Lud You Moon
Good day dear friends and family! A lazy Sunday afternoon this is, compared to our action packed Saturday. Arriving home last night at 11pm after our first "Bush Dance," with Lindsey at my side and Jacinta in my arms chirpily saying "crib...ducky....blanket," I crashed into bed thinking, I will write my journal tomorrow and this bed looks so lovely..." Lindsey Currin is our dear friend and first visitor from America. She has known Matt since she was about 8 from summer camp and grew up in his youth group and became our good friend. She is now studying abroad in Sydney and has come for a weekend with us country bumpkins. Lindsey met Jess 4 days after her birth and is getting to know her again as a loud toddler. Matt left Saturday morning on an airplane and is now in San Francisco spending one day recuperating after his long flight and preparing to teach on Monday. Jess knows her daddy was flying "like a birdie" and is learning how to blow kisses up into the air. I'm not sure if she understands that he is no longer flying but I keep telling her when she asks, "Daddy? soon?"that he is going to visit her Aunty Lecia, Uncle Ben, baby Kai, Cindy, Jan, Diane, Christine, Lauren, Carrie, Otto and maybe even Iris. She then claps and yells out, "Yay!!" reassuring herself, "Daddy...soon."
Life on the land this week has been unbelievably exciting. I used to think life in the country would be like flatlands, less hills and valleys to get worked up about. Days pass by quickly because there is always something to accomplish, celebrate, or mourn. On Monday I finally bought a calf collar for the "Baby." Jacinta had taken a short nap on the way home from town in her stroller so she didn't need her afternoon nap which usually happens between 2:30 and 4:30. After lunch Keith, Jess and I excitedly and nervously trotted down to the calf's pen. While Jacinta stayed on the outside looking in, Keith "lassoed" the calf and after a short chase in a small pen, I held her close while we put the collar on, noting that, "hmmm...this collar seems a bit big....shall i put another hole in it?"Keith said, "Nah, she'll be ok." We tied her up near the compost and she munched all afternoon on the lovely grass she had been eyeing for a week. Jess made dinner with dirt while Keith and I worked around the fruit trees breaking up grass roots and loosening the soil. It was a lovely shady day blessed by cool breezes. Ahhh...we started to look forward to more days like this. The calf would encourage us to work because she needed looking after on her tether. But this day became much more exciting. By 5pm it was time to lead the calf back to her pen with a bucket of milk. She became flustered and pulled out of her collar, free to graze anywhere she chose. So off she went, finally, she could explore the dam and its surroundings while the humans fluttered around trying to figure out what to do.
How do you catch a calf on a densely vegetated 5 acre lot which is attached to a much bigger property which is her home, where she was born and saw her mother die? You don't. Well, we didn't and gave up trying after Matt and Keith followed her around the dam for a while and decided..."she needs to go home, and we should just guide her."So Matt, Jess, Keith and I followed her back to the herd and watched her rejoice in familiar grass. We waited to see if she would fit in and follow them, but she just grazed in beautiful places and in a small creek. We waved goodbye and went home for dinner. Jacinta remembers the "Baby" often and retells the story sounding very concerned and serious, "Baby! No!" Although we never said "No" to the baby, she perhaps would have liked to, just to keep her close by. She had learned how to feed the calf grass right out of her hand. One day we'll probably buy a calf to use as a milking cow.
It is now autumn, although some days are still very hot, you can feel the wind more often. The sun is not as strong and the vegetables don't wither away without watering every day. It gets dark around 7:30 now and the sun does not rise until after 6am. Mary and Keith who rise very early are looking forward to daylight savings, but Matt and I who "sleep in" until 7:15 or 7:30 enjoy the later sun rise because Jess allows us a few extra minutes of sleep. This week ended the 2nd quarter of the moon, with a full moon on Wednesday. This meant that if I was going to plant by the moon I needed to get my peas in the ground before the full moon. While the moon is still increasing it is advised that you plant fruiting annuals, meaning fruits and vegetables in which you want abundant seed, for example: beans, corn, peas, tomatoes. It is now too cold for three of those vegetables to be planted, so peas are what I wanted to plant. Jess and I got out Tuesday night and put in a few peas in the potato patch but darkness fell after about 12 peas and the mosquitoes were having a good feed on our sweet blood. So on Thursday, too late, I know, after Jess went to bed I put in a whole bunch of peas in the house garden by the light of the moon and the trusty headlamp. More than their bite, the buzzing of the mosquitoes in my ears bothered me. I am learning to put tea tree oil on mine and Jacinta's bites directly after they show up, rather than itching them until they bleed. They disappear within a day now. The other thing "on the land" worth mentioning is that our four chicks, originally thought to be two roosters and two hens have now become three roosters and one hen. Divozzo has also become a rooster, to our chagrin. I not only grieve his manhood because he'll have to be given away, but we now only have one female to give us cute little bantam eggs! Iris is well and truly a female. This is a good thing because in real life, she is a sweet little 2 year old girl in Ferndale. Otto, Jess's little Gemini boyfriend in Ferndale is also a real boy and a real rooster. But of the two chickens who who were named after unborn babies, Ben Jr. has become Kai (now a real boy born on March 5) and a rooster, and Divozzo Jr. (due in June) has also turned out to be a boy. I suppose we'll have to wait and see if the chick's gender determines this baby's!
