Rusty 2

Other days ...

Enjoying breakfast ...

Having a snooze after breakfast ...

Relaxing with some cool water in the afternoon ...

Then go for a nap ...

Rusty

My brother and his family went for holiday yesterday, Saturday. On Friday afternoon he brought his pet dog Rusty to my house. I will be looking after it for a few days.

Friday night it slept well.

Saturday morning, it looked sad ...


Saturday afternoon, taking a nap ...

Rachael's First Birthday Celebrations

life's journey

My brothers and sister, 2009, ...


Here is a photo of us ( in the same order ) in the early 60s, more than 40 years ago ...

My niece's pets

One if my niece's dogs looking into my room.


My niece, Wei Ling, taking photos of her pet dogs.


My sister and the dogs.

Taking care of a baby

This is my niece, Cynthia; her husband, Colin; and their baby, Rachael.

On the second day of the Lunar New Year, Colin cleans the baby, supervised by Cynthia ...


Then Cynthia feeds her while the exhausted Colin takes a rest ...


And then little beauty goes to sleep ...

Trees and lightning

This is my brother's house. There is a garden because my brother and his wife like plants and trees.


There is a tall tree. My brother said he is worried about lightning striking the tree..


Here is some information I found about lightning and trees :
Trees are frequent conductors of lightning to the ground. Since sap is a poor conductor, its electrical resistance causes it to be heated explosively into steam, which blows off the bark outside the lightning's path. In following seasons trees overgrow the damaged area and may cover it completely, leaving only a vertical scar. If the damage is severe, the tree may not be able to recover, and decay sets in, eventually killing the tree.
Lightning injury to trees is difficult to predict but it appears to be governed by the tree's position in the landscape, the moisture content of the part struck and the species of tree involved. Tall trees, those growing alone in open areas, trees with roots in moist soils or those growing along bodies of water are most likely to be struck.
Since water or sap is a better conductor than wood, lightning damage is often related to the concentration of moisture in and around a tree. For instance, if the moisture is concentrated in the phloem between the bark and the wood, then the lightning strike will follow this channel and create an explosive separation of the bark. If there is more moisture in the center of the tree, the explosion from within may blow the tree apart. Rain soaked bark often shows little damage because the lightning may follow the outside of the bark and flow into the ground.
Although no species of tree is totally immune to lightning, some are definitely more resistant to lightning strikes than others. Birch, for example, is rarely struck, whereas elm, maple, oak and most conifers are commonly hit. The reason for the wide variation in susceptibility between species is not clear. In some cases it is because some trees simply tower over others in the landscape, in other cases it is because some trees have a greater ability to collect water on their leaf surfaces (conifers) or to shed water on their bark surfaces (oak).
Some authorities attribute the variation among species to the composition of the trees. Trees high in oils (birch and beech) are poor conductors of electricity, whereas trees high in starch content (oak, maple, ash, and poplar) are good conductors. Conifers (pine, spruce, hemlock, and fir) have high resin content. They conduct more electricity than trees with low resin content and are more susceptible to explosion and internal heating.
It's a myth that lightning never strikes twice in the same place. Trees, because of their height, are natural lightning rods. Lightning seeks the path of least resistance to the ground through the best available conductor in the area. If the best conductor happens to be a tall, isolated cottonwood, it can be struck many times during separate storms events. Multiple lightning scars on the trunks of trees are testimony to this phenomenon.

childhood to motherhood

Cynthia, from carefree childhood .....


to idealistic youthhood .....


to a blessed marriage and .....


blissful motherhood.


The baby looks like the mother ...

Travel companions (2)

Taken in Malacca, Malaysia, with Lum Kwoon Yeng (left).

with Chong Kwang Heng (right)


with Pei Boon Kheng (left)


with William Chua (first on the right)

Travel companions (1)

This is my friend, Mok Koon Heng (the one grinning). We have travelled to various parts of Thailand together - Bangkok, Chiangmai, Pattaya, Phuket, Hua Hin, Haadyai.




This picture was taken in Hua Hin, a beach resort.


This picture was taken at the Umbrella Village, Chiangmai.