Winter must Have's!

Its that chilly time of the year again, Winter, and seemingly the chill get worse every year. The colder it is, the lazier we get. It's difficult getting out of bed, its difficult leaving the house, going to the gym is a mission (well for me) and all you want to do is stay snuggled up in your blankets, eating foods that you'll regret having in the season to come.

In short, Winter for me is a very unpleasant season. If i had my way I'd just skip it, hibernate maybe, because i just cannot bear the cold. Its unfortunate though that life will not wait for me, the hustle continues right through winter. So, i found a coping mechanism... And i wanna share it with you. 

10 Items that make Winter pleasant:

1. The Electric Blanket

An electric blanket is an electric heating device which is placed below the bottom bed sheet. It is used to pre-heat the bed before use or to keep the occupant warm while in bed. The Nice thing about the one at Woolworths is that you can set the temperature you want and the hours you want it on between one to eight hours.
Prices range from R 550 depending on the size you want!


2. Fan Heater

A fan heater works by using a fan to pass air over a heating element. This heats up the air, which then leaves the heater, warming up the surrounding room. The nice ting about it is that it is portable and works really fast. The Russel Hobbs Fan Heater can be found at Woolworths for R 299






3. Hot Water Bottle

This item is easy to use and is extremely affordable. all you do is boil water and pour it in the bottle and its done. The nice thing about it is, you can use it at the office, in bed or just when you're sitting around watching TV. At Jet Mart it goes for R 19.99







4. Fleece Blankets

Just to snuggle up while watching that movie or series. It even comes in handy when travelling during the cold winter days and when you're up and studying late for that exam. This Fleece Blanket goes for R 149 at @HOME




So far we've listed some appliances and bedroom accessories. Lets look at some apparel.

5. Coat

 Just because its cold it doesn't mean that you don't have to look good. A coat, and they come in many lengths, sizes, colours and designs, is the perfect thing to have. I just recently bought my first one and oh how it makes me warm! The one in the picture can be found at Foshini and goes for R 590.



6. Boots

Another must have are boots. not only are they helpful for extremely cold day but they are life savers for the rainy days during the winter season. i took a particular liking to these Riding Boots available at Edgars available for R 399.95



7. Stockings/Opaques

Some ladies just feel comfortable wearing their short dresses even through winter because they still want to look good. Stocking are a must have for them because their legs are covered by stockings or opaque tights. The one in the picture  regulate your temperature and manage moisture for superior comfort, so you feel your best all day. you can buy them at Woolworths for R 59.95.

8. Scarf and Gloves

Scarfs protect your neck from the cold and keep you warm.

Gloves keep your hands warm. I don't own these yet but they are definitely on my to buy list.

The items displayed found at Foshini for R 140 andR 130 Respectively

9. Beret/Beanies

Something so cover your head and ears. especially in the early hours of the morning! Beanie from Foshini at R 100

Lastly,

10. Soup

What better to close of the list like Soup. The only item on my list that warms you on the inside. Knorr Cup-a-Soup is one of my most favourite things to have during winter. I love it especially because you can just pop a sachet in your purse and during tea time you can make it for yourself. you'll just feel all fuzzy inside.

I hope you be on your way to get one of these items as well. And if you already have  all or most of them then good for you! Also note that even though i mentioned a few stores most of these products can be found in many store, from different brands and for other prices.

Have a pleasant Winter, because you know how!!!

Websites visited: www.woolworths.co.za, www.foshini.co.za, www.edgars.co.za, www.home.co.za, www.jet.co.za

Music-Poetry Part 2

I think music in itself is healing. It's an explosive expression of humanity. It's something we are all touched by. No matter what culture we're from, everyone loves music.
Billy Joel

I couldn’t agree more but let’s get a bit theoretical first by asking the question, what is music?

