A week ago, our neighbour Scott invited a bunch of people over for lunch and instrument-making. The majority of the people who came made made whistles from pvc pipe (which I believe we’ve mentioned before). There was good food and good social, as everyone tried to make tuneful squeaks on their meticulously shaped bits of plastic.

But Scott, his brother Doug, Jonathan and I had already made whistles. We wanted to try making cajons. It was a marvelous excuse for multiple trips to the hardware store. Hardware stores are such happy places. They speak of industry, and possibility, and I always find things I didn’t know I needed. This time was certainly no exception.

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I’ve always enjoyed making things, making noise and getting messy, and building a cajon provided marvelous opportunities for all three. It wasn’t long before sawdust was flying, the circular saw was making a GRRRAAAOUUURRRL, and our cajons were shaping up. I started out by building a frame, while Doug and Johno decided to build one without a frame inside.

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Perhaps my favourite part of the whole process was learning to use a circular saw. The noise! The dust! The delightful ease of chopping things into pieces! Yeehaw! By the end of the day, Johno and Doug had assembled their first (draft) cajon, and cut the pieces for a second one. I finished cutting out my final piece as dusk fell, and we decided to finish them tomorrow.

We didn’t finish the cajons the next day. In fact (as indicated by the fact that I’m only writing about it now) it took us a week. The glue eventually dried. I spent about three days sanding my cajon and gained bulging biceps. Johno gave his a decorative side with some oil paints. I doodled on mine with permanent marker. Finally we were satisfied. Time for the last step.

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We had bought some clear wood sealant at the hardware store, and some turpentine to use with it. Of course, the turpentine got me thinking about oil paints. Pretty soon I decided that I was going to attempt to tint the wood with oil paint before I sealed it. But I was afraid of messing up my wooden pride and joy. To allay my fears, Johno kindly used one side of his cajon as a test of the concept, and it worked beautifully.

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After about a day of inhaling fumes, our cajons were finished. We now have cajons/stools/side tables! It was a jolly good beginner woodworking project, and I’m already looking around for my next one. Johno has all the components for another cajon all ready to assemble. Right. Enough drumming on my own cajon. Here’s some final pictures.

Anyways. Can highly recommend cajon making as a project. Such fun.

This weekend I (Johno) had work. Specifically, 10hrs/day mostly in front of my screen. Admittedly, some of that time was in a hammock, but it still took a toll. So Ellie and I took Monday and Tuesday off. Monday to blob, and Tuesday to escape into the bush and get some new birds on our list!

The chosen destination was Pamuzinda lodge, just over an hour outside Harare. That might not sound far, but the difference in altitude and climate makes for a very interesting ecological transition from one to the other. We booked two activities and lunch, selecting guided walk and canoe from the long and appealing list.

The game walk was glorious. Our guide, Foster, was knowledgeable and personable. Seeing that we were interested in birds and knew our stuff, he quickly turned it into a quiz game. “Which way was this cobra travelling?”, “Who is making that noise?”, “Who is responsible for these tracks?”. Every time I got one right I was awarded an enthusiastic “10 points!!!”.

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After tea and breakfast by the river, we lounged by the pool and spent time chatting with a lovely chap by the name of Brian Pettit. One of the staff had seen our binoculars and sent him to chat to us, presumably on the assumption that we shared interests. What a guy – he takes incredible photos and focuses on the hidden side of Pamuzinda. Dragonfly walks, insect photography etc. He writes for their blog: https://www.zambezicruisesafaris.com/our-blog/. We showed each other photographs and I was inspired to pull out the macro lens:

We also found two frogs:

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Back to human scale. After a massive buffet lunch and a quick nap by the poolside, it was time to take to the river and go looking for Finfoot. Still water, greenery on the sides, peace and tranquillity in abundance.

All in all, this was a wonderful getaway. How could one not feel refreshed by such a good dose of God’s creation?

7 “But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you; 8 or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you. 9 Which of all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this? 10 In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind. – Job 12:7-10

While scrolling through my camera roll looking for good pictures of taxi names, I came across a number of pictures I really like. I thought I might as well share them here so you can enjoy them too.

Hope these have made you happy. I’m inspired to take more.

One of my least favourite things about driving the roads of Harare are all the taxis. They drive like maniacs, and we’ve already had a few near misses. The taxis are also one of my favourite things about Harare roads. Why? Because unlike in Cape Town, Harare taxi drivers seem to have complete freedom in the way they decorate their vehicles of terror. And as a result, every other taxi has a Bible verse, a picture, or an ominous slogan emblazoned boldly across it.

I’d like to give you a few examples of ones I actually got a picture of as they careened by.

