APPLE SEEDLINGS

Went shopping for apple seedlings last weekend at the local DIY...

Saw some palm trees for sale...

Eyes almost shot out of their sockets upon seeing the prices...

Almost US$150.00 for one palm tree...

Oh man... to think that I had just lopped off three of those palm trees in my garden some weeks ago...

Rugi again...

Bought two apple tree seedlings...

One Fuji and the other, Tsugaru...

They are supposed to bear fruits in about five years' time...

Meanwhile, see some fruits from my garden...

CHILLIES FROM THE GARDEN

More 'fruits' from the garden...

The chillie plants are still productive even as the November temperatures slide...

From top... everyone probably know the long beans...

Got the seeds from my mum in the kampong...

Taste very good with fish curries...

The three green ones are the regular bell peppers...

On their left are some Bhutan chillies...

Thick flesh and hot enough to burn my lips and cause me to hiccup while eating it...

Below the Bhutan chillies are some Japanese chillies...

Pretty hot but not as 'terror' as the Bhutan types...

The king of hot chillies could very well be the yellowish-orange colored habanero...

Bringing it close to the nose is good enough to experience its hot-ness...

Woooh... and I have it in my garden...

POND SITE

Started digging the pond in my garden...
(Picture is not so nice, but you get the idea... )
Still have lots to do...
Least of all, the electric fixtures and all...
Plan to have it operating by next summer...
I see water lilies and lotuses gently swaying...
And comet goldfishes gracefully a-swimming...
(See related story here)

BROKEN PIPE, COW DUNG, & SMELLY BODY

Had quite a handful to do in the garden over the weekend...

Counted the trees that need pruning...

Big trees of up to three meters... about 40...

Smaller trees of about one meter... about 30...

But that can wait a while...

In front of the terrace is a sizeable tract of azaleas...

My better half wants to make a Herb Garden out of it...

So the honor fell on the shoulders of yours truly to dig out all the azaleas, about fifty of them...

One by one... manually...

Thought of just 'killing' them off...

But, decided to transfer them to the slopes on the eastern side of the garden.

The rains came...

Working indoors, I cleared up the stuff in the storeroom...

Even got time to repair the puncture of my sweetheart's bicycle...

When the rains stopped, I resume the work at the garden...

Was trying to remove one rather huge azalea stump...

Had to use all my might to plunge the hoe into its base...

When suddenly, I hit something...

Next thing we saw was gushing water...

Oh oh... the water pipe...

Had to quit immediately and head for the hardware shop...

Got the pipe fixed before the sun set on me...

First experience to DIY a pipe leak...

But we could not open the main pipe for 12 hours...

Hence, no shower for the day...

Imagine, I was sweating like a doggo the whole day...

And of course, no water for cooking too...

We bought sushi from the supermarket...

After dinner, asked for two pails of water from a neighbor for brushing teeth, washing face, and wiping the body...

The following day, I managed to dig out all the azaleas...

Cleared the bamboo grass, lalang roots and other debris...

Thought I would not see the persistent lalang anymore after I left my kampong decades ago...

Could not find any use for it although I heard from my brother that its hardy roots are sold as 'Chinese traditional medicine'...

But bamboo grass... I translated them into a broom for outdoor usage...

Then, mixed some natural fertilizer (fermented cow dung, that is) into the plot...

Got it ready for herb-planting...

Scored quite a few points as my better half was pretty impressed by my efforts over the weekend...

Meanwhile, over at the vegetable plot, the seedlings are growing well...

Heheheheeee...

CATERPILLAR ON THE PROWL

Found tens of small greenish caterpillars one morning...
Tried to remove them all, but...
Presently, about 5 or 6 are chewing away the fennel stalks & seeds...
Wifey says, let's spare them...
and see what beautiful butterflies they evolve to be...
(Size about three to four centimeters)

BLACK BUG WITH WHITE SPOTS

Saw this guy resting on a mulberry leaf (I think...) one morning in my garden.
I have never seen this bug before and I am clueless about its name and its life cycle.
I was just admiring its sheer beauty... until it had enough of my staring and clicking and went off hiding under the leaves... body length about 3 centimeters...
Scroll down Patrick’s Sanzen-in Temple post to see a red version of two bugs...

