Tag Archives: garden

MCO, Day 3

20 Mar

We have been under Movement Control Order (MCO) as instructed by the government and today is Day 3. I must say it has been good so far. I wake up when I am done sleeping. Then I have my tea at a leisurely pace because I don’t have to get ready for work to face the challenges ahead.

The number one worry-free plus point from this experience: no stress over the car next to our reserved parking lot at the office. The lady driver always, without fail, parks her car very close to our lot (and not in the center of hers) whenever she arrives before us, thus giving me very little room to get out of my car. A two weeks’ break from this daily annoyance is certainly welcomed.

We’ve been enjoying the comforts of home as I spent most of my time carving whilst hubby would be out in the garden tending to his plants. In between, I have been preparing meals and doing some light chores around the house. So domesticated. Hahaha…

My daily routine now: carving Whales

After lunch, I carved. And carved and carved. Then I would get dinner ready. The best part, we have been having pre- and post-dinner drinks more often than before. Whiskey, gin, wine and beer… we’re doing it all.

Then it’s Netflix all the way until bedtime. And this routine will be repeated day in, day out until the end of the month.

The downside from this partial lockdown: no golf until the end of the month as well! We contemplated taking walks in the evenings to address the exercise portion of our lives. Hmm… then again, doing house chores is exercising too.

The upcoming weekend may see a break in pattern or most likely not. Everyday feels like a weekend now. And so far so good, we are still sane.

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Borderless Love, Part 2

13 Mar

It was drizzling and gloomy when we got home. And I had dinner to prepare in the kitchen, so I got things going. Hubby went to the garden and our adopted pet, the Golden Retriever from next door heard him somehow.

The adorable fluff ball dashed out of his house for a quick love pet and exchange.

However the fleeting moment was interrupted. His mom called out to him and reprimanded him for the sudden escape into the drizzling condition. I guess she doesn’t know he’s sneaking out for love pets from us. Heheh… So the poor fella had no choice but to go back indoors. Awww…

But he got his happy love exchange, hubby did too and I didn’t. Shucks.

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It’s a Rufous!

6 Mar

Last week, as we were getting ready to go out, I thought I’d checked the hole in the staghorn for no apparent reason. Suddenly, a little brown head popped out from it and scared the daylights out of me! I think likewise, the bird had a scare too.

I managed to have a good look at the bird as it flew away and can vouch it’s a Rufous Woodpecker. I saw enough pictures of the species on the internet when I was googling up the possibilities upon discovery of the woodpecker. So it’s good our feathered friend did not abandon the hole that he made.

Maybe in due course, there will be a family? We have to be cautious when approaching the staghorn especially when raking the leaves in order not to scare the woodpecker or ourselves in the future.

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Borderless Love

3 Mar

We have a new pet! Sort of… The Golden Retriever actually belongs to our neighbor and he sure is a friendly one. Every now and then, he would come sit at the border between our houses and stares longingly into our garden.

And whenever hubby is out there with his plants, hubby would stretch over to give the adorable dog some love – scratching and petting the head, massaging and tickling the neck, and at the same time, absorb some doggy love in return. I do the same too if I am out in the garden and see the chummy canine.

Once the exchange is over, our adopted pet would saunter back inside his house and we’d go about our routine. I find this unexpected ‘arrangement’ rather therapeutic. While we sometimes long to have another four-legged furry ball to replace our beloved English Bulldog, the thought of the long term commitment makes us rethink again.

So for now, we are perfectly happy with our adopted pet, the Golden Retriever from next door, with his borderless love for us.

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Look at that face, so adorable!

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The Lazy Woodpecker, Part 2

28 Feb

It seems that the woodpecker is a family bird, that’s why it was creating a comfortable soft cavity for a nest! Although I managed to take a picture of it, I could not see the coloring and features clearly. It flew away when I attempted to get closer.

But from what hubby described and a quick check on the internet, it resembled a Rufous Woodpecker, a species that can be found in our region. We could be wrong though. Anyway, this was a male woodpecker and typical of them to excavate a home for the missus.

While woodpeckers may be good for the ecosystem, they do not bode well with nature lovers (hubby here in this context) because they destroy the plants/trees with their pecking. Case in point the staghorn now has an ugly huge gaping hole on its shield frond.

