the relocation

The garden preparation is in full swing around here these days.
Nigel finished our green house and made a fence of pallets to, hopefully, keep the sheep outta our beans, and corn, and whatever else they managed to naw on between the wire mesh fence last summer.

The garden is a bit of a mess this time of year. We have a lot of plants that self sow, but in order to figure out the weeds from the plants we have to let everything grow up to tell which is which!

The lettuces have gone mad! It is so great. But they are not really in the right spot. There are some big bushy herby things that will grow up in this round garden and they will smother all the lettuces. Also, it will get a bit hot for them up here.

So, I have been spending the morning relocating the little lettuce plants to new homes. Nice shady spots where they will last longer in the summer. Some I put among the garlic, in hope that the garlic will deter bugs from eating the lettuce.

I am sure the lettuce is not altogether happy about the relocation.

But I know what is coming for these little lettuces. I want to give them the best chance.

I was thinking about all this as I was pottering along and realized it kinda went along with my Bible reading this morning.

I was reading in Genesis about how Joseph had his entire family move to Egypt. Father, wives, siblings, kids, and animals. He wanted them close so he could make sure they were taken care of during the big famine. I think God had a few plans in store for them too and they needed to be in Egypt.

I don't imagine the move was all that fun, it probably took a bit of getting used to. And, I imagine quite a lot of planning. I would hate to organize that bit.

However, they moved to the place where the Lord wanted them. He saw the whole picture. The discomfort of the relocation was worth it in the end.

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the cats may be smarter than the humans

 The other day I was watching my cats eat their evening meal. When Mama Luna was done she started scratching all around her food dish. Apparently this is an instinct. In the wild the cat would cover its food to hide it and save it for later. I thought, Oh silly cat, she is trying to hide her food, doesn't she know there will be more food later. I feed her twice a day!

Then I thought, hmmm maybe I am the silly one. She is showing her little kittens how to survive if they are ever left on their own. She is passing on ancient cat wisdom from the beginning of cat time!

We humans seem to be the one creature on this earth who doesn't learn from our ancestors! With every new generation we start over, thinking we know it all. I mean there are people today that think vegetables somehow magically appear in the supermarket. All washed and ready to eat even!

Then yesterday we noticed Mama Luna was hissing at the two remaining kittens. Whats that about?

Google to the rescue!

Mama cats will "encourage" their kittens to live their own life when they are old enough. She will do this by hissing and nipping and kicking of course. She is basically saying," Look here child, I have taught you all you need to know. It is time for Mama to be her own cat again and time for you to  go out into the big wide world and fend for yourself." She knows they are ready for it even if they dont.

Bet some parents wish they could do this with their kids!

Cloud and Townsend would be impressed with cat boundaries.

the truth from the garden

the leeks that were not

A few weeks ago Nigel and I enjoyed the first of our leeks. They were pretty small. But we roasted them up like asparagus and they tasted great.
We thought that we should let them get bigger before we ate them all up.

Yesterday I was reading about how you should never plant leeks so that they are ready to be harvested in summer. The heat makes them go to seed and makes them tough and stringy.


I went out and had a look. Sure enough our leeks were going to seed. I pulled them all up and got a nice pile. I thought I would clean them all up and make a nice pot of potato leek soup.

By the time I finished salvaging what was edible I had about a cup of leek!

I threw it in a quiche.

Apparently it is important to plant the right things in the right season to get the best result.

 For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven.
Ecclesiastes 3:1

the spinach marathon

The Spinach was going to seed.
So thought to myself, I will pull it all out and use what little leaves are left to make some spinach dip.
Well, what "little" leaves that were left turned out to be quite a lot!
They overfilled my big pot.
So I made my spinach dip.
Then I used some in a stir fry last night.
I made an omelet with some this morning.
Nigel used some in his salad to take to work.
I still have a mountain of spinach in my fridge!

Sometimes things are not what they seem at first glance.

I have been thinking about this lately, Things not being what they seem, not spinach.

I am living in a small town at the moment. Everyone knows everyone and everyone knows everybodys business.

So when I meet someone new to me, I make my snap judgements, as you do. Well as I do.
That person is mean, or strange, or .....

Then I will inevitably hear something about their life. Not necessary gossip just a bit of history, since your history in this town is an open book.
 And I will think, oh that makes sense, guess I was a bit harsh. Maybe someday I will learn not to put people into boxes.

You never know from looking at someone where they have come from.

