Movie night question and pruning

Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2023

Movie night gets a late start - usually pemuda (18-25yr olds) and others line the porch before starting time. Today they wander in until after 7:00 so supper is slightly delayed. We live in jam karet or stretch time, Indonesian-style. (For people who prefer lukewarm food, that's how to arrange it. hehe)

The line for supper stretches to the kitchen from the porch.

The movie is Groundhog Day and the question is: "Who lives the day over and over again?" Most people answer: "Phil Collins, the weatherman who wakes up on the same day until he gets it right."

But actually, W points out that it's the others who are unaware. Collins wakes up to a new experience each morning, They are reacting to who he is becoming. So the second half of the discussion is: "In what ways could you change yourself to make the life of others better?"

W sets up 2 projectors side by side, living room and porch. It's wonderful to see the regulars as well as newcomers.

Thursday

I never want to walk after movie night. But it feels good once we're in the fresh air. On the way up to the trail, we spot a small flock of goats along the street.

In the tea fields, workers are cutting and collecting tea leaves into plastic bags. Those are picked up later in the day by the tea factory.

Can you spot the three walkers lagging behind as the path wends through the fields?

Two guys on a motorcycle carry a tea saw out of the fields. (Sorry, it's hard to see with the white SUV behind it) It looks like a long fan blade and is pulled across the tops of the bushes. Tarps catch the leaves as they fall.

We stay out of the forest for the most part: it's just too dangerous in the high winds. The gusts lift our hats off our heads as we bend into the wind. The path is littered with downed twigs and dry branches.

The dogs happily wade in the pools along the stream.

Parts of the trail are more of a challenge. W and I have been down to the final waterfall on other days. We watch our friends negotiate the boulders across the stream.

The clouds don't keep the sun from tanning or burning skin not covered by sunblock and/or hats. W's face is red: he gave up on his hat after having it blown off many times.

Juno's face reflects ours: contentment once the 7-km (4.5 mile) walk is over.

We're happy to meet the cars on typical roads: nicely paved, the asphalt gradually disappears, etched by weather, motorcycles, cars, trucks, ... and poor foundations.

Lunch at a nearby cafe is not memorable though the noodles are ok. The view is amazing across a valley to a pine forest. A tall pine thuds to the ground nearby. We don't know if it was sawed down or if it was felled by the strong wind, which which a tree across the main road further down the hill earlier today. Chainsaws start to cut it up a short time later.

The helpers rearrange the house furniture and rugs to their normal setting.

I'll fine-tune it later but for now, I work on language studies. Supper is a Korean feast on the next hill. It takes us 45 minutes to drive there at this time of day. In weekend traffic, it takes hours.

I forget to take pictures of the table. JJ is hosting in honor of DrH's 80 birthday. (Her special day is Sunday but we will be tied up.) We're home by 8:30 p.m. I can't sleep; I start to fade by midnight, listening to the gospels of Luke and John. I love the Good News of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

Friday

It's a gloomy morning with rain off and on. The lush growth of the garden gets chopped back over and over so it doesn't become the survival of the fittest. The rose trellis is recent, overhanging a small fishpond pot. Yesterday's strong winds knocked over the grass heads but I'll use them for Sunday's bouquet.

A year ago, it was neat and tidy.

A few months ago, the statue was moved out of the wind and rain to the end of the terrace. We bought a potted palms about the same time for fronds that can be clipped for arrangements. (All three palms were cheaper than one florist's bouquet.)

Flowers reseed around their original plants. You never know what will be blooming from week to week.

Fish thrive in the 4 1/2 foot (1.5 meter) pot at the edge of the terrace. Geraniums, planted a month ago, have sent out new blooms.

The hedge is an ever-evolving cutting garden. Starting with 2 older trees and a struggling lawn, the border is new-to-us. Our yardman cut out the ailing turf and gradually replaced it with our preferences: roses, herbs, coleus, spider plants, and other fast-growing plants. Friends come by regularly for cuttings to supplement their own gardens. We'll take it with us when we move; the turf will creep back across the improved soil.

We meet the dogs on a walk with PakG as we return from breakfast. Lucky canines!

Language class is online today. I have forgotten everything from the last children's book: if she says a word, I know it and can put it into a sentence. But if I have to think of it ... zzzz. Frustrating but to be expected with a long week and not-so-good sleep.

