Mari berkebun

Jelak membaca cerita seloka
mari berkebun pulak la kita
sedikit sebanyak legakan belanja
Bila di rantauan semuanya berharga

sambung lagi

Keliling rumah diliputi salji
tebal agaknya sepuluh inci
Hujan saljinya dah beberapa hari
Belum dapat dicairkan si matahari

Waktu malam bulan mengambang
Indahnya rupa bukan kepalang
Sunyi damai mata memandang
terubat segala hati yang walang

Kembali kita berkisah lagi
perjalanan hidupku berliku liki
bahagia sungguh hidup di hawaii
ramai orang dapat ku kenali

Pembesar negara serta raja
pernah semeja menjamu selera
di sana taraf sama belaka
beramah mesra I dan U saja

se tahun di sana sekejap sahaja
rasa tak dan nak buat apa
ku semat ku simpan segala
kali ni saja aku bercerita

Di sana calon jodoh ku jumpa
Walau pun biar seketika
kembali ke negara semuanya lupa
16 tahun kemudian berjumpa semula

Kini hidupku bahagia disamping si dia
Semuanya ini kuasa Nya jua
bertemu semula siapalah sangka
terima kasih alam cyber

1982 ku kembali ke malaya
menyambung balik tugas di sana
berkobar-kobar nak kongsi ilmu di dada
tapi Boss mencebih bibir saja

Tahulah aku pemergianku tak direstu
marah sangat boss yang satu
rupanya beliau tidak setuju
sebab calonnya tak diterima dulu

segala usahaku tidak dipandang
rasa diri macam terbuang
nak tukar kerja selalu dihalang
merengkoklah aku di penjara tak berpalang

ish tercerita kisah sedih pulak
semua datang tak dapat ditolak
ku buat kerja jangankan tidak
ku ubat hati merantau sejenak

Sudah tak ingat tahun nya bila
Ku jelajahi eropah semula
kali ini berdua sahaja
bermula dari istambul la

Agak sebulan juga lamanya
Benua eropah ku redah merata
bersantai di gunung ganangnya
beramah mesra dengan penduduknya

nanti sambung lagi

Sambung cerita dalam seloka

Setahun setengah menimba ilmu
satu diploma dapat dipangku
cerah gamaknya masa depan ku
mengharungi hidup serba berliku

Cuti sekolah aku bekerja
untuk mendapat wang belanja
merantau eropah melihat dunia
Masa mudalah nak buat itu semua

Pertama kali ke benua eropah
ikut rombongan ala cik kiah
singgah di tempat-tempat yang indah
lima enam negara habis dijelajah

bersama segulung ijazah
pulang ke negara bertuah
memberi bakti tanpa gelabah
membina bersama negara yang indah

Tahun 1978 mula berbakti
tak lama kemudian gatallah kaki
luar negara ingin ku jejaki
mendapat peluang mencari rezeki

Ku teliti macam-macam berita
mungkin ada peluang biasiswa
ternampaklah satu berita
hadiah menyelidik Fulbright-Macee namanya

Dengan segera ku melamar dia
takut tertinggal peluang yang ada
tak berapa lama dengarlah berita
Hadiah itu aku yang punya

Ke Honolulu ke barat pula
aku mengangkut beg segala
Dengan hati yang sangat suka
mulalah aku berkhidmat di sana

Cantik dan indah rupa pulaunya
bertambah pula ramah penduduknya
terpikat hati bila di sana
rasa nak duduk beberapa lama

sampai di sini cerita dulu
aku nak pergi sodok salji yg beku
kalau tidak jatuh berdebub lah aku
sakit b*nt*t lah macam tu

The snow is here

cerita melalui seloka

Pagi ini muram sahaja
sleet dan salji turun melanda
Laman sekeliling putih semuanya
Angin membadai menderu bunyinya

Bila sejuk-sejuk begini
terkenang di Inggeris pertama pergi
Ingin melihat bermain salji
baru ku tahu London salji jarang sekali

Semasa sampai di luar negara
walau pun diri tak berapa bersedia
Dengan berkat darah muda
semua berjalan dengan berpada

Ku daftar diri kursus sarjana
Di politeknik, sekarang dah bertukar nama
Tempat tinggal entah di mana
seketika itu tinggal di asrama

Asrama jauh tidak terhingga
Ku lamar tempat di Dewan Malaysia
mereka kata lamaran ku tak boleh diterima
kerana bukan pemegang biasiswa JPAnya

Ku merayu ku meminta
berilah ku tinggal sementara
nanti ku cari tempat lain pula
oklah kata mereka, cuma 2 hari saja

lepas kelas aku meronda
bersama kawan yang ingin mencuba
mencari tempat tinggal yang selesa
walau pun tak tau entah di mana

Selepas beberapa lama mencari
Terjumpalah bilik yang dapat di diami
naik turun bas, tube beberapa kali
Berasa lega di sanubari

nanti sambung nostalgia di luar negeri

seloka lagi

Apa nak kata sudah terjangkit
gurindam seloka macam penyakit
Ku asah bahasa berdikit-dikit
macam menenun si kain songket

Ingin dikongsi cerita lama
lepas ditinggalkan sekolah asrama
Menetap pula di kolej pertama
di universiti malaya tempat ternama

Belajar, bersukan bermain bersama
untuk mendapat ijazah pertama
Belum tahu rezeki di mana
Mintak-mintak tidak tunggu lama

tiga tahun cepat berlalu
Macam tak cukup masa nak baca buku
peperiksaan akhir datang melulu
Bagaimana masa depan belumlah tentu

terbaca di dada akhbar berita
ada biasiswa ditawar sedia
jika berminat lamar lah dia
tawaran belajar di luar negara

temu duga di musim periksa
waktu tepat pukul dua
peperiksaan di pagi ada
ku terus bersiap sedia

Habis saja kertas periksa
Terus ku naik bas srijaya
mennghadapi si penemuduga
dalam hati berdoa dimudahkan usaha

Belum pun habis periksa
ku ditawar biasiswa
belajar nun di luar negara
colombo plan nama penaja

gembira hati tidak terkira
tersengeh tersenyum masa periksa
harap-harap urusan mudah sahaja
ongkosnya belum tahu entah di mana

of pantun gurindam dan seloka

Tak tahu di mana harus bermula
membuka cerita perihal segala
supaya yang mebaca tak pening kepala
mencari maksud seloka saya

Pagi tadi berjalan beriadah
Bersama anjing yang manja sudah
sambil berjalan sambil bermadah
menghayati bahasa yang amat indah

Ingin ku bercerita lucu
bila berumur lupa selalu
cermin mata letak melulu
takjumpa dicari kehilir ke hulu

Ku cari merata-rata
atas bawah meja komputer
Di bilik tidur di bilik air merata
Ali-alih ada di kepala

Teringat aku kata arwah ibunda
bila berumur banyak lah lupa
perkara yang baru tak pernah ingat di kepala
Tetapi kisah lama ingat semula

Ini kisah lama dengan lucunya
Semasa berjalan di bandar Geneva
Ingin menaiki pengangkutan bandaraya
Tak tahu tempat mendapatkan kartunya

Di perhentianya orang ramai berbaris
Mungkin di sini dibelinya karcis
Ternampak kotak tergantung beriklan habis
Ingatkan di situ dijualnya karcis

Ku masuk wang ku tekan butang
Tak jugak keluar apa pun barang
beberapa orang menolong datang
terkeluar kondom, malunya aku bukan kepalang

pernah ku melilau seluruh dunia
hingga sampai ke Vitigmilia (ejaan)
banjir besar tidak terkira
sungai penuh dengan kereta

perjalanan ku tersekat lama di situ
Tunggu lah aku beberapa waktu
Tak sampailah ke tempat yang nak dituju
Malam itu tidur di bangku

Dini hari aku di kejutkan
Ada bas hendak ke pekan
Kalau mahu teruskan perjalanan
Naik lah bas separuh jalan

Ku ikut saja orang semua
Sebab tak faham bahasa catalan nya
Cuma ku tahu cakap nak ke barcelona
Aku di hantar ke keretapi naik percuma

The deer hunting season is here again

Much to my dismay, the season is here again. There are alot of hunters around, hunting on public and private lands. Although the hunting is regulated especially on public lands, I still feel awful when I hear gunshots. Some hunters use bow and arrow to hunt, some use smoke guns and some use rifles. We used to keep our southeast gate open, so that the deer can take refuge in our property. However,i feel that I feed them to make them fat and some hunters get them in their pots. Since the gate is open, the deer do come in and out everyday.
Another reason i don't feel happy about is that I have to put my Dumdum on chain. Dumdum is not scared of guns, he thinks when the gun goes "booom", it is time for him to go and search and get the kill. it is his breed, a bird dog that goes hunting for ducks and geese and turkeys.
Although our 20 acres property is securedly fenced-up (8-10 feet), somehow Dumdum finds away to dig under the fence to venture out. Roo and Max are not as adventurous as Dumdum, and they listen to me when I whistle and tell them to stay in the yard. Poor Dumdum will have to be on chain until next year.
Some morning when Roo, Max and me go for our walk around the property, we do see deer hiding from hunters right next to our fence. Of course Roo and Max get excited and chase the deer away straight to the hunters. I was so upset yesterday morning, when we saw some deer hiding around our property and Max got excited and stalked them, the deer took off and soon after we heard the gunshots. I knew for sure that the deer were gone.