And you never know from looking at the spinach in your garden just how much will fit into a pot.

the pods

radish pods I mentioned earlier that we have been letting our radishes go to seed. It has been so interesting to me.
They are such little plants and yet they have shot up 4 times their original size. And they have these dainty little pink blossoms waving in the wind up the top. I have been watching them daily wondering what they will do next. There had been no sign of any seeds. I thought maybe they would show up somewhere when the flowers fell off.
silverbeets gone wild and lettuce blossoms Little did I know!
Pods!
The radishes are forming little pods. Inside which will be the seeds.
Of course! What was I thinking.
I guess we wait until they dry up and then crack em open.

Watching our plants go to seed is a bit of a journey for me.

It is a slow process in this fast paced life of ours. It would be much more "efficient" to just buy some new seeds from the shop and plant them than to wait the months for these plants to produce their own.

Now beside the fact that buying the seeds from the shop is not the best long term. Dont get me started on seed companies!

There is something about the letting the plants go through their natural process.

The journey of planting a seed.
Watching it grow.
Enjoying the fruit from the plant.
Watching the plant grow some more.
Enjoying the beauty of the blossoms.
Watching the plant grow more.
Harvesting the seed.
Planting a new seed.
There is more sometimes in the slow journey.

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the bloomin tree

Someone said to me the other day. "Bloom where you're planted."

I thought oh yeah that is a nice little saying I have heard many times.
Cute little flower in a desert somewhere.

A few days later I got a new picture in my mind. 







This tree here is out the back of the cafe I work at. It is gorgeous.
It doesn't care that it is next to a rusty ol fence and that not very many people will see it. It just blooms anyways.  It blooms with everything its got.


So I guess its about giving your best even if you are situated next to an ol rusty fence.

the caffeine

I have a problem with caffeine. The problem being that I dont usually have any, so when I do I am wired! I used to be an avid caffeine drinker. First Mountain Dew and then Diet Coke. For years I lived off my caffeine beverage of choice. I have been off it for about 5 years.
So this morning I popped a caffeine laden Excedrin to battle my headache. I now I am awake and out of bed at 7am. Partly due to the caffeine and partly due to jet-leg. I often wonder at the things I could accomplish in a day if I were to get up at such an early hour.
It is chilly in the mornings here in Woodville, NZ. A lovely 38F this morning. So first I put on my possum socks and wooly sweater and then put the jug on for a cup of hot tea. I made some Delicious Fig and Coconut Baked Oatmeal, see recipe below, got the quilt and computer and sat down to blog.
I thought blogging a better choice than waking my soundly sleeping husband up with my caffeine induced morning chatter.
So... 8am. No one up around here on a sunday morning except me and the birds. Even the cat has abandoned me for the cozy warm bed.
I will wait for the Oatmeal to bake, enjoy my cuppa and see what Catherine is up to. My first time reading Jane Austens Northanger Abbey.

Baked Oatmeal.....very loosely based on a weight watchers recipe. Feeds 4

1 1/2 C old fashioned oats
1/4C dried figs
1/4 C dried coconut
3T raw sugar
1t baking powder
1/2t cinnamon
pinch of salt

1/4 c plain yogurt
1/4 milk
2 small eggs (or one large)
1 T oil
1 t vanilla extract

Mix dry ingredients in one bowl and wet in another then mix together. Pour into a greased baking dish 8x8. Bake 30 min at 350F or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool ten min then serve with some milk pour over top.

the smell of diesel

I am walking down the main street of Woodville and a big semi truck drives by. I get blasted in the face with a big whiff of diesel.
Ahhh I love that smell.

I will say it again.

I love the smell of diesel.

It reminds me of our bus travels.
Standing behind the bus trying to help Nigel navigate out of one tight spot or another.
We have been in quite a few tight spots in our journeys with Rainbow.

Once we lost speed up a hill and got stuck just at the top. We had to back all they way back down and then Nigel put the pedal to the metal and we made it over.

Once in Shawnee there was so much mud on the side of the road that our bus kept sinking deeper and deeper, we did not get out of that one with out calling a tow truck in!

I  love how smells can bring you back in time.

I find myself wondering what smells from this little season will bring me back.

Maybe the smell of our pot belly stove keeping us warm in the chilly weather.

Maybe the smell of sheep poo from the paddock next to us! Ha ha!

the change of plans

Sometimes plans change.

We arrived in New Zealand the beginning of December for a two month visit.
Three months later and we are still here.

Here's the story.

Christmas Eve I said a little prayer. "Lord if it is in your plans for us to stay in New Zealand and look after Nigels Gran then I am willing. Please just let Nigel know as well."

I am not sure exactly where this prayer came from. It is something that we talk about from time to time and we were going to see Gran the next day. It is just one of those things I prayed out without thinking too much about it!

The next day we had a lovely Christmas picnic on the beach with Gran and Mum. On the drive back Nigel says to me,"I would really like to move back here for a bit and take care of my Gran. What do you think?"