Gazanias

Got a bunch of gazania seedlings from a friend last year. Just plunked them into the garden with minimum care. Was rewarded with bright, healthy yellow flowers every day since.

The gazania... ‘A typical daisy like flower up to about 10cm across, they are commonly banded with a dark zone around the central disc. Some types may have linear petal strips also. Colours vary from white, cream, yellow, gold, orange to the very dark reds, pale to dark lilac variations are possible also. Flowers are produced on stems up to 25cm in length, these close in the evening or on dark overcast days. Leaves turn upwards at night.’ (Text from Plantfacts.com).

Three poppies

Three poppies (C) Lrong Lim

Poppies are normally the first flowers to pop out in early spring. These orange poppies are 'semi-wild' as they are found all over the place. Don't think we can get any opium from them, but may try to harvest the poppy seeds, sprinkle them over my breakfast yogurt, and check out its taste. Olympus C5050, aperture priority, F2 at 400, ISO64

Got up at five this morning.

These days, the air is so dry that I wear a surgical mask to sleep.

Still, I wake up with my nose and mouth feeling 'super-dry'.

Took my usual morning stroll in the mini plot of flowers and vegetables down from my apartment.

It is so refreshing to look at the flowers, especially when the morning sun is shining at a low angle.

This morning, I could not help running up the stairs to grab my camera for some shots.

There are 17 blocks of apartment inhabited by government officials, but almost none, besides me (ahem...) took the 'trouble' to use the empty plot of land that lies in front of every block.

Three times a year, we congregate to cut the grass in our respective plots.

It is a pain in the butt, actually.

Been cultivating the flowers and veggies on a portion of the plot for a while now.

Last Sunday, decided to extend the size of the plot.

The other guys in my block must be secretly cheering me on, for the simple reason that there is now less grass for them to cut.

Am planning to plant a bunch of carrots and white turnips there.

Sakura in full bloom

Somei-yoshino sakura in full glory (C) Lrong Lim

As usual, the Japanese are going nuts over the sakuras.

Each year, the whole country seems to be gripped in high suspense as to when the first flower will bloom.

Predictions of the first bloom are generously made in the mass media and when the first petal opens, pundits will deliberate the 'sakura front', detailing the wave of blooms from prefectures in the south to the north.

As if on cue, the Japanese would dash to the parks, jostling to secure the best spot to place their ground mats to party deep into the evening.

It normally takes about a week to reach full bloom after the opening of the first petals.

This year however, due to the somewhat unusual rise in temperature, it took just about three or four days to full bloom.

My favorite lunch spot in town is a Japanese restaurant that specializes in seafood from the Japan Inland Sea.

The shop refers to lady customers as 'sakuras', to differentiate them from greedy men like me who are normally served larger portions of rice.

Initially, I was curious.

Sakuras are pretty flowers.

So, I expected to see some sweet looking, petite office ladies, sitting demurely at the tables, waiting to be served quaint little dishes on mickey mouse trays.

But more often than not, I was disappointed.

Many of those 'sakuras' actually look more like 'dry flowers', or some, even, 'wilted flowers'.

The weatherman says the rains are coming late today.

Come tomorrow, sakuras will be no more.

What's left at the park will be a carpet of pinkish-white petals of wilted flowers...

A novice... but a gardener no doubt...

Fresh radish (C) Lrong Lim

The temperature dips to just below zero in the early mornings.
It is cold, at least for a warm-blooded Kedahan like me.
Been trying out gardening for the last three or four years.
Lots of failures, but lots of fun too.
The current winter cold is a little too harsh on my cute little veggies, except for the red radish as shown above.
As salads, they tasted really fresh and crunchy... delicious...
One of my pals said, why waste your time gardening when you can easily and cheaply buy any veggie you want from the market?
True, true...
But it is the fun of doing it, and the joy of 'having to learn' the ropes of cultivating... chemical-free, that is...
Through the seasons, I see butterflies hovering... colorful little birds perched on the fragile bamboo fence... and the mantis, voraciously devouring the grasshopper...
I love it...