Flamingos, roosters and broad beans

In the name of Allah most gracious, most merciful.

 

4.15 am
Here I am sitting again can't sleep but feeling rested. Abu always says if you can't sleep do some work or pray. Its when you start giving things names that you give it a life.

So I woke up at 4 am groping around to find the time. A distant rooster is calling out to the silent night, but everyone else is asleep. Die nag is stil. I slip feet into slippers and I look out to try and see the sky and it looks like its going to be a wonderful day inshaAllah. I switch on the computer like a thief in the night and decide to write a short note. But first a warm cup of tea and I'm good to go.

Its remarkable how quick the words fly on paper, as I try to touch-type gently so as not to waken Abu, shhh. He had a full day yesterday what with all his work and trying to cheer me up and buying plants and taking me by the hand to plant broad beans. When I went outside just before Magrib he had cut plastic bottles to cloche them for protection of wind and dogs hunting gophers, they were dressed to live. We took a drive this morning to finish some tours and as we drove home, beautiful pink flamingos graced the wetlands. It is quite awesome how when winter has passed the water recedes and before you have time to wonder, rows and rows of vegetables green the landscape. I shudder to think that some of the wetlands are already being filled in with all kinds of materials and the destruction of the homes of birds like the flamingos that grace us with their elegance, like ballerinas in the water. And as I Google for pictures of flamingos in the area, lots of articles to conserve the wetlands but no pictures, will take some later to post inshaAllah.

A solitary truck passes by at breakneck speed - it is after four hey. Seriously, we have had so many accidents in front of our door. So we are planning some work at the Garlandale High School because all of their resources are ready just too little hands. Then we will proceed with our other schools in Rondevlei and in Manenberg. We lay low in winter and prepared compost and nurtured seedlings and they are almost ready. In two weeks we will be ready to get going there too. In the meantime here in Schaapkraal we have prepared new beds for our "clean seed". The doubla beans I planted has made their appearance noticed, the clean seed lettuce mix are growing beautifully but a bit too closely.

I await the last turnips roots to bulge and then we can redo, re-compost the middle bed for beautiful whatever, maybe artichokes and pak choi and tatsoi. Must remind myself to also seed some Chinese cabbage so the worms can go there for their fill. I have had a mammoth task to pick off black hairy worms and finding their little nests under leaves. They are quite tenacious, when they start eating they sommer deplete an entire plant from the bottom up. I came out in time to rescue a red sunflower just waiting to bloom and many of the tall flax plants stand there stripped of underleaves.

So Jumuah Mubarak everybody! And try to make a turn at Garlandale at 8.30 on Sunday morning to come and help us with hands or warm koeksisters and bring the children too! We have five volunteers from the IPSA students - shukran but please be on time!

Plant food and volunteer at food gardens near you.

Yasmine