A lumberjack to tame beautiful Indonesia

Thursday, July 21, 2022

The garden continues to surprise and delight. This morning, a pink chandelier flower fits behind some tea branches that I'm rooting..

Today's hike is through thick shrubs. The wet clay trail is barely visible in places. We slog through - the views over the tea plantations are worth it.

Thousands upon thousands of pink impatiens have seeded themselves between the rows of tea. The dogs love the romp as usual. Bailey's never far from my side but the others run ahead.

We're in the thickest overgrown part of the mountain trail when our granddaughter calls from the USA. She puts special effects on her phone and we talk until the call drops. It sounds like she had a wonderful birthday. We love you, Miss K!

2 boys are along and it's fun to see how differently they approach the walk. They run, back-track, leap, fall, and get up. One clambers up a 4' (1.3 meter) stump and takes pictures of us all. (That's his beautiful mama below.)

It's a good-sized group. We're missing a few regulars who are on summer holidays.

Our destination is a waterfall.

From the biggest wonders to the tiniest moss flowers, it's a beautiful short trek, only 5 km (3 miles) of hard going. Much of the track is rocks of all sizes and shapes. Our ankles and knees have to be sturdy - and the soles on our hiking shoes must be non-slip.

Young M spots a banana flower lying beside the path. As we walk, he gradually peels layers back. Between each tightly closed petal is a set of tiny bananas, waiting to be revealed and ripened, one row after another. See the yellow row of banana "fingers" that M has exposed under a purple petal?

Lunch at the Mandarin (Lembang) is delicious and quick for 7 walkers. We order 6 family-style dishes plus rice. It disappears from start to finish in 20 minutes! (Can't believe we ate the whole thing.) We must have been hungry today.

"Eating is our reward for walking," says Kiki.

Driving home on our last stretch, we pass a pickup truck full of young people, chatting away with their friend who is following behind on his motorcycle.

IbuS and IbuA are baking for movie night next week. IbuA's cookie experiment today is mostly vegan - flour, tapioca flour, and more, but no eggs. She breaks coffee-candies into pieces and puts them atop peanut-butter cookies. = Basically delicious.

We always seem to be squeezing food into in our kitchen fridge. I dread coming home with groceries because boxes of cookies and baking ingredients take up at least half the fridge. While we're gone, the ladies have scrubbed down the new "movie night" cooler in the back room and moved the cookie boxes into it. 

That's going to be a life-saver, coming at the right time. It's almost full already, with water jugs in the bottom. Thanks, Sam!

Friday

It might be a red-letter day (holiday) for us today. At the very least, it's a game-changer. While I'm comfortably working in my rattan chair in the back garden, W and a handyman are fixing the water systems in the house.

It takes several trips to the hardware store for supplies, besides the pump and other items W has already purchased. That's pretty typical for a job this big, combining random existing pipes into one system for water all day.

What luxury! For 7 1/2 years in this house, we've lived with incoming city water and water pressure only in the morning. If anyone dared to shower or wash clothes after lunch, they'd have to manipulate all kinds of plumbing, levers, and pumps. W decides enough is enough. Our friend Kiki recommends his handyman.

By the end of the day, the hardwire store is closed and the job is wrapping up. The handyman cobbles leftover ends of pipe together in the powder room. There are pipes everywhere, across the walls and across the window. We'll paint them in bright colors to make it look intentional instead of a patch job. On the other hand, this is what a "fix" looks like in Indonesia so few locals would even notice.

IbuS is getting pretty good! at arranging flowers, too. This sits over the back sink.

Saturday

W ripped half of his big toenail up while moving a box. He's limping around but undaunted. He has the good sense to cancel his usual trips around town.

Lunch? W orders noodles for us and friends who live nearby. A portion is $1 including delivery, and comes with pangsit (deep-fried dumplings). The place is becoming famous for its delicious taste and low prices. There's always a lineup at the door.

This week, the 3'- (1 meter-) tall BIC flower arrangement is simple. I walk around the garden and cut a few tall leaves and flowers. We drop it off on the way to grocery shopping.

In the afternoon, W chops down 5 flower-only papaya trees that came out of nowhere and are shading the garden. The trunks are soft, wet, and hollow. Could one make vases like the ones from the tree ferns? (last week)

See all that open sky? Yay. And here's the lumberjack with his trusty machete. I happily working on the porch - and watch with a smile.

It's a shame to waste the edible flowers and leaves, but by Monday when the help comes, it will be spoiled. Luckily two neighbors come by for leaves and blooms. "We'll make a dish with salty sardines," says one.

Read more:

*Do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9

*The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them. Psalm 34:7

Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He tapped Peter on the side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And the chains fell off his wrists. Acts 12:7

*Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:10

Moravian Prayer: Surround us, O Lord. Wrap us in your arms and give us comfort. We are weak as humans, but you are our source of knowledge and power. There are so many things we are unsure of, but you are all-knowing. We lay our troubles before you and allow you to move through our lives. We leave it all at your feet.

Father, thank you for sending your angels to help us align with the lifestyle you have chosen for us. Steer us in the right direction. Amen.