Lessons by Big Bro

Training begins on the 21st day

"Smile broadly. They will fall for it."

"Broader, broader..."

"Hey Bro! Correct, ah?"

"They are smiling too!"

"Good! Next lesson - the rabbit pose."

Showered With Love

Showered with Love

Pichu attempting to eavesdrop.

"Oh, no! Did someone mention K9 is up for 'adoption'?"

What Do You See?

It is known that dogs have sharper senses than human beings. We know that they are able to see objects and detect motion much better than we do in dim light.

How sharp is a dog's vision? What do they see?

In the photo above, Pichu turned his head and looked at something behind him which was not visible to me. However, the digital camera picked up something unusual.

Diana Cooper & Kathy Crosswell offered this explanation :
The dog is looking at a fairy with an angel of love. As you look at it you receive the love of the fairies.

What do you see?

Batu's Home

Batu's Home

Effort is being made to recreate its natural habitat.

Cooling water, various types of plants & bugs are available at all times.

It's home is non-gated nor guarded so that visitors are free to visit and more importantly, Batu is free to leave if he wishes to.

Batu's Dining Room

Batu devouring his favourite kangkung. He loves banana peels and water lettuce too but does not fancy cucumber.

Batu's Bedroom

A quiet place that allows Batu to camoulage. Soft bedding complete with optimised temperature and humidity. Batu resigns to the messy compost behind the dining area after meals. Sometimes he enjoys his dessert in the bedroom. Fruits and bugs are available here.

Turtle Symbolism

Turtle mean different things to different cultures at different period of times. Some see it as Heaven, some look at it as Devilish. I like this one below:

Turtles remind us that the way to heaven is through the earth. In Mother Earth is all that we need. She will care for us, protect us, and nurture us, as long as we do the same for her. For that to happen, we must slow down and heighten our sensibilities. We must see the connection to all things. Just as the turtle cannot separate itself from its shell, neither can we separate ourselves from what we do to the earth.

It is believed that turtles will often leave a pool or pond before a draught arrives. This may be a warning of a change in climate.

K9 Moments

Joyful Moment

K9 Chuckles

Portrait of K9

K9 the Dentist

K9 - 14 days old with brother Clifford - 8 months old

Orbs

What are orbs? Specks of moisture, dust, energy or could they be spirits? Maybe it could be all of them depending on which orb we look at.

From my experience, orbs appear very frequently in the photos taken in the evening. Some are quite beautiful especially the gold one below. Could the Gold Orb be a yellow colour pollen floating near the camera lense?

 

This is Archangels Uriel, Gabriel and Raphael merged together. They are bringing peace and calm to the area. This Orb is specially helpful for those lightworkers who are feeling the stresses, strains and pressures of the energy shifts as we move towards 2012.

This Orb bathes you in peace and relaxation and is a reward from Source for your efforts. You are reminded that you are important and the spiritual hierarchy is pleased with you. (Diana Cooper and Kathy Crosswell)

This is an angel of love with a fairy and energy from Archangel Chamuel. (Diana Cooper and Kathy Crosswell)

Diana Cooper and Kathy Crosswell have been very kind to offer their view. It is nice to know there are love energies and fairies around. However, could it be possible that the light at the top of the photo may have been caused by a camera strap?

Whatever these orbs are, there is definitely the presence of love energies around.  One of the main sources may be from these affectionate dogs.

'Mani Cai' - Sauropus androgynus

Found these beautiful red flowers beneath Mani Cai or Pucuk Manis. Snapped a photo before I cooked it with chicken liver and added into dog kibbles. They loved the combination. No clue how it tasted but I suppose it is quite a balanced meal.

Malayan Box Turtle Becoming Extinct

The Malayan Box Turtle is disappearing across Malaysia despite a ban on its export, finds a new report by TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network. The turtles are in high demand in East Asia for their meat and for use in traditional Chinese medicine.

Click here for the rest of the story.

One Big Mistake!

Batu's shell is not as flat as the turtles I used to rear. It's carapace (upper shell) is dome-shaped.

The plastron (bottom shell) is hinged, allowing it to withdraw into its shell and ”box” itself in completely, leaving no body part exposed.

Turtles that I had encountered before cannot pull their legs in completely like Batu. As such, I deduced that Batu is not a turtle and therefore must be a tortoise.

One Big Mistake! Only turtles have webbed feet!

Batu's webbed feet above.

The webbed feet can be seen only when the photo is cropped and enlarged.

After a bit of research, Batu should be a Malayan Box Turtle. Only Malayan Box Turtle has 3 unique yellow stripes on each side of its head. It grows to 7.5" only. So Batu has reached its adult size. It has a docile temperament unlike snapping turtles which are very aggressive.

A male has a thick tail as well as a slight plastral concavity. A female has a short stubby tail as well as a completely flat plastron. Batu has a slightly concave plaston and look at his thick long tail below.

Clear information on differentiating male and female were found here.

There is definitely insufficient water feature in my garden for Batu at the moment since I had made the assumption that it's a tortoise. I am thankful that it has rained daily since Batu arrived. Fortunately, we had also been wetting him when the weather was hot to prevent dehydration.

Clifford's Pet

Clifford found a stray pet in the drizzle and is taking good care of it.

About Batu

'Batu', our new found tortoise is hiding inside the compost during this rainy season. We thought it left but it is just enjoying the heat given out from the compost. Animals are very clever, aren't they? There is no need to bring it into the house when temperature drops. They just know what to do if given enough freedom. Then again, it could be rummaging for food in the compost.

Batu well hidden inside the compost

Kangkung Patch

Yeah!!!Tortoise found the Kangkung Patch on its own!

Burp...

Clifford Loves Baby

Paw Pillow for K9

Clifford Licks Baby K9

New Member

Petting a Wild Tortoise

A friend found this beautiful creature crossing the street this morning and decided to bring it over.Clifford keeping his distance in case its a poisonous snake.Exploring the Environment Thirsty After ExplorationHere to stay?

K9 - 5 days old

K9 at 5 days. K9 resembles a Friesian Cow.
Goldee smiles instead of growls at Clifford on the 5th day. Clifford has finally gotten permission to step into the nursing room.

Brother Clifford counting the spots on chubby K9.

K9

K9 is already standing at 1.5 days old!!!

9-9-09

Photo I took yesterday. Just realised that it looks like a No. 9.

K9 born on 9-9-09

One little plump canine (K9) was born on 9-9-09. It is white in colour with 9 black spots and is Goldee's 9th healthy baby. Goldee conceived for 59 days before delivering yesterday at House No. 39.