I survived a week of batching!

A week alone

You will be happy to know that I survived a week of my cooking! I think I put on weight though. I had a little hassle with the animals. One goat is attached to a pallet and she knows that if she takes a run she can get the pallet moving around the paddock. It is so funny to watch, so purposefully carried out. If she gets it sliding across the grass and keeps it moving she can go quite a distance. It does mean she cant climb through fences, which goats seem to have a real knack of doing. It all puts a strain on her collar and her rope. She broke her collar on Friday so on Saturday morning I had to lure her into her shed and put on a new one. A poor hen however, did not survive the week. She was old and I found her dead on Saturday morning. Why she chose to die on my watch I'll never know! I was doing everything right and not once did I threaten them with the pot! 

Plumbing woes.

I had some plumbing battles. I bought a new kitchen tap, lever action thingy with a fancy new system. Last Monday I installed it doing everything right, put a filter on the line and flushed the pipes. When my wife came home I was going to have a new tap for her. By mis week it had started to dribble. I pulled it off and fiddled and put it back on twice, but still didn't fix it. I ended up on Saturday morning before going to Habitat re-installing the old tap with a new washer. That was my first plumbing woe.

The second was just discomfort. I crawled under the church to put a gate valve so we could isolate the kitchen water supply.  As soon as I cut the old pipe a flood of memories came back. I recalled lying in dirty dust under many floors. You are cramped up hurting and cutting the pipe with short strokes of the hacksaw because you cant move much. When you first make a hole in the pipe you feel the water run down your hand, down your arm right up to your shoulder. It is uncomfortable, the dust turns to mud and you cannot do anything about it. You just have to grin and bear it. Then you complete the task as quickly as possible and make your way out, gathering more dirt on your person as you go. I was pleased my old skills had not left me and I could install the valve quickly and without leaks, but my ribs hurt all the next day. 

Drop-in centre woes

I don't know if it was the moon or what, but a few people at the drop-in seemed to want to bicker at each other all night. At one stage when a fight loomed, and two people were glaring at each other waiting for me to adjudicate, all I could think of to say was, "Sometime it feels like I am running a kindergarten up here!" They separated and went away sulking. 

Privilege...

Balancing that experience was the privilege of being allowed into peoples lives. In chaplaincy and at the drop-in some nice conversations gave me that sense of privilege. People seemed to appreciate sharing their journey, good and bad, with me. 

Companionship...

I talked with one elderly man. He has had a much younger woman who has been a "special friend" for him in his later life as a widower. He now thought that she was moving on to be a special friend to a much younger man, and he was hurting. In his hurt he said, "Companionship.... its pretty important in life you know." I agree.

Photo: Some members of the church walking group in the Botanical Gardens on Wednesday.