random

Japanese bamboo is really not doing well. Many stalks are turning yellow.
Not sure why...root rot?

Need to repot the girls' aloes as well...they are turning brown and grey and generally not doing well, unlike all my other aloes. Maybe the soil mix I did wasn't good...too much coco coir inside maybe and not enough potting soil...

Reminding myself that next time, I will not get another foxtail fern anymore...Their leaves shed like crazy...and each leaf is a thin strand of 0.5mm thick and maybe 1cm long...constant sweeping needed lol....

Waiting, anticipating, hoping for the moss rose to bloom again...there are big buds but they don't seem to bloom and sometimes end up drying up....:( damn those bugs....

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left cheek, left gums.
the swelling has gone down quite abit.
but there is still residual swelling.
it's day 5.
hope it goes away fully soon.
i really do need to do something about those wisdom teeth.
sigh.

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有时候觉得这家没有真正属于我的空间
上厕所有时都有人敲门要你
晚上要画画写字也不知可去哪里
有时只想一个人静静的躲在一旁听歌或做东西
 自己陪自己

Bugs

Discovered 2 mealybugs on the Water Plum this morning. Maybe I should switch to calling it the Water Jasmine instead as it seems to be the more commonly known name.

Guess I’ve not managed to fully eradicate the bugs. NB. #%}]>&$?!;@¥£^#!!!

My organic fertilizer was delivered yesterday. Will give the plant a good spray later this evening.
And will try to give the plant a good look over before that and pluck off whatever bug I can find.

War has started again.
Bah, just when I thought it was over.

Tenant no more

Just when the girls decided to name the caterpillar on my pomegranate plant Catty, it decided to kaput on us.

On Thursday morning, we noticed that it was hanging by its back legs from a branch. We thought it was getting ready to spin a cocoon. By evening, it was in the same position and nothing seemed to have changed.

Friday, it was still in the same position, nothing had changed except that it looked like it was drying up. I knew it had died but not sure why. Half of me was still wondering if this was part of the metamorphosis stage. But by Saturday morning, we confirmed it had died lah. As it was really drying up and was still in the same position.

We removed it from the plant and threw it away.

Bye Catty..May you get the chance to turn into beautiful butterfly in your next life.

Record-breaking

There was a record number of deliveries to our house today lol.

1. Airplants came (disappointing but I’ll leave the story for another day)
2. Salmon from Apollo Marine
3. One of K’s packages
4. Potting soil and organic insecticide from Greenspade
5. Surprise Aroma truffle chips from Ally!
6. My desk (Yes finally!! I’ll have a proper desk of my own!!)
7. Dinner lol

Our doorbell rang quite abit today and even Alyssa asked, “Mama, why today so many people ring our doorbell?” Haha...

CB - the good

Trying to keep my spirits up and be thankful...So listing down the good stuff that the Circuit Breaker has brought about to me & the family...

1. The girls have both been getting more physical time out of the house compared to before the CB. (Yes, what an irony) They've been going down at 4 or 5-plus in the afternoon each day to run around or to ride their bikes or skate scooters. 
2. The girls have both learnt how to ride on a bicycle! And within a month too..they are now stable enough to even go on the park connector and ride around 1-2km. 
3. The girls have not been slacking in terms of their work and studies. Although sometimes it is quite pek chek getting them to do their work. 
4. The girls have been reading books (or at least flipping through books) each day now. 
5. Nadya can bathe herself fully (except that she sometimes doesn't shampoo her hair thoroughly enough) and she can help to bathe or supervise Alyssa during bathtime too! 
6. We've been having more home-cooked food! And at the same time, we've also been trying out different types of outside food too, because for 2 days a week, we order in, instead of cooking. Just to add some variety to our lives. :)
7. We, or at least K, has been trying out some baking recipes.
8. I've been getting more time in the open as well, compared to when I had to go to the office. Talking walks each day or every other day. Short slow walks but better than nothing.... 
9. I've always wanted to have a WFH arrangement so this in a way..is like a mini wish come true for me. 
10. Took the opportunity during this WFH time to completely wean myself off Omeprazole. It's been 2 months since I stopped. Yay..!
11. I've also been able to spend more time to tend to my plants (and fight the bugs that recently came to disturb some plants).

Breathe

I usually fall asleep pretty quick. Unless the girls disturb me.