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Other examples of things I’ve read on taxis include:

• Loose hope
• Plan maker
• Hugger – Real Thing
• Blessed and Balanced
• Hustlepreneur
• Ghetto Gucci

There are so many more that I’ve forgotten to write down. Maybe I’ll add a part two once I’ve added the famed Cat Taxi to my collection. (Apparently it has ears, whiskers, and makes a very convincing Cat noise as it hails pedestrians.)

Sepia is wonderful. I’ve been taking artsy photos of feet:

I also learnt how to crochet! So cool – as far as I’m concerned it’s a wonderfully malleable fabrication method. I got frustrated by the few tutorials I looked at – none of these bunnies know the word ‘chirality’…

In other news, I have a job. Although it’s ~2h a day means we haven’t really had to change our idyllic schedules. Also, my phone went swimming, so I lost all my cool microscope pictures.

For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:17

A couple of days ago, Johno sat me down and told me I needed a project to give some direction to my life. I was indignant. I was thoughtful. I was abashed. I had spent a vast amount of time in the past week reading novels, and sleeping. Fun, but not very useful. He made me come up with two or three ideas for projects to try in the coming weeks. Even though I knew he was right, I was grumpy he’d had to point it out. One of my ideas was that I’d like to borrow a sewing machine and try out some patterns I’d thought of.

The next day, I happened to be helping Johno’s great aunt clear out her house so she could rent it out. Among the things to be cleared out, I found a sewing basket and a marvelous collection of knitting needles and crochet hooks. I snatched them up with unexpected delight.

Just having some basic tools made me realise how much I’d missed making things with my hands. That evening, I crocheted a sleeve for my travel mug.

This morning, I messed around with string until I had a hanging basket.

And this afternoon I finally got around to finishing a painting on a background I’d made a month ago.

All of a sudden, my mind is just overflowing with ideas again. There are things I can make which will be nice to have around the house. I’m inspired to draw and paint. I’ve come up with at least two more things to try when I borrow a sewing machine tomorrow. And all of this is so much better than frittering my time away. So hooray for a husband who challenges me. And hooray for new crafting equipment. Here’s hoping I can keep up these levels of manic creativity.

Last weekend, while Johno was occupied with friends in Hippo Pools, I was in Cape Town for a wedding. My friend Alice’s wedding, in fact! Three months ago, she was my bridesmaid, and I threw my bouquet at her. Looks like it worked! They got engaged at New Years, and married on the 9th of March. Mad wedding planning skills.

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I also take credit for introducing Alice and Michael 8 years ago, when Alice joined my highschool. They quickly fell in love, and have been together ever since!

The wedding was so lovely. I’ve come to the conclusion that every wedding is perfect. Alice’s wedding was nothing like mine, but both were meaningful, and happy, and absolutely perfect for the couple in question. I got all sorts of emotional while listening to them exchange vows. I even made a speech later!

I did have an ulterior motive (or several) for flying all the way down to Alice’s wedding. For one thing, my three month tourist visa for Zimbabwe had just run out. It was perfect timing to pop out of the country and get a new one. For another thing, I wanted to buy cheese. Yes, cheese. And various other delicious things that aren’t cheap or easy to buy in Zimbabwe. I flew down with an empty suitcase, and returned with two suitcases laden with cheese (about 4 kgs of it!), chocolate, and various wedding presents we had been storing at my parents’ house.

Happily, my visit also overlapped with Benjamin’s birthday, so I got some really good family time in around the edges of the wedding.

A revelation I had when I was in familiar Cape Town, and staying with my parents, is that at some point in the past few months Zimbabwe became home. As beautiful and convenient as Cape Town is, I couldn’t stop talking about Harare, and the people here, and our little home. Oh, and Johno of course. He’s the real determinant in where home rests these days.

So now I’m home, with my Johno, and some memories, and a significant amount of cheese. It’s good to be home.

Ellie left the country to attend a wedding (more on that soon) which left me, Johno, all alone in Zimbabwe. Well, alone except for my parents, the people we live with, the 10+ folks who came’round for dinner on Thursday and various other friends… 🙂 Luckily for me, a couple of friends were going to Hippo Pools and invited me along. Situated in Umfurudzi park, ~150km from Harare, Hippo Pools is a wonderful spot to enjoy the bush and see some epic birds!

We arrived mid-morning, met the staff and got some intel on where to find the ‘specials’ – African Finfoot, Livingstone’s Flycatchers, Twinspots and so on. Then we wandered down the riverside path to a weir, enjoying the beautiful trees and scanning the river margins for signs of movement.

It was hot and humid, but we punctuated every activity with a dip in the pool and a rest in the cool, green shade of the campsite. I was the ‘Duracell bunny’ of the group, taking the opportunity to search for birds whenever my companions took a break. We’re having a competition after all 🙂

The campsite is surrounded by a mix of riverine vegetation and miombo woodland, with some open areas dominated by mopane trees. A few km from camp are some rocky hills where Crowned Eagles are rumoured to nest. We scoffed some bacon rolls and went for a walk, hoping to locate said regal feathered bipeds. No luck, but 7kms of good bush left us happy and tired and not at all feeling like we had missed out!

