Yaayh! Our first snow has arrived!

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Surely you can see that it's a bit cold for my family here hahaha!

Been waiting for the snow to come these last days and finally this morning it made its first appearance on the mountains here.
Now don't scoff and don't laugh at what we regard as snow, as it is only the fourth time in my lifetime that I see snow in Africa.
Come and have a look!

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This is the highest peak of the "Hottentots-Holland" mountain range in the False Bay area of the Western Cape Province of South Africa.
We can see the peak from our bedroom window!

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That valley below the peak collects tons of water during rain storms and some bad floods were recorded on the farms and the town below.
Eventually an effective storm water drainage system was installed that allows the water to run into the sea!

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So, of course we popped into the car to go and have a look and this old tree that we love is in the complex on our way out!

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Also caught a goose in the landing act on a street lamp pole!

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The sun had started to form halos around it, cold air that crystallizes
when it meets with heat of the sun!

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The doves here are spending time in their local pub. Wisely seeking out the bit of sun that they can find. The guy with closed eyes obviously had too much to drink. I hope that he is not driving home Lol.

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Now this is what I call a beautiful sight!
A giant halo above a mountain and the cloud on the mountain top lends a great backdrop to the palms!

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Sadly this was the best that I could get of the mountain, as the light had darkened and did not make for clear shots!

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We spent some time at the mountain and Marian also had some shopping to do. This is another shot of the sun halo, taken from a different area on the way back home!

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At least this little guy was glad to see us and note how he sits in a weak ray of the sun that had broken through the clouds!

And That's All Folks!

Not much to say here, as I have said all in the post and only hope that you have enjoyed the pictures.
Cold? I hear you ask and yes, it is a bit breezy, but we can cope with it. The rain has stopped for now and at least I didn't have to go about slipping and sliding!

Thank you for your visit to a post by @papilloncharity

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The snow, wow! Here it's common to see snow on the mountains around my city (not during this season, here the summer is just around the corner :) ), but I can understand it could sound strange to think snow in Africa . ^_^

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Hahaha, oh yeah, snow in Africa is like a finding a needle in a haystack.
We knew it was coming, but we didn't know when and we can only hope that it will increase.

Of course it is nothing like your European snow right here, but in other parts of the country it falls to knee deep levels. Not here though.
Covid restrictions prevent us from traveling to the deep snow areas.

Thank you for the visit and for the share my dear friend.
Blessings to you and yours!

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What a beautiful day, glad that you can see the snow this time. We are having very hot weather here but enjoying the summer. Beautiful post and love the mountain and landscape shot of the town...

Stay warm and stay blessed my friend...

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Ah! So at last your summer has come and now it is bikini time Lol.
Glad that you liked the photos my dear friend.
Enjoy your time in the summer!

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Hahaha :D I won't mind wearing short dresses... I will be more tan this year :D

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Sounds very nice and you will have a string of guys after you 😄

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Gorgeous part of the world and stunning photos but...it must be freezing! Your squirrels are so cute;)

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Funny enough today was a bit warmer than yesterday Lady Liz.
I think it was around 15C today and yesterday was about 8 or 9C.
The water though driven by the cold winds make things worse that what it is!
Our little tribe of squirrels are indeed a great pleasure to have around, but it is costing us in peanuts lol. A 2kg bag lasts 4 days hahaha.
There's 6 squirrels in the family with some visitors at times and now and then the birds also grab a nut. Great fun that we have here and I think that I am going to clear a patch of ground to grow peanuts. Wired closed of course.
Blessings!

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It must be a lot colder up the mountain. Have you been up there? We're still waiting for summer here. Very mixed weather, but we needed some rain anyway.

Stay well.

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That is one very high mountain Sir Steve.
I hear that there are climbers on the other side, but none this side.
We have only been about half way up, but one would need special equipment like ropes and pin shackles to get up there.
What makes you think that I have considered it Lol.

When was the official start of your summer, beginning of this month June?
Great that you got some rain, always a blessing.

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Officially summer starts in June. We have had some really warm weather earlier in the year, but then it goes cold again.

If I could see mountains from my home I would like to at least get part way up. Nothing high around here though.

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So Marian was right as she said that it starts in June. Almost the same time that our winter starts.

Believe me when I say that halfway up is sheer murder on the legs.
Especially when one is not wearing special boots.
I went up in an ordinary pair of shoes and my legs cried for a few days afterwards!

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We each climb our own mountains :)

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So true!
Sleep well my friend as I have to say good night.

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I don't laugh because that's clearly snow on that mountain and it looks just like any mountain here in Austria when the winter begins - I would love to have such a view from my bedroom 🙂
Seems you had a very nice day although it was cold, and from all these nice images I like this halo behind the silhouette of the palm tree most - looks amazing 👍

!tip
Cheers and !BEER

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I was considering to make that palm tree shot the post tag shot Sir Johann.
But thought that I better post Marian and our little "Troy", as they will be more acceptable.
Thankfully today the rain was absent, as I was continually drenched in the past few days, but the weatherman says that the rain will be back tomorrow.
So we had a an almost clear hazy day to get out a bit.