Fall is my best time of the year

Dumdum and I went for a walk in the woods.

an evening sun on the trees

My yard, facing northwest and the driveway

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.

my chicken

This is my proud Rooster
It was 2 years ago My husband and i decided to raise chicken for our own consumption. We bought about 100 little ones.We raise them and they multiplied. we now we have them running around the yard.

beautiful and cruel winter

Winter in the boonies can be very beautiful and sometime can be cruel. It is beautiful when the ground is covered with snow and the sky is blue. It feels beautiful when it is cold and dry.
It can be cruel, when mother nature decides to drop liquid from the sky on an already frozen air and ground. Then we have ice everywhere. The heavy laden tree branches will snap and powerline will do the same. when powerline are down it will result in no power for at least a week or so. Imagine that in the midst of cold winter, ice, ice everywhere and you have no electricity. For all of us in the boonies, we are ready and prepared. We have generators to run the electricity and we have gasoline stocked up.
We will practically be iced-bound. can't go anywhere, can go down the hill, but not up the hill. We glide from one spot to another. My dogs love to run and glide on the frozen ponds.

seasons change

While chatting with a friend in Phoenix on this hot summer afternoon, I want to think of those cool Fall and Winter days. My favourite time of the year is the late Fall. Clear blue skies and cool. This is the time to sit on the deck watching geese flying south in a formation, one group after another.

Spring in my boonies

It is in the middle of a hot hot hot summer which makes me want to think of the early spring. My backwoods were filled with all kind of foliage and blooms. There were wild grapes blooming, wild plums white with those sweet smelling flowers, The blacberries making the ground looked like a carpet of white roses. My cherry trees and peach tress were covered with pink flowers and pear and apple trees were covered with blooms. Then the bees busy buzzing around from one tree to another.
Wild sun flowers come out a little later, but those blue/purple flowers and those brown eyed susans were abundant. The honey suckles were sending all the sweet smelling fragrantce all around.

Here is nutkin

Here is nutkin enjoying a nut under the oak tree.

Roo and her adopted babies

Mother hen has decided to abandon her babies, so now Roo has taken over baby sitting the chicks

Tales of my critters - Roo

A couple of months ago, a hen from my flock went missing. I thought it must have been dinner for some predators. However,one evening, I told Roo to look for it by saying "roo go find chick chick". She went to her house and look inside. I thought she was just acting strange and not understanding my request. I told her again. She just sat there and wagged her tail. Oh, well, I went and looked inside her house, and there was a hen sitting right at the back of her house. She was sitting on a pile of eggs. So, all these while, Roo has been sharing her house with the hen. if only roo could talk.

I petted her and told her that she was a good girl. She was indeed a good girl. Then after a few weeks, I saw roo was jumping around and playing around her house I kept a distance and watched her picking up a tiny baby chick in her mouth and put it back inside her house. Then a couple more of the chicks jumped out of her house, she had a fun time putting back the chicks into her house. I went and asked her what she was doing, she picked up a chick and brought it to me. i did not know that dogs can be so gentle with helpless babies. I told her she was a good girl and to look after the babies. After that she became a guardian for the hen and baby chicks. She would guard them from max and other hen.

They now do not share the house anymore since the mother hen has brought her babies to the chicken pen. But everyday without fail, the chicks and mother would go and stay around roo's house. Drink from her water bowl and just laze around her house.

Tales of my critters

I have never thought how fancinating it is to observe critters at their antics. People must think that I am insane or gone bonkers wasting my time watching them. But then I have all the time in the world to do whatever I like. I am sure many people think that not being employed is a faculty failure. I am looking at my life from a different angle. There is no more need to calmour for materials acquisition. It is now to enjoy God's given paradise.
I observed a baby rabbit grows all by itself. It made a home under the pile of rubble of our torn down building. Every morning it will come out to eat and play with the chicken. It is smart as it would run and hide the moment it sees my puppies (dogs) are out of their houses. When it feels sfe to go out again it would come out to play and have a dust bath amongst the chicken and guineas. It is wonderful to see how animals are just being animals and having fun.

Nutkin, the squirrel with an attitude

I tried and tried to get a picture of Nutkin, but he is so elusive. Today, he played hide and seek with me. I saw him hunching over the corn cob ontop of the feeder and the moment i got the camera out, he went to hide under the feeder. The nearer I got to the tree, where the feeder is, he moved to the other side of the tree. oh well, however Nutkin has an attitude.
Usually during late winter and early spring, i like to put out feed for all kinds of critters in my yard. I like to look at Nutkin because he is like a naughty kid. he would steal food from under the chicken mouth (beak?). He would rush out for the food I throw out for the chicken and eat with them.
However Nutkin can be very irritating. I used to put nuts on the deck and Nutkin with his clan would come and steal the nuts and eat them. For a while they behaved quite well, but Nutkin, being braver than the rest would come and shake the door screen if there was no more nuts on the deck. Soon, he would come frequently to shake the door or window screens for the nuts. He was not interested anymore on the corn on the cob. he was also tearing the window screen. he was not scared, he would hang on the door screen showing us his big manhood (big for a squirrel). He did this a few times and even when poke from inside, he would not budge until one day when my husband had enough of Nutkin's attitude. he warned Nutkin to quit, or face the consequences. with pallet gun, my husband shot near enough to scare nutkin. Until today he has not done his show anymore. he only comes to eat at the feeder.

fun in the summer

What do we in the boonies do to while away our summer days? Ohhh, we go boating, we go riding and we sleep off the afternoon heat.

Call it friendship

This lonely peacock has made friends with my guineas and chicken. Every morning, it is either, the peacock comes to call or my guineas will go and fetch him. They will roam around together in the yard till night. Some nights the peacock sleep over and sometime he flies home. Incredible isn't it.

My Puppy Max is now a grown man

It was like yesterday that Max was a little bundle of white fur. Now Max is a grown Great Pyrenees at the age of 1 year and 5 months. Max has learnt to mark his territory. he has learnt to p** by balancing on his 3 legs, lifting one hind leg to shoot at a target. Was is last week he was not able to balance to do that? It was just like yesterday, this big furry bundle was squating to do his toilet? Now he is doing just like all the males of his specie do. However he is still Max. Max who does not know that he weighs over a hundred pounds. Max who still wants to sit on your lap when he has the chance. Max who runs to you the moment you whistle. Oh my Max.
Max is still playing with the chicken, tossing one up in the air whenever he catches one eating his food. He is also intelligent. I watch him managed his food bowl and his favoutie bone. In between eating his food and keeping the chicken away from his bowl and bone, he solved it by bringing his bone into his food bowl. Isn't he a problem solver?

Those were the days

My last blog sort of triggered this desire to write on my quest for travels in my younger days. I went to the UK in the 70's for my first post graduate degree. It was in London and wanting to see much more than London, i did travel up and down the the country. Beside the short trips to nearby cities and covering London from one end to the other, I did go up to Scotland a few times. One winter time we drove up north to see the snow. As we all know, it does not snow in london as regularly as in the north. My friend, I and the parents of (Shalin Zulkifli) drove up north stopping at the cities along the way. We enjoyed Leeds, Carlyle on the way. We drove up to Edinburgh and did all the things tourists usually do, the castle, etc.
The trip got exciting, when we wanted to get to Inverness. We forgot that it became dark right after 3.00 in the afternoon. We drove on and it started to snow and it was getting dark real quick. The further we went, we met with accumulated snow on the road. We could not see the road as new thick snow was falling too. The driver was Shalin's dad. We skidded a few times and there was no other vehicle except us in the middle of no where. So, we decided, the next light or house we see we would stop and ask to sleep for the night. We did drive into one later and spent a night in a small room in a house of an old couple. Thank goodness that the couple warmly welcomed us. Those days, people still have trust in people.
Then we went on to Aviemore and stayed at one little town called something i still can not pronounce, Carra...something. That was a lovely place. We stayed in a bed and breakfast for a couple of days. Then we drove on down the lakes to see the great Lochness and down to Fort Williams and to Glassgow. That was an exciting trip.

