The first thing that came to my mind was the triangle musical instrument. Or a pyramid. I couldn’t find a picture of the Mayan pyramids that I took so I decided to post a picture of my garden wind chime. My niece gave it to me last year. I love it especially the butterflies.
I want to wish everyone a “Happy Easter”.
Helleborus argutifolius
Chartreuse – a color half way between green and yellow. To me, it is the color of many young spring buds. Full of texture from smooth hellebore blooms to wrinkles of leaves. You can see it lightly painting the hillsides of Seattle from the catkins of the alders to the samaras of the Big Leaf Maples. It is such a great accent and beginning to Spring.
Euphorbia characias hybrid
Hacquetia epipactis
Ribes sanguineum ‘Brocklebankii’
Dicentra spectablis ‘Gold Heart’
Helleborus orientalis
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I love spring. It has arrived late this year here in Seattle. Normally by mid-April we should be into the prime tulip blooming time. But it has been cold and everything is two weeks late.
I had an opportunity to take a walk around the garden and several different colors jumped out at me. The first was lovely blue.
Pulmonaria – this lovely plant from the same family as borage loves to naturalize and seed itself throughout the garden. We had several named varieties but they have since crossed and naturalized throughout the garden. The spotted leaves also make a nice accent around the garden.
We also have several several patches of Scilla tubergeniana. They are not as invasive as the traditional English bluebell which can be quite a pest here in the Northwest. They definitely have seemed to taken over several gardens in Ballard. This light blue variety has behaved itself in my garden. I’ve also called it Puschkinia scilloides but I think it is Scilla.
Another blue bulb which seems to take over is Muscari – Grape Hyacinth. I love it so I don’t mind that it pop up here and there in the garden. I love dense patches of the bulbs. I love to cut a dozen and pop them into a small vase. The scent is heavenly. Not cloying like regular hyacinths.
The other two blue plants I found in bloom today are more tender Mediterranean plants. Rosemary which was in my herb pot was in bloom – lovely light blue flowers. And Echium fastuosum or Pride of Maderia. This is a stunning plant if grown in the right conditions. It is a little too cold here in the Pacific NW. We winter it over in the greenhouse and then move it to our south facing warm door enclosure. But in California – especially the Bay Area and along Big Sur – it can grow into brilliant blue mounts. It is a native of the island of Maderia.
We had quite the menagerie in our garden yesterday.
It started out when we saw a pair of mallard ducks walking down our street. We’ve seen this in the past and I think it was around this time in the Spring. They just didn’t seem to care much and just waddled down the center of the street. Fortunately, our street isn’t too busy.
But what was really surprising is a short time later, we saw the female mallard in our backyard. Our house is next to a local pond and storm runoff area. Right outside our yard is mostly wild area and just beyond that a pond. So it is not surprising that we get a lot of wildlife. But the area directly behind our house is actually a storm runoff area and the street drain in front of our house outlets to a rocky area beyond our yard. It is good because our garage doesn’t flood but bad because we don’t get frogs any more. Too much street pollution. But we have always seen some interesting animals. And spring increases the occurrences since there are a lot of new babies.
It was very unusual to see a duck in the yard. She found the corn that we put out for the squirrels. She just sat down and scarfed up. She was pretty timid (or hungry) also. I walked out and put more corn out and she just walked right up to the area and started eating.
We do have several squirrels. They do drive G crazy at times because they love to dig in the garden. He had to put caging over our peas because the squirrels were starting to dig in our vegetable garden. But they are so fun to watch.
We also have two species of hummingbirds that visit our garden. We have several Anna hummingbirds that live year round in our garden. We have lots of plants that they love in the garden such as salvias. We also have two feeders that we keep stocked with sugar mixture throughout the winter.
But recently, we’ve seen a new visitor to the feeders – a rufous hummingbird. These are seasonal and smaller than the Anna’s. It is a male and he’s been rather timid flitting around the feeders and also feeding on some of the early blooming plants such as pulmonaria. We were so distressed yesterday when he got trapped in our greenhouse. We open the hoop house where we keep our winter blooming salvias during the day. The Anna’s have figured out how to get in and out of the greenhouse. But the Rufous hasn’t figured it out yet. He went in and then couldn’t figure out how to get out. He flew up towards the light from the sun and he didn’t see the door. We turned off the fans and put some Salvias down in the doorway to temp him down so he could see how to leave. But after two hours he was still in the greenhouse – flying back and forth. We could tell he was getting tired. We finally went out and tried to get him out with two brooms. He got onto one of the brooms and we could hear him crying. He was breaking our hearts. We took him out the door and he was still on the broom. We were worried that he had impaled himself on the broom or hurt himself. But he finally took off and flew up to one of the trees. We knew he was low on energy and just hoped he would recover.
