September 28

It's  Monday.  My phone tells me I have nothing planned for today.  

As usual, I receive daily job alerts.  One is for a sports teacher in Abu Dhabi and the other is for Head of Science in Bangladesh.  One day, I'll give them a go.

It's a strange day.  A film of grey hangs over everything.

I go to work.  John goes off shopping in his old shorts and T-shirt and his banana socks.

Ellie's school is on holiday this week, but Sian is still toiling away online and hating it. They will both go back to school properly on October 26.  Some classes will only go back on the 9th of November. The term threatens to be excessively long. Both girls want to be back at school.  Online learning has lost all appeal.

I have realised that, although it is good to live in the moment and not dwell on the past, or focus too heavily on the future, it is very important to be able to plan.  It is important to have dates in a diary, things to look forward to and some idea of what the immediate future holds. Many young people in particular have struggled psychologically with the future, not necessarily being cancelled, but being blank.

Bulawayo is beautiful.  It is like a picture being gradually coloured in: every day there are more and more flowers out in a whole range of colours.  One day a tree will have just a few flowers out, the next day more and the next day it will be in full bloom.  It is both lovely and fascinating to watch.

The frogs are back.

The water is off, but it will be back sometime this week.  The electricity is intermittent as is the Internet, but one gets used to it.

We have no one staying and no one booked.

I have finished my Allied Arts marking.

My extra lessons are drawing to a close.  The first English exam is in two weeks' time.

This week, we plan to put up the rain gauge.  Like everyone else, we hope for a good rainy season.  Rain makes everything better.

It is exactly a year since I started my blog.  It's been fun - difficult at times, especially when there was no one staying for months - but it's amazing what you can find to write about.  I began with the idea of writing about our experiences of running a B&B and I know I have gone way off topic, writing about a range of things from poltergeists to driving lessons and gardening and dogs and text language. . .

It is time now for me to take a break.  I am struggling with the amount of time I am spending on my laptop and my eyes are really suffering.  Unfortunately, I am wearing my glasses more and more and I am sure they will become a permanent feature soon. 

My second book, All Come To Dust, should be out before the end of the year.  I am happy that, thanks to covid, I managed to finish my third book and now have plans for a young adult book, but before that even reaches planning stage, I need to do nothing for a very long time.

Thank you to each and every person who has supported me for the last year.  I have really appreciated all the comments and feedback and thanks to all of you who shared posts or recommended my blog to your friends.  John, at least will be glad not to hear what he has been up to from readers of my blog.

Next year will be better.  Next year always is.

And, finally, if anyone wants to come and stay, and if I haven't put you off completely,you know where we are and you're always welcome.