The writer Philip Dorrel put it this way: It’s what comes out of the speakers when we play a CD on our stereo. It’s what we hear on the radio. Music is singers singing and musicians playing. Music is a sound that we enjoy hearing. He continued on to say music creates emotions, or interacts with the emotions we already feel and, sometimes, it makes us want to dance. Music is something that people create and something that people respond to.   

Rightly employed, music is a precious gift of God, designed to uplift the thoughts to high and noble themes, to inspire and elevate the soul. E. G White

I must admit I love music, and not just listening to it but singing it. The emotions I get from singing are ones I cannot really express, so I tried to make a little illustration to show what music does to me:

Of course, there are various types of music but my genre of choice is Adventist Gospel Music. This is influenced by the fact that I am myself and Adventist. I come from a musically inclined family; my dad sings baritone, my mother has a beautiful soprano voice, my sister is an alto, my brother is almost an all-rounder (his voice ranges from tenor to bass) and I can sing soprano, alto and tenor.



My Musical Family- A true blessing!

 I have included a few videos for you to watch. Enjoy!

My Family singing Don't Look Back

Anointed- a trio comprising myself and my to friends Lebohang Liphapang and Siphokazi Dabata singing Worthy is the Lamb

Anointed singing I repent with Kwande Cakata my cousin playing the piano for us!

And remember...

After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.
Aldous Huxley.

Poetry!!

I am a very sentimental person. I have this box where I keep a bunch of items that I’ve either received from people or invitations with meaning and memory and so on. As I was going through my 'memory' box this weekend I came across something I had written. It was a poem I had written in high school and it brought my attention to something about poetry. And that is the fact that poetry exists because of a four letter word, LOVE. You feel the need to express your passion (love) for something. I’m not a poet but that is what it means to me.

Even though I wrote poetry in High School I’m not a poet, poetry requires some sort of skill, which by my own will I have accepted I do not possess. For clarities sake i'm referring in this post to written and spoken poetry and not written and sung (music) poetry because i know all too well how to express myself in that department.  There are a few people though who possess this skill and amongst these is a girl named Abigail Ndlovu.



Abigail Ndlovu- Bsc (Hons) Quantity Surveying Student and Poet



 After High School poetry started getting really boring to me, I supposed my interest at the time was aroused by the fact that I was dating a poet, until a few weeks ago when I heard a poem being recited by this lovely young lady. Her poetry caught my attention and lit a spark that made me appreciate poetry again. I got a chance to interview Abigail about her perspective on poetry and this is what she had to say:

1.       How would you define poetry

Poetry is an opening up of the heart's portals; speaking out what's been written on the heart's pages by experience through the hand of inspiration.

In simple terms it is writing out one's experiences, emotions and just anything that comes to mind. Poets are take inspiration from just anything.

2.       When did you start writing poetry and why?

I've always written but never really took it seriously. I would write pieces and tear them up afterwards, or just write and never share with anyone. But it was in 2010, and I do not really like to mention this but I have to be honest, it was after a bad relationship that I went back to writing poetry. My first piece was 'Faithfulness to Strength-Song of a healing Woman'. And many more pieces would thereafter follow. I am mighty glad I went back to writing. It feels so good to be doing something I enjoy. Moreover, I write because I figured, it is a way to evangelize, as you may have noted, I write Christian poetry, if I should call it that. We all have spiritual gifts and as this quarter's Bible Study Guide tells us, no gift is too small to use to tell God's children about Him.

3.       I say poetry is all about LOVE, what do you say?

I agree. It is about love, it is for love, it is through love. Love could be the main theme of a poem. We have poets who write solely about love. And I also believe that poets write out of love, love being the driving factor behind their poems. Writing because they love it and with love for those for whom they write. For example, when a poet writes a piece with a message of warning, that's primarily because they have love and care for their audience and would love for them to hear that message and most likely make a change for the better. That is my comment in short.

