Phuthu Stay Phut, Don't go!

We had a look-see at the year’s stats and can honestly tell you that South Africans dig their food – our South African recipes were very popular. Food aside, the Toyota Adverts, Sanders Life and About the Phuthu Girls were the most popular posts!

We know how to make you, our readers,  feel important but it’s really all about us. Our favourite posts were without a doubt those ones that involved ourselves like the poem one, the baking one – well, actually all the group posts.

It’s been an interesting year. We are truly grateful for your loyal support and hope to see all your comments in 2010. Stay tuned to our blog where it’s all about us

This is the very first year I had such zeal for Christmas and it resulted in some serious Christmas Fever. I never really got into it previously; must be my two little munchkins that brought a whole new dimension to this special day. I had a glimps of Christmas through their eyes: The built-up, the whole hush, the lights, the tree, wrapping gifts, the excitement and the wonder. It got me all mushy, soppy, gooey, cheesy and girly – a welcome change I must admit.

And it all boils down to this one day.

So, what is a typical South African Christmas like? For kids it’s about Santa and watermelon, for us it’s mostly about family, food – lots of it – good wishes, food, an early afternoon nap, a late afternoon gathering with friends and family and a chilled evening. Oh, and food.

Whichever way you choose to spend Christmas Day – have a good one! And for those who choose to (note: I’m being politically polite), take a moment to remember.

Merry Christmas!

By Elzet

PS. Dare we hope for a sunny one?

Stress balls! Christopher, who runs the ever popular blog imod.co.za, sent us these cutesy wutesy stress balls.  He has a huge stash of these for himself too – it can get really stressful trying to solve the brain games here on Phuthu. You should try it.

But other than de-stressing, juggling and playing catch,  I’m sure they’ll come in extremely handy as a round of ammo when the gals in the office refuse to pipe down…

Oooh. A cutesy little container!

Branded and everything!

I’m drawn to the yellow one the most. It looks like such a happy stress ball don’t ya think?

Thanks Chris!

By: Louise

We have once again put our heads together to come up with THE most important list of items to help get you through the festive season unscathed.

Now if you have read our previous Christmas challenges, you would already have finished your Christmas shopping without the stress and hassles of fighting off frenzied shoppers and of course your Christmas tree would be up, twinkling to the sounds of ‘O come all Ye Faithfull”.

Which leaves us with the following very important points to consider-

• Do you have cookies and milk ready for Christmas Eve, after all you don’t want to irritate Santa now do, what with his tendency of slipping pieces of coal into certain people’s stockings.
• We thought it would be nice if everybody took the time to learn all the names of Santa’s reindeer, Rudolf always gets all the attention, it seems a bit unfair on the rest of the guys-
  Dasher, Dancer,  Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen
• Whatever you do, DON’T BURN THE TURKEY.
• Don’t set fire to your Christmas tree, always unplug the lights when you go to bed at night.
• Get down and dirty, eat that last piece of turkey, have an extra slice of Christmas cake if that’s what you want. Why, you make ask? Well it’s Christmas, it’s a time for indulgence and seeing as though it only happens once a year, make the most of it. Besides getting back into shape is what New Year’s Resolutions are for.

In Conclusion:

May Peace be your gift at Christmas and your blessing all year through!  ~Author Unknown

The Phuthu Ladies would like to reiterate by saying, have a blessed holiday, be safe and most of all be happy.

Yesterday we spent just over 5 hours mountain biking in the pristine Karkloof Valley – an hour’s drive from home.  Surrounded by animals, blue skies and endless greenery, I felt strong urges to start busting out “Old McDonald had a Farm….”.

But I didn’t. I should have. Next time.

The scenes that greeted us might have made a forgetful person lament: “aaah we should’ve brought the camera”. But not us, no – thanks to my well-prepared, Phuthu-Punter of a husband, we had a spiffy Canon with a 72mm lens on board…Hee! Disclaimer: So we do have pictures but I must warn that they serve only a slither of the real beauty that was rendered before us.

At one point in the ride, whilst snacking ferociously on Jelly Babies, I found myself taking in a panoramic view and wondering if anyone could ever get tired of marvelling at such postcard scenery. Surely not…

I think I was eating Jelly babies at this point…

Jeremy’s favourite photo – us girls clambering over slippery rocks in slippery shoes. We had to cross this river twice as all the bridges had been swept away. Don’t you just love my surfing pose?

Jeremy, our personal tour guide, kindly informed us that a man was washed over these falls…that was the only sad part of the ride, thank goodness.

See the blue skies and green grass!

More green grass and blue skies! Mmmm!

Och..hello sexayhhh..nice shirt!!

So what is The Day of Reconciliation all about? It must certainly be worth knowing about if it resulted in us getting to stay home for a whole day! It’s a public holiday with the intention to advance reconciliation between different racial groups. Long story short, it’s about two things:

1. The Day of the Vow aka Dingaan Day – In remembrance of the battle between the Afrikaner and the Zulus at The Battle of Blood River.
2. The anniversary of the founding of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing of the ANC.

Reading this I travelled back in time, to my high school history class …

*yawn*

…and asked myself: How is this relevant to my life as I’m standing on the brink of 2010? Which brings me to the reason we have a public holiday: To remember. It might not trigger an emotional response from us youngsters today (I like that… youngsters), but if people lost their lives over something that they felt this passionately about, it is definitely worth remembering, or at least knowing about.

We wouldn’t have been where we are today if it hasn’t been for yesterday’s history makers. It asks for our acknowledgement and respect.

So now that you know and remember; go get that fire going. A braai waits for no man.

By Elzet