On to Enjoy Christmas!

I'm excited to enjoy the real meaning of Christmas tomorrow, and to savor it. I know it's crazy to say that since we are on the eve of a mad dash to rip everything open under the Christmas tree, but it's true.

This "season" has been filled (too filled) with Christmas festivities. There was something every afternoon at Lu's school to attend the last week before break--thank goodness it was only a 4 day week. We were on the receiving end of being handed so many Christmas cards which I am grateful for, but at the moment added to the busyness as I was trying to collect my children or have conversations. The kids were doing Christmas cards for all their classmates, something not accomplished fully. We had multiple engagements at church such as leading worship, taking care of the kids, or singing/soloing in the Christmas carol service. Then other's open houses. The list goes on and on--all good things of course but now I am longing for a slower pace. We've baked so much the last couple days and had friends over because my back aches from combining work with the huge expansion that my belly has also undergone lately.

I'd like to pause and remember all the ways in which it seems the kids have grown in the last couple months also, but I'm keeping it short so I can go to bed. However, Jesse has said something recently that I've been enjoying recalling every day recently. He says that Luci and he are going to get married and move across the street from us so we can visit each other when they grow up. They both love the idea of being together when they are older and love the sentiment that he wants to be so close to us. He in fact mentioned it again today and pointed to unattractive tower block that is the view out our front window. So sweet.

Got to advance in watching Lost. D is 1 1/2 episodes ahead and we are both very impatient when we are not on the same episode.

Merry Christmas to you all!!!!!!!!!!!!

Saturday, Dec. 13th!

In so many ways, life is not what is used to be. I'll leave it at that because a list of differences to our life in SF could go on and on. By and large the changes are overwhelming good, mostly encapsulated by our really good and more balanced home life here. However, at this moment I am lamenting the fact that I can't go to my closet (because they, first of all, don't exist as much here and they would be called cupboards) and pull out another kid's bubble bath, tube of toothpaste, facewash, bar of soap, and the list keeps going. We are out of so much stuff. I am down to using the dried up toothpaste, created by my children's indiscretions, that remains around the tip of the tube--my thumb can press out no more. I could have shopped a bit in the past few days but I have been sick and prioritized many other things such as slowing down. I hate to say this but sometimes I miss the impact that Costco had upon my life--the endless back up plan of a multi-pack or ginormous serving of something. But alas there is no space for that and I have to admit, we are more environmental because of it. It's not a car that goes to the shops here for us, it's legs or a bike.

Perhaps we have now located the camera cord but I will forgo that for now (I am tired) and get on with dispensing the details of our day.

You guessed it! Chocolate chip pancakes for starters. Then the kids worked on Christmas cards which is quite a huge deal here. They are given lists of their classmates and pretty much expected to bring in cards cuz that's what everyone does. We made some for Luci out of construction paper scraps because she had started off crying because of the inequity of J having some pre-fab and her having none. Well then Jesse was in awe of what we had made and wanted to get in on our making action.

But that's for another day with him because Darren and Jesse then worked on producing a cd of songs the kids had recorded, complete with me scolding them in the background for one movement. Jesse could not have been more into it (read impatient at some points) but overwhelmingly well-behaved and contributing to all of it. He is in at an interesting stage at this point. He is totally into joking. He doesn't say "I joked you" so much anymore but everything is part joke--like when you tell him he can't have anymore bananas, he says (with a twinkle in his eye and reaching hand) "okay mummy, I'll have another banana. Cute, but driving me crazy a lot because he doesn't actually get to the disobedience part but I have to repeat my statement to assure him I will not tolerate disobedience. He also does some good jokes and is lots of fun. But he also has carried the cutting board with bread and jagged knife next to it into the lounge to say "Okay, anyone want some bread" I am trying to teach him that it is not a joke if it involves disobedience or danger. But I love that he loves to be goofy. I just get tired of talking and sometimes I'd rather channel his energy (and mine) into some sort of tickle fight or wrestling..

Have a cough that involves wheezing sounds so I'm going to bed and hoping I have some scraps of a voice to sing in church tomorrow.

The Last couple Days

So to be honest, i don't know when I will post some pictures. So glad that we got our camera repaired and now we can take pictures after quite a hiatus, but now we can't find the cord. We'll work on that.

Luci and I have been sick with what i presume to be the same cold for the last couple of days. I've had 2 weekdays home with her which has been a nice break from the normal routine. On Monday her school actually wasn't in session because of Eid. She was a little bit under the weather but we managed to put dinner in the crockpot together (which Luci at this point loves more than making cookies because there are so many vegetables to dump in), bake cookies with dough Darren had put together the night before, and go visit our neighbors upstairs which had been a long time in coming since I hadn't seen them in a while. It was mostly a visit with the men of the family as the girls were upstairs getting dolled up in their Eid outfits. Luci loved the sparkly things all over their saris.

Today was an intense meeting at our place, and being that I was sick, I was wiped out by the end but then picking up Jesse from school was the next thing on the agenda, then an unexpected yet wonderful visit from my friend Noel and her son, Lu's classmate Rowan, who Luci calls Rowanny Bobowanny. Then we had to put together food for our community group even though I had decided that I was not going. And then the kid's babysitter showed up and I had a visit with her for a bit before she took off since I didn't need her, given my change of plans. Right now i am pooped, or knackered as they say here, and ready to slide into my bed with our new addiction Lost.

Rut

For 3 months I have been in a strange rut. I don't really enjoy any books I'm reading--I can think of a lot that I have started but none that I have finished. The newspaper even leaves me uninspired and usually I find some little interesting nook and cranky of the newspaper that is just so interesting whether it be about GM foods, a recipe, something weird about the local area. However, I haven't found much that inspires or stimulates me in a long time. First I thought it was the nature of the times--you know, all this yabber and blabber about the recession but now there are other topics in the newspaper. I feel I've also had a creative rut. For instance, it's only the other day that I have returned to blogging and I haven't even gotten out my sewing machine to do basic mending (which always generates a feeling of accomplishment), and cooking (I do it) but it also is so boring and uninspiring.

Now--I am not depressed. In fact, if there's anything I don't find humdrum, it's my ordinary routine of a few meetings, taking the kids to school and home, helping with singing at church...........Okay, I hate grocery shopping so much these past few months that I actually have to do it more often since I go on my bike and load up quickly with the necessities that arise frequently.

I don't know....does anyone else experience this? The most exciting art forms I've engaged in of late is knitting a scarf (all one stitch, and small), finally making one bowl of hummus, and looking forward to "Lost", something that D and I have recently discovered--we are in season one. I haven't made yoghurt (I have to spell it this way now) in a bazillion years. What is up? On the other hand, I am more ahead with my Christmas shopping than ever.......Hmmm, that is definitely weird.

Just Over the Week-end

It is now Monday and I have enjoyed a couple of Mondays without farmwork. It has given me a chance to have a cup of tea with a friend or stroll through Watney Market to see if anything is at the charity shop. It also has given me the opportunity to get a little more ahead on housework which, of course, I am sick of doing but enjoy the benefits of. I knew I would quit the farm when my stomach got unbearably big and I am not there yet but I don't think my tetanus is current so I felt I should stop now.

Our week-end had us successfully in the house all day. I say "successfully" because we realized (and the kids especially) that mobilizing for 6 out of 7 days a week (between school and church) gets old and we need the refreshment of staying in our pjs for however long we want to on Saturdays. It is actually a goal our ours to only go out for a newspaper of to walk Peanut. I did get dressed quite early on Saturday though as Rory, Anna, and a friend of theirs came over for pancakes. It was quite a nice day and I enjoyed watching J working very hard on writing Christmas cards for lots of friends. We didn't even get to the usual mom/Jesse crossword puzzle working.

Sunday was Thanksgiving for us here as we got to go to a friend's house and have Thanksgiving dinner with a bunch of Brits and Americans. D did good making the green bean casserole, especially considering there is no French's onion topper though there is something a bit similar in the supermarkets. I made the stuffing from the box which is all I could handle yesterday after a morning of J not listening and getting them both to church. Our friends' house was so crowded with people, I was wondering how long it would last for us but everything got real neat and orderly when we sat down to eat (and quiet!) and it was awesome and delicious! Our kids were so well behaved. Jesse brought his homemade game along and made friends with the adults that way and Luci went around telling the adults to stop talking so that she could tune into the music and therefore dance.

And I almost forgot to mention that I went to a little presentation done by years 1 and 3 students at J's school on Friday. They handed out flyers for it the day before and, boy, am I glad I went. Jesse was star of the day in his class (given to the quietest usually every day) so he looked really cute on stage with a big yellow star pinned on him. He also delivered his line really well and then was awarded a special certificate from the author that had been working to put on this presentation with the kids. I haven't yet seen the certificate actually but I did see the 10 pound book voucher (gift card) as they say here. He was like, "But I already have a library card." So I had to explain that he would be able to pick out his very own to own.

Pictures to come, promise?

