Piano is here, new grass on the way!

Boy, the title makes us seem rather boring...

Yesterday we got our piano, and it's wonderful. It was tuned for about 1 1/2 hours last night and it still seems a little off in places, but maybe it's just my playing...It was so awesome to hear Abby when she played some worship stuff after school today. It felt just like our home! Apparently I was playing so loud this morning that woke up Ruth Fox, and for that I apologize. Sound travels well through major pollution! What is a little disconcerting is that our house has little slats above the doors leading to the outside, so things like ants, mice, cicaks (geckos) can come in at their leisure. Must be a humidity thing...anyways, sound travels through our cement homes quite loudly, especially through these slats, so when we play I think that Abby's teacher 2 doors down can probably hear us. It's my goal to play while the majority of people are at work!

We're heading to Bali soon. These photos are of our family at the Marriot in Jakarta with our travel buddies, the Comrie family: Bruce, Judy, Sophie and Ben. Ben just turned 8 this weekend. The countdown is on and I've started to pack...but really, what is there to pack but a few pair of underwear, a bathing suit and some sunscreen? Apparently we can rent towels there even, so that leaves more room for souvenirs! Any requests (Candace and Miranda, I cannot put men into my suitcase, sorry!)

I've finally hired a gardener. It took 3 estimates, and this guy won out mostly because I've seen his work AND his wife speaks English really good (unlike some of us...) Ahem, really WELL. This may not seem like a big deal but it gets really frustrating after a while when nobody understands you, even if you have been studying your vocabulary for WEEKS. This gardener is Pak Suki and his wife is Ibu Narni. Because I am older than them I do not use the Pak and Ibu, but my kids would. What is really unfortunate is that the other 2 men have families to feed as well and I have to say no to them. It's not the same as saying no to someone in Canada, because there is some semblance of a support system there, and there is absolutely nothing here. Sometimes there is something, a job of some sort, that we could probably just do ourselves, but for the money that we end up paying and the hassle of trying to figure out where to get supplies etc, it's just better to hire someone. Apparently the average construction worker gets about $5 per day. That's a five; it's not a typo.

I want to include photos of our yard. The only known photo of our backyard before the gardeners and his buddies tackled it is on my Facebook videos. However, I have taken a photo of the area after they dug it up. The soil is mostly made up of red clay it seems, and is very difficult to work with if you're used to "processed dirt" like we are. You still have to buy your dirt here, too. You can buy a large rock for about $5, and to think I just left a home on Copperfield that has dozens in the front yard under the grass! The first photo is of our front yard. What we've got there is Elephant grass, lemput gaja, but as you can see we have to cut it regularly. So, there's another option out there and it's called Mini lemput gaja. The workers come and remove the old grass, work the dirt a little and break up the clay, then they plant itty bitty individual plugs. I'm not sure how long it takes for the plugs to take root but they water them regularly for us. Guess that means I'll have to splurge and pay the $50 for a garden hose. You get a package deal here where you buy the hose and the ends and you put it together at home. Very interesting. I haven't ordered any plants because I want to see what our yard looks like with just grass. I think I prefer potted plants because then I can move them around whenever I want.

Sunny, you would love the gardening help here!

What is really difficult is that it is Ramadan and so everybody is fasting. These guys are outside in the sun and I could only offer water to one out of four of them. When they return after Idul Fitri (Lebaron), which is like our Christmas, forgiveness day, and summer holidays all in one week, then they can eat and drink again.

The last photo is taken from the corner of our lot into what is called the 'garage.' Sri is in the background sitting on the stoop in front of her room. Her toilet is in a room just behind her and the clotheswashing machine sits in this little landing between the two rooms. Everything in our house is quite 'tight.' Some houses have better accomodations for their helpers and we're trying to make it as comfortable for Sri as possible. It's our hope to get a roof for the garage before long, so Sri can come and go without getting wet, her bike will stay dry,and the cement floor won't go as slimy green as it will without covering. Do you see the drying rack in the background? We now have 2 (Sri is thankful...it's difficult drying 5 peoples' clothes on one rack!) and one sits in the garage, the other on our back porch. It's too durn hot on the backporch to actually use it, but it's great for drying clothes!

Supper is ready. Time to go...

Thanks for reading.