Usually, on the golf course, we encounter all sorts of creatures. Never in my life would I think I would see otters, though, at a golf course other than at the zoo.
On Tuesday, during my weekly weekday golf game, we saw a family of otters scurrying across the fairway right in front of us!
I maxed out the zoom-in feature on my iPhone XR to capture this!
Six of them in the pack were running from Hole 11 at the Lakes course onwards to Hole 8 when we just teed off. Then, as we drove the buggy along the cart path, they jumped into the pond nearby only to surface and romp across to the adjacent Hole 7. What a delightful encounter!
Now that I finally finished DIY project number 17, I am planning the next one, the 21st project. When I put aside number 17, I had moved on with three other projects. Hence, the latest one to do is number 21. And I also purchased two more sets! When will I ever stop buying them, I wonder?
The latest purchases
It is a toss-up now between these two and the other sets that I have in my never-dwindling stash. Hmm. Should I work on a regular-sized miniature, the latest purchases, or even, the tiniest of the lot, a miniature in a tin box? Decisions, decisions.
DIY project number 17 is finally a wrap! Dang, this project is by far the longest one that I have taken. There were so many hiccups along the way in so many forms. Time management and the appeal of the tasks in hand were the two main reasons that stalled the progress, as in housework, cooking, golf, clay work, and mini plants to make.
The original versionMy version with the Little Guy enjoying the setup
Along the way, I did not like what I had to do, so I changed the layout, color scheme, and pieces to put the whole set together. In the end, I must say I like what I have done, so this made up for the duration I took.
Well, now that it is a wrap, I can finally move on to the next project!
DIY project number 17 is moving, albeit slowly, very slowly. The tasks for this set that were not appealing to me were the plants and clay work. I managed to rope in M1 to help on the clay work, and thankfully, she obliged. But the plants I have to manage on my own.
Tedious working on plants
I want to finish this project up because it is taking far too long.
The vegetables have pulled a fast one on us! When we least expected it, the okra sprouted last week, and it looks so healthy. Such excitement we felt despite being only one okra to show after all this while.
The first growth, and another coming out
Two days later, there was another one coming out. Yay!
Yay! Two okras!!!
I look forward to seeing more okras sprouting out. As for the mini brinjal, it is only a matter of time before something shows.
Hubby decided to transfer the growing mini brinjals from the planter box to the garden. And the best place is at the pineapple patch with lots of sun and breeze.
Pineapples take forever to grow, and thus, having vegetables in the premium spot makes more sense. He relocated several pineapples to other areas in the garden to make space for the mini brinjals.
A good mess
And now, the pineapple patch is a little messy with so many types of plants growing. It’s okay to be unorganized when you know the yield will be a good one to savor.
Over the weekend, we had our first dine-in at a restaurant after five months of staying home in a lockdown state. And it was a strange feeling yet, at the same time, liberating.
We chose to have Japanese food because this was one food that we never ordered for delivery nor prepared at home. Sashimi is something one must eat fresh and served on a mountain of ice to stay fresh. To even think of having it delivered is out of the question – what more attempting to prepare sashimi at home. So it was a good choice.
I downed half my beer before remembering to take a picture! Oops.
Getting into the restaurant at the mall was according to the protocol: face mask on, check-in with the locator app for contact tracing, taking our temperature, and being seated one meter away from another table.
It was nice to sit in a restaurant, instead of at home, with a cold beer and enjoy a different menu, but will we do it again, eating out, that is?
I guess we will as cases are on the decline and most of the population are vaccinated already. The government has also declared that the country is now in an endemic stage. With the economy fully opened and interstate travel now being allowed, dining out in fear is a thing of the past. Life must go on with as much normalcy as possible from here on.
I started playing two new games recently, and they have become my new addiction. The games are Tsuki’s Odyssey and Tsuki Adventure. Both games have the same character, a little bunny called Tsuki, but the graphic renderings are different in the scenarios. Nonetheless, both appeal to me, and I spend so much time with Tsuki these days.
As such, DIY project number 17, which I went back to attempt to complete, is going ever so slowly. Suddenly crafting miniatures is not a priority anymore and has taken a backseat because I am constantly collecting carrots for Tsuki in both games. Will this new addiction wear off?
The habanero plants are gone, and in its place is a more palatable chili plant. The habaneros were too spicy for us. So no point in planting something that we cannot eat. And lately, there’s been a new visitor to our garden to enjoy the chili as well.
The new chili plant has provided lots of chilis, and now and then, we will give our bumper harvests to our neighbors, friends, and family. Sometimes if hubby does not harvest the chili, the Chili Reaper comes along to eat the chili!
The Chili Reaper is specifically the Yellow-vented Bulbul, and this bird eats only the red chilis! Not the green ones but the red ones. It would perch on the branches and peck away at the ripe chilis.
The Bulbul chili reaper!
I can’t decide whether it is a friend or foe. After all, the chili is in abundance. But it irks us that the bird gets the first choice on the red chilis. Then again, this is one garden visitor who does not wait on us to feed them–like the doves–it just helps itself to what the garden has to offer.
Angieneering 
Remarks