But this week, since Monday I think, my mind keeps running for more than 30mins...sometimes maybe 45mins before I manage to fall asleep.

Doesn't help that K wakes up at 6-ish each day and then I get woken up as well.

Feeling quite drained this week. Tummy acting up on several days, bottom left gum acting up as well.

Trying to do work but either the girls or ops issues keep cropping up and interrupting me.

Jiayou...
Head high...trudge on.

Tenant has reappeared!

We made a mistake! The tenant is still around!
Mr Caterpillar must have been super duper camouflaged when we tried looking for him the previous afternoon.

Alyssa found him again yesterday afternoon haha. Hanging from a branch that he's often on. WE're glad the rains 2 night ago didn't sweep him off his perch on the plant.
When we checked yesterday evening, he was still around, but on a different branch, basking in the evening sun amongst a bunch of leaves.

He doesn't look any bigger than before though. Thought they were supposed to gorge themselves then hibernate in their cocoon while they metamorphosise?

p/s: we really don't know if Mr Caterpillar is a guy or girl...I gave it a gender and called him Mister. :) The girls wanted to name him but....couldn't agree on one...yet.

Tenant

We had a new tenant.

3 days ago I discovered a brown caterpillar on my pomegranate plant. It was about an inch long and maybe less than a cm wide. Almost missed it if not for the fact that it was clinging on to a branch in a curved position.

I didn’t know whether it was alive or if it was just some weird branch at first. It was only a day later that I confirmed it was a live insect when it changed positions and went to a different branch. I’d never actually seen it move though. Would have been interesting to catch it in action.

Nadya, being the scaredy cat, refused to take a look at it. Alyssa, the younger but more garang one, was very curious and went up close to get a good view of it. She was also actively monitoring it and announced to me this morning that “the caterpillar is till there!”

Alas, when I went to check on it this afternoon, it was no longer there. Helper couldn’t find it either. Alyssa couldn’t too.

Tenant no more.

We were still hoping it would form a cocoon and eventually turn into a butterfly.
Oh well...it was still a nice experience for us. :)

Buy!

Laoniang...went on a “spree” today...
And bought gardening stuff online from various retailers...
Coupled with the airplants I bought 2 weeks ago (which have not arrived)....and the aluminum wire to make airplant holders (which have already arrived)
That makes it maybe $70-$80 worth of stuff?

Ok lah. Could have been more...;p

The spoils today?
- Mini tool set including cutters, widger, rake, pincers, shovel, etc
- 3 packs of potting soil (trying out the brand Greenspade, hope it’s better than OGL)
- Butterfly pea seeds (if these don’t germinate at all, then I’ll just be very busy paiseh and snip off those found along the Lorong outside my place...even though I think they belong to someone..)
- Gardening mat (been wanting one!)

La Mouton Douce

This blog is 15yrs old.
Gosh, it's like my eldest child. My eldest daughter. Who has been with me through thick and thin and witnessed the various trials and tribulations and happy moments in my life. Mouton has been with me even before K appeared in my life.

Suddenly realised that in the midst of all comings and goings, this little mouton has been a constant through it all....unwavering.

Thank you for being there all this while.
Thank you for listening without judging.
Thank you for being that constant and not asking anything of me.
And thank you for holding all of my moments and memories in one big weave, even if I have forgotten many of the threads within.

Conversation with a 4.5yr old

Today, while I was hugging her and tucking her in for her afternoon nap.

A: Mama, always when I sit alone then I feel like crying. The water droplets are heavy and feel like they are going to fall.
Me: Huh why? You mean you feel this way at home or in school last time?
A: At home and in school. Because nobody has time for me. Nobody wants to be with me. Nobody play with me. Then I feel sad and I want to cry.


My sweet, sensitive and emphathetic baby...

K & I are working from home. Nadya has her Zoom sessions with her student care service centre. Helper is sometimes handling must-do chores and cooking meals. So Peanut's left alone to loiter around the house...

Sigh...Mum guilt.

Of flowers and ....parenting

The previous night, I drew flowers for Alyssa and she coloured them. 

Last night, Alyssa requested me to draw a garden of flowers for her again. 

And emphasised that she wanted them completely plain so she could fill them in with colours and decorations. She then ran off while I was drawing and never did come back to colour them.

Except to glance at the drawing and say "Good job Mama! So pretty!"

zzzzz I ended up colouring them myself....

