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Tell Us! Your Top Five Favourite Sites?

eLuckypacket Shirt
Hope you all had a very happy Mother’s Day and did something relaxing whether you are a mom or not! I got some lovely wine, handmade chocolates and soap, and had a great day with my boys (the big one and the little one). Also got to speak to my own Mom, which is always lovely!

Changing the subject entirely (ha!), I recently found a list of the top 100 websites used by South Africans. Alexa provides a fascinating array of web information and statistics — for example, the fact that eLuckypacket is has a traffic rank of 1,626,783. Hmn … definitely need to spread the word!

Anyhow, here are the top 20 sites used by South Africans. And I’ve marked the ones I use in green to show you just how usage differs by country. Because of where I live, my top twenty are far closer to the US list.

My top five are probably: Google.com, Yahoo Mail, Flickr, Amazon.com and YouTube. What about yours? Leave a comment and let’s compare notes.

Top Twenty Websites - South Africa:

1 Google.co.za
2 Facebook
3 Google.com
4 Yahoo!
5 YouTube
6 Windows Live
7 Wikipedia
8 Microsoft Network (MSN)
9 Blogger.com
10 News24
11 RapidShare
12 Microsoft Corporation
13 Standard Bank
14 ABSA
15 Gumtree.co.za
16 M-web
17 Independent Online
18 Myspace
19 WebMail
20 BBC Newsline Ticker

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Posted: May 12th, 2008 | 1 Comment ... Your thoughts?

Categories: Odds & Ends, From South Africa, Technology & gadgets


Blame it On Woolies!

Pillowcases from Woolworths
The last time Dave and I were in South Africa, we bought two gorgeous pillowcases at Woolworths.

As I recall there were Queen-size duvet covers and sheets to match but we didn’t buy them because, for one thing, we have a King-size bed and, for another, we each sleep with our own single duvet.

Yes, long ago, we learned that we both got a better night’s sleep if we were each buried in our own little cloud of feathers and not fighting over bedding!

The plan was to buy Single (called Twin in the US) duvet covers to match when we arrived home. But therein lay the problem. American couples, for the most part, seem to like playing tug of war with the covers. Plain Twin duvet covers in grown-up colours — that is, those not festooned with Dora the Explorer or Spongebob Squarepants — are very hard to come by here. 100% cotton, plain duvet covers in grown-up colors are even harder to find. Every time I found a beige Twin cover, it was either too pinky-beige or too greeny-beige, and if it happened to be almost the right colour, the fabric wasn’t plain cotton. Either too silky or too suede-ey.

So after two and a half years of hunting, I finally threw in the towel and drove down to my local fabric store.

SewingLet me stop here a moment to admit that any sane person would have tucked those pillowslips way up high in the spare room cupboard and conveniently forgotten about them. And kept sleeping with the burgundy-coloured covers that don’t match anything.

Crazy, I know. And very, very stubborn.

At the fabric store I found the perfect beige in a plain quilting cotton. There was also a rust that was close to that used in the pillowcases, so I decided to add a block of rust to the top and bottom of each cover.

Only catch was that the width of the beige bolt was significantly narrower than the width that I needed. So I had to buy double the fabric and add a seam up the middle of each cover. (Kelli, I have lots of leftovers. Decent hunks that you could probably use for lining bags or aprons! Lemme know if you want them.)

Again, a less obstinate person would probably have left the store and donated the pillowcases to charity.

Finished duvet cover and pillowcaseLong story short, once I got sewing, the covers went pretty quickly. I added a hand-embroidered circle sun motif to the bottom of each cover to match the motifs on the pillowslips and — voila! — twin duvet covers to match our lovely Woolies slips! The cotton is fresh and soft on the skin and they do match the pillowcases very nicely. Here is a link to a bigger picture in our Flickr pool.

Stubbornness is definitely one of my faults but in cases like this, I like to think of it as persistence. Persistence that pays off!

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Posted: May 9th, 2008 | 4 Comments ... Your thoughts?

