Colours Of Nature

Greetings to dear readers

In one of my past postings, I was lamenting about the lack of colours in my home garden. Actually, I have a few flowering plants but they don't bloom ever so often except the Japanese roses. When they do I never fail to photograph them. How I wish they all would come out at the same time then only, truly, the garden is colourful.

Enjoy the colours . . .

Cheers

Bye . . .

When Things Are Scarce

Hi everyone,

The mulberry tree in my compound is already old. It is now not producing as many fruits as before. Yet many birds still come for the berries especially the blackbirds with the glossy feathers and the red eyes.

In a time when there are lots of fruits, small blackbirds, fly in, pick and eat the berries quietly and then they go. Now that there are fewer fruits they are quite noisy and seen pecking and shoving each other.

But these two bigger birds (male koels?) caught my attention by their super loud aggressive cry. I saw them chasing each other among the mulberry branches and ended up on the gaharu tree where their behaviour became more intense. Surely they couldn't be just fooling around . . .

By the look of it, I think they were duelling. And whatever for, of course, I don't know. Can't understand their language. My guess, they were fighting for the territory (the mulberry tree, I mean). When food is scarce they become more territorial perhaps.

And the winner is . . .

When things are scarce . . . the effect is the same as in our human life. Don't you agree . . .


Till next entry, bye . . .

Walkabout and Meetup

Hi friends

At times, like a VIP I do a walkabout :)

Armed with a camera I sauntered expecting a meetup with the birds. Sometimes I manage to capture their images, many times I miss because they are fast-moving creatures. If they stay longer in one spot they are very high up and out of reach of the camera focus. 

Sometimes when I am concentrating on one there suddenly comes another flying in that makes me gopoh and wanted both to enter the frame and finally ended up with blurred images. 

No point blaming the birds. Blame me for being greedy. 

Nobody asks me to do this work.  But I like! So it is not a work it is just a pastime.

Some pictures for you . . . 

1.  Hardworking fast-pecking woodpecker standing vertically in bright daylight to awe you.

2.  This hawk very often on perch here with head hanging down. Apa masaalah?

3.  Always singing but sounds like whining

4.  The Oriole bird, with a sharp flute-like call, persistent and loud.

5.  Some are so quick to get away when they hear you coming

6. Who owns them? They like to go over to the other side but most time they would be chased.

7.   Some are quite tame even if you go near them they remain there

8.  Always at peace, the lake never dry.

9.  They enjoy sitting on the fence

10.  Two birds enter the frame! Their bodies making a cross  . . .

Hope you like the pictures.

Bye . . .

Don't Leave The Leaves Out

Hi everyone

Those who are full time working shouldn't envy us the retirees for having so much free time. We, at least me, sometimes do not even know what to do with the time especially in the afternoon after lunch. It can become so boring.

Of course, it is the best time to take a nap but if you do sometimes you might overshoot and the nap can become a nighttime sleep and then on waking up feeling sluggish. Besides, sleeping after lunch is no good, all that calories . . .

So find some excuse to move, for example, you go outside take a stroll in the garden. In the hot sun? No, my small garden is crammed with tall trees. And my neighbour's huge rambutan tree further makes the atmosphere cooler.

Today I took some photos of leaves of my foliage garden plants. Give them some attention. We usually go for flowers but leaves too are interesting.  So don't leave them out.                                                        

I planted those decorative foliage plants because I am most time not successful with flowering ones. My past attempts at planting orchids had failed, even the orchid house also had collapsed and cleared off haha. I tried planting roses, all of them died. They are too sophisticated, difficult to care.  Jasmine, mabuk daun, all leaves only.

Some of my foliage plants are already old but still thriving and they had followed me where ever I moved. I mean move house. And I have moved no less than seven times. Once on moving house, I got chided. My potted plants alone almost filled up a 3-ton lorry. I was really crazy about flower gardening then.

Here are some of the decorative (decorative?) foliage plants in my humble home garden.

