Skill-sharing

Its school holidays again which means I have a break from my usual routine at church.  This has given me time to do other things including trying to work out how to put a members sign-up page on the community garden website.  I did try to look for a plugin (software that adds new features) to give me what I needed but most were either to simplified, or didn’t have what I wanted. I didn’t know how to change it with HTML coding either.  Once again I needed to ‘phone a friend’.  Yes, in steps Grace with her depth of knowledge.  She and I tried several different plugins but came to the same conclusion I had previously come to.  There wasn’t one for what I needed.  Praise the Lord she offered to put together a form for me.  It needed to not only include a form to be filled out, with a link to a membership agreement but also a payment gateway to collect our yearly fee.  It didn’t take her long to create one! It was now ready to go once we organised which payment gateway we were using.

In the meantime I sent out an email to the committee outlining what I thought was to be on the form and in the membership agreement, which I took from a PDF I had previously received from the committee.  Keeping the form as it was originally (on a hardcopy) wasn’t going to work for the website as hard copies don’t always comply with what’s needed online.  Also the agreement I had seen wasn’t what was being used; there was a simplified version on our brochure.  I then typed this one out and added a few more points from the agreement which I thought should also be added.  Both copies were then sent for the committee to approve.  The pay portal needed to be set up to accept Square, PayID, AppleID and GooglePay as well as some kind of direct deposit and debit without putting our bank details online for all the scammers to see.  This could mean changing our banking to a business account which will be more work, fortunately that is not my department.

Stepping into the role of organiser for the fundraising event, has taught me quite a lot about catering.  As the time drew closer, I once again called upon the expert, Marlene from church who is a catering professional.  Her continual support, great tips as well as hunted down items which were on special, were a great help.  Woolies and Farmer Jack our local supermarket both generously offered us $50 gift vouchers.  I became acquainted with the manager, Tom, of Farmer Jack when he helped me out during the Covid crisis of 2020.  I enjoy shopping there as it’s a short walk from home and I know many of the long term staff.  Tom helped out with our first shop by putting it through at cost price.  I was then told I needed to use up the voucher at one time. That would have been ok had I not already bought these things plus a stack of other things elsewhere.  I was hoping I could use the voucher if we needed to do some top up shopping as we went along.  Being not far from the NB Tennis Club was very convenient as we did indeed needed a top-up shop every day!  My challenge now was to make a list to use the total $50 in one shop.

As things proceeded, I visited Farmer Jacks to make a tally of things we needed to buy and put in an order with their fruit and veg manager for 50 apples and 50 bananas.  I had no idea if we would sell them all but it seemed like a good number!  An order made up of three different types of red apples and bananas were to be put aside to ripen for Monday. I also gathered prices for my shopping list before coming back the day before we needed our supplies.  This led me to think, why not make some muffins fresh on the day.  My neighbour Guillermo had just quit his job due to them cutting him back to one day a week, so he was available to help us out. Aside from the fruit, our order came to over $40 so with the fruit it would be well over our $50 voucher.

There was a bit of a challenge to collect the things which Marlene had bought for us, as she was flat out with other things.  Praise the Lord Frank, her husband, was home the Thursday morning before our fundraiser. Also North Beach church come to the rescue allowing us to use their freezer for our frozen sausage rolls.  Friday I was able to transfer things to the tennis club fridge and freezer taking some other stuff down ready for Monday.  Sunday afternoon, Alan and I did the last of our big shop at Farmer Jacks before meeting again on Monday morning for our fundraising debut.  There was a bit of a hiccup at Farmer Jacks as the fruit hadn’t been put aside, which turned out to be a blessing as we bought less and hardly sold any over the three day event!

