The widespread storm left Cape Town looking like Christmas in Switzerland as hailstones of various sizes covered the city and surrounds like snow. Not surprisingly – if you're used to the pronouncements of the Weather Bureau – a spokesman claimed it was "not unusual for this time of the year" despite some 90-year-olds insisting they'd never seen anything like it. Maybe I've got it wrong and seeing something once in a lifetime isn't that unusual? The local storm prompted enthusiastic amateur weather forecasters to predict a fierce winter to follow, but I’m sitting here in short sleeves enjoying weather as gentle and unexciting as the performances of most of our national sports teams this past month. Some argue the worst of winter still lies ahead, but the winter solstice has come and gone and we are halfway into the year, give a day or two. What is certain this winter is that the first day after a rainy day is always a Monday! Click HERE to read complete newsletter (pdf format)...