Categories: Living abroad, Home & decorating


The Lovely Miss Lira

Lira

A couple months back, Eish blogged about Lira and I started listening to her on my headphones at work.

Part Sade, part Angelique Kidjo, part all her own silk and smooth, Lira is dark chocolate, red wine and soft velvet to my ears! If you haven’t heard her, visit her website at Miss Lira, which has streaming audio that plays a different song on each a page of the site.

You can find her music at Kalahari.net, Musica or on her website. And because I can’t resist, here she is on YouTube.
 

 
 

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Posted: May 7th, 2008 | No comments yet ... Your thoughts?

Categories: Arts & culture, From South Africa, Books, movies & music


Dressing Up Your iGoogle

CONGRATS to Pia and Jenty who won last week’s free giveaway! They both win two lovely cushions from Side Attraction3. Congrats ladies! And our thanks to Side Attraction3 for giving away their lovely luxury goodies.
 
Remember that all South-African eLuckypacket readers purchasing from Side Attraction3 using the promotional code elucky will get a free Tickled Pink Picnic Throw, valued at R360! So please pay a visit to their site!
 
Desre Buirski iGoogle Theme

Ahem! It doesn’t take much to get me to rave about iGoogle.

“What’s iGoogle?” you ask. iGoogle is your very own personal homepage on the Internet, where you can read all of your blogs and news (using Google Reader) on one page, and add all the techie links and widgets that make life easier.

On my iGoogle homepage, I have links to my email login pages, plug-ins that give me the time and weather where all my family life, and (use them tens of times a day) Google and Wikipedia search boxes.

And then I have a whole separate tab that takes me to all my eLuckypacket stuff — admin and email logins, lists of to-dos, ideas for posts and so on. Right where I need them, wherever I am!

But I digress. This week, Google launched a whole range of new iGoogle artist themes. Everything from artists’ renditions of Dolce and Gabbana fashions and Lance Armstrong cycling to Anne Geddes babies and Japanese anime themes.

I chose the rich Desre Buirski theme shown above because I love the colours! Desre is the designer responsible for Nelson Mandela’s now-famous shirts.

The theme shows the outline of Africa filled in with a lovely silk-shirty fabric, and the design shifts throughout the day with different bits of the continent showing up in your iGoogle header every time you go there.

Little bit of geekdom, little bit of Africa, stunning design!
 

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Posted: May 5th, 2008 | 4 Comments ... Your thoughts?

Categories: Arts & culture, Fashion & beauty, From South Africa, Technology & gadgets


Housekeeping: April 2008

Oops! A day late but it’s definitely time to catch up on a bit of eLuckypacket housekeeping.

And if you have, send the link on to anyone you know who would love Side Attraction3’s lovely goodies! This weekend, we’ll pick two winners and I’ll announce the winners’ names in Monday’s post!

Please remember to send me a digital photo of the front and back of the cards you receive so that I can post them (minus addresses or any incriminating details) in our Flickr pool.

Have a lovely weekend everyone!
 

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Posted: May 2nd, 2008 | 1 Comment ... Your thoughts?

Categories: Odds & Ends, From the editor, Giving & receiving


eLuckyfocus: Etsy

Etsy Mosaic

Miss our FREE giveaway?
It closes this Friday,
so check it out!

Want to waste an hour, a day, a week? Want to be absolutely delighted, inspired, enthused?

Hop over to Etsy, the perfect place to buy and sell all things handmade. Everything from hand-illustrated comics to custom portraits of your dog to vintage aprons.

Though the company is based in the US, Etsy has sellers and buyers throughout the world. So if you have been wondering how to get started selling your handpainted pottery or the unique hats your mom crochets from plastic shopping bags, look no further. Set up a free Etsy shop, list your items and start selling!

Or if you just want to feast your eyes on something lovely for a while, park yourself in front of their home page, where the Recently Listed Items update every fifteen seconds. And see if you don’t feeling like breaking out your knitting needles or the supplies your bought for that jewellery-making class you dropped out of!
 

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Posted: April 30th, 2008 | 2 Comments ... Your thoughts?

