Weekend Reflection: North Borneo Orchid

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This beautiful white orchid is the orchid of my youth. My dad received a baby plant from friends who got it from North Borneo, now known as Sabah, a state in East Malaysia. This is the state where Mt Kinabalu is.

It was a very difficult plant to grow, and for a long time, it wouldn't bloom. Mum frequenly told dad to give it up. She rationed that Mt Kinabalu was quite high, and the weather was cooler than Sibu. Dad didn't give it up. Together, they would use a toothbrush to remove the aphids.

When it did show signs of blooming, with a spray of buds, we kids and our visiting cousins got ourselves into mischief. We broke off the spray of buds accidentally and even to this day almost 45 years on, we still talk about this incident with great passion.

North Borneo is prized for it's rarity and it's bloom for more than 3 months. Dad so loved our eldest sister Rose, that he presented the florist his North Borneo orchid for her wedding bouquet.

These days, I think you can get hybrids. Even then, at Dad's funeral, for nostalgic reasons, Margaret ordered North Borneo orchids. The florist scoured the whole of Kuching City. Sadly, she couldn't find a single bloom.

Skywatch Friday: Autumn in the Southern Hemisphere

http://skyley.blogspot.com/

While those of you in the northern hemisphere are looking forward to warmer weather, we are having our autumn now. It is wet and colder than usual.

Photohunt: May 15: Half

Feijoas http://annkschin.blogspot.com/2008/11/feijoa.html

http://ann-mythoughtsandphotos.blogspot.com/2009/03/persimmon.html



fig halves, The Chinese call figs 無花果 (wú huā guǒ )or mo fa gou in cantonese.
They like to use it to boil with pork bones. I do not like to eat it. It has a sweet taste but lots and lots of seeds.

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watery wednesday: storm

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I don't like our winter. It is even worse when Autumn is like winter. We are having gale winds, and it rained or poured the whole of today. You can see the rain drops on my wind screen.

When I drove Sam to Karate at 6pm, it was already pitch black.

ABC Wednesday: Q for quilt

http://abcwednesdayround3.blogspot.com/

We didn't live with my maternal Grandma, she came to visit frequently and to help Mum when she gave birth to my younger siblings. She came to cook for Mum's confinement month, that is the whole month after a woman had her baby.

Grandma made one patchwork quilt for each of her three daughters. As a kid, my immediate younger sister Margaret and I had fun looking for her Chinese stars. Her stars were very unusual. It has 21 pieces of tiny squares and triangles cleverly stitched together. She didn't make many stars as it was very difficult to make.

In 1975, my nephew Wayne was born. Grandma came to visit. Sister Elizabeth requested her to make a patchwork for her first great grand son. Grandma was hesitant. Her heart wanted to make it, but her head told her that she was in her 80s, it would be impossible to make one as she was just visiting Elizabeth.

I told her, "I will help you."

So we did, grandma and grand daughter pair. She did the cutting and supervision, and I went on my mum's old manual Singer machine.

"Not so fast, Not so fast," she kept telling me.

But I went went ziz, ziz, ziz, ziz as I pedaled along. She admonished my 'fast hand, fast leg'. I had commited myself to help her, I didn't have 6 months to help her. Times I made a mistake, she wanted me to unpick it.

I said," No way, it is only for a baby."

We finished the quilt in a matter of days. I blackmailed Wayne, because he is the only great grand child that Grandma made a quilt for.

Despite the hectic time, I learnt an invaluable skill. I could make a Chinese patchwork quilt. At that time, I vowed that I will never make another one, too old fashion. Now, I am glad, because I am probably the only grand daughter of hers who has inherited her skill.

Fast forward to 1990, I saw my good friend O's light blue quilt on her bed. It was so beautiful, I was reminded of my grandma's quilts. I came home, and made a quilt for D. I made nine Chinese stars, and the rest, I basically used squares. I made this queen size Chinese quilt in 3 days over the weekend. I didn't have much sleep. This time ziz, ziz, ziz, ziz on my electric Janome machine was reminscent of the time with grandma.

The water engineer was a gem, he babysat D 5, and G 2. He took the girls shopping at Farmers Trading Company for D to choose a backing for her quilt. She chose a lemon colour and I asked her why she didn't choose a pink.

The reason why I sewed frantically was I had to vacate my sewing room. Our friend J was coming to stay with us. He was our very good friend, and was an Engineering post graduate student with the water engineer at Auckland University.

D still has that quilt. I told her not to use it. It is unlikely that I will ever make another one. (Who knows, may be when I become a grandma, I may do it.) She wanted to frame it, I told her it was too big, not until she was successful in her career and has her own big house.

***This is the quilt I made for D, you have to look carefully for the stars. You will understand when my sister Margaret and I had fun looking for them.***

Ruby red: Red rose

http://workofthepoet.blogspot.com

Today is a somber day for New Zealand and one part of America. The TV announcer said," No parent should have to bury their sons." and this is exactly what three sets of parents have to do.

Yesterday, a very publicized death of a 16 year old who apparently drank himself to death shocked the country.

I go on my computer, and on a site that I follow, Wallace Middle School, in Warerbury, Luis Vega Jr., 14, of 29 Boxwood Court, died unexpectedly in the hospital.

Closer to home, or in this case, closer to school, an 18 year old ex student of my school died in a car crash. He had stolen a car and the police chased him.

I am posting a red rose which was part of the Anzac day wreath. It had rained, and there was water on the rose, which I like it to symbolize the tears of the mums. Yes, mums, because bereaved mums cry buckets, and since it is so close to Mother's day, they will need more than one bucket.

Yellow Mellow: Golden Shower Tree

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Cassia fistula or Golden shower tree. This is a flowering tree of my youth.

When I was five, we moved down from a small town to Sibu. We lived in the Government quarters off Race Course Road. In the section across the road, there was this big tree. When it bloomed, it had big flowing sprays of yellow flowers. When the wind blew, the petals will drop to the ground. Sometimes, a whole spray will fall. This is why it is called a Golden Shower tree.

In Sarawak, the tropical weather meant an afternoon shower. People did their laundry everyday and we didn't have driers or washing machines. My sweet memories of this tree was my sister Margaret and I would jump across the creek when the wind blew so we could retrieve those sprays. We played brides using them as wedding bouquets. My mum would scream at us to help her bring the washing in before the rains came. We didn't listen, playing was more important to us.

I took this photo when I revisited Singapore last July. When I saw the tree in full bloom, I was so happy.