Bird and band

When Nick came home from his walk this morning with a “come and see what I found”, I groaned and said, “I hope it’s not another bird”…I wasn’t particularly surprised that it was, as we seem to have a proclivity for finding birds in distress. This time it was a baby canary which he found on the fields behind Piccolo – it was on the ground, flapping, but not getting anywhere. It’s a dear little thing, about 8cm beak to tail, with a shrill cheap which it obviously enjoys the sound of. We do not. Feeding it today has been relatively unsuccessful. It flies a little bit but its wing and tail feathers are miniature. It likes to be on our heads or shoulders, or best of all in one of the pot plants, where it adds nitrates to the soil. So that is our new acquisition, yet to be named.

We had a good laugh in school this morning in science, where we learned that a mother cuckoo will oust one of the eggs of a small bird like a Reed Warbler, lay her own egg in its nest, then fly away. The cuckoo egg is similar in colour to that of the host bird’s eggs, although slightly larger, but the foster mother doesn’t notice. She incubates the egg which hatches before her own do, and while the baby cuckoo is still naked and blind it expels the remaining eggs out of the nest too. Meanwhile, the foster mother continues to feed “her” baby which grows rapidly, until he has outgrown both the nest and his adoptive mom. The mom, being a good bird, continues to feed the chick, having to sit on top of the overgrown baby to feed him! The picture in the book, although very accurate, was hilarious, and the boys and I were thoroughly tickled.

The boys came with me to the shops when I went for bread…Aaron to have a swing in the playground, and Caleb to walk across to Maisie’s Shop to buy a wooden recorder he had seen here. It’s rubbish quality, but he is so pleased with it anyway. We bought a book some time ago on playing the recorder, and already he has learned a few of the notes. Because of this purchase, the Piccolo kids banded together to form a music group. They initially called themselves the Three Boy Band but then remembered that Sappho plays the violin and should be included, so they are now called the Four Kid Group, aka C.A.T.S. A bit of practicing and lots of bossing about from all quarters produced an impromptu concert to which all the adults were invited. They set chairs out in front of Rob and Claire’s unit, then amidst much giggling and silliness, they played a few pieces. Aaron disappeared completely during the concert, overcome by shyness, but Caleb, Sappho and Tom each had a go on the ‘stage’ with their instruments (Aaron lent Caleb’s former harmonica to Tom, sold to Aaron by Caleb to afford the recorder). It was highly entertaining and a good effort on their part, even though it was completely disorganized. Tom was the MC and was a natural at it. I was needing to get back home to make supper, but no-one minded that it ran about 40 minutes late.

The appreciative audience: Jenna, Phil, Rob and Nick (above) and DT, Claire and Milly (below).

Some energy involved

Apart from school and some scrapping in the afternoon, we had a quiet day, except that I had been asked to be at the Girl Guides meeting in town at 5 pm to give my opinion on their recipe book. The recipe book is a project in which, as I understand it, all the groups over the island are participating. Each group produces a book which will then be judged and a winner declared. The Jamestown group wanted to do a scrapbook version, and having heard that I do scrapbooking, asked for my help. I put together a page as a sample a few weeks ago and then didn’t hear from them again until yesterday. They seemed to be doing well with their collection of pages, and I offered to do the cover. It was great to be there because most of the girls were from the GNC. I told them they were all doing a wonderful job, shared a few tips, and then left again after 20 minutes.

Pressies from Pennsylvania

It was raining this morning when we got up, and carried on raining until about 9.30, after which the clouds lifted and the sun came out. School was all fine, until I got to the last bit of reading and couldn’t carry on as my voice was taking strain! I asked Nick to do the reading as he had a lull. Four days left of this term, then a week of holiday.

In the afternoon Nick had an appointment in town, then went to the post office. He came home with two parcels from the Williamsons – one for the boys and one for us, resulting in much excitement all round. The boys were given Playmobil cars and colouring books of a high and educational standard, and Nick and I were spoiled with a CD, some scrapbooky goodies (well, not so much Nick's thing), and a very interesting Mennonite cookbook. Genevieve also included a hand painted (by her) Christmas card which is so special and lovely that I’ll have to frame and display it.