We didn’t see him again yesterday. Would he be okay? I was sitting at the computer this morning and something caught my eye outside the window. He was back! He was at the feeder again. He’s been back several times today drinking up and restocking. I’m so glad to see him.
This is the eighth in a series of more in-depth posts on our trip to Borneo.
February 18
Danum Valley – sometimes called the “Lost World”. It is one of the largest areas of protected undisturbed low-land jungle in Malaysian Borneo. Of course, we didn’t want to rough it or trek days which is why the Borneo Rainforest Lodge appealed to us. It would require a bit to get there and there was no guarantee that we would see any wildlife. We had our fingers crossed that we would be able to see orangutans. And then there was the matter of leeches. But what an opportunity to experience the jungle.
We left KK early in the morning – 7am – and flew across the island to the town of Latah Datu. As the plane approached the city, we flew low over stilted wood houses lining the harbor. The houses were more tropical and rustic than what we had seen in KK.
And the airport was tiny. We walked down the stairs from the plane, across the tarmac and into the single room for arrivals. The bags were quickly rolled in and we left to find our driver waiting for us. Joining us was another couple from Finland.
We drove to the office where we signed the waivers and paid our balance. Then we were back into the trusty Toyota Land Cruiser for a 3 hour drive to the lodge. The first few miles were along the highway out of town – passing several fruit stands before leaving the main road. The first few KMs were through tropical fruit orchards, durian trees, coconut orchards, papaya. The road was still pretty good. It was also a logging road. The forest surrounding the conservation area were being logged and there was a chance that we would meet a logging truck. We came to a gate and a nursery. The logging is selective and they raise trees to replant the forests after harvesting.
We were hoping to see elephants. The Borneo pygmy elephant lives in this jungle. We could see lots of evidence that a herd had been by from the dung droppings on the road and the destruction on the side of the forest. But no luck. Only a single monkey scampered across the road.
We came to the river and the driver said we still had another hour to go. Even though the road was good, it is very tiring to ride for 3 hours on a gravel road. Finally we turned off into the conservation area. The final last few kilometers were very slow since the road was rutted.
We arrived and were warmly greeted by the staff. We cooled off with cold washcloths and a cool drink of juice before they showed us to our lovely cabin. They cabins are connected by elevated wooden walkway. The balcony overlooked the river and we had a lovely outdoor tub.
We unpacked and changed. We gather at the lobby and met our guide for an orientation walk through the forest. We walked along a wooden path and learned about the forest and the unique inhabitants before returning for dinner.
The lodge has a wonderful kitchen. The dining room opens and overlooks the river. We had a good selection of tasty dishes each night including several vegetarian and fish selections for G.
After dinner, we went on a night drive to see if we could see any nocturnal creatures. We saw a civet cat and a few insects but not much else. It was a long day and we quickly fell asleep to the symphony of the jungle.
We awoke early next morning to do the canopy walk. Strung high over the jungle floor was a wonderful airy pathway. We walked along the main road while the dawn slowly crept over the jungle. The mist still enveloped the treetops giving the scene an unreal aura. The canopy walk was beautiful and not scary at all.
We had breakfast and then changed to do hike up to the overlook and cliff burial. The trail went across the river and then climbed moderately through the forest debris. It was a little muddy. The last part was on a ladder. From the viewpoint we had a gorgeous view across the forest.
We started down and then went off to see the burial coffin. I was tired so I wait just below and then suddenly they started yelling “Marta – Orangutan…” I rushed up just as the large male -“King” started climbing up the liana vines . “I turned around and there he was on the cliff edge” on of the guides said. He climbed very quickly and I was barely able to get a picture especially against the cloudy sky.
We quickly went back down and stopped by the ‘forest jacuzzi”. A lovely waterfall fed pond. We jumped in and had a refreshing swim before returning to lunch.
After lunch, it was time to bid adieu to the our new friends. They were only staying one night. Later that afternoon, we went for another walk. We relaxed the rest of the afternoon listening to the sounds of the forest as the sun went down.
