Small Foot or Big Mango?

That's right! This is our human's foot used here as a comparison to the mango beside it.

A friend had a mango tree in the garden and gifted our human one.
Our human simply could not resist and took this comparison picture.
Is our human foot small or that mango huge? (It took our human a few days to consume that mango.)
That mango tree must have absorbed tons of fruiting growth fertilisers!

Under the Jasmine Tree

EJ loves the smell of fresh Jasmine flowers.

The late Cookie used to love to sleep here during every hot afternoons. 

On those really hot afternoons, EJ, siblings and mom were extremely envious just watching Cookie sleep.  It felt good and comforting just staring at him in deep slumber there unmoving. In fact, they felt the coolness Cookie was getting and secretly wished either they could make themselves small to crawl in together with Cookie or make that little hut and Jasmine plant big.

With those sweet scent and shade, who wouldn't want to be under the Jasmine Tree?

Below is the Jasmine flower (Jasminum  Sambac) plant EJ planted grown from a cutting of the Jasmine plant Cookie slept under at EJ's Mom's porch. That porch has been renovated and that Jasmine plant removed.

Currently EJ is trying to grow the Jasmine plant again after an invasion of snails destroyed it.

Neighbourhood Meet

EJ opened the front door early one morning and was greeted with this sight - a neighbourhood meet.

Can you see four cats? 

These cats belong to various neighbours. EJ believes they concregate here to escape the rough handling and disturbance by their owners including children. These cats are not neutered nor spayed and EJ doubt they were not even brought to a vet.

Since these cats are not exactly healthy, EJ would not touch them for fear of bringing parasites and diseases into the house and then transmitting them to the indoor house cats. It is sad that their meals are not exactly regular and EJ has seen these cats drinking from puddles on the road.

On seeing EJ, they moved on. One went up the roof. They roamed everywhere.

This little fellow rested on the pot of plant placed by the neighbour on top of the shared common wall.  EJ recognises this plant as ZZ plant.

Please do take note of this plant especially pet lovers as it is poisonous.

Also known as the Aroid Palm, the ZZ plant (Zamioculcas zamiifolia) is a tropical perennial plant that originated from the eastern portions of Africa. Other names include Zanzibar Gem, fat boy, eternity plant and Jin Qian Shu.

All parts of the ZZ plant are poisonous. The ZZ plant is part of the Araceae family and contains insoluble calcium oxalates, which are toxic when high levels are consumed.

In pets, insoluble calcium oxalates can cause varying degrees of toxicity. Some pets may experience mild oral irritation while others can require hospitalization or in rare cases when extreme levels of the plant are consumed, die.

Source: http://www.ehow.com

Working the Garden

The cats were freaking out the past few days. The neighbours' children were firing loud crackers and fireworks randomly and at odd hours. EJ stayed indoors most of the time with windows and door almost closed.

EJ knew it would be quiet today, the day of the festival celebration of Aidilfitri, as all of them would be leaving for their respective hometown.

It would be the best time to work in the garden. The garden dividing wall really do need a paint. Weather cooperated beautifully this morning. It was cool with the sun behind the glooming clouds.

As soon as the last of the neighbours' car left, EJ started scrubbing, scraping and washing the old paint off the wall. It took over two hours and EJ stopped when a slight twinge on the back was felt.

EJ plans to start painting first thing tomorrow morning, repotting and rearranging the plants in the garden the following days before the neighbours come back.

The Bane of Less-loved Cats

Kibbles bought from supermarkets and left-over human food were thrown or left on the floor or road for the neighbourhood cats.

Litter boxes were also not provided. So where would the cats go if they have to ease themselves? They were chased out if done in their owners' house, porch or garden.

Cats, being smart as they are, starting easing themselves in EJ's garden where they could not be disturbed. EJ would not mind if the garden is a sprawling few acres but it is such a tiny postage stamp-sized garden. These cats were not exactly in excellent health and their wastes stank to high heaven.

For months, the cats in the street where EJ lives used this tiny garden as their waste dump. Something had to be done before the cats spread the meow around the whole neighbourhood about their new private toilet. Various deterrent methods like sprinkling water were used but the cats were not afraid of EJ.

As a last resort, EJ thought of raising the dividing wall but wanted to give one last unused deterrent method a try. EJ got these creepers more than a year ago and kept winding them round the pot as they grew. Now that it has grown so long, it could be put to good use to line the dividing wall in the hope to visually fool the cats into thinking that access to the garden is blocked. The cats actually prefer to jump and walk on top of the wall en route to the roof and else where.

EJ's brother who was on vacation here then suggested hanging old CDs which EJ promptly did.

So far, EJ cleaned the garden twice and not twice a day. So it seemed to help deter to a certain extent.

Some of the neighbourhood cats; the gray ones did not have a chance to grow up and had already passed on. EJ has not see the one under EJ's car for over a week. Photos of the other three cats were snapped when in the neighbours' houses.

Home Alone Raya Celebration 2009

After the disappearance of the visiting cat during last year's Hari Raya Puasa celebration, this year's celebration would be peaceful. That was what EJ thought and how wrong EJ was.

A few months ago, a neighbour got a frisky kitten and as usual it was given the complete freedom to roam. A quick chat with the neighbouring children, EJ found out that this kitten was given by one of their friends and its given name is 'Boy-Boy'. And of course, Boy-Boy did walk around EJ's porch and sleep in the shade among the flower pots.

Just like last year, this year the neighbours 'balik kampung' to celebrate. They stayed away for a week. And again the same thing happened. Boy-Boy was home alone.

EJ was slightly disheartened at such action and snooped around to see if any food was left out for Boy-Boy. None could be seen and even if any had been put out, for a week strays would have helped themselves to it.

Boy-Boy never asked EJ for food. Instead Boy-Boy hunted and hauled it to EJ's garden.

EJ had mixed feelings - annoyed at having to clean the mess and pleased as this indicated that to Boy-Boy, EJ's porch and garden is his sanctuary and haven where he could sleep and eat in peace without being harassed or disturbed by children.