A visit from the past

A friend from Hawaii came for a visit last weekend. It was an enjoyable visit. All the years we did not see each other seemed to have vanished. It was like only last week we said goodbye at Honolulu airport, yet it was 24 years ago. Suddenly all the Honolulu city lights bringing back all the memories. Memories of friends who skinny dipped in the blue pacific ocean. Memories of the party nights on the windjammer off the fishermen wharf. Memories of the trips to Maui and Kaui, sneaking the weekends away without the knowledge of my supervisor. Memories of the surprise find of a nude beach on Kaui. Memories of walking fully clothed on that beach and memories of seeing a professor you knew on a gay beach. Those beautiful bodies!!
And I was young again once more!!
Those days when I was young and invincible, riding a bus with bikini clad women and shopping in Ala Moana Mall in my swimming costume and Anne, my dorm mate in her skimpy bikini. Eating at Keo's and Mekong restaurants and licking Baskin and Robbins icecream cones, those days seem to float back in my mind.
My friend Ruth was on her way to a conference in Orlando Fla. decided to swing by and pay me a visit. Although it was a very short visit, it was a very enjoyable one. We caught up with all the years in between. We talked about those colleagues that have retired and those who are still there (East-West center) and i can still picture those faces I left behind.
Over a box of hawaiian Host macademia chocolates, we talked about those "swap meet" that we could buy a sack full macademia nuts for a few dollars. We talked about the "pakalolo" guava juice that I loved so much. wonder if they really have 'pakololo' in the juice. We talked about the 'kalbi' over rice at the food court in Ala Moana and the the korean kimchi.
Wished she could stay longer and we could talk forever.

Lain padang; lain belalang

Actually, it is the same belalang/grasshopper, but at a different playing field. I was walking with my dogs, Roo, Dumdum and Max this morning and recalling what I read in one of the famous bloggers blog. He said that he was doing what many Malaysian (at his status level) would not do. Given the situation that he was in, in the US, he had to do what he had to do. No doubt in my mind that he was doing it under protest either consciously or unconsciously. The stereotyping that we "educated malaysian" had been mentally hammered on "No manual, lowly paying job" is for us. We have education, we spent so much time and energy to get those scrolls or papers, those lowly jobs are for those poor, uneducated lot. However in reality is, there is no demeaning jobs as long as it is halal. Rezeki comes in many ways.
Some people would not be seen dead walking about a block away, carrying bags from the grocery store. Or be seen shopping at a pasar tani or at a discount store for fear of being seen mingling with the 'common' people. That kind of mentality is rampant with status conscious people. Some of these people would spend a lot of money to be able to have branded goods to their name although their credit card says, 'please not again'. I used to buy silk from China (in China and Hong Kong) for my baju kebaya and kurung and shopped in London, Berne and Madrid for my shoes and handbags for what reason I was not very clear at that time. Now when I looked back, my reasons being, I could afford them then, I was not trying to impress people or to show off. However, I did not necessarily need them . I just wonder if the intention was to impress people with our acquired taste, do they really care? I think not, perhaps to sneer at our backs.
Back to lain/different padang. When the padang/field was the student days era, buying goods at Oxfarm was okay, shop at carboot sales was okay too. However once one has reach at a certain level, one would not like to be seen there as well. So, my famous blogger friend has had such a wide experience in being in many different fields including the 'corn field'. I salute him for doing what he had done to survive in the US playing field. I think, when he returns to malaysia, there will be no job or work that is too low to take up.

Having fun in the boonies

Well, when your chores on the farm is done, it is time to relax and enjoy some horse ride.

Fire, fire everywhere, not a breath of fresh air

I have not updated my blog for a very long time due to having some problems with my wrist. It is however is mending now. I had a few falls during the icy and snowy time at the beginning of winter. When i fell, I used my right hand to break my fall and thus sprained my right wrist. I wore braces and arm sling, and took pain killers, but they did not seem to work. My tendon are bruised and raw, therefore I had to change my medicine and treatment.
I could not use my right hand and thus my long absence from blogging. I could still hang out at YM and some tags with my left hand. And proudly can say that i am quite good with my left hand.
Now the story of the fire.
This is the driest and warmest winter since the dustbowl. We have not had precipitation of any significance since November, 2005. More than 400,000 acres were burnt including houses. In Seminole, (my county) alone, a whole housing estate burnt to the ground. In the fire yesterday a whole town was evacuated due to uncontrollable wild fires. Many livestocks were killed. farmers are worried because their pastures and hay are burnt. The situation remains the same until we have some kind of precipitation. I have never seen such disaster in my whole life before, eventhough we had had wild fires around my area a couple of years ago and in 2004. The wind which have been blowing at 40-50 mph helped to spread the fire real fast.

Max, the hero

I have to write this. It is Max, he is a hero. Last night we had brush fire next to our north fence. It was late at night and Max was barking his head off. Usually we pay not much attention to his barking, because he would bark at anything that moves and of course at those rabbits running around mating in the yard.
But last night, his bark was different, so at about 2 am, Bill got up to look and he saw fire was raging right infront of our house. The other 2 dogs were sleeping in their houses, I don't blame them since the temperature was way below freeing. Max sleeps outside his house unless it was real cold like minus 20C degrees. He has grown a very thick coat and the coat is keeping him warm.
So, Max was awake and was aware that there was a big fire going on and he was barking towards the house and the fire that woke us up. Then the other dogs got out of their houses and started barking too. Bill woke me up and said we had a problem, there is a brush fire in the yard. We got out and got us shovels and started to put the fire out from the fringes around it. we worked around the fire so that it did not spread to wider area. Then after it got under control, we stared to get to the water. Of course, the garden water pump was frozen and it was hard trying to get the water hoses to the fire. We forgot that we had a water pump near the garage that we have it heated all day and night during winter time. Then I said, the water outlet near the garage may not be frozen. It was quite far from the fire, we had to make a very long hose, attaching hose after hose. The trouble was the hoses were not at the same place, some in the garage, some in barn and some near the chicken coop. At last we had the hose working and the water coming. It was very cold and our hands were frozen eventhough we wore gloves. Once the gloves got wet, they freeze. My coat was wet and it froze too. We took turn to water the fire and it took us an hour or so to put it out completely.

Actually the fire was from the ashes left in the brush after we burnt the trash 2 days ago. We burnt the trash/rubbish when the area was covered with snow. There had been burn band for a long time and we had been keeping the trash to burn when we have rain or snow. We did not realize that the fire did not go out completely 2 days ago, and was smouldering inside the big tree trunk and it took 2 days for it to go up in flame again. The vegetation is bone dry and although it is still covered with snow, the snow was of not of much help.

The water immediately turned into ice after the fire was gone. So this morning there was a big pool of ice where the fire was lastnight. The experience really scared me. I did not know that the fire can stay smouldering without any sign of smoke and break out again after days it was put out.

So, Thanks to Max, we could stop the fire before it spread out or come near the house. We would have a few 'hotdogs' and no house to live in or we would be dead.

Max my hero

The dream

A day before hari Raya, I got this message from an old friend who was desperately trying to reach me. She had no choice but to register as a member of rantauan.com in order to reach me. She wanted to keep in touch after such a long time. She gave me her e mail address and I immediately contacted her. I also told her about my blog and after reading my blog, she said that i should continue to write and write about all those travels that I made with her and others.

That brought back all the memories of my younger days gallavanting all around the globe.
I was with her in Istanbul, Turkey in the 1980's and what fun we had getting lost in that city. How excited we were when we saw "macDonald" and we thought we found 'civilization' after we had been having the local fares all week long. We were to be disappointed, for the burgers were not of beef, but of kambing and not to my delicate tastebuds. In Istanbul too we met a fellow malaysian, who was a prominent figure in his field. We met him in the elevator/lift of the hotel were staying, a grand 5* hotel. He assumed that we were Filipinas...then he heard us talking in melayu and he asked us "were u speaking malay?" we said of course. he was surprised that 2 malay girls roaming around istanbul. he insinuated that we were of 'bad' characters riding up and down the elevators in a 'grand hotel". We were mad and when we told him that we were not just girls visiting the hotel, we were staying at the hotel and my dear friend at that time was already a surgeon. I guess that put him in his place. We ignored him after that.

There was another experience in Innsbruck, that got us into stitches. We were so hungry for asian food, and one evening we saw this direction to a chinese restaurant that boast of having laksa penang on its menu. My friend and i were excited, we were prepared for the very 'fake" penang laksa, janji laksa, but we were not prepared for the ambiance of the place. The whole place scared the **** out of us. It was painted in black and red and have those ghostly chinese characters. We ran down the stairs and went have a kebab instead.

well, that's it for now..will cont later

Living in the country

I almost forgot that winter is fast approaching and it is time to pick pecan again. You know those delicious pecans that are so expensive in malaysia, but are growing widely in my part of the country. All along the dirt roads in my area there are those big pecan trees which most time are loaded with the nuts (fruits). You can pick as much as you want along the roads or if you have neighbours whose grazing land are dotted with pecan tress (for cattle to rest under), you can go and pick them for free. Usually pecan pies are a must for Thanksgiving and I think I will make a couple of them next week.
Another thing I forgot to do is to pick the ripe pessimon which were staring at me at the intersection of the dirt road to my house. I was planning to pick them and, I don't know how it slipped off my mind. Perhaps I will drive down the road and see if they are still good to pick. I guess Miz King's ( the only black in my area) pears are still on their trees. I have not driven that way for a very long time. Last Fall, she gave me hundreds of them pears, that I had to can them in syrup, otherwise they would have gone bad.
I must be getting old, or time just flies that i could not keep up with the changing of the seasons. Things are done here according to the seasons. You start gardening at the end of winter, you do serious gardening in spring. Summer is the time when all your garden produce is ready to be harvested, tomatoes, green beans, potatoes, etc. Tomatoes if you have many of them, they have to be preserved. I usually canned whole tomatoes and make all kind of sauces as well as salsa. I canned green beans too and last year i canned my peaches as well as made them into jams and jellies. Summer too is the time to go and pick all those wild plums which are so good for making jellies. they just grow abundantly along the dirt roads or in someone's grazing field. You just go and pick them. This year i pick some and have turned them into juice and freeze the juice. Out of that juice I made jellies, that some people have tasted them. Summer is also the time to pick them big juicy balckberry from the back part of my property. Summer is a real busy time of the year.
Fall is just nice and relaxing depending if mother nature is kind. This fall so far has been dry and windy and above average temperature. This kind of weather means that they would be brush fires everywhere. We have some around our area, some hundreds of acre of grazing fields and wooded areas were burnt. We have to be very ready, because the fires can spread very fast with the wind is blowing at 30-40 mph. Living in the country we have to be sensitive to the weather and our surroundings. When we see smokes way out, we would call the fire department as well head that way with neccessary tools to help fight the fire. If it is near enough, my husband would take his tractor and i would drive the pick-up truck with a tank of water, just in case we need to use the water before the fire engines arrives. Everyone nearby would do the same. We are very neighbourly, eventhough our houses are miles apart and we do not know each other.
Macam duduk di kampong masa dulu-dulu. Gotong Royong.

