C O M P O S T I N G

I have been composting almost all of my vegetable scraps for quite a few years now.  

And have been even more diligent with it since adding more potted plants to my expanding patio garden.

Apart from the really lush Bird's Nest Ferns and Crinum Lilies, one of the other plants that have shown amazing growth spurts is this Japanese Bamboo or Dracaena surculosa punctulata. 

Looking at the leafy plant in the above picture, if you follow the line of the support pole to the top, you can vaguely see the bamboo-like cane that's shot right up to the roof.  

I've been wondering..... how much taller is this going to grow to?

And recently, I've also noticed a few new spears sprouting out from the soil.  

Am curious if those will be as tall?

I guess I'll find out soon enough!

Meantime, the task of composting all the vegetable scraps continue in earnest.  

After all, it's a great way to reduce the amount of trash you chuck out into the bins and it doesn't take much effort at all.

The only thing you need to do is put aside all the vegetable scraps when you are preparing meals.  And I mean garlic skins, onion skins, carrot peels, broccoli stems, vegetable stems..... the list is endless!
Even better, save these vegetable scraps for making vegetable broth before you chuck them into the compost!

These plants are certainly loving all the food they're getting!

Happy gardening.

Kilim Mangrove Jetty

So much for going to all that trouble to paint the yellow line of demarkation so that vehicles are not parked at the "drop off" zone in the hope that it will ease congestion in the parking area at the Kilim Mangrove Jetty.  The regular taxi drivers who frequently bring their passengers here have continued to double park their vehicles along the perimeter of the yellow line and double parking behind other cars as well.

This practice has caused even more congestion on busy days, making the already limited space even smaller, and leaving just a narrow strip for cars to manoeuvre when trying to get out from the parking area.

Another example of smart thinking by some people. 

 

Obviously, there is a blatant disregard for road and traffic rules and regulations in this paradise island of Langkawi, the Jewel of Kedah.  And, as long as there is no enforcement and no consequences for breaking rules, they will continue to be broken.  

Isn't that human nature?

Paradise, right?

An Early Riser

I have spent countless number of hours sitting by the pond during the mid to late morning and on several afternoons just watching these damselflies.  Nothing ever happens.  All they do is stay very still on their perch and some of them don't even budge until you get really, really close.  And only then would they flitter away to perch somewhere else and that's it.  

Nothing else happens!

So I'd started thinking perhaps these damselflies preferred their solitude?

It's great in a way because you can get in plenty of photos and these damselflies have such amazing bright colours and are really pretty to look at!  But, isn't the natural instinct always for the survival of the species?   Why aren't these damselflies doing anything?  What is their cycle or pattern of behaviour?

And then, one morning, I finally got to the pond early enough, as the sun was coming up behind the hills, and there they were.  There were a few pairs of these Ceriagrion cerinorubellum damselflies in wheel and in tandem.  

Beautiful!

Finally!