Self isolation and tadpoles

 My mum and I took Sr Paulette out to coffee at Veldemeers this morning. As I arrived I got a message from a friend we spent Sunday afternoon with, to say the host of a lunch she attended on Saturday has tested positive for COVID. We're going to have to self isolate. Means will have to cancel New Year tomorrow and lay low a bit. We are being tested for COVID for school next week. 

The government has just announced a delayed return to school due to the increase in cases here and the new strain in South Africa. Will mean a different form of preparing for school, groan. 

Have found out what tadpoles eat - mosquito larvae amongst other things. 

Applaus rehearsal and blowing into the fish tank

 I noticed this morning that Oscar's pump seemed to not be circulating the water as effectively and there were fewer air bubbles. Oscar has taken to lurking by the outlet pipe which makes me worry she is again not getting enough oxygen. The owners said that as long as the pump and filter are still going it should be OK, hmmm. I was supposed to be exchanging some of my surplus of weed with someone in Hatfield and so went out to see my friend Nina again. Left the weed with her for the other person to collect for her fish tanks and once again I talked fish. Glynne, Nina's husband had the bright idea to look up the manual for the tank pump. As far as we could tell, cleaning out the filter regularly should do the trick. He did suggest thought that perhaps I should blow through the in pipe to the pump and check there isn't a blockage. Nina quickly piped in that perhaps I should just stand there blowing until the owners get back or until I or the fish pass out from asphyxiation. Nina!! I will try blowing though and see if this does the trick. Maybe not until the 2nd of January though! Nina said she was eying some bream at Mukuvusi today, as she thought perhaps we could paint one with orange and pass it off for an Oscar fish if all else fails. Apparently most fish shops here don't have oscars at the moment due to COVID.

I've signed up to watch the live online performance of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra on New Year's Day. There is an online dress rehearsal tomorrow though. I have to sign in on the Applaus App. On the day they will show people around the world watching. Welcome to New Year's Day in 2021. A very different concert to normal but quite fun in some ways.

Having sworn I won't house sit fish again, I've taken on some tadpoles to put in my classroom when school starts. Not sure what they eat? Might try Pronutro flakes. Hopefully easier than fish! I've been going into school to do some sorting. Debating if I will go in tomorrow and Thursday. I'm no longer going to Nyanga next week though, so there is still time. Trying to fit in some geography prep for the second term too and will need to start getting organized for form 1 and 2 maths.

Oscar loves her weed and Fishmonger's for Christmas

 As there was another power cut yesterday and I didn't know how long the inverter was going to last, I made the decision to go across town to Hatfield to my friend Nina, to go get some oxygen weed from her fish pond. She gave me three large Kefalos yoghurt containers of the stuff. Neens got a little emotional at the thought that some of her tadpoles might be sacrificed to the Oscar fish, but she told herself to get a grip and that it was the circle of life. It was actually really special to see Neens and her family on Christmas Eve, as it is also her little girl's birthday. I gave her little girl an angel for her Christmas tree and had a slice of blue and green birthday cake. Wouldn't have happened if Oscar the fish hadn't nearly died.

Oscar is absolutely thriving now and adores her pond weed. Makes her tank more interesting as she only had sand before and she's swimming up and down and eagerly awaiting being fed. So thanks everyone who helped to keep her alive. Team William, Claire, Lucy, Brendan and then Nina, Glynne and Mrs Glover. Was also cool to see Mrs G as she was in town and she taught me high school biology. We had an interesting conversation about stem cells and the new Corona vaccine and mRNA. Mrs G was one of my all time favourite teachers.

I nearly spent Christmas Day in a petrol queue. My trip to Hatfield chewed up a fair deal of fuel and I got a nasty surprise on the way to church this morning when the Empty light started flashing. The car I have been lent for house sitting has an electronic fuel gauge and it is difficult to tell how much fuel you really have. I passed a queue on Carrick Creagh but that was before the fuel light flashed. I tried Helensvale but neither garage had. Crossing fingers and saying a little prayer I crept to Piers Rd and thankfully they were open, had fuel and there was no queue. I could have been really stuck. Got a full tank as petrol seems to be scarce. Crazy as we are now having to pay in US dollars, I don't see why there is a problem.

