Studies, teacups, and scones

Sunday, April 26, 2026

We have a late lunch at Ethnic. I love the plants their gardener chooses. These delicate red roots hang from a tree near our table.

This "false bird of paradise" looks like a suspended bird (beak to the left) and catches my eye.

Anton is an athletic squirrel-chaser, patiently watching or jumping around at the base of trees, hoping the critter will come down to him. The squirrels love to tease, jumping from branch to branch overhead.

Monday

After a morning filled with usual work and calls, Ps Lew arrives from Jakarta to research his dissertation. We have a late lunch at Maxis and catch up.

We get a package of black beans. Oh, those are for the bean toss game, after the last batch of beans moulded after being left outside. Maybe the Saturday kids will have fun with it. I sew a half-dozen bean bags. The dogs are getting used to their snuffle mats, from whence they try to extract treats.

W hangs a picture in the bathroom. I'm happy it's off my bookshelf, where it's gathered dust for 3 months while I decided where to put it. The old green tiles have many spackled holes. W drills out one, puts in an anchor, and screws in the support for the picture frame.

The afternoon rains arrive as usual, filling the pots with tropical fish.

Tuesday
The day floats by with walks, work, and cooking. To use up the leftover black beans, I make soup for a filling mid-afternoon meal. It's wet enough outside that mushrooms are sprouting around the tree stumps.

After Lew spends the day researching, we sit down with his outline to map out the next steps. The side porch table lights up as dusk and night arrive.

Wednesday
Veronica joins us for a morning hike with the 2 big dogs, Anton and Juno. The other two are getting too old to leap and bounce around the uneven paths.

It's hot today so we drink constantly. The forest section trail has been chopped clear of overhanging branches. Sometimes W brings a machete to clear this particular one. No need today. At times, the path is barely visible due to undergrowth.

Impatiens, which used to be my first spring garden buy (2@$1 at Fred Meyer), grow wild here. Can you see the trail? We count on the dogs to run ahead and chase away snakes.

All kinds of wildflowers line the trail. I count 6 white types, including this tassled beauty.

A red tassel hangs from a shrub nearby.

God flings lavish beauty on the path.

Many kinds of bananas grow wild or are planted between other crops. Finger-length sweet fruit is ripening above its flower.

The flower on another tree is 2' (65cm) long.

Just around the corner hangs a long bunch similar to the Dole bananas of Western supermarkets. Each clump is called a "hand." There are at least 5 hands of bananas on this stalk. They ripen from the top down, following the flower down the stem. When the flower drops off, that's the limit of bananas.

The decades-old tea bushes are being replaced by new coffee plantations to suit the export market. Coffee shops have been popping up in every neighborhood over the past 5 years, too.

During the past weeks of storms, trees have blown over or snapped off. Someone has trimmed them to allow motorcycles and farm workers to get to their fields.

Leftover pizza is lunch.

Thursday
We leave Anton at home because he refuses to sit when we reach the gate. We left Gypsy behind a few days ago. Since then, he sits promptly to be taken on the walk. They're no dummies. Just stubborn sometimes.

If the dogs are not in the mood to mind the simple routine, they can be wild things on the walk. Sometimes they're so nutty that they lunge for this or that instead of walking calmly. So ... the test - almost always positive - is that they sit at the gate and follow us onto the street.

Some friends come for tea in the afternoon. Don't fuss," they tell me in advance. Tea is a good excuse to set a pretty table and relax with others. Most of our good dishes are in Seattle. Whatever we bring here will be left behind. 

It's a treat to use the "Canada Maple Leaf" Royal Albert bone china, even if only once or twice a year.

IbuS bakes bread; I make scones (a disappointment), sandwiches, and mousse. We wash guest dishes being used for the first time since our move 4 months ago. Life is pretty casual so I miss the feminine hospitality we had with American friends. Tablecloths, china dishes, silver trays, and flowers? Mostly a memory.

Few people here have fancy teacups, cutlery, or hostess trays. When the book group met in homes, the good serving dishes came out. The past few years as we've aged, we usually meet in the cafe of a member's relative. It's nice to be together in the little cafe basement, even without that homey ambiance.

It's raining by the time everyone leaves. The helpers tidy up and say goodbye for the time being. Tomorrow is a public holiday. Next week I'll be traveling, though W will stay home.

Read more:
* Ah, Lord, great and awesome God, keeping covenant and steadfast love with those who love you and keep your commandments, we have sinned and done wrong. Daniel 9:4-5

* Let your work be manifest to your servants and your glorious power to their children. Psalm 90:16

* Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. Luke 12:27

* Jesus said, “Anyone who comes to me I will never drive away.” John 6:37

Moravian Prayer: We praise you, God of creation. Wrap yourself in the worship of all you have made. Amplify the bird’s song and the waterfall’s roar as they declare your power. Give us words of praise to tell of your work in our lives.

Merciful God, sometimes it seems that we can never stop sinning. But we hear the joyful news that you never stop forgiving—and healing. We are a gathering of redeemed sinners. May we always remember to sing songs of thanksgiving for your mercy. Amen.