I went to seen Prashneel’s family this week, and Prashneel was all excited and wanted to show me his chickens. They’ve grown so much in just (two) weeks.
See! (This is a close-up from the 8 January photo.) Maybe it doesn’t show, but the chicks have nearly doubled in size.
Then Prashneel started opening little nuts and giving them to his brother and sister.
“Betel nut?” I asked, hoping very much that the answer would be “No” and that the betel nut habit was not spreading to Fiji.
“Yes!” he replied happily, “Do you want one?”
He held it up. That’s no betel nut. <sigh of relief>
“Sure, I’ll try one,” I said.
He opened it up. There was this miniscule nut meat. He gave it to me. Sweet! Really! So small, so tasty!
Prashneel led me to the tree, just beside his house. He was so proud of all the nuts in this tree. I was happy to learn of yet another wonderful local wild food …. but sad that some insect is turning all the leaves to lace. It’s like the Garden of Eden plus pests.
BLUE FLOWER
It’s growing here. I’ve never seen a bluer flower and neither has Austin.
BLACK SEED
Well, black seed case. Austin stuck some odds and ends in my hands this week. The blue flower was one. This thing was another.
And these were the third……
MALABAR CHESTNUT SPROUTS
From the “money tree” Austin planted in October 2013. We’re gonna be RICH!
MORE FROM THE GARDEN OF EDEN
It doesn’t seem like much, looking down the hill from our dining table….
And it still doesn’t look like much close up – but these are SWEET starfruit! Really really delicious.
RARE SIGHT
Toadstools! It has finally started raining a lot here. We thought the day would never come. The toadstools have arrived to celebrate.
BET YOU CAN’T GUESS THIS ONE
It is directly related to there being more rain, and thus standing water in our “cement pond” ….. it is the shed exoskelton of a dragonfly.
We have hundreds, maybe thousands of dragonflies around now because they have been breeding there. These dragonflies eat their body weight in other bugs – especially mosquitoes – every day, so they are always welcome. (Sorry for this ugly photo of dragonfly and shadow on cement at high noon. )
A CANDLED EGG
Austin’s always “candle-ing” eggs to see if there’s a baby growing. I never knew what he was looking for. Here it is – and not what I’d ever have expected – a large web of blood vessels up near the shell!
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Today would have been my mom’s 101st birthday – so I dedicate today’s blog to her memory. Happy Eternity, Mom!
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Flora and Fauna Weekly Report 
Well Kim, I enjoyed seeing the chickens, the bugs, the nuts, and the egg candling. The egg candling reminded me of my Grandmother. She taught me to candle the eggs when I was small. I still do it today to see what I’m getting when I break the egg. I have gotten some at the store that had something I didn’t want to eat inside, so I didn’t even bother to use them. I also enjoyed seeing the blue iris bloom. Since it is mid-winter here, we don’t have much that has color. Hope things are going well. I am still thinking about coming to visit.
Also, a happy birthday to your mom. My mother would have been 101 in May. She was a very special person and I think about her every day. They say if people are still in your heart, they still live.
Thanks, Larry! I’m glad you enjoyed all the odds and ends this week. As for a trip here – you should aim for July or August – that is when our best weather is.
The blue flower you’ve never seen before…. so I have one pressed in my prayer book right now that I transferred from a note Nigel gave me back in 2010 when we were at the farm after the Vanuatu seminar. So maybe you and dad hadn’t seen it, but Nigel did and I’ve still got the very one in all its color.
Well, that’s a surprise! So glad you are still into flower pressing!
Ah, the rains! Finally! Enough to fill the pond?
Yes! Full enough to be operational. There will be an extra-special report this coming week, because it finally rained Enough. …. Been awhile since I’ve seen a post from you. Everything ok?
I’m relieved for you… can’t be nice to watch everything around you shrivel up and die 😦
Everything fine here, just lazy. Working on a language post!