My flock of guinea-fowls

In the early summer, a neighbour brought some baby guineas to us to keep in the incubator with our baby chicks. They were 30 of them. We raise them and the neighbour did not want them anymore because they have some white in their feathers. What do we do with 30 of those critters?. We lost a few, one was accidently killed by Roo, who thought that it was a quail. Roo can catch a quail in the air. When reprimanded and told that the guineas are her birds, she no longer bother with them. One was killed by Max who wanted to play with the baby guinea. He was told that he no longer can play toss and catch with 'his' birds. Nowadays, he only scares them to induce them to fly overhead while he chases them. We lost another 2 to the black garden snake. Then we had about 26 of them with one very sickly and ignored by the rest of the flock.

Guineas are an intelligent birds and they belong to the same family as the peacock family. They make similar sound or noises. They get excited rather easily and make a lot of noise. people say they are good 'guards' as they will shriek at anything they see which is not familair to them. They roam everywhere and they even go out of our 20 acres yard. However, they do come back in the evening to roost in their pen. One day they came back without the sickly one. I went around calling for 'nini..nini'. I was sad because i was sure that 'something' must have got it. There are a lot of predators around too. They would be safe in the yard, but when they roam around the neighbourhood, they are exposed to the elements.

One morning, the new neighbour south of us, came and told us that our 'ninis' have been visiting her yard and her son's yard. She said that she has dogs and her dogs might kill our 'ninis' if they keep going into her yard. My 'ninis' are not scared of our dogs as they are used to them. They even lay down next to Max or Dumdum to sun bathe. However, I suspected, my neighbour's dog must have got the 'sickly' nini that tag along the main group.

I did not realise that my ninis roam far and wide. they visit other neighbours too. They even brought home one afternoon, a very handsome peacock. Since then, the peacock keeps coming into our yard to visit and walk around with my ninis. If the peacock does not turn up in the morning, my ninis will fly over our 10 ft fence to go visit and bring back the peacock.

Oh..I now only have 6 ninis. I sold 8 of them to a friend at $8 each. Another 10 to a farmer down the road. By keeping only 6 of them, I could at least contain them in the yard. However, they still fly over the fence to visit the peacock and bring him home. Such friendship I could never fathom. Probably the peacock is lonely since I have never seen a peahen with him. As long as they know the way home before feeding time, i am ok with their disappearing act.

Max wants to be a film star

Max got excited when he was mentioned in Adiejin production with the Makcik bloggers concert and now he is trying to launch into acting and singing. He has been training hard into singing and he said he could be a back-up singer for makcik bloggers concert anytime. He now can do the woouuu, wouf wouf, auoooo, etc. He is also, polishing his act on the stomping and drum beat. So, anyone there talent scouting?? Max is ready, that is what he says.

Season changes

Everything is pretty if we only see
The world is a poetry
The birds and the bees
The ants, the flowers and the trees
The cloud that drifts, the sky so blue
The world is lovely, because I want it to be.

Beraya with my critters

Everyone I know is preparing for the big day. Hari Raya. I too am preparing to celebrate it with my critters. Of course, there will be Roo, Dumdum and Max to join me in the festivities. I have not got them any new clothes, but since winter is approaching, all the three of them have grown their own winter coats. Roo, has a nice golden color coat for the winter , Dumdum has spunned his silky shiny black coat ready for the winter and of course my puppy Max has his snowy white coat grown almost to his ankle. The chicken have grown their own dark red coats for the raya too. Not to forget the guineas, shrieking happily with their colourful feathers ready to celebrate Raya.

There are alot of critters living in our wooded homestead and it includes the squirrels. I am sure they will join me in welcoming Eid Mubarak.There are many of them since my husband had built many squirrel houses/nests and feeders. We hang the nests on trees and the feeder too. We usually feed them in winter since that time food is scarce for these critters. We would buy alot of nuts and put them in the feeder and hang the corn s on it as well. I love to see them so close.

Yesterday morning while walking with my dogs in the woods, I noticed that there were honeycombs scatterd around under big oak tree along the south fence. I went to check and saw big bees flying around. I guess that some critters of the night must have dug them out. Max and Roo went to check the hole and were chased awy by the bees. Fearing that the bees could be killer bees, I came back and told my husband and asked him r to come and look. We went there later in the evening when the temperature is cooler and sprayed some insect killing dust to chase the bees away. This morning when I walked by the palace there were no more bees hovering around. I hope they have moved. These are the only critters that are not invited to my Raya celebration.

Ayways, to all of you who stop by my blog, selamat hari raya and have fun with your family andfriends.

What we remember

Most of my life was spent away from 'home'. I was away in a boarding school at a tender age of 12 years. The boarding school I guess that shaped my life. After school, i was in the University, still away from my family and then I did my post graduate, still further away from my family. i came back after all those 'education' and worked still away from my family. Although this time it was nearer, which I could commute, but i chose to live nearer to my work. So, being away especially during Ramadan is nothing new.
I do not remember much about spending Ramadan with my family. The time i remember most during ramadan is when I was young, that is before I turned 12. I remember as a child those days in the rural area, when there was no electricity and nobody had an ice box. My grandfather had this huge ice chest that we filled with block ice bought every evening from the ice vendor. The ice vendor would come in the evening to sell the ice and it was stored in the wooden chest filled with sawdust. I would be one of the early customers, and would always buy a very big chunk of ice. I loved to see my grandfather, cut it into smaller blocks and stored in the ice chest, ready to put into a pitcher of syrup for the berbuka. The ice kept for a day or two in the ice chest. So, we could still drink ice water during sahur.
I also remember the Moreh. Since my house was near to the mosque, we always went out to play galah panjang at the mosque and played tiang seribu in the mosque's hall. My grantfather did not like us to go and play galah panjang in the dark, because he said there would be snakes, but being young and believing that all the jinns, ghosts and ular are all locked up during ramadan, we went out to play anyway. There would also be some enterprising people selling ice kacang, sotong bakar and some rojak near the mosque. I love sotong bakar (sotong katok) with its sauce.
Another thing I remember is that during Ramadan, my grandmother would start cooking by 3 in the evening. There were so many dishes she made. There would be buah melaka, tepung talam, dadih manis, tepung bungkus etc. and ofcourse, there would be lauk pauk. My grandfather would go to Kuala Muda to buy fresh fish every other evening and we would eat real fresh fish and seafood. My grandfather would leave home after work, around 3 in the evening and told the driver to be ready at the same time every day. We kids did follow him sometime, but going to buy fish was no fun, except to ride in the car.
We really did spend a lot during Ramadan. My grandmother would cook huge portions so that she could distribute to her relatives and we did exchange food with neighbours. So, it usually was a huge feast during berbuka puasa.
Kids who did not puasa, would be eating on the 'beranda tengah' ( the varanda enjoining the kitchen and the main house) not together with those who fast. They were not allowed to go and disturb the adults who puasa. Actually I liked to eat on the beranda tengah. We could look out and we could throw the kueh we did not like to the ground. usually the kids would be my 2 sisters and my cousin.
We usually berbuka with kueh mueh first and then off to do the maghrib and after maghrib, only we ate dinner. The dinner can last for quite a while. Then we kids, could not wait to be dismissed and quietly ran off to play galah panjang.
Those were the sweet memorie I have for Ramadan at home. The rest just a blur.

