A Gardening Adventure

An evening of gaming ended in my friend (and the host of our game) asking a friend and me to stay late. He took us outside onto the roof and showed us a collection of herbs, three trays and a bag of soil. It was a gift - herb gardens for both of us, only rather than creating them for us, he decided it would be more rewarding if he presented them to us as a DIY adventure that he could talk us through.
I began by mixing soil and fine stones together.

This is the idea that we were working with. We played pieces of sliced open piping in the bottom to create an air pocket beneath the soil. Then a grate was laid over it and a pipe placed down the side. A small hole was drilled to drain excess water. Then soil was added

 

The soil being added.

 

Selected herbs for each of us.

 

Pots ready for replanting.

 

Richard giving us a demonstration of how he replants.

 

Cutting through the soil and roots to encourage regrowth.

 

My herb garden complete with Spanish lavender, origanum,  parsley, basil, sage and bay.

 

Isi and Richard happily at work.

 

The glory of photoshop brings all the adventurers together.

Birthday Potluck Picnic

I must admit that I've been slow to post of late, which I am sorry about. I don't seem to have as much free time as I once did. So this is a post that comes three weeks after the event.

For my birthday I invited people to a potluck picnic in Daan Park.

 

We arrived early and found a place to set up camp close to the centre of the park. A set of stones proved  a perfect substitution for tables as a layout for the various dishes to appear over the course of the afternoon. The tree offered shade to those who wanted it, as well as an aid to later excitement.

Naturally the first to arrive were those with small children and delicate meal timetables. Two work colleagues (and friends) arrived with a daughter each, a wife accompanying one. It wasn't long before the two girls were running the show.

 

Agnes watches on as her husband plays soccer with the little girls.

 

Jeff decided to take a moment to relax.

 

The tree provided the perfect holder for a homemade piñata.

 Of course not just anyone could be trusted to brave the perils of a wild piñata and so the local warriors were called upon.

 

They fought hard with improvised weapons. The battle was long and arduous.

The warriors prevailed and in time they were reaching into the foul beast, dragging forth its yummy innards.

 

Conquest at hand, they withdrew to celebrate with a victory feast.

 

All this time the warriors' fathers looked on with an air of admiration and pride, and perhaps a touch of jealousy at their bounty.

In time the feast proved insufficient for the great warriors, so they engineered second lunch from what was at hand - a truly hearty meal of natural ingredients.

 

Parents-to-be were the next to join the gathering.

 

After much excitement I took a moment to contemplate my feet.

 

It seemed inevitable that a birthday would ultimately result in a cake of some description. Sadly the wind forgot our rehearsals and made lighting the candles near on impossible. To complete the ritual each candle had to be lit and blown out individually. It took time, but protocol was adhered to.

 

More people drifted in as the afternoon progressed some staying later than others. The warriors found naptime an undeniable lure and disappeared before late afternoon, allowing their grownup servants to guide them home.

 

Sadly with time passing I grew a tad tired, drink made its way into my presence and the light began to fade. This culminated in my forgetting to take more pictures, so here ends the tale of Saturday 25th of April - the day after.

Pre-Birthday Celebrations for everyone

On Sunday a few of my students got together in the mountains on the edge of Taibei City to celebrate two birthdays; one of the boys has his birthday today and one of the girls has her birthday this coming Friday. I was invited to share in the festivities and spend the day with those students of mine who were free to attend, along with various siblings and parents. I accepted. I was given a lift to the place by the birthday girl's family. I met them near the school, we all had breakfast together and then headed north. It seems the ordeal of waking up and consuming breakfast was a bit much for the children because my student and her elder brother promptly fell asleep in the car on the trip north.

   

We arrived in the mountain in good time as the rest of the group trickled in bit by bit. The place we went to is a kind of activity centre that hosts gathering for children. A staff member for the centre led us to a sitting area, where we would later have lunch,  to explain the plan for the day. En route we encountered our first surprise.

 

In the sitting area the children rapidly returned to the natural state of children - clowning around, being silly and generally endeavouring to be amused.

 

After everyone had arrived we were rounded up and marched to a hill. Slipping beneath the trees we ascended a slipperly slope with rope railings for support. Once upon the hill the children were split into two groups - boys and girls - with various parents following each group. A number of activities were available for the children. Here are some highlights.

 

The swing rope was a favourite.

 

Boys waiting in line for a turn.

Even some parents took a turn.

 

There were a few rope bridges.

 

Many learnt that ropes can be tough on city hands.

After having fun on the hill the party wound its way back down to the sitting area. There was some lovely scenery and I stole away for a few shots.

 

 

I may be wrong, but I think this plant that's nonchalantly hanging out beside the path is traditionally illegal.

 

 

I don't know what this plant is (the one with the little write flowers) but I hope to track it down so I can add one to my little balcony garden.

 

The centre grows a lot of its own food. Our lunch came from these fields.

 

The birthday boy inspecting insects.

 

Flowers I remember from my catering days.

 

Once everyone was back and hands had been washed, the children were given cabbage. They had to shred it and then bring it to these taps to wash it, afterwards it was taken to a large, low, open stove and the children were given turns to stir the vegetables. It was an introduction lesson to cooking. It was easy to tell which students had experience cooking.

Sadly I don't have any pictures of them cooking. I only took a few (which didn't come out well) and gave up soon after as many of the parents were taking pictures.

 

One of my students decided to blink rapidly when I was trying to take his picture, so he looks sleepy and a little demented next to his perfectly normal sister.

 

After lunch, while some children began kicking a ball around, playing on the jungle gym or engaging in exploration, others were shown how to weave grass into grasshoppers. Mine were a failure, but some of the children got the knack for it and were soon churning out the little green jumpers.

After the singing of birthday songs and cake everyone departed. The same family gave me a lift home and I was barely home two minutes before heading out to join another family for supper - this time the family of the boy whose birthday it was. We went to a traditional Korean restaurant that is owned by his aunt and run by his uncle who is Korean. The food was great.