Quiet Day Musings

Hi

I am having a quiet weekend.

Although now is the school holiday the four girls and their little brother Adli, my grands are not coming over but that is ok with me since I have spent time with them at their home during the first few days. I understand as the family matures they would have their own plans and programs for the children during long school holidays.

The week before the two older girls went for their separate young leadership course. I suppose it causes quite a bit of damage to the family budget as both courses took place outside the country. I have no qualms about it as it didn't affect me. Up to their parents. whatever is good for the girls' future then it should be worth their sacrifice.

In the past, they usually reserved more than a few days to be here with me. You can see my house would be like a tongkang pecah then. Hubby would vroom here and vroom there at the behest of the pampered girls. I would also be super busy in the house, hard work you know,  and also forgone all my hobby activities when they were here but that's alright as being embraced in family joy is an experience that is immeasurable.  

For me, being alone is no reason to whine and fret over. The internet, my small garden, my tennis friends, my camera and the swimmings and the walkings would fill up my time and keep me occupied. 

Quiet days and being alone sometimes pose only one problem, I tend to binge on food but of course, now I am quite strong-willed and have control over what goes into my gut. Well, I don't have money to have bariatric surgery if my body bloat to morbid obesity. Keep that in my mind.

So quiet days cannot be that miserable, but this particular weekend it is! 

Saturday and today, Sunday I am nursing my knee with ice packs. Three-four times a day is my treatment regime. The pain seems slow to subside. The doctor whom I went to see on Saturday morning assured me nothing to worry about, my knee can last me for many years more to come. Hey, how about this pain! Pain killer and rest!

The pain recurred after the Friday game. You see the club tennis committee was organizing our last monthly tennis tournament for the year. I was so gung ho to participate. I went for practice and became overzealous and played hard ignoring pain that started to creep up. Obviously, the old injury has not fully recovered. So on Saturday, I was miserably stuck at home while my friends were enjoying the year-end tennis "extravaganza" : ( 

I stopped playing the last few months so it is understandable why I am so impatient. Furthur I have stopped going for long walks let alone joining the fun runs popularly organized nowadays. Swimming saves me from being totally inactive. Yes I know I am old and not be thinking about all these straining physical activities, but then some friends are older and they can chase the tennis ball like nobody's business.

I guess I need to rest from physical activity patiently and undergo another course of physiotherapy asap. 

I long to be back here  . . .

Participated in 2018 year-end game

Ok friends, I would stop here. Will be back again for next entry.

Take care.

Walking In Circle

Hi friends

Went for a walk at the usual place. The same place as the many previous days. Sounds boring but it is better than to be enclosed in the gym trudging on the treadmill. Walking in the open is so much the better.

Though many have adopted the gaya hidup sehat active lifestyle sometimes I still find the place is quiet with only myself walking there. However, I like it this way because I can then have the whole track to myself.

I sound selfish.

It's not that actually . . .

You see, the track is circular and quite narrow. It's not like the track you find in a stadium. This one is small and humble and cannot accommodate many people unless you walk in a single file. Well not really, just exaggerating, if you go two by two like school kids it is still 😐ok. 

So people walk on the small circular track, and within 5 minutes of brisk walking, you'll make one round already. You got to walk many rounds to sweat. Some people walk like zombies but some don't and are quite communicative, some are familiar faces.

Problem is if I can call it a problem, some people decide to walk in the opposing direction. At many points, you are sure to meet. At the first approach, there will be a hi or a hello. At the second maybe a smile then another meet again maybe a nod.

Well, we always try to be polite . . .

How about on subsequent rounds? Do you have to smile and/or nod every time you pass the person walking in the opposing direction? Weird isn't it.  Overdone and kind of funny. Or must I just look the other way or hold my head high and just ignore.

A small dilemma and so unimportant to be thinking about but I can't just brush it aside when caught in that awkward situation.

It can be comical and makes me want to chuckle in the inside when my mind starts imagining things. Have you ever observed two rows of ants crawling in opposing direction? Yes, they randomly stop and touch and then continue on their way.

Though I find it funny to return the gesture ever so often I would try to curb the urge to laugh.

Well, this morning there was no one sharing the track with me but I walked just a little. I sat to watch the morning scene and my mind imagining.

Cool like ice.


Till next entry . . .

Basking In The Sun

Hi everybody

I am into the end of my second week here. When I get back I got stories to share with friends and give excuses over my disappearance for that is what we used to do when anyone of us absents from the tennis courts for many days. We have less and fewer tennis kakis nowadays. Your coming back is always delightfully welcomed. 

