Weekly Photo Challenge: Changing seasons

The Weekly Photo Challenge, ‘Changing Seasons‘, had me remembering some places I’ve been, where the seasons have seemed to be rather topsy-turvy. Sometimes weather can be quite surprising, depending on where in the world you happen to be.

Winter in Rio de Janeiro. Most photos of Rio that I’d seen, made it look as though it was all sunshine, and bikinis on the beach.  Just my bad luck to be visiting  Corcovado Mountain in the rain and fog.

Summer in San Francisco. It was so cold on 4th July, that I had to buy a sheepskin jacket from one of the stores at Pier 39. They did seem to stock more winter than summer clothes, so maybe the cold wasn’t entirely unexpected.

Spring in Wyoming. We certainly weren’t expecting snow and ice in May.

Nothing disappointing about the gardens at the Summer Palace in Beijing. They were so beautiful, and just bursting with spring blossoms.

Autumn in Cape Town South Africa, was decidedly chilly and grey,

but it was worth the visit, if only for the beautiful view from the top of Table Mountain.

Travelling on the Blue Ridge Parkway through the Appalachian Highlands, did have some typical autumn scenes, and we couldn’t resist trying a packet of those deliciously crunchy Pork Rinds.

Autumn in New Jersey certainly wasn’t a lot of fun this year,

and some of the streets will never look the same again.

Winter in my home town of Umhlanga South Africa, always feels like summer to most visitors from cooler climes.

My sister’s dog Dingo, can always find a nice sunny spot by the pool.

Even though it’s warm and mild in Florida for December, you only have to visit the shopping mall to see that it’s winter, and that Christmas is almost here.

To check out more entries for the challenge, just click here.

 

 

Of flight delays and baking cookies.

Last night, we had just got into bed when the phone rang. It was our son calling from Paris to say that their night flight had been cancelled, because the plane had been delayed, and so of course he was going to miss his connecting flights in South Africa. Air France gave the reason for the delay as snow, which seemed very strange, as the plane was actually coming into Paris from China, where it’s mid summer. We  decided that it was all a ‘cock and bull’ story, and that the flight just wasn’t full enough, and by blaming weather conditions, they wouldn’t have to compensate anyone for the inconvenience. Apparently they were most unhelpful. The line was impossible, so we ended up chatting backwards and forwards on Whatsapp until almost  11-30pm here.

They did have a wonderful day in Paris, and of course Sienna had her first visit to the Eiffel Tower.

That song, “On a clear day, you can see forever,” came to mind when I saw this photo of her at the top.

They are on the plane now, winging their way to South Africa. They’re booked on the last flight from Johannesburg to Cape Town, where a good friend is meeting them. It will be a close thing, and I hope they make it through passport control, baggage claim and through to domestic check-in on time.

I’m so excited now that their arrival is so close. I’ve been trying to take my mind off it by keeping busy doing housework, baking decadent chocolate brownies,

and my famous banana walnut muffins.

Please help yourself; I can always make more. 😀

 

 

 

They’re on their way.

Some of you may who follow me, will know that my son and little granddaughter Sienna are coming to visit very soon. I’m so excited to see them again. When I woke up this morning, there was this photo on Facebook.

There’s my little angel looking so excited to be travelling all this way with her dad. They were stopping off in Paris for the day and catching the night flight to Johannesburg and then on to Cape Town, where they will stay with friends before flying to Durban on Monday. I think their body clocks will be all over the place, as they only got back to New York on Sunday after attending a family wedding in Hawaii. At least they can get over their jet lag in Cape Town, and should be back to normal by the time they get here.

Today I played piano at the Mall again. Every time I do, I seem to get a kiss from someone. I’m a sitting duck on that piano stool, and can’t really escape. Last week it was a male acquaintance who I used to see at the gym, and today it was a female acquaintance who I haven’t seen in a long while. It’s quite off-putting when I’m in the middle of a piece, as you can imagine. I’ve had my head patted and my shoulders squeezed on occasion. I’ve had people come and ask me directions to a certain shop, or enquire whether I give piano lessons, or if I can play “Meat Loaf!” 😆 Last week I had someone brusquely ask, “Do you play the organ?” to which question I decided the safest answer was, “No.” The security beeper goes off at the entrance to the clothing store on my right at regular intervals, and clumsy people bang into the piano as they walk past, even though there’s plenty of room.  All this happens whilst I’m blithely playing my little heart out. Today I felt led to give a rendition of “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread,” closely followed by “Send in the Clowns.” 🙂 Most people however, just give a friendly smile or a wave, which is always welcome.

It’s not strictly true to say that I don’t play the organ, and another day, I must remember to tell you a few hilarious stories from my organ playing past.

Now I’m off to watch some more Olympics. Have a great evening, or rest of the day, depending on where you are.