Tuesday, June 15, 2010

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!
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

---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!)

28 comments:

WFT Nobby said...

Hi MaxMom!
While Gail is salivating over that pavlova I would like to let you know that we haven't forgotten about the World Cup here, and I (not Gail!) shall be posting something football-related on Friday, the day of the next England game. We shall not be dwelling on the subject of goalkeepers!
Meanwhile hope you are enjoying the typical Scottish summer weather....
Toodle pip!
Bertie.
PS Thank you so much for saying that I am handsome!

Angus said...

Toffee is looking splendid.Your post made us laugh. There is some justice in this world - the three mongeese are definitely not spending their days sunbathing on the Camps Bay beach. What exactly they are doing is thankfully a mystery!

♥Mimi♥ said...

I feel like I'm in high school again learning so much about World History, Geography and Native Cultures. I'm also gathering recipes galore!

Have fun tonight with your house guest(s) and don't lose too much sleep. You will need your strength to blow into that vuvuzela of yours - WOWZA!

♥Mimi♥ said...

I forgot to mention - I ♥ your hamster. What a cutie pie!

houndstooth said...

I'm drooling over those pastry pockets! Gah! I can't look at this food anymore!

I hope you have a great visit with Adam! It must be wonderful to have him come back to visit!

I heard that they might ban the vuvuzelas. Is that true?

the magic sleigh said...

We are loving all of this new info from all of the countries, although we could use a little of a cool down, temps here have been in the upper 90's... too hot even for walkies!Love the hamster too. Have a great day and thank you for sharing your world with us.

-Kira The BeaWootiful's Mom

MySpecialDoggies said...

Hi Tammy & gang
You have snow - we have heat & humidity - and Apples is uncomfortable with the high heat. Neeli says hello too - heat means running under the hose when we water our vegetable garden!

Enjoy your visit with your guests and thanks for sharing the world during these games!

Woofs,
Nadine, Apples & Neeli

Golden Samantha said...

Love those pics of Tammy and the King wearing the beautiful shawl and Tammy wearing the painted construction hat!!! And those recipes again, have us salivating! I am still trying to gather info on Greece - it certainly seems like they are a team of controversy... speaking of which - I heard some news that distressed me a lot yesterday. It concerns the Vuvuzelas. Apparently, BIG MEDIA has been asking for a BAN on these wonderful SA native "brass" instruments! From the stands, their "output" is distressing the audio portions of the games - oh poor media! Luckily, their protestations met with a flat "No!" Yay SA!!!! We ring in too today with the "Go Bafana Bafana!" Enjoy your time with the students - they look and sound like lots of fun. Perhaps they should have scored you some tix???
Big Hugs xoxoxoxo
Sammie and Mom!

Golden Woofs! SUGAR said...

Woof! Woof! Go Bafana Bafana ... Lots of Golden Woofs, Sugar

Mrs. JP said...

Hi to all you poor freezing people, we're enjoying this week. I think those Brazil pastries look so good.

Anonymous said...

Yum, yum, yum! All that diverse food looks mighty good!

I luvs the little hamster guy but I'm not showing it to Brudder Ranger cuz he's a rat terrier and has a rather, um, wide idea of what constitutes a rat.

Keeps warm, okay?

Wiggles & Wags,
Mayzie

PeeS. I heards last night they were thinking about banning the vuvuzela. Do you think that'll happen?

Anonymous said...

Woo Woo Woo, Go Bafana Bafana!

Hugs, Tessa

♥I am Holly♥ said...

We love the pictures and all of the information! Tammy looks cute in her hat! Mom loves the hamster very much. She grew up having many hamsters! She said she used to have a bedroom full of hamster cages as a kid! The rest of the post is so informative. Lots of love, Holly and her mom

Two French Bulldogs said...

Oh Toffee you are adorable. Thank you for giving us all the soccer info and news. We love it and it is so interesting. How exciting you will have Swedish house guests
Benny & Lily

NAK and The Residents of The Khottage Now With KhattleDog! said...

*SIGH!*

Those temps sound pawesome!

Thanks fur sharing more tasty nom noms!

Enjoy your visitorS!

Hugz&Khysses,
Khyra

George The Lad said...

Thanks for another great post, the England players should be used to the cold!
It is starting to warm up here which makes a change.
See Yea George xxx

Jacqueline said...

A wonderful post as always!...Love Tammy's Makarapa hat=she is a total sweetheart...Schnapps is a cute little guy!...Hope you have a great visit with Adam...The Kiwi Bird is very unique and an interesting part of your post, as well as the recipes...Stay warm and enjoy the excitement that surrounds you!...Kisses to Tammy, King Toffee and Tommy!

Valerie Cummings said...

Awe I just love the last picture!!! They are so precious! I love that you have exchange students coming for a visit! Thats awesome!!! Hugs Joey and Kealani

The Life of Riley said...

Thanks for posting about our Kiwi birds. I haven't met one yet, but there is bush behind the fence where I live and maybe Kiwis are what I run back and forth by the fence to find (although my mum thinks I'm checking for visiting cats).

Mum is going to post more on our country before our next game on South African time (which is Monday for us).

We are learning lots from your interetsting posts, and the posts of your many blog friends.

Woofs,
Riley

Clive said...

Best of luck to SA tomorrow!

We are really enjoying all the blog posts from the various participating countries - a truly great idea MaxMom!

Enjoy the game tomorrow
- Clive and the NSLM

The Life of Riley said...

My last comment should have read "Sunday South African time" when we play Italy.

Did you see we had a 1-1 draw after a goal in the 93rd minute of the game with Slovakia! Mum was jumping up and down (and I jumped around too) as our team really are under-dogs (78th in the world ratings). We are so proud of our team for even getting to the World Cup, and now they are second alphabetically (all the Group F teams have played one game and all four teams have one point each).

Angel Ginger Jasper said...

Toffee you are looking great. I loved all the superb colour and pictures and oh that lttle cuddly.. Keep warm friends.. Hugs GJ xx

Sue said...

I'm learning so much from all these wonderful, well researched posts. I had forgotten that it's cold where you are. We're having so much heat and humidity. Are there any indoor soccer stadiums there?

doyle and mollie said...

ooo we are from nz too

the booker man said...

holy cow, it is freezing over there! i'm so glad ya'll have lots of blankeys to cuddle in and stay warm 'n cozy. schnapps the hamster and that little kiwi birdie are both so so so cute! all those international foodables look super delicious. i must get my mama in the kitchen to cook...it's only fair after she posted that most embarrassing picture of me!
*woof*
the booker man

Sierra Rose said...

Amazing events going on there! This is huge! Love the participation from many of our bloggy pals. Always wonderful.
Hugs to Tammy Girl and King Toffee!

Hugs and snaggle-tooth kisses,
Sierra Rose

sprinkles said...

Well, I certainly don't have to worry about staying warm! The past several days have been overly hot. I was talking to my mom this evening though about having to finally give in and turn on my air conditioner and she told me that tomorrow is supposed to be chilly.

I love your hat Tammy, it looks good on you!

King Toffee must be jealous that Schnapps is home and taking away attention that should rightfully be his!

That's wonderful you'll be getting to see Adam again! It'll be nice to catch up. Hopefully you'll get a chance to do that in between games.

I haven't had a chance to visit all of the blogs but I'm slowly making the rounds.

I'll be posting pictures of my dogs for Wordless Wednesday.

Molly the Airedale said...

The kiwi birdie is sure an interesting little fella!
We visit you daily and leave with our beards soaking wet. We are so enjoying all of the recipes! Thank you!

Love ya lots
Maggie and Mitch