I have always enjoyed gardening. But, as many of my hobbies, it comes and go depending on my mood.
But, ever since the pandemic hit, I have been very much into gardening. I kept the gardens, particularly the front garden pretty much alive for over two years now, which is a real achievement for me. I enjoyed it so much because it brought a lot of benefits.
First, it taught me to be patient. I need to really understand the plant, and what it needs and consistently care for it. I don’t always succeed and many of my plants have died on me. But, there are also many who survived. Seeing your plant growth is the best thing.
20 August 202216 September 2022
It also makes me appreciate the variety of different plants.
My butterfly pea flowers just keep on giving 💜 they are not just beautiful but also very useful for food coloring. These just sprouted out of nowhere onedayThis Spanish moss is by far the most unique plant that I have. It looks like algae and has not got a distinct leave or stem. But I am telling you it grows just from water and sun!
The garden also created an ecosystem for various different creatures. Toads, snails, and chameleons are all regulars. Some birds also come and go.
It ate some of my plants but I guess that’s how they survive
Love to see and hear this 🐝 getting busy hopping between my portulacas. Hope to get a new color out of it 😍
Being in the garden allow me to unwind. It felt nice to be outdoor. I enjoyed using my garden as a background for photos.
Provide a perfect outdoor studio for a photo 🤭Took this after teaching
While Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga in their book the Courage to be Disliked said “do not rebuke or praise” I think rejoicing and a little comment won’t hurt. The other day, when my daughter’s friends come and visit our home he said “I don’t wanna leave yet since I enjoyed it here. Your garden is so lovely” 💚🤎💛❤
Trying to stay true to my resolution of not working one day over the weekend, I spent my morning around my back and front gardens. Since the pandemic started and we must work from home, I have spent quite a lot of time tending the gardens.
As with anything, I have successes but also failures. I loved colorful flowers and so whenever I went to the plant shops I always bought those beautiful ones without thinking about the environment. When I bought them home, they bloomed perfectly for some time, then deteriorate, and eventually die 😦
Love this purple flower, but I failed twice
Just could not survive
This is Ratih’s favorite, but we water it too much 😦
Just could not survive
So, I finally accept that those beautiful flowers may not grow well in the hot and humid Surabaya. Or I just dont know how to take care of them 😦
Thankfully, I found the types of flowers that fit perfectly. They are the portulacas. They love the sun. After some time I found out that they come in different colors, forms, and sizes too! I bought different types of portulacas online. Amazingly they survived.
They have been my source of joy these days.
Fanta
Soft Pink
Another Fanta but different petal shapes
Each type has fantastic names, but could not remember them
Three different shades
Orange and yellow
Could not even workaout what colors these three are
Bright yellow, banana and orange
White Pink ruffles
Baby pink
Salmon and Fanta!
Salmon!
Hybrid of fanta and white
Gorgeous are’nt they?
I also loved these colorful petunias. But, nowadays they dont flower as much anymore and the colors changed when it got washed by the rain. Please survive dear Petunias!
Deep purple
Magenta
Red
Pink
I am also happy that I can grow these Ginseng Jawa. Well, that’s what the shopkeeper told me. They are not like Ginseng in Korea. But, we love to stir-fry the leaves. The bonus is that they produce lovely pink flowers too!
They grow happily
Lovely flowers
Today, we cut some of these Ginseng and cook it. Look what I have got 🙂
It has been so long since my last post. Not that anybody in specific miss my post 🙂 Its just that I always consider writing in this blog as my own personal therapy from the hustle of every day life.
When the pandemic started, I wrote almost everyday. But, as the pandemic dragged on and on, just like everybody else, I started to feel the strain. Particularly, as the condition in Indonesia has been quite bad in the last couple of months. The second wave, complicated with the Delta Variant, hit closer and closer to home. Lots of my colleagues, and even close family are affected. So, I struggled to stay positive.
But as the vaccination ramped up, things are getting better here (finger crossed it stay this way and even improving!). Slowly different parts of the world started opening up. Euro 2020 took place despite the health issues. I watched with mixed feelings as I enjoyed the games while also thinking of the consequences. Then, The Tokyo Olympic happened. While I am sure that there were many behind the story that I know nothing of, both events really showed that it is possible to cautiously return to some kind of new normality (again touch wood).
