Rain Or Shine

Hello

Its dark sky again . Cool but I am restless. Not hungry but I want to eat. There are fruits bread and biscuits ... just choose but no not these. A dark day like this you crave for fried food, some kind of savoury fritters, karipap or badak hehehe yes badak . Good. . . I have some frozen badak in the freezer . . .I don't mean the rhinoceros . . .

Very satisfying, hot savoury fritters with hot instant cofee what a great combination . . .

When the weather is like this - dark and gloomy but the rain is not coming you are so undecided. If you go out and it rains you would just be wasting your time and if you don't go and the rain does not come at all then you would regret missing on the fun of playing tennis in such a cool weather.

Also a day like this there will be more beeps in the groups whatsapps . . .

P: Y  you already in BT? Heavy rain here in town. There how?

Y: Already here.Was cloudy but already clear .

A: Are you already at the court . . .

Y: No. Still at apartment will go now . Wait wait I hear thunder. Aaahhh.

P: See later how.

Another group participant chip in . .

S: Rain or shine just go!


The day before about the same time the weather was the same. . . the phone conversation went like this . . .

M: Hello

H: Yoo

M: Rain in your area? (My house is sharing the same sky as the club)

H: Aaaa ya dark very dark . Rain few drops only. Just now.

M: You think it will come heavy?

H:  Don't know. Don't know how to forecast hehehe.

M: Hahaha ya I know  you bukan kaji cuaca.

H: Wait I go outside check again. Yeay no more. But still dark here.

M: Mmmm I still go. You still resting?

H: Yaaaa ( sigh). Ok. Hope you all can play today. Enjoy!

M: Thanks . . .

Its like that. Weather is unpredictable nowadays. It makes you so undecided. That is why sometimes you wish for the rain to just pour so that your decision to stay back is correct and justified. No disappoinment.

Get yourself a gadget and go huddle in the corner of the sofa. Come. Let it storm, let it rain cats and dogs . .

But when I come across disturbing news on the floods and landslides I feel I am such an inconsiderate thoughtless person.

Did I not know how those people staying in low lying area and on hill slopes are feeling when the rain pour.

They are living in fear, be mindful spare them some thoughts.

Forgive me for being so self centred.

Though not that wishing and hoping can change things . . . rain or shine is the bussiness of nature . . .

Pray. No more bad news.

Lets appreciate nature . . .even in not so fine a weather.

The birds chose to come out on a gloomy day.

Poor light makes the photo look hazy and dull.

In poor light the colors do not shine through . 

I know the photos are substandard. But these birds rarely appear.

I hope it will appear again soon in fine weather so that I can take better pictures.

Dear readers rain or shine you still can do what you'd like to do . . .

bye . . .


 

Small and Silent

Hello everybody


A time to observe. The small and the silent.

Don't squish them.

I am gentle i am a lady

I am for the fruit not for your food. I am not a menace.

I sting when i have to . . .

I am harmless . . .

A time to ponder . . .


Bye . . .

Supermoon Full Moon

Hi all

People are talking about the supermoon .

A full moon said to be bigger and brighter because of its position in its orbit when it comes closest to earth . It comes in after many years ie since 1948 according to NASA. The excitement spreads through out the world as can be read in the media.

I get affected too. In this post I would like to talk about it albeit a little late.

When I came to know about it I put a mark on the calender lest I forget. And that night I made sure I had dinner early. I wanted to have photographs of my own of the supermoon . Was it possible with the camera that I have. Never mind no harm trying. Anyway I was pessimistic when at late evening the sky was shrouded by dark clouds.

When night came it came together with the rain. When the rain let up the night was still pitch dark no sign of the moon at about eight or eight something. It was only after nine oclock I went outside again. Then I noticed the moon.

The moon was bright but it looked small. When I looked through the view finder I could not see the shape of the moon itself at first due to the brightness. Light scatterd from the moon shinning like a bulb of white light or something like a light from a motorcycle coming from opposite in the night.