In the meantime, the Saturday before this big day was the council Biodiversity Open Day, part of the WA Tree Festival.  Natalie, the community garden president, was taking the reins here, setting up the venue and organising our raffle.  Our local pharmacy had given us two lovely gifts worth $60 and $80 for this raffle, which was part of our promotion and another fundraiser for the garden.  The day went reasonably well despite it not being set up as well as it could have been.  There were council residents collecting free plants at the entrance and not coming through to listen to the talks or walk past our displays. Even so we raised $485, $345 from the raffle and the rest from people becoming members.  As we were packing up for the day, the council gave us some of the left over plants including bush tucker fruit bearing trees and shrubs.  Volunteers were also given extra plants for our gardens, which of course I gladly accepted.  What blessings!  By Sunday afternoon I had planted most of the plants in my neighbour’s garden.  (More about this in the next update) These plants should help stop the runoff from the rains washing the sand into the drains. It’s beginning to look quite lush there now after so many years of not being cared for.  Where it was once overgrown with weeds and wild oats it is now full of native plants.

Monday finally arrived.  Kath my neighbour joined me early to help set up the kitchen/serving area at the tennis club. Having taken some of the food down on Friday we just needed to unpack our Sunday shopping, turn on the ovens and set up the work benches for making sandwiches and serving.  We had one end of the counter set up to take orders and the other with a basket of apples and bananas and little bowls of confectionary jelly snakes.  Then we set up the sandwich toasters along one wall.  This is when we hit a major problem.  The power drainage was too much and we lost electric power on one side of the kitchen!  When plugging them into another bench area the power went there too. Then our warming cupboard and fridge went! It was very frustrating.  At least our ovens and my mix master was still working.  It was frantic with the staff from the club trying to help fix the electricity problem and us trying to set things up.  Guillermo, my chef and muffin maker, was also running late as he had gone to pick up another toaster maker.  I started on the first batch of muffins just to get the ball rolling as we were starting to get behind and people were waiting to make an order.  Guillermo arrived, taking over making two more batches as the first were coming out of the oven.  In my rush I had forgotten to use the chocolate chip so my batch were just plain.  Funnily enough these were the favourites.

I tried to direct the helpers to where things needed to be done as they were all standing around.  There were things to be done but no one knew want to do.  Alan who is on our garden committee had also come to help.  I put him on selling the raffle tickets, but that was not his forte and he kept wandering back into the kitchen/serving area. He was supervisor for the afternoon shift and really didn’t need to be there.  People were getting under each other’s feet!  As supervisor I thought there were too many chiefs and not enough Indians.  Guillermo, being head chef (literally by profession) stepped in to help explain there was only one supervisor, me.  I don’t think everyone was impressed; still it needed to be said.  At last the electricity was operable with a restriction of only using two toaster makers at a time.  Sausage rolls were cooked and in the warmer. Finally things calmed down, and the kerfuffle and confusion at the beginning smoothed over as we all found our stations. There were still too many helpers so Kath, having been there with me from 8:45am, left early.  I decided it was time to get out of the kitchen too so Mimi and I wandered around selling raffle tickets for the community garden. Then at midday Alan’s team took over and by 1pm I was heading home exhausted!

The following two days went much better.  There were new helpers every morning who soon found their positions and all ran smoothly.  The second and third day we were asked to stay on a bit longer so I went home for a break midday returning at 2pm when the afternoon shift left except for Alan who stayed on to man the counter or dash off to get more supplies. In all with the Saturday’s intake and all raffle tickets sold we raised over a thousand dollars.

A few days later we were told our new water tank had been stolen from the carpark!  It’s a sickening feeling knowing someone has violated our trust, removing something we had worked so hard to raise money for.  God willing it will be covered by insurance.  We definitely need surveillance cameras on site even before we get started.

On a good note, on a few occasions now I have been delighted and pleasantly surprised to overhear the topic of conversations discussed as a group of guys walking along the path beside my place. They were discussing their faith and God’s Grace. On one occasion I just had to see who they were, so ran up our driveway to see the back of three young teenagers as they headed for the surf.