Categories: Arts & culture, Home & decorating, From around the world, Products & services, Technology & gadgets


Happy Freedom Day

Strelitzia

“None who have always been free can understand
the terrible fascinating power of the hope of freedom
to those who are not free.”

Pearl S. Buck, American novelist
and Nobel Prize Winner

 

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Posted: April 28th, 2008 | No comments yet ... Your thoughts?

Categories: Politics & society, Living in South Africa


Free Friday Giveaway! Gorgeous Homeware Products from Side Attraction3!

  Side Attraction3

Wood Pillow from Side Attraction3

 

Aaaah! It’s Friday, it’s the weekend and it’s time for a free giveaway! Did I say free? Yes, free!

Side Attraction3 is a South-African company that specializes in luxury homeware and other lifestyle products. They sell stunning linens, cushions, clothing and more online!

What makes Side Attraction3 different, apart from the outstanding quality of their products, is that they base their designs and choice of materials on the values of environmental consciousness, personal identity, freedom and being African.

Side Attraction3 also believes in producing individual, handcrafted products, rather than the mass-produced items you’d buy in your average superstore, and they are blazing a trail of sorts in SA — that of doing business primarily on the Internet.

So how do you get in on the giveaway?

Go window shopping and take a look at Side Attraction3’s stunning collections (click Browse by Collection once you enter the site).

Then come back here and leave a comment below by the end of next Friday (May 2nd) telling us which products you loved most. I can’t decide whether I like the Retro Tribe Beach Towels or the Sundance Curtains best!

From those who come back and comment we’ll choose TWO winners at random who will each get TWO of the three lovely cushions you see below. Two of the same or mix and match! It’s your choice.
 

My World Cushion

Muse Cushion

 Wood cushion
My World
Cushion
 Muse
Cushion		 Wood
Cushion

 
Here’s the fine print … the giveaway is limited to readers living in South Africa. Those of you living elsewhere, send this on to friends and family in SA quick-quick and maybe they’ll split the prize with you!

Side Attraction3 is also offering all eLuckypacket readers in SA the exclusive offer of a free gift with every purchase.

Tickled Pink Picnic ThrowThe gift is their Tickled Pink Picnic Throw (shown here), valued at R360. This offer can be redeemed online or when your order by phone. Just mention the promotional code elucky to get this great deal.

Finally, buying from Side Attraction3 is as simple as a few mouse clicks or picking up the phone. They deliver throughout SA within 72 hours and every item is beautifully wrapped, making it easy to have gifts shipped to family and friends. They will even customize your purchase with a personal handwritten message to the receiver.

So — get busy ladies for a chance to win! Go visit Side Attraction3 and send this post to every South African you know who loves beautiful things!
 

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Posted: April 25th, 2008 | 16 Comments ... Your thoughts?

Categories: Living in South Africa, Fashion & beauty, Home & decorating, From South Africa, Products & services


What We Eat: An Interesting Global Perspective

The Revis family of North Carolina

Yesterday being Earth Day and all, I thought I’d refer you all to a fascinating post over at Ideate that looks at what families all over the world consume in an average week food wise.

Andrew Smith points to an original Time Magazine photo gallery of pictures showing families from places as diverse as Bargteheide, Germany, where the Melander family spends the equivalent of $500 US a week on food to the Aboubakar family, who live at the Breidjing Camp in Chad, who spend the equivalent of $1.23 US a week.

Here in the US (see the Revis family of North Carolina, pictured above, from the Time gallery) we tend to live pretty large. Dave and I live in a modest 3-bedroom townhouse and we don’t buy fancy stuff but we do splurge when it comes to food. We buy only the good stuff and our weekly bill for the three of us is roughly $175. Give or take.

But with gas (petrol) prices being what they are right now, our food prices are definitely climbing. The other day, I nipped into a grocery store that I don’t usually shop at because of its high prices and saw small avos for sale … at $2.50 a piece. That’s about R20 — each!

Which makes me realize that talk about dwindling energy resources and the politics surrounding how food is trucked and sold around the globe is not just talk. It’s starting to hit us where it hurts. And soon we’ll have no choice but to sit up and listen.
 