The monster (monstera) creeping up the dukong tree

Split-leaf creeper

This plant (Monstera?) was first given to me by a friend who has a florist shop. She used the leaves in her flower arrangements. As I was also interested in this form of floral art I thought why not I plant it too. Her plant was so huge it was encroaching the neighbour's area.  

The plant grew very slowly in the beginning but now it is conquering the dukong tree. I thought of trimming it off but, people say this plant can bear fruit which is edible. Of course, I am not so in hunger or craving state for wanting the fruit so much. I am just curious. So let it grow . . .

Song of India is the name

Here this plant, the Song of India. A hardy plant. My starter plant cost only a few ringgit and was very small. Look at the plants now, in fact, I have propagated it and grew them at a few other spots in the compound. Some were given to friends.

The above plant looks like the Song of India. But they are not the same.  You can use it in flower arrangement so it is quite handy to have it around.

Leaf green waxy thick and large

I got this plant, what's the name, from the same florist friend. I don't remember why I chuck it among the ladyfingers palm.  (Are they toxic the reason why I put them at the back?)  The leaves are large thick and waxy. If I transfer them into a big pot and let it grow to the maximum, place it under the porch it can make a bold statement there.

The ferns, this type, I don't know how they ended here in my garden. Thanks to whatever are the agents that have brought the spores here. Anyway, I keep them growing because when I am in the mood for making a flower bouquet I have a ready supply of fern leaves. I don't have to buy or to go search for them in the oil palm plantation nearby and risk stepping on a snake. 

Spiky and pricky fern

This fern(?) I had so much before this but I hate it because it is spiky and pricky. If you tend to them you get itch all over your hands and perhaps your face too. Like all those plants that displease me I despatch them to the side. But now I am taking it back to make part of the potted plant arrangement which is now pending due to the lack of suitable plants.

The Hostas plant

Large hostas leaves

The hostas (?) has big bold leaves. Given to me by sister in law who said that most rich man's house gardens have this plant. So I planted it. It has not flourished as it should, maybe because I am not a rich person haha. Actually, I never give them fertilizer so that they don't become too big and occupy too much space. I quite like the plant as it is, otherwise, it would have been rid off to the side.

Those are some of my decorative foliage plants.  I know, after reading you might just dismiss this as ah so ordinary and boring green. Yes, I agree.  There should be some coloured varieties to create more interest. I could have an instant colourful foliage all over if I want to. Just go buy from a nursery, right? No.

Instead, I got this miserable small plant. I won't prod it too much, just a little coaxing, and I'll leave it to grow itself into a beauty.

Aglaonema

See you next entry.

Bye . . .

A Good Day Ends With A Beautiful Sunset

Greetings to dear readers,

Last weekend I was supposed to take part in a running event in Putrajaya.  I have registered and also had my running kit taken for me. But the sudden onset of pain in my right heel prevented me from going for the run.

I thought I would have a boring and a quiet weekend. With the disturbing pain, I would rather remain home, indoor, laze, or perhaps I could do some reading. But then one telephone call on Friday afternoon got me into an active mode.

Got everything ready for some guests were coming to stay overnight. During the day the young spent their time at the beach and leaving us two women to cook  . . . and talk.

Well, the pain in the heel wouldn't disturb with the talking. And so we talked and talked all things we could think of. We seemed to not run out of topics. But for what we two women talked about there was always a tinge of worry.

We worry about ourselves getting sick although we are in good health.

We worry about getting fat when we are very cautious in choosing our food.

We worry about not having enough money when we don't have to spend much.

We worry about our husbands when they are already not attractive to other women ha ha.

We worry about our children when they are already grown up.

We worry about our grandchildren when they themselves have their parents.

We worry about the country as a prime minister would.

The thing that worries us most was how would our life be in our twilight years . . .

At last, we decided that we shouldn't put ourselves to worry so much as the rice was already cooked and the chicken curry

ready.😁😄



 Hope our life would be like a good day which ends with a beautiful sunset . . .

Sunset view from my kitchen

 Bye . . .