Matt worked at the bank all week, commuting 45 minutes each way, coming home to prepare for his class, pack, make plans with friends, spend time with Jess and I, watch the Commonwealth Games and also, go cow catching. He gave up class prep by Thursday, enjoyed himself and then Friday night we all spent catching up with Lindsey. It has been so much fun sharing our new life here with Lindsey. Having someone from the past make that bridge to your present life is so wonderful. As Matt puts it (and I embellish it), this is the first person that met Jess in her first days of life and has also seen her talk and chase chickens. Matt was sad to leave when Lindsey arrived but she will return on spring break and help divide our bedroom into a child's room and a room for us! It will be so nice to be able to speak in a normal tone of voice at night and keep the lights on!
The sweet little girl for whom we whisper at night and keep the lights low is becoming a true two year old, although she has over two months to go. She says No very loud and often, has a strong opinion on what she wants and does not want and can walk down stairs unaided. She (and I) tried a fruit called a persimmon this weekend, and she is already saying "simmon." Being a fruit, she was instantly smitten with the "simmon." It is impossible to list all of her new words because it has just become that time in her development that she soaks up about 5 new words a day and I can't keep track. All I can do is be in awe and marvel and wonder, "When did she start saying that?" She has started clicking with her mouth, she picked this up from Keith and it is hilarious. She has also said her first couple of words with a true Aussie accent: tomato, "mahto" she says, and basil, pronounced, "baaaazil" with a short A.
Jacinta came along with me to choir this week and kept herself entertained for two hours while I sang. The rhythm and rich harmonies surely helped, as did the open arms and smiling faces of the other 9 choir members. She sat on her blanket and played with toys and drew pictures, looked at library books on the shelves (and did not draw in them!), and jumped into my arms a few times to listen to our voices and feel some love. She would run across the circle once in a while to visit one of my three friends in choir, but largely she did not demand much attention. I was impressed, but not amazed. One woman gave me perhaps the nicest compliment I have heard in a while. She said, " Your little girl seems like she's from the old school. She actually has an attention span." Being a Waldorf teacher and trying to prohibit the television from diminishing her imagination, her attention span, and her interest in real objects this is something I'm honored to hear. That night Jacinta said I love you for the first time. To me? No. To Matt? No. We stopped at the beach after choir to gaze at the full moon shimmering on the water. As we were leaving I said "goodnight moon" and laughing, told her to say, "I love you Moon" and she did, "Lud you Moon." Now she says it regularly to the moon and will respond when Matt or I say "I love you," saying "Lud You." She also says "cuddle" now and will give good cuddles and tell you what she is doing, "cuddoo."
So I said we had gone to a "Bush Dance." It is like a barn dance and this one was held in a small country town called Valla about 20 minutes from home at the"hall." Keith has since explained that these "halls" were usually far out of town and used for meetings, dances and other things. I wondered why it was so distant from everything. Anyway, Lindsey, Jess, Michelle, Rory and I arrived just when night fell, amazed to see how many people were there. There were lawn chairs and blankets set up outside, coolers set up packed with beverages, mostly alcoholic. The "Sunburnt Celts" were playing Irish Aussie music, complete with fiddle, banjo and Irish whistle and one of them was calling out dances. People of all ages were dancing, perhaps it would be like line dancing, babies in strollers sleeping, children running around outside or dancing with their parents, and many adults sitting outside drinking and chatting. To make a long story short, we had a great time, learned some new dances, loved the music, and the kids had a good frolic. Jacinta wanted to dance constantly, so my arms hurt today. Poor Lindsey danced almost every dance having to swap being either Michelle or my partner while the other hung back with Rory (too heavy to be toted around in arms while do-si-do-ing), but had a good time doing it. This was after a long day out at the airport, the Bellingen markets, swimming in the ocean and the river. After the dance in the car Jess retold the story of her mom stepping in cow poo in the field on the way in, "Cow poo! Mommy! Yuuuck!" probably ten times, retold the story of Matt flying, "Daddy...fly fly fly!" about ten times and then fell asleep. Needless to say, we all slept well. We even had some energy left today to initiate Lindsey land work, mulching and planting trees. Yes, life has been exciting this week and I am so grateful. This week will be slower with Matt and Lindsey gone but we will surely find some new adventures. Hope you are all well and finding peace and joy in life's ups and downs.
ps...I don't have anyone's email addresses while Matt is in America, he has the computer. So if you want an email, please send me your address. Thanks guys!
