One mow thing......

On the grounds of La Rochelle we have a small school - and today, as for the entire country, was the first day of school of the whole year. We have 7 children who have started at the Centre - four of them in Grade 1, and two in Grade 2. This is our Grade 1 & 2 Classroom - in the first ten minutes of term, and the kids are 'heads-down-and-focused' already!

We usually have just 8 kids in this classroom - four per Grade, but this year we have eleven, so to me the room looks positively bursting!

Because of the extended rains, and also the fact that I have been busy with Christmas, New Year and two weddings, I have not touched the mower at my house for the past 3 weeks. In the middle of the rainy season in Zimbabwe, this means BIG grass! This morning one of my dogs was lost in the thick undergrowth for ten minutes when she went out to wee, and so today, when the sun came out, I decided to mow.

Big mistake!

I have two swarms of bees living in the roof of my house, and normally we co-exist quite happily, but, for whatever reason, the smell of fresh-cut grass sends them 'crayzeeee, I tell you' - and in very short time I was stung twice - once on my head and once on my ankle. Let me assure you, the sting from an African bee is not a pleasant thing to suffer from!

Somewhat worryingly the sting on my head, while jolly sore at the time, soon faded - possibly because the bone of my skull saved me, but I have been hobbling around with a sore ankle all evening.

Here is the mower - abandoned in mid-mow, and though impossible to see on this pic, the bees flew around it for a good twenty minutes after having a go at me.

Darn bees!