I replied out loud with, "Um I think you really need to be sure about it."
I replied in my head with. "WHAT! We are supposed to be going back to the states! We are commited to a LOT of things! Did i really just pray this yesterday?!"

So a month and a half later and we decide that yes this is where we are supposed to be at the moment.

We are currently in Woodville, Nigels hometown. And by town I do mean town. We are still in our big green bus and are working on getting a place ready for Gran to move into.

We are missing our friends and family back in the USA but we know that this is where we are supposed to be for the next season.

Sometimes plans change.

the sand

I was at the beach with a wonderful friend of mine and her two gorgeous little girls a few weeks back. She was off on a little adventure with the girls and I was laying on the blanket letting the sand run through my fingers. When I see sand I am reminded of the verse from Psalms 139, "How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can't even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand!"
I am always amazed looking at all that sand by how much He loves us.
Now as I was laying there I started thinking about how God made the sand. He created it. And for what?
I am sure sand is great for all sorts of things. I like to walk on it, it is great in a sandbox, little creatures live in it, it looks nice in a jar on a shelf, and my succulents love to grow in it.
But maybe He had another idea in mind when He made all that sand Maybe He made it so we would have a visual picture of how much He thinks about us...

the old man camp

"In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy,your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Acts 2:17

I recently met a man at a Rainbow Gathering named Jerry. Teresa and I were walking back to our camp one night and we saw Jerry sitting by his fire,just him and his dog Boo Boo. We stopped in to say hello. We ended up staying for a while and heard some amazing stories. Jerry kept saying "If someone would write down the stories I have and make em into a book, they would have a best seller. I've seen some pretty weird things in my day." He may be right.
I woke up a few days later thinking, "Hey, I could write down Jerry's stories!" I got permission from Jerry to share them and permission to take his photo so you can have a face to go with the stories. I will write them in the first person, but they are really just a paraphrase from me. Maybe next time I will have a tape recorder.

One night I was fishing on the gulf. Sometimes on the gulf the water will be a smooth as glass. When a storm comes in on the gulf you can hear the wind coming in across the water. So there I was, just me and my two dogs fishing when I started to hear the wind. The water started to ripple a little. I said, "Not now, I'm trying to fish!"
Then I heard a voice say,"Put you hand on the water and it will be still." I look around to see who was there and I didn't see anyone. I shrugged it off, thinking I was imagining it.
Meanwhile the ripples are still coming. Again I say, "Not now, I'm trying to fish!"
And again I hear the voice, "Put your hand on the water and it will be still."
I look around again and no one is there. I figure what do I have to lose. So I walk down place my hand on the water and at that instant the water goes still as glass. I can still hear the wind, but no waves. I fish for two three hours. then pack up my stuff and go back to my tent. Before I go in I say, "Okay, now ya can blow." 
And instantly the waves come.


Another time I was down fishing and these men near me had caught a shark. They didn't want him so they threw him back in. When you catch a shark and put him back he gets all disorientated and doesn't know which way to swim. He kept swimming back to shore and they would turn him around and he would go out a bit and come back in. 
So I am watching this and again I hear the voice, "Put you hand on the water and he will swim out." Oh man, not this again. I tried to ignore it, but it wouldn't let up. 
So I walk down to where my line is in the water. See I thought I would just pretend to be fixing my line, I didn't want to look crazy.
So I walked down to the water and place my hand on it. Immediately, the shark swims out to sea.
One of  the men walks over to me and says, "I see what you done, I seen you place your hand on the water."


Another time I invited a friend out on my fishing boat at night. He asks me what for, and  I tell him to see the lights. He asks me what lights, and I say well, come and see.
So we get into the boat and head out on the water. It is dark and quiet. I say to him, look up. And we look up.
Above us are are these lights dancing around.
"What are they?" he asks.
"Angels" I say.
I've seen em in the woods too. If you get out to a place where it is real calm and quiet, a place with no distractions, you can see em. There is a lot of stuff we don't see cause we don't bother to stop long enough to notice.
That man, he still won't come out on a boat with me.


So there you have it.
Jerry's stories.
Beautiful treasures.
I hope to hear more some day.

the bag of sugar

Nigel and I are down in Florida with the Jesus Kitchen and friends. Then other day Nigel and I hit the thrift store jack pot. There was a few mile stretch with a thrift store on every block.
I love to look for books at the second hand stores. I found some good ones this time around, a dictionary for a dollar, a copy of the Poisonwood Bible(My favorite book, I always give it away and have to buy a new copy every couple years or so), and I found a Little House on the Prairie book. Somehow I have made it this far in life without reading the little house books. I know crazy right!

