Dumdum

Dumdum joined the family on one October morning three years ago. He walked into the yard and refused to leave. He rolled over and went on his tummy to seek permission to be part of the family. So we adopted him, even old Bubba welcomed him by ignoring his antics. Roo immediately took over to mother him and be his protector. We don't know his bloodline but we do know that he was a cross breed of a Labrador retriever. In short he is a mutt. He has grown to be a handsome dog. He likes water and would jump into it whenever he has the opportunity.
Lately he has been marking his territory far and wide and he ventured out of the fence (20 acres)to stake his territory. He would dug a hole under the fence and creep under it. He has been good. He would mark his territory and get back in the yard. However as of last week he has been grounded. The farmer a quarter mile down the road followed him home and reported that Dumdum has been messing with his turkey. Now Dumdum is on a cahin tied to a runner cable about 50 feet apart.
It was hard for him and for me to see him grounded. Until he learnt that his territory is only within the fenced up 20 acres, he would stay on his chain. I do take him for a walk from time to time so that he does not feel abandoned.
I love animals and especially dogs, I could talk to them for hours and they would listen to me without any interruptions.
Hopefully one day soon Dumdum can run in the yard again.

Raya for me

As aidil Fitri is approaching, I can imagine many a household is abuzz with activities. many are sleeping late or getting up early to make all the cookies and kueh mueh for the raya. I am not particularly interested in joining the crowd, but i do say that these activities add up to the festivities.
Here in the boonies where there are only 2 of us observing the ramadan, it is kind of sad to indulge in these activities. I used to invite friends and relatives over, but I find it quite tiring and tiresome.
We usually stay at home and perhaps have some kind of celebration on the last day berbuka. The day itself, if and when weather permits, we would get up early and leave the house by six in the morning for a prayer in the nearest mosque (60 miles away). otherwise, we pray at home. I don't turn on the takbir because it would make me homesick, so, we just sit around and watch movies.
I am used to celeberating raya alone since i was a child of 12, so whatever memories i have of having fun on raya day were those when i was really really young.
later when i was working, raya to us can be any day when all of us ( my siblings and families)could be at my parents all at the same time. That is RAYA for us.
Selamat hari raya to all

Mama nini (guinea fowl) is missing

I have 6 ninis (guines fowls.) i am positive that 2 are females and 2 are males. The other two, I have no clue. The 2 females i know because they lay eggs. The 2 males I know because, they stay by the nests waiting for their partners to lay eggs. The other 2, they hang around the males and the females.
Two weeks ago one went missing, with the male partner yelling and calling for it to come home. I thought it was dead, something had had it for dinner. However the next day I saw it in the yard eating and scratching around. By evening when all my critters go back to their respective pens, this one was missing. So I guess she must have a nestful of eggs somewhere nearby.I don't know how long it takes for the eggs to hatch, until I hear the little biddy ninis, I know the mama is ready to come home.

of Puasa and ikan Masin

I don't know why, ikan masin is like a must in Ramadan. Before Ramadan begun, I went shopping for all Ramadan stuff, ie food. They include dried fish, cuttle fish, dried shrimps, dried soya bean curd, fish balls and all the herbs. Foer the sweets , it was nata de coco, sago pearls and palm sugar.
Well, back to ikan masin. I have a few types, ikan gelama masam/kering (ikan glamour to some) anchovies of different sizes. So, after a few days of fasting, i embarked on frying the ikan gelama masam. That wasa a BIG mistake, no a HUGE mistake. Not only it sent my husband out of the house, it nearly made me fainted. Moved the frying pan out on to the deck and i guess if I have close neighbours, I swear all of them would be out, thinking there must be some gas leak somewhere. it took almost 2 days before the house smell ok again despite air freshner etc.
However, when I ate it with sauted onion rings and fried dried cayene, poooh, i forgot the torture i had to go through. I ate on the deck by the way.