Today I woke up early to put the clothes to dry because the weather is changing, I must not miss the morning sun. Rain might come in the afternoon. It is easy if we have a dryer like before, no need to chase after the sunshine. They have left the dryer in their former house which has been rented out. But then the electric dryer consumes a lot of electricity. Better to wait for the sun and save some money :)

Made breakfast for Adelia. She wanted a scrambled egg to put on the bread slice which is then folded the way she wants. Got to follow her whims as she is quite a poor eater. It takes some tricks to make her eat properly. 

Then coax her to have her hair cut. The fringe is getting into her eyes. The back part is long and getting into the collar of her kindergarten uniform and looking untidy and easily makes her feel irritated. It takes me some time to convince her and of course, me her hair stylist has to agree to her terms.

Today she wants to open my laptop to see the pictures there. Okay, here see this bird, the heron basking in the sun.

Captured this picture of a sunning bird in one morning. 

It was resting on a mangrove tree at the edge of the water.  If it hadn't move I would not have realized that it was there.

Suddenly there appeared another bird or was it the same bird?

Sometimes a branch might be mistaken for a creature.

Due to its color, the bird which was resting on the tangled roots of the mangrove appeared blended with the surrounding vegetation and not easily detected if there is no movement at all.

These pictures were taken a few days before me coming here.

Adelia likes this bird picture, hope you like it too.



Cheers.

A Changing Routine A Different Scenerio

Hi friends,

This is about a changing scene for me.

From this

to this

Yes, I am away from home again. And changing routine.

In the morning send Adelia to the kindergarten. At 5 fetch her back. Done this for the last five days and perhaps for many more days to come. Oh, ya. Next week is a school holiday. Looks like this holiday she will have to stay home. 

Adelia on holiday 

Adelia's kindergarten is outside the condo complex itself but it is just a 5-minute walk from the main gate. So it is better to walk than to drive. I feel a little cumbersome at first of locking and unlocking doors and of swiping card at access control, gate or entrance. Hey, I am not very familiar with this place. Looks like Adelia is a little insecure and less confident having me instead of her own mother to chaperone her. She may sense the unsteadiness and blur in me hehe.

Outside the condo complex, the road is congested with traffics and the roadside, every inch of it is occupied by parked cars. This area is so overcrowded. This is definitely not a prime location but then where in this city is not crowded?

After sending Adelia its time for some exercise. Three or four rounds of brisk walking around the multi-storey building are enough to bring out quite a lot of sweat. As I walk a steady flow of cars, one after another whizzed past, the morning rush to the office. By the time I make the third or fourth round the place would be empty and quiet except for some maintenance workers and guards.

The rest of the people here must be holed up in their own units.

Back in our unit, there's nothing much to do. No garden to water. No plants to prune. No dried leaves to rake.

The balcony is empty, Adelia's mini garden has perished. If I have to stay longer here I would start for them a balcony garden.

Nothing much to cook. Here they used to order food for dinner even for lunch on the weekend. So here I cook on the minimum. Yaey!.

Life here is a yawn but it's ok, just a little sacrifice on my part. It is for the sake of a newcomer expected to arrive very soon. 

Of course, I miss my place, my morning walk, my tennis game but then family love surpasses everything else . . .

Ok friends, till next entry.

Do My Bit

Yesterday was quite an interesting Sunday for me. Took part in a charity run organized by the Breast cancer Support Society NS.

My sister and I took part in the 3-kilometer fun run.

I would be boasting if I say it was a no sweat for me. At this age, if you start off running to compete with the youngsters you'll end up panting by the time you reach 50 meters . . . only . . . hehe, need to be calm to run or walk steadily to the finish line. My sister started slow but later overtook me and finished so much earlier. I was left behind :(

My daughter and my niece took part in the no fun 10-kilometer  run. The two were among the early finishers. Kudos to the two high spirited gals.

As the run took place on the home ground and seeing many familiar faces in the crowd I felt comfortable to stay back after my run to join their other program like the aerobics exercise and listen to a short talk on breast cancer by a breast cancer survivor. Then, of course, we waited for the lucky draw. It was worth waiting, one of us was lucky indeed :)

Had a heavy lunch while enjoying the sea breeze at the club. We thought we deserved a big lunch after burning a lot of calories earlier. In such a hot day it was nice to linger on and do nothing and just keep on sitting and talking.

But the reality of life struck. Everyone has a job or work waiting.

By late evening I was on my way to KL for family duty. As I reached the city night was falling and the air was hazy and smoky with traffic fumes. Nobody likes it including me!

How much I like my own quiet place and don't like to be away from home I just can't ignore the "sos" from family members.

Sometimes we wish our time is all for ourselves but it is noble to reserve some of our time and energy for others.

The race kits for us  

After the 10-kilometer run

Garlanded with the medal on arrival at the finish line

A person who needs care, she herself is so caring 

Till next entry, bye.

