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!
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