I was lazy the next morning and I sent G out on his own for one last jungle walk. I enjoyed a leisurely coffee while sitting on the deck and listing to the jungle. Too soon it was time for the bone jarring 3 hour drive back to Latah Datu. We had one surprise along the way – a large snake was on the road. We think it was a gliding snake – possibly a golden paradise tree snake. All too soon – we were back in KK.
Next up – Kuching.
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It is time again for a Photohunt. This week’s topic is stripes. This was actually a fun hunt for me. I did not remember right off any photos with stripes. The first one I came across were some Zebras but I’ve used similar photos in other photohunts. I wanted something different.
I found the fun photo of St Michel’s Day in Menton. St Michel is the patron saint of the beautiful Basilica of Archangel Saint Michael in the Menton old town. St Michel’s Day is September 30th and we just happened to be staying just down the street from the church. We were out walking and we noticed that people were gathered in the courtyard in front of the Church. I remembered that it was St Michel’s Day since that was also the patron saint of the church in Villefranche sur Mer where I had been studying French.
We waited around and after the Sunday service, a group of men in stripped French shirts – the dress of a Mentonnais fisherman carried out the Archangel Saint Michael. They carried him down the ramps and out to the seaside followed by groups of musicians and dancers in local costumes. It was one of the serendipity chance occurrences that you stumble upon while traveling that stays in your memories.
Here are a few more pictures:
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One of my favorite food of Nice and Liguria is Socca. It is basically a crepe made of chickpea or garbanzo flour. Chez Teresa is well known vendor in Cours Saleya. I have fond memories of a warm September morning – waiting for the Socca to arrive by bicycle. They are baked several blocks back into Vieux Nice and loaded into a heated box on the back of a bicycle. It is then ridden through the narrow alleys to the center of Cours Saleya where Teresa stands waiting in front of a 55 gallon drum with a hot hot fire going inside. She is the perfect French proprietress – efficient, friendly, sexy. I remember her heavily kohled eyes smiling while watching for the bicycle to arrive. She slices up the socca pan and scrapes off warm oily crispy slices. Perfect with a rough glass of rose.
It was the chickpea flour ingredient that caught my eye in this week’s Minimalist’s column in the New York Times. The recipe was for a Spanish tapas called Tortillitas. It is a no-egg pancake made with chickpea flour, shrimp, onion, herbs and olive oil. The recipe is a little different since it uses a mixture of both wheat flour and chickpea flour but still lovely light dinner. It reminded me a lot of egg foo young even though it did not have any egg. I suspect it was because I used green onions.
I reduced the recipe by 1/3 and made just one. It was a little thick but still yummy. Next time I’ll either make a full recipe or add a bit more water. If you are looking to try something different from the Mediterranean – try it!
Tortillitas With Shrimp
Yield: 4 or more servings.
1/2 cup chickpea flour
1/2 cup white flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup chopped onion or scallions
About 1/2 cup raw shrimp, chopped, or scallops or other shellfish or fish
2 to 3 tablespoons chopped chives, parsley, thyme or cilantro
Olive oil.
1. In a bowl, combine flours and baking powder with salt and pepper. Add a little more than a cup of water and stir to combine; consistency should resemble pancake batter (if batter is too thick, add more water, a little at a time). Stir in the onions, chopped seafood and herbs.
2. Put a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and film its bottom generously with olive oil. When oil is hot, pour in half the batter until it fills center of pan; spread gently with a spoon to form a large pancake.
3. Cook about 3 minutes, or until pancake is set around edges; flip pancake and continue cooking for another 3 minutes, then flip it again and cook for another 30 seconds or so, until it is crisp on outside but still moist inside. Remove from pan and serve immediately, while remaining batter cooks.
Have you seen “The Secret Life of Plants” with David Attenborough? I remember him squatting next to a large maroon flower on the jungle floor – a Rafflesia – the largest flower in the world. I never dreamed that I would actually see one in bloom when I watched the episode on PBS. But we did!
Rafflesia – It grows in primarily in the eastern states of Malaysia; Sabah and Sarawak. We had hopes to see it but it was only going to be by luck. We knew our best chances would be either Poring or Gunung Gading in Sarawak. The plant is a parasite that grows on a vine called Tetrastigma which is related to grapes. The Rafflesia lacks leaves and roots and is totally dependent upon this vine. The bud looks like a cabbage and takes about 9 months to eventually bloom. The bloom will open and last about 7 days until it turns black. The flower consists of 5 petals and sits directly on the jungle floor. It can measure over a yard across in size. The center contains spikes which are the flowersand it is fertilized by flies. To attract the flies, it produces the smell of rooting meat. The scent attracts the flies which pollinate the plant.
