Contrasts

As we continue the seemingly endless task of sorting and cleaning items that have been stored for 5 years, once in a while we shake our head at the toll that time and weather has taken on our belongings.  Truly this earth is a place where "moth and rust corrupt..." and mildew and mold destroy.



My sewing machine had been stored in its case.  I wiped it all down, took apart all the usual pieces (bobbin, etc.) and oiled it.  Then I figured I should make sure the "workings" were working!  As you can see from the picture, when I got the cover off, I was greeted with a disintegrated belt - only some strings left!  Fortunately we had another belt, but it is old and the smaller belt near the bottom is definitely not in its prime, so I guess we should look at ordering more belts!  The machine DOES work now though, so I'll just go easy on it for now!






The kids have done really well at adjusting to the bugs here.  They have learned to tolerate cockroaches (as in, try to kill them, not run from them) and leave small spiders pretty much alone (they catch bugs which can give us diseases), but they still call on me to kill the big spiders.  These large spiders might come in with the stalks of plantains or bananas that we bring into the house.  Regardless, when the spider is about 1/4 of the size of a regular broom, it's time to kill it!












It looks like this spider was full of eggs - I'm glad they didn't hatch and start running all over our house!




But then comes the contrast - just like the beautiful scenery outside, once in a while a small sampling of beauty finds its way into our house.  This beauty was carefully trapped and set free outside again....