As summer began in Europe I saw so many beautiful images all over my social media (yes I have many!). It really triggered my wanderlust. My dream is to one day visit Lavender Fields in 🇨🇵 🇬🇧, The Keukenhof Tulip Field in 🇳🇱 The Hallerbos Forest in 🇧🇪 and Kawachi Wisteria Garden in 🇯🇵 and many more distant places!
But, realistically I know that it wont happen anytime soon 😐
Thankfully, the power of social media also brought me this very nice quote
Instead of wondering when your next vacation is, maybe you should set up a life you don’t need to escape from – Seth Godin
It is so true!
Having dreams is of course a very important drive in life. But actually living your life is paramount!
So, I started to revamp my garden with all these lovely flowers. Hope they keep on blooming 😊💜❤💗 If I cant travel to Keukenhof (yet!) I shall create my very own Keukenhof haha
My sanctuary
Another view
Hope that I can keep this positive mind – at least until my next post
Even a short walk around my home feels a bit like autumn 🙂
As it is spring and almost summertime in Europe, I have seen so many lovely flower pictures in my social media feeds. From daffodils, roses, poppies, and even wildflowers, they all looked wonderful
It brought me back to the time when I was living in Nottingham, Spring and Summertime are really beautiful. But, the fact that I cannot travel anywhere, anytime soon, I must be satisfied with what I have.
Thankfully, I have a great garden to keep me happy. It is so hot and humid here in Surabaya, so we must choose the right plant. One of them is Frangipani. The scientific name is Plumeria rubra but in Indonesia it is known as Kamboja.
In Bali, Frangipani is strategically placed closed to the shrines/temple. It is also used as hair pieces for women in traditional dances and wedding ceremonies. They can also be used in Balinese offerings, called canang sari.
What I loved most about Frangipani is its symmetrical shape. It normally has five petals. They also come in different colors: white with yellow center, red, pink with white center, and pink with yellow centers.
I have three of them in my gardens. I am quite lucky that they always in full bloom.
Its been around two months that we have the front garden planted with grass. This is actually not the first attempt. It was covered with grass before, but ended up with weeds 😥
I have tried to use better soil. But failed. I came to the conclusion that the key to a great grass garden is maintenance! Hah, highly rocket science and everybody knows that.
Since I did not have time to maintain it, I just let it covered with weeds for quite some time.
But, like my post here, we decided to give it another go. I have a perfect plan to make sure that it is well maintained this time around! I hired a part-time gardener 😊😎
This is the view of the garden from a far
But, as it turned out now, my cunning plan has been thrown out of the window. With every body ordered to work from home due to COVID-19 outbreak, the gardener has not come 😥 I also have no excuses for not doing it myself. Plus, many people advised us to sunbathe for 15 minutes every day to increase our immune systems.
So the past couple of days, I found myself trying to maintain the garden. One of the difficult task is weeding 🤪
Yesterday, while Ratih was busy with her homework, Hita accompanied me to do it…and she had all sort of interesting questions.
Why are they here mommy?
That got me thinking. Yes, how did the weeds come into existence. I am not good in Biology, but I know there is a scientific reason for it to come out.
What intrigued me more is the philosophical reason behind the weeds existence. I know that everything in the ecosytems have a role to play.
It reminded me of a conversation between Frodo and Gandalf about Gollum/Smeagol.
“Frodo: ‘It’s a pity Bilbo didn’t kill Gollum when he had the chance.’
Gandalf: ‘Pity? It’s a pity that stayed Bilbo’s hand. Many that live deserve death. Some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them, Frodo? Do not be too eager to deal out death in judgment. Even the very wise cannot see all ends. My heart tells me that Gollum has some part to play in it, for good or evil, before this is over. The pity of Bilbo may rule the fate of many.’
Hita commented again
This one is so pretty mommy, it even has a flower! Why dont we let this one live??
Yeah, I had a closer look at these different types of weeds.
Some look like a small tree, the other like grass. The top one I recognized to have small yellow flower much like daisies.
This is the one that Hita would like to keep
Then, I thought about the characteristics of these weeds a little bit more.
They sprout in an unexpected place.
Some of them are deeply rooted
They, grow back again even when pulled out.
These are the characteristics that made it difficult to maintain the garden!!
But, if we think about it more, there are things that we can learn from these characteristics.
Think about it, when you are thrown into an unexpected place, where you are most likely rejected and pulled out. You must have your existence firmly rooted, and have the perseverence to came back again.
The fact that I thought about all these random stuff over the course of 15 – 20 minutes of weeding goes to say that it is actually a good activity to rest my mind from other stuff 🙂
The M Ways 