My subsistance living in the boonies

Today I made key lime pie for the first time. They said it is difficult to make from scratch, but i did it, it looks ugly, but tastes good. I grow my own key lime in a very big pot. Key lime only grow well in tropical weather and originates from the Florida keys, hence the name key lime. Actually, it is more like our limau nipis, not limau kasturi.
I planted it last year and last winter I brought it into the house and had plant light on all night long. During the day, the pot sit near the window to get the sunlight. I did not think that it will survive, but when spring came, I had it out in the sun and alhamdulillah it made so many fruits/limes. I use it to make sambal belacan and all the chillie padi with kicap for my meals.
Beside the key lime, i also have serai (lemon grass), cili api (bird's chillie pepper), daun kesum, mint, kiwi vines, sharing the arbour Bill made for my grapevines.
I think for a melayu abroad, having cili api as well limau nipis is heaven sent. We can have sambal all the time, air asam, asam pedas etc. I am trying to grow papaya this coming spring. i don't know how long for a papaya tree to bear fruit, if it does not bear fruit by end of summer, I will have papayas in the house. Cool isn't it, can petik in the house.
My late mother said i have very 'hot' hands, hence I could not grow any plant at all. That was when I live in malaysia, when everything is hot there, but now, the plants i grow seem to flourish.
We are trying to be self sufficient, we raise chicken for meat and eggs, we go fishing for fish and from time to time we go hunting for deer. My female dog one time brought home a screaming deer one early morning. We have to slaughter it for it had a broken leg. We however, put the deer on the big grill and let the dogs have a feast for sometime. We actually can eat animals hunted by dogs, butI just could not eat what the dogs brought home.

I do believe that berbudi pada tanah, you can collect the hasil.

My Puppy Max is one year Old today

Max my great Pyrenees puppy has turned one on October 1st. It is hard to believe that he has been with me for almost a year. We adopted him when he was six weeks old, small and cuddly, with blue eyes that say 'love me, love me, love me'. Watching him grow into a huge puppy is something that amazes me. From a puppy of 3 lbs, he is now almost 100 lbs, and stands almost3.5 ft. How'ever, eventhough he is such a huge puppy, he still behaves like a puppy. He will always want to sit on my lap and gets on the hammock with me. He has only learnt to catch tortoises and play with them, but he is an avid learner, he watches Roo dug out and killed armadillos, killed snakes, and rats. He also, participates in hunting rabbits which he never gets one. Sometime, when Roo and Dumdum take pity on him, they would let him play with their catch.
He is a very obedient puppy, walks by my side every morning into the woods. He would from time to time run to chase immaginary critters, but would soon be back by my side. I think when he is mature enough he will be my protector, just like Roo.
happy first birthday Max (Maximillian)

Thankful

This afternoon while enjoying the nice breeze of the late summer on the hammock under the old oak tree, it occured to me, that it is a beutiful day to be enjoyed and be thankful for. So here the poems that I remembered I read somewhere before, and some I reka-reka.


I am thankful
For colors that flung across the land
In foliage, birds and rainbow span,
In simple things I understand,
For these I am thankful

Another one

The sun was disappearing
When I saw with sheer delight,
A maple tree in all its glory
Caught in pool of lights.
Around the tree were shadows
Caught in twilight's hand
And then the evening settled
With darkness over the land

What is it with us

When the tsunami hit southeast asia, pat robertson a TV evengalist said that it was God's way of cleansing non-christians. The Muslims especially in malaysia said that It is God's way to punish the people of Aceh (muslims) for not adhering to God's teaching.
Then Hurricane Katrina came, the same, we hear the same things that the Muslims in their websites called it God's army wiping out the unbelievers for their sins including calling New orleans as the sin center of gay community.
These people who never even thought of offering the innocent victims sincere prayers, suddenly became "God's spokeperson". (Zaman kenabian dah tamat). God has not appointed anyone to speak for him since Muhammad saw.
We know God does what he does, so, let it be.

Jika kita perhatikan

Saya mempunyai banyak masa sejak pencen dan bermastautin di perkampongan di Amerika Syarikat. Ramai di antara kita menganggap cara hidup di Amerika, adalah seperti yg kita lihat di kaca Televisyen. Dalam pemerhatian saya, lebih ramai rakyat Amerika yang hidup dalam kesempitan. Kita sangka bahawa semua orang yang mempunyai kenderaan di Amerika, adalah orang senang. Kebanyakan mereka hidup dalam hutang. Kenderaan ada lah benda yang wajib. Di bandar-bandar besar sahaja mempunyai pengankutan awam, tetapi bagi bandar yang sederhana, tidak ada, apa tah lagi bandar-bandar yang kecil yang penduduknya kurang daripada 10,000. Untuk hidup kebanyakan mereka bekerja dengan gaji minima, terutamanya mereka yang hanya berpendidikan setakat sekolah menengah saja. Motivasi untuk menyambung pendidikan ke tahap yang lebih tinggi sangatlah berkurangan. Lepasan sekolah menengah (high school), di bandar-bandar kecil kebanyakannya tidak tahu membaca dan menulis dengan baik. mereka hanya tahu menulis nama mereka dan nombor sahaja. Tidak suka membaca, sebab tidak boleh membaca dengan baik. Walau bagaimana pun kebanyakan mereka pandai bercakap, yang tidak tahu ekor pangkal. Kadang-kadang, saya merasa kasihan terhadap mereka ini, cakap sahaja berdegar-degar, tetapi semuanya kosong.
Entahlah...

Toys: of grown men and boys

People say the difference between men' toys and boys' are the price. How true. Boys and men like the same toys. Cars, heavy and mean vehicles, monster trucks etc. Boys got the thrill of having those you bought them from the stores. Driving them over sand pit or on the floor. But 'real Men" like the real things. Guess my husband is one. Look at my yard, there is the mean D7 Bulldozer, a White backhoe, a Pontoon boat, a tractor, and the smallest one is the ATV. Inside the house there are guns of different capacity, from SKS, a few shotguns, a few handguns, meanest of the handguns is the Magnum. (Some of them I enjoy sharing my husband's collection and some are my very own.)
Computers too are toys for grown men. There are 4 computers in the house of two people and 3 dogs. Wish the dogs know how to operate the computer, so that I can move them computers to their houses. Well, the spare bedroom is full of computers and their paraphernalia.
The 2 garages are full of power tools which I can not even think of naming them or what they are for.
Men, men, men, wish they remain as boys when come to toys.

It's gone for good

I had my long awaited surgery last week Wednesday 17th of August. It is gone now, that little biddy thing called gall bladder. It took only a few minutes to get it out, (but of course I was not aware of it). The waiting was the painful one. Tests after tests were done, just to confirm that it is the culprit that was making me sick for a long while. Even after it was first confirmed, and a date was set up for the surgery, the surgeon wanted another nuclear medicine test to be done. After those were taken care of, I had to go and have the lab works done. I have my arms poked everywhere to get blood, x-rays, ekg, etc.
Waiting for the day of the surgery was not that bad because I had company from Nashville and that helped kept my mind off from the surgery. Then the day arrived. Packed my things in a small backpack and off we went to get the surgery done. We had to wait for quite a while, though my time was supposed to go under the knife was at 11:30 am, it was'nt until noon I went to sleep under those big lights.
An hour or so later i was in the recovery room with my husband was no where to be seen. I woke up with a little nausea, other wise i was ok. I had to stay in the day ward for another hour or so, before I was allowed to go home. My husband was there waiting. He was arranging to have drugs ordered and be picked up at the pharmacy on the way home.
I was put on the wheel chair and wheeled out to the car and off we went to pick the prescription and home. At home, I looked down on my tummy, and i saw 4 places covered with bandaid, so I guess those were the places that had been cut up.
I slept and woke up having nausea and threw up. I could not eat or drink anything because my throat was very sore. I went to sleep again.
The next day my friend from Nashville and his friend M came to visit me. M cooked me chicken soup and the aroma kept me awake in bed. However, i could not eat that lovely soup because I still could not swallow. I ony drank some of the soup. Thank you M and Mo for coming to see me and cooked me the lovely soup which I ate yesterday.
They stayed overnight and in the morning my husband made waffles (the easiest thing to make) for breakfast. I sat and joined them for breakfast, but i still could not swallow, I ended up eating most of the cantaloupe instead. I hope they did not serik coming to visit me. I am sorry i could not entertain them properly.
oh I forgot to mention, when i was recovering, my husband went and got me a present, a new toy for me, a SHOTGUN.
Alhamdulillah, I am doing fine now. My staples will out on the 24th August.

What I got for being a brave girl

For being good and brave to undergo all the lab tests and the nuclear scanning, my husband bought me a 9mm hand gun. Drool Ayu drool..shoots good and just nicely fit in my hands. I have been target shooting these few days and trying to beat Ayu's accuracy. And I am getting better especially with this little cutie.

She came and...

She came and before we knew it we were sending her to airport again. Before she even boarded the plane, we were already missing her. We made sure she got through the screening area before we left incase the gun powder residue might got her into trouble.
We hope she had great fun the weekend she had with us. We sure did enjoy her company. Wished she had more time to ride the four wheelers and had some fun riding on wilder terrain. We could have arranged a trip to the river bank where it would be more challenging rides. Wished she could go horse riding too.
I knew my husband enjoyed some intelligent doscussion with her. They discussed Einstien which was beyond my range and all those things about space travel. i guess my husband got carried awy with his love for sciences and science fiction ;).
We hope she would return.

