Dots and dabs: 9.5 weeks later, the fridge is working again

Tuesday, June 14, 2022

IbuS finds some daylilies in the garden. Every day a new flower opens.

The Vs bring their kids to team meeting on the porch. Mini-poodle Bailey's in his glories, having found a boy to pet and brush him. He likes to sit on the bench where we slip shoes on and off. An old rug lets him jump up without tearing the leather as he looks out the gate to see who's coming.

The aquarium on my desk is thriving.

Someone sells us a clean rug for $7.

It replaces the little IKEA shag squares that have been there for years. We don't discard the squares; they move to another area. People love digging their toes into the green pile.

1' leaves keep opening in the planter beside the door. I love their stripes.

A few swipes of a ruler over paint ...

It starts to take shape.

A few dots of paint and anything can happen. I learn something new from each painting.

Colors have to be lighter than the eye sees: otherwise colors and textures disappear in indoor lighting.

Wednesday

I try a balance exercise W finds online. It settles my vertigo somewhat, but I'm going to the neurologist for his peace of mind. Our morning walks make me slightly tippy. Both W and I had angry stomaches yesterday and today so we're not walking as quickly as usual. I skip breakfast in case the doc asks for blood tests.

We spend midday between the hospital and a great hole-in-the-wall restaurant. You wouldn't know Toko You was there unless you know where to look: the short, narrow driveway gives no indication of the historic wooden structure inside.

The rawon (noodles and candlenut beef broth) is as delicious as the first time we were here. I can only eat part of it so take the rest home for when my stomach is feeling better.

By the time we get home, it's almost 3:30. The bill for top doc's visit at Bandung's best hospital, medicine (against vertigo symptoms), and an ultrasound to check a bump behind my ear? Under $60. (If they took insurance, it would have been cheaper.)

John comes by to check on the progress of his dissertation, as he does monthly. He's making progress and has lots of work coming up. W calls me when it's time to leave for his birthday supper.

DrH is treating him and Dr Ingrid to a meal at Queen, the premier Chinese restaurant in Bandung. "For special birthdays only," she says. It's expensive and delicious, also a traditional place to eat. The food is uniformly good - and the company is wonderful.

Thursday

The doc advises against walking the narrow rocky paths planned for today as I'm still too tippy. So W walks around the block with me before leaving with the others for the mountains and sawah (rice fields). We discover this chicks sheltering under the hen's feathers (Psalm 91:4). Reminds me of our safety when God protects us. Plus it's cute.

Friday

A quiet day of writing, meetings, and language school. W's hard at work. He pulls some peeling paint off an ugly wall at the end of the terrance and puts up the powder-coated screen found in the back of a wood shop years ago. It's been in the house but I bought it for outside. The day has come

W hangs it. I scrounge the garden for a palm recently potted, a wooden statue getting lost in the greenery, and a packing crate that arrived yesterday. Most people won't notice the subtle focal point at the side of the house. Which is what makes it a pleasure of discovery for those who do.

Maybe we should throw a party. We have evening plans but the fridge guy comes 9 1/2 weeks after our LG refrigerator stopped working. Jorge and Caron loaned us a fridge last week ... it was hard to have a little fan running across ice in jerry cans for minimal cooling since April 19.

Apparently the missing repair part has been on backorder from China. It would be easier to endure if the shop explained the delay rather than cancelling appointment after appointment. Thanks to our friend with connections who makes this repair happen! 

We pay $80 for the repair: the fix is not a warranty item. I'm just happy to have a fridge in the kitchen rather than a back bedroom. We'll sent the clean well-working fridge back to J's house next week. We're praying over that place, where tiles inexplicably popped out of the floor and other strange things have happened. It's planned as a women's shelter.

Saturday

I overcook rice (8 cups of chicken broth and water with 1 c rice) for a few hours to make bubur ayam. Sometimes we eat this rice pudding when our stomaches are unsettled. Other times, it just tastes soothing on its own. I enjoy it for breakfast and lunch.

I have headspace for decluttering while W meets several people downtown and Kristi teaches kids English on the next hill. (Yup - she's pretty amazing, a force of nature.)

I empty shelves under the stairs and send paper plates for movie night up to storage. Over the years, the helpers have stashed glass, plastic, and paper containers in the "dirty kitchen" bin that used to hold the old water pump. This past week, I asked the women to empty it onto a tarp on a spare bed.

W and I look over the ancient Tupperware that are used for movie night desserts and cookies. There are sealers (the Canadian name for canning jars) and other containers, too. Kristi grabs some plastic boxes for kids' supplies. What we won't use goes to helpers and the recycling man who comes around the neighborhood with his cart.

I pause to snap a picture of the back of the flower beds along the porch. Oh this country! It bursts with beauty everywhere we pause to see it.

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*Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself,  The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. Lamentations 3:21-26

*O Lord my God, you are very great. You are clothed with honor and majesty, wrapped in light as with a garment. Psalm 104:1-2

*You may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 1 Peter 2:9

Moravian Prayer: God, through your precious Son, you have called us out of darkness into your marvelous light. Inspire us to shine our light in the darkest places, so that others may find their way to you. May you be glorified in and through us. Amen.