'tis the season

The school holidays have finally arrived after a very long 14 week term. By about week 11 I was feeling pretty exhausted. So much so that I was invited out for drinks for a friend's birthday and when they changed the time to a bit later, I lay down with the intention of having a quick nap and I woke up the next morning. I did feel bad. The last weeks were a bit chaotic with the school play, my first solo art exhibition at The Corridor Gallery and then Phoenix Choir concerts. We had our last choir concert at Chapman Golf Club yesterday. I haven't been back into school since we closed but might need to just go touch base and see who I am taking next year so that my planning doesn't all get crammed into the first two weeks of January, but I needed to rest and have a break.

I house sat at the Buddhist Centre in Monavale in October and I had the perk of getting to feed some semi tame bush babies every evening. They would suddenly appear just as the light had almost gone and I had fun improving my photographic documentation of them. Think that was one of the best house sits to date. The actual house was a collection of roundavels and very different too. Last week I house sat for the family of one of the students I give extra lessons to. They have a beautiful Neopolitan mastiff puppy whose coat reminds me of the plush velvent bunnies they sold at Crafty Bugs. The puppy along with two dachshunds. All was going well there until in the middle of the night the dining room ceiling caved in. They had actually warned me that this might happen but I didn't quite believe them and had been happily working away under it that afternoon. They also told me after I finished that when they got home they had discovered a snake under the generator. I may have freaked out a little if I had found it when turning it off in the evening. Thankfully it wasn't me who found it.

And so it is Christmas almost and the year is almost over. It has been a long and hard year for me. I hope for better things next year. I am house sitting once more in Greendale. It feels rather far flung from what I know. Went to meet someone for NILD stuff today and it was good to get out the house as it felt like cabin fever was setting in. Have to be very careful with fuel though as petrol is very scarce. My good friend Bronwyn will be staying with me from Friday over Christmas which will be nice.

The Christmas Pudding Carol

Note the apologies to everyone

Had a fun choir practice learning carols for our Christmas concert at Borrowdale Brook and old age homes. We have some lovely numbers, including John Rutter's Shepherd's Pipe Carol and the fun Christmas Pudding. I thought they said we were doing Christmas Pudding and Shepherd's Pie! Some of the alto part is quite hard although in the Holly and the Ivy we somehow end up singing higher than the sopranos at one point - unheard of.

It has been stiflingly warm today and there wasn't time to go for a swim in a friend in Monvale's pool, like I did yesterday and Saturday. I may opt to do personal training in the pool tomorrow, although I'm sure it will be hard work and not just floating round doing aquacize on a pool noodle (as much as I would love that). Will probably be crawl sprints and medleys. But at least it will be cool.

A person I house sat for last year has very kindly offered to pay me with 20L of petrol. Best gift ever! We sat in a hot car for 3 hours yesterday but succeeded in getting a full tank. It is not fun fuel queueing in this weather. Tomorrow is supposed to be the hottest and then hopefully it cools down a little and maybe, just maybe we might get some rain.

Have resumed Zoom lessons with my Chinese now seven year old (I missed his birthday, oops). Had to help him with his school English homework. He was very chatty which was nice. I now teach a grade two, a boy at the French school and do NILD with a student from school as well, so am pretty busy. Have had people wanting extra lessons for Cambridge maths but I think I have enough. The extra teaching does help me keep afloat financially with inflation as it is. Just the cost of petrol alone is frightening.

Of bush babies, the Buddhist Temple and ZESA on a Saturday

I was so pleased when it reached 1 o'clock yesterday and it was the weekend! I enjoyed teaching a bit better this week. The previous week I had a fairly big down and it was a real struggle to get out of bed each day and get to school. My better mental state made it a lot easier this week, although my class has not been behaving that well and I've had to move one student right by my desk for now. It looks like I will be taking one student for NILD. His mum thanked me for caring and wanting her child to do well, which really warmed the cockles of my heart. Hopefully it will help her child and I remember everything.

We unusually had power most of today. It is a tricky thing as you are wary of starting things knowing the electricity could go off again without warning. I did manage to do quite a whack of ironing though and some school work. We also could have a cooked meal for a change. Not sure if we'll have electricity tomorrow but one makes hay while the ZESA is on.

I have been asked to house sit for another person in Monavale who is going over to Northern Ireland before BREXIT. She lives on the property of the Buddhist temple and has a very interesting home made up of rondavels around a central court yard. Apparently she has to let visiting lamas use it and move out temporarily when they do. I will be looking after her two dogs and cat and ... feed bananas to the bush babies in the evening. My cousin Julia's daughter will be delighted by this and I will do my best to get a photo, as she refers to me as the "Bush Baby Lady" from Zimbabwe. Yes, as Julia says, I am never going to lose that nickname, even though I can't quite remember what I did to earn it. Apparently they come at dusk and you can get quite close to them on the Buddhist prayer platform in the garden. On Sundays people from the Buddhist society come to the temple and I have to try prevent the one dog from stealing their shoes. I will be there for about three weeks.

The Return

The first day back at school went fairly well today. I am hoping and praying I get an assistant for reading in the mornings. Managed to get through everyone today but it was a squeeze. I may have a NILD student. Just got to try fit them in to my other teaching in the afternoons. Would be good to get going and use it before I forget the various techniques for students. So that's good news, the mum I spoke to seems keen.

Had personal training this afternoon. I haven't had a gruelling session in a little while but it was good to sweat it out a bit. Might be a little stiff tomorrow. Did weights which are supposed to slowly burn energy over a longer period and probably release endorphins for a prolonged bit. Am feeling good.