We had heard from the couple we talked to at the Mt. Kinabalu botanical garden that there was a Rafflesia in bloom along the road to Poring Hot Springs. We asked them how many days it had been in bloom. It had only been open two days. Wow! That means if we drove up there the following day it would have been in bloom for only 4 days. It would be in prime condition. They told us to look for a sign “Rafflesia Bloom” just before the village of Poring.
Lily produced another great breakfast. We sadly said “Goodbye” and headed off to Poring. We descended to Kundasang and headed towards Ranau. Ranau is one of the bigger towns in the area but the road only skirted the edges of the town. We turned off and headed back towards Mt. Kinabalu and Poring. We were much lower in elevation and it was very warm and humid. The houses in the area were interesting – many of the balconies had railings made of dark colonial Queen Anne style. Many of the buildings were a mix of stucco, wood and brick. You could tell that sections were constructed at different times and with different material.
We kept an eye out for the Raffesia sign. We were almost to the village when we saw it. We drove forward for a while and saw no other signs. That must be it. So we turned around and went back.
Three villagers were sitting on the side under an umbrella with a small stand. We asked them how much. They wanted 20RM. We said to much and negotiated 15RM per person. That was probably still too much but this is the one opportunity for the family/village to make a little extra revenue. The older Malaysian women led us along the trail for just about 1/4 mile until we came to a bamboo enclosure. There it was – Rafflesia.
Snap… Snap… Snap… We took our photos and that was it. It was kinda a let down after all the build up and anticipation.
We drove up to Poring. Hot springs are the main attraction of Poring. We were going to return to KK so we already had decided not to visit the hot springs. We arrived just before 11am so we headed to the Orchid Conservation Center which was only open for an hour or so. The center houses the largest collection of orchids native to Sabah. Next to the Orchid center were the tropical gardens – a small zoo-like area. I found this area kinda depressing. There were several cages mostly empty – but a few – with birds. We did get a chance to see a herd of Sambar deer.
Paphiopedilum rothschildianum
Sambar Deer
The other areas of interest at Poring are the butterfly garden and the canopy walk. We thought about doing one or both of them but they were about a 30-50 minute walk from the parking area. It was already past noon and we had a 3 hour drive to return to KK. I didn’t want to do any more hiking so got a soda and relaxed for a bit before starting the drive back.
Most of the way back was sunny except for a sudden rainstorm just past Mt. Kinabalu. In 3 hours we returned to KK and called to have the car picked up. It was an early night for us since we had to be up at 4:30am for our 7:00am flight to Latah Datu.
Here are a few more pictures from our day.
Mangosteen and Snakeskin fruit
This is the sixth in a series of more in-depth posts on our trip to Borneo.
February 16
The Rajah Nepenthes – the largest pitcher plant is endemic to Mt. Kinabalu. It was one of the must-sees on our list. I was too exhausted the previous day to hike the trail up to see it so we returned the next morning. We drove up to Mesilau but had to stop near the entrance because a large group of climbers were having their pictures taken before starting the climb. They were taking up the whole road just below the trail head. A couple of beeps of the horn and eased through the crowd.
The nature center was deserted except for a woman and her baby who was cleaning up behind the desk. We noticed that officially the hike to the Nepenthes started at 11:30am. We asked to talk to the ranger and see if he would take us at 9am instead. He agreed.
The morning was cool and overcast – quite a difference from the brilliant sunshine of yesterday. The ranger led us along a concrete sidewalk, up past the Crocker Range Lodge to the start of the trail. We could hear the roaring sound of the river below. The trail descended down along the west side of the river through dense forest filled with moss, ginger, ferns and orchids. After a short while we passed by the historic Mesilau Cave where plant explorers have used as shelter while exploring the area.
Soon we reached the river and the ranger pulled out his keys and opened the gate to the botanical wonderland. Many of the plants growing on the opposite slope are endangered so the area has been fenced in to protect the plants. Mesilau means yellow and a quick glance across to the opposite hillside explained why. The soil was a dusty yellow in color. It turns out to be serpentine soil and very poor in nutrients. Poor soil is perfect for Nepenthes.