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Posted: April 23rd, 2008 | No comments yet ... Your thoughts?

Categories: Politics & society, From around the world, Food & entertaining


Joining Facebook

Facebook Profile

I find it interesting how different nationalities use technology. Americans are mad about Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, blogs (which we read using RSS readers liker Google Reader or Bloglines) and online shopping. We love the comfort and ease — OK, laziness — of online shopping! In SA (correct me if I’m wrong) you’re all about texting and Facebook.

I’ve avoided joining Facebook because I prefer to keep my personal and work lives separate. And it’s pretty common here to research a prospective employee by Googling them to find their Flickr or MySpace (more popular than Facebook in the US) pages or their personal blogs.

And to be honest, I don’t have the time for a lot of the “live every second online” stuff. I don’t Twitter, I don’t MySpace and — shhh! don’t tell anyone — but I don’t even have a real cell phone. I have the cheapest little brick of a Nokia (the one you might buy your ten-year-old) and I pay as I go. Brr! Me, uber tech writer and self-confessed web geek, with not one but two blogs! Don’t tell the tech snobs.

Anyway, after looking a bit at Facebook, I thought it would be useful to create a Facebook group for eLuckypacket Readers. I thought we could use it to post events, like the outrageously stunning free (FREE!) product giveaway I’ll be telling you about later this week. I also thought it would be a good way to extend our community.

So. If you have a Facebook account, join the eLuckypacket Readers group. And if you have friends, sisters, mothers, coworkers that have Facebook accounts — invite them too. Just search for “eLuckypacket Readers” or click the handy link above. See you on Facebook!
 

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Posted: April 20th, 2008 | 3 Comments ... Your thoughts?

Categories: Living abroad, Living in South Africa, From around the world, From South Africa, Technology & gadgets


Enough is Enough in Zimbabwe

Candle from Imke
There is nothing sweet or unexpected about this post. Not even one bit.

And I promise you I will not post this kind of thing on a regular basis — I am all about looking on the bright side and being glass-half-full.

But I am pretty sure we all feel the same way about what is happening in Zimbabwe … what has been happening in Zim for decades now … and what will continue to happen unless something drastic happens.

Last week, Jeanne posted about a blog called This is Zimbabwe, affiliated with a Zimbabwean civil-action group whose slogan “Sokwanele - Zvakwana” literally means, “Enough is enough!” in both Ndebele and Shona (see Wikipedia). And don’t we all feel it?

One of my early childhood memories is going with my dad and members of his church to hand out care packages and a bit of comfort to families who had fled the war during the seventies. I remember seeing the faces of those parents, gaunt and with dark circles under their eyes, and feeling the need to befriend the new Rhodie kids that were showing up in our schools.

And then years later, staying for a month with black friends in a Bulawayo township and hearing their stories of the horror of that war — how they, as schoolboys roughly our own age, were subjected to terror and violence by Mugabe’s Fifth Brigade.

Haven’t the people of this country suffered enough? Isn’t it time for something to shift in the universe for the good?

I strongly encourage you to visit This is Zimbabwe, and the Sokwanele site where there is a stirring address by Morgan Tsvangirai, delivered on what he calls Zimbabwe’s saddest Independence Day.

“We cannot wait another day, we cannot wait another week: we need a special envoy or a special committee or a delegation to come to Zimbabwe immediately, and deal with the issue following the Kenyan model. [A delegation] who will stay in the country until an agreement and a solution has been found.”

I warn you that these sites have some pretty disturbing pictures on them but wouldn’t we rather see what’s really going on than shake our heads and tut-tut about how awful it is?

There is very little I can do, living where I am and you probably feel the same way. But at least we can be aware and raise our voices with those speaking out bravely inside the country — who say, “Sokwanele!” and “Zvakwana!”

So here is a little candle burning, one of two made in South Africa and sent to me by a friend in Germany. Funny how we use candles to both celebrate and to mourn. I plan to keep the second one to celebrate a shift in power in Zimbabwe!
 

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Posted: April 18th, 2008 | 3 Comments ... Your thoughts?