My Guest is coming

That friday evening, Bill and I left for the airport to pick up my first Malaysian guest. There was some delay, and when the plane landed we scanned our eyes for a familiar face (muka melayu). There were many planes landed at the same time and there were so many passangers pouring out of the gate. Bill, kept on saying, there's a short one and skinny one...then nope looks old...and again there's another...nope someone was hugging her, nope... not our guest.Then there she was smiling towards us. I told our guest during one of our YM messages to look for an old matsalleh and an equally old melayu woman waiting for her, she would not be wrong.
Well, we had our guest tucked in our small speedy car and sped off home to the boonies. Bet she never knew how the boonies look like before. we arrived home late and then after a roti canai do, we all went to sleep. My guest slept on the couch.
The next morning we went to town to get our fishing licences. Then my guest had fun riding all the big machines around the yard.
That's all for my day one hehehe

A Bad Fishing day is better than a good day at work

There is this advertisement on the local radio saying that a good day at work is nothing compared to fishing. Of course, the advertiser was promoting his fishing gear store. However, indeed, fishing is a very good way to relax and catch on your dreams. I used to go fishing with my husband and my dogs during weekend not so long ago, when we still have the old motorhome. We used to load up the motorhome with all our needs for a few days away from home. Of course, when the dogs came along, their food too. The dogs enjoyed the swim in the lake and keep unwanted creatures away from our camp. Bubba used to ride beside the driver and no one could make him move from the spot. Mind you Bubba was not a small dog...a real big mastif Boxer, with an ugly face. He used to get a lot of attention on the road. Those were the days. Later we had 3 big dogs, getting them to agree to get on the motorhome was a chore. Since then the dogs did not go along anymore and we only limit our camping for overnight.
Let's get back to fishing. When my guest came, one of the agenda was to go moonlingt midnight fishing. I usually did not go with the 'crew', but since my guest was going, I too went and got a fishing licence for the weekend.
According to the 'crew' a diehard fishers, the night we went was the worst night they had, since there were so many boats anchored and fishing. Usually They would come home when their 3 or more ice chests (coolers) get full, but that night we had only one ice chest full. Anyways that was more than we can eat.
The ride on the boat was heavenly, the breeze kind of make you want to go to sleep. I was sleepy, since my guest and i did not nap in the afternoon. We spent yakking. We packed some food to take a long in case we get hungry. We also brought along an empty bucket, incase we need to ermmmm like my husband said 'to water the fish' We did not use the bucket though.
When we arrived, our seasoned fishers found that their favourite spot had been taken, but the sonar on the boat showed a lot of fish swimming around under us. We picked a spot and anchored. Then, my husband was fixing our fishing rods with fake worms and each fishing pole has 3 hooks. We began fishing and guess who caught the first fish, my guest!!
Most time according to our seasoned fishers, they caught 3 fish at one time, but that night only one time Lynn's grandson caught 2 at one time.
Well, we went on jigging our fishing lines, with my guest sitting on my left and my husband on my right. They kept bringing in fish after fish and none bit mine! however, when we were getting to leave I caught the last one...a big one too.

Sifat, tamak haloba, dengki dan pentingkan diri

Tell me if anyone out there does not have one of the above. I like to read the problems and issues in the Utusan Malaysia column DCCK (Dicelah-celah kehidupan). Most of us have one or the other, but in different degree. I read about single women who are educated and holding good professional carreers yang tak teragak-agak bermadu demi untuk memenuhi permintaan nafsu kehidupan mereka. I sit and think, isn't this one kind of tamak? you want to have it all at the expense of another? Don't they ever think that they are blessed with kesenangan, kemewahan, kebendaan etc. and not thankful to Maha Penyayang? Praise Allah for what they have dan rezeki yang mencurah. Don't they think, that is their rezeki? perhaps itu saja rezeki mereka? Kenapa mesti tamak dan iri hati dengan alasan tidak complete kalau tak bersuami. Enjoy anugerah Allah, dengan apa yang ada and kalau bukan rezeki tu, memang tidak menjadi rezeki.
Just my thought for the day. To get away from the miserable feeling before my surgery :)

To know or not to know

I guess everyone of us are in the same dilema as me when it comes to see a doctor for an illment. The symptoms seem to be not too life threatening yet it worries and bother you. You try every kind of remedies that you think would solve the problems, but still the symptoms remain. Your other half persuaded, pushed and almost drag you to make that important appointment. However, you are still waiting for that home made remedy to work, or the over the counter medicine to hit the spot. For two months those trial by error medication did not work. That is my story. Unable to take the bothering symptoms anymore, I made that Phone call for an appointment.
I went to see the doctor or Primary Care Physician. So, I had to describe all the uncomfortable feelings that is messing inside me. It is easier to describe it in Malay which does not have equivalent in english, like you feel "macam ada seketul angin menumbuk naik" every time after I ate. That ball of air pushes up and it would make it hard for me to breathe. It will also trigger a cough that definitely make me breathless and pain in the chest. In "my medical self diagnosis", I associate it with food, with gastrities, heartburn etc. So all the home remedies, like eliminating greasy food and taking gallons of maalox and zantac were my presciption. Well, they did not work.
My doctor, then thought I might have problem with my useless spare part called the gall bladder. I was scheduled for the ultrasound and indeed it was discovered that, that small thing is acting up. It is collecting sand or batu to make a permata. Then I am scheduled for a surgery to remove it. It will not take place until after Mid July. Until then I still have to put up with the symptoms.
Do you still think ignorant is bliss or it is good to know what is wrong with you.

Critters of my woods

Syyyysh...don't let Roo, Dumdum and Max hear about them. There are possums, raccoons, rabbits, armadillos, squirrels, tortoises, owls etc. that make their homes in my woods. They dug up holes to make nests, they live on the trees and they tunnels underground like those "tubes" in underground Londra. There are ghophers as well as moles. Every time after the yard/lawn is mowed, there would be little mountains came up dotting the yard.
Roo, Dumdum are good hunters, but Max who is supposed to be a sheep guard dog, is learning fast. So far Max has brought home tortoises and baby birds to play with. Once in a while Roo would let him play with the rat that she caught. Max is still fancinated by the growing hill that the gophers are kicking out from the ground. Max would bark, scratch and lastly dig up a big hole in order to get to the gophers. Gophers are smart and they have a network of tunnels underground and Max can dig up to Malaysia and never catch one.
I have never seen these critters before in my life until I moved here. I have seen some pictures of them of course, but have never really seen them "in person" hehehe. The first winter I was here there was alot of snow and one morning when i went out to sweep the snow off the deck, I saw these giant "footprints" along the house. I called out to my husband, and when he saw them, he said "who would be snooping around". I was worried. Actually my husband knew that those were rabbits prints, but just to make me nervous and teased me.
There was this loveable looking creature that look at you so harmlessly at night and it is white and furry and that I learn is a possum. Raccoon wears a mask and very furry too. It looks like a big cat and I was so sorry that one day Bubba (my old departed dog) brought home one.
Dumdum is a bird dog (Labrador retriever) yet I have never seen him caught anything in the air yet except a rabbit or too. Roo is another kind, an Anatolian sheperd, but she is everything. She could hunt and catch quails in the air, squirrels in the air and numerous other critters. She also killed 2 armadillos in one morning. Poor critters they are not very safe in my woods. Do you know that when you shine the flash light into the owl's eyes you can catch them. They would not know what was coming. Owls make eerie love calls at night and some nights they would be calling for hours.
Another kind of critters that come out at night that can scare you is the cayote. they are actullly harmless. they hunt only small animals, but their cry or howling they make, would scare you. Max is supposed to be a cayote killer. Cayote is scared of big white dog at night, but since Max is still a puppy, he is scared of them instead.

So, all critters that make your home in my woods, please hide when you hear three dog stomping into the woods in the morning and in the evening. You will be safe if you stay real quiet.

Love of my life

It was worth the long wait for the love of my life. One morning while driving to work, I heard Radio 4 DJ said that there was a long distance request for a song by Jim Birkman (sic) entitled "Love of My Life" It was from Bill in Oklahoma to "Mutiara" in Penang. Then the news broke that I had an American boyfriend. Then I had many phone calls from friends who tuned to the radio while driving to work that morning. Tiada rahsia lagi. Then people pieced things together and they deduced that my several trips to the US was to meet up with my boyfriend. Which was not true at all. Bill was an old friend, and on one of my trips to the US, I called his old phone number. Surprise, surprise, he still kept the number and we are still using the same number now.
After that phone call, we kept in touch online, emailing and talking on icq. We did not meet until a year later. Then we met and end of the story.

Anniversary Gift

Although my anniversary is not until this weekend, the present has arrived. It was delivered by DHL. I was not particularly paying much attention when the DHL van drove up the hill and into my driveway. I was busy mowing my yard. The yard needed to be mowed badly since the rain has turned it into a hayfield. The driver came out and I asked him to put the package on the deck.
After i was done mowing, I picked up the package to brought it inside. It could be the tractor parts, the computer stuff, the ATV parts or whatever my husbands finds interesting online. I told my husband about the package that arrived when he came home. He said it was for me, it was my anniversary present and I can open it eventhough it is still a few days away. It is a present and it is meant to be opened. So, I did. It was what I really wanted and was plannnig to get it for my birthday, but my husband beat me to it.
I spent the whole evening trying to read the manual for this too technical toy. I am unashamedly technologically challenged. I read and I read and finally could get the basic operational system. I am just satisfied that this toy works and I will try other functions when the need arises.