The Goose

For a while I've been wondering how to sort out Luci's hair problems--that it's ratty and that she never wants me to brush it and complains as if I'm ripping her hair out by individual strands. Well, on our trip to the U.S. I overheard my sis-in-law Sarah say that she tries to sit her daughter down everyday in her chair and do her hair while Addie, her daughter, looks at a book. I decided, hmmm......, I'll try this. Luckily we have a perfect pink camping chair that folds up under our couch which can be conveniently pulled out each day. We also, after our trip to the States, have a big container of bows and hair ditties that she can get into and choose from. She delights in this whole ritual as do I. The new behavior (as in not screaming) is so endearing. However, she tends to be over the top with her style. She dons loads of necklaces and bangles quite often and then wants to wear about 5 bows that don't really coordinate and a couple hair elastics. So I usually try to talk her into reducing it to about 2 bows and 2 hair elastics.

This goes even further. We were in our favorite supermarket a month ago when Lu asked me if sometime I could paint her eyelids. (I don't hardly wear make-up and so I wondered where it was coming from but she had noticed the cashier's blue shadow.) In J's school yard, I saw her commenting, to some lady, that her shoes were very pretty--They happen to be extremely spiky black patent leather heels on a woman in a micro mini with long legs. Then we were walking by a sketchy (read ladies of the night) type shop that had lacy items and really short tu-tus on the mannequins in the window. She said what she commonly says "Mommy can you get me one of those pretty things sometime?" Sometimes this girl wants to be under the tutelage of Tammy Faye I think. I often think of getting my ears pierced (cuz they are still not and sometimes I feel I need some sparkle especially as I age) and I think of how fun it would be because Luci would be so enamored with the bling in my ears. I just really don't want her to want to get her ears pierced right now.

Still Luci is developing quite cutely I think. Her teachers have definitely noticed that her hair is done more often and the head teacher commented that Luci was looking quite grown up lately. And, if I do say so myself, she is so cute as she cruises along on her pink scooter in her dresses (which are everyday attire, I really can't get her to wear pants) and her ribboned hair. She still does not have much of it but it is getting longer and we make the most of it. I really love getting her dressed everyday (i guess I am enjoying having a girl) and I keep thinking it is good that she is not wearing a uniform at this stage or her freedom of expression would be suppressed.

This reminds me to get my camera fixed soon so I can post some pictures.

Just a Few Words

You've probably guessed it by now, but we are back in London, having wound up our trip with a week at my parents in MA. It was fabulous for the kids to go to the beach, to see good friends, to see Uncle Ken (as in my brother Ken) and Aunt Sarah and celebrate the coming (as in future arrival at the end of September) of Jesse and Luci's Ethiopian cousins Fitsum and Melkamu. We cannot be more excited that they will be in K and S's family, and therefore ours.

I was pleased to come home to London and find that the boys had done us well by staying in our place--they had taken good care of Pea, who nevertheless was suffering withdrawal from being climbed on and having her hair pulled at regularly, I had a new yard--that is grass--thanks to Rory. I also had a whole bunch of green tomatoes on the vine--which I still have unfortunately. And our maisonette was impressively clean and welcoming. I feared I would have a bit of a spatial adjustment in our flat as we had stayed in quite spacious American arrangements on our holiday but our flat did not even look as small as I imagined.

Now, our bedroom. It has become smaller than I have ever imagined. I can't bear to deal with the organization of it or dressing in the small space alloted for this anymore and so I am looking forward to moving into our bigger bedroom as soon as D moves into his new office! I have so many organizational (and I don't mean IC) hopes pinned on this moved--it really is exciting. Just to think of simple dressing and to be able to have more than one ambulatory person in the room at once!

The kids have started school. The new changes regarding this school year is that Luci goes full-time until 3 (not sure I like this, but she does thus far) and that Jesse wears a white button-up shirt and tie with a v-neck sweater and ladies, he is so handsome. He thinks it is so cool that he gets to change for P.E. and I think that it is hilarious how obvious it is that they have had P.E. on a certain day because the children emerge with shoes on the wrong feet, dresses on backwards, other people's ties, and sweatshirts on tops of shirts and ties instead of the designated v-neck sweater. The productivity one can have as a parent during these days is amazing and it is great to not have to bolt from IC meetings now. However, it is a marathon twice a day to either drop off both or pick up at different schools, both close, but on foot. thankfully the kids have scooters but today I was hauling Luci's enormous artwork, her jacket, Peanut, and Jesse's scooter from Lu's school to J's, and trying to keep an eye on her and her scootering. This, I have decided is not my cup of tea. But still well worth it I think.

Suprise! to anyone who may be surprised but I am now 11 weeks pregnant with our 3rd and feeling a bit better. Food has often been a turn-off except for the 3 slices of buttery toast I had in the middle of the night last night. Some of you may wonder how we got to 3 and that is just another story....The kids are very excited--Jesse asked me if I could just put a pacifier in my mouth, chew it, and swallow it so that the baby could have it and Luci has volunteered to hold it at night, (It has already bothered me that I now see too much of that particular 3 year old at night lately.) For a while they would ask me if they could tell people our baby secret, usually in front of those people.

I am pooped from my two marathons and my 1 am visitor Luci, and my subsequent 3 pieces of toast that had to be consumed and cleaning the never clean kitchen and being a chatterbox today due to 2 cups of tea and one 1/2 cup of coffee, that I now must go to bed.

After the Wedding!

So my kids are watching gobs of TV here in Southern Cal while I finally get to compute.

The "Wedding" has been the InnerChange conference that we went to as a family. Darren planned it with another person but it was intense and so we referred to it as the "wedding" and couldn't wait for it to pass--the planning that is, the conference was GREAT! There was constant amazing childcare for the kids so much so that it was like a kid's camp for them and I could go to almost all the meetings which were really good with great speakers, some from interesting monastic orders. Anyways, there were a lot of late night phone calls D was doing in England to hammer down the details of this conference and I was so done with it and now we ARE done with it!

Prior to it though, I and the kids had a great family time in SF (D had meetings) seeing their friends, and some of mine, and really appreciating it. It was amazing to see how there was no arguing amongst my two plus their friend Bree for 3 days while we stayed with them. What a difference a year can make at this stage!

We are now in southern Cal with Darren's parents and are enjoying seeing everyone INCLUDING especially the cousins. And we are going in the pool everyday which assures my tan and disgusting hair and which also takes care of the bathing for the day, so to speak. It is a great time.

However, I miss my tea constancy desperately for it is not here--talk is all about coffee...........

Our kids are over their longing for the return of their car as they easily get carsick and seem to have no tolerance for even 30 minute drives. On the way to their Aunt Sarah's yesterday ( a 30 minute drive), J asked when we were gonna be there as we pulled out of the driveway. And the other thing is that J thinks that we are going too fast when we drive since he doesn't have much of a concept for driving and how fast cars go.

The Places We've Been

I've often thought a lot about what I would blog about when I get to blogging but I really haven't gotten to blogging and now can barely think of how to relay to everyone what's been going on.

Hard to believe it is just a couple of weeks 'til school holiday and that soon after that we will be in the States for 31 days!!!! I thought to myself that all my hard work (most of the work is in my mind) on my tomato plants will result in my friends Joel and Rory being around for the first productions, or the plants deaths.

Jesse is ever engaged with idea of being in Year 1. He and his class have already eaten lunch with the Year 1 students to see how it works and they have had play time out on the big kids playground as well. he is excited--I am not excited that the school day will start at 8:55 and go until 3:45. I think that is ridiculous and am considering homeschooling for a moment--oh wait, that moment is gone! But seriously.

The bunk bed (in parts) has been delivered to our house. It is still in pieces but we are in the process of getting it together. The first step was passing the frame of Luci's bed and the mattress of Jesse (the survivors) on to my friend for her little boy. Maybe tomorrow, we will find a taker on the pavement for the other seriously worn bed. It was a bit sad to get rid of them since they were so cute and Jesse has spent so much time in his. It was interesting how the kids wanted a bunk bed so badly but they hadn't contemplated, until a bit ago, that that would require getting rid of the other beds. Well, I think we've managed to get through this better than I had predicted a couple of days ago.

Luci has been keeping Jesse awake until too late at night and now after having a sleep deficit for a few nights, he has been so cranky. I finally put Luci in our guest room in her old bed even though our friend Rory, who is our guest, could be coming home anytime soon. But maybe she will be able to understand what I've been saying (threatening) about her not being able to share a room with J if she can't leave him alone to get some sleep in the evenings.

Luci has delighted me lately and made me laugh. She'll wrap her arms around my head and say, "Oh my cute beautiful wife! I love you so much, my cute wife." She really been doting on my lately.

Today, Luci and I went on my bike to the nearby leisure center to go into the pool with my friends. It is quite affordable but today and for a few days following, it is free. They have this amazing kid's pool that Luci enjoyed walking around in for a while and it was great to see the facilities because in my ideal world in my head I've been planning to be able to go for a decent run and then do a few laps (I am a really weak swimmer and would like to improve) and then run home, or maybe I could bike home and have myself a mini triathalon? This is quite ambitious since I haven't run in a long time. ( I saw my neighbor Jay this morning outside, then I saw him at the pool, then I passed him on my bike going home from the pool, and then I walked passed him when I was picking up Jesse from school. I love this relatively small community.)

