Big things and small to make the heart glad

Sunday, January 2, 2022

This isn't the first time I'm writing 2022. It still feels odd on the second day of the year. We are still on do-not-open status so we join BICOnline. The on-and-off of the past year continues.

Our lunch date falls through. We are back to work tomorrow so this is a bonus day at home.

The living room started the week with pillows wrapped in the old Christmas fabric my mom sent along.

A friend brought sarongs from Bali, so I when we put away the Christmas fabric, we wrapped the big pillows in those. Cute but oh so bright!

The side chair remains the same. But  chocolate-colored covers replace the lime green ones to tone down the candy-brights. I just can't do such lively colors in January (with my Northern annual rhythms of "January is winter.") When IKEA clears out pillow covers (@$3 or less), I buy a few of a color. Over time, there are many choices in the linen box.

When I trim the ferns away from the porch, a few stems make it into vases.

When I spot a dead plant in the garden, it seems like it would make a good room divider. IbuS uses up a can of gold spray paint on one side of the branches. I spray the other side with copper (another can of available paint.)

PakG puts a heavy plastic bag inside a long flower pot from somewhere in the yard. He mixes cement and lets it set for an hour in the plastic poking the branches into place. I stand back: "A little to the left. back a bit. Turn that one, and that's perfect ..."

The concrete he brings is used to mortar bricks. It's made with a muddy sand. It looks awful when it dries and crumbles as we lift it out of the pot. We strip off the plastic bag and let it cure for a week. I spray-paint the ugly greenish pot silver. W helps reinsert the concrete block into the pot, lifts it onto the shelf, and we're done.

At night, the garden trees light up with the solar lights W finds on Tokopedia, Indonesia's version of Amazon. They stay on for a few hours and fade away. They'll recharge the next day.

I download a slough of books that look interesting. Most are not yet published but I review the trends and current thinking before they reach the public. Several notebooks filled with book summaries are already on my office shelf. I'll start a new one for this bunch.

Monday

Many FB posts over Christmas and New Years have made me smile. It's fun to watch our kids' friends have little ones, people our age swarmed with grandkids, and others going off on grand adventures. On the flip side, some of us have said goodbye to family members due to deaths, moves, and breakups. There have been job losses and hardships, too.

Some obstacles have been bigger than expected. Above: W, peeking out from behind a leaf in the garden. Some things are sweeter, like this mango from DrH. It makes a wonderful bedtime snack.

Tuesday

We have 2 men chopping and sorting out the yard today. One brings his wife and toddler: he's very shy. The other comes on Tuesday as usual. They are sorting the branches out of the compost piles so that they don't become viper havens.

They also dig out the two big stone bathtubs in the backyard. There are 12" (30cm) of grass roots among the other plants in the tubs. It takes both guys to empty and scrub the tubs. They put in recycled plants from around the yard and fill it with water. We do a bit of tropical fish catching and pop them into the water for mosquito control.

The lotuses go in one tub. The flowers open in the sunshine and close in shade. At night, they are tightly folded shut.

The grasses and water hyacinths go into the other pond. The water is murky but will settle in time.

On one side of the driveway, parsley, cilantro, and coleus are thriving.

The neighborhood is typically overrun with cats - including some pretty ones. Most of their tails are broken or snapped off, like this kitten.

Wednesday

At breakfast, we watch two gardeners chop up the dead patches in the complex lawn. One has a mattock to loosen the top inch of hard-packed topsoil. The other pads down seedlings of grass.

Someone has wrapped the ripening papayas with plastic so the bugs and bats leave them alone.

The Wild Plaintains (also known as False Bird of Paradise) makes a beautiful hedge along the neighbor's wall. She gifted us with some tubers and they're taking over part of our garden. 

The lovebirds we've had a few years are noisy and happy.

The succulents we repotted have settled into their pots.

And the chandelier shrub is dripping with blossoms.

The zigzag stem looks good behind the fern fronds.

The house is quiet between seasons.

There's no one here, but it feels peaceful.

God's been with each one of us every step of the way, unsurprised by our decisions. As I wake this morning, I am more determined than ever to be open to what he has for us in the coming year.

Read more:

*The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy,

    making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes.

The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever. The decrees of the Lord are firm, and all of them are righteous. They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb.

Prayer:

Here we are again, Lord Jesus. We come to you with repentance and gratitude. Thank you for enduring the cross and being raised from the dead to pay the debt we owe your Heavenly Father. Thank you for reconciling us to God. 

You are merciful. And you are good. We are so grateful. Amen.