Swimming in the South Atlantic, tum de dum

This afternoon we took ourselves off to James’ Bay, where Nick was quite keen for a swim. This time I talked myself into swimming as well, and I surprised myself by really enjoying it. We had two tubes and a pair of armbands between the four of us, and made our way across the bay from the landing steps to some rocks not too far away, then back again. The water was disgustingly salty as seawater tends to be, but not very cold. Extremely clear – I could see my shadow on the rocky seabed. Fortunately I didn’t see any fish otherwise I might have exited with haste! Nick swam back to the rocks again to join some kids who were jumping off some dizzying heights into the water. He did three jumps, consecutively higher – the last being about 24 feet as we calculated it. He says it was scary. We were back home by about 4.30, I think, and then it was back to town a short while later for church. I invited Jessina, one of the teenage girls who lives close to Piccolo. She was very keen to come, more to relieve her boredom than to hear Nick preaching, I’m sure, but I think she enjoyed it.

Oh yes, and happy Valentine's Day!

This morning was the usual start to a Saturday – Good News Club, and a few errands in town. I didn’t have any bread in the freezer for lunch so we went to “The Pink Flamingo”, which is a new place built behind the Coffee Shop. It opened a couple of weeks ago but this was the first time we’d been. They do take-outs and sit-ins, serving from a trailer to a large covered deck housing several picnic tables. We just had hot dogs, then went home.
Nick was back in town during the early afternoon for a swim in the ocean with Richard and Geoff, and then at 4 pm we walked across the lawn to our evening engagement which was a barbeque for Rob’s 40th. Nick helped to cook the mounds of sausages and chicken legs while the guests mingled and chatted. We were about 30 people, I think. The advantage of having a do like this on the island is that all the guests already know each other, even if they don’t know each other well – so there was no need for introductions or ice-breakers or anything. It was lovely to talk to people that we wouldn’t normally see or socialize with, including Sharon, whose little Charlotte we babysat a while back. Charlotte is just the dearest little thing. Every time the camera was on her she started laughing.
The food was ready by about 5, I guess, and it was delicious and plentiful, with a few different contributors. I had made a tuna curry noodle salad, and there was a bowl of tomato and cucumber, a potato salad, another green/tomato/bean salad and rolls, along with the meat. The boys had been playing outside with the other kids – and there were lots of kids, apart from the three babies. It was a really great party.

At home

Just a normal school day today and the afternoon was spent quietly at home. I made a couple of necklaces, and Nick had his prison ministry in the afternoon, with three men in attendance, I think.

CD release

Nick officially released his “Like a Child” CD at Saint FM…about time, as it’s been slowly trickling onto the market, but the general populace doesn’t know much about it. All proceeds of the album go to the rockfall fund, which I think is the only reason that Nick was willing to discuss the album on the radio – he hates promoting himself. He was able to go on Tammy’s afternoon show which was great, as it meant not being asked inane questions about the CD, or the meaning of the lyrics etc. Tammy could give him a sensitive interview and allow him to liberally discuss matters! Along with the CD, they also chatted about island issues, like the lack of discipline among the kids in the high school etc.

We were no sooner home than Claire phoned, wanting to know if the boys were going to “Beavers”. This is the youngest age of the Scouts – Beavers, then Cubs, then Scouts. Until a few weeks ago I had no idea that such a group existed – we had been told that boys could join when they are 8, so perhaps Beavers is new. Anyway, Tom is now a Beaver, and since Claire is going to town anyway to take him, she graciously gives Caleb and Aaron a lift as well. This evening they had a swim-meet, doing relay races across the width of the pool. The boys came home enthusiastically describing what had gone on, and it sounds like they thoroughly enjoyed themselves. My little Beavers!