I put a few pictures on my wall today and it makes me happy. Alas, I am off to bed.

Darren saw the queen on Thursday when he was in Windsor for his day off. He said they were basically within 5 feet of each other, of course with a car window in between and that as she was approaching people were discussing what she might be wearing. Oh the flurry of the queen! It was quite entertaining when, after he had told us of his brush with royalty, the kids were intent on making things and wrapping them for us to give to the king and queen. I'm glad that they have now forgotten of it. I can't imagine how I might have to tell them that the queen is not interested in seeing them or personally corresponding by post.

I was piddling around the house the other day when I stumbled upon the kids in the yard slinging mud against the back fence. I got some hilarious video footage of them singing and slinging. I can thoroughly enjoy this kind of playfulness as long as it's not every day and doesn't involve numerous outfit changes. It was bringing all of us such joy.

Luci still can't pronounce a lot of her words correctly--I love that she says lelling for yelling and that yesterday she paused, and smiling, said "what is that word?"

I hadn't gotten around to fully unpacking my luggage from SF til tonight. That was after Darren came down to report that Jesse had sleepily walked to the bathroom but in his stupor sat down on the luggage that was partially open. Luckily the luggage will fare quite well as I had enough clothes in their to absorb most of the liquid.

Being home in London has been great. The weather has sustained most of its wonderfulness. I have found a downside to it being light until 10 though--I think it's 7:30 when it's really 9:30 and then I get myself to bed way too late every night. To be honest, I am having a terrible time getting up in the morning.

Too ready for bed right now to fix the layout of this blog but this is a description of each picture: 1) Luci sleeping on couch with favorite doll (right now) that she calls Mango--this is significant because she loves everything mango--lassis, ice cream, etc. It's so perfect. 2) Luci with her school friend Rowan laying in front of her house. As a sidenote, Luci has no problem claiming instantaneous fatigue and laying down on the city sidewalks. 3) Jesse using a stick he found, and yarn, to make first a cross and then a bow and arrow. He's just churning out the art these days.

Resettling

D and I had a fabulous time in San Francisco. I saw lots of friends and was inspired to be around IC's summer interns as well. I'll have to give an update on how my artisan bread turns out--turns out 2 of my friends I saw are into this aritisan bread in 5 minutes a day thing! The kids did fine, if not great here, as well as Jennifer my wonderful friend who was willing to come and stay with the kids. I will have to post some pictures from before l left when I had some Jennifer time but who has time for that now? Still sharing computer with D. I almost forgot to say that we got to see the Prince family in So. California before we left. So great getting to hang with my nieces and nephews, without my kids actually, to get to know them. I now feel especially bonded to Gavin and Ben, the next oldest little people after Jesse. I won't mention to J what a good time I had with them though. And what a workout I had in the pool considering my body is not fit for exercise in the water at all.

Upon returning, we bestowed new toothbrushes (not that we can't buy them here) upon our kids and after a bit of inner working out, Luci was able to release the pink one that Jesse wanted into his hands so to speak. It hadn't been singled out for her though we knew what she would want but she was able to accept Jesse having it. What a big move for a girl who says she wants pink hair, and said today she wished the whole world was pink.

Yesterday night, the kids and I watered the tomato plants (will they survive?) and then stirred the compost and added dry stuff to that. I found that after the initial opening of the composter, I enjoyed the gradual disappearance of the ever present fruit flies. And Jesse enjoyed looking in there and dropping stuff in. Luci looked especially cute in her wellies and underpants in the garden. When I went in the kitchen, I realized that virtually all of the fruit flies from the composter had taken up residence in my kitchen. And we are still having fun with them today. Anyone know how to reduce the amount of fruit flies in my composter?

Bedtime is Coming!

It is so peaceful here....It is now after me painting some more walls yellow (such a beautiful cheerful success, thanks for your advice Deanna), , after cleaning up for my friend Jennifer who was coming, after she arrived, after we went on a date with Lu and Pea to Mudchute farm, after Lu got gently knocked over by a cow (she's fine and positive), after dessert at the cafe there that was way too heavy all around on the cream, after fabulous pasta that D made with our box's leeks and kale, after dishes, after a 25 minute run with Pea. And here I sit loving the relatively cleaned-up flat looking at my tomato plants and thinking of bed with the Saturday morining newspaper that never happened. I am so pleased that it is a quiet evening, just me and the newspaper. Darren is at a friend's show, Jennifer and kids fast asleep, and I must jump the next hurdle of a shower to get to my newpaper.

Looking Toward San Francisco!

On Monday, D and I will fly together on a 10 hour date to SF! I am excited to see my good friends. As I think about the pleasure that will be, I also find that I am stressed out a bit. Not to leave the kids but just in thinking about details. There's not much to cover here since my friend Jennifer is so competent and reliable, it's just that I didn't think that SF would come before the getting my garden into my garden (back yard), finishing my painting jobs, decluttering, making sure J's current on MMR, and the list goes on. Silly but yet pestering me interiorly. Hoping my tomato plants survive before they get replanted.

On another note, we had beautiful weather today, worthy of sunscreen. We had Lu's friend Rowan over for lunch and had lunch out front as the kids chatted and played with the big toy items, little tikes car, bike, soccer ball, not so big. When J came home from school, Luci and he were outside asking everybody going by, "Are you my neighbor?" The conversations and smiles it generated were so great.

Jesse told me not to kill a spider in my house today because they would eat all the evil bugs. Now must go, must share this computer, and I've already been on for a while discovering Facebook, something that will have to limited in my computing diet.

Recent Happenings

Seems my computer again is dead and this may likely be due to Cranky the Crane, a Thomas toy. Seriously, watch out for magnets that may approach your hard drive. I never saw Cranky make a connection with my hard drive but Luci was playing with it across from me the very day my computer bit the dust. Praying for a miracle, though D may be praying he gets to pass s on to me and get a new snazzier one.

Luci--always the princess, seems developmentally she is looking from real affirmation from the people important to her. I still don't wear much make-up or fancy clothes (and glitter/sparkle really appeals to Lu) but it is just crazy to me as I realize that Luci in some ways adores me for my grown-up princessness. This is evidenced in how she squeezed me so much last night at the dinner table adoringly going on with loving comments. She also seems to like to stroke my hair and when allowed into the "What should I wear" conversation she always votes for my dress-like blue shirt with gold trim.

Jesse--so full of laughter that guy is, which made half-term (one-week holiday from school) last week fabulous. We did not get sick of the kids at all, Darren was flexible with his work, and it was a fabulous time. We hung out with our IC friends and their kids, Zoe and Peter, and Jesse developed potentially a new crush. Well, let's just say he had a great time with Zoe romping on the amazing Princess Diana Memorial Playground in Hyde Park. It has all these seperate, sort of mystical little play areas all connected and thanks to the older Hayes girls, Savannah and Alexandra, the adults were able to chat for a long while pretty uninterupted. Jesse, as of last week was learning to not point with his middle finger (which really reminds me of my Dad for some reason....hmmm) and instructing Luci on his new knowledge. Jesse has also made an effort to follow Jesus in a more articulate, substantial way, and this is exciting. We felt his attitude was better last week and he was able to consciously connect it sometimes to God making his heart better. The teeny-tiny, yet important, milestones of faith and youth. Both children though began swimming lessons yesterday at a pool nearby. They had been much requested yet this did not spur either of them to overcome their fears or shynesses to get in the pool. To J's credit, all the kids were totally swimming in the class he was supposed to be in, which was Beginners for his age group. He cannot swim, yet the teachers hesitated to put him the easier class just because of his age. However, my hope is that next time the teachers and children will cooperate and that Jesse and Luci will be in the same class, which is just really about being comfortable in the water.

me--I love my outdoor life here. The air is humid, and even if it is not particularly warm, I can smell the growth of plants/flowers, and hear the birds singing--I love it. I love having the rythym of the farm every Monday--it is so helpful for me to be around the farm animals every week. I was thinking yesterday about how they are all so sweet. And this may sound sappy but they really are despite the signs saying "Animals my bite" and how far removed from farm animals we are that we tend to thing they are wild. I love that the sheep and pigs, and all of them are so simple and easy to be with. Peanut was being butted in the head by a little lamb and did not like it very much. It was funny to see Francesco yelling at the lamb to stop (he never did) instead of the usual situation of me yelling at Pea to stop chasing the goats.

Darren--he is enjoying blogging again and seems to enjoy Facebook. I peer over his shoulder and think, "I will do that someday". I'm sure there is much more to share about D but can't think of it just yet and will hand his computer back to him. But I can say that he LOVES biking around and we are extremely excited to be heading to San Francisco with no kids on Monday. And that is preceded by some time with our friend Jennifer who will take care of our kids while we are away.

