Vegetable plot update and flowers

One strawberry plant is in the vegetable plot while the other one is in a pot. I had two strawberries half eaten by insects once they turned red. So I kept a close watch on these three strawberries. We did manage to eat them and they were real sweet.

The vegetable plot is getting crowded. The zucchini leaves are getting big and there are beautiful yellow flowers. The tomato plant is taller.

I picked the zucchini flowers and dipped them into chickpea flour and water. I fried them and Seb liked them. It is interesting to be eating flowers.

Speaking of flowers, for my birthday, I received two beautiful bouquets. One from Seb's parents and one from Seb. That's double happiness. Though these flowers can't be eaten, they are feast for the eyes.

Spring is here.

Spring is here and the trees are alive again. I am always amazed with spring. Barren trees start to bloom once there are a few days of rain followed by a day or two of sunshine. 

This tree is in front of A2's room. Each morning when I rolled up the shutter, we got this lovely sight.

 This other tree is what greets us from the home office. The trees look beautiful. However, once the wind comes, the petals would drop everywhere including our drive way. It is a messy affair trying to clean the ground.

In our garden, the apricot tree is flowering as well. The cherry and apple trees are starting to bud. Chives are shooting out from a corner of the garden. I thought they are gone forever but each spring at the same spot, the chives appear. Just amazing. After so many years in this country, I marvel each time at the beginning of a season. 

Guess it's because I come from a tropical country.

Singapore Gardens by the Bay

A dear friend of mine gave me two tickets for the Flower Festival at Gardens by the Bay.  We visited the festival on the last day. As I was queueing for the entrance tickets for the rest of us, a lady kindly gave me another complimentary ticket. So I just paid for the boys.

We arrived right after lunch and it was crowded though we did not have to queue to get in. We visited the Flower Dome and there were many orchid plants on display. Some of them won awards and had ribbons tied to them.

There were also sculptures and wooden cravings of animals in this dome.

This olive tree looked like an old man's face. A sculpture of Alice in Wonderful was just behind the rabbit.

From far, we could see this impressive wooden dragon. We took the lift up to the second floor to have a closer look of it. It was very well done.

After our visit, we decided not to walk 15 minutes under the hot sun to the next part of the festival. We went on the Adventure trail and then the boys had fun at the splash park at the children garden.

In the late afternoon, we made our way to the Mrt station. We passed by the Flower Dome and the queue at the entrance was very long. People who had bought their tickets online were queueing to enter. I suspected that it would take them an hour or so. My friend who passed me the tickets had free tickets herself. When she arrived at around 3pm, she caught up with me at the splash park. Half an hour later when she saw the queue, she gave up and went home.

It was my first time walking through this big garden. The Supertree Grove was impressive. The Marina Bay Sands buildings were equally impressive from this view.

In the MRT train on the way home, A2 took my camera and clicked for fun. Here was a fan A1 bought from Chinatown.

The next day after our visit to the gardens, it was time to say good bye to Singapore. The 3 boys enjoyed themselves this holiday until the end. At Changi Airport, they played at the play ground.

Changi Airport lives up to its name. The garden in it is just as beautiful as the one we visited the day before.

Flowers

It is first of May soon. As with French tradition, we give a brin of lily of the valley on this day as a good luck symbol for the rest of the year. My friend told me there were lily of the valley growing in the forest nearby so I asked her to show me. We went this morning and she showed me where they were. It was not a trail that we usually took when walking the dog. It was a pleasant walk catching up with my friend and I managed to get a brunch of these delicate flowers. I had given some of the flowers to three neighbours.

In return, a neighbour gave me a brunch of lilac freshly cut from her trees. They smelled so good. 

Not so long ago, the same friend told me that at another forest which was about 5 mins drive from home, there were daffodil. On a sunday when visiting the boys' grandparents, I told the boys that we were getting flowers for grandmother. I directed Seb to the place and when we reached, I asked the boys to get off the car to join me to pick flowers. A1 replied 'I thought we were going to the florist. No, I do not want to go pick the flowers.' I asked A2 and though he usually followed his brother's decision, he was kind enough to come pick flowers with me. That was sweet of him.

One advantage of living in the country side is having free flowers. Spring is here and the forest is green once again. A really lovely sight. That is another advantage.

Flowers, artichoke and Mickey DVD

On the first day of school, Seb came home from work and presented us with these. A bouquet of flowers for me and a Mickey Mouse DVD for the children. It was his way of marking this school day. A kind of encouragement to the family.

 

In the bouquet of flowers were two artichokes. Apparently, they would flower. I did not like those long grass sticking out of the bouquet and cut them off.

Each day, I patiently waited for the artichoke to bloom. Seb saw the flowered artichoke at the florist and told me it was beautiful. So the wait continued long after the other flowers had wilted.

 

 Almost a week and a half later, here is one of the blooming artichoke. It is pretty indeed. Seb was thinking of buying another bouquet of flowers so that these artichokes would not be too lonely. In the first place, the florist should put in ripe artichokes. These artichokes were small. If not, I would not have waited and instead would cook and eat them.

Keukenhof

Keukenhof, the most beautiful spring garden in Europe. I had always wanted to visit it and finally after 4 years since knowing about this place, I made it last sunday.

 

My mother is here visiting us for two months and knowing that she would enjoy this garden, I arranged for a weekend trip to Amsterdam and Keukenhof in Lisse.

 

We arrived in Amsterdam on Saturday and left on Monday. On Sunday, we spent the day in Keukenhof. There were many flowers. The garden was perfumed with the scent coming from the beds of blooming hyacinths. The tulips in the open garden were mostly still in bubs. This spring is chilling so I guess the tulips would bloom a week later.

 

There were four pavillons with different themes. Each of them were amazing. Flowers were everywhere. There are many different kind of species. Just on tulips alone, there were many different kinds like 'Barbados', 'Lambada', 'Brooklyn', 'Sensual touch', 'Wedding gift', 'Victoria secret' just to name a few.

 

There were many people from all over the world. We even met Singaporeans who took photos for us. I took tons of photos but I am such a lousy photographer. Below are some photos from Keukenhof. Though a picture tells a thousand words, it is best to visit Keukenhof in person. My mother and I truly enjoyed the garden. It was wonderful for flower lovers.