Pink Begonia

 

Beautiful pink begonia plant had grown in the year 2011

Jesus worked many miracles in his lifetime.  Now he still work miracles.  There were many signs to show his works.  In the year 2008, when Jesus came, there was one day where in my pot, a giant bryophyllum had grown miraculously.  That same year, not only was I born again in water and spirit, many miraculous signs happened.  For example in the church, my note book suddenly got a feather!! I asked Clara, "Did you put in a feather in my notebook?"  Clara said she did not.  And the notebook had a sentence written in the book that means 'you are my best friend."  I was so touched by the sudden miracle.

The life of Jesus was all about caring for people and bringing them back to God.  He especially spent time helping those who knew they were trapped by sin and shame.  The Pharisees complained, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them" (Luke 15:2).  In reply Jesus showed how He is like a shepherd.  He does not want one sheep (one person) to be left in danger.  Even if only one sheep is lost, He keeps searching for that one until He finds it (Luke 15:1-7).  

Beautiful Pink Begonia that had grown miraculously from my garden pot

That was a picture of the whole plant.  It began from a small plant and not knowing it was a pink begonia until it flowered.  I did not put any seeds into the pot, it just grown miraculously out from the soil!  

Today another seven stars needle flower had opened.  And the two baby birds are growing well.  It was such a beautiful sight to see my beautiful garden.  

Rose Cactus blooming in my garden

All who ever came before Me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.  I am the gate; whoever enters through Me will be saved... The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full... I am the Good Shepherd;  I know My sheep and My sheep know Me  (John 10:8-10,14).

Buy Me Tea

Seven-stars Needle Plant (七星针)

 

Rose cactus blooming in my garden

Went to my garden just now and saw the buds of the rose cactus had fully opened!!  Three beautiful rose cactus flowers!  I quickly grabbed my handphone and capture the beautiful flowers -- photographs and video.  At the same time I took a video of the birds in the bird's nest.  I saw two babies opening their mouth and chirping.  How beautiful that was. 

I saw on Lazada a pot of Pereskia bleo/ Seven stars needle plant or the rose cactus plant cost about $20, just a short plant.  Mine would cost a lot!  I first got the plant from a parent plant found under a tree.  Someone had thrown the plant away.  One man's trash is another man's treasure!  I saw that it was flowering and it was a nice plant.  However the one that was being thrown the plant was not in the perfect shape.  It was like the height of a person so I think no one took it.  I wondered if it can be propagated via stem cutting.  So I tried.  I pluck down 2 branches and I went home to plant it.  

The beginning was hard.  I put the plants in the soil and it survived.  For many years now, about 11 years now, it had prospered well.  It had blooms many times and I had seen its fruits twice -- one rippened (yellow fruit), and one more green fruit (unripe), as can see from the picture below: 

The green unripe fruit of the rose cactus plant

A closer look at the flower of the rose cactus

It is said that this plant is a medicinal plant.  It is known to act against cancer and helps in the gut.  I had never tried the leaves or flowers or fruit even though people said it is edible.  When Ah Wai came to my house and saw the fruit, he loved it so much.  Mum plucked the fruit and gave it to him to eat.  That was a yellow fruit, the one and only one in 10 years of growing the plant.  Now I have another fruit, but it is green for so long.  And it takes time to grow so big!  Good things or good fruit need to wait!

I don't know how the fruit or the whole plant taste like.  But base on hearsay, the plants can be boiled, chewed on and ate it raw.  I never wanted to try as yet.  

This plant is like the cactus because it has many sharp thorns on its stem/branches.  Every time when the plant grew out of shape or get in the way, I would trim the plant, cut it off and replant it again.  That is how I get so many rose cactus plants in my garden.  

Buy Me Tea

Praise the Lord, Alleluia!!!

 

 You make all things beautiful in your time! 

In His Time Lyrics: 

In his time, in his time 

He makes all things beautiful In his time 

Lord please show me everyday 

As you're teaching me your way 

That you do just what you say 

In your time 

In your time, in your time 

You make all things beautiful In your time 

Lord my life to you I bring 

May each song I have to sing 

Be to you a lovely thing 

In your time 

(instrumental) 

Lord please show me everyday 

As you teaching me your way 

That you do just what you say 

In your time 

In your time (in your time), in your time (in your time lord) 

You make all things beautiful In your time 

Lord my life to you I bring 

May each song I have to sing 

Be to you a lovely thing 

In your time 

Be to you a lovely thing 

In your time

What a perfect timing.  Today is the day after Good Friday where Jesus is Risen.  Happy Easter day and on this day, the eggs in the bird nest has hatched!  Last night, after midnight, the eggs were still not hatched.  Just now around noon, when I went to the garden to see the Green Chillies and the nest, I heard sound and it was the birds have hatched!!!  Praise the Lord, Alleluia!!!