Blood-red And Beautiful

Hi friends,

The hot weather is tapering off. Yesterday was cooler as there was a quick shower in the afternoon. It was nice to go for a walking workout. The evening was dull and there was no color in the evening sky if not for the setting sun. I didn't give a miss to that big red ball. I took some pictures. I focussed and zoom at the sun only. Otherwise, I cannot get the red color as in the real.

The blood-red sun of yesterday reminded me of a time past when my two children were still in the primary school age. I quite often took my children out at a time when everybody else was rushing home.

On days when we had tennis practice, we would wait until late to see the sun "drop" itself into the sea on the horizon. The old tennis court was just next to the beach.

The sunset scene is not the same every day. Sometimes you see the sun a crisp circular glow with brilliant colors in the sky. Sometimes you see the sun as a red ball set against a dull sky. However is the situation, it's always beautiful and inspiring.

Let's zoom in

Below is the scene much earlier.

Ok, hope you like those pictures.


Till next entry, bye . . .

A Happy Encounter

It is not always possible to sight many of our avian friends if we remain static and don't travel a great deal to find their sanctuary. And that is me, only hoping for a chance encounter in the vicinity of home. 

Judging from the sound you hear, that is if you recognize them, you know they are around, but the creatures are nowhere to be seen.

Perhaps when they make a show you are too busy with your many other chores and so you miss them. It is usually the case.

Or it may be that they come out at the hours when your vision and the visibility are not at their best, eg at dusk.

Or maybe we are just walking like the zombies, straight ahead and blurred whereas the birds are perched high up at the top of trees. How could we see them?

The other day I caught a glimpse of the elusive one. I really thought so. I was not sure. I was under the tree,  the foliage over my head was quite dense.

Surprised and unexpected. On the next day as I opened the kitchen door, I saw someone was tapping on the cempaka trunk. It was just there. So near.

So my mind was not playing tricks on me the other day. It was really the woodpecker. Maybe there is a nest somewhere.

Maybe she? he? had separated from friends and got lost. And coincidently found a way into my humble blog.

Woodpeckers from afar (Pic taken last year)

Cheers and happy birding.

Beyond The Colors Of The Rainbow

Hi friends

Have you ever seen the rainbow rises from the sea?

It was striking and inspiring . . . I felt like a child . . . but lots of thoughts went beyond the rainbow   

Seeing the rainbow rising from the sea puts me in awe makes me forget about yesterday's sunset

The rainbow casts its glow over making everything looks stunning to complete the scene

It is useless to look for the end of the rainbow your hope will only run in circles. Just enjoy the colorful arc.

You can persistently try to reach forward but you can never get to catch the rainbow arch. Don't you know that in life sometimes all you get to do is watch? 

Sunshine in the rain brings the rainbow in our lives but too much of both fade the colors away 

(My apology, my pictures (unedited) don't do justice to the real scene. Happened to have only a phone camera at the time.)

We'll meet again in the next post.

Cheers.

A Walk In The Park

Hi

Besides tennis and swimming, I also walk for exercise every other day but my weight seems not to budge. And walking along the same route most of the time is no more motivational.

There is not much choice for me. Either it is by the seaside, the concrete beach trails or worse just on the treadmill. The trail along the wooded area is not so safe. The monkeys found there are becoming bold. Try to shoo them to clear the way to walk past they seem to charge at you. That makes you 😱.

This week since I am taking a few days off from my home I have the opportunity to go for walks on different routes,  by the lake and the forest parks or the hills.

Last Saturday I decided to follow the younger people to hike up the hills at the Taman Saujana Hijau Precinct 11, Putrajaya. It was quite an easy climb for me. There is a long and winding path uphill. If you want it to be more challenging you can hike up by the steeper wooden steps made on the slope or trek up between the trees which  I saw only one person doing that haha.

There is a sitemap to guide but I just walked and took the turns and follow my curiosity.

The landscape is scenic, very inspiring and so green with the conical shaped trees with needle-like leaves. Pine trees and some others which I  don't know the name. There are some beautiful palm trees and bamboos but not much flowering plants. The place is well kept and clean. 

Birds? I could hear but I could see none.

Anyway, I walked up the three hills without problem even when taking the steeper hiking trails to reach the top of the hills. Though the hills are not that high here at the top is where you get better viewpoints if you are taking photos. From the top of the hills, you can view the surrounding areas but that day during the earlier part of the walk the air was a little hazy.

Starting - easy walk on the hiking trail

Wildflowers on the hillslope 

Go higher

Take photo

By ten something it was already hot

Take a last look at the forest

I took nearly two hours going up and coming down. A good sweat though at some points it was very leisurely I must stress. Well, I dare not make my heart pump too fast :)

Walk to good health and happiness.

Cheers.