March is the season for my figs to ripen.  I don’t get as many as some people in the area but they are very delicious, like jam.  God willing I will be able to graft some other varieties on later this year.  As the fruits begin to ripen I have netted them individually to keep the fruit fly out and with the wire cage around the tree I’ve been able to keep the birds off too.  I have had to poison the rats which gnaw at all the fruit in my garden.  A funny but true story:  my neighbour told me his chillies have been killing off the rats.  He believed that they were so hot the poor rats couldn’t survive after eating them.  I was so shocked by his theory that I couldn’t tell him the truth!  The propagated bougainvillea I have since planted along his front wall is growing beautifully.  All the neighbours will be able to enjoy it’s splendour as it grows to cover the ugly rattan screening he had put up for privacy when he first moved in.

I have two new members added to my guppy population.  I’ve been wanting to get some blue ones for some time and finally they were available.  When I bought them they were put into separate bags, I asked why and was told if they were in together they would mate.  I thought keeping them apart was a bit strange as the reason I wanted them was to have more blue guppies.  Also didn’t female fish lay eggs which the male then fertilised?  So unless the female was carrying eggs there would be nothing to fertilise!  It all sounded a bit strange to me.  With both bags sided by side the male was very eager to meet his new mate and as soon as I was home they went into one bag.  I then left the bag in the pond to acclimatise before adding a bit of pond water to help them adapt before letting them loose.  The other fish were very inquisitive gathering around and bumping their noses against the bag introducing themselves to their new family.  They are such sociable little things.  Whenever I’m near the ponds they come milling around to see if I have food.  If I put my hand in the water they swim onto my palm, not at all afraid.  Often I sit near the pond having my morning coffee watching them all vying for attention, or is it just waiting to be fed?  No, I’m sure they just come to have a chat. Even without an aerator the water in the ponds is crystal clean.  I think it’s because the type of fish I have eat the algae.

One afternoon when I had put some pond weed into buckets, I came back to find the weed all over the ground!  Then in the middle of the night (when my brain become quite active and new ideas suddenly flood my thoughts) I realised it was the crows who had pecked out the weed looking for my fish!  I was horrified to think my beautiful fish were being eaten by these black monsters!  My mind then went to ways and means to keep them out, settling on netting the pond area.  Praise God I already had nets for my fruit trees which were now available and a pergola to which to hang it like a giant mosquito net.  I put it up early the next morning, which was just in time as a crow was hanging around and my poor fish where hiding under the pond weed.  Praise God there was plenty of pond weed to hide under, although I did notice some of the weed was upside down indicating the crows had already tried fishing for their breakfast!  Terrors!  I didn’t like either the look or the inconvenience of the net and as I had some small wire mesh left over from caging the fig tree, I made wire covers for both the ponds in my raised garden bed. Not only is it more functional, enabling me to see and feed my little family, but it greatly improves the aesthetics of the area too and what’s more it works.  After a few days the crows no longer hung around.

Talking about little family, I have become a grandma.  On the Sunday before Easter I saw this very cute little reptile, not even as long as the palm of my hand, was the latest member of my garden family.  Mum had been rather large and sluggish for weeks not venturing out of my small back area and seemingly not even eating.  I’ve been learning so much about skinks and in particular Bobtails. I was very surprised to see actually how large the baby was born, 15 cm (yes Dorothy, I got it right this time centimetres).  She fitted snuggly in the palm of my hand.  The first two night I brought him/her (I’m not sure of the sex) indoors where it was warmer.  After that I thought it best for the natural elements to toughen this youngster up. I was very pleased to see it had adopted it’s mother’s old summer house under the leaves at the far end of the garden protected by the corner of the fences.  Also it’s where I had put up a little protecting cover so it’s sheltered slightly from the reticulation and rain.  What a delight to have a baby around the house.  Five days later when I was tempting Mum with some maggoty figs, I heard a sound which made me look a bit closer.  It was then I saw a very dark head of another little family member. I’m sure she had just given birth recently as she looked exhausted, only enough energy to lick at the fig. She is so skinny!  I’m wondering if they will have enough time to feed up before they hibernate over winter.

Then there were three!!  It was 14 days after I saw the last one and here was another!  Two little heads were watching me from mum’s summer residence with another scurrying away from me towards the original home I’d made in the bottom of the greenhouse!  What a surprise!

