Almost

After quite a lot of socialising this weekend, today I am taking time out to prep my term plan for next year and wrap Christmas presents. I also will carry on with water colours to illustrate a friend's story about her grandson in Oxford. It is warm and very sunny out, but we really could do with some rain. Hopefully later this week, although the sunshine is glorious.

It was the Sorella's Pizzeria and Cafe's Christmas fundraiser for The Yellow Bus Trust on Thursday. You could each as much yummy Sorella's pizza as you liked and the money raised goes towards equipping rural schools and teaching street kids in Zimbabwe, so a very worthwhile cause. The raffle turned into an impromptu auction and everything from pizza to chameleon safaris with Rob Jarvis were up for grabs. Was a fun evening.

Went to Christmas carols in Monavale on Friday which was lovely and reminded me of my childhood growing up with our horse Fantasy at the back of Colston Hill and spending lots of time with the Makings. It was close to the Buddhist Centre and temple where I house sat this year. Friends sang a very funny Zimbabwean 12 days of Christmas and I met some new people. One is a journalist from Finland and we talked Finnish politics and climate change. She spoke of the difference between Zimbabwe and Mozambique based on their colonial pasts, was very interesting.

On Saturday I went with friends to the Mann Friday concert launching their new album, Brindgenorth Road. Was great to see my friend Ryan Koriya playing in the band and it was a feel good concert with the money all going to Zimbabwe's SPCA (awesome). I really liked the song about the Chimanimani Mountains with photographs projected behind and then the cover of Imagine Dragons' song Thunder that had visuals of Zim of both the beauty and dereliction. This is the third Mann Friday concert I've been to. I missed the one in 2017 which apparently rode on the euphoria of the coup and was very emotive with Olive Mtukudzi (who has sadly now died) performing.

Had more invitations to Christmas social occasions this year than ever before. Yesterday went to a Christmas braai at my friend Trudy and her mum's. Her mum was a geography teacher at Convent and she actually also taught my mum as a student teacher in Umtali. It was very funny that the first thing she and my mum did was go and look at a map of North America (they both are geography teachers and they couldn't have been more stereotypical). My mum and I are having a quiet Christmas with a close family friend on Christmas Day and I've been invited to drinks in the evening. On Boxing Day we have been invited to two more engagements. So I had best get on and do term planning now so that it is not all left to the first two weeks of January.

It is my mum's 70th birthday in May next year and we are booked to fly to England to celebrate it with my sister. We are going to go to Cornwall and have a lunch with friends and family closer to London. I am going to also go visit two good friends in Frankfurt am Main.

And then it all came down

Had a walk around with people at The Corridor Gallery this morning before I took the exhibition down. Three more pieces found new homes. From the exhibition I was commissioned to do a surprise birthday painting for a friend's wife. I painted a banner for a youth group's christian camp at Resthaven and my next project is to illustrate a story about a three year old and his toy owl in Oxford. So the exhibition has definitely given me exposure.

Heard of three separate armed robberies that happened last night in the Greendale area where I am house sitting. Guess who will be taking the panic button and be putting it right by my bed from now on. Have been feeling a bit jumpy at night when there have been odd sounds while I'm lying in bed. You can't live in fear but I will be happy to have my friend Bronwyn with me from Friday.

Felt a bit Christmas-ed out after all our Phoenix Choir concerts and singing lots of carols in it. Tomorrow I am going to the Sorellas Pizzeria all you can eat Christmas party and then on Saturday a group of us are going to the Mann Friday concert at Tin Roof (will only be about my fourth visit to Tin Roof ever, usually somewhere I would avoid). They have put their album online for free on http://onelink.to/ncby9h and https://www.dropbox.com/sh/unkaspad4gzcwv0/AAAq0u6oClI1GxnSICm52TjWa?dl=0&fbclid=IwAR2M99HehNupZjyfSIlj0eNEpqdt3Mkk99iY8w-ssHSCqK1p3NrbRKaUrBo

Got home from taking the exhibition down to electricity so got all my ironing done, turned on the borehole pump and boiled water. Make hay while there is magetsi. I keep thinking what else I should do while there is ZESA. Luckily the house has got solar so it is not like I go without but you can't run the washing machine, boil the kettle or iron when the main power is off. At least I haven't had to get up at strange hours to do things when electricity is on between 10 pm and 4 am.

'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).