Salaam alaikum (peace be upon you)

Wie geht's?

Various things like lockdowns, working from home, and increased family contact with zooms, have given me time to reflect on elements of the past.

That explains why the kids pictures and the caricatures my former students have drawn, have appeared of late.

I sense this theme is going to continue for some time this year as the Covid-19 battle rages on offshore. Nostalgia plays its part to relieve stress.

For the next few posts I thought I'd concentrate on a batch of photos and memories from my picture archive.

At random, today's post is concentrating on...a folder with some snaps from my time as Lead Advisor at Ali bin Ali Taleb School in Al Foah (Al Ain, UAE). 

We're talking 2012.

These were taken at a taboor (an assembly that took place around 7ish each day - before the day's heat got really cracking; for that reason school finished at 1pm each day).

We are caught frozen in time, giving out some maths certificates. I know this because Jan Thomas was the maths advisor at that time, and the guys joining me and Principal Mohammed were the maths teachers.

These were great caring people - the relationships between the boys and the teachers were a great example to us, and our friendships remain - thanks to facebook.

I hope everyone is well back in Al Ain.

Love and peace - Abu Keegan (a.k.a. Mr Warren)

I have no patience for lactose, and I won't stand for it (Jerry Seinfeld)

Bottle (the male - shaped like a..well, bottle) and Mo

Two new Purdy family members to introduce during this post - Mo (really Maureen but shortened to Mo - like the first Mrs Ringo Starr - Maureen Starkey) and Bottle.

These beautiful Lorikeets decided to adopt us (we checked everywhere - nobody reported them lost) by accepting SWMBO's hospitality (cheap dates - it only took a bit of chat - they repeat phrases they've heard, and some apple).

We grabbed an aviary off TradeMe and hey bingo - Mo and Bottles are happily eating their daily fruit and thanking their lucky stars!

Projects are usually a big part of my school holidays and these ones conformed to the pattern.

Weather and various interruptions (our over-night trips to Russell and Auckland) meant that the horse yards are an on-going proposal. 

The digger guy didn't get to our place until the end of the first week - then that process took three days - digging out the top soil, putting loads of lime stone down as a base and then loads of quarry dust on top.

After that I got onto concreting in the posts with the help of the family heirloom. It looks a tad weird because, in a cunning plan - put a tail on it/ call it a weasel, the posts supporting the roof are sloping down to join the garage roof's gutter system (that in turn feeds the water tank). Cunning, right?

Next steps involve the framing for the roof, putting up the iron, and rails for the two yards. For that I'll need some fine weather and some time!

While waiting for the digger guy, we decided to get stuck into the kitchen redecoration - the before and after shots indicate the replacement of all the Formica surfaces and eradication of all the varnished wood.

Before - dark, heavy varnish...

After

Apart from all that we managed to catch up with old friends and three of the brood during the break: Adam and Ashleigh (we hadn't seen them for two years), Keegan, Jade and William. We saw Fanfa last Christmas, so we feel reasonably caught up!

And, now - so are you!!

Love and peace - Wozza