Had a lovely lunch with friends at the new Fishmonger's at Circolo Italiano aka the new Italian Club. Fish for Christmas lunch is just such a good idea. You don't feel as full and it's a treat. I had a yummy halloumi starter and then a Portuguese pan of mussels, calamari and prawns. The joy of not having to slave over a stove all day for Christmas and not having to do washing up after. We came back to where I am house sitting for presents and mince pies. Tomorrow have been invited to a waifs and strays left over bring and share and then on Sunday doing online games for my friend Heather in England's birthday.

Operation save Oscar at 1 am on Christmas Eve

  When the people I am house sitting for left they gave two instructions for Oscar the fish, feed him and then make sure the filter was clean. Well I've been doing the first but I kind of forgot the second and yesterday we had a power cut from 9 am to 6 pm which meant the pump wasn't on. I did look at the tank and think it was getting murkier but Oscar seemed OK. I had friends come round for a Christmas drinks party and we kept checking on Oscar. At one point my friend Brendan said he could do with some drama in the evening. Well we sure got it shortly after midnight. Oscar suddenly started floating on her side and the tank was really not looking great (although the pump was now working with ZESA). We went into panic mode and William and Claire took charge. Brendan had won a kitchen whisk in the secret Santa pirating game and this was used to try get more oxygen to Oscar. William dismantled the pump and cleaned out the filter (we noticed that the electric cable has exposed wires - water and electricity, not a good combo, eeek!)

Whilst all of this was going on my playlist happened to be playing Carmina Burana. We were so preoccupied though I didn't change it. Lucy started googling how to  save an Oscar fish. In her search she found "Should you flush a dead oscar fish down the loo?" and "How to comfort a dying oscar"! In the end we decided to put a little of the tank water in a bucket with fresh water and propped the water filter/oxygen pump in it and made sure it was plugged into the inverter in case there was another power cut. Oscar perked up a little and was upright again. This was the best we could do by this time 2am. This morning I tentatively opened the bucket and was relieved not to have a floating fish on top. I tried phoning the owners. They hadn't left instructions on how to clean out the tank. I opted to empty most of the tank and put in fresh water. Well I'm afraid I was a Borrowdale madame, Thomas the gardner carried the buckets whilst I directed operations in my pyjamas. When it came to transferring Oscar back, she suddenly got a new lease of life and bit Thomas (oh dear). She was on her side again initially but with the clean filter going she has regained uprightness. The owners have now said not to empty the tank (even though it is still murky). I need to keep cleaning out the filter and if ZESA goes again I must run the generator for the fish tank, eish!

So yes, after all of this I don't think I want to pet sit fish again. You can't exactly take it to the vet! Very grateful to Claire, William, Brendan and Lucy for helping hopefully save Oscar. Team effort :) I don't think I will be going to make the 500 meals for the homeless though. Have only had 3 hours sleep and I don't do too well on a sleep deficit. From lunchtime the house keeper and the gardner will have gone for Christmas, so it will be just me the great danes, Oscar!, the chickens and the rabbits. Hope nothing else goes wrong.

Navigating Greystone Park

 Am writing this as I wait for the mince pie pastry to rest. After that I need to cook Christmas hams. Going to boil with beer and then glaze (cheating with a ready made cranberry and apple glaze from Woolworths). Will get back to making a puppet ghost for my godson Philippe, he's into all things spooky at the moment.

Saw good friends from my dancing days yesterday at Bottom Drawer which was special. Hadn't met my friend Kelly's baby and got to see her bigger little girl too. It bucketed with rain, but we managed to get a spot on the verandah and had a yummy cream scone tea. This morning I went to Aroma Caffe at 167 Enterprise and saw my two close friends, Nina and Lucy. We chatted and laughed away. I got there a bit early and went into the new Andrew's farm stall. They have all sorts of amazing foodie things. Whilst in there I saw my former student Alberto whose family own Aroma and Alberto is now their head chef, after he went to Sardinia to train. He was making his own mozzarella when I taught him, but now makes all sorts of speciality Sardinian cheeses. Have bought one called caciotta to try.

I am having to guess my way around Greystone Park a bit as not all the roads have signs. The most direct route seems to go down Gaydon to Harare Drive. I am vaguely familiar with part of it as I did a report on the wetlands along it. All the wetlands are covered by cultivation of maize by local people. Whilst this is not ideal (causes siltation and damages the wetlands' functionality) it is better than construction on them. I spoke to my friend Fiona and to Chris Magadza and they are interested in us writing a paper together for publication. There isn't too much published literature on Harare's wetlands and the legality of building on them along with their economic value.