Only later I could see the moon clearly it sort of slowly and gradually came out to show its face. It appeared more matt no more so shining - if I can say it that way . . .

I could not really realise any difference in size. It was the same like the full moon at other times that I have seen.

Brightness, yes I sense the difference when it was rising(?) earlier before that particular time the moon should be nearest.

I also wished that I could catch a picture with the aircraft superimposed on the moon. Yes like those great photos shot by the professional photographers.

There are also fake photos which look so awesome. They take two exposures then editing and superimosing them. But still it needs to be clever to do that. And not everyone can do it. So I still appreciate them fake or not.

I was not lucky only two or three airplanes passed below the moon. Others were on different paths. Also it was quite difficult to focus and my hands were not steady. Imagine one old lady trying to be a photographer ha ha.

One airplane moved too fast

Another airplane passed by

I think if the weather was good I could have got better pictures.

Did I notice any difference. Not really.

When I was small I liked to gaze at the moon. I always thought I saw movements on the moon surface. Well may be children have eyes that are extra sharp right? And in their mind full of imaginations.

Even now though already old I never cease to wonder at the moon.

Picture taken at few months back (morning)

In our folklore there is a story about the bird, the owl, longing for the moon . Bagai pungguk rindukan bulan is the famous idiom. It means you are wishing for something which is impossible to achieve.

Pretend that's the pungguk admiring the supermoon

Moon is featured in many songs as moon is associated with romance hence  we have the evegreen songs like 'Fly me to the moon' and 'Blue moon' for example. I have yet to hear a song on supermoon . . .blue moon is also a full moon if I am not mistaken.

Enjoy the song on low volume.

Bye . .

Travel

Hi again

From speaking with friends, reading and watching tv etc I come to assume that most people like to travel. Travel for holidays. Or may be for escapades.

Me? Yes. I like to travel but I don't. I don't travel much even when I was younger. I travelled only out of necessity.

There are many reasons to it.

Of course earlier on in my life it was because of the lack of $$$$$$$$.

Then there was work. Husband's and wife's leave seldom coincide. Furthur more both of us were in the essential services so taking leave was at the mercy of the person in charge and depending on the situation.

When children started schooling you got to fight to get leave during the school holidays but  I don't like to fight.

I don't like to leave home. I want to stay safe at home. I am a homebody.

I think I have travelling sickness too.

And also I don't like the packing and other hastles of travelling.

One more thing I am scared and don't like is to be stuck in crowd.

When from the beginning you don't go places then there is not in you that urge to travel.

My friends, those bitten by travel bugs usually will ask me why. I give my excuses. Lame they say. To quiet them up I tell I am timid and scared of flying and I don't have a destination. Only God knows why I don't want to travel.

Ok I am really not totally against travelling.

I like to listen to travellers who come back to become storytellers. Listen to them proudly telling their tales. Look at the pictures they show. I squint at the images on their phones which they so willingly share. I would respond with oohs and aahs at the stuffs they brought back.

Then there is a couple my regular tennis kakis , to them travelling is a norm. Few months here, some months in northern hemisphere and some months in the south.

They are now having a Swiss holiday to watch tennis tournaments and to celebrate Christmas soon. How nice. Exciting. I was excited for her on the last day I met her before she went.

I had an old friend who at one time working together with me landed with another job which involved travelling. She was so happy to get the job. I was happy for her too.

It was good at first flying here and flying there. On the job mission she also had time to go see places. She used to say it was a holiday job. But then the euphoria was only in the beginning . Travelling was just not in her.

I am satisfied by just being an armchair traveller. Suffice for me watching tv, videos and reading. There are also so many travel blogs. You get the birds eye view. You get the view through the narrators. You can feel the joy of being a tourist if the narrator is good funny and witty.

If I go on the real will I be able to see all with little budget. That little budget of mine is much better spent in making me more comfortable at home. Yes or not.

They insist that you can travel even on a small budget. It is how you properly organise your holiday and tailor it to your tight budget. And be wise and trifty. Be stingy? Ah. Then I might as well have a generous holiday at home ha ha.