A Few Posts in One

I Quit the Farm

Just kidding. Last Monday I went to the farm (as usual) and as I threw the 2nd bucket (the sheep always get 2) in to the sheep, I thought to myself "There are much fewer sheep faces here". Then I contemplated the fact that it was quite quiet on the farm and I hadn't seen anything of the goats (quite unusual) so I peeked down towards them before I went to the shed to gather their food. From a distance, it looked like a small number for sure so when I laid eyes on Francesco as he arrived at the farm I said, "Tell me did like half of the sheep and half of the goats go to the slaughter house this week-end?" He assured me that this was true, a fact I knew occurred from time to time but had yet to happen to me on my farm. It was a bit sad in a way because I really like the life of the farm which cannot be summed up any better than by the goats-- that hop inside food bins when you are not looking, or pyramid on each other just to get some of the food, or hop into the pig pens to eat the pigs' food undeterred by large snorting snouts. I just have to love them because they make me laugh even when I am pulling at their horns to get them out the food bin to no avail. It seems that pretty much baby (probably teenage) goats along with adults went off to the slaughter. But I could only pester with questions enough to find out that all 13 jumpers were cleared out. They will no longer eat the plants or cost so much money or be such a drain on the farm's resources. When I look at the sheep I also see the one beautiful curly horned ram that is the last man standing and think about the sheep who got her head stuck in a fence for a couple hours a few weeks back that Francesco pried free and it is just one of those ironies that we have cared for them so much and then cleared them out. If you are male, the odds are stacked against you. Life on a farm. A city farm at that, with no chance to make use of the meat, wool, etc. Just bye bye.


My chicken class

Last Saturday I attended a Chicken Keeping class at the Hackney City Farm. It was fabulous indeed. I feel at least armed with information to begin keeping a few hens when I can. The instructor passed around this beautiful ginger colored hen and I have to say I was feeling broody (a word used commonly here not just with chickens) to add her to my brood of ginger colored ladies. I don't know if and when hen keeping will happen for me but if I can get a garden up and running, then I will a) see how much money I have to start up such a venture and b) check with the council and neighbors. It was a fabulous day--I rode my bike, arrived early and helped myself to a coffee and newspaper, had the most amazing lunch, and got to catch some fine birds, a skill I wished I had had when one got loose at Stepping Stones farm. I was aglow.

My bike

How I love thee. It has taken me more places than I have ever imagined--I suppose that's because I never imagined I would really be a bike rider in a city. ( I do feel it is probably easier here than in SF even though I never rode there.) D and I split up yesterday before church to do coffee dates with our kids. I got Luci and it was pouring rain so I strapped her in her bike seat with her pink princess umbrella and we took off only to arrive at the same place Jesse and Darren were, and with me soaked. D had a meeting after church so I took the 2 kids home and he was to ride my bike home. However, the junky bikeseat that I had been blessed with from a bike thief a while ago was taken and D had no wallet to get it replaced at the nearby Cycle Surgery so I had to return for it later and pay 40 quid to get it fixed. On the way home I stopped at Argos to get some desperately needed garden tools and realized there was no way I was getting those home on my bike so I left it locked up in front of the store and bused home quickly. The kids, etc. kept us occupied for the afternoon so it was around 8 when D went back to get my bike. As he approached, my bike was in the process of being stolen by 2 homeless women. Darren went up to them and said "Um excuse me, you're not taking that because that it my bike and I am taking it home right now." I asked Darren how it was that they were stealing my locked bike and he said, "Rule number one: Do not lock your bike to a post that is 3 feet tall." Oh I see. He added that rule number 2 might be to make sure the post you lock it to does not come out of the ground. Ooohh, that's a good one too.

I Have Nothing To Do With This.

Luci must be in princess form from morning to night. (However, I will not worry myself with this obsessive behaviour since it seems to be a faze which many girls pass in and out of.) She puts her red princess dress on before breakfast and still has it on during bedtime stories. The complete ensemble really is the dress, a gold crown, a pink barrett, her ballet slippers, a neckace, and a bracelet, sometimes a tutu layered on top.

For tonight's video chat with my parents, she took it up a notch to include my strawberry-flavored lip gloss. She has been known to burst into tears when she takes so long gathering one part of the outfit from some corner of our house that she doesn't get to the next part she wants to show off before the her audience leaves. Oh the stress of being a high maintenance princess.

We were playing "Stuck in the Mud" last night on the grass area beside our building when she was compelled to have me take her home to get her bracelet, a maneuver I explained might make her miss out on her last chances to play for the evening. But she chose it anyways and then was tearful to not have time for more play or recycling/litter pick-up, the "game" D and Jesse had moved onto.

A Day Off in Heaven

'Twas my day off and it was fabulous. Went and had coffee with my friend Anna over in Hackney and met up there with 3 American girls and D who crashed here for about a day and a half. They all survived riding over on the canal in one long procession. Then went by Hackney farm and to see some Banksy art in the neighborhood on the way back to parking the bikes back at my place. I ran off to Mudchute Farm which was amazing, green pastures, animals at peace with lots of space. I even came home and went back on the train with Pea because I wanted my friend to enjoy it with.

Interesting fact--my friend John says that 2/3 of the world's rhubarb is grown in Britian. I have come to realize that the rhubarb plant in our back yard is not so special as there is rhubarb growing at the edges of parking lots here.

Can't explain pictures--must retire! Except I want to say that you can see financial district of Canary Wharf behind the green pastures! Amazing to see the cows and sheep against that backdrop and actually ASDA (actually Walmart with a different name) is also right beyond the green. What a contrast!

A Day Off in Heaven

Pictures (and there's more to come)

the regular princessing of Peanut around here







Long story, but last Tuesday Jesse fell and got cut to the bone in Stepney Green, not serious but spent 2 slow days at the hospital








J's 5th bday party at our house Saturday









pinata, which reminds me that we met a new Mexican family on Saturday at our house, it was thrilling to speak Spanish!









the cake--pink was requested by a boy who is questioning why his sister gets everything pink and he doesn't

Thank you, considerate Bike Thief

Some of you may know of my visit and stay at the A and E (the ER) with Jesse this week--that's another story. But when I left him briefly at the hospital to jump to our house and let out Pea, as well as make some phone calls, I decided to return by bike and parked it out in front of the hospital. Today was pretty much my first chance to easily get it. As I took a look at my bike, I had the feeling that not all was the same. Yes, I wasn't seeing things. Someone has not only stolen my very cushy and generous bike seat, but they had replaced it with another, a ripped skinnier version. I thought to myself, "Why how strangely considerate of this person" or that maybe they just wanted to look legit while they were doing "bicycle work" out in the open. However, as I surveyed the seatless bikes to the right and left of mine, I counted myself lucky.

There are a few posts following, the 2nd is rather intense if you prefer to skip it.

Luci Goosy--a Luci Update

Well, yesterday was farm day and when talking about the farm, why not talk about Luci? I mean she had to come with me since she was STILL on holiday. (Thank goodness her first day back was today.)

Backtrack. Last week at the farm we were again a bit beseiged by male pigs on the loose. With my education and fear in hand, I threw feed on the ground away from me which would distract the pigs and keep them off my tail as well as Luci who in her fear, wanted to be beside me instead of where I wanted her which was away from me the foodkeeper and therefore, highly desired by roaming male pigs. However, even though she had that bit of fear that drove her to my side, she was amazing holding her own and moving swiftly along between me and the pigs as we led them with food to their pen. She was even barking assertive commands at them which, of course, were no less futile than Peanut trying to get a mouthful of curly tail. I wasn't so thankful for Peanut's intervention this time because in her confused agitation she was actually getting between the pigs and their food in the pen by standing where I had the gate wide open for them to pass through.

Last week, I decide to just open the gate wide open to get into the goats' pen and I thought "Who cares, they leap fences anyways." But then I noticed a huge (standing beautifully up to my shoulders) goat that I had never seen before and realized that I would need to escort her back in because she wasn't going to be able to fit back in through the fence after I close the gate. She was very polite with the other goats, which made me sad (I mean it's survival of the fittest!) when I pointed her to the food everyone was gobbling greedily up. She was so sweet and tame, she became my new favorite and so I sought her out this week, looking around for her in all the little goat shelters but she was nowhere to be found. When I asked Francesco about her, he said that she had passed on and that she had lived for 15 years. I didn't know her very well but I have to say I had been thinking about her all week--she's the kind of goat who you could give a gigantic hug to because she's so large and gentle and meaty. I am sorry to have missed out. I have to say that I am coming to really admire Francesco. I can't believe that with all the animals and farms he's worked on over the years, he can still, with the loss of a small rabbit, slump his shoulders and tenderly sigh. I don't know what his story is but he is there every day caring for those animals.

About the time I was done with the goats last week, Luci wasn't. I lost her for a moment but she was discreetly tucked into a trailer of hay, cornering a baby goat, talking to it and petting it. The goat was frozen, understandably, so I had to get Lu out of the way because, honestly, I thought it was dead. Thankfully, it wasn't. After that, Luci was off to tucking hay under her arms and feeding sheep through the fence, talking to them, and loving it.