Love, Shana
Life on the land this week has been unbelievably exciting. I used to think life in the country would be like flatlands, less hills and valleys to get worked up about. Days pass by quickly because there is always something to accomplish, celebrate, or mourn. On Monday I finally bought a calf collar for the "Baby." Jacinta had taken a short nap on the way home from town in her stroller so she didn't need her afternoon nap which usually happens between 2:30 and 4:30. After lunch Keith, Jess and I excitedly and nervously trotted down to the calf's pen. While Jacinta stayed on the outside looking in, Keith "lassoed" the calf and after a short chase in a small pen, I held her close while we put the collar on, noting that, "hmmm...this collar seems a bit big....shall i put another hole in it?"Keith said, "Nah, she'll be ok." We tied her up near the compost and she munched all afternoon on the lovely grass she had been eyeing for a week. Jess made dinner with dirt while Keith and I worked around the fruit trees breaking up grass roots and loosening the soil. It was a lovely shady day blessed by cool breezes. Ahhh...we started to look forward to more days like this. The calf would encourage us to work because she needed looking after on her tether. But this day became much more exciting. By 5pm it was time to lead the calf back to her pen with a bucket of milk. She became flustered and pulled out of her collar, free to graze anywhere she chose. So off she went, finally, she could explore the dam and its surroundings while the humans fluttered around trying to figure out what to do.
How do you catch a calf on a densely vegetated 5 acre lot which is attached to a much bigger property which is her home, where she was born and saw her mother die? You don't. Well, we didn't and gave up trying after Matt and Keith followed her around the dam for a while and decided..."she needs to go home, and we should just guide her."So Matt, Jess, Keith and I followed her back to the herd and watched her rejoice in familiar grass. We waited to see if she would fit in and follow them, but she just grazed in beautiful places and in a small creek. We waved goodbye and went home for dinner. Jacinta remembers the "Baby" often and retells the story sounding very concerned and serious, "Baby! No!" Although we never said "No" to the baby, she perhaps would have liked to, just to keep her close by. She had learned how to feed the calf grass right out of her hand. One day we'll probably buy a calf to use as a milking cow.
It is now autumn, although some days are still very hot, you can feel the wind more often. The sun is not as strong and the vegetables don't wither away without watering every day. It gets dark around 7:30 now and the sun does not rise until after 6am. Mary and Keith who rise very early are looking forward to daylight savings, but Matt and I who "sleep in" until 7:15 or 7:30 enjoy the later sun rise because Jess allows us a few extra minutes of sleep. This week ended the 2nd quarter of the moon, with a full moon on Wednesday. This meant that if I was going to plant by the moon I needed to get my peas in the ground before the full moon. While the moon is still increasing it is advised that you plant fruiting annuals, meaning fruits and vegetables in which you want abundant seed, for example: beans, corn, peas, tomatoes. It is now too cold for three of those vegetables to be planted, so peas are what I wanted to plant. Jess and I got out Tuesday night and put in a few peas in the potato patch but darkness fell after about 12 peas and the mosquitoes were having a good feed on our sweet blood. So on Thursday, too late, I know, after Jess went to bed I put in a whole bunch of peas in the house garden by the light of the moon and the trusty headlamp. More than their bite, the buzzing of the mosquitoes in my ears bothered me. I am learning to put tea tree oil on mine and Jacinta's bites directly after they show up, rather than itching them until they bleed. They disappear within a day now. The other thing "on the land" worth mentioning is that our four chicks, originally thought to be two roosters and two hens have now become three roosters and one hen. Divozzo has also become a rooster, to our chagrin. I not only grieve his manhood because he'll have to be given away, but we now only have one female to give us cute little bantam eggs! Iris is well and truly a female. This is a good thing because in real life, she is a sweet little 2 year old girl in Ferndale. Otto, Jess's little Gemini boyfriend in Ferndale is also a real boy and a real rooster. But of the two chickens who who were named after unborn babies, Ben Jr. has become Kai (now a real boy born on March 5) and a rooster, and Divozzo Jr. (due in June) has also turned out to be a boy. I suppose we'll have to wait and see if the chick's gender determines this baby's!
