Wednesday, December 19, 2012

The New Inhabitant

Testing out the new Blogger mobile! Seems quite fun and friendly.

Anyway, am pleased to note that we have a new inhabitant. Ariel joined us about two months ago. She was probably about 6-9 months old at the time. She gets on well with the big boys (that's Orlando in the background of the photo), and is generally quite gentle (no scratching or biting).

Ariel was actually found my neighbor down the road, but his father did not appreciate cats in the house. So, we had to take her in, the poor little thing. Put her up for adopt ion,but although there were a number of enquiries, none of them resulted in adoption. So, it looks like we are keeping her!

It has been a while since we had a young female in the house. And, we were quite punctual in neutering Casey. So we were not prepared for dealing with a little cat in heat. Not prepared for the mewling and crying. Neither were the big boys (all neutered) prepared for her badgering them all the time. Imagine our worry when she disappeared from the back garden just one week before her operation was scheduled. Fortunately we found her the next day, roaming the street outside. She is now safely neutered and the vet reassured us that all will be well.

So welcome to Ariel, our pretty, dainty little feline!

Saturday, December 08, 2012

Amongst Flowers and Clouds

After seeing the Gardens from above and at night,  I managed to pay a longer visit to the Gardens by the Bay, one of Singapore's latest attractions - and an attempt to bring to Singapore the flora of the tropical highlands and of the cool and dry deserts and of the Mediterranean.

Baobab Forest
The Gardens are indeed a special place, with the towering supertrees and the cooled conservatories - ie the Flower Dome and Cloud Forest - helping it win the World Building of the Year award.  I spent a happy few hours walking through them, admiring and photographing the plantlife within.

Roses in Bloom
I started with the Flower Dome, walking through the succulents and the baobab forest..  It is truly an accomplishment to bring these exotic plants here - with their bloated trunks and tiny leaves, the baobab is well suited towards life in a dry climate where every drop is precious.

But I particularly loved the Mediterranean garden, where soft-petalled roses and other flowering blooms transported me to a happy day  spent in a garden of a stately home by Lake Maggiore in the Italian lakes.  The ancient olive trees in one corner, sheltering the bright flowers blooming at its base reminded me of my visit to Assisi, where the olive trees grew in the grounds of our hotel..

Mountain Magic
I then explored the Cloud Forest - which was truly a happy partnership between engineering and botany.  The lofty man-made mountain dominated the dome, with its waterfall cascading down one side.  Indeed, it reminded me of my visit to Doi Inthanon, near Chiang Mai not so long ago except that the winding mountain trails here were metal bridges extending out of the sides of the "mountain", enabling even the wheelchair-bound to experience life amongst the clouds. The sides of the mountain are covered with plants, with orchids and other flowers of the tropic highlands.  The mountain also has caves to be explored (full of crystals) and a visit to the secret caverns at the base also reveal what life would be like should temperatures rise by 5 degrees - a chilling warning of the dangers of climate change.

Leafy Blossoms
Leaving the mountain, the visitor then discovers a  secret valley at its foot.  A "river" flows slowly by, and "crocodiles" and giant snails peek through the flowers and plant life.  I see a lot of my mother's favourites, the epiceas, with their multi-coloured leaves.  One patch of leaves - purply green, bright green, red/yellow and green/pink/silver -was just as brightly coloured as any flower bush in the Flower Dome!

I've been indeed fortunate to visit the natural habitat of some of these beautiful plants.  And doubly fortunate that I get to experience them again here.  Indeed, the Gardens by the Bay has truly given Singaporeans the opportunity to learn  more about the glories of nature and the beauty and variety of plant life on this little planet called Earth.

For more photos (including my night shots) of the Gardens, check out my Flickr set.

Starting the Day Right...

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