Pancakes and death by a fever tree

 Had a lovely catch up with a friend in England yesterday. She had severed a tendon in her finger on Saturday slicing a piece of cheese with her Christmas present extra sharp knife. Although it was a pretty gory tale, she humoured me with funny anecdotes and spared me some of the grisly details. I was laughing throughout her narrative. Hope her operation on the said finger goes well today. Her description of being on gas and oxygen was hilarious.

My Nigella Lawson pomegranate jewel cake turned out really well, if I say so myself. Possibly could have done with a thicker layer of pomegranates on the top and more juice to pour over but the pomegranates from our garden were not all edible as some had gone mushy inside, pity. You seem to have to catch them just before they turn. Could try the cake with lemon or orange perhaps too. The almond flour works well and it came out quite light and airy - I managed with folding in the egg white. Was my first ever Nigella recipe. Will have to try some of her others. Her fried haloumi with chilli and lemon looks good.

So just after chatting to my friend I went for a walk in the garden with the dogs and just after I went inside with rain coming down and a bit of a wind, I looked out my bedroom window and was like, oh my gosh, the fever tree has come down. It came down right where I had been standing ten minutes earlier! Luckily other trees broke its fall slightly but it has damaged the fence a bit and it will all have to be removed. The tree cutters rocked up punctually at 7.10 this morning. I've requested we keep about six tree stumps to put up in the shade area with plants on to remember the fever tree and add to aesthetics.

Told my class on Zoom this morning it is Shrove Tuesday, or rather I tried to get it out of them - one got helped by his mum. My new Russian student had already been busy making pancakes at home before the lesson but he said Orthodox Easter is later than ours. Off to collect some Body Shop products I ordered and to try source a ZIMSEC O Level text book with the listening comprehension texts for my online student. My mum will be online for a funeral of a girl who was only two years older than me and was in my mum's first grade 7 class. She sadly died of cancer two weeks ago.

I nearly had a Valentine's date

 So have been getting WhatsApp's from a guy who is overly keen. Trouble is he's not interested in a long term relationship. Bright and early this morning he messaged me asking if I was free this afternoon. With still being in lockdown we're technically not supposed to meet up. He left the ball in my court with regards to what plan we should make. I suggested tea in my garden. He seems interested in only one thing though and I called it off. He had lost his phone and forgotten who I was on his new one, when he initially made contact again. All a bit pressured and rushed.

Instead I spent the day baking, and doing an oil abstract painting in the kitchen with my two ever faithful hounds. Been a good break from work. I haven't really taken a day off from preparing for Chisi since New Year's Day. Still have quite a bit to do but I really don't want to over prepare notes for Form 3, if I am in fact taking Form 1 and 2. I need to find out a bit on what the school uses for making videos for online. At this rate we may still be in lockdown next term. Who knows. We're supposed to have a government announcement tomorrow. They better not tell me we're going back to classroom teaching on Tuesday! I may just throw an apoplectic fit.

This week is half term, which means I have half a term left before the April holidays to prepare for Chisi! Eeek. I don't really want to be preparing lessons from scratch whilst trying to do all the marking I'm going to have.

And we wait ...

 Still don't know what happens after Monday with lockdown. I am presuming we're not going back to classroom school, but who knows! It's already half term next week for our school online. Bit of confusion about work pack hand ins with it and keeping books. Hopefully everyone will understand what I've said on WhatsApp. Means I will get a fairly hefty marking load the week after next, groan - but hey, it's all preparation for next term when I will have way, way more books to contend with.

I met with the HOD for geography on Monday and they gave me a whole lot of stuff on my flashstick and two text books. We did the transfer on the traffic island in the Food Lovers car park in Sam Levy's. This is all if I'm taking form 3, we don't know yet until it is all time tabled. Makes me not want to forge ahead with preparing powerpoints if I might not be taking that level. Am still working through the maths text books. Don't know yet where I will pick up from next term for that either. I think I am used to junior school where you have it all planned and forecasted in detail. It doesn't seem to work that way in high school.

Next week I will be house sitting again nearby for three weeks. Sadly the old lady I used to also look after at the house passed away from what started as COVID and ended with flared up emphysema. Very sad. She was 86 though, but still sad. It's the first person I know personally who has died from COVID.

In other news, there was a crocodile captured in Ballantyne Park today. It was happily waddling down the flower bed on someone's verge. Never know, along with the Madagascan cuckoo, we might get one in Monavale. The stream in Monavale is pretty full.

Life and death

 Life continues under lockdown. I finally have the maths books for Form 1 and 2 for Chisi next term. They follow the IGCSE Core Maths for those classes, fairly straight forward but harder than standard Form 1 and 2. I still don't know if I'm taking Form 3 or Form 1 and 2 geography. Be nice to know. Form 3 is going to be a lot more work in preparation as I have to create loads of case studies. It would also be nice to get an indication for maths and geo where I am likely to pick up from next term. All of this would help me get on top of things while I have the extra time. I understand they're all busy with online school though.

