Something new..

The rainy is season is definitely here. Lately, we have morning rains,...and evening...which is cool, no need to water the plants! But the heavy downpour do a bit of damage to some of the delicate flowers and plants like my first try at batek bayams (red n green spinachs) and a few of my perinwinkles. They dont stand a chance and started to rot in the rain!

My consolations are the sunflowers are finally blooming and I harvested my first vegetables...eggplants and chillies afer months of waiting!

my very first harvest...went into the pot to make dalcha

hot chili padi....for sambal belachan

my first eggplant seedlings given by a friend who has too many

in her garden

sunflower seedlings...seeds given by Bangchik



the bud showing...but I dont understand why some of
the leaves on my sunflowers are crinkly.....a disease?




getting bigger....







finally!

two plants are already blooming!

But my sunflowers are not the tall version like Bangchik's. They are the smaller version...about 1 - 1 1/2 feet tall. I have seen these type in some of the nurseries in Sg Buloh. Or maybe mine are not as healthy as his! 2 of the plants have rotted in the rain and Im left with only 4 but still have those seeds to be planted again soon. Anyway, I still love them and they are looking great in one corner of my garden!



Now Im wondering whether I can just leave my eggplants to flower and fruit again with more fertiliser added to them or should I just remove them and replant?

A gardening game

Thank you Kitchen Flavours / My Little Potted Garden for inviting me to this great game where you not only can link up and keep an update on garden bloggers all over the world, you can also have lots of garden tips when reading their blogs. Then you have to list down 10 things you love to do. The next step is to invite another 10 bloggers to join in the game. Have fun everybody!


10 things I love to do:-


1. Of course its gardening! Love it since I was in primary school planting my first vegetable by
accident, the cherry tomatoes, must have just threw the seeds into a broken stainless steel
pot and walla! I got endless supplies of cute little tomatoes for curries, masak kicap and
salads! Then my first flowering plant...bunga tahi ayam (marigold) with abundant supply of
their name sake which kept them healthy and lush with big orange flowers! I was so proud
of myself back then..the only kid growing plants on the block..Love to surround myself with
plants and beautiful flowers!





2. My marigold became the next step to my next love...flower arrangement! Entered them for
flower competitions 2 years in a row in my school...and won! I remembered the first time I
gave the arrangement the name "Apollo 13" with 13 big orange marigold in between a
banana leave shoot coming down in a semi-spiral...From then on I got hooked on flowers and
I even worked in a florist at SOGO once just for fun!





3. My love of flowers, plants and their beauty give me the creativity to create art and crafts,
drawings, painting, in mediums like porcelain painting, water colours. dried flowers
arrangements. I just love the arts! especially for occasions like weddings, family parties or
just small personal gifts to family and friends.

4. I love to travel now that my sons have all grown up and independent, give me time to explore

other places in Malaysia and abroad when my purse string permits..the rich culture

and history of places I read before in my geography books! So far I have been to Turkey,
Jeddah, Medinna, Mecca, Phuket, Jakarta, Bandung and all the states in Malaysia. Usually
I will travel with a good friend Noni.





5. Eating! Travelling will give me big appetite and forget about my dieting! I want to sample all
the local food at that particular place I visit. Noni and I especially enjoyed our first trip
abroad together to Turkey becos of their delicious and wonderful local cuisines!





6. Decorating the house was my passion since I was in secondary school, living out in one or
two-rooms police barracks most of the time. Always moving the megre furniture around to
make it look more spacious, decorating it with fresh flowers in labu sayong, scrubbing the
cement floors with powdered clorox to make it whiter than white! haha...Attended
workshops on interior decorating but no formal education.

7. Since I love eating.. I love to cook too but not a very good cook. But good enough to feed my

3 healthy sons, family and close friends especially during family gatherings and celebrations

like Hari Raya. But Im completely, utterly hopeless at baking! My bad experience during
secondary school, when a birthday cake turned out floppy in the middle, put me off baking
since! Still I attended workshops by famous chefs..but never have the guts to try them at
home!





8. I love the movies...Hollywood! Will go and see them at the cinemas if time permits with Noni
or just be a potato couch at home in front of the tv. Love romantic-comedy, costumed/period
movies, animated movies, dramas, adventures but not too much violent and gore in them. And
also local theatres at Istana Budaya.




9. Love to read when Im not watching movies on tv. Old period novels, historical biographies,
Hollywood movie stars magazines (my passion since secondary school), flower arrangements,
interior decorating magazines, detective stories, National Geographic, Readers Digest or any
good novels that I can read without feeling bored after 10 minutes.





10. Surfing the net...reading blogs from all over the world about gardening, social, arts, political
etc.

My 10 new invites to the gardening game:-

1. My Rustic Bajan Garden (Helen) - Barbados

2. Mastering Hoticulture (Helen Lewis) - USA

3. Little Garden Helpers (Garden Mum) - USA

4. Dung Hoe Garden (Rosey Pollen) - USA

5. Trees, Plants & More (Arati) - India

6. WalizGarden (Waliz) - Malaysia

7. MyJourney (Rainfield61) - Malaysia

8. Dari Lensa Kelabu (Madisyak) - Malaysia

9. Rosmerahputeh (Johana) - Malaysia

10. Garden Chronicles (James Missier) - Malaysia

HAPPY GARDENING!!!!

After a long break..a nice surprise!

Im back after a long break! Thank you fellow bloggers for wishing me happy holidays and Selamat Hari Raya. Couldn't get enough of ketupat, rendang, kuah kacang and serunding yet even with endless open houses! No...Im not gorging myself...just sampling a bit of everything of all the sumptious food, food, glorious food! Then back to fasting again (6 days of Shawal)....

And...back to old routine...gardening! No Bangchik, didn't leave my plants for the moon and the stars to look after them haha.....the rain, the rain, the rain, such a welcomed relief! A nice surprise too when I saw my grape vines bearing a little bunch of green fruits, a second time after last December! This time, I counted more than 10 grapes in that bunch, compared to two the last time...haha..My fault cos I have been neglecting them last year. So the hot, blazing sun and the rains, with a bit of tender loving care, really do wonders after all!!!!

a nice surprise

grape vines covering the arbor provides good

shade for my potted plants

there!...my lovely grapes..

Hope to see more clusters of grapes next year!

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays to everybody, Muslims or Non-Muslims in Malaysia!

Tomorrow is a celebration for all Muslims after a month long stint of fasting.

SELAMAT MENYAMBUT HARI RAYA AIDILFITRI

MAAF ZAHIR BATIN.