After much assessment, I have truly deduced that we do not have enough animals in our house. If Luci could just have some more companions, in animal form, I think things would be much more sane around here. She is so EASY at the farm except when it comes to her rabbit visitation. She gets in the cage and stomps around after them until she catches them all the while using that drunken sailor voice of hers saying "Come over here", so it's just around and around for a while until I have mercy enough to extract myself from whatever I'm doing and lift the baby bunny into her arms where she cradles it and sings to it with a smile on her face. Then it's a fight to get her out of there but I'd like to see the bunny survive to adulthood without a heart attack.

At the farm, most of the animals have their place. If you're a sheep, you go with the sheep, etc. Now the goats, they tend to go lots of places when the food is being served. When the little pet-type pigs are being fed, they jump in and wield their horns and I feel it is so injust. (But I have to admit, I've been lookin' forward to little rumble between the pigs and goats.) Anyways, there is this one goose whose place is with the goats--she never has a need for her own kind or the water she just walks around with them and seems to herd them sometimes. In fact she really seems like the cafeteria supervisor holding a whistle because she opens her wings and her beak and flutters around behind them. I am intimidated by this assertive personality and I definitely need to do a background check on her before I extend the hand of friendship. I wonder-- is she tolerated, or esteemed by these goats? Is she crazy?

Luci's prayer last Monday as we had lunch after our farmwork was "Deah God, thank you for the goats, and the sheep, and the hee-haws."

A Reflection on Earthy Things

The website for that carrot cardamom soup I mentioned a while back is http://www.nibblous.com/recipe/269. Sorry I can't provide an American translation. Yummy in my tummy! Go ahead, throw in any strange root vegetables you want.

Some of you may recall that Darren was recently away for work in SF for 10 days. This was, for at least 5 days, not fun for me, I had predicted it wouldn't be fun in advance, and consequently had planned to steal off for a couple nights myself after D got back. This I did simply by going to cheap (for England) hotel at Hyde Park. That Park is fabulous--with a lake, lots of greenery, lots of happy dogs. It was a fun little getaway because I took it easy, read bits, sipped tea and coffee, ate a tofu noodle dish at Wagama's after having been mislead in that direction by a excitement inducing shop sign reading "Tofu" (it was a clothing boutique), watched a movie, and went for a short run.

Apparently while I was there the park did experience "Le Stink" though I missed it. (Is anyone like me? I always want to share the interesting things I read about in the newspaper.) There was a terrible smell wafting over the southeast of England on Friday due to the accumulation of smell from German diesel engines, Belgian chocolate factories, and Dutch pig farms. It had accumulated for a while over in northern Europe and then been moved on by strong winds. So sorry to say I missed the smells even though I was in Hyde Park where it was reportedly experienced.

While on my outings around Hyde Park I made a much anticipated trip to the new Whole Foods here. I was longing for those bins of bulk foods, for instance the black beans I like to cook up with a head of garlic. However, I came out depressed. It seemed as though they were competing with Harrod's on the first floor with the utmost decadence--beautiful foods and bread displayed in enormous stacks in the entrance area. Fabulous exotic chocolates in shiny plastic containers. An amazing food buffet. And I was depressed. I feel this may be a step in the right direction for a few who shop high end and therefore are getting an education on the value of organic food to the body, land, and peoples of the earth but I felt it was also a way to turn on the appetites of the average man and by displaying the words organic (and local in a few areas) keep the river of indulgent non-local food coming via high fuel-consuming travel methods and in high-fuel consuming packaging. It felt way to glamorous. Our food comes from dirt that we like to diminish and I feel that too much of this facade is misleading. It leads us to gluttony, poor health, and a loss of our connection to creation and our place in it. Anyone ever read the book Dominion: the Cruelty of Man, the Suffering of Animals, and a Call to Mercy? Well, I think I need to get back to where I left off.

Speaking of food (and yes my rant goes on...) this is an excerpt from my friend Jennifer's email which I just love. Her excerpt (and yes, watch "The Future of Food", it is very good):

This reminded me of the documentary, "The Future of Food". This is the description from Netlfix...."Before compiling your next grocery list, you might want to watch this eye-opening documentary, which sheds light on a shadowy relationship between agriculture, big business and government. By examining the effects of biotechnology on the nation's smallest farmers, director Deborah Koons Garcia reveals the unappetizing truth about genetically modified foods: You could unknowingly be serving them for dinner." It totally freaked me out. The ones story that stuck with me was also referenced in Barbara Kingsolver's book "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle". A small farmer in Saskatchewan Canada had spent 30 years farming wheat and creating his own seed storage so he did not have to buy seed each year. To make a long story short the Canadian courts ruled that he had to destroy all of his seeds. Why? Because a neighbor's wheat had blown out of his truck into the farmer's field and sprouted up here and there. Why does this matter? Because the second man's wheat came from genetically modified seeds and the company that sold him that seed argued that the first farmer should not profit off wheat that he did not buy.  Now farmers are basically being forced to buy seeds from huge companies, huge companies that genetically modify their seeds so they only respond to the fertilizer and pest-killers that the huge company also productes.  Big business freak me out, mostly because I don't think they really care about me, they just care about making money. I hear company slogans, see the commercials, listen to the CEO (who earns millions each year) telling me they want what is best for me but honestly, do you think they care about me or their money? The government and big business share a very comfortable bed together and I don't think they will ever part. Point in case, WalMart is paid money to build their money sucking stores then drive out the small stores which offer better quality, better service and better product diversity. I am that small business in this world, I have an un-glamourous job and make very little (don't get me wrong, I love my job).

Poor Jesse

I've noticed for a while that Jesse wasn't hearing the things he should be hearing. Such as Darren's voice coming out loudly from the phone so that I could hear it but Jesse, whose ear was right next to it couldn't--that was disturbing. Then on Thursday, he failed his hearing test at school. Conveniently we had a doctor's appointment scheduled for him that afternoon since I had been concerned about his hearing, even though I knew it could all come down to earwax or fluid building up in his ears since he had been sick and looked sickly pale for a couple of weeks. (Now, who hasn't experienced their child not hearing them sometimes when you talk to them? It is common but Jesse's seemed to come and go.) The doctor found no earwax but we were back to the doctor's again yesterday following a miserable day in which he complained about lots of ear pain. ( Some things have been entertaining during this hearing loss time, but I was starting to freak out. For example, when one of our CA guests asked J how he was, he said "Oh she's at school." Then D said, "Come here and sit down for lunch" and he said "What?! We're going to In 'n" Out Burger?! with excitement. But the big doozy was when I tucked him into bed and turned the music on, on the dresser beside his head, and as I walked out he said naively, "Oh mom, you forgot the music!") Anyways, the doctor yesterday pacified some of my fears saying that fluid build up in the eardrum is actually the number one reason why kids fail hearing tests, and she saw a whole bunch of it receding in his ear drum.

Sweet 'n' Sour

Darren was orchestrating a little game of Sweet 'n' Sour over our dinner of fish, chips, and steamed parsnips tonite. It was fun but inspired by some not so fun behaviour mostly on the children's parts. They have been terrible if you ask our opinions this week-end--fighting and competing constantly and tuning us out. So Darren was acting out some nice (sweet) behavior and some bad (sour) behavior and having them name it. It was fun for J and he was getting into it. I can't believe Luci, who when asked to answer sweet or sour, she would just stutter intentionally and then say something like carrot--she actually had no idea what we were talking about. (Which leads me to ask this question: How do you reason with a child who is so outside the realm of reason? She knows the naughty thrill of doing something to make her brother cry but sometimes she unintentionally is gone, totally absent from our reality,)

Sweet memories....Today, (or was it yesterday?) Darren and I were remember how it wasn't too long ago that Jesse couldn't say his 's's (how in the world do you write that?) so he would always refer to the "tars in the ky", etc. How I miss that! I believe he was saying that even as he started preschool in SF--he was pretty newly 3 then.

One thing Luci does that is really cute is refer to all of us (the humans, dog, and stuffed items or dolls) as "my dears" when we are her babies. Actually it could be just me and I would still be "my dears".

Took a fabulous run to Victoria Park tonight, via Mile End Park and the Canal. Love being able to have Pea by my side (or really far away actually) for it all to sniff things out and be my companion. She does slow me down but then would I be going out at all if I didn't have her to motivate me? She actually did really well considering she did the same thing earlier in the day but at top speed keeping up with Darren's bike.

And now for some bragging. I bet I am just about the only person in the world who, in this month of April, is able to enjoy some peppermint Joe Joes. Do you know anyone besides me (and Darren) eating them? Even my kids aren't eating them yet! Thanks to Annelies who sent me some lovely goodies via my mule Darren who was just in SF! I love my goody bag--I'm going to read that magazine in my cozy bed tonight.

