Blooming Trees

Wetland Birds

Spring Colors

While walking in the garden center, I came across these plants and thought that they would make good companions.

The one with the bigger, bold flowers is purple sun osteospermum. It is said to attract butterflies and bees. The one with smaller flowers has a lovely name: sea pink. I found out that sea pink thrives in coastal areas where few other plants can grow well. Thus, its name.

Bee Captivating

• According to scientists, the colors that most attract bees are purple, violet and blue.
• Another fascinating thing is that bees have hair on their eyes. The hairs’ function is to detect wind direction and speed.

The Pineapple Trail

Recently, I published my novel The Pineapple Trail on Amazon. I feel pleased and grateful that I have achieved this long-held dream.

This blog has been an important part of the journey towards this goal. So thank you to all my blogger friends, fellow bloggers and readers for being part of that journey. ( Thanks also to Goodreads friends for sharing their reading recommendations and insights.)

Here’s a description of the novel:

Two sisters, Safia and Nora, grow up in a town in Malaysia where the pineapple is king, where the fruit’s factory and plantation provide livelihood for the residents. As young women, they start their adulthood at the factory.

Nora is happy to stay in her hometown with all that it offers. Charming and bubbly, Nora has many suitors. Will she make the right choice?

For Safia, the older sister, a chance encounter with a glamorous woman unveils a side of her that she never knew existed. She leaves home to follow the lure of a bigger dream. Alone in the capital city of Kuala Lumpur, through her timidity, Safia loses the drive to seek her goal. Then she meets an ambitious young man who revives that dream. At a time when the city is brimming with new opportunities and new wealth, can they pool their yearnings and achieve all that they want?

The sisters tread life’s journey through expectations, unfulfilled dreams, joys and resolve. This is the story of their pineapple trail.

Worth

“If you want to improve your self-worth, stop giving other people the calculator.”
– Tim Fargo

Dainty Pinks

Dianthus is a hardy plant, flowering in all the seasons.

Spot

Pleased to find a spot of warm sunshine.

Winter Silhouette

The Pineapple Journey

Recently, the pineapple has been an important part of my writing.

The photo on the left  is of the pineapple factory and plantation in Hawaii, from vintage Dole pineapple factory and American Can Company booklets. The photo on the right shows women packing canned pineapples at a factory in Malaysia, seen at the Pineapple Museum in Johor, Malaysia.