Alone during bad weather

This is my first experience being alone for a couple of days. My father in law is in critical condition in a nursing home about 2 hours away from where i live. My husband has gone there to be with the family and make necessary arrangements. I had to stay home to take care of the animals. I would join him if things turn for the worse. However, those 2 days were, the weather decided to turn bad. There were bad stormy days and nights, with tornadoes and thunderstorms and hailstorm. We had had bad and severe weather before, but my husband was around to take care of everything.

Before he left he had made sure that the underground cellar was prepared. He made sure the batteries for the TV and weather radio are working. He also made sure all the important documents and stuff were moved into the cellar. The only thing we did not do was to run the drill for the dogs again. Well, the weather turned bad the first evening he was away. I put the chicken in their pen and fed them real early. There are a few hundreds of them. I put the pick up truck in the barn because if not the tornado, the hails would break the windshields. I could not put it in the garage because, the 2 garages have 2 ATVs and my car. I could not squeeze the pick up into it without knocking something.

I was prepared. I brought pillows, food and drink into the cellar and waiting for the time to go in. When the time came I let the dogs off their chains and whistled for them. I fixed the ramp for them to go in. I did a trial run, 2 dogs did just as instructed, but my puppy max refused to go in and had to be pulled in with the leash. Great, it took about 3 minutes to get them in.
The weather was not tornadic the first evening, but with wind and hails, I decided to wear the weather inside the cellar with the dogs. So when it started to have lightning, I got the dogs into the cellar, without much problems, because this time I had food to persuade the puppy to get in without a fuss.
We stayed there until the storm blown over, about 0ne hour or so. All went well until last night. Storm at night was quite difficult to organize, but the chickens were already inside their pens. One chore eliminated. Only the dogs. This time I brought the dog one at a time, so that they did not wander away, while waiting to get in. That was easier than the first time. Stayed in the cellar longer this time because there were so much lightning and rain.
We got out almost at 11 pm and we survived the storms without my husband.

Hopefully we will not have real bad weather before summer comes. If there are, we are prepared.

First balckberry pie of the season

Yesterday afternoon Roo and I went to pick blacberries in the woods. Roo was just to keep me company and of course when we were in the woods she went to do her things. I don't know what things dogs do, but she surely went away for a while. Then she came back and lay down by the tree. I picked about a basketful of them juicy berries and came home thinking what was I going to do with the berries. I can't eat all of them. I can make them into juice and freeze it or i can make myself a pie. At this moment I am still contemplating the pie. Will tell if it does materialize.

Here is the blackberry pie recipe

FYI I cheat, I bought ready made pie shell from the store and ready made pastry as well.
However I get this recipe for standard pastry.

Flour 2 cups
Salt 1 teaspoon
shortening, chilled 2/3 cup
cold water about 6 tablespoons.

Sift flour and measure
Add salt and sift again
Using a pastry blender or 2 knives, cut in half shortening thouraghly until mixture resembles coarse corn meal. Cut in remaining shortening coarsely or until particles are the size of peas.

**** Can use food porcessor

Sprinkle water, one tablespoon ata time and mix dough with fork. Do not stir. Use enough water to hold the pastry together. use plastic or wax paper to press together gently into a ball. Chill dough.

Blackberry filling
Sugar 3/4 to 1 cup
Flour, 3 to 4 Tablespoon
Salt, 1/8 teaspoon
4 cups of well washed and drained berries
Use more or less sugar if needed
Butter 2 Table spoons
Lemon juice 2 tablespoon

Pre heat oven 425F

Roll pastry as underscrust to fit 9" pie pan
Combine sugar flour and salt.
Spread this mixture over pastry lined pan
Add the blackberries and sprinkle the left over mixture over the berries.
Sprinkle lemon juice and dot with butter.

Roll, fit and seal the upper crust...or make into strips and lay pastry strips in a lattice pattern over the pie.

Try lah.

Pencen

There are many people who are already retired, about to retire and thinking about opting to retire early. I belong to the first category. I opted to retire early for a few reasons only I knew. I was toying with the idea for quite sometimes after i turned 40. I have this big rough plan of how to run my life. At that point I have had what I really wanted. I had some education, enough to see me through, if i ever need to supplement my income. I have stashed away some saving to see me through the next 15 years or so. I have all the material needs i would want ( to my standard lah). A house, a car, some stocks, some saving etc.
I was looking to quit my job at the right time and persue my desire to go and do dakwah. Not the dakwah the way people stereotyed. I wanted to dakwah about getting educated. To me an educated pious person is much better than a non educated one. This big dream of mine would take a very serious planning. How would I go about it? Like many American missionaries do, they offer 'sincere help" with string attached or like the typical "melayu dakwah' that tak berapa menjadi due to sebab-sebab tertentu ( I do not want discuss it here)
The opportunity came when I took up this assignment to work in Uzbekistan. I went to a place so foreign, to me although I can boast that i am quite an extensive traveller.
Communication with my host was a problem. I do not speak uzbeko or Russian neither do they speak English or Malay. So for the first few days it was like ayam talking to itek and with lots of signing.
Then I decided to teach my host and son, an english word a day and a sentence to go with it.
A week or so, we could at least communicate in english and signs. Then one day my host came to me with an Al-Quran. She handed me the Quran and said "You read I no read". Then I knew that she wanted me to teach her to read the Quran. So, I began teaching her the alphabets and soon we were laughing together.
She learnt to read the Quran, she learnt to pray and I only learnt a few words of Russian. That is my kind of dakwah...Do it subtly. I do not need to go and tell people that this is haram, that is haram etc. These people who are "educated" are eager to know about the religion that they would take pain to learn and read about the religion. They will learn and appreciate the religion better.
Well, i digressed, sorry about it. back to opting to retire or pencen. There should be a good planning before one retires. To me, once I retire, i should have no debts to haunt me and the little money I have after the retirement should be able to see me through. I did not plan to live in luxury, but just secukupnya.
Although with good planning, I found out it was not that easy to slide from one chair to the other. There was no smooth tranfer from having 'lots' of money to spend than having to jimat the money you have since I did not get my pencen and gratuity until six months later. Immediately after I retired, I followed my husband back to the US, thinking that all my papers were in proper order, but of course they were not. Some papers were misfiled and the amount I had to settle with the Income tax was wrongly typed etc. I had to take the 40 odd hours journey to settle it once and for all. Then the waiting game. I had to go back again, now to Jabatan Pencen to check why my pencen was not coming. I sat there in front of the officer in my well worn clothes and a tired face with a jetlag until I saw the money has been transfered into my bank account. Somebody was sitting on my file.
Susah nu nak dapat pencen...Then came the adjusting period, I was not used to spending someone else's money ( my husband's) I became very frugal. I am still adjusting after all these years. I am getting better after my husband told me not to take my Malaysian money out, unless we need it badly. But he said if i still feel like shopping for shoes and handbags in London like I used to, then I might need to take my ringgit out.
Well, in my elder sister's case, it was different. She saved and saved and when she opted to retire early, she thought she had enough for 'her'. The moment she got her graruity, her husband persuaded her to buy a Honda Accord. After much persuasion she agreed. Lo and behold, the car is in her husband's name. Soon after, with a sparkling car, he found another wife. And what happen to the car? My sister has no chance of sitting in it. Hangus.
So for all the women out there. Beware ! jaga wang pencen anda!

Max wants a friend to play

Max is 7 months old, but his size says something else. He is 3 ft tall and weighs about 70 lbs. My little great Pyreenes puppy has grown in size but still a baby. Max is in dire need of a friend to play with. Although there are Roo and Dumdum, Max can't entice them to play with him. They do entertain Max from time to time, but Max's size and roudiness as well playfulness put them off. From time to time Dumdum lets Max ride on his back, but not for long as Max is much bigger and heavier than Dumdum. Roo lets Max pull her tail and her ears, but Max sometimes gets carried away. So, most time they tried to keep away from Max. Max rolls over, crawls on his belly just to invite them to play with him, but they ignore him. Poor Max. Max tried to find other friends to play with him. He goes into the woods and brings home a tortoise. Plays with the tortoise but it was no fun since the tortoise does not respond. He tosses up the tortoise, catches it up in the air, kicks it, but there isn't any response.
Yesterday Max found another friend to play with. It was a baby bird learning to fly with mother bird flying around to encourge its baby. Max was excited, he went to pick up the baby bird in his big jaw and tossed it to fly. He chased it around the yard and catched it again and toss it up. Mama bird was worried and made a lot of noise, but Max was enjoying himself and perhaps the baby bird was enjoying it too. After a while when Max tossed the baby bird a little too high, the baby bird landed on the branch and stayed there. Max was heartbroken and tried to jump to get to his new friend, but the mama bird was encouraging the baby bird to get back into the nest. Aall afternoon, Max sat under the tree waiting for his new friend to come out to play.
Poor Max needs a friend to play.

