Frog Poop

This week passed by slower and more peacefully than most. With Jess, Keith and I all slightly sick with colds we laid low, drank lots of tea and lemon garlic ginger juice, and stayed close to home. Jess and I cooked up a storm and skippedmost of our weekly outings. Matt was still in the USA (right now he is probably in the air, or on a layover somewhereon his way back). So we had to go out a few times to make up for his absence.
We spent a lazy afternoon down by the teepee with Michelle and Rory, complete with tea, banana bread and guitar.I pulled weeds while Michelle told me stories and the kids drew on the chalkboard and "cooked" in the shed. Although we were slightly ill, knitting still happened at my friend Trish's house. She cooked up a lovely garlic soup with some parmesan bread while we knitted and Jess played with clay. Then we took a walk in her backyard which had this enchanted Japanese meets the tropics feeling with windy covered pathways culminating in a big trampoline!Needless to say, Jess no longer was contented with clay and knitting inside was no longer an option.
Monday night knowing it was silly, I took Jess out to have her first sleepover at Rory's. It's funny how night time feels so much different than day time. For most young children the day time might be spent with friends but night time is "supposed" to be spent at home with your family, with each activity leading up to bed time. So spending that sacredtime with a friend who you really only know by sunlight is like stolen time, free play, and definitely a time for giddiness!Giddy they were, at the dinner table, chasing each other around in their jammies, rolling all over the mattresses thrown on the floor and finally falling asleep. After a few intermittent wake-ups with Jess calling out forcefully, "Mom!" andRory talking himself loudly to sleep, Michelle and I were left to a glass of wine chatting away on the balcony looking outout at the stars shining brightly above the wide Nambucca River.
Tuesday began the lazy week. Jacinta and I had a late picnic with the "Baby." Yes, the calf that we used to feed came back for a visit. Keith said she had actually been hanging around the orchard all day, even spending some time lazing in the garden shed. Jess and I then found her and grazed with her, also feeding her hay now and then. Baby hasn't come back since that day so Jess asks to go and visit her more often.
With the cooler weather gardening is much easier now. The mosquitoes are still a problem but Jess is learning to smash them so they are less threatening (: "Got him!" she'll cheer, clapping her hands together and opening them for all to see. Though she hasnot yet caught one, I always blow "him" off of her hand so that she may continue the hunt. The shed is also a wonderful advantage. Jacinta will play in the shed where I know she is safe and I can see (or hear) her while I run down and do a quick job in the terraced garden.Every minute or so she'll call out, "Mom? Yeah?" taking over my usual response. I suppose she's heard my response so oftenthat she figures she'll just do it for me. I still answer, "Yeah?" and she just goes on chanting, "Mom? Yeah?" a few more times eventuallygoing back to her dirt and shovel.
I was able to do some soil work in the teepee garden, weeding and cleaning out all of the old beans and sunflowers. Actually,I did leave a few dead sunflower stalks as poles for the peas to climb. Always hesitating to disturb the worms, I did put a pitchfork through thesoil, then covered it all up in straw, hay, blood and bone adn chook poo. Later in the week, after the new moon appeared Jess and I planted some more spinach, lettuce and some unlabeled "surprise seeds." We also mulched about a third of the fruit trees. For me, it is a wonder that the original mulch we piled on just a few months ago has almost all disappeared and gone into the soil, or it has been scattered elsewhere by chickens digging for worms. This would not be amazing to practiced gardeners. I now must admit to an embarassing incident five years ago upon arrival to my new house in Ferndale. It was March and I began preparingthe soil for my first garden, or first attempt. I came across all of these little bits of wood covering the soil. Annoyed by their presence, I raked them all all up and put them into huge garbage bags which I then stored in the garage. Three years later, I learned about the wonders of mulch and though embarassed, I was happy to have two big bags waiting in the garage to be used.
On that note, wood, I mean, Keith and I began collecting wood for winter. Although I did not use the chainsaw, I toted the cut logs and branchesto the truck, broke up smaller branches, accidentally stepping in a few enormous cow pies en route. We happened to be cutting in the cow's favoritehangout. It is not yet cold enough for our wood-fired heater but it will come soon. Jess went to town with Mary whileKeith and I began the process, but she later joined us in the afternoon, keeping her distance (with constant attention)building little log cabins and towers and making tea out of sawdust. The saddest part about wood cutting is my pathetic skills with an axe. I try, I really do, but I just can't seem to hit the same spot twice. Perhaps every 20 swings, I'll get lucky. I listen to advice and keep trying. Some day I'll learn....
Speaking of learning, Jess, sweet little Jess. Just a minute ago, she said it, clearly this time. I thought I heard it before, denied it, and waited, yes, she said it. "Self," I want to do it myself. We all yearn for our babies to become more independent,but even when they are this young, you miss their dependence. Jess has learned so many words now, I'll just pass on the funny ones. She has picked up on a few lines that are usually said with insistence, and she is an insistent little girl, soshe loves these phrases and will some times rattle them all off at once, although the are contradictory. "Go away!Stop it! Come on!" She often says them in the right context but sometiems just likes the sound of them all. My heart warmedwhen this week when it finally rained on Friday Jess began reciting the little French poem I say to her when it rains. It starts with "Tip Tip Tip," describing the sounds of rain, lightening and thunder. She said "Tip Tip Tip," and I finished itfor her. Like my young French students in Michigan, she likes the hand motions and the fun sounds. I will begin speaking more French to her one of these days, I can't wait! I have no one to speak French to now and it is like a lost little spirit in methat needs some love.
Awe, pure awe is what our bodies inspire. Humans use their brains more than most creatures, whereas animals and little babies are controlled by their bodies. I have seen this in Jess more this week than I realized when she was a newborn. I suppose babies are more in touch with their needs, even toddlers, since their brains aren't telling them what they havelearned they need. This week Jess ate green vegetables like broccoli and spinach! Willingly! She drank loads of garliclemon and ginger juice, and tons of water. She still has a cough, but what a happy sick baby she is.
So Frog Poo, why the title? Have you ever seen frog poo??? Well I hadn't until last night in the rain we saw a tiny frog do a poo one fourth the size of its own body. He was sitting on a piece of wood on the veranda, and lucky Jess also got to see it.We've been hearing about it since, "Froggy...poooo!"
Lately we have been reading "Goodnight Moon," before bed. Last night the book was lost. Where is it? "I dahow" repliedJess (I don't know). We looked everywhere, and since Daddy was on our minds, Jess replied that, "Daddy...moon..soon..yeah."Daddy will bring us the moon, yes he will. Tomorrow he will be home. "Yay!!! Daddy!" 'Life is good. Hope you're all enjoying life too.