Tiny incremental progress, in pictures

We're in a state of limbo, but life continues and we adjust to new ways of doing things. We have the use of my parents' car, which has been more or less indispensable in this time in the suburbs. We use it to run errands for the farm, for me to get to campus, to visit friends. You know, normal stuff. The kids keep growing and learning new stuff (most recently, Eli has taken to calling everyone "penis". It's awkward). 

In a state of limbo it's sometimes hard to commit to things outside ourselves, things that seem difficult, that relate to justice or sustainability or anything beyond the next week or two. So we try to double down on the tangible bits-- the cooking, bits of work, the caring for kids-- of the next week or two, tiny increments of progress, but mostly just regular life. 

I found an old rusted cast iron tub on gumtree, and Eug de-rusted re-enameled it into a really beautiful tub. Then Eli insisted on bathing outside. So we have a bath tub for our house, if not an actual house.

The latest picture of our house. We're still waiting on council approval to begin to build. The trees on the right of the picture are our neighbours', and this picture faces north (the orientation of our house will also be north, which makes the most sense here in the southern hemisphere). The foundation has gradually been leveled and prepared, and we're still putting a tree or shrub in the ground every weekend.

Noah had a two-day birthday celebration. On day 1, we went to Kirstenbosch with our friend Caitlin, her son Sebu, and my sister. This is their beautiful forest canopy walk, with Noah running ahead.

Kirstenbosch is a beautiful, huge garden and forest at the base of Table Mountain. But basically, the kids wanted to come to climb this tree: an old wild almond, and the perfect climbing tree.

The second part of Noah's birthday celebration involved the Clay Room in Hout Bay, where you get to paint pottery which is then fired up. It's a wonderful place- the outdoor net is just a bonus. Can you spot the kids in this picture? 

Tree-climbing...