Friday, November 13, 2009

Dried Flowers...


It was one of those wonderful days and my mind was everywhere. The urged to write was there so I sat down and start typing this. So what shall I say today or post today. OK I got it. Let me tell you the adventure I had with the Roses.

On the day of the Eid Fitr [Hari Raya][September 20, 2009] we had a bouquet of Roses gracing the living room; which is some ways lighten up the area. As you can see in the small image of this posting this bunch of Roses did brought life to the area like all flowers does. They say that Flowers are the keeper of our joy, how true. We are always joyous when with flowers. In the heat of the tropic cut fresh flowers does not last long even in an air conditioned room like our living area. After the third day it starts to wilt. Such an expensive bunch of flowers just lasted for less than a week. Well we just cannot expect much in the heat of the tropic but it does serve it purpose in enlightening our lives. With the vibrant aura it does gave joy to us all.

I thought to myself and spoke to my spouse, it look like the Roses are wilting and that I wanted to save it by drying it. My spouse says that if I want to do it, it is OK with her. I have done dried flower before and Roses is among the easiest flower to dry. Before that Roses start to wilt completely I took it out of the vast and dry it the way I know best. After one and half months I found it has completely dried. It even retained some of that rosy smell. I arranged it in a bowl like vast and Voila! It does look real great too. I believe in its dry-form these Roses would last for a long time, probably till the next Eid Fitr.

Folks, the image above show the dried flower displayed at my Serambi [patio]. Isn't it gorgeous as ever?. It would have gone to waste if I had not dried it. It looks now that Roses is having a second display life. Have a nice day.

16 comments:

Capt's Longhouse said...

hi,...dried roses !

,,,yes !!..I am dry, frail and bent,
My leaves remain my story and it is all that I have known,
My way, your love has blown,
You allow me to live, reminding me of each seed I have sown,

,,,Although, Deep pain, rests in my soul,
My understanding and wisdom,
Remind me that I am never alone,
Keep me intact; don't water me, for ultimate growth any longer,

,,,Keep me, see my beauty, and understand the arches of my pedals,
Constantly I am yours, as you bestow your rain upon this dried rose

,,,I adhere to your love forever, and when I finally crumble,
My ashes will blow near you in the wind,

,,,Standing near you, reminding you that home is distant from the ocean,(in Miri, Sarawak yaa ??)
Although I am frail, I survive
Do not let the webs trap me in a dark corner,

Keep me forever, I will last, lay beside me on your pillow, but be delicate with my pedals
Through my pain, I now see the beauty of acceptance and my shell has finally crumbled, and your imprint is left
upon my soul forever.

hahaha !.. dried roses you are in safe hands..yoo !!

Pak Idrus said...

Capt's Longhouse, thanks for the visit and sharing your beautiful thoughts on the subject of this posting. Yes by giving it a second life it gives us more that one thought possible.

Roses or any other flowers are nature ways of enhancing our quality of life making it as colorful as ever. It is the small things like this that made living so wonderful. I love all things of beauty and it always gives me back so much and am enjoying those moment in time.

Things would not go to waste if only we take a moment to appreciate why it is there. That driftwood that came to your shore are there for a purpose and surely it somewhat has enriched the scene of your beach that very morning you woke up. It was no longer the same scene like last evening when you was there. That small piece of driftwood changes that scene. Some just forget about it and some take it home and turn it into a beautiful artifact and then it stayed in the home giving its aura of beauty to all. That Capt. is what life is all about. It about about of how one look at things and of the appreciation that we give to nature.

Thanks again for that poetry piece. It does made my day. Have a nice day as well.

Flowers said...

wow...the picture of flowers looka wonderful. I have enjoyed reading your blog. Keep up the good work.

Pak Idrus said...

Flowers, thanks for the visit and the good words on my kind of blogging. Have a nice day.

louis said...

Hello Idrus,

As artistic and beautiful as your floral arrangement is, I was distracted by the piece of furniture on which the vase rests.