More blessings

This morning the fish man came by during our tenzees. Margaret and DT were already out there, but before chatting to them I bought some fish. The fish man knows me and seems to know what my fish preferences will be, I guess judging by which of his previous offerings I screwed up my face at. Sometimes he shows me strange fish and usually prefaces the opening of the cooler box with “I don’t think you’ll like this, but…”. He’s usually right – fish with many small bones are a waste of time. Today he thought I might like to try Cavalley, which I’ve never heard of. It is a white fish similar to Wahoo with no little bones. I thought I’d give it a bash, so we had it for supper tonight. I couldn’t really taste the fish through the garlic cheese sauce and spaghetti, but the texture was very nice.

Nick picked up a proof of the book he is getting published from Printech today. It looks really great in its draft form and will be better in the final copy with a thicker cover etc. It’s quite exciting to have taken it this far! He’s getting 500 copies printed, and we’re hoping to send some to South Africa for the various supporting churches to sell – all the proceeds are going to our rockfall relief fund.

After Nick was home and I could use the car again, I drove to the other side of the island to collect some parcels from my parents which they sent in Cindy’s crate – very convenient! I had a cup of tea with Cindy and caught up on the year before she needed to fetch the girls from school. I had requested just a few beads and findings – my parents lovingly managed to fill FOUR shoe boxes with raisins, biscuits, socks, beads, glue and tape for scrapping, chocolates, games, tea and clothing, and even their very own set of Mexican Train Dominoes (they couldn't purchase another set in the shops, as it's out of stock, so sacrificed their own - and have been restricted to Rummikub as an alternative!). It was that Christmas feeling all over again.

Fresh produce - planted and purchased

Today my voice was almost recovered but I am still taking it easy, so although we had almost regular school, I didn’t catch up on everything and asked Nick to do some of the reading. I also had to take a few breaks between the readings which I think was a bit exasperating for the boys – they would have preferred just to get school over with. I made a few pairs of earrings while I was ‘breaking’. During the afternoon I ironed the few things that I had before it piled up into the monster again, and vacuumed some bits of the house. The boys were given a lot of seeds some weeks ago by Louise here at Piccolo, and today was the day for planting them. The diggers have mostly finished digging up trenches and they are now being covered over again, so it was easy work just to poke holes in the dirt out back of our house and drop in the seeds. Caleb marked off the area with sticks and string, then he made a little sign which I laminated, advertising the buried treasures.

Claire came by at some point – Tom has hurt his arm and she had taken him to the hospital to establish whether it is actually broken or not. They still have no clarity as were advised to wait a few days and see how it is. Meanwhile he is wearing a sling. Anyway, Tom came over to play as soon as they were home, which suited Caleb and Aaron nicely as they didn’t need to then wait until after 3 when their friends usually get out of school. Claire brought Milly over to let her play with the boys a bit too – also wanting a bit of peace while she unpacked the groceries. She had managed to procure a lot of fresh fruit off the ship as she has put in an order with one of the small shops. This is a good idea as it means she doesn’t need to try time her town visits to co-ordinate with the mysterious and irregular unpacking times the shops have in order to get fresh produce. She said she had a bit too much and offered to let me have some off her, which I happily accepted – wow, she came back with a huge bag loaded with apples, pears, peaches, plums, nectarines, grapes, kumquats , tomatoes and even a pineapple. I have NEVER had this much fresh stuff all at one go in the nearly three and a half years we’ve been living here. What a treat!
At the deacons’ meeting last night the Ascension trip that Nick has been thinking about was discussed…Nick has been wanting to go there to do an outreach, preaching for several consecutive Sundays and doing mid-week bible studies. The funding has become available and the deacons gave the green light, so today we phoned shipping and made a provisional booking for him, departing St Helena 16th June and returning 16th July. How do I feel about him being away for a month? Well, it could be worse…it could have been six or seven weeks! I’m not ecstatic and am dreading the time but it will be enlightening to see what single mothers have to deal with. I’m so dependant on Nick for his company, friendship and parenting input, as well as the many cups of tea and coffee he makes me, that it will be quite horrible to be without him. However, as this is the Lord’s work I have to let him go willingly, not grudgingly, and not sulk about it! So that is on the calendar.

