Outdoor Wednesday - Enjoying morning walk with fauna and flora

Before it rains this morning, I had my usual morning walk after a week break. Morning walk is now a luxury since Im babysitting my grandson. The sky was a bit cloudy which made the air on the slopes cool and crisp. The monkeys were out and about looking for food or just sitting around enjoying each other's company.

spotted theses two couples grooming and looking for lice on each other's back..

a mother with its baby clinging for dear life under the belly, running away when I came near

another 2 young ones foraging the area for food left by walkers every evening

the gently sloping greens of a Golf Club nearby

early morning golfers

ferns in abundance on the hill slopes by the roadside binding and holding on to the soil which ultimately will prevent erosion

a small man-made pond on the ground of the club with lots of pink blooms of lotus covering it

On the way back, spotted these geeses near some houses there, nearly got chased away when I went too near to get their photos!

Along the way, couldnt help be fascinated by the trailing Thunbergia Lauriflora on the polycarbonate roof of a porch...they looked so pretty
Thunbergia Lauriflora were also spotted on some trees by the roadside near the slopes, Im not sure whether these were growing wild there or were planted by the Golf Club

a dragonfly on my aloevera plant (lidah buaya)

another red one perching on one of the water plants on my pond

a whitish looking caterpillar on my water spinach (kangkung)

one of the common yellow butterflies seen in my garden having a rest on a periwinkle one on the tomato plant

are these the dreaded red bugs which invaded Bangchik's garden...though not that many near my pumpkin patch but still they did some damage to the leaves

Im linking this to Susan's A Southern Daydreamer for hosting an Outdoor Wednesday. Lets see whats her story today.

Wildflower Wednesday - Pretty Wild Things

Not sure whether these are called Native Plants but to my sometimes blur eyes, they are really pretty wild things! Here we called them WEEDS!

Fountain grass - in great abundance near the river bank behind my backyard

tiny wild morning glory

Asystasia sp. - a very common weed

Star of Bethelham also shown on my last post

tiny daisy-like bloom or looking like miniature sunflower is called Singapore daisy

Ruellia tuberosa (wild petunia)

Those wild things grace corners of my garden and backyard which definitely dont go unnoticed and Im taking a very keen interest of their presence.
Im sure you agree with me, those sweet tiny blooms are pretty. Even if they are just WEEDS, which will be yanked by me later on or are cut mercilessly by a Bangladeshi I hired once a month.

Im linking this to Gail's Clay and Limestone - Wildflower Wednesday Celebration. Hop over there to see some spectacular wildflowers in her garden!

ENJOY!

Another round of roselles and greens

The 3 roselles plants I had in my veggie patch have been very productive indeed with more fruits after every harvest. This time I got 50 or so of the red fruits and I managed to make 1.5 litre of roselle juice! So refreshing in these hot weather! The same goes for the new 4 okra plants which give 3 or 4 okras every other day!

freshly picked okras, roselles fruits and 2 sprigs of Thai basils for my Hot Basil Squids

The extra okras I gave to Noni and my son's MIL when they came for a visit. The rest were blanched and with Ulam Raja (cosmos caudatus shoots) were eaten with sambal belacan for lunch with the Hot Basil squids and a grilled fish...

Today's harvest of the last pak choy (white stem), some kangkungs (water spinach), kacang renek (they seemed to look like long beans but they dont climb like them though) and long beans, more okras and sayur manis/cekur manis....for tomorrow's or next day's lunch! The cekur manis I will mix with pumpkin and its shoots to cook sayur lemak (veggies in coconut milk) - its one of my favourite dish.

2 pots of newly planted beans were attacked by swarms of aphids...looking at them makes my hair stands. Manually squeezed them everyday, though the next day they will be there again, it was so frustrating! But then when I put some eggshells in the pots, they seemed to dissappear althogether! Well...they didnt dissappear forever, but came back after a few days though this time, it was less than before.

Ulam Raja shoots (cosmos caudatus) tastes and smell a bit like mint and green apple.

I was introduced to them by my Grandma when I was a kid. The picture of a small field of green leaves and sweet pink blooms besides her house in Sitiawan were one of my happy childhood memories. When I introduced Ulam Raja to my youngest son to eat as herbal salad with sambal belacan, he loved it and have been asking for the shoots everyday to eat with his lunch or dinner!

sayur manis/cekur manis before harvesting

A lush bush of Thai basil given 3 sprigs originally by my friend Noni, though now hers has since perished - are my source of fresh herbs in some simple Thai cuisines like Hot Basil squids/prawns or Manggo/Papaya salads....love their fresh fragrance!

next harvest of spinachs/amaranthus



So happy gardening to all!

June 2011 GBBD - Blooming Snake Gourds

Its been a while since I joined in the monthly Garden Bloggers' Blooming Day hosted by Carol of MayDreamsGarden.
I was pretty busy with so many things besides gardening...being a first time Grandma and all! So today Im posting some photos of whats blooming in my garden though not all the flowers since I have shown them before in previous posts.

Im fascinated with the delicate blooms of snake gourds (Trichosanthes cucumerina) , their white lacy flowers are nature's work of art. At the moment they are blooming profusely in my veggie patch which I hope will be able to see at least one fruit in my pot soon!

the delicate lacy white petals reminded me of a ballerina's tutu...

the new bud is white but slowly will turn very pale pink/peach as it opens up...

male flowers of the snake gourd

the female flower which will grow as gourd later if its polinated or else it will just drop off

more female blooms

new flower buds coming up

snake gourds so called because of its shape - longish like a snake, here shown the plants are supported by trellis or poles
I was sure I planted bitter gourds or angled luffa but then they turned out to be snake gourds when they started showing their delicate lacy flowers (thanks to Antara of Garden Jewels)

a sweet frangrance is coming from my pink/white Plumeria Acuminata (pointed frangipani)

these tiny 'morning glory' are in fact the Jacquemontia Pentantha fighting for climbing space with their big momma the Morning glory on the chain fence

Yellow Walking Iris

this tiny white flower is the star of Bethleham (Laurentia Longiflora) although considered as a minor weed, I love seeing these in my garden which at first I mistook it to be the herb rocket as the leaves are similar

I just love the double layered bunga talang or the sweet peas looking like miniature blue roses, also competing for climbing space with the morning glory and the tiny Jacquemontia - all blue in colour!

....and last but not least, the pink Rain Lily is blooming after the rain yesterday


Go over to Carol's blog to see whats blooming in her garden this June.