What to wear for winter load shedding ...

The biggest problem with load shedding in the winter is that the sun sets earlier and then, it is cold. Our apartment is always cool anyway with all the tile floors, thick concrete and brick walls, high ceilings and tons of trees providing shelter (and preventing warmth) from the sun. Even at high noon on the hottest days of summer, I never even think to turn on the air-conditioning inside.

But conversely, the same attributes that keep the apartment blissfully cool in summer tend to keep it consistently frigid in the winter. Add single pane drafty windows to the equation and you better start thinking about what you are going to do when the sun goes down and the electricity goes out during winter load shedding. Yes we have several gas heaters, but those are localized solutions. In the bedroom or the living room in close proximity to where you are huddled. If you go from room to room or say, go to the bathroom, you're gonna have to leave the glow of that radiant heat behind. I am not dragging a gas heater around with me. Solution - wear your warmth.

I wear this little number to help keep me warm during load-shedding. A faux fur shawl over thermals or sweat pants, wool felt slippers and I keep this furry hot water bottle on hand. (I can boil water for it on my bistro gas burner.) Not very sexy but it is effective.

I have yet to go "full faux fur" and wear the hat, but it's only the beginning of June. We still have three more months left of winter in South Africa. TIE.