4.       Explain how you feel when reciting your poetry

Honestly…nervous. I am always nervous. There is no getting used to standing before God’s children to deliver a message from Him through my feeble lips. Well, everybody gets nervous standing before an audience, but I get nervous also because as I said, I believe the poems I recite are messages from God for me and all His children, so I get nervous because I know how important the message is and so I should not spoil it or let my personality get in the way of God’s children receiving it. Also I worry because I do not want to excite my audience with mere word-play but want them to get the message when I am done. 

Below are 2 poems by Abigail, indulge in them as I have and POETS, let me hear (or read in this case) what POETRY is to you!

NO BEDTIME STORY

This is no lullaby to put you to your sweet sleep

This is the alarm with no snooze button come to forever ring in your senses

For too long we’ve let the world tuck us to bed early and read us bedtime stories

Or on days that we’ve been naughty deny us a bedtime story and shout ‘lights out!’

But even though I’m also denying you that bedtime story, I’ve come to echo “Let your lower lights be burning!”

No way do we light a lamp and put it under a bushel

But we let our light so shine before God’s lambs out there in the cold

So don’t stay tucked in while Jesus cried for them “Poor sheep with no shepherd”

Hear His cry and wake up!!!

Because a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest-

And poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man

A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest-

And the souls impoverished of the Word will be counted on your head when He comes, Keeper of the Sheep

Won’t you get up from your sleep?

Church, we need to wake up and set the pace as the world follows from behind

But at this moment the church stands as a bride to the world and the devil as minister is about to seal this unholy matrimony

To the feeble human mind there is no telling how long this marriage will last but Scripture warns against unions with the world

Scripture foresees a drastic divorce with the bride left stranded as she committed to a pre-nuptial contract because you see, she didn’t bring anything into this marriage

You can’t bring anything to the world’s dinner table

It stands as host and feeds you its well balanced diet of lies and mediocrity as the starter course and hypocrisy and compromised principles as its main dish

You have just read the menu; I advise you to make a decision not to partake

But it is funny coz even with this reality before our eyes we still order

See many of us have abrogated our lease contacts with reality

And sought accommodation with pretence, fantasy and denial

Building castles in the air with no foundation

We need to seek a city with foundations whose builder is God

Coz we’ve rejected the corner stone and forgot that these temples ought to stand firm upon the Rock of Ages, King Jesus Himself

And He calls on us to be sober and vigilant for our enemy the devil proweth about seeking whom he may devour

But how can we even hear his roar from afar and flee when our ears are blocked with the wax of the petty things of this world?

Won’t we clean our ears with the water from the Fountain of Living Waters and see the things that really matter?

Wake up! And proclaim the gospel of truth

Wake up! And feed the multitudes by the voice of your works

Let it echo through the corridors where you have not set foot

Let it venture into platforms you cannot climb

Heed to the call, and proclaim the gospel of truth

Wake up! And feed the multitudes by the voice of your works

This is no lullaby to put you to your sweet sleep

This is the alarm with no snooze button come to forever ring in your senses

Wake up!!!

By: Abigail T. Ndlovu

and

HEART MUSIC

My heart’s like unto a brightly polished grand piano

Standing in the middle of a hollow room in this earth house ready for God to play a piece of music on it

The keys of my heart are ready Lord; please play a tune for your children

As my fingers dance to the rhythm of my heart’s instrumentals

This melody springs forth setting my African feet to the dance to this poetic harmony

My whole body’s shaken by this tapestry of words

An arrangement actually composed by the Master Himself, Jesus

Springing forth from my lips, reaching your ears and setting your feet to the dance too

I see the joy in your eyes

This is no ordinary sound

But yet, none than we are accustomed to

With notes reaching as high as Mount Calvary, coming down to the pit of your heart with an ever-increasing pitch of His love

Our hearts join together in chorus and sing “Oh what a day that will be when we shall stand-man and angels singing in that mass choir conducted by King Jesus Himself”

Singing a melody whose words our hearts have kept a secret from our lips throughout the ages…

Heart Music…

A special thanks to Abby who allowed me to use her material on my blog.