Wishlist

I think I had a wishlist of things that I wanted to do...or something like that..written last year...
This time round, it's a wishlist of furniture, equipment and tools that I wanna get, assuming that $$ and cost and storage space are of no issue hahaha....

• Dyson vacumn cleaner - yeah, the pretty handheld ones used in K-dramas cos I am superficial like that LOL
• Dyson fan - same reason...chio
• Standing garment steamer

• Hair styling set - I'm a low maintenance lady actually, I don't do such things on a daily basis so this is just for those rare occasions when I have a special event to attend
• IPL tool/machine - no explanation needed....

• Proper oven - for baking, roasting, cooking, etc (not sure though about the pros and cons between a conventional oven and a convection oven
• A nice and proper full set of dinnerware - with main & side plates, pretty cutlery and matching table runners and table mats
• Breadmaker
• Kitchenaid - for all that mixing and kneading and dough-making and pastry-making
• Steamboat pot & portable stove for it & accompanying steamboat ladles
• Smokeless grill
• Bruno! Or Ninja Foodi multi-cooker?

• Treadmill - for well....erm...exercise?
• Stationary bike - for.....hmm...

• A garden trellis and other similar stuff (mini gazebo?) - so that I can hang airplants and grow ferns and vines and creepers like money plant, tomatoes, butterfly pea and grapes!! 
• A walk-in storage garden shed, or a large shelf to store all such tools - with enough shelving to segregate between wet/damp and dry materials, and to segregate between the regular gardening stuff and terrarium stuff. 
• A small garden - ok, I know this is not considered a tool, equipment or furniture lol...

• A bunk bed for the girls
• A bigger wardrobe and storage where all my clothes and bags can be kept in the same place

Plants

Moss rose

Happy to see new shoots growing each day. There are 2-3 strong shoots that have grown in height and length. Even happier to see new flower buds forming! Yes!! Mossie and I are defeating the mealybugs! But we won't rest till the flowers bloom again...:) Looking forward to that day!

The small offshoot in the pink pot is still not showing any signs of flowering though. Wonder why....

Japanese Bamboo (Dracaena Surculosa)

This little fella was doing so well over the last 8 to 10 months after I repotted it. Many new shoots sprouted and new leaves formed. But in the last 1-2 weeks, a few stalks of leaves suddenly started turning yellow. Those leaves then dried up and dropped off too...:( 

There was a leaf that had a big white spot in the middle. Not sure what that means yet. Will try to find some time to google. I like this fella alot and hope it gets well and strong again.

Food plans...

I tried something different for our meal yesterday. Thought to switch things up a little and have aglio olio as out main instead.

Laoniang didn't plan properly. Sigh.

We ran out of mushrooms so we only had mushrooms for lunch but none for dinner. I initially wanted to have scrambled eggs as sides but we only had 2 eggs left so we couldn't use eggs at all.  We just ended up frying sausages and hashbrowns to go with the pasta. And some cabbage soup.
Dinner was worse because we ran out of hashbrowns and sausages so I told the helper to just use up all the frozen fish fingers, fry some luncheon meat with tau kwa and throw whatever remaining frozen meatballs we had into the remaining soup.

So last night was a meal high in processed food.

It's been awhile since I had a meal like that. While the meal was ok and sufficiently tasty (cos salty mah haha)...I felt a little "jer lak" after that. My stomach was a little bloated but manageable.

But I woke this morning with a puffier than usual face (cos salt does that to you) and a bad stomach...Could feel the acid swirling around in side...gosh...I hope I poo soon so I get rid of whatever's in me....and I'd better drink more water to flush things out....

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Today's Wednesday. Our order-in day.

Mac for lunch and The Garden Slug for dinner.

TGS is our evergreen go-to place when we can't think of anything else. Consistent and though slightly oily, their food somehow is still easier on the stomach and doesn't cause any bloating or indigestion for us! No "jer lak" feeling too...We've been having TGS every week since CB began haha...And prior to that we visit their outlet at least 1-2 times a month and sometimes more....:)

Reminders to Self

• Don't let someone else affect your level of happiness. You're in control of your own state of mind and being. 
• 做好自己的本分，别管他人。Unless they step on your tail or in your turf of course. 
• Pick your battles. Might feel good to "win" trivial stuff. But that's just petty stuff. 要赢就来个大胜. Sometimes, it's ok to back away while still keeping your head high. 
• Ask and clarify if needed. Even if it means digging further and irritating others. For knowing more is also key to understanding more. 
• Don't let your ego get inflated. Don't get arrogant. Don't get 头大. 
• Don't be afraid too of stating your stand. 