They also say nothing is like own experience. I must say it is true. But I don't mind to be without.

There is a quote by Saint Agustine: The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.

Oh no. I read more hehehe.

If you have the money and time and good company well go ahead and  travel and experience and enjoy. Don't be like me living under a shell. Actually I can crack this shell and come out but I don't just yet. Wink.

Let me put a brake to my ramblings.

Let us see here some pictures from Portugal. Somebody is enjoying grilled octopus and pies and watching birds on the other side of the world.

It ( the picture not the bird he he ) hails from Portugal

Go travel everywhere you like but home is the best place to be.

Happy travelling .

Bye . . .

Friends

Hi all

Friends are precious. They can be a source of inspiration or they may just be someone who can bring cheer to your day. Or someone we can rely on at trying times. Or someone who can make us feel needed a feeling which is just natural to most.

You have family members to keep you company but friends are in a different kind of relationship with you. Sometimes you can't say all to family members but to a friend you are able to. You can joke with friends and be so hilarious but with family members we need to act appropriately.

Now I have very few friends. We are not really close in the sense that we don't really know each other through and through. We don't meet frequently. We only show up at weddings and kenduri or other social fuctions. There we would group up and talk of nothing serious and tell jokes and making fun while there is time. How I miss the time when you can go stay overnight with friends and talk till the wee hours.

Of course  I also have my small group of tennis friends but we seldom go beyond the the club. Not like before when we used to go out for friendly match and tournaments. Though some are still as active as before most of us now are too preoccupied with our own family life.

I wonder where have all my friends gone. My childhood friends and my old neighbourhood friends. My classmates school mates collegues and all. Fate has scattered us throughout the country. Some have even migrated many years ago.

We have not been in contact once we move on and drifted different ways. Only once in a while you hear about one either it is of good or bad or sad news.

Flowers they don't forever remain attached to the stalk when its time, they fall.

Drawn flowers remain there forever unless you delete it.

Among all the friends as far as I know no one has really made it big. I mean becoming successful or famous and things like that. Neither do I know any becoming notorious thank God.

So we are just ordinary good people I assume.

Surely at this point in time all should have already retired and resigned to quiet life. If all of us were again to gather would there be the noisy chatters of the yesteryears. Someone should initiate a reunion of some kind.

Once my primary and secondary school friend managed to track me. We parted years and years ago. But the memory of our carefree days and adventures like hiking up the Maxwell Hill still fresh in my mind. I was so excited when she called.

We made appointments. Met a few times. There were lots of stories to tell. She, not me because I don't have much stories ha ha. She has a lot of experience working in foreign land. Such a brave person living there all alone in such a patriarchal society. And now when back here she made efforts to connect to old friends.

But she is not a friend that was my friend in our younger days. Of course in our appearance we change who does not?  Though I still value her friendship but in responding to her I was a little awkward. Not me alone though, she too. There was no more that natural laughter and giggles as when we did on the slope of the hill which we were hiking. I guess we need more meetings to catch back the old time normality but I am as always too lazy, too passive.

I was wrong when earlier I said none of my old friends are successful. Actually there are may be I don't know. Well I should not think everybody else is like me just a mediore and plain ordinary. Some have done something outstanding like my sixth form school mate. She was in the arts stream while I was in the science. Why we became quite good friends I don't really remember. May be there were only few girls for that was a boys school. We girls were sent to the boys school for sixth form.

We parted ways when we completed upper six. We never made any contact but her picture taken with a beauty queen crown in her hair is outstanding in my album. She especially gave the photo to me as a token for our friendship. That may be made me to remember her.

I felt so proud of her when I first happened to come across news about her and her success as an artist. She made it big. Had held many solo exhibitions of her great paintings in and outside of the country. Her paintings can fetch thousands and thousands of ringgit.

I used to feel so small when I look at my own paintings and drawings a hobby I took up when I first retired. My paintings and drawings are only fit to be hung on my own wall.  When I feel smaller still they would be taken down and chuck into the store room. 

