Saturday, July 18, 2009

Persistent Fredie


This is a story of a hunky frog,
that croaked so loud so much like a hog,
He landed in the lotus pond,
we wished everyday that he'll be gone.

The evenings are our TV time,
but tranquility was shaken by a crime,
To our horror, the croakings came along,
So Fredie was thrown to a nearby billabong.

An hour passed and we were at peace,
but Fredie came back and we were in a twist.
The croakings came daunting and haunting.
We laughed admist temper amounting.

For three days in a row, Fredie kept croaking.
Arghh...When will his mate answer the callings?
No matter how far the banishments were,
Fredie will come back with more fervor.

Fredie found his mate the day after,
and two sets of croaking worsened the matter,
They got their chance of a romantic night,
and gone the next day, what a delight!

Few days later, the pond were infested,
Tadpoles were everywhere, someone help us!
Into the drain, off they go!
But some did stay by laying low.

This crazy mommy caught a few,
so the kids may have a full view,
into the jar tadpoles went a swimming.
Alden and Edric really went a beaming.

Two legs, four legs and shortening tails,
The little froggies jumped out of the pail.
Back to the pond to where they belong,
Mommy and the kids bade them 'So long!'.

Funny how we never heard them,
It's crazy, but we do miss them,
Guess they decide to leave their nest.
At least for now we get our rest.

(Am apologizing for the pics are not so good here.)


Tadpoles in the pond.


The beady eyes make them look cute. Their shapes remind me of stingrays though.


Side view.


Two legs.


The one on the right looks like godzillalah. he,he


Four legs.

Shortening tail.

Looks like little gold specks on the body.


Ready for the big world out there.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Dang those worms..

All these while I'm a big supporter of 'grow your own food; well, thanks to my mom. We grew a lot of vegetables and fruits on our backyard when we were staying in Keningau. The land around our little house was quite large. That was why we can plant so much. The cool, black soil feels good to the touch and I really don't mind working with my bare hands.
I could still see the green lush patches and the fruit trees in my head. Hmm..:) Really miss the sight, the smell, the morning mist and the coolness of the weather, especially in the morning. It will be awesome if I could climb the cherry trees again.

Mom called me up a few days ago telling me that something bit her hand though she couldn't recall seeing any insects on her hand. The skin around her hand was inflamed and errupted into rashes. Initially thought to be an insect bite, she went to a private clinic to seek treatment. However, her condition worsened as the days go by. She started to see trails in the skin and the itch from the affected area was immensed especially at night.
The moment she mentioned about trails, the word parasite popped up in my head. My poor mom actually went back to see the dr when she felt the medication was not working. However, she got a rather cold shoulder and the dr sent her off saying that she has to finish her medication and it will be alright.

I told her the possibility of parasite infestation is very high since she mentioned the symptoms of intense itch and snakelike trails developing on her skin. She made a trip to a skin specialist and the dr immediately told her that she has hookworms in her hand.

What my mom had is called creeping eruption. It is an infection from dog or cat hookworm larvae. Well, from time to time, we see stray cats running about in the garden. The carrier must have defecated there and as the parasite's eggs hatched, the soil around would have been infested with the larvae. Since mom gardens with her bare hands, it was easy for the little sucker to dig into her skin and thus causing intense inflammation, rashes and severe itching.

All these while, we weren't really concerned with what minute creatures are there in the soil. As long as there are no feces around, then it will be a go for us to work with our hands. As for me, minus the earthworms too. Sorry...I'm really not a fan of them..wouldn't even touch them if someone pays me to. But, my phobia doesn't include me screaming around and go on a killing spree by stomping the slimmy creatures to death. I'll be happy if they'll just creep away and let me do my gardening in 'peace'. Those bull-headed ones will have free mild flying lessons.

Anyhow, I'll be wearing gloves and covered shoes from now on if I'm going to the vege patch. Wouldn't want to give a chance to those tunnelling creepers.

More info on creeping eruption can be found here:-

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001454.htm