This is part of my year in review. Writing one post will make it too long, so I’m breaking each month into a separate post. This is the latest instalment.
Cooler weather but still sunny and warm to enjoy lunch on the lawn.
I delivered two training courses virtually (this is beginning to sound like William Shatner’s Captain’s log of the USS Enterprise …)
My Mom and Dad had their birthdays this month. We didn’t get together as we usually do. Instead, we had Whatsapp video calls.
I bought fabric facemasks because sewing is not a strength of mine. And I also helped a local designer with her business which is taking a knock due to lockdown. Now Chè and I are the proud owners of designer 3-layer colourful fabric face masks. Given that face masks are here to stay for a while longer I may as well make it a fashion statement.
Chè’s chilli plants yielded some eye-watering hot chillies.
More baking.
More picnic lunches on the lawn with the cats.
More cat selfies and cats in boxes.
I burned my thigh and a small patch of my belly with boiling water. It was so careless of me. I immediately stripped and spent 30 minutes with the hand shower, dousing the area in cold water. This helped with the pain. I went to the doctor the next morning and the nurse dressed it nicely. It didn’t look too bad at the doctor’s offices, the skin was smooth but red. As the days progressed it looked much worse with blistering and patches where there was no skin. I was fastidious about changing the dressing and not getting it wet, and fortunately, it healed after about three weeks. I still have a scar though which I’m sure will fade with time.
The month ended with my niece’s fully virtual Grade 12 graduation. The school did such a wonderful job of coordinating the delivery of the certificates, gowns, and mortarboard and tassel to all the students the week before the event. They prepared a wonderful combination of live and recorded presentations, and the IT department managed the live streaming of it on YouTube so well. It even included some entertainment. So we attended it from the comfort of our own lounge.
This is part of my year in review. Writing one post will make it too long, so I’m breaking each month into a separate post. This is the latest instalment.
For the first month of lockdown, my April was surprisingly busy. I delivered two training courses virtually. I was also on social media and the news apps quite a lot trying to get a handle on what was happening around the world. This is what I saw:
The corona memes and humour started.
There were tons of videos of how to make home-made fabric masks.
Many people making banana bread and sharing recipes and photos.
Zoom security flaws uncovered and fixed.
Online ads for desks, office chairs, laptop stands and computer monitors dominated.
In South Africa every online shop began selling groceries (we had a strict lockdown level 5 and people were only allowed to leave home for groceries, medical assistance or to go to work). This helped lessen the queues outside supermarkets. For the first time ever I was able to email a grocery list to the local Spar and they delivered within 24-hours. These were the early days; now grocery deliveries arrive on the same day, depending which retailer you order it from.
Parents juggling working from home and homeschooling their kids.
Not knowing what day of the week it is.
Closer to home, my family:
Shared recipes and photos of our baked goods. We baked a lot more than usual.
Took selfies with our pets.
I shared many selfies with my cats – they were in their element having their humans home the whole day every day.
I set up my home office – I already worked from home but never needed a background that I felt proud of showing paying clients on Zoom. My dual-core laptop doesn’t do virtual backgrounds.
Coffee and lunch breaks in the garden with the cats.
Easter and baking but no family together time just a Zoom call.
Played around on Procreate and created a portrait of myself (with YouTube help of course).
BC cat, who sleeps in my office, decided that he would sleep the day away on my lap while I work; his silhouette and occasionally his rear-end have made an appearance in front of paying clients. Nermal cat has much more decorum.
The last of the summer-beginning-of-autumn rains and hail ahead of the dry winter.
And last but not least – work! I’m blessed to be able to do my job from home.
This is it for April. See you in May.
Mozambican-born Portuguese South African; reflecting on travel, writing, editing, life, family and change that has social impact; chief wide eyed in wanderer, wonderer and bottlewasher
