Batt and Robin

Batt and Robin are Christians, Patriots, Teachers, Scientists, Artists, Authors and Travelers

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Blog for Thursday October 5, 2017: A Meal, Songs, and Fellowship

Last Thursday’s fellowship was an Acts 2:46b and Psalms 100:2 Evening.

Acts 2:46b

…and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart.

The word meat is from the Greek word trophe, it means nourishment or food. It is a figure of speech – using one word that represents a whole, in this case meat for a meal.

We did! We each brought a dish to pass. Our fellowship has an abundance of accomplished chefs and people who enjoy eating. We enjoyed meat and veggie spaghetti, and stuffed bell peppers for main dishes. We had three side dishes: green salad, sautéed broccoli rabe with garlic, and watermelon rind with red onion, feta with balsamic salad dressing. AND pumpkin pie and Lotus Biscoff cookies for dessert. We heard that left overs were thoroughly enjoyed by those who were not able to attend. No pictures, we didn’t want people drooling on their keyboards. Fellowship around a table, while eating is sweet. We all enjoyed the labor of others, we shared our victories in post hurricane clean-up, and talked about future plans. We prayed for the continued healing and for needs being met for all who were in the path of recent hurricanes Irma, Maria and Nate. God has blessed us with abundance in our lives. We are peaceful, knowing that he will meet all our needs. We SIT and have patience, longsuffering and more… as stated in Galatians 5:22.

We shared God’s Word through songs. Christine led our singing with some of her favorites. She shared some background of the songs. Robin accompanied Do You Know My Jesus with her guitar. She can use more practice (says she, lol). The songs are posted for you. Christine’s Songs

We closed our evening with Psalms 100.

Psalm 100

1 Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.

2 Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing.

3 Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

5 For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

Next Week: Our Identity in Christ: Our Redemption. Join us.

Batt Cave update: Plant material keeps piling up on our curb. No collection day in sight. Rick is reworking his bromeliad placement, and has set up a new area in the front yard.

We added a new dendrobium orchid to our collection. It is in full bloom.

img_6951

 


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September 22, 2017 – Post Irma date + 12 from the journal of Battman and Robin

two car garage
A two car garage! a Florida anomaly.
tony in wagon
Tony moving inside
jam
Jam and Chutney
light comparision
Before and after lights.

We wanted to post a chronology of Hurricane Irma’s track, and got stuck in the aftermath and sunk in the mire of fallen vegetation and powerlessness. Bummer right?!

Here is our edited chronology.

Hurri-cane Irma Date Actual

Day & Date

 Events or Comments
-2 F- Sept. 8 All plants tucked into inside greenhouse – guest room. Found camping stove, and lantern. No battery operated box fans available.
-1 S- Sept. 9 Extra water, propane, lanterns and flashlights in house. Cleaned out stored mangos from freezer by making jam and chutney. Placed water bottles to freeze in freezer (best idea)

Wind picks up, not much rain.