Categories: Politics & society, From the editor, From around the world


The Sweets of the Internet


 Bracelet from Shutterfly
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not the kind of person who loafs around all day on the Internet, scrounging for free stuff and dollar-off coupons. I have a job, I have a family, I have a life. (Grin.)

But every now and then, when I am visiting a site or a blog I like, I enter competitions or free offers for products I like or might find useful.

Recently, the womens’ blog aggregator site Sk*rt asked readers to comment on the new design and layout of the site. They were offering Shutterfly photo books and other products in a free draw for those who commented.

I love Sk*rt — it’s one of my top-ten places to visit on the Internet. And I love Shutterfly because it makes my life so much easier. When I need to print photos, I upload them to my Shutterfly account, select the Target store (sort of like Hypermarket) nearest me to get them printed, and then pick them up when I next shop there. Easy peasy.

So imagine the thrill when I got an email to say that my name had been drawn and that I’d won a sterling silver photo bracelet. Wheeeee! I got onto the site as soon as my account was credited with my prize, uploaded a recent picture of Tau and my bracelet arrived in the mail this past Saturday.

Got to love the sweet, sweet Internet!
 

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Posted: April 16th, 2008 | 1 Comment ... Your thoughts?

Categories: Living abroad, From around the world, Giving & receiving, Products & services


For Those Doing the Postcard Swap

Before I pair you up, I want to be sure I haven’t missed anyone who wants to do the postcard swap.

I have:

Am I missing anyone? Last chance to get in on the postcard swap. Going … going …

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Posted: April 14th, 2008 | 2 Comments ... Your thoughts?

Categories: Living abroad, Odds & Ends, Living in South Africa, From around the world, From South Africa, Giving & receiving


eLuckyfocus: Living Life Breathlessly

  Aloe Blooming
The SA Blog Awards brought to my attention a beautiful blog that I’d never seen before.

Living Life Breathlessly won Best Undiscovered Blog — understatement of the year!

Alice Vosloo is a 23-year-old Joburger with cystic fibrosis, who until recently was living on IVs, nebulizers and oxygen, waiting for a double lung transplant. She started blogging in December of last year as a way of letting friends and family know how she was doing.

Read her blog and learn about facing life head-on without breath and still kicking butt (in her Lara Croft outfit). And meet those who love Alice — her parents, her friends, her sister and her kitty Emma, who she calls the bitchy, weird cat!

In late January, Alice received her new lungs and is slowly, slowly getting stronger. Yesterday she ran — for the first time in five years!

As Alice notes in her blog header, “life is not measured by the breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away.” Never has that saying been more true of anyone.

Go Alice! I can see that girl running a marathon and travelling the world.
 

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Posted: April 14th, 2008 | 1 Comment ... Your thoughts?

Categories: Body, mind & spirit, From South Africa


Not a Good South African (and a Plant Killer)

  African Daisies

This past Saturday I took my son Tau to the park to ride the local vintage railway. I took my new camera along and snapped pictures of the neighbourhood as we walked, including the photo above.

These beautiful daisies are scattered in gardens throughout our area here in Southern California. But as I uploaded the picture to my personal Flickr account to share with family, I had to scratch my head for a title. I knew I was supposed to know what they are called. Of course I knew what they were called. But do you think I could remember?

It was late and so I slapped a title on it: Some kind of daisy. Didn’t inherit the family green thumb.

The next day, an American friend emailed me: “They are African Daisies. I just read online that they are native to South Africa. Did you ever see any there when you lived there?”

Um … ja. I knew that. Me. Being South African and all.

That and the fact that I come from a long line of women who can name every species of South-African flora known to humanity. My Mom … Gran … Gran-Gran … great-aunts Boo and Joy … and back. Sigh!

Clearly the line stops with me because my husband has to take care of the garden and all the house plants. So that we can enjoy the benefits of sharing our space with God’s green and living things.
 

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Posted: April 10th, 2008 | 2 Comments ... Your thoughts?

Categories: Odds & Ends, From the editor, Living abroad


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