The matching of the wood grain at the joint on the front of the frame, the precision and smoothness of the joinery and the color, finish and grain of the wood are superb. Can you tell me some more about that piece?

Temuk said...

Salam Pak Idrus

Enak rangup biskut sekeping
Serupa rasanya dulu dan kini
Bagaikan hidup kembang nan kering
Dek olahan insan yang seni!

Pak Idrus said...

louis, thanks for the visit and the good words on that presentation. I am glad that you got attracted by that piece of woodwork.

I saw that unique piece at a shop and bought it for it design and craftsmanship. This piece is from Bali, Indonesia. The Balinese are great artisan and their craftsmanship are unique, simply because they are artist and did their works with passion.

In working with wood one must focus in what one is doing, for any mistake could not be undone, you just cannot paste it with another piece of wood. This piece could be a stool, a coffee table and as you saw as a display piece. It is for that reason that I took it home, adding another of the priceless in my collection.

There is a saying here that a good furniture always look for an owner. This piece found an owner in me.

Have a nice day.

Pak Idrus said...

Temuk, thanks for the visit and that beautiful piece of poetry. It does add a new meaning to this creation of mine.

To me any piece could be turn into a work of art and in this case I thought that it would just take a little ingenuity to save that Roses for another day.

It is a small things like this that made life so colorful. Have a nice day.

Capt's Longhouse said...

hi again from an islandman !

,,,Life is too short to tackle without a sense of humour too yaa! hehehe plus if you make friend with yourself, you will never be alone ?? haha
,,,o.k. i will tell you, my simple secret of living life & living ?? ;

..always dwell on today's opportunities, not yesterday's blunders.
..love today, as if its the first day of the rest of my life !.
..love meself, in this world am the most important person to myself. yoo !
..be an optimist always-lah. take positive action, move ahead of the crowd, go the extra mile and build a beautiful life presently and ahead.
..be happy always, if i have it inside me, i can easily find it everywhere too.

The trick is to make the best of life and the most of it !! yaa ??

,,,and finally, Pak Idrus, you are doing everything right, as it is right now !! so rejoices for all those which you has/have !!hehehe.

Selamat Malam from Kapas.

Pak Idrus said...

Capt's Longhouse, Thanks for the return visit and continue to share your wonderful thoughts in this posting. It does made my day.

Well, as you say we should enjoy life, yes agreed. I have been enjoying it come rain or shine. We are here but for only a short period and those who did not want to enjoy that period of time are surely wasting this precious gift.

Like you I have made my journey of life as adventurous as possible and it is the adventure that made life so very colorful. In Blogging I share my thoughts with the world and am enjoying doing it. In the Facebook I share my thoughts as well and the intellectual discussions is great for the nourishment of my mind.

You have that extra for you get to live and enjoy that island of yours, as you say the Cotton Island in the China Sea. I do envy you. How I wished I to get the opportunity to live on an island and enjoy the life of a pirate like you. Amazing indeed.

Well, we just could not get every things in life so we should make do of what we have got and enjoy. By nature I am an optimist and would continue to enjoy my adventure in life. Yes Sir we should enjoy life and make it as colorful as ever.

Have a nice day and take care.

Capt's Longhouse said...