One morning, prior to this, while mum was warming up in the sunshine, she came running over to me.  I suspected she was asking for something to eat.  I went looking for slugs in my worm farm but instead found a cricket. I snipped the head off with my finger nail so it wouldn’t jump away and held it in front of her nose.  Watch out those are my fingers!  I pulled my hand away just as she clamped down on the critter, legs dangling from her lips.  She was obviously hungry.  I brought her back some worms too and fruit fly lava in a fig which she also demolished.  The next day she was looking for me again.  That’s when I saw the third baby!  Since then I keep trying to take a photo of the new baby but haven’t been able to tell which one it is.  The light coloured one which was born first I’ve called Petite (I think it’s female) she looks like her mother. The dark one Guillermo called Gustave but I’ve called him Goodstuff. And the last Sofia called Mamboo.

I’m continuing to step out in faith in regards to my trip to Asia. I believed the Lord would show me the way and lead me to the right people as I trusted Him with my plans.  In my last blog update I was telling you about the contacts my dear friend Anthony, whom I’ve known for many years from my days in Thailand, had given me.  Anthony now does pastoral work amongst workers in the field throughout South East Asia and knows people in Bali.  After contacting them, Anthony passed on their details to me.  It is a long story but suffice to say this led to three more connections.  The first was with Cheryl who lives in a village north of Kuta.  She was so excited about me coming over, even offering me her room.  She also suggested we visit John, who was the third connection and as far as I know lives in the mountains running a school.  Cheryl also put me in touch with a young couple who are here in Perth for a season.  It didn’t take me long to catch up with Ida and introduce her to my favourite satay place.  Ida is from Indonesian and part of the reason to get to know her is to hopefully learn some basic Indonesian before I go. Praise the Lord I already know a bit of Malay and Indonesian from my previous travels.  I’m very rusty and although both languages have similar words and phrases, they are also quite different.  I often get the two mixed together and to make matters worse I throw in a bit of Thai as this my default Asian language.  It’s quite funny at times when I see the look on people’s faces as I intersperse the three languages.  “What are you trying to say? I understood a few words but then it was gibberish!”

Ida and I had a lovely time chatting. I asked if she would help me with some Indonesian phrases which she kindly sent me as recordings through WhatsApp so I can listen to them whenever I want.  They say learning a new language helps stimulate brain activity, firing up neurons and developing new pathways, improving memory.  I do hope so!  So from this initial introduction the Lord has abundantly provided for my time in Bali.

Then a friend in Malaysia gave me a contact in Petaling Jaya, not far from Kuala Lumpur, a retired pastors who now run a B&B. I have booked three nights there before heading to Ayer Tawer for three nights with my dear friends Dr Wong and Dr Chua, where I was previously involved with church planting.  Then on to Ipoh for the final leg of my journey.

Things are falling into place, plans have been made and preparations here continue.  It’s not long now!

Photos: 1. Ann’s purple weeds growing in my garden    2. Shelli, me, Natalie at the Biodiversity Open Day    3. One of the morning grew at the tennis club    4. A local visiting my garden    5. Blue guppies    6. The net!    7. Mother and baby    8. Gustave    9. Ida and an ice-kutchung

Prayer & Praise Points:

Praise God for His leading, guidance, love and provision in all our everyday activities.  For going ahead of us and making our paths straight.

Praise Him for answered prayer, providing me with church family where I can volunteer in Bali and new family in PJ before catching up with familiar friends in the north of Malaysia.

Please pray for Kat as she looks for solutions for an ongoing health challenge.

Please continue to pray for Jen that she will remain safe and well during her adventures and travels in Europe and the UK.  Praise the Lord her lost laptop has been found and returned to her.

Let’s continue to pray for world peace, for the refugees and those caught up in the suffering this war has caused, in Ukraine, Russia, and the Middle East.

Please continue to keep my sisters, Tricia, Jen and Kat, in your prayers.  Pray that they will come to know the love of Jesus.