Day off for me

This morning I woke up with a severely croaky voice – possibly using it too much after having been sick. While I was having my quiet time, Aaron woke up and came through, also coughing and sounding very miserable. Having just stepped on a toy ship and cut his foot didn’t help to cheer him up any, so I lovingly suggested that we bunk school for the day and the boys could watch Wall-E instead. This, and a bowl of orange-flavoured muesli, soon got him up and bouncing. I was actually feeling quite well but really did as little talking as possible during the day. Thus it was that we skipped our first day of school this year due to illness.

Not Ruperts again?!

Nick has had the day off today – it’s a Lay Preachers’ Sunday, and he was able to completely bypass the morning services. Usually even when he’s not preaching he needs to go and do the music, but today his services were not required. We spent the morning at home, other than a quick walk to the shops for supplies for our BBQ, then headed off to Ruperts for the afternoon. First though, he had to stop at the church in town to show the parliamentary people around the damaged buildings – this has to do with the rock stabilisation project. While he was busy I drove around the island running errands – dropping off and collecting things. Eventually we were all ready to go – we had picked Scilla up as well, so she spent the afternoon with us which was great. I wasn’t particularly looking forward to our outing though – the location is my least favourite spot on the island, being rocky, unshady and ugly. Nick is very keen on ocean swimming at the moment though, so our plans had to include the sea. But when we arrived I nearly squealed with delight at the empty beach – there was one other car there and all the shade coverings / BBQ areas were available for us to choose from. This was a big factor in my equation and made the day for me. We set up camp under cover; Pam, Geoff and Maddy had followed us from town, and Rob, Claire and family and Sappho arrived shortly after we had the fire going. Phil and DT also popped on during the afternoon, so we were quite a good group.

The kids all had a great time playing on the rocks, exploring, and just being together – they are a good combination and all enjoy one another’s company.

Nick’s guitar pupil, Gareth, also came for a visit and he and Nick played guitar for a while. At about 3.30 I took Scilla home, and when I returned Nick was in the sea with Geoff and Maddy – always the die-hards. Since it had been drizzling off and on, and the skies were grey, I didn’t feel at all inclined to swim despite having actually worn swimming gear all day and feeling like I might brave the Atlantic Ocean. Maybe next time.

Run Around Nick

This morning we were in town quite early again as I wanted to be set up by 9 am. Poor Nick and the boys just have to tow the line sometimes. We offloaded the boys at the manse, from whence they ran down to Pam’s house; we packed up the car with my stuff, Nick dropped me off, and then he went back up to Pam, thereafter coming back to town to collect Caleb’s birthday present from the docks – a keyboard, ordered from the UK. We are pleased that it has arrived safely, but Nick took it straight back to the manse so that Caleb won’t see it, so we haven’t opened it at all. Then Nick and the boys went to Good News Club (I had special permission from the pastor to be absent), and after the club Nick was back at the docks, this time with Geoff to collect an electric piano for the League of Friends or Ladies’ Group or something. That had to be delivered to the Community Care Complex in Half Tree Hollow. Pam got lumped with the boys but I don’t think she minded. Meanwhile I had been having a great morning – I enjoy selling my wares because it means I get to chat with a lot of people – some that I know, others who are tourists off the RMS or yachts. I chatted with a couple who had approached the tourist office and were disappointed to find it closed…I asked if I could offer any assistance or info, and they said they were inquiring about the Baptist Church and looking for more info! They had seen our pamphlet on the RMS (we have a charity box with some info nicely laminated and put up on the ship), and wanted to get hold of a copy, being Baptists themselves and therefore more interested. I was pleased to be able to point her to the church’s blog, and also mentioned that Nick would be showing some of the Lords and MPs ‘and things’ from London who arrived yesterday, around the church tomorrow – and apparently this couple are of that party (turns out I was actually speaking to Lord Shutt’s wife). I guess I should have been more respectful of the dignitaries. Nick was ready to collect me at 12, so we packed up, dropped the stuff at the manse again, picked up the boys and came home for lunch.

