OK. That’s slightly underwhelming.

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After the floods in Stellenbosch (looks like we made it out of there just in time), and the continuous rainfall over the weekend (and quite a bit on either side of it), I was expecting some dramatic upturn in the dam levels.

After all, we have had a total of 148mm of rain in 72 hours (Friday 8am – Monday 8am), and everything around this particular corner of the continent is fully saturated. Damp. Soggy.

And the dams? UP – obviously – by a whole…

0.1%

[sad trombone]

Oh.

That’s not to be sniffed at (although I did very much sniff at it when I saw it), being almost 900 million litres or basically 1 day’s supply to the Mother City. But it is a little underwhelming*.

Thankfully, it’s not the true result of the weekend’s downpours.

A lot of the rain didn’t fall directly into the dams, and so it will take its time to get there. Next week’s reading should hopefully reflect the effects of the recent weather a little better.

Because honestly, why did we have to endure the pain of that weekend for absolutely no gain whatsoever?

.

* this sentence was sponsored by Understatements SA (Pty) Ltd.
Your go-to organisation for disappointing commentary.

5 weeks on

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5 (and a bit) weeks on from this day:

When numerous local records were broken for heat all over the Western Cape. And we find ourselves in Cape Town probably with temperatures pretty much as low as they’re going to get during the day this year.

100mm rain over the last three days – that was only up to 8am this morning, which is when the local figures are collated – and there has been PLENTY more today. (I can still hear it battering down now.)

The wind at Simonstown apparently gusted up to 104kph this afternoon: just short of hurricane strength. It’s been a bit of a wild day, and I’m almost glad that I chose gym over a run.

I know that the seasons change, and that the weather changes with them, but you generally do expect the highs and lows to be six months apart, not six weeks.

Thankfully, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday (25oC) are looking actually rather nice, which is great for football, washing, and biology field trips: all of which will be happening on those days.

And we really shouldn’t complain. We need the rain.

I’ll pop a quick post up tomorrow with some updated dam level and rainfall info, for anyone interested. And then a post about invasive plants or something slightly less mundane than the weather.

T&Cs apply.

SUN

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SUN – Stellenbosch University’s domain name.

Well, we went there today and we saw absolutely no SUN at all. In fact, it was cold, grey and wet. And maroon – everywhere.

But while the ubiquitous maroon is pretty ugly, you can’t blame the University for the weather. We had a good look around campus and sat in on a couple of interesting seminars as the various faculties took us through their offerings.

There’s another year before LM 6000 needs to apply, but it’s good to see what’s out there. And we weren’t the only ones: so many familiar faces, it was like a Southern Suburbs day out. We could have added some wine or brandy on the way home, but we chose to be good, and got back in time to watch a nice United away win.

That’s not it, though. UCT next weekend, and we’ll be heading to other institutions over the coming weeks to try and work out just what’s the best course in the best place.

Right now, it’s time for some of last night’s curry, in an effort to warm ourselves up. More rain tomorrow onto an already saturated Western Cape: the dam level figures should be worth a look on Monday.

Curry night

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I’ve spent the afternoon crafting an Indian meal for guests this evening.

Curry, because it’s cold and wet and windy out.
And what could be better?

Additions, that’s what: Bombay potatoes, raita, naan, poppadums: the works.

Now just time to tidy the kitchen, set the table, and find some appropriate red wine.

Are we going to light the first fire of the season tonight?
(The equivalent of the UK switching the central heating on.)
It’s a real possibility. Although we may just survive on Indian spice heat alone.

Barn

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The weekend away was superb. Thanks for asking.

Lots of fresh air, lots of football, lots of friendship, lots of amazing food and drink.

A lot of fun.

The views… Wow.

Like something off a movie set.

And I even managed a couple of morning runs, including one past this barn, which I couldn’t resist stopping and shooting.

OK. Nothing hugely special.

Just full of character, and surely with many, many stories to tell…