Matt worked at the bank all week, commuting 45 minutes each way, coming home to prepare for his class, pack, make plans with friends, spend time with Jess and I, watch the Commonwealth Games and also, go cow catching. He gave up class prep by Thursday, enjoyed himself and then Friday night we all spent catching up with Lindsey. It has been so much fun sharing our new life here with Lindsey. Having someone from the past make that bridge to your present life is so wonderful. As Matt puts it (and I embellish it), this is the first person that met Jess in her first days of life and has also seen her talk and chase chickens. Matt was sad to leave when Lindsey arrived but she will return on spring break and help divide our bedroom into a child's room and a room for us! It will be so nice to be able to speak in a normal tone of voice at night and keep the lights on!
The sweet little girl for whom we whisper at night and keep the lights low is becoming a true two year old, although she has over two months to go. She says No very loud and often, has a strong opinion on what she wants and does not want and can walk down stairs unaided. She (and I) tried a fruit called a persimmon this weekend, and she is already saying "simmon." Being a fruit, she was instantly smitten with the "simmon." It is impossible to list all of her new words because it has just become that time in her development that she soaks up about 5 new words a day and I can't keep track. All I can do is be in awe and marvel and wonder, "When did she start saying that?" She has started clicking with her mouth, she picked this up from Keith and it is hilarious. She has also said her first couple of words with a true Aussie accent: tomato, "mahto" she says, and basil, pronounced, "baaaazil" with a short A.
Jacinta came along with me to choir this week and kept herself entertained for two hours while I sang. The rhythm and rich harmonies surely helped, as did the open arms and smiling faces of the other 9 choir members. She sat on her blanket and played with toys and drew pictures, looked at library books on the shelves (and did not draw in them!), and jumped into my arms a few times to listen to our voices and feel some love. She would run across the circle once in a while to visit one of my three friends in choir, but largely she did not demand much attention. I was impressed, but not amazed. One woman gave me perhaps the nicest compliment I have heard in a while. She said, " Your little girl seems like she's from the old school. She actually has an attention span." Being a Waldorf teacher and trying to prohibit the television from diminishing her imagination, her attention span, and her interest in real objects this is something I'm honored to hear. That night Jacinta said I love you for the first time. To me? No. To Matt? No. We stopped at the beach after choir to gaze at the full moon shimmering on the water. As we were leaving I said "goodnight moon" and laughing, told her to say, "I love you Moon" and she did, "Lud you Moon." Now she says it regularly to the moon and will respond when Matt or I say "I love you," saying "Lud You." She also says "cuddle" now and will give good cuddles and tell you what she is doing, "cuddoo."
So I said we had gone to a "Bush Dance." It is like a barn dance and this one was held in a small country town called Valla about 20 minutes from home at the"hall." Keith has since explained that these "halls" were usually far out of town and used for meetings, dances and other things. I wondered why it was so distant from everything. Anyway, Lindsey, Jess, Michelle, Rory and I arrived just when night fell, amazed to see how many people were there. There were lawn chairs and blankets set up outside, coolers set up packed with beverages, mostly alcoholic. The "Sunburnt Celts" were playing Irish Aussie music, complete with fiddle, banjo and Irish whistle and one of them was calling out dances. People of all ages were dancing, perhaps it would be like line dancing, babies in strollers sleeping, children running around outside or dancing with their parents, and many adults sitting outside drinking and chatting. To make a long story short, we had a great time, learned some new dances, loved the music, and the kids had a good frolic. Jacinta wanted to dance constantly, so my arms hurt today. Poor Lindsey danced almost every dance having to swap being either Michelle or my partner while the other hung back with Rory (too heavy to be toted around in arms while do-si-do-ing), but had a good time doing it. This was after a long day out at the airport, the Bellingen markets, swimming in the ocean and the river. After the dance in the car Jess retold the story of her mom stepping in cow poo in the field on the way in, "Cow poo! Mommy! Yuuuck!" probably ten times, retold the story of Matt flying, "Daddy...fly fly fly!" about ten times and then fell asleep. Needless to say, we all slept well. We even had some energy left today to initiate Lindsey land work, mulching and planting trees. Yes, life has been exciting this week and I am so grateful. This week will be slower with Matt and Lindsey gone but we will surely find some new adventures. Hope you are all well and finding peace and joy in life's ups and downs.
ps...I don't have anyone's email addresses while Matt is in America, he has the computer. So if you want an email, please send me your address. Thanks guys!
Love, Shana
posted by Matt & Shana & Jacinta & Genevieve Henry at
12:12 AM
1 Comments:
Hey! I just wanted to make sure y'all are okay. I don't remember where u are living in Australia, but I saw that there was a big cyclone there, so I'm just checking.I heart u all! :D
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