Saturday

We walk before I head to the garden to see what's in bloom. It's nice to have fresh flowers in the house for the day or two before the arrangement goes to the hall. Today the bouquet looks fine. Hopefully nothing droops before tomorrow ...

The more I look, the more it's "almost" ready. Ah. Add rambutan fruits and the blown-down grass heads. There we go.

The fuzzy texture of the rambutan invites a second look, is the sign of an interesting arrangement.

W starts his normal busy schedule while I write IES talks and Lenten blogs to cover the weeks before Easter.

Read more:

*Be silent before the Lord God! For the day of the Lord is at hand. Zephaniah 1:7

*When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider this: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, no one can discover anything about their future. Ecclesiastes 7:14 NIV

*[Jesus says] Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Matthew 6:26

*Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour. Matthew 24:44

[Paul writes] For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. 1 Corinthians 2:2

Moravian Prayer: Divine Creator, you make and care for all we know, yet much about you is unknowable. Give us strength during those times when we fail to understand your mystery, and help us know that no matter what, you feed us with your love. In your name, we pray.

Holy Redeemer, we await the hour of your return with hope and anticipation. While all we do should prepare us for that day, may we also live lives that demonstrate to all that your kingdom is at hand today. With hope, we pray. Amen.

The world in color and contrast

Sunday, February 5, 2023

Friends come over tea along with possibly the nicest 2-yr old ever.

Monday

I finish the paint chips project with a second coat of ModPodge. It's textured and some of the rectangles slipped while being coated the first time. (You can't see under the white M-P application, though it dries clear.) Too bad: everything was initially glued down with perfectly matched corners. As usual, it's not what I thought it might become ... but okay. When I squint I see a cityscape between two parks of trees.

I have a few hours of school in the morning after a walk and studying. The latest kids' book is about fishing with a dad.

The book brings back fond memories of Saturdays spent fishing with my grandpa. His little aluminum boat would scoot across the strong currents of the Fraser River. He could bring a fishing rod for each grandchild so I was on his "child-to-go" list. I went for 2 years or so in my early teens. My younger brother took over and went with Grandpa for years after.

What interested me on the gravel bars where we fished were the rocks, the shoreline - shape of waves, color of the water, the freezing temperature, and little critters  burrowing between. Grandpa used to shush us if we were scaring the fish away by being noisy or tramping around too much.

I didn't care. It was nice outside, rain or shine. If it rained, Grandpa made a warm fire with any log that washed ashore from a logging barge. The First Nations fishermen who stopped by to chat knew him as Old Bill. (His name was William.) He would hum with glottal buzzing, which I also did as a kid (vibrate the epiglottis; sounds like a motor turning over with pitch and speed variations.)

Today I write the shopping list for Wednesday's movie night. W sends the invitation out before 11:00 a.m. Within minutes, it's full with a waiting list.

Lunch is amazing. Friends send over a Lontong special for the 15th day after the Lunar New Year. The combination of traditional Chinese and Indonesian dishes is beautifully packaged. W's favorite is the rendang but he and I like it all.

I'm working my way through a painting inspired by the rainy season. I have no idea of what it will become. I'm a boring painter with few themes beyond the feelings I get from nature.

A friend's sister drops by for an afternoon of tea, pumpkin pie, and cookies. IbuA's baking is always a hit.

Tuesday

Another 2 hours of language school - whew. We shop for movie night groceries before heading home for lunch. Mid-afternoon is a hybrid team meeting, complete with tea and cookies. (Going through those cookies, 5 days in a row this week, counting tomorrow.) 

We are thankful for IbuA and IbuS who faithfully keep house and kitchen in order! They've gone home by the time the team meeting ends. I do dishes and put things away - the kitchen has to be spotless for the cooking marathon tomorrow.

Many helpers are live-in, on call 24-7 but paid half of our "expat helper" wages. Most are lucky to get a day or two off a month. Our help works an 8-3 day and live nearby with their families. As you can imagine, we get many inquiries from helpers between jobs, wanting to work for European or N American foreigners.

Wednesday - Movie Night coming up

I'm usually cooking by 6:00 a.m. Hmm. Not in the mood to start early today. W and I take the dogs for a leisurely walk around the neighborhood. Before we leave, we light the gas burner under 4-gallons of water for spaghetti. Hopefully it's boiling when we return. 

