Grey Day

Not a lighthouse blog. Not a lighthouse blog. Not a lighthouse blog. Not a lighthouse blog. Not a lighthouse blog. Not a lighthouse blog. Not a lighthouse blog. Not a lighthouse blog.  Really.

But driving down to Scarborough along the Western Seaboard today, we did stop off at Slangkop for a short snap session.

The waves were a little disappointing, way short of the 42-55 feet we had been promised. But the weather was dramatic, with bright sunshine and heavy squalls fighting for our attention in an icy Atlantic blast.

Other photos from the day are here.

Drama

It’s been a wild day down in Cape Town. Torrential downpours, hail and thunder, interspersed with brief spells of glorious sunshine. It made for a good day to get out and see the huge swells generated by the storm front that made landfall yesterday evening.

Because of last night’s rain, Chapman’s Peak Drive was closed, so it was impossible to do both town and the deep south, thus I chose to drive the kids down around the peninsular, taking in the baboons in Kommetjie, the waves at Slangkop and Misty Cliffs, the “fresh breeze” at Scarborough and the bonking ostriches near Cape Point.

Looks, the waves were great, the scenery fantastic, but I could have done without the ostrich display, if I’m honest.

The photos of the afternoon are here. And yes, some hot ornithological action is included, purely for educational purposes.

Strep & Storm

It would appear that Streptococcus has swept through our house like a sweepy thing, leaving behind it a trail of doctor’s bills and expensive antibiotics. How can something so small cost so much?
I mean, I know I have obviously asked that same question about my son (and then my daughter), but this is a damn bacterium!

Based on the fact that this – however unpleasant – is merely an infection with a prokaryotic organism, I brought my laboratory experience into play. In the lab, we have three choices when we want to kill bacteria: extreme heat (132°C, no less), sodium hypochlorite (basically bleach) or alcohol. With that in mind, and not fancying the high pressure steam or the Domestos, I am attacking my vile respiratory tract invaders with a rather decent single malt. It’s like pouring vinegar on a paper cut as it goes past my red raw throat, but I’m pretending not to notice and only thinking of the obvious benefits.
I’m hopeful that it will also aid with a good night’s sleep as well, although other factors come into play on that one. Not least the latest work on my new study. Mindful of the storm front approaching Cape Town this evening, the builders, in their infinite wisdom, decided to try and cover their ongoing work with some large, ill-fitting sheets of plastic nailed across the hastily-installed roof trusses. And that’s why we now have 25m² of flapping heavy-duty plastic right outside our bedroom window.
Bliss.
I’m almost hopeful that it gets taken away by the Northwester early on, although I’m not sure what repercussions that would have on the building work completed so far. Right now, I couldn’t care less. I just want some sleep.

Tomorrow is another day, as they say. Let’s hope it’s a whole lot better than this one was.

P.S. If you see a huge black kite flying across the Southern Suburbs, please drop me an email so that we can come and collect it and any bits of my house which happen to still be attached. Thanks.

Potential problem

Last night, we discovered a potential problem with our 10-month old daughter, K-pu.

She doesn’t like the rain or the wind at night. And so she was awake every time it rained or winded. Which, given the cold front that swept in off the South Atlantic through the early hours, was pretty frequently.
Not good. Especially since this was only the first big Cape storm of the winter. There will be more – many more.
And that will presumably mean many more sleepless nights unless we can do something to remedy the problem.

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K-pu – prefers the warm & dry

So what to do?
I had plenty of ideas: warmer sleeping bag, Klippies in her bedtime bottle, earmuffs (for her or for us).

But I think my wife came up with the best one so far: maybe we should let her come inside tonight.