BRRR!...IT'S COLD!

GREETINGS FROM a very chilly SOUTH AFRICA!!!
TAMMY-GIRL here...

Amidst the prevailing Soccer World Cup fever, a cold front has enveloped our country.

All I can bark is

Brrrrrrrrrr.....! (rather hard to say for a dog!)

The night time temperature here in Johannesburg is 2 degrees at the moment and this will drop to -4C until the weekend.  Maximum temperatures are between 8-11C. So, I'll take off my 'Makarapa' hat, put my vuvuzela aside and simply sleep the day away. 

Afterall Golden Retrievers are good at that!...

Here is a picture of our first snow in the past 24 hours which fell on the Hottentots Holland mountains, near Stellenbosch, in the Cape...

The poor guys from Italy and Paraguay had to play their SWC game in the pouring rain at the stadium in Cape Town last night.  I don't envy them! It must have been freezing there!

Our KING-TOFFEE is under the impression that the joys of heaven have decended on him because he's either outside chasing the falling leaves or firmly ensconced in his blankets on the heated kitchen floor. We'll leave him be for today...

But I do have our little hamster, "Schnapps" to keep me company.  He has come home for the holidays.  He seems perfectly fine and probably unaware of all the happenings around us...

Maxmom says that the shops are still abuzz with world cup fever. Check out these wooden statuettes in their soccer colours.

GO BAFANA BAFANA!..

(Are we supposed to shout for wooden statuettes too?)

We have a big "happening" in our house tonight.  Our other exchange student, "ADAM" from Sweden  is arriving at our airport tonight. Him and his brother are going to be staying with us for a few days and are booked to see two of the soccer games at SOCCER CITY! How does it happen that overseas people are able to get tickets, yet Maxmom can't?
Well we will be driving to the airport to fetch them. A ride on our amazing new
GAUTRAIN
will have to wait for another day...

Anyway, I thought I'd show you a picture of our two exchange students when they were here in South Africa in 2004.  This picture was taken on their first 'game drive' experience. Adam (from Sweden) is on the left and Jan (from Germany) is on the right...

Visitors to our country are always interested in the wild life.  Here is Adam "doing his thing" with a crocodile...

Adam's current visit though will be solely focussed on the Soccer spectacle.

---xXx---
Today we have interesting snippets from 5 other countries...

NEW ZEALAND
The Kiwi Bird
(New Zealand's Indigenous Flightless Bird )

"The Kiwi bird occurs only in New Zealand. Although primarily a bird of New Zealand’s native forests, kiwis also live in scrub and native grasslands. Because the kiwi is a semi-nocturnal, secretive bird, few New Zealanders have seen their national bird in the wild.

The kiwi is the sole survivor of an ancient order of birds including the now extinct moas. A flightless bird about the size of a domestic fowl, the kiwi has coarse, bristly, hair-like feathers. Females are larger than males.

Kiwis grow to about the size of a chicken and weigh between three and nine pounds. They have no tail and tiny two inch wings which for all practical purposes, are useless. Despite its awkward appearance, a kiwi can actually outrun a human and have managed to survive because of their alertness and their sharp, three-toed feet, which enable them to kick and slash an enemy.
The kiwi’s long slender bill has nostrils at the lower end. Using its excellent sense of smell and flexible bill, the kiwi feeds on worms, insects and grubs, supplemented by leaves, berries and seeds. There are five kinds of kiwi in New Zealand - three closely related... Brown Kiwis, the Little Spotted Kiwi and the Great Spotted Kiwi... are pictured at the bottom of the page"

I hope our friend, Riley, doesn't have to flee from these birds!...

RILEY is a New Zealander and will also be putting up a special blogpost today in support of 'UNITY IN DIVERSITY'. Please go and read his post today HERE.

You can read all the efforts of various bloggers around the world who have put up special posts by clicking the links on the top of the right-hand tool bar in this blog.

Apparently New Zealanders enjoy Pavlova...so here is the recipe...

---XxX---

The team from Slovakia is also playing today!

Mimi from LOVING FOR A LIVING

has also put up a very interesting blogpost in support of this country. 

 Please go and visit her by clicking HERE.

Here is a recipe from us...

SLOVAKIA

and another recipe for the...

IVORY COAST

and one for...

PORTUGAL

The Portuguese Water Dog blog has a wonderful post in support of PORTUGAL.

Please go and visit them too by clicking

HERE.

---xXx---

Another recipe in support of...
BRAZIL

Pastry Pockets...

---xXx---

There were also so many other posts put up yesterday by various blogger in support of

"UNITY IN DIVERSITY"

which are certainly worth reading!!!:

 * ASSISTANCE DOG FOR AUTISM gave a wonderful account of a wedding in the Cameroon.

*DOG DAZE told us all about Japan.

* LIFE IN SUNNY SOUTH AFRICA showed the Netherlands in all their glory.

*PIAPPIES WORLD showed Italian flair and...

*TESSA THE MALTESE also got in with the spirit.

If you haven't visited these blogs yet, please do so.  You will learn so much about our wonderful and diverse world.

---xXx---

Maxmom is not sure how much sleep she is going to get tonight

(They will be at the airport at midnight)

so I am not sure if she'll get around to blogging tomorrow.

In addition, our second SOUTH AFRICAN game takes place tomorrow, so I will most definitely be watching them and barking loudly...

GO BAFANA BAFANA!!!

Sending lotsaluv to you all...

TAMMY-GIRL and KING -TOFFEE

IN SOUTH AFRICA

(ps Keep warm!...especially if you are in the Southern Hemisphere!)