5 years ago, I made one-a-day marks on an Advent template. Every year I haul the sketch out and enjoy it.
I'm freaking out a little all day because tomorrow is already December. How can that be? What a year it's been.
W and I start with breakfast at Nara Park (Pino Terrace). Typically, there are several kinds of sambal with our dishes. Today, one is plain, one has chicken, and the other has a bit of sweetness. They're hotter than Mexican chili sauce, almost hot enough enough to set the tongue on fire. Yum. We enjoy them in more moderation than locals do. Many people burn out their stomach lining and get ulcers here.
We walk up to the office, where Kat has sent along cake brownies she's baked. Oh - they're good. W enjoys them during the team meeting, as do I.
Eki and Bella drop by around suppertime. W and I have eaten, but I make a quick light meal.
Of course we take selfies near the tree.
Wednesday
Some climb the slippery rocks to the top. I'm surprised that I don't, and that no one expects me to. It's obvious that I'm older and less limber than 5 years ago.
The dogs splash and play in the clear clean stream.
The numbered ornaments for December are lit and ready to hang. I love these scripture promises for each day.
Bella puts the first one on the tree for us.
Bailey sneaks into some of them as well.
People start sending in photos of their Advent displays. Some are pretty indeed.
First thing, W and I take a long morning walk. For his breakfast, he finishes his leftovers from last weekend: roti chicken (hash browns, chicken, and mushroom fried in oil and gravy, which he slathers with mayonnaise.)
"Would you like some?" he kindly offers.
"Never. But thanks." My mom cooked low fat and healthy. I can't get used to that much grease.
W drops me off at the office with the Merry Christmas sign that finishes the BIC bulletin board. (For now.)
I take another look at the shadowbox I've played with off and on. I like the washiest tape on the floor, a contrast to the magazine picture background. Whoever designed the ad, gave good advice: "To break the rules you first must master them." That's true for all the arts.
He is headed to Jakarta and has booked a shuttle. In fact, he neither comes nor goes on his original tickets. KrakAline messes up his booking on the first one - and cancels the second trip. He finds a seat on CityTrans: "Fabulous." He's an adventurous traveler, not flustered by last-minute scrambles.
Tonight is his last Wednesday class for a Singapore seminary. Some of us love teaching on Zoom. He's not one of them. He misses student interactions in the classroom. He teaches tomorrow night as well, with a day of meetings between. He'll be home Friday morning.
On our home porch, there's one last tree to decorate. We usually hang treats on it for guests at our New Years Open House. This year, whoever comes can take an ornament and promise verse. We're probably not doing the NY party.
I don't bother with lights: most of them are in use at BIC anyway. The tree sparkles in whites and silvers. After finishing, the rest of the boxes and ornaments go back into storage. It's a checkmark on my list of 'get-to-it's.
By evening, it's evolved slightly. I've make "small spaces" (paintings, 'rooms,' etc.) to get lost in when my head is busy. Some people go to the ocean. Some walk in nature. Looking into a room takes me away, whether it's a photo, painting, journal, or shadowbox.
I'm about halfway done on this one, tucked inside an old IKEA frame. I'll hang it on the wall when I'm done.
Thursday
We march 8 km (5 mile) up and down through the tea plantations. Each time we pause, we're taken aback by the beauty of the volcanic mountains and planted hillsides. It's a given that if one erupts, there's nowhere to go.
Tea plants are mown by two people dragging a clipper with a bag attached across the rows. Then the shorn tips dumped onto tarps and most of the big stems picked out by hand. The sorters are not always thorough. Sometimes local tea tastes more like twigs than tea leaves.
There are acres and acres of tea shrubs.
About a third of the fields haven't been weeded for a while, so pink impatiens (weeds here!) grow between. In other fields, the tops of the shrubs have been chopped back to bare branches. The plantation owners are not dragging them away yet. Tea cultivation is a year-round process.
Our goal is a new waterfall.
We lunch at the Ranch, which has ok food, not amazing. The flowerbeds are beautiful.
The fruits ripe now are avocado, banana, jackfruit (all year), and mangos. All along the roads, little stands or pickup trucks are heaped with them.
Friday
It's a writing day. After a walk, I settle down to finish newsletters and announcements, clear emails, and do office chores. Poppy drops by before lunch for tea and cookies.
W's home about noon and we enjoy IbuS's nasi goreng ayam (chicken rice).
Saturday
W finishes teaching his class and wants to celebrate. Lunch at Miss Bee? They have a few selfie stations, including a monstrous wreath in the entry. Can you spot the red-nosed reindeer, shaped by branches?
Several clients also wander into the garden for pictures near the bird houses. Tourist venues and hotels are full: people are coming from Jakarta again on the weekends.
W enjoys his fish and chips.
I have "deconstructed hot chocolate." You add just the right amount of hot milk to melted chocolate. W gets the marshmallow and cookie and finishes it up after we eat.
Kita Design supports women who are resetting their lives. They're selling batik crafts at Green Gate. We drop by to look at their hand-sewn goodies. Each is identified with the name of the person who made it.
I could use a set of placemats and I find one I like, double-sided in white, black, and red. We can leave the same tablecloth on the table for weeks if it doesn't gets spilled on. We use placemats on top, a laundry saver. (Back in the day with young kids, it would have been a miracle to use a tablecloth for a whole day, right?)
We clean the aquariums: one of them is full of algae while the others are just fine. I empty vases for new blossoms and set out the fully-opened dill blossoms to dry. Wouldn't they look fantastic in a pine garland or a Christmas tree?
Someone asked me about succulents a few weeks ago. Ours are overgrown; it's time to clip and share them.
Read more:
*Moses said to the Lord, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.” Exodus 33:15
*The good shepherd goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. John 10:4
Moravian Prayer: Shepherd of souls, empower us to abide in you as you abide in us. Help us to be open to your leading, and willing to move into action at your inspiration. Amen.
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