Spring is here

Yes, spring is here. For most people who live in the temperate countries, this is the time of joy. Gone are the cold winter days. The days get longer and the warmth is here. This is the time to get busy too. In my neck of the woods, the birds are busy mating, so are the rabbits, and all the critters that live in them. My husband and i are busy as well, but not busy doing what the critters do. We get busy gardening. We get busy raising baby chicks. My husband gets busy with his passion of going fishing. Fishing is not only for sport, but for food too. He is busy fixing the pontoon boat (belongs to his fishing buddy) and getting all the fishing gears and paraphernalia that goes with fishing. Last weekend, they went out fishing and brought home two ice (igloo) chests full of them fish about 200 ekor. Know what, that is not the end of the fishing trip. Then we have to clean them. He fillet most of them and i keep some whole fish for curry and some for the grill. I learnt to clean the fish and i still don't know how to keep the fish heads intact. So I kind of chopped them off.
That is the fishing chapter that will go on until the Fall or until my husband gets tired of his favourite sport. I still have half of my deep freezer full of last year's fish.
About gardening...late winter my husband put organic fertilizer in the garden, cowdung and chicken stuff. Cowdung was free from the neighbour's ranch and of course the chicken stuff was from our own chicken coop.
Now the garden is ready. We do not plant until the last deep freeze i.e until April, but we still get late freeze as late as May. In my garden, i have asparagus, tomatoes, cucumbers, beet, spinach, squash, beans, bell peppers and other plants.Of course not forgetting my cili api and serai.
Spring too is the time for all weeds and plants starting to bloom in order to propagate. My neck of the woods is full of blooms now and when i take a walk everyday in the morning, there are new flowers blooming.
Early blooms are those of peaches, cherries, blackberries, cottonwood etc. To my observation the pinky flowers are the first to appear, then the white ones, then the others. Now there are myriads of colors, if you love natural wild flowers. There are of course them flowers that you cultivate. I have some daffodils, tulips, gladioli which are gone by now. Right now only petunias and 'rose jepun' are blooming. Creek mertle have not even budding yet, as it is more of a summer flower.
Summertime is another story...I shall be busy canning fruits and vegetables. Sometimes i don't know why I canned them as they are cheap in the market. To my husband, personally canned tomatoes tastes 100 times better than the one you bought from the store. Fresh tomatoes from your own garden are juicier and tastier. Well, for me the technique used to preserve food is more intriguing than the finished products itself. However I agree with my husband that my preserved peaches and pears taste better than the one in the can from the store. My pear tree has not made any fruits yet, it bloomed but not making any fruits. My husband thinks it is a male tree, perhaps we need to find a partner for it. Well, even without a tree I got more than I can canned from a neighbour down the road. She would have loaded up a pickup truck full of them if I did not stop her last summer. And as a gesture I gave her a bushel of garlic from my garden ( a big bucket).
Busy huh...well, i can choose to stay at home not doing anything, just watch TV or I can keep my time occupied with chores and enjoying my time at my own pace. I could keep my yard small and hire people to mow my yard, but i do enjoy mowing the yard all 6 acres of it and another 2 acres for my husband to brushhog.
I enjoy walking in the woods and spy on the wild grapes and wild plums and balckberries etc. I spy this morning that the balckberries are almost ready and soon i will be busy picking them and making them into juice and jem/jellies.
Well, that is spring for me. Just want to share my spring time.

Tradedio

When you live in the countryside, your local radio can be very useful. In my little township, we have a programme called Tradedio on the local radio station. You can trade anything on the radio. You can call in to say that you have something to sell or something you want to trade or something you want to buy. It is very interesting. You can find all kinds of things people want to sell or trade. You can sell your farm produce, your used tractor, lawnmower, bed, couch, kitchen utensils, stove, washer dryer, just anything. You leave your phone number at the radio station and people can call in for more information. We bought a used cement mixer for $50 which normally costs $399. I put my puppies for adoption to good home and people called in to adopt my puppies.
I think it is a very good service for the local people. Not everyone can afford new tools just to use once or twice. We bought the electric cement mixer because we wanted to make a walkway from the house to the garage. Without it, it would be back breaking mixing cement for a 5 yards walkway. People sell cars, ATVs, houses and properties (land) there too. You can call and go to look at them if you are interested. We went to look at an 80 acres ranch with grazing field and 3 fish ponds ( ponds to water the cattle). The price was about $42,000. We did not bring our check book, but someone else did and paid a downpayment for the property. So, we know the next time we are interested, we should bring the check book along.
The programme runs for an hour from 8:30 - 9:30 am every morning. A person can only sell 3 products at a time.
I think it is a very good community service.

Mak aku...My mother

AN's blog's on her Mak touches my heart. Until now I still could not make me write about my mother. I love my mother very much. Too much to bare what is in my heart. I wish I told her millions time how much I love her. Now that she is no longer with us. I sometime wonder, if my mother is still around, would I married a foreigner?, leave the country or get married at all. All I wanted to do was to take care of my mother. I knew she had had a very hard life when she was young and growing. Although her father was a rich man, she never get to taste that kind of life. Being the youngest sibling she was being pushed from one household to another after her mother died and her father remarried to a (Tengku). She was left with her grandmother, then her big sister and she never went to school although her father (my grand father) was educated. (My grand father went to the same school as Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra and classmates). My mother learnt to read and write Jawi through learning The Koran and learnt the Rumi by reading her brother's books and learnt english much later when my sister went to 'english school'..very basic english, so that she knew what my sister was studying. I lived mostly with my grandparents.
What saddened me most was when i saw my mother cried one day. My late grand father's second wife relative came to find my mother to ask for money to pay for the cukai tanah, if not paid would be lelong/auctioned off. My mother cried because all these years nobody told her that her father left a lot of harta and her step mother and her relatives have been 'makan harta anak yatim'. I guess when men got a new wife, they automatically forget that they still have children.
My mother asked me what should she do...the amount of the cukai takberbayar was almost RM30,000.00. I told her, forget about it. let it be auctioned off. Those who have benefitted from the ladang getah and dusun tu, should pay because they were the one who got all the hasil all these years..berpuluh tahun makan harta nak yatim.
So, since then i promise myself that i would never hurt my mother and would take care of her. She would come first in my life. Alhamdulillah, i think i did that. I took care of her all the 6 months she was ill with cancer. made her happy and i think I managed to make her know that i really love her eventhough not in so many words.
There are a lot of things i sanjung about my mother, but i just can't put them in words. I keep it deep in my heart.

A simple life

I have taken a 180 degree turn or is it a 360 degree turn in my life. I am back to the simple way of life. I enjoy the nature and appreciate the beautiful God given paradise. The first part of my life was to get away from the rural life that was considered to belenggu our lives then. With education, we broke the belenggu, got to live in the cities and join the the rate race. Got to live in a lifestyle which is considered to be modern and classy. Dine at fine restaurants, vacation in faraway lands that many still can only dream and move with the crowds that 'have made it'.
Now I am back living in the rural area living simply and close to nature. I can say i have had what I worked for and done whatever I wanted to do and now sit reminisce on that part of life. I made a choice when I decided to move over to rural USA. I did not figure out that rural here really means rural, like Pekan Sik in the 70's. However I have come to love this place that my husband and I worked hard to make it as beautiful as it is today (my opinion).
I have gone gaga when i discovered that perssimon (pisang kaki) grow wild, pecan just thrive everywhere, walnuts can just be picked up when it dropped on the ground, wild grape vines just climb whatever they can hang on to...but now i take advantage of all these nature abundance.
I learn to make jellie out of wild grape juice, wild plums, berries etc. I can assure you, one can never be hungry, if one is creative and innovative. I learn to pickle my summer vegetables and preserves the fruits. My pantry is now full of foodstuff that most time i give them away. I raise free range chicken for eggs and meat, my husband goes fishing when it is fishing time ( he loves fishing). My 3 deep freezers are full of chicken meat, fish and some frozen vegetables. Life is simple when we make it simple.
We cleared about 6 to 8 acres for yard and garden and left the rest grown with trees and wild flowers. I enjoy walking in my woods which changes with the season, different flowers, different bushes and different critters. We keep more than 30 big trees in our yard and grow fruit trees. 6 years I have been here and we have made improvements on our property and it looks now like a mini park. There are tracks and walking path in the property and big rocks to sit on in the woods, it has become like a recreation place for me and my dogs.
I thouht i could never get used to living in this kind of environment, but now I am finding it hard if and when I have to leave. The difference between my childhood rural experience, is that living in rural USA, we can still get all the modern facilities as compared to my chilhood. perhaps even now in my old kampong or very rural malaysia, we can get all these facilities too. We use well water from the bore hole with an electric pump that supplies our needs. We buy propane (gas) for our heating and cooking stored in 2 big 500 gallons tank, and we get our electricity from the rural coop. We are thinking of using solar panels when we can afford initial capital investment.
We want to live as close to nature as we could, but we still need to use the cities.