No Bed of Roses

Lemme share with you some pictures of roses and jasmine harvest from my garden. Hope they will make your day.:-)

Should I Be Happy of Sad?

Remember my Nam Dok Mai mango tree? 

It started to flower last February and I saw about 20-something baby mangoes were in the making. 

In no time, they were growing into this size.

 I was starting to imagine the great harvest this season, 

but the proverb that says, 'Don't count your chicken before they hatched' was proved to be true for me because...

 I did a HUGE mistake ever! 

I was being too ambitious and sprayed some liquid fertilizer 

to the tree. As the result: new shoots were coming out and 

competed with the growing fruit for nutrients and water,

 and caused premature fruit drop! From the 20-something fruit, only 5 survived and are still growing.

 These are some premature fruit that drop from about 12-14 with sizes ranging from 3-8 cm long. Rather than letting them go to waste, I turned them into pickles which recipe will be shared in another post. Well, I learned my lesson hardly this time!

Planting Grapes from Seeds

 Last February, I tried germinating grape seeds from the 

store-bought grapes—red globe grapes and black grapes. 

I have always wanted some vines 'cause our tropical weather is perfect to plant grapes. Yet, you know that germinating grape seeds are a bit tricky as they need stratification process etc., 

just like berry seeds.

I had tried stratification process to some berry seeds I bought but none was successful. So, this time I just skip it. 

I planted them right away in my Kale bed. 

I was planning to just give it a shot.

To my surprise, two of them grows in that bed and 2 more in the seedling pots I put indoors.

I haven't repotted these two since they're still too small and frail. I'll let them grow to as high as 10-15 cm before repotting them, but I have repotted the other two and have taken them outdoors and put them at the corner so they can adjust with the heat and weather but still have some shades to protect them from the afternoon sun.

Well, we'll see how it goes. I'll keep you updated! :-)

My New Babies Part 3

Hello, back with Baby Blue and Elmo again!

During daytime, I let them out to play and socialize. During this time also, I introduce them to different food besides their staple 'mixed seeds'. I let them try sweet corn, broccoli, beans, long beans, carrots and apples. They don't really eat much but my mission is to get them familiar with fresh veggies and fruit. And I think this mission was accomplished.

My other mission was to make them get along to each other. 

Look at how cute they are in the above pictures. 

At the same time that also expresses how they  sometimes turned their faces away from each other. 

Actually, I have felt content with only two birds, 

Baby Blue and Elmo. Though, they sometimes fight but so far I can see that they're quite connected to each other. 

Until one day I saw something inappropriate...

Baby Blue was trying to mount Elmo!!!

I've seen from the Internet that a parakeet can practically mate a Lovebird but they are unlikely to have offspring out of that relationship since they are different species. 

I was really perplexed. 

Could it be that Elmo is actually a female? 

I don't have the answer.

But I know what I should do...

And after several days... 

taaaa daaaaa....

I bring Goldie home!

I've noticed Goldie at the Bird Seller for sometime. She is a quite active and cheerful female among others. She's also younger than her peers in the cage. She has only one shortfall, one of her toes is deformed. It could be a birth defect or caused by an assault 

from other birds. 

But the point is, this defect will prohibit her from being purchased as she is not considered impeccable.

This was one of the determining factors which led me to decide to purchase her, besides her personal characters which I believe will be compatible with Baby Blue who is a gentle and kind bird.

See, I act like a mother, picking her daughter in law!

 Haha... just kidding! :-)

But surely, choosing your pet carefully(which is translated into their characters)is an unwritten laws, since I have had a not so good experience with Snowy before!

You better make sure that they have good characters and can get along with others, including their masters! 

So, here is Baby Blue with her new Bride. And Goldie was the name that popped up in my mind the first time I brought her home. I also called her Chica, 'cause her face and color reminds me of a chick. And Chica also a word in Spanish which means girl.

Surely Baby Blue is the happiest Parakeet on earth right now. 

Ever since Goldie was brought home, he was very clingy to her, always trying to feed or preen her.
He's such a good gentleman. 

He did try to mate her, but she refused... 

and she still refuses until now. 

Maybe she needs time, or maybe she's not mature enough yet. 

And I see that Baby Blue has been kind and gracious. 

He didn't force himself on her, but make an effort to bond with her.

What a sweet guy! :-)

My Amaryllis finally blooms!

Please enjoy the breathtaking beauty of my blooming Amaryllis!

I was waiting in anticipation as the stem and bud emerged from 

among the leaves. Finally the time has come for this frail plant 

to bloom. 

I got this baby Amaryllis plant, which emerged from the side of the mother plant, from a good friend. She told me that this was a beautiful flower but she didn't even know the name. 

From the shape of the strappy leaves I thought it's familiar so I googled it and was sure enough, that it is indeed an Amaryllis!

Only, I didn't know what color will the flowers be. 

So, it's like a mother expecting for the baby to be born without knowing the sex of the baby! 

What an exciting and worthwhile anticipation!

  

 I think it belongs to the Snowflake variety. I especially love the pink color and and the strips pattern on the petals.

There are about five buds in one stem which grows to each direction. The flowers only stay fresh shortly, then it will start to fade and whither. This reminds me of a parallel from the proverbs saying that the beauty of girls are like flowers which fades quickly!
 That's very true too.

Anyway, Amaryllis is commonly planted indoors, but I planted it outside, facing the south, against the wall. So, maybe that's why the blooms can't stay longer due to the exposure of the Sun and rain.

Well, till next time!