Once I have wanted to go and meet her when I went back to my home state. I might get inspired and could improve on my arts who knows. It never happened. I was afraid that she might have forgotten me so I hesitated.  Anyway I am too late now for sadly she is no more with us as I found out from a website.

Its true the adage no man is an island. The island usually was part of mainland which got separated by global warming may be. The island gets connected by bridge and ferries and planes you see. Even an island is crying for connections what more we  human beings. Is what I write sounds crazy to you?

My thought is as we journey furthur in life we are dropping off friends along the way. Like a train dropping passengers at different stations. And most of us are not young anymore as to be active connecting through the many apps and sharing news. Excuse, excuse and more excuse like my eyesight is failing me  . . .

Put my thoughts in a blog? Hey its infectious!

Friends come and go.

A friend in the real world is still in need . . .indeed . . .

 

Thanks for reading.

Bye . . .

Mulberry Fruit Tree For Birds To Stop By

Hi all

I think the mulberry tree in my compound has grown full sized. In fact it is too big for my little garden. There are taller gaharu trees on both sides. Though squeezed in between it is still growing ok.

The branches spread out haphazardly in all directions. Now I cannot prune it because it has become too big and too high for me to reach the branches. I know I can use the ladder but then you know I don't want to risk falling.

I really can't remember when I first planted the the mulberry. I was given only one twig. I stuck it into the ground and forgot all about it. And I did not expect it to grow so well. It did and from that one plant I manage to plant a few more. I could plant many more only that I don't have the space.

This plant is so easy to propagate. Take the twigs and just stick it into the soil. It will grow. I have given some cuttings to friends and even strangers who pass by when they ask for it. See I think I am doing good greening the world ha ha. But really I do not know whether their plants grow as well as mine. So far there is no feed back.

There are four more plants and one has become quite big and had been cut down leaving a stump. Even on that left over trunk leaves and small branches are sprouting out. Thats how easy the plant is growing.

I have planted the trees and I have cut them down.  Have to keep them in check. What's the use of having the trees I now think. Make tea with the leaves? Or can it be stir fried as my trifty menu?

It is also giving me more work of having to clear the compound of the dried leaves. The fallen fruits will leave patches of magenta stain on the tiles. And that need to be washed soonest possible otherwise the squished fruits would be stepped on and trampled and dragged to bigger  area by unconcerned feet.

The berry can be eaten raw. It is supposed to have health benefits including helping one slim down haha and helps to lessen the over pigmentation on facial skin. Really?

The taste is not so sweet but sourish. It is quite sweet only when it turns black but by then they will be dropping off. So eat it while still deep red and which to me it is more like a julab or laxative. 

Or else you pick the fruits earlier while still not fully ripe and you keep it till they turn dark. But it won't be as good as those matured on the branches.

Mulberry fruits not ripe yet

When there was really lots of fruits I tried making jam. It took much time to get the crushed fruits and sugar mixed to gel. The fruits are hairy and grainy. The jam was not smooth even after pressing through the sieve. The graininess remained. Not very nice. Or my be my method was wrong.

Made it into cordial drink? Yes acceptable. But sugar needs to be added. A fair amount of sugar or it won't be nice.

I have tried using it in cakes and muffin. It was just ok to me but my niece liked the flavour. Put in the icing it can cut the sweetness.

Boil the fruits crush with hand blender and extract the juice and use it as food color. Not so vibrant. I have tried making red velvet cake with it the result is not desirable. It became pink.

So conclusion is the tree is only good as a shade for my anthurium plants placed underneath. And for hanging orchid pots.

However the mulberry tree despite the lack of care it still flourish. It is now in fruit again. Though not much fruits as previously it still can attract the birds.

Well I must not be too selfish only thinking of the advantages for me. To the birds - come enjoy yourselves!

#Starling . . . care to join ?

So that's it about the mulberry tree. Hope you have enjoyed reading.

Bye . . .