Oh, my PotD project is going well – I have put together January. I think the whole thing is going to look great when done – I suggested to Nick that it would be an interesting coffee table book for us. He shot back that he would remember never to buy me a coffee table :-)

Old friends

This morning we were at the docks early to say hello to Cindy and the girls. It was great to see them again, and of course we were happy for all their sakes that the family is reunited.

We didn’t hang around too long after greeting them, instead coming back home to get on with school. Again, it was a light day so I coped fine, even though I was feeling worse than I had been yesterday with a runnier nose than before and watery eyes. I spent a lot of time in bed, in between other things. After lunch we headed back to town, as Nick and I both needed to renew our drivers’ licences; I had a bit of shopping to do and Nick had a prison service. He has started these up again on a Friday as he has someone who is interested, although yesterday he was pleased that two prisoners had attended. After doing my shopping, the boys and I meandered down to the prison where the car was parked, and Nick came out half a minute later – great timing. I spotted two fairy terns on a ledge outside the prison…it was until after they flew away that I saw their baby! Shame, quite an ugly little chap – a juvenile, caught between cute babyness and elegant adulthood, rather like a gangly teenager with spotty skin.

Snotty noses and potatoes

I’ve been wrapped up in a cold today…it started last night with a sore throat and strangely, dizzy spells. This morning I was so sick I didn’t think I’d be able to do school, but I know that whatever we miss I’ll have to catch up another time…so I pulled myself together, despite the principal kindly giving me the day off, and we tackled the work. Fortunately it was a mercifully light day, after several days of lots of heavy workloads. We had finished by about 11. Nick, meanwhile, had gone visiting – he’s not preaching this Sunday because it’s a Lay Preachers’ day, so he had free time. He did three Sandy Bay visits, and came home with about 5kg of freshly picked potatoes from Mervyn and Daphne.

Teutonic Hall

When our somewhat painful day of school was over, Nick asked if I’d like to do anything, as again he had a free afternoon, his guitar pupil being sick. We discussed a few options and finally settled on visiting Teutonic Hall. This old house has a sad history – if Nick got it right, it was a hotel of sorts in the 1960s, but white ant moved in and ate the house apart. It is now an overgrown ruin filled with rubbish and broken parts of itself – it was weird going into a ruin where the paint still looked relatively fresh on the walls. A tree is growing out of an upstairs window; its roots are in the mud holding the stone walls together. The sad part is that it was left to go to ruin – I guess that by the time the owners realized what was happening they felt it was already too late. It is completely beyond hope now. Some poking around outside revealed a rusted motorbike covered over with creepers, and even a garage with a car under a tarpaulin. How very strange.

Pressing on

It’s a sad but true reflection on my day when the PotD is one of a pile of ironing! I have been neglecting the ironing and so now it has become a monster. I haven’t yet finished it – but am happy to report that a large chunk of the wrinkled clothes are now flattened and hanging neatly in cupboards. My plan is to finish the rest this evening some time.

School was fine – much like yesterday, we jumped around between written work and reading. The boys say they like it like this. During the afternoon, apart from ironing, I did some more beading (and phoned to arrange a spot in front of the Cannister for Saturday), popped out to the Longwood store, and made a macaroni. When I put it that way, it really doesn’t sound like I’ve done much at all today. I guess I haven’t!