Life at the Farm

When I went to feed the cows today, it was nice to notice that there were 4 instead of the usual 3. A calf (about Peanut's size) had been born over the week-end! It was adorable--Luci and I had to jump a fence to get a good view of it though as it was taking cover between two of the cows probably because Peanut was around. Glad to encounter life, instead of death, at the farm today.

It was fun having Luci there. She did very well with her task of holding the hose and filling up the water containers for the chickens. She must have filled up at least 8. She also visited the bunnies while I was busy doing certain things. In fact, I don't think she really noticed that I actually had her locked into the cages at a couple of points just to keep the door shut and therefore, Peanut out. She really wanted to visit this one bunny who was enclosed with an assertive chicken but I could not let her after my experience with the chicken. I had gone into the cage to feed the bunny and then realized I needed to make space in the dish for the chicken feed so I pushed some to the side and as I did that the chicken bit my arm, probably in fear that I was taking the food away. I also had one chicken in a full cage of chickens who had some bone to pick with me so as I entered and reentered the cage, he would give a good, hard peck at my right boot. I'm starting to actually really like these chickens and their personalities but I would prefer to not be bitten again.

It was nice to be on my own today (don't know what Francisco was up to) and really figure out how to do everything, as well as how long it takes. In my beginner stage, it would take me about 3 hours to do all the feeding and arranging like putting the 2 lambs which need to be bottle-fed, outside for a bit and letting the geese and ducks into their pond, since they have to be locked up at night in order to not get eaten by the foxes. There are so many animals at the farm, it is hard to actually remember them all. Have I listed them all? Here goes: donkeys, chinchillas, ferrets, ducks, geese, sheep galore, pigs, miniature pigs, goats galore, chickens galore, bunnies, guinea pigs, and cows. But Luci and I did have a good time together admiring the animals. When she was watering the chickens, she kept saying, "We're farmers mummy, aren't we?"

Happy Birthday to my dad who is the big 68 today but whose answering machine will not take my serenade! So Dad Happy Birthday!!!!!!!

Snow!

It snowed gobs of snow today--from early in the morning it was accumulating on trees and cars, etc. My kids saw other kids having a snowball fight and buiding snowmen in the afternoon when it was melting into the ground but nice and sticky. The plan was also to make an attempt at it ourselves after lunch but we ended up staying inside until early evening when we took Pea to the green. The kids (don't know if I had ever mentioned this idea to them before) started eating snow and Jesse remarked how amazing it was and offered me some to which I said "No thanks" But I had to tell him how I used to eat snow with syrup. I'm not sure that is info I should have given him.

I must go to bed now. Must admit I am tired of having Darren gone. It has been good but now I think I am done with being alone with the 3. Perhaps tomorrow will be nice and refreshing though, as J is back in school and he is soooo excited about it. Now Lu is on break so she will be coming to the farm with me.

Had a day of going to church in the snow, eating parsnip, turnip, carrot cardamom soup, and doing 3 video chats with East Coast family. Will have to work on the West Coast ones now.

Sidenote: I have to admit that I miss watching Oprah so I think Jennifer and I will sometime watch Oprah together. I realized that I can see her TV screen pretty clearly on Ichat video. And it will be on at a better time for me--9 p.m. instead of 4. I also realized that the kids (only once in a blue moon!) could actually have Jennifer turn on the children's programming for my kids. What a hoot this technology could be.

Movie Night

As a few of you many know, Friday night is the night when we eat pizza, watch a kid's movie and eat popcorn. Which reminds me of a funny of Luci's last week. I rented the movie Lassie from the library and she just kept referring to it as Mango over and over. At first, Darren and I were like, HUH? But, of course, it makes perfect sense since she and her brother have been treated to mango lassis in Indian restaurants forever and ever.

I find I am always thankful for movie night because just when you think your life is boring or that you are uninspiring, just drop the words, "pizza, pocorn, and movie" and the enthusiasm generated in your children will make you feel for a moment that your are hot stuff.

Today was supposed to be a coordinated day--you know, one of those where your little schedule of events works smoothly. But alas, not buses came for 20 minutes so instead of hitting up the bank, we moved to event #2 which was riding on a little 20p train (the kind that bobs up and down in front of storefronts) and going to the library cafe which has a fabulous view of the neighborhood which includes the hospital helipad and the trains coming from Whitechapel station. Unfortunately this event #2 had been in the plans to serve as bribery for carrying out event #1 with my children and so for a while I had to get my head around just enjoying the moment even though the task of getting to the bank was not going to be accomplished for another several hours. That was because I needed to swing home quickly after the library and switch from stroller to wagon to go to Lulu's school for a parent/teacher conference. However, the hot chocolate at the library cafe was too hot to imbibe quickly which slowed down the time of arrival at our house so I had to call and cancel my parent-teacher conference. I could have killed myself to get there, sweating and running with the wagon but I was so over pushing myself today. Sometimes I feel I can push myself no longer after having mobilized with the kids and dog for multiple events. Throw a mood swing/temper tantrum in and that can really change the terrain also. Jesse was moody right as we arrived home from the library so I determined that I was just out of the game on making it to the parent-teacher conference.

However, we did make it back to the bank in the midst of this amazingly brilliant and sunshiny day. (Picture Jesse and Luci wandering around in short-sleeves and Peanut panting.) We then went to Stepney Green to exercise Peanut and ourselves. The whole day was filled with gorgeous weather and I can't believe how spoiled I am to have the trees behind me starting to break open with white buds. I can only imagine how beautiful it will be soon.

Tonight as I beckoned the children to clean up the toys with me before the pizza Jesse said, with a smile on his face, "Man mom, you treat us like slaves, making us pick all this stuff up!" I have to say that that really tickled me. However, I was able to share with him the concept of "How do you think I feel!?"

A note of interest: Wagons are definitely an American thing. For a while, I thought maybe this might be true but I thought no, the looks from people are about how loud or how wide on the sidewalk we are. I am comforted to know that these most likely were not the thoughts. (My English friend Hannah also informed me that they seem to be an American thing as her American friends are considering a wagon.) They are, as I have been fortunate enough to hear them, "Oh, well that's an idea", "Now that is the way to go", and "Where did you get that?" The latter question being quite frequently asked. I can't believe that I am in the position of having the cool gadget. If only I could start a wagon importing business.......

A Few Days in the Life of Childhood Here

We managed to have breakfast together here as a family the 2 mornings before Darren flew off to San Francisco. The conversation just couldn't seem to steer away from what planet Luci might have come from. She offered some suggestions and weird quirky looks to give us hints but it was really Jesse who was coming up with the names. The second morning, Darren came up with a song and suggested to Jesse that we could do a little routine at the talent show that would be happening at the upcoming InnerChange conference this summer. We thought it would be cute and perfect as Luci seemed to delight in the attention by doing the chicken dance in her chair as we sang and harmonized.

So 2 nights ago when I put the kids to bed, Jesse became disturbed by an interaction I had with Luci. Luci is in another few day faze (she seems to go in and out these) of sucking or mouthing things. (Our bus rides today consisted of Luci having J sit beside her so she can suck on his fingers.) Anyways, Luci was sucking on a button on her doll as I was shutting off the light. I said (frustrated at how amazing she is at tuning me out) "Luci, stop sucking on that button, I don't want it to come off, have you choke on it, and die." Jesse said, "Mom, nooooooooo. I don't want her to die. We're supposed to do that silly dance this summer at that conference." I thought, "Boy, sorry I scared you so badly."

Yesterday, I was tidying up in the kitchen while keeping an eye on my kids playing in the back yard here and there. I had the back door wide open as IT HAS BEEN GORGEOUS here, a fact recent visitors (aaahemm!) might have a hard time believing. They were being so good and getting along, sounding so pleasant. Really I was delighting in all the joy of my children having this great sunny, free, childhood moment complete with sunshine and bare feet. I heard them laugh as they came into the house and I greeted them as they were mounting the stairs with 2 beautiful ceramic African fairies. Their smiles and their joy were beautifully radiant in concert with my inner conviction that these were NOT 2 gems harvested from the jungle of my back yard. I realized, given the small amount of black people living right around here, that they came from the beautifully attended and sculpted (really a rarity around here) back yard of my St. Lucian neighbor Clara. I had to explain to them, first and foremost, why it was wrong/stealing to take them, and then bring my kids barefoot and dirty to Clara's door to apologize. My first statement to the daughter, who apparently doesn't reside there but was visiting, upon the opening of the door was, "I bet you're wondering why I am holding these things." She was confused and then fetched her mother, who the kids said a quick sorry to.