Glad that you liked the photos and thank you for being a friend!

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It's always a pleasure for me - your stories and photos are amazing and it's cool to see how life and living on other continents is ... snow in Africa ;) - yes, I know there's snow on the Kilimanjaro 😉
I don't believe the weatherman if he says the weather is going to be bad ;) This week I was right not to believe him, because it should have rained today ;) lol

Cheers and !BEER

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Shame, I think the weatherman has a very tough job Sir Johann.
Can you imagine when you tell the nation that the sun is going to shine and it rains?
I think that the weather plays jokes on the poor soul.

Snow is rarity up north where we come from, but a farmer here told me that they keep a watch every year for the snow, as it means that they will have good quality apple crops.
I didn't know that apple trees sleep in winter and that they love the cold.

So it seems that we will see snow on the mountains here ever year.

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This wouldn't be a job for me - even my family would hate me when I tell them they are going to have a sunny Sunday, but then it rains 😂

I also didn't know that about the apple trees. There are a few apple trees in my parent's garden, but I can't remember that my father would have said something like that. Seems I have learned something new today ;)

Mountains look so much better with at least some of that white stuff on the peak - snow is a beautiful addition to the gray rocks 🙂

Cheers and !BEER

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I love our chats and glad that you learned something new Sir Johann.
The guy is a 5th generation farmer and he has amazing insight into apple trees.
He is also the chairman of a big local fruit export company.

Please excuse me as I am starting the get cross eyed and it tells me that it's bedtime.
Hope that you have a good night, even with the muscle aches.
Blessings to you and your family!

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Good afternoon @papilloncharity,

in that case he should know what apple trees like, but maybe European apple trees are different ;) lol

I had a good night and this morning began very sunny, but later I was glad that I had my raingear with me ☔ This time I rode into the east and on my first pass it began to rain, so I turned back, but then the rain clouds came from all directions and although I managed to avoid the heavy rain I got wet on my second pass and then I decided to ride back home - made 250 km all in all 😉 It is heavily raining now, but it's quite warm.

Hope you have better weather and a nice Sunday 🙂

Cheers and !BEER

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Incidentally Apple trees come from Central Asia from where they were exported to Europe and that's where South Africa got them from. So its all the same trees my friend.
We as humans have domesticated the original wild trees.

Almond trees for instance were poisonous and the wild Almond trees are still poisonous.
But the poison was grafted out in the domesticated trees.

It seems that you had a wet ride out and great that had the sense to take your raingear with.
250 clicks is till a great ride methinks.
I hope your muscles have also improved.
Hope that you guys will have a good week my friend!

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Good morning @papilloncharity,

I have said it on the other blockchain and I still say it here on the Hive: this community it is also an educational platform. So I thank you for today's lesson my friend 😁 - I didn't know these facts about apple trees.

Although I don't (want) to believe the weatherman if he says it will rain I play it safe and take the raingrear with me, at least most times ;)
After these additional 250 km I feel even better than I did after the first day 😉

I wish you a great week too 🙂

Cheers and !BEER

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That's great to hear that you can recuperate so fast.
I think that nobody trusts the weatherman :)
Rest assured I also didn't know it until we arrived here and was introduced to some apple farmers.
I never knew for instance that pears and apples could grow on the same tree, at the same time.

Will look for the photo and show you.

Take care Sir Johann/

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Yes, I'm feeling great again :)

I have heard that apples and pears grow on the same tree, but I haven't seen such a tree yet.

You take care too and have a good day, @papilloncharity 🙂

Cheers and !BEER

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Ah! A reminder here to look for the photos.
I made a note and I will soon show you my friend.
Blessings!

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Good morning,
no rush - take your time my friend 🙂
Have a great day 🙂

Cheers and !BEER

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Apples on the one side!

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Pears on the other side of the same tree!

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Wow, that's really cool, thank sou yo much for searching and showing this interesting tree, @papilloncharity 🙂

Cheers and !BEER

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They "grafted" a pear branch into the old apple tree, but for some reason it hasn't taken off in a big way. That orchard was planted by an old Italian POW, as after the war he bought the land there, married a South Africa woman and spent the rest of his days there.

We used to often go for walks there, as it was the first place where we stayed when we arrived in this province 2 years ago.

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Good morning 🙂

that's what they are doing here with the trees too. The German word is "Baumveredelung" I believe, Google translates that as "Tree refinement". But I have never seen that they put pear branches on apple trees or vice versa. It's cool though :)

Have a great day @papilloncharity🙂

Cheers and !BEER

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I don't think that it works very well Sir Johann.
Maybe the tree strains of DNA doesn't compare very well, otherwise everyone would do the "Baumveredeling" a very nice word.

