Love is in the air

The courtship of two Olive-backed Sunbirds in my backyard. The two were spotted by my son. The male puffed out two orange pectoral puffs during the courtship ritual which would have been no less dramatic to Birds of Paradise.

These birds have been building nests just outside my house. So far, three broods have hatched. I feel blessed by their presence and am especially happy to see them feeding from my Scarlet Passion Flowers.

Portulaca Grandiflora

The pretty Portulacas are doing spectacularly well in the sunshine. With water from the fish tank and some pest control, they are blooming beautifully.

They were constantly infested with Mealy bugs. Spraying them wasn't effective as they had a white waxy coat. I found that dabbing them with turpentine worked as the solvent dissolved the waxy protective coating.

Fruiting season

The Passionfruit vines grown from seed are finally bearing flowers in the front yard. Draped on the front wall, they look very attractive. They started fruiting after I hand pollinated them.

The Bittergourd in the backyard have finally sprouted delicate yellow flowers. Small butterflies have been pollinating the flowers and the gourds appeared.

Garden update

With more time on my hands to look after the plants, I am glad that they are thriving well. I am especially happy with the two Passiflora Miniata plants which I had grown from cuttings. They finally bloomed after adding Rabbit poop from my dear cousin, who is more of a brother to me. Seeing the scarlet blooms just make my day.

The other Passiflora Edulis is also blooming.

Passiflora Edulis outside my bedroom windows. Spot the four blooms.

Hand pollinated. Waiting to see them fruit.

The herbs are thriving beautifully from the rich soil.

Basil bush

Rosemary and mint

Chye sim

Mint

Pandan, Curry leaf and Laksa, Tumeric

Chye Sim

Portulaca

Art installation

Visit from Singapore national bird, the Crimsom Sunbird

New couple visiting their BTO in my backyard. Waiting patiently for their little one to hatch. This is there second time that Olive-back Sunbird are making nest outside my house. I take it as a recognition of my love for nature and home as an abode of peace.

BTO nest of new couple. Can you spot the female looking out of the portal waiting for her mate to return?

Coffee roasting - Columbian Supremo

5kg Green beans

Green beans

After roasting.

Coffee roasting on a quiet afternoon. Having run out of my Lintong beans, I had to roast two batches of coffee for my afternoon fix.

Coffee roasting

My new roasting cage finally arrived and I wasted no time in trying it out. It worked very well and the beans were evenly roasted.

For this roast, I chose Sumatra Grade 1 Semi washed Lintong.

Chinese new year 2017

Its that time of the year again. The annual endeavor to make my favorite Chinese new year treat, pineapple tarts. This year, I did both open faced tarts and pineapple shaped ones made to look like pineapples, using guidelines from Mrs Leong's cookbook.

The pineapple filling was spiced up with Star Anise, Cinnamon and Cloves. There is a huge difference between homemade filling and store bought ones. Like what a noted baker said, good bread is difficult to find in a store, but easy to make at home. This hold true for me as far as pineapple tarts are concerned. In Singapore, it is unbelievably expensive to buy commercially made ones and yet, it just doesn't taste good as home made.