Another day threaded onto the string of life

Well, it’s really just been another one of those days where nothing particular happens. School was a bit of a jumble, but a nice one. Since Caleb is poorly, I decided to start with the nice stuff, so we did Ginger Pye first which they are enjoying. It’s a bit of a mystery novel again. Then we alternated with written work and read-alouds – history, writing, science, maths, and so it went on. In the end we got everything done although I let Caleb skip a few bits and pieces. There are certain parts that must get done every day though, like maths and spelling, as those seem to want to fill up 180 days which is our whole school year – any days skipped will mean catching up some other time. During the afternoon I settled into beading, producing 7 necklaces and 22 pairs of earrings, in reds, whites, silvers and blacks – all in preparation for a stall on Saturday, with a Valentine’s special - a “₤1 off the marked price” on necklaces and bracelets, which I hope will bring in a lot of sales.

It was a fabulous evening here in Longwood…almost clear skies, and beautiful outside at 6.45, when I was out taking photos at Nick’s urging. This is my photo of the day for today…it’s me on the golf-course!

PS

I forgot to mention about the rain…it was unnerving driving to town in the morning after heavy country-wide rains, to see so many rocks lying on the roads. Good rockfall conditions are heavy rains shortly followed by clear skies and hot sun, which is what happened today. But, no incidences.

On the other hand, Heart-Shaped Waterfall was spectacular – the water, usually trickling with the pressure of a hosepipe, was spewing out water by the hundreds of gallons.

Head o'Wain service

So, here’s how the day unfolded. We had a late start to the morning, having slept in until at least 7.30…it was raining and dull so no-one felt inclined to get up. Also, we didn’t get a good night’s sleep on our mattress – it always takes a night or two to get used to a new bed. Added to which that Caleb is teetering on the edge of laryngitis, and was coughing and squealing during the night. Anyway, back to the morning…we had only just got ourselves ready and sorted, and I had done the bulletins, when we left to go visit Pam and Geoff. We particularly wanted to see how Geoff and Maddy were doing, and are happy to report that they are much better. Their welts are still bandaged, but they are not in pain. We stayed for a cup of coffee, then came home in time to make our dazzling lunch of pork and apple burgers (the pork and apple patties are a new speciality made by the Star’s local butcher). Then Nick went over his prep, I folded bulletins, and we got ready for church. We left quite early as we needed to get a bit of petrol on the way. The service was good – Nick is still in his Acts series, and preached about why some believe and some don’t, without really getting into election. His emphasis on unbelief was pride and touchiness on the part of the Jews. After the service we had a fellowship time – we had invited people to bring a plate of eats and their own beverages, which worked out pretty well although we still took cups, saucers, tea, coffee, sugar, milk and two kettles just in case. Teddy came across some old photos at the police station of Jamestown about 100 years ago, which were interesting to look at – there was one showing our present schoolroom with five skylights! Before the rockfall it had two skylights…after repairs, it will only have one.

Watch out for the jellyfish

Our Saturdays are usually fairly predictable, so when unscheduled things pop up, it’s quite exciting! The first thing to happen was Nick’s and my prayer walk, and then Good News Club. Pictured below is our youngest member who is brought by one of the girls who regularly babysits…then all the girls have a turn with her, playing mommy.

After GNC we did something we should have done months ago – brought our double mattress over from the manse. We’ve been making do with the lumpy, sagging mattress here, but have finally had enough of waking up with aching backs and shoulders. ₤10 later, we have luxury and comfort again. In the afternoon, Pam and Maddy came over, but Tammy had to cancel her band practice with Nick, leaving him with time for a swim in the ocean again. He took Maddy and the boys, collected Geoff in town, and they all went to Ruperts. Pam and I happily scrapped in peace – and we got to eat all the chocolate-topped mint digestive slices ourselves.

At 5 pm Nick phoned from the hospital, and Pam very calmly took in the news that Geoff and Maddy had been stung by jellyfish. Poor guys – it was pretty painful at the time, apparently! Nick had a few small welts as well, and Caleb and Aaron were fine. John T came around for supper – we thought he should be eating more than snickers bars and crisps while he waits to be reunited with Cindy and the girls, who will arrive on Friday. We had a great evening together. Okay, the photo...ja, not the most flattering, but they were laughing at me making them sit so close together, so who can blame them for the result?