Have caught up with a few friends I haven't heard from in a while online. The one, I did ecology and botany with at UCT and we worked together a lot and did things like preparing our bug collections for entomology, going after the elusive cicadas together and then mounting them to hand in. We also spent a month doing fieldwork together in Kruger Park with some others. Good memories. Another friend I've been in touch with a bit more recently, but found out her film, Ava From My Class, has just been selected for the Sundance Film Festival. We had a lovely catch up yesterday.

Sadly heard that a friend who was only two years ahead of me at school, died yesterday after a long hard fight with cancer. Very very sad as last year it sounded as though she was winning. Thinking of her family and loved ones.

Today was my last day of having physio. If it gets sore or inflamed again I can go back, but for now I am good and must keep doing gentle exercise to build up strength. No running or jumping yet, but will get there. Might do a month's fitness classes with my friend Lucy under my trainer Demi.

Quite a lot of people I know are saying they have COVID. I'm not sure what government plans from next week. I some how don't see us going back to school, but who knows what they will decide. We're still keeping a low profile and not socialising much and wearing masks. Ivermectin seem to be getting the go ahead overseas as the go to drug.

Getting back to getting fit

 Had physio this morning and we worked on balancing on my dodgy ankle (although the physio said not to call it that). She had me wobbling on a balance ball, a trampoline and then ... a balance board (definitely the hardest). Although I didn't feel I mastered balancing too well, she said she thinks she only needs to see me for one more session next week. She also gave me the go ahead to start doing things like squats, but not running just yet. I therefore did a core and tummy session at home in the shade area after my Zoom lesson this morning. I had Jasper and Elsie come to inspect what on Earth I was doing. Might try do a Body Balance or Pilates/Yoga work out with my sister later. Will see.

Have been asked to help tie up a friend who has moved to England's personal estate here and would get paid out the country for it. Just depends on how long lockdown lasts for but might be able to next week. Am honoured they trust me enough to ask me.

Stayed up late last night watching The Handle Bards production in India of Twelfth Night. I know the basic gist of the story but am afraid both my mum and I got lost as to who was who, as the play only had four actors who doubled up in roles. Recognised the opening lines "

If music be the food of love, play on;
	Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting,
	The appetite may sicken, and so die.
	That strain again! it had a dying fall:
	O, it came o'er my ear like the sweet south,
	That breathes upon a bank of violets,
	Stealing and giving odour! Enough; no more:
	'Tis not so sweet now as it was before."

Thoroughly confused about halfway, we decided to call it quits and go to bed.

I attempted a self portrait out in the garden. I'm not that happy with the product and don't think it looks like me. May try again. So far was just using water colour, but may try add some oil pastels, maybe.

Aspiring to Hussein Salim ... well trying!

Today I took a break from preparing to teach geography next term and got out my art supplies. Sarah Fynn has set the art group two projects for lockdown. The first is a selfie self portrait, in which you exaggerate and emphasize one of your features. Haven't done this yet. The second is to chose a cluttered surface in your house (lots of choices in ours) and do a still life. Then ... and in this here lies the challenge, you use a section of your still life to etch and print from, rolling out black oil paint and printing off this. You then work colour into your print and try take your inspiration from the work of Hussein Salim. As one person in the art group put it, "Love his work, but oh God help!"

So I finished my still life, but have yet to try printing and experimenting. Might be fun to try more still lives along this process. Bathroom shelf, dressing table, art counter. The still life was harder than I thought to draw but got me going with ellipses. 

Enjoying having time with my dogs. They both are snouting out mangoes and a blind worm! There are lots of purple-glossed snakes in Monavale. There is a plan to make a bird, snake and insect book for the area. 

Internet, wherefore art thou

 Yesterday was a bit of a frustrating Monday. The night before, something went pop and flashed at home and most of the lights and internet went. On the way to school on Monday morning, I got a phone call from the deputy head, to say the internet at school was also not working but they were trying to get it fixed. Since there was no wifi at home we continued on to school. When it was time for my online Zoom call with the class, I set up a hotspot off my phone. This worked for 15 minutes but we were waiting for some of the students to join. I then ran out of data and when I topped up and tried to reconnect on the hotspot, it no longer worked - arrrgh! I told my students to get on with the stuff they could do on their own and then got busy with photocopying while waiting for the internet to be fixed.

I was supposed to also have my first online English lesson with a Form 3 boy I'm coaching. That in the end had to be postponed to today and in the end so did a Zoom session with my class. We contacted an electrician to try sort out our home internet and power situation but he hadn't arrived yet when I left for physio this morning, so I went to a friend's and used the vacant flat next door to conduct my lesson (social distancing observed). Managed to have a fairly successful lesson with my class and a first language lesson with the Form 3. When the electrician eventually made it to our house, I could have kicked myself for not figuring out what the problem was. All the points that had tripped around the house were connected to our solar inverter, and as I had suddenly thought, just before the electrician arrived ... it was the fuse in the solar inverter, that I have already been shown how to change! We had thought the flash came from the lounge socket but it must have been the kitchen. Well now we know!

In other news, there seems to be a shortage of milk in Harare. It's gone up in price quite a bit, and is very scarce. I was delighted to discover though, they have started a recycling spot outside Avondale Food Lover's Market, under Refuse Collection Services. Was able to empty our collection of cans and bottles there and it is much closer to home.