Garden Notes

Unwilling to use a Monsanto product on our property, I googled ways to kill poison oak without Roundup. One suggestion was to spray vinegar on it. Another suggestion, from my gardener sister-in-law was to pour boiling water on it. Both strategies have worked! The boiling water provides immediate gratification as I watch small young specimens droop in seconds. However, it would be impractical for a large, well-established stand of the vile plants. Pouring white vinegar on the leaves of some largish plants 4-5 days in a row has had great results, though not immediate. Arugula (aka 'rocket' in New Zealand) is growing like a thick carpet. Remember, Eloise sowed those seeds and they are one thick mat. I cannot pick it fast enough. Fortunately, I found a recipe for Arugula-Cilantro Pesto in my Vegetarian Planet cookbook. If I go heavy on the cilantro (also growing profusely in my garden) the pesto is quite yummy. Eloise is growing too! She speaks whole sentences about many many topics. She happily reports on events around her, and small changes in her daily scenery. A first time babysitter reported to me this week, "she has a lot to say." Yes she does. Her current favorite song is, "Jesus loves the little chickens, all the chickens of the world. Red and yellow, black and white...." Sung to the tune of "Jesus Loves the Little Children". Nomad...hmm. I don't know if he is really a garden specimen but he probably has algae growing in the dips of the non-skid. He is sitting on stands in a marina in Kona Hawaii. All I can hope is that he isn't also harboring large colonies of Kona Cruisers. Ugg. We had hoped to sail him to the West Coast this summer but since we'll be both teaching summer school, there won't be time to do that. This means a whole year sitting by himself on the hard. It's a strange feeling to have him abandoned and far away after so much time aboard.

Gamma and Dad

Damma (Grandma) and andad (Granddad) have been here for the past 10 days. She got to be pulled around in a red wagon, picked up, read to, and generally been the main focus of attention for the entire time. Damma sewed a curtain for Eloise's room and played the piano for/with her. Unfortunately, I've now got a fractured metatarsal in my right foot....acquired while walking and carrying my sturdy little lady. It seems like it's going to be a long 4-6 weeks, especially as we're starting a road trip with Ama tomorrow to visit cousins and aunt and uncle in Portland. I'm sure it will all figure itself out, one day at a time. It's been interesting to be back in the U.S. Six months now for Eloise and me. I find myself getting caught up in the comparison game already. When we were in Fiji sitting on handwoven pandanu mats on cement block floors gritty with ant highways and years of cooking smoke, I didn't look around at what our hosts did or didn't have. But when I look around our little dome (enormous in comparison to every single house we entered in the South Pacific), I criticize the old upholstery on the couch or cringe that I don't have a matching set of dishes. Luckily I got a nice reminder of what is really important the other day while reading 1 John 2: 15-16 "15 Don’t love the world or anything that belongs to the world. If you love the world, you cannot love the Father. 16 Our foolish pride comes from this world, and so do our selfish desires and our desire to have everything we see. None of this comes from the Father." Once again, re-focused on the plethora of things/relationships for which I am thankful. I have far more stuff than I really need. Far more stuff than most of the people I met on our voyage. What's going to really matter when I'm dead and gone is relationships and my choices to love the folks in my world.