The property with the big wall is being leveled to pour foundations for a house.

 I love watching construction. Four samples of facing rock are mortared to the 8' high wall.

Yay, the water is boiling when we get home. I cook three kilograms (almost 7lbs) of noodles, drain them, and douse them in olive oil. I also cook a vat of spaghetti sauce to be reheated and added just before serving. The frozen meats line up on the counter to thaw. 

Today I'll cook 4 bags (of 50) sausages, 8 bags (of 20) chicken wings, and 8 bags (of 25) bakso. There will be 5 lbs of baby potatoes and three sauces besides the tomato-based one for spaghetti: black pepper, white (cheesy) and coconut-curry.

As each dish finishes, it's covered by towels to stay warm. The spaghetti broth is reused. Bakso is a flour-and-beef "meat-ball", normally eaten in soup. We find bakso flavorless compared to beef meatballs, Canadian style. So I doctor them - boiled for 20 minutes, soaked in sauce for an hour, and then baked for 22 minutes in the air-fryer. Here's the first step in a 24"-deep pot. I'm thankful that we invested in commercial pots when we came.

4 trays of sausages, one after the other, go into the air fryer while the meatballs boil. Friends often ask if they can help prep movie night. Sadly no. There's so much going on at once that I can't afford to lose track of timers, pots, stoves, and ovens. Sauces, meats, veggies, pasta ... it happens in a current of motion. As soon as a pot is free, in goes the next dish.

4 trays of chicken wings are next into the air-fryer. When an entree finishes cooking, its Silpat tray liners are soaked in the broth. The sauces dissolve into a rich and delicious soup base from beef, chicken, and spinach water. Then I wash the the silicone liners to get ready for the new item.

Between, I cook 7 packs of spinach, drain them, and stir in homemade cheese sauce. Last into the air fryer are the softened meatballs, dredged in black pepper sauce.

Meanwhile the guys set up the spaces, cued by pictures of previous events. W tests the technology. Tonight will be fun: we're watching Groundhog Day. The next post will have the question that will kick off the discussion.

We walk to Kalpa Tree, a restaurant we haven't visited for ages. W poses by our neighbor's flaming hedge. I'm astonished each time we walk past it.

There are 2 tables of customers. 

Today the food is exceptional. 

Both of us order Japanese dishes, reasonably priced ($5/$7) and tasty.

There's another restaurant going up between NaraPark and Kalpa Tree. Can you spot the bricklayers, squatting on bamboo trellises as they put beautiful trim on the building?

I like the new steel gate at the neighbor's, too. My imagination flares with the wonderful flowering vines that it could support.

It's already late afternoon. There's just enough time for a nap before company comes. zzz

Read more:

* The heart is devious above all else; it is perverse—who can understand it? I the Lord test the mind and search the heart, to give to all according to their ways. Jeremiah 17:9-10

*So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. Galatians 3:26-29

*So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9

Moravian Prayer: Holy Teacher, you test our minds and search our hearts for the good we can offer the world. Help us grow that good, never surrender to evil or sloth, and endeavor to love you with all of our hearts, our souls, and our minds. Amen.

Chinese-ish food and a surprise house for sale (ours)

Thursday, February 2, 2023

Feels good to get the newsletters out on time and close out other month-end things. I've had a few rough sleeps, up for 3-4 hours in the middle of the night. "It is what it is," my mom says when she can't change things. Yes, this is that.

We hike with two dogs instead of three. Gypsy stays home while his nail heals. (We think he ripped it last week.) He hardly limps when we walk the neighborhood in the morning but this is a 3-4 mile trek. Another week ought to do it.

The mountain hike is part forest and part tea plantation.

There's very little old growth left in the forest. The big trees are disappearing. Our landlord is cutting down the jungle behind the house, taking out the old trees. We hear them crash within a hundred meters of our yard. Removing them without care could send floods and landslides onto the village below. We hope the workers are experienced at this.

The walk is windy, overcast, and gorgeous. There's not much uphill, which gives me a reprieve from a pounding heart. We walk through a cloud dense enough to feel like smoke. It whips across the path, driven by the mountain winds.

The dogs are happy to run ahead and chase away snakes or other critters.

Lunch is planned at Ima Kopi, where we used to order excellent sandwiches. Last time, the menu was pared down to a few things; our favorites were missing. Today we're told: "There is no food. Only the bakery." Nah, fat-saturated croissants and Danishes don't cut it after a walk.