So in Little House Pa works all winter trapping animals for their fur. Then in the spring he makes the big trip to town to sell his furs and to get supplies and the things he needs for planting. On this trip he brings Ma home a bag of white sugar. Apparently back then white sugar was not the white death it is today and was a very prized possesion. Now what does Ma do with that sugar. She puts it safely away in the cupboard to be brought out only when company comes. Then they can have white sugar in their coffee instead of molasses.

I want to be a person who shares my bag of white sugar. So often I get something special and I hide it away for myself. I would never think of taking out my special treat when company comes. I mean then it would all get eaten up! And its another whole winter of trapping animals and that long trip to town. Oh wait, that's right, i can always get more at the supermarket.

I am challenged by the Ingalls family.

the mini blinds

What follows is a random train of thought.
It has been a train of thought that has taken me a few months to follow, and I have a feeling it is not quite finished.
I was staring at the mini blinds a few months ago. And a thought popped into my head.
"We are not created for sameness."
Mini blinds are all the same. We as humans have a tendency to create the same thing again and again.
But the Creator he creates one of a kind things. One of a kind trees, and flowers, and sunsets, and days, and people. We pay millions for a one of a kind piece of art and yet we are surrounded everyday by one of a kind masterpieces.
So that was my vibe for a while, we are not created for sameness. We are created for adventure.
Then a few weeks ago I had another thought. "The Creator, He is the same yesterday, today and always! We are created for adventure with security!"
 I find the times I most enjoy this adventure He has me on are the times when I find my security in Him.

the tlc

Serenity has been having a few issues. She is still running, but she is just not herself these days. Our slow bus is going even slower, and not really enjoying any sort of hill.

Ah yes hills. Before we came to the land we had to dump our toilet. We pulled off an exit and saw a sign for a campground 2 miles away.Not bad, so we decided to dump there. Well the two miles was downhill on windy roads. No problem except that we have to get back up the hill. Normally that is not a problem, but with Serenity out of sorts....Well, Nigel pushed the pedal to the metal and up we went, slowly, slower, sloower, stop. Some of you might remember a similar incident at the Wyoming gathering!:)
We back up the bus, and the trailer and tried it again. Not even close. We started backing up again. At this point I am entertaining thoughts of where we will live at the bottom of this hill.
As we are backing down the second time a car drives by. They ask us if we need help. We tell them what is going on and they, being locals, tell us of an alternate route! A dirt road but not nearly so steep a hill. 10 minutes later and we are back on the highway! 

A week or so ago I sent a text to a friend of mine saying that Serenity needed a little TLC.

We made it to Nomads Land safe and sound. Now what to do about Serenity. A group arrived shortly after us to do a bit of work on the Land. There was a man in the group who knew right away that our bus was a 1963. He used to drive the same kind in New York! As he knows a bit about the engines he offered to give Nigel a hand in figuring out what was wrong. He knew ALOT about our bus. He even took it for a test drive. City Bus style. My cupboards stayed in place, but I was a bit nervous. The name of the group was TLC!
Funny eh?
So Serenity got a bit of TLC. There is still quite a bit more needed. Nigel is in the process of taking apart the engine. Something about a blower and maybe a fuel injector. We have a manual coming in the mail that should help. We are enjoying our time at Nomads Land. It is a beautiful place with beautiful people.

the veggie oil and mistakes

We are in Kentucky.  We just finished a gathering in the beautiful Shawnee National Forest. We watched the leaves change while we were there. We were a small kitchen this year, but we had others join us and it was a peaceful and quiet time at the Jesus Kitchen.
Lets talk about Veggie oil for a minute. Nigel has been in the process for the last two years of converting our bus to run on veggie oil. My husband is a very talented man who has no fear about trying new things.
The veggie oil has been "getting the kinks out" for quite a while now. I like to think I have been quite patient and supportive during this process, but I am sure that is not a hundred percent true...
We had another kink in the veggie oil yesterday. My immediate reaction was to call it quits and be done with the veggie oil once and for all. I look at Nigel and he seemed calm and collected, just trying to figure it out.
I realized something about the way the two of us approach new things. Nigel is not scared to make a mistake. It is all part of the process for him. He jumps right in with both feet, gives it all hes got, and if it dosent work out he tries again. And sometimes again and again and again.
Now me, I do not like making mistakes. I avoid them at all costs. If I am going to do something new I think it all out ahead of time. I look at all the angles, think through all the possibilities, and if it seems too risky then I just walk away.
My husband and I are so different. I love it sometimes. He pushes me to try things I wouldn't normally do.
And I like to think I keep him from jumping in too deep at times.
Balance.
So we are in KY. We have about 5 days to get to Nashville. That is about a 2 hour trip:) So slowly we travel down south. Enjoying the journey.