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Well, mixing fruits on one tree will certainly not work always, and I don't know anything about it, but as much as I know many fruit growers do that to keep their kinds as they are or make better fruits ... I have found a better English word at Wikipedia: Grafting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grafting
I still don't know more about it though 😉

Cheers and !BEER

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Yeah, look a few replies back and you will see that I used the word grafting, as that is what we call it here. A branch from a tree inserted in a process into another healthy tree.
Look at "The grafting process for trees" in Google.

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Hahaha, now I'm getting old - yes, that's exactly it 😉

Cheers and !BEER

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Time catches up to all of us old man hahaha
Cheers and thank you!

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Yeah, that's true 😉
Have a great day and weekend 🙂

Cheers and !BEER

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Oh wow snow!
And I got sunburn today :p

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Hope that the sunburn is not too bad my friend.
Cold water on the burn, Aloe vera lotion is also good!

If you want I can send you some snow 😀

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Thankfully it's not :) But it looks funny and pink.

Please do! Lots and lots of snow! :D

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So maybe we must change your tag name to "Pinky" hahaha.
Snow gone, but hopefully more will come, as July is our coldest month.
Take care of yourself.

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Squirrels are annoying little things, but so cute. I think so anyway. I like that image you captured of the goose landing too; It almost looks like it will miss, but I suppose it knows what it is doing.

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That goose is a prime fighter that even takes on the cats and the crows my friend.
Egyptian geese are known as feisty critters and this guy even chases adults and children around. But he is also a most gentle soul as regards us as his family.
This is their territory and they eat and bath here every day at our house.
We have named them Harry and Sally and at the moment Sally is on her nest somewhere here in the wild. She only comes to eat and bath late in the afternoons. They return here every winter.

As far as the squirrels are concerned, "Squirry", the mother has 5 children and this is also their territory. The dad "Scarface" has disappeared and "Squirry" has adopted Marian my wife as her own. She climbs all over Marian and searches in her pockets for nuts, but she won't allow her children to come near Marian.
We also have Robins, Thrushes and Song birds that nest here in our garden, oh and of course about 20 dives. Oh and the crows.

Sounds crazy doesn't it!

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Very light dusting of snow on top, enough to make one freeze below, exciting and pretty to see.

Cape mountains getting snow during winter ensures good crops in the valley during the summer to follow, bread basket for many.

It's the crazy wind, high seas you get down there that are enough to get anyone sitting on the edge of their seat, enjoy the view while it lasts Stephen, regards to Marian.

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The apple farmers are very happy with snow as now the apple trees will have a deeper winter sleep that will result in top class quality apples Lady Joan.
A fact is that all of the other farmers are also happy and the dams are getting water.

One look at the sea and one can see why so many ships went down here.
High waves cover the big rocks with their jagged edges and they will rip any ship apart.
Regards also to you guys!

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Oh, snow!!! You said it would! How awesome is that? I absolutely adore the sun halo and the palm silhouette! Absolute stunning scene.

I know you get snow on the mountaintops from time to time, but, it is still quite a scene to witness.

Great shots overall and who doesn't love your squirrels!???

!tip

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Sorry for the late reply my dear, but lately a madhouse here again.
Although I still get a chance to nip into nature whenever I can.
Glad that you liked the shots and we visited the river today to see the melting waters come down.

Sadly we did not have a heavy cover of snow, but snow is snow to my lol.
Thank you for the kind tip and hope that all is well with you!

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No problem~ I am usually days and days behind! Snow is snow! When I lived in the desert, we drove to see our snow on the mountaintops of Arizona. I totally understand it.

All is well with me and never worry about getting back to me. I understand life gets busy. xo

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A day of troubles and patience here my dear friend.
Was told by the young tech yesterday that my PC is 15 years old and 32Bit. That's why it cannot take updates anymore.

I cannot open Hyperlinks in my emails and some other things on the PC are also going their own way, wherever that is.
I am very fond of This PC and so sad that we might have to part ways.
I don't know about you, but I don't like new things. They make them for midgets and I even struggle to use a phone as the numbers are too close together for my fingers.

But such is life in our journey on this planet, as all things that we know will eventually come to an end.

The post today took me 3 hours, as at first the PC wouldn't start and the "F1" in the bios was of no use to jump start it. Then the PC refused to load photos from the camera.
So I made a plan to use photos from my files.
Then finally I published successfully and the post disappeared successfully.

I eventually found it in drafts, went to Hive on Discord and asked in the help what was going on. A lady said that I should go and look at my transactions in our account if the post was published. I looked and the post was published 2 hours ago.
So I went back into PeakD and Voila, the post was there.

So yeah, both you and I have many bridges to cross in our lives, but nothing, as long as we breathe, is going to stop us:)

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