We exit and head for Mandarin, a nearby Chinese-Indonesian restaurant. The food is excellent, served family style. The servers bring glasses of hot tea (free) and refill them a few times. In Bandung, refills are not common. Neither is free water or tea.

We enjoy the bubbling spinach and beef, vegetarian noodles, sweet-and-sour chicken, black-pepper beef, and other dishes. We are stuffed. It costs $6/person, including tip.

A hot shower feels good when we get home. We're not as dirty as sometimes (no rain! yay) but our shoes need a good scrubbing after the muddy paths. The many leaves on parts of the trail have kept our hiking cleats from clogging.

I settle into my chair to study Indonesian. The dogs lounge on the porch nearby.

A friend sends a photo of the house we are renting. It's listed for sale. The ad includes the new plumbing we had to install and other upgrades we'd take with us. How interesting.

The landlord has mentioned nothing to us. Apparently he took pictures while we were away since his car is parked in our driveway. The overhanging roof makes it seem enormous.

We'll see what PakH has in mind. We have 3 years left on our lease, ending March 2026. Many houses are standing empty since the pandemic. If the landlord returns our rental money, we have a lot to choose from.

Friday

W and I walk the dogs and settle into writing. Professor Tom B drops by mid-morning. We munch fresh banana bread and cookies and drink tea to accompany a good conversation. I learn a few needed things from Tom's story.

I'm so NOT prepared for language school. Feeling under the weather, I attend online. How bad can it be, really? (= How much can I forget in a day or two?) 

Saturday

After a massage, online meeting, and neighborhood walk, I forage the garden for tomorrow's hall arrangement. I've chopped down enough for 3 bouquets. 

The first is especially pretty up close.

The second is sits easily in a 24" glass vase (66cm).

There are leftovers for a little arrangement in the guest bathroom.

Maddie drops by in the morning. Juno pretends she's a lap dog as Maddie spoils her.

I cover the paint chips canvas in ModPodge. The squares start to lift up so I have to put Silpat baking covers over them.

I'll be happy when this project is done. The design is never the problem. It's the long trip to the finish line that wears me out. In this case, keeping the paint chips flat and in place is a challenge.

Sunday

There's a little clump of Christmas stuff remaining at the hall. The guys forgot to clear it into the boxes earlier this week. We drag it home to stash with the rest of the seasonal things.

W hangs the new posters of Matthew quotes (Lord's Supper and Beatitudes) in the hall. We'll add more posters in coming months as we dive deeper into Matthew's book about the Unpredictable Kingdom of God (Angie's graphic).

We host the annual congregational meeting after the regular service. IES Bandung doesn't have a lot of committees. Few people are interested in nitty-gritty details like how much was spent for youth supplies. Not many want to vote on anything. So we plan short reports for this vibrant community of faith.

IES is a family-style congregation. Last week, each member of the Ministry Team sent a short clip of who s/he is and what s/he leads to Angie. She compiled them into a video and made another one about the work the community has done the past year. Her videos are inspiring to everyone.

Our leadership team (board) is amazing and does a good job of chairing the meeting. Including a short financial summary, prayer, the reading of scripture, and a Q&A, we're done in less than half an hour. It's the business meeting I wish we'd had growing up, instead of hours of disagreeing on minutia and quibbling over pages of written reports.

As usual, everyone flocks around the Community Table afterward to enjoy the company and food. This may be the best group of people anywhere.

Lunch at #MaxisResto up the street is delicious.

Someone apparently thinks 80o is cold. He wears a down jacket as he strolls by the table.

We walk home to be greeted by laughter and games on the Porch. The Hangout is on today.

I need to study for tomorrow's language class. I feel more like taking a long nap. How about you?

Read more:

*Come and hear, all you who fear God;  let me tell you what he has done for me.

I cried out to him with my mouth; his praise was on my tongue.

If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened;

but God has surely listened and has heard my prayer. 

Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me! Psalm 66:16-20

*O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. Psalm 71:17

Simeon said, “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared before the face of all peoples.” Luke 2:29-31 NKJV

Moravian Prayer: Abiding God, you remain a constant source of comfort in our lives. We can see where your hand has been upon us in the past and we have hope for where you will lead us. We celebrate the promises fulfilled in our lives through your grace and love for us. Amen.