Wednesday 13 April 2011

Hodge Podge

What with the Sarawak State Elections, work, letters to the Press to be drafted, volunteer commitments, animal care duties and football practice every other day, I didn't have the time to post a blog entry last week.

A Fortnight's Roundup, In Photos:




26th March 2011: The 6th CETDEM Hari Organik was held at the SS2 public park. The objectives of Hari Organik are to encourage consumers to purchase and consume local produce, to help new organic farmers/traders establish their market, to promote healthy and environmentally-conscious living, and inculcate community spirit. Visitors and consumers were encouraged to bring their own shopping bags and food containers to the event to minimise packaging and waste.






26th March 2011: Children "fishing" out cards bearing the photos of vegetables to help them learn to identify and recognise local and seasonal vegetables.




26th March 2011: I purchased more organic vegetable seeds than I needed but was fortunate in that there were many takers for the seeds. My friends and I now have a seed network started. It's only a matter of time before we can start harvesting our own vegetables.



Bird Plant (Pedilanthus bracteatus) finally in bloom in my parents' garden. Can you spot the bird-like inflorescence?



Chilling out at Sunway Lagoon on 1.4.2011 with two of my best friends, Glyn and Nicole (i.e. Glycol) before Glyn's return to the UK. Here they are waiting for the arapaima fish that never surfaced.



1.4.2011: Making Zoo Check observations and notes at the Sunway Lagoon Wildlife Park after I have had enough of splashing around and swallowing chlorinated water at the water park.

This is my latest rescued kitten, Toby. I found him wandering in my office car park with skinny limbs and a belly bloated with worms on 4.4.2011. We are very lucky in that we have already found him a home through my network of friends. Thank you, Chelvi K., for offering to adopt Toby!



Latest rescued kitten, Toby. Age: 2-3 months. Breed: Domestic Short Hair Medical History: Dewormed on 7 & 8 April 2011 Given flea bath on 5.4.2011 Vaccinated on 9.4.2011.



When I brought Toby to Dr. Steven Yoon of Healing Pets Animal Clinic for vaccination, the doctor and his wife very generously gave me a bag of pet food and treats for the SPCA animals when they realised that I would be going there to help out in the afternoon. Here are their kind contributions sitting in the shelter office.



12th April 2011: It's time for another quarterly visit to the National Blood Bank! I requested statistics this time around and was very pleased to learn that there was almost zero wastage of blood at this facility. Due to the high demand for blood in government and community hospitals, almost all blood donated is put to good use, and the only blood destroyed is tainted or diseased blood.



12th April 2011: One of these days I'm gonna steal me a kidney dish and serve Chex Mix in it.



12th April 2011: A gift, for me? Why, thank you! It's...umm... a little splotch of blood. I'm absolutely charmed! How very kind of you.




Covert Operations, OUT.

16 comments:

Ellen Whyte said...

Another busy week. Love that little kitty!

Unknown said...

I missed the Cetdem event, would have loved to be among the visitors.
You have such a superb record of donating blood and I'm proud of you.

Cat-from-Sydney said...

CO78,
Mama said if you have seeds for that birdy plant, she's love them. Just so she could fool us felines. har har har *evil laughs* as if.....
Glad that Toby has found his furrrever home. Lucky kitty. purrr....meow!

~CovertOperations78~ said...

Dear Ellen, Au and Target,
Little Kitty says he loves you all right back! He's been eating a lot and gaining weight, so I am very happy.

~CovertOperations78~ said...

Dear Keats,
There'll be another Hari Organik soon enough! I still prefer the first one that I went to 2 yrs ago because it has a calmer, neater, more authentic feel to it.
Thanks for supporting my blood donation efforts! I was really pleased to know that all my blood has been put to good use almost immediately.

~CovertOperations78~ said...

Dear Kitties-In-Sydney,
I don't know if the Pedilanthus has seeds! I think they grow from clippings! Let me ask my Mum. She bought hers from Sg Buloh, at the nurseries within the old leprosy hospital.
Toby now needs to be socialised before he goes to his new home. He tends to put out his claws when excited. I am training him to enjoy being petted and cuddled or he will give his new mummy Chelvi a big fright.

Pak Idrus said...

Thanks for this posting and the seeds. We have sowed some and today I saw the radish sprouting. Would blog about the development of this wonderful gift of yours.

Have a nice day.

Pat said...

Hey E, Chuan would be so jealous of your seed collection! He has one, too, and has sowed quite a bit, and we've enjoyed the results :)

Toby is soooooo cute!

~CovertOperations78~ said...

Dear Pak Idrus,
Wow, that was fast! I didn't realise the radish would start sprouting so quickly! Now the trick is to keep the snails away! I am excited about having new vegetables in my vegetable patch too! Gardening is good for the soul!

~CovertOperations78~ said...

Dear Pat,
Thank you for your kind words for Toby. I do agree that he is very cute, esp with his white socks and face. I will pick up more seeds on my next Hari Organik jaunt and we can split the packets as I have done before -- no one needs 50 tomato plants or a whole yard of long beans and petola, so we'll divide and share, hurray!

Unknown said...

U had a busy and productive week I see!

I too, want a kidney bowl for myself. Lets see who gets one first erkkkk?

Hahahaha....

~CovertOperations78~ said...

Dear Ahan,
Yep, after all our silly conversations on blood donation and stealing kidney trays, everyone wants a kidney tray now! Next Raya, you can serve kerepek in kidney trays and sirap bandung in lab beakers! Ha!

Emily said...

Wonderful post!

Hey E! do post about your gardening. What do you suggest I grow in my balcony garden!?

~CovertOperations78~ said...

Dear Emily,
My garden is neglected at the moment due to the crazy weather and because I am off playing football every weekend and haven't got the time to do any gardening. It's my parents' garden that is a joy to watch. If your balcony isn't too hot and is shaded from too much direct sunlight, musk lime, kaffir lime, pandan, mint, tomatoes, cili padi and curry leaves make great edible potted plants!

Unknown said...


searching for the name of my Birdie Plant
saw yours, many thanks
I have several very nice fully bloom
plants where a couple of like humming birds
come each morning to perch and feed
on honey? it looks like they are grooming
the green,yellow birds on the plant

~CovertOperations78~ said...

Those birds would be Olive-Backed Sunbirds. There are no hummingbirds in Malaysia. Glad you enjoy gardening and birdwatching too!