Nature

It’s Saturday afternoon and the clouds have taken over but I don’t mind. They suit my mood and frankly, I think some rain would be lovely. I spent the day doing some badly-needed spring cleaning and have the sore muscles to prove it. But at the moment, I am consoling myself with a cocktail and listening to some music as the pre-Preakness Stakes festivities air on our local television channel in Baltimore. Later in the afternoon, I went out and bought myself a hanging basket to cheer up the little back porch area. I’ll be working on that tomorrow, even if it rains. It’s a mess and I took a before photo for tomorrow’s post. While I was cleaning the upstairs foyer this morning, I could hear my son in his room practicing on his guitar. I usually mind the fact that I’m the only one cleaning, but he’d just come home from working all night and he was playing an old Joni Mitchell tune with his door open. He asked if I knew what it was. Is he kidding, I thought. I love Joni Mitchell, and I loved being somewhat serenaded as I wiped down the woodwork with cleanser. I took this yesterday evening within moments of sitting down in my chair to relax and smiled wide after seeing it on the playback menu of my camera. She is getting used to having me for company. I stayed out there for over an hour and only had far away sightings of the male. I can hear the babies in the nest when she brings them food. I heard these three tunes at different times today and two of them have something in common. I’ll give you a hint: they were on a soundtrack for a movie. And speaking of movies . . . . . . Last night, I watched a foreign film that came highly recommended by the head of our English department at school. Rust and Bone is the story of two lost souls who find strength in each other after the collapse of each of their personal lives. It’s not a happy movie, but it’s not entirely sad either. And I have a total girl crush now on Marion Cotillard. Actually, I’ve always liked her. But in this, she gives an absolutely stellar performance. There are subtitles. But subtitles usually don’t bother me. Rust and Bone is a dark romance, full of grit but also of hope and redemption. It’s a movie that is still with me. Although I recommend, I will say that it’s not for everyone. And with that, I’ll say farewell . . . until tomorrow. Enjoy your weekend. And remember, these are the good old days.

Happy Blooms Day to all. Its Carol's favourite gardening month. Click on pic to see full post.Lots of hot oranges in the garden this month. Above: My Mexican Flame vine planted 3 months ago is catching nicely on the front wall.Below: Bougainvilleas on front wall and garage.Pristine white bougainvillea trellis on bedroom pillar Two cannas are blooming on the back porchI waited 2 years for this Gloriosa lily vine to bloom. It was shaded by a passion fruit vine that is now removed so I think the shade hindered it.Vitex with its delicate lookHot orange cordiaMore hot orange: aloe maculata

Late Sunday afternoon, I poured a cocktail, grabbed my camera and the long lens, and took a camp chair own to the fence line to sit by one of the bluebird boxes where I’d seen some action going on. I wasn’t out there very long, so I didn’t capture much. With bluebirds, I’ve found that you need patience and a chunk of time. I had the former but was running out of light for the latter. Light for the latter. Ok. That sounds odd. The female didn’t seem to have a problem with me sitting there. She continued to feed the babies inside the box after ascertaining that I wasn’t there to cause her grief. If it’s just a male you see bringing food to the box, it usually means that the babies aren’t born yet. The female will be inside, incubating the eggs. She’s about to take off here, but I missed the wing shot by a nano-second. Drat! Housekeeping here. As an aside, I have yet to see a male bluebird cleaning the nest although I have read that both parents share in this duty. This is a fecal sack that t

It was a beautiful weekend and I enjoyed a peaceful Mother’s Day. I took a salad and a dessert to my in-laws house for brunch. I wanted the dessert to be special because it was my mother-in-law’s first Mother’s Day without her youngest son. It’s the holidays that are often the worst when you lose someone, isn’t it? I decided to make a trifle and made the entire dish from scratch using a recipe that I found on Pinterest. My mother-in-law asked me what alcohol I used for it and I said, “What? There’s supposed to be alcohol?!!” I had no idea. But I think everyone enjoyed the first-ever non-alcoholic trifle. I took a picture of it before we left for NJ. Strawberry Holiday Trifle It was a bit time-consuming, but entirely worth it for a special occasion. The custard was surprisingly easy to make. After brunch, we came home to Maryland and I tried to get some pictures of the bluebirds who have nests in nearly every box we have along the fence line. It was a good day. Until tomorrow, my friends ~

