Ashleigh Whaley
April Adventures and Activities.
April Activities:
Homeschooling.
A visit from our Botswana family.
April began with a last minute visit from our Botswana family, so school was temporarily abandoned! It was awesome to see this family, after 2+ years, largely due to Covid 19 restrictions.
The cousins had lots of fun together and particularly enjoyed playing yard cricket, monopoly and water skiing on the farm dam. Sadly, the week flashed past, – but there were promises to see each other again, sooner rather than later.
Easter break.
As Easter approached we received a wonderful invitation from friends to go to Spurwing Island Lodge on Lake Kariba.
Paula Joy and Murray John were happy to be missing another week of school and to have the opportunity to go fishing again. We all loved the excuse to enjoy this spontaneous trip, whilst working the children’s schooling around another adventure.
Back to school after Easter.
School started immediately after Easter, as we have a lot to get through, before our year end in June, -so back to the classroom we went! The children are now at a stage where they can set their own goals for the week and work accordingly. I love how they are both taking control of their education, planning their days and enjoying the experience of managing their own time.
Homeschooling Friends.
Sadly, this month one of the rabbits died from a disease, so the children had to wash and disinfect the rabbit and guinea pig cages, to prevent any further spread of disease. The vehicle pressure washer came in handy for this job!
Homeschooling Art and Crafts.
With more DIY needed at the town house, Murray John once again got out his angle grinder and set to work.
Slowly the new town house is taking shape, but improvements will be ongoing. It is certainly a fun, long term project for us all.
Horses.
Paula Joy attended another event.
Paula Joy chose to attend another eventing weekend, whilst Murray John chose to play polo.
However, due to all the rain, polo was cancelled, so Murray John ended up being able to have a cross country ride on Tularula.
Paula Joy competed at the show on four ponies and, although it was exhausting, she had lots of fun. She competed on two new ponies, which I had previously competed on.
Paula Joy also went up a level, competing in the 85cm class on three of the ponies.
Puncho, being the youngest pony, competed in the 75cm class and managed to win, finishing up on his dressage score. Puncho has certainly come a long way in the last two years and is a joy to watch.
Gem, Rooibok and Puffin all finished the 85cm class with clear cross country rounds.
Gem, once again, won her class and has become Paula Joy’s favourite pony. All in all, Paula Joy gained in experience and it was great to see how she is managing bigger and stronger ponies. The weekend was certainly a huge confidence boost for her.
Polo practice begins.
Polo practice began after Easter, with Douglas and the children managing to get in two practice weekends during the month. They all love their polo and have enjoyed getting back on the field.
With two tournaments in May, there is a need for lots of practice. Now the jumps have all been put away and the farm polo field is cut and ready for afternoon polo practices.
We look forward to seeing how the children improve throughout the polo season.
Homeschooling Sport.
Cricket practice.
As our weekends are now taken up with polo, the children will only be able to attend town cricket practice on weekdays, when we are in Harare.
However, town cricket practice and farm garden cricket will continue throughout the winter, with the children playing the odd cricket match, whenever there is a free weekend.
April Adventures:
Farm Life.
Wheat planting.
Due to all the late rains, wheat planting was delayed until the end of the month. With muddy fields, land preparation has been slow. It’s been a very wet season, which is wonderful for the farm dams, but has given us other farming challenges.
The combine harvester arrived at the end of the month, to combine the soya beans, so that the large wheat crop could be planted in the same lands. With the late rains it certainly will be a challenge to get all the wheat planted in time.
Water Skiing.
One last weekend of water skiing was had in early April, before autumn set in.
Paula Joy managed to learn how to slalom ski which was a wonderful achievement. She now looks forward to next summer, when she can improve upon this new skill.
Zimbabwe Economy.
Hyperinflation.
Hyperinflation continues in Zimbabwe, making life extremely hard. It’s very frustrating for everyone and very hard to budget. There seems to be no end in sight, which is very stressful. The only way forward is to continue to work hard and pray for change.
Travel.
Spurwing Island, Lake Kariba.
This month we travelled to Spurwing Island on Lake Kariba, for the Easter weekend. It turned out to be a wonderful trip with lots of fishing, swimming and quality time with friends.
The highlight of the trip for the children, was their helicopter ride from Harare to Spurwing Island. They so enjoyed seeing the countryside from above and now have lots of stories to tell!
My next post will be all about this trip. Spurwing Island is certainly a great place for a family and I highly recommend you add it to you bucket list.
Until next month, God bless…
‘Put your hope in the LORD. Travel steadily along His path.’ Psalm 37:34.
To read more about other Kariba travels see this post; ‘Our 25th Wedding Anniversary Celebrated on Lake Kariba, Zimbabwe.‘
Please write your comment below….
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[…] great excitement in the household! Of course, the children loved the idea of another week off homeschooling, to go and explore a new location on Lake […]