Basil tea

Anna made basil tea today. We have a basil plant (perhaps planted by the owners?) beside our house that has not come to much use. Anna has been wanting to make "basil tea" for a long time. Really? I asked. I don't think you will like it too much. But she was adamant, and finally today, I gave her full, unmonitored use of the kitchen. Was she ever excited! She asked question after question about how much water, how long to boil it, etc. I wasn't sure, so I winged it. Dear girl wanted it to be perfect.

The result was pretty good!

I just googled basil tea, and will tell Anna first thing in the morning all the wonderful benefits of drinking it. She'll be ecstatic. 

Her recipe: Boil basil leaves in water. Strain and add honey.

There you have it.

Actually, she had not yet put honey in my tea when I drank it, and it was still good. So there's really only one necessary ingredient. 

Rainy days

We had heavy rains about two weeks ago. I was imagining a lazy day inside, and couldn't bare to think what a few boredom-induced naps might do to the bedtime routine. So in my most adventurous voice, I invited one and all to put on their boots and come enjoy the rain. The enthusiasm caught on, and this is what ensued:

They soon spotted the rising pool in the empty cement covered ditch in our front yard, and made a rapid descent. I warned them to walk carefully in the water so it doesn't spill over into their boots and make them feel uncomfortable. With a mischievous smile, Joseph said, "I like water in my boots."  That was all that the girls needed, a leader to show them what unbridled play in the rain was all about. I continued on my way down the hill to tend to the chickens, and when I returned, boots were off and not one inch of dry material remained on any of the three bodies.

Here is Joseph, kicking things up a notch.

I only discovered that the dogs were involved when I looked at the pictures later on. Ken was taking all these pictures. This one looks a little cruel, but...

...it seems Cutie (the dog) didn't mind the pampering that followed her water slide experience. Below, Anna and Lydia made her a boat.

I guess Joseph thought since he managed to throw Cutie in, he could get Rhino - twice Cutie's size - in as well. He failed.

After all the fun had been sucked out of  the rainy day, everyone had a shower and hunkered down for some games inside.

I love that feeling! 

I remember in Shirati, after playing in the rain, getting all clean and dry was the perfect ending to a perfect rainy day of play. All was well with the world. 

Well, this day was almost perfect, except the outcome of the chess game triggered a huge altercation between Joseph and Anna. It took a while to diffuse that one.

Hen and Chicks re-launch

I wasn't made to be a professional photographer for a modeling agency, and I'm glad did not choose that career path. After almost an hour and over fifty attempts, below is as perfect as we could come to a photo for our company, Hen and Chicks.

This is a good sampling of the other fifty photos. AAAAH! How much inspiration does Lydia need to gather from the clouds, trees, and any other object that is not the camera lens? Anyway, it's done.

So we are attempting to sell stuff. We did so on two previous occasions, and it was fun. Now we'll see if folks in Taidong like baked goods enough to buy regularly. Here is the very beginning of this new venture: www.henandchicksindulan.blogspot.com. Ken will translate this page, and link to it on facebook. If anyone in the city places an order, we will deliver on Thursdays. I wonder if it can all really be that simple. Again, we'll see...

(A handy accident - we like the way the "H" in Hen kind of looks like a "K". Both work. Hen and Chicks, Ken and Chicks)

Almost like Shirati guavas

We just discovered today that the guava tree growing right beside our gate is bursting with sweetness. For the past few months, I have watched it dropping countless neglected fruit. I occasionally took a halfhearted bite out of one or two, but it was just too much of a hassle to navigate around the worms. For some reason, when Ken picked some today, they just came alive on our taste buds.

I thought we were farmers

Every now and then I feel like we are making strides toward true farmerhood. For example, today, I managed to erect a few more bamboo poles for my elaborate bean lattice, and plant a few seeds with the girls. I felt good. I felt that I had gotten a lot done...until later on that day, we went noni picking at the home of a family of brothers who have welcomed us to take as much as we want. These brothers raise fish in the gutter beside their house, keep wild bees for honey, raise crabs, raise chickens and ducks, and on top of all that, plant and sell pumpkins, and much more, I'm sure.

Wow.

The one brother (below) who welcomed us to his noni trees (above), caught some fish for us to take home. 

Then, after explaining how to get bees to move into a man-made hive, quickly disappeared and came back with a bottle of liquid gold. To give away such a scarce resource as raw honey indicates a kind of generosity that I have yet to attain.

The youngest brother invited us to watch him feed their crabs with chopped up fish.

This kind can fetch a pretty high price. They have fur on their claws.

For supper, we feasted on delicious fresh fish. 

Before and After

These skeleton instruments were inspired by Pingu.

We are inspired by this family's resourcefulness. Maybe someday we will be able to add crustaceans to our list of animal husbandry. Maybe someday we'll have our own supply of wild honey. Maybe we'll have a cow and some goats someday!

Perfect homeschooling day

I love days like this. Homeschooling took on a life of its own without a drop of nudging from me. I had two chickens to butcher, and since the novelty had already worn off, I just couldn't turn my work into a homeschooling activity. So while I was busy pulling feathers, I vaguely hoped that they would find something to do. What a happy surprise to witness productive busyness happening all around me! 

Joseph decided to finish making his bow and arrows. Anna eagerly joined in to help sand the bamboo arrows that Joseph split with his ax (so glad that that job was completed with all digits intact).

One of Joseph's arrows was too thin, so he gave it to Anna, who suddenly became inspired to be a teacher. She herded her one student into class and taped math problems on the wall for Lydia to recite.

Lydia, who had previously been singing song after song to herself while climbing over everything, was glad to have an organized activity arranged for her.

Anna even made her her own math notebook, in which she wrote with great care. (oh yes, besides singing, Lydia also wrote a letter to her cousin, Ella. It's that yellow package on the stool)

Ken helped Joseph make a bamboo quiver, and...

project completed! He stuck with it to the end! He can actually shoot pretty far.

Oh, what a lovely day it has been! I got a lot done, and the kids had a day full of activities as if I had spent hours the day before preparing. 

Now how can I make this happen more than roughly once a month?

As if my day weren't perfect enough, we had the most relaxing post lunch reading time, complete with the best ice cream ever - frozen (ba-jiao)banana, cocoa powder, coconut oil and a little water.  That, with some granola and mini chocolate chips on top, and all was most well with the world. This has actually become a tradition. If we have done enough work in the morning to merit a long break in the heat of the day, we milk our "siesta" for all it's worth. Once, when we had been reading for close to two hours after lunch, I sensed we had gone too far.

Suffice it to say, today went very well. I'll be sure to document this day to prove to the officials that creative learning actually happens sometimes.