Rainy weather | Diary of an Adventurous Retiree

The lucky little girls in my class got to have another fun lesson with a GAP student this week. When I was a little girl the theoretical part of Music was boring and no fun at all. What a fresh approach this lovely young treacher brought to our classroom. The girls now know all about walking notes, running notes and slow plodding notes. They had fun tapping out the beat on rhythm sticks and then listening to differents types of music and interpreting the movement through dance.

An introduction to musical notes

Using rhythm sticks while reading music

Interpreting the music with dance

Winter is determined to show us its coldest face this year. I am sure there can’t be any more rain left to fall and can it possibly get any colder. Rumour has it that there is snow on Table Mountain! I can’t see it from here but I can certainly feel it in my bones. Yet I have tough little girls who strip off their fleeces after break and insist on running around bare foot!. My girls are princesses but very sporty ones!

100% chance of rain was predicted for the day of our outing to Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. The other two Grade One classes went the day before and certainly did get a constant downpour. The Botanical Gardens in the rain? Well yes – but not outdoors and even though it did not actually rain our our day we were presented with the same programme. It was just too cold and muddy to go tramping through the Gardens and the Forest area that they usually show us.

Instead the boys and girls had their lessons and walk about in the conservatory. The three wonderful ladies who were our teacher/guides taught them how the indigenous people and early settlers found veld plants and used them food, medicine and freshening their homes. They were fascinated to hear that Buchu was used for healing scratches and stings and that there were several types of aromatic Pelargonium which could be used to flavour food or used to freshen clothes in the wardrobe. The children shared their knowledge of ‘sour flowers’ and were warned not to eat anything in the veld unless an adult told them it was safe to do so.

The puppet show about Monty the Mongoose was a definite highlight and after that they were divided into three groups and shown around the conservatory.

The Puppet Show

Feeling fleshy leaves

Checking off the plants they found

It was a fantastic outing and the children learned so many new things in a fun and exciting way. Well done to the Kirstenbosch Ladies – in spite of the weather they got it just right!

This has to be the coldest and wettest winter we have had here in the Cape for many years. Or is it that I am getting older and feel the elements more intensely? Here in this southern nook of Africa we are lucky enough to have a Mediterranean Climate – warm, dry summers and cool, wet winters. I like winter because many of the days are clear and sunny and the wind doesn’t blow. But this winter we have had so much rain that the dams are over 100% full and there is snow on the mountain which means it is freezing! After a couple of days of heavy rain there was river flowing outside my classroom door!

A River Runs Through It

Every day I pray that the rain will let up at 10:30 – break time – so that the children get to go out and release their pent up energy – mostly my prayers are answered and luckily inspite of the excessive rain we do find at least a few minutes to get out and play.

A break in the weather and fun on the swings

Something in the weather has caused the birds to visit the garden – when the children are not around. I captured these feathered beauties enjoying some rare sunshine.

Cape Canary

Chaffinch

It has been a busy week and the girls have worked hard. After their two day Funscape they were keen to share their experiences and wrote good sentences about what they had done.

Look what I did at Fabric Painting

Pieces of Eight My Hearties

Anyone for cookies?

Working on our Funscape Report

Having someone different in the classroom is always exciting for the girls and I have been so proud of their welcoming attitude to our visiting student and one of our own GAPs. What a fun lesson they had learning all about the food pyramid and which foods we need for energy, muscle building and fighting illness.