Getting used to the size of the great danes I'm looking after. They aren't too keen on having fly smear put on, but they really need it. Discovered where the chickens are kept this morning, just as well the maid showed me as otherwise I was under the impression they were free ranging round the garden and would have put out food for them in a different place. Locking up last night was a little complicated and finding light switches. There is a quite an extensive library of Terry Pratchett and then John Le Carre (who sadly passed away last week). Am still working my way through The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver, I enjoy the descriptive bits and finding out about Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo, but parts are quite heavy going. Lots of books to be read. I should make the most of time before I start teaching at Chisi high school, as I will have 28 students in a class and that is going to mean a far heavier marking load than I have every known, but I guess you do get some free periods in high school, but still, eeek! 

Technically a Borrowdale madame, Lucy better watch out, she has competition

 Well I am probably Helensvale where I am house sitting for the next two weeks. Learning new roads as I am out on Carrick Creagh, feels a bit like the back of beyond, and I thought Queen Elizabeth Drive in Greendale was far from civilisation last year. My prime duty is to look after two enormous great danes, Zara and Jack. I also have two rabbits, chickens, the garden birds ... and a piranha, I mean oscar fish! I won't lie, the oscar fish is a little scary. Turns out it is a "she" and she likes to jump out the tank. Was about to Skype call friends in Germany earlier and she did this. She can bite (like a piranha) and comes shooting to the surface when you try to put her pellets into the tank. Oh well, it should be interesting.

Tried to see the Jupiter/Saturn conjunction but a) I was looking in the wrong direction, thinking it was the bright star under Orion's Belt and b) I was rather late for it. Hopefully it might still be visible tomorrow. One really needs a nice, fancy telescope to really appreciate it. At the time when it should have been appearing I was trying to fathom out the gas stove and oven. There's a hitch, you have to leave the grill door open, otherwise the flame goes out, and none of the knobs have their numbers etc, visible as they have been rubbed off. When the oven kept going out, I ended up calling the maid, Chiedza, who was already in her nightie. Otherwise wouldn't have had dinner tonight.

There is apparently the new strain of Corona in South Africa now. The same one that is hitting London. A friend's boss here tested positive last week and the newspaper headlines here today suggested we might go back into stricter lock down again. Another year of remote teaching is not great. The students didn't do too well from my experience. Will see. Saying that, I am having a few friends round for drinks on Wednesday evening. Going to do deconstructed Christmas ham and other nibbles and a friend has offered to make gluhwein. Should be festive. My mum and I have agreed to go help make 500 meals for the homeless for Christmas Day at The Base Church on Christmas Eve and we've been invited to dinner at friends'. On Christmas Day we're taking the avoidance of cooking route and having a fish lunch at the new Fishmonger's at the Italian Club. Means not slaving over a stove and endless washing up. 

Trouble with Alexa, toothpaste and lipstick

 I really enjoyed my week of au pairing in Borrowdale Brooke. I am very fond of the three children and it was fun to do play things instead of school work. Getting the eldest to do some of her work was heavy going in lock down remote learning. We went for long walks around the golf estate and they had loads of fun plastering me with make up. I had a purple eye shadow face the one day, congealed toothpaste in my hair another and lastly lipstick as a face mask. On Friday I didn't realize their stepdad was at home and they gave the order "Alexa, play Ed Sheeran... LOUDLY!" Their stepdad came flying downstairs to turn it off and said he was in an important online board meeting with Australia, China and South Africa! Big ooops. 

Have been at home this weekend but tomorrow I move across to Helensvale to great dane, oscar fish and rabbit sit. Teeny bit worried that the electric gate doesn't work because the batteries have been stolen three times - from inside the property! There is an alarm system though. I will be there until the 3rd of January. 

My big news is that next term will be my last at Spectrum as I have been offered a job teaching junior high school maths and geography at Chisi. I will be very sad to leave Spectrum and my work load will be way heavier (28 to a class at Chisi compared to 5 next year at Spectrum). But I think it will offer me job development and I think I will enjoy teaching high school again. In the meantime I have a few International School students to tutor. The IB syllabus is pretty rigorous, I won't lie. 