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See the fella napping inside the deep cavity of the staghorn fern? Zzzz…

And after our discovery of it sleeping inside the staghorn that Sunday night, we have not seen the woodpecker since! We wouldn’t mind if the staghorn was used as a nest but to destroy it and then abandon without use, hrmph… I’m not pleased too.

Well, I guess we cannot reverse the situation and only hope the woodpecker will come back to use the cavity for nesting.

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The Lazy Woodpecker

25 Feb

Hubby saw a woodpecker on Sunday morning and he was not pleased. The woodpecker was pecking away at his (hubby’s) prized staghorn hanging on the tree in front of the house.

Now isn’t a woodpecker supposed to be pecking at a tree and not a fern? What a lazy woodpecker, going about his business with an easy soft surface instead of the usual hard wood.

I managed to get a picture of it before it flew away. And the damage to the fern, holy moly… quite a deep hole. I hope the staghorn can be saved.

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Just look at the depth of the hole!

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Spot the Caterpillar

13 Jan

My fascination with caterpillars subsided when there wasn’t anymore to be discovered. Partly also, I’ve stopped going out to the garden to specifically look for them because the mozzies would get to my arms and legs.

The two potted plants at the front of the house do not seem to have anymore caterpillars too until recently. It was discovered quite accidentally.

A rather unusual species this time, see if you can spot the caterpillar. I’ll give you a hint: it’s not green and its scientific name is the Geometridae family.

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Fly Little One, Part 2

13 Dec

Yesterday we thought with the date being 12/12, it would be good to release our feathered friend. It was only a matter of time as it has been eating well and getting stronger by the day. Each time when hubby held it in his hands, he could feel the strength and resistance from the little one.

And amazingly that morning, a flock of adult birds of the same species gathered in the garden as if sensing the significant occasion. I could even sense their anticipation of the young newbie joining them.

The flock then dispersed from the ground only to perch on the roof of the neighboring house like a gallery to observe the moment. Hubby then reached for our feathered friend inside the cage and raised his hand to let it take off.

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Mom, Dad, Grandpa, Grandma and friend, cousin, sibling?

And take off it did… for only about five feet and then it crashed into the bushes. Ouch! We rescued it to give it another booster but it crashed into the bamboo blinds and fell onto a plant. Double ouch!

I think it got a little dazed by this unexpected mishap. Clearly, the little one was not quite ready yet to take flight. We had actually stopped feeding it the night before in case it got too heavy.

Nevertheless we left it inside the holding cage instead of the usual tighter security basket that was a tad too confining before we left for the office. We thought a little more space and opportunity to exercise, walk around and flap its wings would be good before the next release.

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Not the tightest in security to prevent an escape

That evening when we got home, our feathered friend was gone. Escaped from the confines and flew away to be with the others. We were not sad but a little surprised it could squeeze through. Then again, the cage wasn’t the tightest in security with the such gaps. We took a chance.

This morning, we did not see it nor the others. It is probably enjoying the new found freedom and family. Maybe it will visit. Who knows?

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Fly Little One

9 Dec

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A week ago, we ‘adopted’ this little fella

Last week, we had an unexpected guest – a baby bird. It fell onto our neighbour’s side of the garden when it was learning how to fly. Luckily hubby rescued our feathered friend before the neighbour’s dog discovered it. We decided to nurse it until it got stronger to be able to take flight. Mummy Bird has been nearby ever since the accident, keeping an eye on us I suppose.

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It’s actually quite a cutie

Over the next few days, we cared for our little feathered friend, feeding it little worms for breakfast and dinner. And it has been eating well, delighting the both of us.

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Getting stronger, it has progressed to eating bird seeds now

It’s been a week already and soon, we will be letting it go. Once it is strong enough and able to fly, we will definitely miss our unexpected temporary pet.

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In Memory of…

11 Nov

Today would have been official pet number one’s 12th birthday. Sniffle…

It’s been a month since Rooney’s passing. How time flies! There are days when we get home, I find myself looking out for him expecting a patch of fur lying at the garden terrace when I open the front door. But he’s not there….

We have been keeping busy so that we don’t think too much of the loss. The house has been rather quiet sans the barking or the act of talking to a pet who was literally our third child, our baby. To overcome this, I find myself playing music more often than ever on my iPhone XR. Sometimes I would up the volume on Spotify’s choices for me or simply blast my Music’s playlist so that it’s not so quiet. Sigh…

Happy birthday Roo, you’re in a better place but always in our thoughts and hearts.

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