At choir last night we started doing all the songs in order. Missed two weeks so having to catch up a little and we are supposed to learn the words off by heart for some of the songs, gulp. We are booked to go out to Ruzawi School on the 5th of October. Will be nice to get out of town. Might go to the Vumba with some friends one weekend soon. Should be fun.

On Saturday I will be at Arundel Village all morning collecting stuff to be recycled under the Don Grainger Trust. Harare people bring your recycling and come along if you can.

A bit of a blur

And so I find myself in the last weekend of the school holidays. Yesterday ended up being very busy. I had coffee with my former teachers from Convent at my French teacher's house. I then had an interview, went from there to print things for the memorial today, went to print and photocopy school stuff for Tuesday at school, met another friend for coffee (I had forgotten and she luckily reminded me), picked up flowers for the funeral and some tea things. The service today went really well and it was a fitting tribute to the rather remarkable lady Mrs Sternslow was. When her daughter gave the eulogy it really brought to mind what a tour de force Mrs Sternslow was and how she gave of her all with much dramatisation but with a heck of a lot of passion too. She was probably the best teacher I ever had and I found myself thinking I should have down English literature for A level as she had wanted me to. Oh well, I chose science.

This is a week of funerals and memorials. I have another two this coming week but I won't be taking as active a role for those. The priest today spoke of death as a continuation of life which I rather liked and how it is not the opposite of life as our soul lives on. He also likened it to being born and how we fear it but it is actually a beautiful passage and we should rejoice for the person we have lost. Chipo Chung read a beautiful sonnet too which was special.

I think I am ready for school but am quaking a bit at the thought of trying to have a differentiated classroom for three different levels with a class of fourteen. It is going to be a lot of work and I really don't know when I am supposed to fit in NILD, eeeek. Can only do my best.

It is the Verandah Gallery art exhibition tomorrow. I had tried to get my work in but was told the pieces accepted are those that are thought to have a high chance of being sold. So haven't cut it yet. I am having an exhibition with a friend who runs The Corridor art gallery in November though. Need to decide what I want to actually sell, there are some pieces that have high sentimental attachment and I wouldn't actually want to part with (unless for a very high price).

Things happen in threes

Just sorted the sewage leak at home out when our car suddenly developed a knocking sound. Took it along to a reputable repair garage and they kept it for several hours yesterday to try ascertain what the problem was. Well I was charged RTGS 250 for that and the quote for fixing everything that is wrong was for RTGS 16 000!! Um, even in US dollars that is steep. Have phoned around and got other quotes and my personal trainer's husband who is a good car mechanic, also had a look and we think we can get a bit below that but it is our own fault for not having the car serviced recently. But a big gulp.

I am busy trying to prepare for next week now. I am back to having fourteen students which is going to keep me very busy and increase my marking load. Last year when I had that many I had a teaching assistant. There will be someone coming back to help but I need to get all my ducks in a row. Not sure how I am going to fit in doing NILD at this point without burning out. We'll see how it all goes.

In between everything am helping arrange Mrs Sternslow's funeral on Saturday. Her daughter arrives today from South Africa and another friend and I are trying to help where we can. It is quite an undertaking. Never had to think about all these details before. The Convent Old Girls kindly donated towards it and a lady in Zambia who taught with Mrs Sternslow is helping with flowers.

The quiz went well last night at the Mustard Seed. My team surprised ourselves and won. There were questions from the new Cambridge subject thinking skills. My brain was quite tired so it hurt trying to to think through logic and maths but they were good and a bit of a challenge. I learnt a new penguin fact that the most northerly colony of penguins is on the Galapagos Islands.

I am a teeny bit manic. Am running with it for now as it is giving me energy to tackle school work and preparation but will see. If I have more trouble sleeping I will up my lithium. At least it leaves me on an upbeat mood for now. One always worries though about the potential low that could follow. I need to be able to get out of bed for school. Finally watched The Darkest Hour and I love the one scene that makes reference to the fact that Churchill suffered from depression. He had gone into a low and his wife rallies him, saying he needs to find that inner strength he had used previously to pull himself out of depression to tackle Dunkirk. Thought it was profound.

Not a bad Monday

Started the day with our staff meeting this morning and then arranging my classroom for the start of term next week. My students are in for a bit of a shock as I have made the seating pattern a horse shoe with me facing them. Have strategically placed the students I need to keep an extra eye on right next to me. We'll see how long Plan A lasts and if I have successfully mingled the talkative ones amongst the rest. If it fails I do have Plan B, but really hoping that won't be needed or at least not initially. This term we will be doing a play which should be fun and we will be celebrating World Rhino Day and I'm hoping someone from Imire might be able to come speak.

Came across a lady with a three year old baby goat in Borrowdale Village at lunchtime. It was one of the cutest things I have ever seen. At first I thought it was a puppy but it was goat. The lady said it was abandoned by the mother so they are hand rearing it and have called it Kitkat. I now want a goat!

Had choir this evening and we're starting to get ready for concerts. I have missed two weeks with NILD and then car trouble so had to catch up. I ruffled a few of the older altos feathers by changing the seating pattern at Arundel Chapel. Oh dear.

We finally have an inverter at home, which gives us lights and internet when there is a powercut (from 6 am to 10 pm most days). So it is a huge blessing and we are very grateful to my friend William and his dad for doing it. The next thing on the list tomorrow is to sort out a blocked sewer drain (rather urgent). Again is causing me to have water issues and have to think about flushing things down the drain - eeek.

If anyone knows of students with learning difficulties that would be interested in NILD educational therapy let me know. I need to clock in 80 hours of sessions before I can proceed to Level 2 and the sooner I can start the better before I forget it all. I can potentially ask some students at school but if anyone knows of others please send them my way.

Tomorrow I am in charge of organising the pub quiz at the Mustard Seed. I semi volunteered myself.