Galvanise

My sisters and I have sometimes discussed the idea of having a soundtrack to our lives. It was started by our dog Barley, sadly passed away now, but he was a most loving dog with a gentle temperament and not a clue about most things! We used to laugh whenever he came into the kitchen as he had a slight uneasiness about one patch of the floor and so would get to the kitchen door, turn backwards, reverse over said difficult patch of floor before spinning back round and continuing on his merry way. Unless food had been mentioned (of course, he was a Labrador); then being in a particular hurry, he would forget that he was supposed to be scared of the floor and dash straight over it. His soundtrack would have been some ditzy elevator music, nothing deep and meaningful and certainly no heavy beat or clashing chords.

A rather empty house

 At the moment I feel as though the soundtrack to my life is ‘Push The Button – Galvanise’ by the Chemical Brothers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6b9ci_z4v7M . A song with a heavy beat and a sense of great determination and moving forward. What has brought on this renewed sense of purpose? OUR CONTAINER HAs ARRIVED!!!! I apologise for the full caps however I was literally dancing with excitement when the much awaited phone call arrived. Since 20^th July we have been living out of 4 suitcases, sleeping on borrowed sofa beds and eating off enamel camping tableware where the plates are more like bowls. I have fantasised about sleeping in our own bed, eating off flat plates and having my circular chair (which we never had space for in England) out in the shade of the veranda to read in.

Excited and important
-I have a clipboard!

The lorry rolled up on Wednesday morning at 10am, the security tag was ceremoniously snapped off with bolt cutters and there were beautifully stacked boxes waiting to be unpacked. The brilliant team from AGS Frasers (http://www.localbotswana.com/company/1515/A_G_S_Frasers_International_Removals)  handed me a clipboard with instructions to mark off every item that was unloaded the container. All 230 of them. It was so exciting … and then it became almost shameful. I actually became quite disgusted with how much ‘stuff’ we had. It had all seemed so vital back in the UK as we were leaving, I felt that I desperately needed to cling on to everything and the strong sense of attachment I had to these things wouldn’t allow me to sell them or give them away. Having said that, the amount that we did sell or give away was enormous – a whole bookcase of books, 4 car loads to the charity shops and a car boot sale. We only had a small 3-bedroom, end of terrace house that was fairly tidy and where everything had a place. Where had it all been?!

Once all the boxes were unloaded, the team also helped unpack them and even started to put together some of the furniture. However, there was only so much they could help us with until we were overwhelmed with belongings without homes and so after only 2.5 hours, the team left with the empty container, and we were left in box city chaos!

Looking more comfortable, and since
taking this we have pictures up too!

My husband is an incredible man but one of the traits I most envy in him is his ability to see things in a space. It takes me a lot of trial and error to work out how furniture will fit in a room, but he looks at what is there and in short order has relaxing spaces made of the chaos. We are no longer camping, we have a home in Africa and though I did have a wobble with a moment of complete ‘what have we done?’ terror, now that our house has order to it I do feel incredibly settled … and galvanised!

We have now been here almost 4 months. When we moved out in July, we naively thought the family centre would be up and running by September – that idea was slightly quashed at our arrival at the airport to be greeted with declined work permits. However, we have been optimistic with each delay, even as we have seen the opening date gradually slip later and later. But no more. The optimism will stay but there is a renewed determination that we will open very soon. In many ways, we have already started.

First ever class in The Studio
- the wall behind will shortly be
covered with a 4 metre mirror. 

A whole variety of fitness equipment!

The first area ready was The Studio – just missing the wall sized mirror at the far end. However, as the equipment has arrived, Fitness Director Phillida has begun offering classes at a pre-opening special and from her growing classes she has gained her first personal training clients. As a member of her classes, I can tell you she pushes you but only to your personal limits. She differentiates the exercises accordingly and with her specialist knowledge of pre-and post-natal fitness, she changes the exercises to suit each person’s needs. Myself, I still have a diastasis recti from my pregnancies (my tummy muscles have never fully knitted back together) and so performing a basic exercise like

a sit-up or a plank could not only make it worse but could potentially lead to a hernia. I foolishly thought that this would mean I could sit those exercises out, but our Fitness Director had other ideas. She had alternate exercises planned just for me and the audacity to tell me there was no rest for the wicked. I think we may have to work on the respect she shows her Managing Director!

This week we were excited to start our Rugbees sessions at Action Sports in The Bull and Bush. These are ‘rugby’ classes for ages 18 months – 5 years and are structured play sessions for boys and girls combining co-ordination, ball skills and learning to play as a team. The sessions weren’t full, which was actually a relief for our first one, but as they all signed up for next week we must have done something right! We really enjoyed ourselves and the only thing missing was a snack at the end. This is where the Bull & Bush have stepped up and next week will be offering bacon rolls, tea, coffee and juice as a Rugbees Special. If you speak really nicely to Anna at Action Sports, you may also be able to buy an ice cream. My boys now refer to The Bull & Bush as Anna’s ice cream shop!

The man loves his
power tools!

Complete dedication to
the task

Now on to The Honeycomb Hub itself. Thanks to the incredible hardwork of Adam, Tiny Town is built! An army of helpers have been amazing meaning we have finished painting it and are awaiting the delivery of the hand-made furniture and other finishing touches.

Tuesday is floor laying day for the seating area when we shall be hard at work laying that, under the direction of Adam – our Financial Director and all round amazing handy man… and my pretty awesome husband! Then we have a list that is getting shorter by the day – shelves, chairs, artwork, the excitement of buying plates and mugs and then the joy that will be setting out all the toys and resources in Tiny Town and the play area. I am also greatly looking forward to sticking all the book plates in our new books for the reading corner, remembering all the amazing people who donated to help us make this dream a reality. And then, we shall be able to open! Phillida and I can actually see that day now and we are desperate for it to be in November.  

For the next 2 weeks, ‘we can do it’ will be our motto (inspired by a certain little steam train #mother of boys!) and Galvanise our soundtrack. We shall be getting up earlier and working even harder so that we can finally open the doors of our family centre to the Gaborone community. 

 The Honeycomb Hub, opening very soon!!

 A little extra note. My husband has always been keen on show and tell. At the end of a day of work, you show what you have got done and, ideally, receive praise or maybe discuss where to move on to for the next day. This picture is of a wall. To the unseeing eye, it is just the white archway into one room of tiny town. However, this is probably the bit of Tiny Town I am personally most proud of because I plastered it. Me, who cannot ice a cake to any degree of satisfaction, plastered a wall and made it so smooth it is almost perfect. Before you ask, yes I shall be giving guided tours to this particular section of wall when we open so do ask me! It is also good to know that I have another new skill, string to my bow, feather to my cap and line on my cv!