2016-04-25 02:16 A happy lizard
Y (Kuma's owner)
I went to a zoo, Ipswich Nature Centre this weekend. It's a cozy place and good for a family with kids. There are indigenous species; Kangaroos, Wallabies, and Bilbies. Oops, I picked up only the animals that look pretty. I should not forget the other native animals from Australia, that are reptiles.
I don't know about other countries, but Japanese people would imagine pretty marsupials when they hear the word "Australia". Undoubtedly, marsupials are adorable.
Long ago when I went to Northern Territory, a tour guide said that Australia is famous as the country of marsupials, but actually there are many reptiles. And he added that if we talk too much about reptiles, nobody would come to Australia, so we put cute marsupials like Koalas on an advertisement.
I think that it is interesting that most people who even have a different culture or background don't think reptiles are pretty. I wonder is that because of their appearances?
Honestly, I prefer mammals and marsupials over reptiles, but I felt a bit differently this weekend. I thought a big lizard was pretty. Please take a look at the picture below. I saw a big lizard that was taking a nap leaning against the glass. I'm a little disappointed that I couldn't take a picture of him/her as well as I saw. The eyes looked happy and its mouth seemed to smile. How cute! I have never thought that a lizard is pretty.
It was a nice day seeing a happy lizard.
2016-04-24 05:30 A human being in a cage
Y (Kuma's owner)
One of my daily jobs is taking care of vegetables. I grow vegetables in the backyard and in a veggie patch. My veggie patch is an uncommon shape, it's a Decagon-shaped veggie patch. I wrote about this veggie patch on my journal dated 10th January.
This veggie patch is surrounded by net. The net protects vegetables from pests and Ultraviolet. When I go into the Decagon-shaped veggie patch, I feel like I'm a bird because it looks like a big bird cage. Actually, I saw the similar shaped bird cage at a zoo.
When I'm in the veggie patch for watering, sometimes birds come and walk on the top of the veggie patch, so I can see them from underneath. The interesting thing is, they don't mind me. They are cautious of their surroundings, something above them or something aside them, but not underneath. I'm not a biologist, but I just guessed that birds need to pay more attention to what's above because of predators coming.
Some birds notice me and look down at me. A human being is in the cage and birds are outside of the cage. It's like having the shoe on the other foot.
Usually, we cannot see bird's feet from underneath, but I can see their soles. This is a unique type of bird watching, isn't it? All right, I'll be a bird soles watcher!
Though I'm in the cage I still believe that I'm a bird soles watcher. On the other hand, what do birds think? Maybe they think they are human being watchers. They watch me with the same feeling as people watch animals at zoo.
"Look at that human being!"
"Her feeders are full of vegetables, this human being must be a herbivorous.
" It's called a vegetarian, you know?"
I feel like I am able to hear the conversation of wild birds on the veggie patch.
2016-04-22 21:26 Bitter Melons (Goya)
Y (Kuma's owner)
As autumn approaches, some of the summer vegetables in my backyard are getting smaller. The zucchinis are still growing, the tomatoes are not too bad, but the Japanese bitter melons (Goya) seem to be almost out of season. They are still in good condition but the fruits are getting smaller.
The bitter melon is my favorite vegetable. They are cultivated in Okinawa Prefecture a lot. Okinawa is an island located in the southern part of Japan. The climate of Okinawa is subtropical, the same as where I live, that's why I can grow them well.
The first time I saw a bitter melon, I didn't have a good impression because the surface of bitter melon is uneven and I associated with a sea slug. The taste is, of course bitter. It depends, some people don't like it but I like it very much.
I didn't expect that I could buy bitter melon seeds in Australia, but I found them on the Internet last year. I bought them and started to grow them. Their germination rate was high so they were easy to grow.
One day, I was looking at a seedling of the bitter melon and noticed the difference between bitter melons and most other plants. Most plants have cotyledons, as do bitter melons. But bitter melons have a second layer of cotyledons. There must be a terminology that I don't know. After the germination, the first layer of cotyledons come up and then another layer of cotyledons come up, and finally the true leaves come up. How unique!
The season of bitter melon has almost ended. I'll keep some seeds for the next season.