Monday, October 24, 2005

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)

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

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...