How to cook a Christmas ham

 Went in to school first this morning as I had to prepare an assessment test for a Russian boy who may be in my class next year. Started also trying to sort out my classroom as I have been moved. From there I went on to the Brooke and arrived to find the children had been baking with the chef Victor. They had made a lemon meringue pie to take to their granny for a sleep over tonight and then also Paw Patrol cupcakes. They ended up filming me. As a belated birthday present for the five year old, I took some old make up of my sister's from her dancing days. Well next thing I knew I was being made over with purple eye shadow and a second coat of nail polish being applied. We took a break to paint some wooden hearts for Christmas presents. The two younger ones didn't quite get the rainbow effect as they blended all the colours together. Hope it's OK. Attention then turned to my hair and I had a canvas cloth draped round my shoulders and my hair washed, talcum powdered and then blow dried. They did try put eye shadow in but when nail clippers were trying to "trim" it, I said no. The nail clippers were nearly applied to my eyebrows too but again I drew the line.

We tidied up and then retreated to the garden where the eldest made videos with my phone of the flowers and a colony of white mushrooms. It is quite an entertaining shoot with me in the background saying don't eat the mushrooms, they could be poisonous. The middle child decided to taste the water in the bird bath. Again I am protesting in the background. At the end of the afternoon we got all three bathed and ready to go to their gran's for their sleepover. I will see them again in the morning.

I gave Victor the chef a lift to Avondale and on the way he gave me ideas on how to do Christmas hams next week. He mentioned what my friend Nina does, boiling them with an open beer can. I have a ready made glaze from the Woolworths outlet in Borrowdale and will try get some pineapple. The house where I am pet sitting next week has a gas oven, gulp, but it should be OK. Stopped to see a friend on the way home and had a giggle when she said she dashed in to watch a film society movie with her antlers alice band still on from a Pilates Christmas party. Tis the season. 

Blue finger nails, Harry Potter and what makes you British

 First day of au pairing went by pretty quickly. Had to wait a while at the gate to Borrowdale Brooke to be let in but have now been lent the car I used before and have a disc to get in and out. Took the youngest little girl to swimming where she was a real little fish and super eager. It was very cute to watch. Treated her to an ice lolly on the way home from Kava. I volunteered to have my finger nails painted when we got home and the youngest and her brother applied blue polish with great gusto. I also had bubble bath put in my hair and on my arms, um yes. They were allowed to watch the fifth Harry Potter movie but they sat covering their eyes for parts of it and asked me when it would get really scary.

On my way home I went up Carrick Creagh to where I will be house sitting next week to learn the ropes. There are two massive great danes (when I got home my dogs, Jasper and Elsie, seemed quite small in comparison). I will also be looking after two rabbits ... and an oscar fish!! Never seen one of these before, it's pretty big and it is related to a piranha and bites. Don't quite see the appeal as a pet but it should be interesting to observe as it apparently makes nests out of rocks to lay eggs in (it's a type of cichlid). So stay tuned for updates on Oscar.

On the weekend away the topic of Zimbabweans claiming to British came up. I do feel I have both Zimbabwean and British heritage and consider myself both. The other person felt that you only had a right to claim to be British if you have lived in the UK. I said well my grandparents had served in the second world war but this was dismissed. It irked me when the other person claimed that people in Kenya had a greater claim to being British than people here. Would it mean a person born in the UK of Shona descent couldn't say they were Zimbabwean?

Adventures in the Bvumba

 School ended in a blur, although we had a staff meeting straight after closing and I had to try get my head to think about next term, difficult as I was feeling a little over it all, I won't lie. From school I went and did a shop for the trip to the Bvumba. On Thursday went with my mum and our close friend Veronique for a lovely late breakfast at The Bottom Drawer coffee shop. It is my favourite coffee spot in Harare and the breakfast was yummy, although I am now feeling cautious of fatty things since my latest blood tests show I have quite high cholesterol. This apparently is a side effect of my medication so I need to be a little careful.

Thursday night there was a bit of panic as the main car we were supposed to have travelled in to the Bvumba suddenly had a problem with the main axle. At the last minute we switched to Lucy's parents' car and made alternative plans for assembling. I had an interview first thing Friday morning and we met at Lucy's but only set off at 12 in the end. There were lots of police blocks along the way. Apparently they are looking for balding tyres mainly. We were lucky and didn't get stopped. We had got a letter from the lady whose cottage we stayed in as a back up in case the police wanted travel documents with COVID, but they waved us through - phew. Lucy did an amazing job there and back with the driving. There were some hairy moments with lorries overtaking lorries on blind rises and cars doing stupid moves.