In my garden, the seven stars needles flowers buds are plenty.  They were flourishing very well.  I am awaiting for the day to come when all the flowers bloom.  The chillies plants are growing very well too.  I am awaiting to see the chillies plants to grow bigger as well.  

At Woodlands MRT station, the birds build their nest at holes at the control switch

A further view of the control switch where I saw the bird nest at Woodlands MRT Station

I was walking along the pathway between Woodlands MRT Station and Causeway Point.  Then a bird flew by and my eyes followed it.  It flew into the hole at the control switch.  It was the 'modern' bird nest of the birds.  

John 14:23 -- Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.  

Picture of the big green chillies on the chilli plant

Buy Me Tea

Sunbirds

 

Watch the video on the Sunbird and hatchlings or baby birds, videos and photographs taken on February 2020

  Sunbirds are tropical nectar-sipping birds belonging to the family Nectariniidae. Some members of the family are called "spiderhunters", but all are considered to be "sunbirds".  Like unrelated hummingbirds, they feed primarily on nectar. However, most sunbirds have curved bills and perch to feed rather than hover like hummingbirds. 

 A sunbird dips its curved bill into a flower or else pierces its base and then sips nectar using a long, tubular tongue. Sunbirds also eat fruit, small insects, and spiders. While hummingbirds hover to feed, sunbirds land and perch on flower stalks. 

 Female sunbirds use spiderwebs, leaves, and twigs to build purse-shaped nests and suspend them from branches. However, spiderhunter nests are woven cups attached beneath large leaves. The female lays up to four eggs. Except for spiderhunters, only sunbird females incubate the eggs. Purple sunbird eggs hatch after 15 to 17 days. Male sunbirds help rear the nestlings. Sunbirds live between 16 and 22 years. 

 

Discovered the loose strands of fibres on the branches (25 March 2021), the sunbirds came to build nest again!

29 March 2021 the shape of the bird nest can roughly to be seen now

Nests are constructed by female sunbirds. They are compact, purse-shaped shelters suspended from tree branches with a single central entrance. A variety of fibers are used in nest construction, including bark, twigs, dried grass, leaves, vegetable down, plants stems, feathers, and snakeskin. It is tightly bound with spider’s silk, especially at the entrance and where it is attached to a branch.

Buy Me Tea

Birds

Remember I told you that I like to catch birds when I was young? Running after them, chasing them. (I love to scare the cats too. This is because they make too much noise at night, scaring me...)  In Singapore, these are the fun things that we could do when I was young...

Growing up, I stopped catching or running after birds.  I hardly even looked at birds.  Soon, it was almost forgotten that I had encounter birds during my working years.  After my graduation, worked and then got married and so on.  I did not encounter any birds at all.  I only had dogs later on.  

8 March 2008 changed my life.  As you can see from the video above,  11 April 2008 I had a special encounter.  I caught hold of a baby bird!  How fun was that!  And after that, that was not the first time I caught a bird.  Over the years, I had encountered more birds.  I saw them on the pathway, I saw them in my corridor garden, at my house and while walking along roadsides.  

5 June 2012, this turtle dove came to my house.  

Something so special and it just made my day.  This is because in Singapore there was hardly any nice view.  We are surrounded by HDB flats.  And that's why this picture's background is the HDB flat, and also my other pictures have background of HDB flats as well.  

On the same day of 5 June 2012, when I went out of the house with Isaac and Richard later on, I had another encounter of another bird.  I was really filled with ecstasy.  It just let me catch hold of it and it never fly off.  

5 June 2012 caught the bird along the roadside.

Just last year, there were sunbirds that came to my garden to build nest.  And I was able to see the young baby birds!!!!

8 February 2020 bird nest done by sunbirds at my garden.

This was the first time I see real bird nest.  In school, I read about bird nest and what the book had drawn the bird nest to be like.  But I never had a chance to see real bird nest in Singapore.  I only see pigeons having their 'nest' under/ in the crevices of MRT tracks/pillars.  So This really made me so proud of my garden.  

Buy Me Tea