Pak Idrus,

,,,the grass is always greener across,,,eeer pls don't envy-lah coz a pirate lifestyle on the island can be hard at times too, like now during the monsoon..huge waves and dangerous seas plus at times meeting the real pirates themselves yaa..its no laughing matter, these are desperados from Thailand/Indon and believe me !! ours too. The local fishermen are very friendly but some are just not untrustingly friendly !. My Capt's Longhouse had been pirated b4 when we were away last year just for a week, they took whatever they fancy, even my electrical cables were gone !! as such this year am staying put to ensure nothing get stolen.
,,,To-night there is a stupid fishing boat parked just too bloody close to mine in front of the beach, am keeping an eye on their movements but there is only me alone, my 1st mate has gone AWOL again, he is a drug addict perhaps he will be back soonest but can't be trusted too, had disappeared 4 x times already within the last 5 months !!. What a challenge and what a lifestyle, am just a play acting pirate messing around with the real mcCoys yoo. But am a good actor, i guess coz. they are respecting my title as the KapasPirateKing nowadays yoohohoo !!. meself dress like one and talk like one with some of them pirates..they come for gamat/bird nests/illegal fishing/teasure hunting and indeed pirating in the high seas..yoo brother it can be bloody dangerous too dealing and living close to them.
,,,where are our Marine Police/Coast Guards/Navy ?? hehehe your guess is similar to mine !!. None brave enough to venture out in the high seas during this stormy monsoon season..fair weather seafarers Geee. !!. But I enjoy living here, come rain or sunshine Kapas Island is home to me. (sorry me, without the wife-lah, she is scared to live on the island and i don't blame her !) hahaha.

Pak Idrus said...

Capt's Longhouse, thanks for the return visit and sharing you ever interesting thoughts as the Pirate of Pulau Kapas.

But Sir that is life and folks like us want an adventurous life so we do our things the way we like it. You decided to live on an island in the third world and Me I want to live in the first world but still yearn for that adventure. We can't have both ways don't we and if we could then we would still not be happy or contented; the human being in us is like that. The homospiens is a rather crazy species indeed.

I know you are having a tough times there alone on that island but you always could get company. I think with your experiences as a pirate surely you have plenty of tricks on your sleeves like those Pirate of the Caribbean.

Anyway I believe you are enjoying yourself there, otherwise you would have jump out and now living in the first world somewhere. What with your experience as a pilot and folk like you are in demand everywhere.

If I am still young I would have migrated to the US and enjoy the care free society there where things are not that complicated like here. It made life more enjoyable that way. After all as you often said those things are between you and you creator.

I would still love to get to your place one of these days and enjoy those fresh air that I used to breath during my childhood in Kuantan. BTW do you keep stock of the famous 'Brake Kapal' and 'Anging Bodoh'. In those days of my youth these are the two favorite of our gang. Now it is different we cannot mentioned it otherwise we get into trouble. Lucky for me here the Iranian shop nearby does sell Malt that are brewed by them, so I believe it is alright for us to enjoy it.

Sir, do have a nice day and take care.

~CovertOperations78~ said...

Salam, Pak Idrus! Wow, bouquet of roses gets a new lease of life as dried flowers for interior deco! That's a good way of reusing and recycling things. I would have just composted it, but now you have inspired me. The dried flowers look so good. I know roses, lavender and those white tiny baby's breath flowers are easy to dry and last really long. It's others like carnation and African daisies that are difficult to dry and keep.

Makcik must be so pleased with the results!

Salam,
Ee Lynn.

P/S: Pak Idrus please visit my blog and vote for me if you have the time? http://savoirvivrekl.blogspot.com/ Thank you very much!

Pak Idrus said...

~Covert_Operations'78~, Ee Lynn thanks for the visit and the good words on the project of turning the roses into a Dried flower.

Well I thought that it is best that we do our little bit in giving new life to this precious flower. Thus the dried flower that you saw in this posting. I am always finding ways and mean to continue using the old in some new ways or presentation. I am glad that you like it.

Have a nice day.

Timur said...

Salam Pak Idrus, Just found your blog when I was browsing looking for dried flowers supplier in KL. I'm quite impressed to know that you do it yourself even more so for a man to appreciate roses as I do. And the result turns out stunning. If you dont mind, can you share some tips on how you dry your flowers? I would love to try it myself. TQ

Pak Idrus said...

Timur, thanks for the visit and the good words on my dried flower project.

No problem at all, do send me an email and I would describe to you of how it is done.

BTW my email address is at my blog. From the look of it you do not have a blog!.

Take care.