My Balcony Garden

I no longer have a big garden where I used to grow many kinds of flowers and potted house plants, apart from mango, limes and chillies.

However, my new apartment has a fairly big balcony and I’m now able to grow a few plants. It gives me great pleasure to share my plants with you.

I also grow mint and screwpine which I use when cooking certain dishes.

My spring onions are growing very fast and I can use them now whenever I steam fish.

Chillies are a big part of my diet and I cannot do without them. Since the price of chillies rocketed, I have started growing them. However, it will be a while before they fruit.

The only flowers that I currently have are the Tea Rose and Jasmine, both of which flower one at a time, unlike my beautiful red and pink roses which grew in abundance in my previous home. My red roses never stopped blooming and they bloomed in clusters. Guess it's because they were rooted in the ground and not in a pot.

I'm still looking for my favorite flower, the yellow coreopsis which I haven't been able to find in the street markets. I won't give up on it. So wish me luck in my search.

Celebrating Birthdays

A birthday comes but once a year, to commemorate the date that one was born. It has become the practice for us four buddies that we celebrate one another’s birthday.

This is our way of keeping in touch since we no longer play golf. Somehow life got into the way and our weekly golf game disappeared. I sorely miss those happy Saturday mornings when we rode our buggies down the fairways, enjoying the game and the camaraderie.

I still remember how on approaching hole 9 we would telephone ahead to the clubhouse to have our snacks readied so that when we reached the clubhouse for a short break, our drinks and food would be there. We had only a twenty-minute break before the next nine holes. Those were the days!

Last week we celebrated Josie’s birthday with a dimsum lunch at one of the leading hotels in town. We had two birthday cakes for Josie.

I believe we talked more than we ate!! When chums get together it’s talk, talk and more talk! Catching up was just great.

Next week my youngest grandchild will be celebrating her 2nd birthday. She doesn’t live with us. We will be flying out to where she is and we’re looking forward to seeing her and her brother again. She has just learned to call us Grandma and Grandpa over Facetime. It was such a joy to hear her soft voice across the waves.