What a surprise to see this rather large Fluted giant clam (Tridacna squamosa) on Big Sisters Island! We also spot seahorses and other intriguing marine life, on a wonderful day out on our shores. We survey this island very regularly it's puzzling how we could have missed this Giant clam in all these years. Together with the five smaller Fluted giant clams we saw for the first time yesterday at Pulau Hantu. What is going on with this 'sudden emergence' of giant clams? I'm sure Mei Lin aka Giant Clam Girl will soon share her thoughts about this puzzle. Regardless, we are quite encouraged by these finds! All the Sargassum seaweed (Sargassum sp.) has disappeared from the shore. So of course, we can find the seahorses here more easily, unlike during our last trip here with Tse-Lynn! This looks like a pregnant papa seahorse. I'm not sure why he has a big pink-edged hole on his tummy. Did he just 'give birth'? There was another seahorse nearby. Both of them were covered with a fine coating of fu

We don't get to see flowering Syzygium trees all year round. When these trees were in full blooms, they were like "food stalls" of a popular canteen attracting all sorts of  "insect customers" visiting the stalls. In fact, some "spill-over" customers to the surrounding areas provided us with much photographic excitement too.   Many of us came to check on these trees on a few consecutive

It’s Saturday – glorious Saturday. And I couldn’t resist one more picture of the lilacs from this season. They’ve been finished for about two weeks now, but I can remember them just by visiting the folder where I keep their images. I was busy all morning running here and there. Later on, I’ll be putting together the fixings for a trifle I’m taking to my in-laws house for Mother’s Day brunch. I hope it’s not a travesty that a Yank like me is bringing trifle to tea at my British in-laws. Ha! Flowers have spoken to me more than I can tell in written words. They are the hieroglyphics of angels, loved by all men for the beauty of their character, though few can decipher even fragments of their meaning. ~Lydia M. Child I bought new pillows and put them on the couch I picked up last weekend from my niece in Baltimore. The room looks more cheerful now. Got them here: Pottery Barn pillows I wish someone would come and do my housekeeping for me, though. Just because I felt like it. I like a landscape

Massive extension at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, upgrade of Bukit Timah Nature Reserve's visitor centre and facilities, and new signages at Pulau Ubin. The volunteers of NParks gathered to learn more about these, and had a lively exchange of ideas at today's Volunteer Dialogue session. Sharon Chan who leads at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve gave an update of the exciting developments on the Extension of the Reserve. The public often complain that the Reserve is a long way away from the main road. The Extension will literally bring the Mountain to Mohammed, by bringing the Visitor Centre to the Main Road! The new Visitor Centre will have all kinds of fabulous facilities such as classrooms and interactive areas for kids to get muddy and wet and learn about wetlands and mangroves. As well as a large plaza for large groups. At the extension, everyone is free to be loud and have fun! There will also be exciting developments to the area in front of the Reserve proper. With a brand new Nature G

There doesn't seem much here at first glance. But a closer look reveals a humungous nudibranch! Can you spot it? The nudibranch is about half the size of the brownish lump on the left--which are Sea mat zoanthids (Palythoa tuberculosa). Here's what the nudibranch looks like. It's the Cauliflower nudibranch (Dendrodoris tuberculosa) and it was about 12cm long. It has white spots on its underside. Kok Sheng later found an even bigger one! Other nudibranchs I saw were common ones like Glossodoris atromarginata and Phyllidiella pustulosa. We have learnt from Chay Hoon to carefully check seaweeds for suspicious sap-sucking slugs that closely resemble the seaweeds. I was lucky to spot this slug that has a pair of 'shells' so it appears to be a clam. It looks like Berthelinia sp. We have seen these before but didn't realise they were special until after the Northern Expedition of the Mega Marine Survey, when Dr Kathe Jensen said they were a new record for Singapore! I realised after I

A little slug negotiates my lopper handles this morning in Chicago....Chicago :: 2013