We crossed the bridge and started up the opposite slope. It was so different from the other side – much less lush. There had been many landslides and the area was clear of tall trees and plants. Most of the shrubs grew about shoulder high. The trail started to climb and soon we found the Nepenthes. The first one we came across is of my favorites – Nepenthes burbidgeae. The cups are chartreuse with magenta spotting and magenta and chartreuse striping around the lip. As we continued up we can see rhododendrons and bamboo orchids.
We came to an area that had recently been washed out and was quite rough. There were wooden ladder steps to climb but little or few railings. I found it a little scary. But the vistas kept opening up above the river and across to the northeastern slopes of Kinabalu.
And there it was. Nepenthes Rajah! What we had come half way around the world to see. It was huge, almost 18 inches. The large magenta cups laid on the hillside around the plant. It is said to hold at least 2 liters of liquid and can trap small mammals. Looking inside – I only saw one or two dead insects. The ranger said it was okay to handle and I pick it up and cradled it like a baby.
The rajahs were all around – hidden in the deep sedge grasses along the slope. The ranger had another surprise for us – a paphilopedium orchid (paphilopedium hookeri). A beautiful green and pink lady slipper. We knew they grew in Borneo but thought our chances of seeing one were remote. This was like frosting on the cake.
We climb almost to the top of the eastern slope – just about as high as yesterday. The ranger points across to the ridge and says that the first shelter is just at the top. That is as far as we went yesterday. The clouds were opening and closing with views of the craggy top of Mt. Kinabalu. Our guide told us that sometimes painters would come up to paint the views. It was a cloud forest as seen in films at about 6,000Ft. The weather was mild and fortunately not rainy. In fact since it was so open and exposed – it was very good that we had done it today instead of yesterday when the sun would have beated down on us.
The ranger was scheduled to lead the next hike so we turned and started our decent. We made one or two more stops to see the nepenthes and orchids. We thanked the ranger for a wonderful hike and return to the Inn for lunch. We had a wonderful Malaysian lunch including Pisang Gorang – fried banana fritters. Yumm.
After lunch, we headed to Mt Kinabalu headquarters which were about 20 minutes away. It was much more crowded than Mesilau. Mesilau is almost deserted. Most of the climbers and the day trippers come up by minivan or taxi to the headquarters. There were also several large tour buses filled with foreign tourists.
We decided to visit the botanical garden which didn’t reopen until 2pm. We decided to hike for a while along one of the day hike trails next to the botanical garden to kill some time. We returned just as the garden open and spent time admiring the orchids and tropical plants. We met an English couple and talked a bit about our travels. They had been to Poring and seen a Rafflessia in bloom. This was our second holy grail of the trip. It was a fresh bloom and only 3 days old. We were heading there tomorrow and it would still be in good shape. The flower lasts for about 7 days.
It took us about an hour to visit the garden. We decided to walk along another trail before returning. It was late afternoon and the sun was waning. Most of the tourists had left for the day. It was a nice and peaceful way to end our day and our visit to Mt. Kinabalu.
See the ant inside?
This is what the nepenthes flower looks like
Cymbidium orchid
Arisaema – related to Jack-in-the-pulpit
This week’s selection is a super easy soup. It is Carrot Ginger Soup and was selected by Debrah. It has been her favorite for at least 20 years and she used to make it when she was catering for film crews. My hubby really liked it also.
Carrot Orange Ginger Soup
Serves 4 appetizers or 2 servings.
One large onion – diced
Three cloves garlic minced or crushed
Three inch piece of ginger root – finely diced(you can use more or less depending on preference)
Eight large carrots (diced)
One Large tetra pack of chicken or vegetable broth (4 cups)
One and a half cups of orange juice
Saute onions, garlic and ginger in olive oil on low heat to soften and start to caramelize for only 10 minutes. Put in carrots and saute for 5 minutes to bring out the sugars. Add enough broth to cover the carrots and simmer till carrots are tender.
Remove from heat, place a small amount of broth and all of the carrots into blender and puree until smooth. Pour back into pot, add orange juice and rest of broth (or water) until you get the thickness consistency you desire.
I’m on a salad kick so I served it with an European mix green salad (lettuce, frisee and radicchio) dressed with a balsamic vinaigrette and warm goat cheese medallions . Yummm…
Thanks! Debrah
