Basil, Coco, Almond, Honeybun....and Brownie

Last week I had some not-so-good news, but couldn't bring myself to update it, until today, when I feel that I have the strentgh to deal with it objectively. I spent good amount of time gazing at this beautiful plant and its flowers. Some are flourishing beautifully, at its peak of beauty, while some tends to look drying, almost becoming lifeless in the process. That somewhat reminds me that any living thing in this world would not last forever.
A few of weeks ago, when we feel that the two hamsters, Syaoran and Sakura, renamed as Almond and Brownie when we found out and confirmed that both are male hamsters, might get lonely without a she-hamster. So we add another member and called her Coco. The three of them seems to live happily ever after.
But one day, somebody accidentally left the cage not securely fastened, and Almond as well as Brownie escaped. Almond was found in the kitchen after one day, probably out to look for food, while Brownie, the night after in the guest bathroom.

A few days later, Brownie died. He was weak and rather tired the day before, and the next morning, he was gone. Well, for me I've gone through losses of pets several times now, so its nothing new, right? Wrong! The only difference is this time, you manage to stay cool and pretend its gonna be alright. Like when I stared at my basils just to calm down, you have to let go. People you love, pets, even friends...

However, on a more positive note, Coco looks as though she's pregnant!. Now, Ridzzy, if you're reading this, don't get any ideas, ok..! She looks like she's gained weight, and this morning she can't even climb up the trail to exercise...hahaha... Presenting the clipse

Haha...!Actually she managed to climb up after all, after much effort, determination and a strong will to exercise. Don't we all need to learn from that?

But whatever it is, this furball is still the apple of my eye! ;)

Battle of the Greens ..... and Life

It's going to be a cool day, with a rainy monday morning today. With this kind of weather, I don't even need to switch on the fan. Just let in the fresh air from the open doors and windows. I am actually taking a rest after a hectic weekend and especially yesterday where I spent the whole day visiting relatives at two different hospitals down south and here in PJ.

Early in the morning we made our way down the NSE about 2 hours plus drive. My aunty who is already quite elderly was admitted as she could not get up and refuse any food. Thus they had her on drip, and latest news I heard this morning is that she has cancer in her lungs and critically on 50/50 for recovery. At her age, the specialist said that it is spreading fast to her other part of the body.

I remembered this lady, all her life, if I look back, is sad. But somehow she managed to stay cheerful on most occassion and worked very hard to support her life and her only son. She was seperated from her husband long before when he went back to Sumatera, and has been on her own for a long time before one day, about 20 years back, she was match-maked with an old divorcee. However, she had been so used to being single, that she couldn't cope with married life and they got a divorce after one year. From then on she went on her usual life and various ways to find an income. She stayed with my parents until both of them passed away, and she continues living in our home till now. Her son passed away a few years back.

She has been part of our family eversince I can remember and has been very helpful in many ways that she can. I am so indebted to her for her continuos and tireless service to our family when she was an able person. The only thing I can do for her now is to make sure that she has a comfortable life and provide her with the medical attention she needed now. Dare I hope for her cure? Only Allah knows.

On the way back, we stopped by at a nursery to check some plants for my garden. I was flipping through a magazine I bought a few weeks back on the way, and got a few ideas on how I could further enhance my garden. I also noticed that my cyber friend, CakapAje's brother was featured in that magazine. Haha....small world. Back to the nursery, we figured it must be cheaper there, and since our car is empty, we can buy some plants to bring back. And true enough, the price is easily 50% less than Sungai Buluh. I bought 2 big helliconias with big wide leaves, 4 kannas, a few bag of soil and a herbal plant said to be good for diabetics and high blood.

The new batch of plants waiting to be 'grounded'.

And this morning, surveying my greens, as usual I will be on my rounds looking for weeds amongst my grass. It is my daily routine to pull out these weeds especially on the older (recycled) grass at the back. My front yard, with the new set of grass doesn't have much weeds growing. So every morning, or late evenings, I will pull out a handful or two of these weeds. I figured it would be sometime before all the weeds are gone. If they are too small to be pulled out, I'll let them grow until I can easily pull it next time. Hahaha...

The recycled grass.

This weed looks healthy and beautiful when 'young' but once it grows big, it will dominate the ground around it with big spiral leaves.

I'm not a good cameraman, but if you can see there are actually 3 different weeds in this picture.

And apparently, there are areas that is forgotten. My front compound. Hee hee....