Today I bought a 'step counter' or, as The Hubby insists, a pedometer.
It counts your steps, and you should do 10 000 a day.
Well, my first day, I did 6000.
Quite impressive , I thought.
So, tomorrow, I am back to gym (just because you pay £40 a month , doesn't mean it makes you fit if you don't actually go...
Oh please dear god hope Dr Lauren is not reading this....
But , tomorrow I am back on track and will make up my billion million steps on the treadmill.
ACTUALLY, I walk a million miles more than I ever did before...so...

WHATEVER! (as they say here)

David Walliams

David Walliams swam the Thames to raise money for Sports Relief

http://www.littlebritainfans.com/

I went to see him at Kew Bridge, which was his last leg of the journey. I am so very impressed with what he has done and it has made me very proud to be a Pom.
The Thames is NASTY and quite dirty in parts, and tidal, and he looked so teeny weeny little swimming in the middle of it, so much so that I did shed a tear.

He raised more than a million £'s. so well done to him.

Weatherwise , it was a lovely day, bit windy on the bridge, but not bad for September.
Still and all , I was glad I wasn't in the water.
Solidarity has its limits.

Well Done David!

Monday summer /autumn/summer/autumn

Amazing weather here. This morning it was bright sunshine and rather hot on my walk up the hill to the library.
Rather a pathetic walk, I may add, as my ankle is really in a bad way today. I blame this on standing and ironing for about 2 hours. Housework is SO bad for you.

At lunchtime I had to do a mad dash (on my terrible ankle, while The Hubby was calmly reading his Linux magazine) to get the washing in from the rain and wind and cold that suddenly appeared. Then ran around the house closing the windows I had opened to let the sun and fresh air in earlier. OK, only 2 windows upstairs seeing as there are actually only 3 rooms upstairs and the study is like a cave, the Hubby never opens the window.
After this flurry of activity, the sun came out again. The weather here is quite mad.

At the library there was a mad pom person. As I was waiting to check in my books (they are moving to a new system and the awfully clever self check in is not operational) this guy came up and asked the librarian for a tissue. Off she went to get keys for the toilet or god knows what, obviously tissues are not kept handy for such an emergency, I couldn't stand this person with a dripping nose standing next to me any longer , so I gave him a tissue from my wee tissue packet (in my bag, there is always a tissue packet , waterless hand wash and breath spray, gum, toothpicks and Rennies)
Instead of being grateful, he said "Are these made from recycled paper? They are not very good"
I told him they were better than nothing, but his expression indicated that they were not. The librarian came back with toilet paper, which he seemed to prefer.
Then he says to the poor librarian "Can I have a glass of water?"
Lordy! Flaming cheek.
All this , however , deflected from the fact that my books were a day late.
All in all, quite good then.
Oh what an exciting life I do lead!

Hectic

Hectic is not a word here in Pom Land. Or so we are told by Dr Lauren.
'Hectic' must be replaced by  'Proper off the hook'
I think not.

Now, I have already replaced much of my vocab.

This is 'rubbish'
Instead of  This is 'kak'

I am 'well impressed'
Rather than I am 'kak impressed'

It is an 'awfully long way'
Not a 'kak long way'

Actually, perhaps my vocab is increasing....there are obviously many words more descriptive than 'kak'
I accept this.

The 'hectic' replacement, however, may be a step too far.

Vok!

Rick Stein

Rick Stein has an amazing presence in Padstow, with his Seafood Restaurant, his cafe, deli, patisserie, shop, fish and chips...it's fabulous.
The food is out of this world, the staff is wonderful, decor, ambiance, wines...
All perfect.


Saffas, stop reading here.

Signs Cornish Style

This is at the Eden Project!

St Ives...beware those seagulls....

Yup!

This is at Rock, I was dying to wave the flag to summon the ferry.

There's always one, isn't there?

Brmm Brmm

Wonderful being on holiday in Cornwall with The Hubby, but before I say a word about that...I drove! For the first time since I arrived here. I was a bit nervous at the thought of it after all this time, The Hubby saying "it's just like riding a bike" did not help, seeing as I was the one that fell off the bike (twice) in Amsterdam.
But no...I turned on the engine, did a KAK impressive reverse out of a narrow parking in an alley, and I was off!
No problem at all. I had almost forgotten what an exceptionally good driver I was (am)

Especially seeing as this is an average road in Cornwall. I was like a rally driver let me tell you!
This is not a one way either. It is quite hair raising.

No sooner was I behind the wheel than The Hubby turned into a back seat driver. In fact, it was worse, as we had the sat nav, but he had to say what to do BEFORE  Sat Nav Bitch  said it, and then repeat it afterwards.
He went a tad pale on the double roundabout, oh..and when the bus approached...but we survived.

I made The Hubby stand in this road in St Ives for scale.There is a shit load of reversing that goes on in these wee towns! We park and walk. We have walked a million miles since we got here. Uphill.

Tricky driving in the UK. I have no concept of what a mile is. Sat Nav Bitch does not help by saying things like "In 1200 feet, turn left" or " In 0.3 miles take the third exit."
The speedometer too, is a problem. I have no idea how fast I am going. All I know is 30 in town, 70 on the motorway.  20 near a school.
Whatever that is in k's.

Tea Time

 Aren't these cakes lovely?
Totally wasted on me, I don't like cakes.
I like to look at them, but actually eating them is always a big disappointment.

Give me a can of Original Pringles every time.

These cakes are in a coffee shop in Soho.
So inbetween the Rampant Rabbits and Live Sex Shows, we had a civilised cup of tea and a cake.

I just had the tea....

FRIEND

Yes, indeed!
I have a friend. Is very exciting, after all this time.
Who knew that Broken Ankle man's wife would be so lovely?
And that the BBQ would be just fine?
Amazing stuff indeed!

Rather overindulged on the wine due to the novelty of communicating with
 people that I was not related to/ sleeping with.
The weather is glorious, 23 C, we are going to Cornwall on Saturday, all in good here in London...oh, did I mention I have a new friend??