Wrightia Religiosa aka Water Plum aka Water Jasmine aka Shui Mei aka 水梅

This fella chose a special day to gift something to me.

It came to me more than 6 months ago, in early October 2019. I don't think FIL meant it as a birthday present when he gave that pot to me but I treated it as one haha. Seed pods appeared a few weeks later and I was elated!

They grew over 2-3 months and looked like wishbones. I spent the time waiting and anticipating. I tried reading up online on how long it would take for the seed pods to mature and burst open. But I never really found an answer.

And so I kept on waiting.

 A month ago, one pod started changing colour ever so slightly. It turned a little brown. I was worried it was drying up or was affected by the bout of mealybug infection a few weeks ago. I wrapped a ziploc bag around the seed pods just to be safe. I didn't know what the hell I was doing actually haha.

Then a week ago, the heavy rains actually caused the bag to fall off. The seed pods remained intact on the plant. I put the bag back on.

And then a few days ago, the seed pad that was slightly brown split open very slightly. I was a noob water plum owner and didn't know if that meant the seed pod was about to burst open soon and spread its seeds all around...or was that just the seed pod dying from dehydration.

I kept the bag on.

And then...miracuously...on Sunday 10 May akak Mother's Day...I woke in the morning and for some reason, I stepped out onto the balcony after washing up. And I saw that...

Both seed pods had burst open!

Probably the night before or at dawn. Seeds with fluffy white hairs were collected in the ziploc bag! Yay! My plan had worked!

I'll keep some for myself and pass some to my FIL. He's good at germinating seeds...:)

The Tillandsias - airplants

Tillandsia Caput Medusae
This little fella's faring very well and showing obvious signs of growth. Seems like taking this one out to the balcony did it a lot of good. It's greener and more vibrant and it's strands are curling much around much more now. Yay! Hope it grows more and branches out more! Till it really looks like Medusa's head!

Tillandsia Ionantha
I only know it's an ionantha but not sure of the sub-species... This one looks totally like a pineapple's top. It seems to be doing ok and growing...I think. Growing very very slowly. Still about the same size. And one leaf seems to have gotten a little rotten...:( but the rest are still fine.

Tillandisa Brachycaulos
This one had the most potential last time and I was elated when it started growing roots last year...but then it grew stagnant and some tips were browning. After shifting this one to the balcony, I still can't tell if it's doing better or not...still seems to be stagnant. See how this one goes.....

The Coll

Questioned her staff about an inconsistency in their department's processes.
Why the double-standard on the stringent checks done on others and such lax processes within their own team?

The staff kept silent. For 2 weeks.

Laoniang keeps track one ok. You can say I 咬死不放, even if it's a trivial and small thing.
It's the principle behind it and the mentality behind it that 我看不爽.

Sent a chaser today asking for a response to my query.
One staff replied, with rubbish irrelevant info.
The Coll responded and told me to ignore that staff's info and she herself gave me other irrelevant info.

咬死不放.
I questioned her again.
And she went silent on me.

Everytime like that. When she knows she is fighting a losing battle, she ignores and stays silent.
Nabeh. %&$^#%

Of bakes and...om nom nom

We've been baking banana bread 4 days in a row....

Day 1 - test bake, which turned out a little burnt on the bottom but was still relatively nice...
Day 2 - baked for the Chias, they were the ones who gave us the bunch of bananas...
Day 3 - baked for K's family, for Mother's Day...delivered over to Kembangan...
Day 4 - i.e. today...baked for my family, for Mother's Day and delivered over to Pasir Ris...

We still have a bunch of bananas left...Pisang Merah...
Not sure how we'll settle those...we'll prolly bake another banana cake again...lol...

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I still have 4 sheets of frozen puff pastry left.

Hope to do a proper sausage roll tomorrow if I have the time. I hope they do puff up properly!!

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We still have plain flour and potato flour and bread flour and yeast and baking powder and baking soda and blocks of butter and icing sugar and salted caramel chips and chocolate chips...and.....

I wanna make more of the salted caramel tarts I did 2-3 weeks ago and I wanna try making soft buns and pizza too...but...有心无力 lol...