Being that I don't get to run while Darren is out of town (not that I run that much when he is here), I devised a plan to take my kids to the green near us, put them in the middle of it, and run around it, on the sidewalk, 4 times. Luci really got into it and was running alongside me for a good bit when--such an unfortunate turn of events--Luci got smacked solidly in the face with a secondary school kid's errantly aimed soccer ball, Poor thing, she was running so well and then, BOOM, shock and tears. The kid muttered a sorry and asked if she was okay. I said yes and then walked away, something distracting to do instead of strangling him. I had to process if it was the right thing to totally bite my tongue in his direction but I decided that the last thing I would want to do is rain on the parade of this urban youth who is enjoying the outside with his friends and who probably suffered a faltering of his self-esteem right at the moment of impact. I was reminiscing (and some of you may not follow my opinion) fondly about the guys that would play football (the American kind) on a active street in San Franciso. On the one hand one may feel led to think that this activity is irresponsible, but I thought it was a actually a much less dangerous activity to participate in than sitting away in a darkened room in the projects watching TV and doing nothing with the energy of urban angst. So that was my position tonight, torn between my daughter's comfort and this kid trying to live free.

In a moment of solidarity, I got smacked in the nose with 2 potatoes that rolled out of a basket full of potatoes I was hoisting onto the top of my hutch. And it made me think of this recipe which goes well with potatoes. From Extending the Table....., sort of a continuation, but much more cross-culturally, of More With Less.

South African Meat Loaf

Soak 1 large slice bread in:
3/4 cup milk (175 ml)

In frypan, melt:
1 T. margarine (15 ml)

Add and fry until golden:
1/2 c. onion chopped (125 ml)

Add:
1 T. curry powder (15 ml)
1/2 t. sugar (2 ml)
1 t. ground turmeric (5 ml) (optional)
1/4 t. salt (1ml)
dash of pepper
1 T. lemon juice or vinegar (15 ml)

In mixing bowl, combine:
soaked bread (squeeze out milk and reserve)
fried onions and seasonings
1 egg
1 lb. ground beef or turkey (500 g)

Mix well.
Put into well-greased casserole or loaf pan.

Whisk together and pour over meat:
1 egg
reserved milk
dash of salt and pepper

Bake at 350 (180 C) 45-50 minutes, or until egg mixture is set. Serve with rice and potatoes, and chutney. Ummmm....unless of course you have a stomach virus--this is what you missed Dan and Judy!!!! We ate some last night and today, but of course not the SAME one that coincided with your visit.

Circle of Life

It has been a long time since my last post. Can't believe that since then Darren's parents (Dan and Judy) have come and gone. It was built up in anticipation and was so good. We just had a grand time hanging out. I think Dan and Judy had fun seeing some sights too but maybe not as many as they had planned to see because of a stomach virus that a few of us were suffering from. While the bug definitely slowed us down, I feel like we had some great times sitting around together and entertaining/being entertained by the kids. I did take them to the farm while they were here, it did snow again on that particular day, and we did go to Cambridge and ride the punt boats as we had done with my parents. My favorite part of the punt boat ride was watching the do-it-yourself folks who were manning the boats themselves (without an experienced punter tour guide) and ramming themselves into the sides of the river or losing their sticks that they push their boats with. It made for a good laugh. I do think they must have been having a laugh themselves, or they would have cried. After all, they had to know the risks involved in DIY punting. For pictures of our escapades, you should see my father-in-law's blog at danbloghog.blogspot.com.

Today, being Monday, was my day at the farm again. Oh to hear the whole farm bleating at me as I enter. They are all waiting for food and I am their hope. There is so much of that need that is like caring for a baby. Normally when I am in and out of the food shed fetching the animals' meals I am accompanied by a forward goat,or two, or three. If I leave the shed door open, I am bound to find one bounding out of the food bins as I approach. Today when I thought I was just turning around to the regulars, I was beseiged by 3 male pigs. I admit, while amused, I was a bit freaked out. (They are supposed to be in their pen and I've been told that they can be a bit agressive--they probably are harmless but they do jump forcefully up against the fence when you throw their food in the pen.) I just decided to go with it and bring the goats their feed but then I decided to bring the feed to the male pigs' pen in hopes they would go back in. That was of no use, they did not go to where I threw it inside the pen because they didn't know how to get in. They were unnerving me at this point with their noisy snouts and I was imagining getting nipped multiple times by these rude guys. I was really thankful for Peanut who gave them some growls and barks--I think it at least distracted them (though only minorly) when they were getting at their rudest. When, I left the area around their pen and had no more food in my bucket, they were through with me and I stumbled upon Francisco who tempted them back into the pen by throwing food all the way to the pen. He also noticed a board which had come loose and had been their escape route. With that ordeal over, I was able to enjoy visitation with the rest of the animals, appreciating the chickens really for the first time because I had never gotten to feed them. Death is part of life on a farm and so today I found a dead baby goat in a littel pen with a chicken. I don't know how he got there. Maybe he was sick and so they separated him from the rest. Last week I found a dead pig--he hadn't been doing well I guess so he had a pen to himself. Before I left to pick up Lulu, I fed a lamb from a bottle and gave it some scratches. Francisco was still there mending fences. Glad he is an experienced farm-hand and can show me the ropes.

Did I Ever Tell You?

No I don't think I did.

A while back when we were commuting, as a family, to the church retreat on the tube, this event unfolded. As soon as I rolled the stroller, with J in it, onto the train, he said, with all the jubilation of an expectant mother, "Mom, she's gonna have a baby!" This was a comment about the woman we were crammed against in front of us. Not wanting to draw more attention to the statement I just kinda whispered in his ear something about not commenting on her looks--she was most definitely not of the age to have a baby. He tried to say something again but luckily this woman was in a conversation with a male friend and either didn't hear Jesse or just chose to look as though she hadn't. Perhaps our American accents covered for us. Anyways, Jesse got off the stomach topic, and then said something like, "Look mom, but she even has big cheeks and a big nose." Needless to say, I was glad when that train ride was finished.

Last week Luci said, "Mummy, when I was in your tummy, I used to eat dog hair." She is constantly coming up with craziness.

When Rebecca, a girl considering IC London, was here last week, there was a knock at the door at 9 p.m. When I looked through the peephole there was no one and then a man came back around the corner. I opened the door with Peanut growling and he dangled a badge at me saying he was a television licensing officer. I said "At this time of night?" He said, "Yeah we come until 9 p.m." He said that he needed to take a look in our flat to see if we were operating a tv. Feeling well protected and accompanied by Rebecca I let him peek into our lounge, which I could see he was very afraid to do with Peanut straining to get away from me. We were cleared, and he left and I was glad to have had this experience which until then I had only heard about. FYI, you have to buy a license to operate a tv here and they will come and check and see if you are operating one illegally.

I had a good time volunteering for my first time on the farm last week, though it is impossible to remember the amounts of food each animal gets fed. However, Carol wrote out some great instructions for me this week telling me how many scoops go where. Unfortunately, there was no set of instructions mapping out where to find the missing scoop. Oh well, Francesco and I did a fine job I think though he did most of it since I was half entertaining a sick Jesse who stayed home from school with me. Actually at least half the time he curled up under a blanket in our wagon. And the other half he help pull a cart that we had loaded 3 handleless buckets of feed onto. Peanut chased only a few goats this time and mostly tried to stay away from spunky Buster a beautiful, almost 2 year old dog that now lives at the farm. My scary part of the day was slipping water into the ferrets cage--I was told they could be nasty and Francesco had seen Carol wear gloves when she fed them, but luckily for me it was uneventful because I had no idea where the gloves were. My favorite part of farm time was petting the cows' hairdos and also, the 3 seconds when I was feeding a baby sheep a bottle of milk. A time when I averted disaster was when I was able to extract my sinking wellied foot out of the mud in the pen of a loner pig. I was about to fall over but thankfully I regained my footing.

Jesse's class had a Easter bonnet parade today. It was great to see the most of the kids heads piled high with chickens and eggs and all sorts other things they and their parents had piled on. One kid could not keep his bonnet on unless the teacher was holding it up because it was so heavy. Jesse's was totally minimalist because it had not been the focus of our attention since he's been sick the past few days. (Yes we sent him to school today anyways because he didn't want to miss out and neither did we want to miss out on sending him since he is about to have a long school holiday). Both kids are now napping which just never happens anymore, really a good thing since it will mean that they are up later tonight.

Farm Time

Yesterday, Darren's first day home after being in Africa (he had literally arrived at our house at 8:30 in the morning) coincided with my day off. I did want to see him so we hung out a bit after we dropped Lu off but then I needed my time so I read the newpaper a bit on Brick Lane. (Sidenote: I can't help myself from posting interesting tidbits from the newspaper...did you know they are considering posting carbon emissions on transportation tickets that you buy so that you can understand your environmental impact when you purchase?) I had a few things to do to prepare for our meeting last night so it never felt like an official day off but I did manage to grab Pea and take her to the farm with me, with hopes of hanging out with the baby lambs. My other goal was to be able to have one-on-one time with Peanut at the farm so that I could instruct her to restrain the inner urges to chase the sheep--she actually turned out to be very good yesterday with only one darting off. Her behavior was so good in fact the goats came up to the fence to see her this time instead of frantically running off.

When I arrived, I was happy to see this Muslim mom of 4 that I had conversed with on the farm before. It was fun to see her kids being able to be free within the fenced-in perimeter of the farm.

