Whodunnit

Vogue or Blues Brothers?

Had so much fun the other night at my friend's birthday party. She ran a murder mystery. We all received character cards beforehand and arrived in character. The premise was a film wrap party. The birthday girl was the director, who was poisoned halfway through the night, and we had to hunt for clues hidden around the grounds and try to figure out whodunnit. Finally got a chance to wear the feather boa Maia gave me for Christmas.

Lydia Schwarzvogel, at your service.  Deputy director and murderess... or not?

Really entertaining evening.

And a beautiful setting.

Turns out I didn't do it, but I did win! I managed to collect rather a lot of clues, so teamed up with others to share what we'd learnt and interrogate our main suspects. Four of us guessed correctly, and it came down to the luck of the draw. I won a very nice thermos flask. Such a fun night, and plenty to drink. 

Bought the birthday girl a bubble machine and received a picture the next morning of it being put to good use. Breakfast and bubbles! 

Prior to this I hadn't done anything social in over a month. I've locked myself away to write stories. Though it's been tough lately. I just feel really tired all the time. I downloaded a sleep tracking app which monitors your sleep cycle, and I'm getting enough deep sleep and a full eight hours most nights, but I still feel drained. I haven't smoked in over a year and a few weeks ago I stopped drinking coffee, which was actually just as uncomfortable as quitting smoking - exact same symptoms of extreme tiredness and general 'yuck.' The main caffein-related symptoms have worn off, but it hasn't done much for my general sense of wellbeing. Most days I don't drink alcohol, and most of my food is rice, noodle or pasta with veg. I've upped my intake of water. I have been pretty lax about exercise recently though, and need to get back on the boxing bag.

Overall, though, I'm doing everything you're supposed to do to feel wide awake and chirpy... only, I'm not. I'm not ill, either. I'm just really tired. I've even got these big black bags under my eyes. It's rather upsetting. I'm going to ride it out a bit longer, build up about three weeks' of sleep data, then maybe introduce coffee again at a lower dose. Do some more exercise. See if it changes anything.

It makes it hard to concentrate on writing. 

Sunrise Over the Garden Wall

Also took this to the party. Discovered it in Simba and thought it looked entertaining. It's not. It tastes like rubbing alcohol. Novelty value in the label only. Anything the colour of absinthe is best avoided. It doesn't really say 'hemp flavoured - what,' but Google seems to think Vodka.

Also, interesting fact, there's a Christian bookshop in Kigali Heights. One side is wall-to-wall Bibles. The other side is wall-to-wall Stephen King. Make of that what you will.

Had an exciting time the other day when I tuned an 85-key piano. This is really unusual. Even by the end of the 1800s the standard 88-key piano was common, so to find this one, which dates to around 1957 with only 85-keys is really strange. More about that here.

The weather has been absolutely blindingly hot lately, as illustrated by this beautiful picture of the Wedding Roundabout outside Kigali Heights.

I've been sweltering away, which might be one reason for the sleep issues? We had a little rain last night for the first time in weeks and today has been blissfully overcast and cool. As usually happens when it's either too dry or too wet, the water has cut out a couple of times. Sometimes it goes out completely, but mostly it dribbles.

When this happens, it's time to crack open the bucket bath. I have an emergency water bucket out back and I stand behind a bamboo screen and wash in the garden. It can be quite refreshing on a hot day, but not so much fun on a misty, cold morning when you're late for a meeting.

Ever feel like you're being watched?

Nyiragongo Erupts

 

Late intermittent update, as usual. 

Things here have mostly been dominated by the Nyiragongo eruption, which has thankfully calmed down now. All of the lava in the crater has apparently disappeared, which is disturbing. We had a few days of continuous earthquakes in Kigali, but back to normal now.

Humanitarian operations are underway. 

Otherwise, it's been a quiet month here. I've been focusing on writing - managed to win the Bet Tuppi's Near Eastern Historical Fiction Prize and did some musing about the origins of Rwandan imigongo art, which has kind of captivated me during my current WIP (work in progress).

There's been cat cuddles.

Though they are still as murdery as ever. Managed to rescue this from them the other day.

I was bitten by a palm tree whilst putting out my washing. No one told me they have teeth! Caught my finger on them - blood everywhere! Sharp little critters.

Spent a couple of days writing and bookcrossing at my friend's restaurant. And far too much time getting to grips with YouTube.

My lovely friend Jo made some homemade pesto. It was such a treat. I adore pesto, but it sells for around £8 a jar here (even with the £1.20 label still on it) so I never buy it. 

Also found a great new veg supplier, Samy's, who do boxes of fresh vegetables and delivery for a really good price. He's still working on his website, but you can WhatsApp: 0785 643 938.

Finished off with this, which doesn't look amazing, but tastes fantastic. Used up my stale bread making bread pudding, then slathered it in caramel.

And treated myself to this impressive pizza from Sole Luna.

Went back out to Bugesera Lodge to tune their piano. Got another tuning tomorrow. Made some piano parts with a 3D printer.

And just hanging out at home with my temperamental fairy lights which sometimes come on and sometimes don't.