Rather than evacuating, (where would we go? We wanted to avoid the parking lot that was I 75) we had wine and watched movies – Laws of Attraction (Pierce Brosnan) and John Tesh Live at Red Rocks… (an old video from 1995)
0 S- Sept. 10 Windy more, rain intensifies. Rick is typing teachings from his notes from the “Our Identity in Christ” weekend and Robin is working on quilt blocks. We stop mid afternoon to watch the wind and rain outside, when we turn around the power is off. It’s about 2:00 PM. As the sky darkens, we pour more wine and turn on the battery-operated radio and listen to the commentary as we watch through our hurricane impact-glass living room windows horizontal rain, wind gusts up to 100 mph, steady winds over 50 mph and listen to how Irma as a CAT 4, hits Marco Island, and begins plowing her way north to our home. By the time she reaches Cape Coral, Ft. Myers area, her eye is just about disintegrated, she is down to a CAT 2, and because she hit land, no expected storm surge. She spreads power outages and water everywhere, rips trees up by the roots. Trees too big to rip up, she bends, breaks and tips over. Leaves fly everywhere; we are mesmerized by the sound of wind and rain on our metal roof. No sleep till late. Hot showers still available since our water heaters cool down very slowly.
+1 M- Sept. 11 Christ’s Birthday (according to the Bible and astronomical evidence). Still windy and the rain keeps coming down. We are over 10 inches. Not as much as our 20 inch rain two weeks ago. Since the soil is so soaked, more trees and shrubs tip over. After two days in a shelter, our dear friend and sister in Christ arrives. She sleeps on the couch as the guest room is the temporary greenhouse. We start the outside assessment and begin the clean up process. Our morning coffee and tea is fixed on the Coleman stove. Right outside on our patio.
+2 T- Sept. 12 Blur of cutting, dragging, stacking, assessing, and doing it again and again for two days.   No power, no internet, only texting to keep in touch with friends, and family. No use listening to the news as the stories repeat and repeat, and are not based in our local-personal reality.  Drove to Fort Myers to check on our friend’s house (still no power there, and no working redlights at major intersections in Ft. Myers though they worked in Cape Coral). On the way back home we noticed our favorite Mexican restaurant in Cape Coral had just opened, so we stopped in for a nice hot lunch (and $4.00 margaritas)…
+3 W- Sept. 13 Ditto of Tuesday, only we are out looking for ice to replenish our coolers. Other folk are in line for gas to run their generators. We take warmish showers. We work to right trees down in our and others yards. Some peoples’ yards look like there was never a hurricane. Ours – definitely hit by hurricane force winds and rain. Our neighbors across the street graciously offered us the use of their pool and grill, so we took most of our thawing foods over and grilled lots of food – sausage, chicken, shrimp, calamari, lamb, etc, then hung out in the pool and watched the stars above. Yes for the first time in SW Florida, we saw the Milky Way!
+4 T- Sept. 14 Thursday begins the same, we have the hunt for ice, but include a lunch in a local Publix that finally had internet access. We all catch up on email and FB accounts. Many pictures of different sorts of damage are posted on local groups. Back home, I’m lying on the floor with a small fan blowing on me when our power flickers once and then is steady on. I’m wondering how different our electric bill will be since we were cut off for 4+ days. Our friends come for a swim and bar-b-que at our neighbors’ and our weekly Bible Fellowship. See our Sept 14 Blog.
+5 F- Sept. 15 Did we mention that when the Chaya (Mexican Spinach shrub/tree) went over, it took four panels of the fence also? Sheared off three four-by-four supports at the base. Had to prop it up and lo and behold the native pitch apple that had been smushed under the fence was alive! So many of our plants have surprised us with their resilience. Looking wilted and dead-like one day, sprouting new growth the next. That is the definition of Florida foliage. Because of the instant loss of shade from the shrubs falling over and branches being lost from trees, several of the bromeliads succumbed to sunburn and had to be removed and quarantined so their pups (offsets) could grow and replace the damaged plants over the next couple months. Today, we tacked the big inside job of cleaning out the Fridge and Freezer. Oh my, it looks as clean and almost as empty as when we first hooked it up. Shopping soon.
+6 S- Sept. 16 Shopping for fence repair wood, plants and food. We found a new tree for the fenced yard to replace a Bay cedar and half of the native Fiddlewood that broke off: a weeping podocarpus. With several other fenced yard trees gone or severely trimmed, we need more shade. Many of Rick’s bromeliads have burned leaves from too much sunshine. We also finally planted our Norfolk pine, a garage-sale special that has lived for at least two years in a pot as it tripled in size. Now to repurpose the pot.
+7 S- Sept. 17 Planted new purple passion flower vines to entice the zebra longwings and fritillary butterflies back to the yard. Our wild lime is just bare bones, we hope the giant swallowtails don’t mind. Rick is sawing downed limbs and dragging to the piles on the edge of the property.
+8 M- Sept. 18 Same as Sunday
+9 T- Sept. 19 Ditto – the days are running together. More of our friends, neighbors and Christian family are receiving power. They have had rivers for streets, downed trees leaning on their houses, pool cages fly away or twist in the high winds. Our friend who had been staying with us since the day after got power at her house so was able to return back home.
+10 W- Sept. 20 Rick is ditto of earlier days. Robin starts to clean the gutters. She got 43% of the way around the house. Only 155 linear feet to go. Did she mention she can do about 5 feet and then have to move the ladder!
+11 T- Sept. 21 Took a brief time out to drive to Sanibel and visit our friends at their shell shop then have lunch at the Sanibel Café.

We find out that a contracted company that will begin the debris clean up will not pick up anything in a bag or bin. We have 10 bins and about 15 bags of material we have to empty. Thus grows the piles around the edge of our property.

Christian Fellowship tonight. See separate Blog on our Justification in Christ.
+12 F – Sept. 22 Ditto in working in the yard. Rick picks out a small section, and works the area. Much more to do. Eventually all sections of the front, back and fenced yard will be re-worked. Tomorrow tree trimmers will come. We believe they will be able to remove the broken limbs that are lodged in the trees.

Today my sister asked me if we were back to normal? We are not sure what the new normal is, we are not there yet. Blessings to all. Here are some pictures of our trials and tribulations. If you want to see more details of our yard, come and visit.

Video from a north facing window.

           

Downloaded 9-22-2017 from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saffir%E2%80%93Simpson_scale

Saffir–Simpson scale
Category Wind speeds
Five ≥70 m/s, ≥137 knots, ≥157 mph, ≥252 km/h
Four 58–70 m/s, 113–136 knots, 130–156 mph, 209–251 km/h
Three 50–58 m/s, 96–112 knots, 111–129 mph, 178–208 km/h
Two 43–49 m/s, 83–95 knots, 96–110 mph, 154–177 km/h
One 33–42 m/s, 64–82 knots, 74–95 mph, 119–153 km/h

 

Related classifications
Tropical storm 18–32 m/s, 34–63 knots, 39–73 mph, 63–118 km/h
Tropical depression ≤17 m/s, ≤33 knots, ≤38 mph, ≤62 km/h

 


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September 14, 2017 – Post Hurricane Irma: Day +4: Bible Fellowship

 

 

Our pre-Irma plan was to have brothers and sisters in Christ over for fellowship. We are working at our Identity in Christ – Justification. We postponed this conversation until the following Thursday, September 21. Check out that Blog post for more.