One of the farm workers who I am fairly familiar with said, "I like dogs, I am Muslim but I like dogs, most Muslims do not like dogs." If you've tracked my stories at all, you can assume this was a great encouragment to me. But I guess, after all, he is a farm volunteer. Soon after, this young man hopped a fence and ran over to the sheep pen where something was happening. The other mom and I and the 4 kids followed him. There was a brand new baby sheep and a dead mom lying on the ground. (Turns out this brand new baby and mom were not related.) Knowing that she was dead and that there might be other babies trapped inside of her, this man took a knife and cut her open amidst some gagging and revealed a couple of unmoving babies, one of which he pulled out lifeless and dripping. It was actually still a bit alive so Carol, the primary caretaker of the animals and an absolute lover of them, took this baby from him as it was fresh and dripping with amniotic fluid, put her mouth on its snout and tried to resucitate it. She tried a few times, slapping it here and there but to no avail. It was a bit of a sad moment but great to witness this interest and care for nature alongside these children.

As I walked out I said hi to the other baby sheep who nibbled on my fingers.

I am quite nervous about helping out on the farm but it is what I have wanted to do and am scheduled to learn the ropes on Monday after I drop Lu off at school. I know nothing about caring for farm animals and definitely do not have a green thumb but I am excited!

Urban Strife

Lately I've been thinking how much I like living in London. The daffodils are blooming everywhere and life is good here. But crossing the green today on the way home from dropping off Luci, I was also in touch with how irritating it can be to live in urban areas.

This is not a post about how bad it is to live in urban areas. You just have to be aware of the cost and how difficult it can be--I believe it is not until you realize that, that you can enjoy and thrive living there. In San Francisco, if you were a regular rider of buses (or even just a walker of sidewalks), you had to fight being depressed as there were so many desperate, crazy, sad people on the bus with you. It provoked sorrow but also the feeling of "I need to know how to explain this to my children."

So today, I was angry with some old man who was shooing Peanut away from participating in ball fetching with his dog. They were getting along fine and besides Peanut doesn't actually fetch other dogs balls so there's no stealing involved. I decided to walk towards him and have him look at me,then I would say "She's friendly and she's not gonna take your dog's ball." He, however, did not look at me, so I said nothing and turned around in the other direction. I find it so irritating that there is a thousand reasons why dogs can't play together her--"Mine's aggressive", "They're both bitches", "He's afraid of big dogs", "She's just a little scared." Maybe I'll hear, "My dog doesn't like really furry dogs." It so irritating and I know there are some legit statements because there are aggressive dogs but I find this state of affairs a bit overly phobic and just irritating. Let's all just stand in park, you in that corner, me in this corner. It separates us.

Then I come home and get a knock on the door. Better answer it, I think--maybe it's somebody coming to clean the junk up from in front of my door. (About 4 nights ago, some neighbors upstairs ripped out their carpeting and some miscellaneous wood, and I've been juggling my patience ever since, since it was basically placed in front of our door. I watched the dumpster right beside my door sit half full for a day while the trash sat there. I did chuck some in but no way could I do it all, and I wanted to see what happened. And there is no excuse for this trashing of the sidewalk because, actually, everyone here knows that stuff is not supposed to go in the dumpster but along the wall near the street. It is acceptable to put large thing like that there and a city person will come remove it. It is a big long wall with lots of space in front of it.) So I open the door and the man says "Is this your carpet?" No--and I try to go on but he cuts me off. "Is this not your wood flooring?" No, same thing, cuts me off. "But look, the blue of the carpet is on your door mat." And at this point I am so irritated because I have felt really disrespected by the carpet at my door all week-end and especially irritated by the carpet lint that has blown up and dirtied my doorstep. So I tell him something like, "Look, I do not want to be accused. All week-end I have stepped over this stuff, and have had to move it over just to get my pushchair by with my 2 young kids." Apparently convinced by the authenticity of my reaction, he said "All right, all right, it's okay--I'll report the people upstairs."

After I shut my door, had a brief meltdown, then recuperated, I went outside to say "You should check to see if it's the people I said it was so that the wrong people aren't reported." And he said "No you were right, and sorry about that, I would have reacted the same way." Then I said "Sorry, you got the brunt of my frustration of seeing this stuff all week-end."

It's an interesting situation here. It seems you have to know when to fight the battles. And you have to stay in the fight without letting it consume you. When the water was basically out for 7 days, I desperately wanted to rage but I also was new and wanted to see what the residents who'd been here longer would do. In that situation, it seemed like they were doing the right thing but there was hardly any response. (Total illegality I felt, and have come to believe, as my friend has assured me there actually is a right to water in the law here. It seems like a no-brainer but they have signed it into law for a reason, and we were not even handed out water until days into it--oh and I wasn't even informed that they were handing out water.) The carpet on my doorstep was something I asked a neighbor about and then I felt I should wait it out to see if anyone else felt the same way and to not appear like the jumpy resident who's on top of reporting anything and everything. (This is after having to call 3 times to get my recycling collected last week when they didn't pick it up as they are supposed to.) I saw looks of curiousity and "What's this?" from other residents as they passed but of course none of them could be as irritated as me since it was on my doorstep. Maybe they felt it was me. But my intention was to wait until the end of the day and then make a call to the council. Thankfully it is already gone.

On an upbeat note, I forgot to mention that it was Mother's Day yesterday and Jesse pulled out a card and fairy cake for me. At church, all the women (not just mothers) didn't just get a flower but a bouquet of daffodils and crocuses. There were extras for us too, so I came home with four! Not too shabby!

This week in a nut-shell

Luci has completed her first week of nursery. She loves it,does not mind being left, and has a new peace of mind I believe. She now has her own school and her own friends, storytime, etc. It did not free up lots of time for me this week however, because I had to stay at the school nearby just in case she needed me

Yesterday was our first birthday party (other than within the family) in London. It was Rose-Michaela's (she was Mary in the school play) birthday. Let's just state it how it was. Five hours long and scheduled this way, fairy cakes and sugary drinks for the taking, at least 30 kids, at least 30 parents, hip-hop music. It was a blast for the crazy kids who ran around the community center and I hardly had to take care of my kids except where it came to feigning concern over their sugary drink comsumption--at times like this where I am free, who cares! I got to chat it up with a couple of moms for a good long time. it was 7 when we left and the cake still hadn't been cut. Luckily my kids could be distracted away by party favor bags. I love to see my kids when they are dying for bed--it's just so satisfying!

Then today was church, and a monumental Sunday at that. Jesse used to love going to church in San Francisco with all his familiar friends and routines. And though he's liked it here, I haven't heard enthusiasm on a Sunday in a long while, which has made me sad for the loss of FBC. Today, when he found out it was Sunday, He said,"Yippee! It's Sunday!" and got so excited. After church we had a missional community lunch that we joined up with. J and L's friends Rachel and Ben,who are siblings also were there. They played monsters the whole time and then were wrestling at the end and pig-piling on each other. Again,this was another satisfying moment for me.

I am tired and want Darren to come home. I am also tiring of J's meltdowns every afternoon or evening since D's been away. Thankfully, there's always bed and a new day. The kids got cereal for dinner tonight.

Peanut, Ambassador of Peace

Peanut and I have been buddies over the last several days in the fun and not fun moments of being stuck home alone with my 2 children. We have been managing together. She might not be helping with dishes or discipline but we are psychologically managing together. I know the look in her eyes...

Our neighbors (by this I mean our borough) in general do not like dogs. They clear to the other side of the sidewalk, sometimes stepping out into the street though she is on the lead. That's why it's so refreshing to find those energetic elementary boys in the park, who are one part intrigued by Pea and one part pleased at their bravery, that want to throw the ball with Peanut. We found one today who was happy to roam with us through Stepney Green and throw the ball. (This is so great for me because the novelty of a new person keeps Peanut slightly more distracted from the chicken bones and exercising more.) This boy finally tired of it, when Peanut tired. We were on the playground at that point where there were unusually large crowds of young men hanging out and around. There's usually a bunch but I would say there were about 3 groups of 10, with more in the backgroud which was tinged with some hostile testosterone. It doesn't make me too nervous because I have a dog and most of these kids are softies, but sometimes there is marijuana smoking (Aaaah, smells just like home in SF) which is just annoying. One group happened to be right where Peanut was lurking outside the fence and so they nonchalantly took to throwing the ball. (I happen to know that most of these guys cower, but try not to look like they are, when walking past Pea by themselves.) They asked what my dog's name was and were sucked into conversation with Luci who is always willing to talk about her dog.

I find these interactions satisfying in a way because it the potential trouble that brews when you are young, bored, and uninspired.

Now I'm tired. We went to a birthday party at a community center for about 5 hours. (Picture loud music, loud kids times 40 plus 30 adults.) The kids sucked up a bunch of sugary foods and drinks, ran around a ton, and have now crashed in their beds. I am grateful to hang with some of the school mums but I don't prefer big parties and really don't think I love my kids enough to EVER do a party like that no matter how much they begged!