New Blooms

10 Sunday Apr 2016

Posted by Bessie V in Life In Kuwait, Nature

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Spring has come and gone and summer is definitely out in full force! By 8:30 a.m, its already scorching hot.

I have a little garden in my office – potted plants; and today, I came to work and saw my gardenia have its first bloom of the year! I am so happy just watching it :). Showing it off to whoever comes near my window.

Got 3 more buds to flower on this little one.

Gardenia

My Jade plant is also in its flowering stage and I should be seeing them bloom later this week or the next! Its 7 yrs old and this is the second year its flowering. I have a total of 3 of these clusters now.

Jade Plant

The last flowering plant I have is the Adenium (Desert Rose), and that is still in its infancy. A slow growing one. Might take years to see it bloom! But just to give you an idea of what the flowers would look like, this is it :

Adenium (the ones in the pots close to the window)

If it ever blooms, this is how it would look.

But I’m content with what I have now! Be blessed and flourish, my little lovelies!

All Things Beautiful

01 Sunday Nov 2015

Posted by Bessie V in Life, Nature

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“When I admire the wonders of a sunset or the beauty of the moon, my soul expands in the worship of the creator.” – Gandhi

That is exactly how I felt when I saw this beauty on our drive home this evening.. the glorious colors fading into the horizon and melting all the stress of my day away.

Have a beautiful week ahead, lovely people!

The Search for Zenobia

25 Monday May 2015

Posted by Bessie V in Nature

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Birds, Nature, Northern Bald Ibis

Zenobia is the name of the missing female Northern Bald Ibis (a bird).

I was listening to the BBC news this morning when the “Search for Zenobia” came on. I am not particularly a bird-lover, but I do love nature. And I think birds and animals are an integral part of our wonderful world. So when this bit of news came up, it sort of caught my attention.

This species has been around since almost 2 million years!! But they are now rare with around 500 of them in Morocco and only a total of 4 in Syria.

In Syria, 3 birds are in captivity and protected while the 4th, Zenobia, is missing. Officials at The Society for the Protection of Nature in Lebanon, have offered a reward of $1,000 for any information on her whereabouts.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

According to them, it is very crucial that she be found because, seemingly, Zenobia is the only bird out of the 4 who knows the winter migration route to Ethiopia. Without her, the other 3 birds cannot be released into the wild which might lead to their extinction despite being protected and cared for.

I have seen videos of animal migration and it is something that I have never ceased to marvel at. It is absolutely one of nature’s most inspiring events. How they find their way back home from wherever they had migrated to is just wonderful. Although, my 10 year old has patiently given me scientific explanations on this process that is according to her text-book, I still like feeling amazed 🙂 .

Coming back to Zenobia, culturally, its interesting to read that the Northern Bald Ibis was believed to be one of the first birds to be released by Noah from his Ark. And this bird was also considered a holy bird and a symbol of brilliance and splendor in Ancient Egypt apart from many other symbolic representations (more info on Wikipedia)

With so much legacy behind this particular species, I sincerely hope they find Zenobia and do all they can to save these birds from extinction!