On the 14, only one of the three households attending had electrical power. Our lights flickered and then came on about 3:00 pm, 4 days and 1 hour after loosing power on Sunday the 10th. Everything started up and ran. Our inside temperatures had risen to 85 degrees and about 71 % humidity. Normal for us inside is 77 degrees and humidity below 55%. I had been lying on the tile floor with a small hand fan blowing a slight breeze to keep me cooler when the power returned. We also were able to have warm showers, which helped after being outside cleaning up brush and debris all day. Before fellowship, and after the return of electricity, I baked a mango and blueberry cobbler.

This Thursday we decided to bar-b-que, as our freezer contents were thawing. Tonight was burgers, dogs and brats, with buns, and condiments, and adult beverages. Yesterday it was lamb, pork, shrimp and brats. Tomorrow it would be meatloaf. We pared them with mangos, veggies and adult beverages. We grilled, swam in the pool and enjoyed fellowship and my first believers meeting in a pool. As always, manifestations were incredible.

After eating outside poolside, we returned to our home across the street. Instead of a teaching we divided into two groups. One, that discussed Genesis, always interesting. The other group tuned up my guitar and my baritone ukelele and sang. A first in this home! We sang two original tunes using the words from Psalm 19: 1-6, and a second using verses 7-11. Ashford had a tune to go with Psalm 136. He would sing the first phrase of the verse (all 26 of them) and we would respond with “…for his mercy endureth for ever.” (Psalm 136:1) We also worked a song Christine had written some time ago on Receive, Retain and Release. Thank you to Ashford for using the Keys of G and C. Thanks to Christine for her sweet harmonizing. I remembered those chords. Music is one of my favorite ways to memorize scripture, sing praises to God, and harmonize with other voices. Good metaphor for Christian living.

We finished up the evening with mango cobbler. It is a variation on my toaster oven Bisquick™ peach cobbler recipe I have used since my sailboat living days. Recipe follows. By the time of this posting, all of the members of our Bible Fellowship have electrical power. We had dunamis all along!

PEACH COBBLER

Modified and Re-Printed from COOKS.COM

8 lg, fresh, ripe peaches (about 4 cups fruit)
1 c. Bisquick
3/4 c. sugar
1 egg
2/3 stick butter

To the dry ingredients I add cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger in various amounts.

Slice ripe peaches into 9 x 13 baking dish. Mix Bisquick and sugar together with a fork and drop small egg into the middle of mixture. Mix sugar and Bisquick mixture into egg (with fork) until crumbly. Slice 2/3 stick butter very thin and spread over top. Bake at 350 degrees until brown and crispy. About 20-25 minutes. My oven using a glass baking dish takes 30 minutes. I mix and match fruit to fill the bottom of the pan.

Psalm 19: First Song

1 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.2 Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.3 There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.4 Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun,5 Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.6 His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.

Psalm 19: Second Song

7 The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.8 The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.9 The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.10 More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.11 Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward.12 Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults.13 Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.


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Food, Glorious Food

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Food, Glorious Food is the title of a song in the musical “Oliver Twist”. It encapsulates our five-week journey in Australia and New Zealand. Both countries have their own blend or style of the presentation of meals that is unique. Not Fusion, nor French, but an amalgam of the sights, sounds and smells of the beaches of New Zealand or the outback of Australia. We had a variety of different meals, including “bush tucker.” Meals were presented in an elegant setting, by confident and competent servers. What stands out it us are two meals, very different from each other and equally memorable. Both were at Uluru, Ayers Rock, in the middle of Australia.

The first evening in the Ayers Rock Resort complex, Rick, was our chef, was in charge of cooking our meat selections. Robin took care of the salads. What was our meat selection? Rick had kangaroo, crocodile, barramundi and emu. I stuck with the emu sausages. We used an outdoor bar-b-que and with other diners and cooked our meat. We sat family style and enjoyed a rare opportunity to fix our own food.

The next evening, began with a camel ride to the site of our outdoor sunset meal. We were greeted with champagne, and caused a flurry of photographs as we arrived and were helped off our camels. We sat family style. Our table included a ship pilot from Hong Kong and a family from Singapore. Our buffet meal consisted of bush tucker and a variety of more familiar items. As the sun set, we were entertained with Aboriginal dances, and then a star party. We all saw the southern cross and were invited to look at planets through a telescope.

As much as we love traveling, sometimes the constant need to find a place to eat becomes trying. Robin is a diabetic with accompanying dietary restrictions. We managed: we did our own breakfasts – from foraging for appropriate foods, to thinking up alternatives to plates and bowls. Lunch and dinner where enjoyed as we found places, often in the lobby of our hotel, or a search for goodies along the way. Sometimes we were surprised at our meal, sometimes not. Yet always, the service was always stellar.

What was the fall out – or weight gain – about 20 pounds between us.