River Rhine going across.

It wasn't much of a holiday, it's actually WORK as the three of us and Alex the German guy went around Germany and Switzerland the past week. It's true as they say, flowers add colour in spring, leaves paint various shades of yellow and brown in autumn. It's River Rhine that attracted my attention as we moved along the river the first day and went up the viewing platform. Breathtaking is all I can say..

Rhein in German and Rhine in English, refer to a long river stretching from Swiss Alps to North Sea.

River Rhine 1

River Rhine 2

River Rhine 4

three beautiful houses at the top of the hill

Viewing platform - looking down

walkway to the top of viewing platform

Souvenirr Shop

Lovely colour of autumn

Autumn colour

Autumn colour as we were leaving 

___________bangchik and kakdah___________

Red is the colour

I wonder what's so special with RED. It's the colour of blood, signifying bravery of highest kind, ready to go to the limit.

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my little vegetable garden

close encounter with the BEES

We had the car parked beneath a mango tree with low branches. It's my habit to look around for something interesting. Nothing was interesting then, mango with leaves, low branches but no fruits. There were flowering plants around the central figure, mango tree.  We then went in Kakak's house, my eldest sister.

The next morning as we were about to leave, something at the branch caught my attention. It's a beehive. Like a brave man, I approached the low branch for a close shot.......... I never get close to a beehive before and that was the closest encounter ever. And that was a day old beehive.

beehive hanging low at mango branch - pic1

beehive, too low and close to be true. - pic2

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my little vegetable garden

Sauk, an old town in Perak

Sauk in Perak is an old town trying hard to embrace modernisation at manageable pace. It is nice to see the 360 degree views by the roadside.

to the back - pic1 SAUK

to the left - pic 2 SAUK

to the left a second later - pic 3 SAUK

to the right - pic 4 SAUK

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my little vegetable garden

River and boats

Abang Mail was right in highlighting the rising price of lands. He noted rivers and seas however are still open, with no land titles or rather river titles or seas titles .  Everybody can go to rivers and seas, catch fish without having to claim sole ownership.  But fish like anything else is declining in numbers.

On land, farmers  push soil to the limit for higher yield of crops not fully understanding the overall impact on nature. It's the simple approach of sustainability that had been shying away as we flog NATURE hard.  But somewhere else there are people with small boats to catch fish for their own family consumption.  Others may say, they are backward, not ambitious, and definitely cant compete in the big wide world.  These small boat owners wish to catch just enough for today, so rivers and seas are able to rehabilitate, sooth the sorrow and let the fish to live and produce more for tomorrow and days after tomorrow.

small fishing boats, Sungai Sitiawan - pic1

Sungai Sitiawan - pic2

Sungai Sitiawan - pic3

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my little vegetable garden

An egg in the nest

The nest is very skeletal, nothing fancy about it, but it serves the purpose of holding an egg. It was one fine morning around 10 am, during recent Raya Haji in Sitiawan our hometown, that I saw a bird rushing out of a low bougainvillea tree. I peeped through and saw an egg in a nest.

an egg in the nest - pic1

Again the next day I checked who owned the egg. 

the mother bird checking my intrusion - pic2

looking straight ahead. -  pic3

the mother bird - pic 4

mother bird - pic5

mother bird - pic 6

I had to peep through branches to get clear shots. I guessed  the mother bird was about to lay another egg, because it didn't bother my intruding presence.  Who knows, the mother bird might just consider myself as another friendly visitor that would not take away it's precious egg.  I went round the tree to get shots from many angles. The bird behaved like a seasoned fashion model, very photogenic with eyes looking so aloof.

A brother in law had a peep too, and confirmed the bird had to be merbuk, a bird treasured by many for its beautiful melodious voice.  

___________bangchik and kakdah___________

my little vegetable garden

Refer:

http://redzlan.blogspot.com/2010/05/peacefulzebra-dove-courtship-ritual.html

http://adrydaud.blogspot.com/2012/04/zebra-dove-ketitir.html