Arriving in the Bvumba we stopped at Tony's Coffee Shop to ask how we could ensure there was white chocolate cheesecake (the reason for coming to the Bvumba!!) He said we needed to come fairly early on Saturday but he was doing take aways. We planned to go early but I had booked a guided hike Saturday morning to the Zebra Falls. Lucy opted to sleep in so it was only Reenie and I. Stuart our guide arrived promptly at 7 am but when he told us we were supposed to drive to the spot where the hike began it was a bit problematic as Lucy, our driver was asleep. In the ended we walked to the starting point, but that took us an hour and half. I must admit I did inwardly groan slightly to be told this was only where the hike was beginning. It had rained heavily the night before (it did every night we were there) and so the granite rock surfaces were incredibly slippery. I went head over apex at one point and luckily my bag cushioned my landing on my back and my head didn't hit the granite behind. We had to scale down a steep granite face part of the way and I was very nervous of slipping. 

Stuart was excellent though and helped me get sure footing. He was also very knowledgeable about the birds and trees and history. We made it to the waterfall and had lovely mountain water to drink. On the way back I was seriously beginning to flag on the uphill and made the tentative suggestion that when we got back to the starting point, perhaps Stuart could go get Lucy and we could drive back. We ended up stopping not quite at the starting point and Stuart, who was extremely fit, sprinted off to go find Lucy. By now we had been walking for four hours. Lucy got a bit of a fright when Stuart appeared at the cottage and said we needed rescuing. She packed us food and set off with him leading the way on his motorbike while she followed in the car. There was a section though, that the car wasn't going to navigate easily, so Lucy hopped on his motorbike. They hadn't gone far when it skidded and they both fell off. Poor Lucy caught her leg on it. Undeterred though she and Stuart walked to where Reenie and I had walked a bit further to.

After those misadventures we had tea at Tony's and did get the white chocolate cheesecake. In the book Tony has written the recipe for it takes up four pages, so it is quite a culinary feat. There was a queue outside when we left of people wanting to go in for tea. On the way home we stopped at Hivu Nursery where you can also go horse riding, next time.

Our other big excitement for the weekend came about as Lucy was really keen to go in to Leopard Rock for drinks and to watch the sunset on the golf course. We hadn't thought about COVID though, and when we tried to go in on Friday when we arrived we were turned away at the boom by the security guard. Lucy tried to ask to speak to a manager but the security guard said if we weren't on the list of guests we couldn't enter. Lucy decided to email the hotel and low and behold in response we got an email from the owner of Leopard Rock himself who said to not hesitate to phone him. Lucy did so and he said we should just phone when we got to the boom, which we did and were admitted. We had drinks but there was a problem with getting change for US dollars. The bar lady said the owner was going to come down and see us and give us complimentary drinks. Well we ended up spending an enjoyable evening with him and he told us all sorts of stories of the history of Leopard Rock and it turned out he is an avid photographer and writes poetry. They have had two lions walk across the Leopard Rock golf course. I made the mistake though of mixing GnTs with red wine and when I had a cup of rooibos tea at the end of the evening with milk I suddenly felt decidedly unwell and had to run to the bathroom which was a little embarrassing. I've learnt my lesson to never do that again. Still feeling a little queasy today.

Back in Harare now and all set to au pair in Borrowdale Brooke again for the next four days. We will be doing craft with supplies from The Craft Company that the mum owns and going on some outings. Should be fun.

This time next week ...

 Nearly through the last full week of school. This time next week I will be on holiday (woohoo! Haven't really been since May) and next Friday I am headed to the Bvumba with two friends for three nights. Bring on Tony's Coffee Shop and decadent cake, walks in the forest and possibly a cocktail at Leopard Rock Hotel. We will have to take diesel with for the generator and make an ice box from a cold box to last us as the transformer is down, but I can't wait for mountain air and a break from Harare and school. Am pretty desperate to get away.

The requests to house sit do keep coming in for over Christmas. Turned down a really nice one in Umwinsidale. Hope where I am going to be is pleasant as I haven't seen it yet. Always a little nervous now when that's the case as had one or two not so great set ups in the past that I agreed to before seeing.

Have an online meeting just now with the head of NILD Zimbabwe to discuss an assessment she did of one of my students who is also my NILD ward. Will see where I can further help him as he is extremely dyslexic. A friend of mine who is dyslexic is going to come and give a talk to my class about his work on building his own drones using a 3D printer and glider planes. He was threatening to stir my class up to rebellion against the system. Had to tell him that they already are rebellious and don't need too much more encouragement in that regard. My ring leader has calmed down and is applying himself and being more polite but am hanging in there to the end of term.

Off to watch a documentary film tonight called Gather on native american culture and food crops. Hope it doesn't rain as it is planned for outside in the garden to be COVID compliant.