January 5

I hit a real low today, which is very unusual for me.  Partly, it is because I did not sleep very well last night and partly it is because of the seemingly relentless heat.  It may sound odd but it is as though it suddenly dawns on me that we are in a new year and it depresses me greatly.  I just don’t feel I can do another year doing the same things, putting up with the same rubbish and just getting poorer and poorer.  Not another year of having to deal with stupid rules and regulations, trying to balance finances, queuing for fuel and regarding every single supermarket receipt with despair.  Wouldn’t it be great to receive some good news, to buy something without thinking too deeply about it, to go to a bank and get money out?

I spend a lot of the day reading on my bed and thinking of my parallel life in which I live in a rose-covered cottage with a beautiful garden stocked with everything from lavender to daisies, nasturtiums, hollyhocks, snapdragons, violets, peonies – you get the picture. There is always plenty of tea and toast and a big fire going whatever the weather. 

The lady in the cottage messages to say that the Internet has run out.  There is something not right here for it has only lasted five days.

January 4

John and I take the dogs out in the morning.  There is not a soul to be seen.  This is far, far better than the other day.  Perhaps I am anti-social, but I like feeling as though we are the only ones at the dams.  I don’t like tripping over people. I really enjoy my walks in solitude.

We change the sheets and towels for our guest.  She does not appear to do very much more than lie on her bed all day.  I cannot see a book or even a magazine, but I think she is on the Internet quite a lot.  I suppose some people really just want to relax; they don’t want to go anywhere or see anything. I still think I might at least sit outside or go for the odd walk, but I am sure that is not everyone’s cup of tea.

In the evening, her friends come to visit and there is much jollity and people walking up and down the paths in the garden.  For some reason, Rolo is extremely relaxed and does not even twitch an ear in their direction.

January 3

We get a booking for the end of January for four people for three nights.  It is amazing how much better receiving the notification can make you feel.  A couple of years ago, I used to spend about fifteen minutes twice a day saying affirmations: ‘Both cottages are full.  Both cottages are full.’ It was quite interesting to see what happened.  On one occasion, a man who had stayed here more than ten years ago turned up with two American women.  He was passing through Bulawayo on his way to South Africa and just thought he would stop by and see if the cottages were still being used as B&B accommodation.  I think I need to start those affirmations again.

Sian and I scrub the kitchen.  I mean, we really scrub it.  We spray every surface with a mixture of lavender and citronella which flies apparently hate.  We cannot get rid of the flies.

January 2

The day begins with a trip to the dentist for Ellie. As Ellie is Ellie, she is not frightened at all, viewing it as some children may see a trip to Disneyland.  On the way home, we have a long conversation about why people fear dentists.

We have a problem with flies.  They are making our life unbearable so John googles home made fly traps and sets about cutting the tops off plastic bottles and filling them with apple cider vinegar and honey.  He is like the Professor of Doom, plotting how to kill all the flies in the world.

The lady in the cottage says she does not want the cottage cleaned at all; she will do it if we can just bring her the cleaning materials.  This certainly makes life easier.

By the time the evening comes, John has not caught one fly.

January 1

We wake up to a message from the lady in the cottage - the internet has gone off.  As it is New Year’s Day, I am not sure how easy it will be to recharge. I go to speak to her and explain how to use the stove which she says she doesn’t know how to operate.  It involves turning the gas bottle on which she says she has never done before.


I find out that she has come to Zimbabwe for her friend’s traditional wedding and is now going to spend the next two weeks relaxing. I was afraid that Rolo may have given her a hard time when she came back last night, but she says she just stood her ground and waited for him to stop barking.  ‘I think when he saw that I had a key, he was happier,’ she says to me, but I am not one hundred per cent sure of this reasoning.


In the afternoon, we make a big mistake by deciding to take the dogs out to Hillside Dams.  It seems as if the whole world is there. There would have been a time when Rolo would have cleared the entire place in seconds, but he is now much calmer and leaves people alone.  That does not stop some idiots from screaming and running as soon as they see him.

December 31

We spend New Year's Eve at a friend's house.  There is a small group of us and it is a very pleasant evening.  Sian doesn't come with us as she doesn't want to be with 'old people' and spends the night with her friend instead.

In the morning I had been very grumpy because of having to pay a huge amount of money to get the parcels my sister sent. On Facebook, a couple of people responded to my post of complaint by saying: 'Well, even if you bring in a car you have to pay duty.'  Fact is, I am not bringing in a car. Of course I would expect to pay duty on a car, but not on a few presents. I was really seriously depressed by this and just thought that I cannot stay in a country where you are continually clobbered and have everything taken from you.

I want to feel like we are going into something new, but I cannot believe that Zimbabwe will change overnight. Our most immediate threat is the lack of rain which no one, even the government, can do anything about.  

However, the nice thing about spending time with friends is realising that you are all in the same boat.  

  

December 30

Someone posts the following on the Neighbourhood watch group chat:

'The electricity has gone off on Leander Avenue.'

This comment alone is proof that aliens live among us, for there is no other explanation for such a stupid statement besides that this person was very lately beamed down to earth without doing any research as to where they were going.

In the evening, our guest arrives.  She is a German woman working for an Irish company in London.  Very luckily for us, we have not had a power cut for a number of weeks which also means that, when the water is off, we can still pump it from the tank.