Back at camp, we relaxed by the pool and waited for a scrumptious supper of pulled pork in the restaurant. This is the view from the pool:

I went on a little night walk, looking for owls and listening intently in case I came across any grazing hippos. Imagine a path, with trees so close they form an arch overhead. The air is still, and the only sounds are the burbles of the river and the crunch of your footsteps. The floor is a glittering field of stars, each pinprick of blue or green light the eye-shine of a spider or moth. Rustling in the distance could be the night-apes we saw earlier, but my torch spins to point in the direction of the sound, senses alert in case it’s something more dangerous. I like night walks!

The trip was a great success. Much fun was had. Many birds were seen. We found the elusive finfoot and escaped being eaten by the hippos or crocodiles. We had some deep chats, saw some great sights and enjoyed a break from the city in the midst of God’s incredible creation. What a blessing.

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But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on His law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, yielding its fruit in season, whose leaf does not wither, and who prospers in all he does. – Psalm 1:2-3

Yeah… our lives are pretty great 🙂

I’m treasuring this time where we both have breathing room to explore and be creative. Painting more, writing more, cooking more. This last week saw the addition of a few extra creative outlets. I’ll go through them in the titular order:

Pots

Our friend Caity invited us around for some pottery. She has a pretty sweet set-up at her house, and it was incredibly fun playing around with clay and having a go on the pottery wheel. She’s a good teacher, and clay is a forgiving medium – a good thing, since there were quite a few moments where her words, face and body language all communicated “It’s OK – we can fix that!”. Motto of the day right there. It’ll be a few more weeks before our creations are finished, but I’ll leave you with a few sneak previews:

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Brews

It was bound to happen. I have gotten into fermenting things. Concol jars are proliferating. You can blame our neighbour Scott, who makes wine, vinegar, mead and all sorts of other concoctions. That said, the kombucha bug has been hovering over me for some time. Needless to say, I have some of that (kombucha) on the go. However, my favourite discovery so far has been ginger-bug soda. In a process similar to that used to make ginger beer, you start with some ginger, sugar and water cultivating a natural yeast. However, instead of using this to ferment and carbonate some ginger sugar water (to make ginger beer) you instead add the yeast starter to some sweet lemon juice (or other fruit juice of your choice). In a few days, you have a tasty, fizzy beverage. It’s like magic! Pictured is my first batch, with lemon rind, mint and lemon-grass for extra flavouring and pomegranate to make it look fancy:

Herbs

My dad, the famous proprietor of the ‘ Richard Whitaker Learning to Grow Food’ Facebook page (seriously worth a follow) has finally hooked us up with the start of our own herb garden. Garlic Chives, Origanum, Thyme, Apple Mint, Chocolate Mint, Lemon Grass and Tarragon. It makes me so happy, and I look forward to trying all of these out in my next few dishes!

Woe to him who strives with his Maker — a clay pot among the clay pots of the earth! Shall the clay ask him who fashions it, ‘What are you making?’ or your work, ‘He has no hands?’ – Isaiah 45:9

I did the highest zipline in the world! I even fact checked their claim. It really is!

It sure was something. A week ago, on our final full day in Nyanga, Richard and Jenny took me over an hour of rattly roads up, up, up ever higher into the mountains. Johno stayed behind to have a quiet morning by the lake. As we climbed, my anticipation/nervousness did too. Jenny cheerfully informed me that two-thirds of people backed out when they saw how high it was.

As we went, I was determined about two things: firstly, I wasn’t going to lose my nerve at the zipline, and secondly that I was going to see at least one bird that Johno hadn’t seen. (I’m a competitive lass, and since all my birding is done with Johno, and since he tends to be more confident about identifying things, his year list is already quite a bit longer than mine.)

We finally arrived:

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According to their website,

The SkyLine is the most beautiful zip line in the world. Depending on the day and weather you may find yourself flying through clouds or crystal clear skies over the 2^ndhighest waterfall in Africa. At an estimated height of 600m and flying for 400m at 50-70km/h it is both uplifting and exhilarating. With a minimalistic and eco-friendly design, we hope the sensation allows you to connect to the natural world, waterfall and sky around you as the wind blows through your hair and the adrenaline pumps through your veins. Activity takes roughly 15 minutes.

http://www.farandwide.co.zw/sky-walk-and-sky-line/

We finished off the outing with the VERY hot hike back to our car, where we stopped for a cup of tea and saw three new birds for the year, including my favourite little Cape Batis bird.