the fine things

 from Mom’s garden

My last week was quite hectic, that I just wanted to chill-out at home and be lazy!  Good that we have this long Independance Day weekend!  Decided to look thru the photos of our recent trip again – 100s of them!  I actually love taking macro shots and of sceneries but looks like I need to spend more time  learning the how & what of d90, complicated technology we got ourselves into!!  I don’t mind attending some hands-on workshops  or something! So, I wondered what to do with all these pictures and came up with a solution – a scrapbook! (not digiscrap). We anticipate more family getaways in the future so I thought a scrapbook would be good, tag it according to places or destinations, why not!  I’ve seen real nice scrapbooks by some bloggers  - perhaps create something like those?!

Visited Mom & Dad over the weekend – as usual, good chat (all included, pleasant and not so pleasant) - it’s nice to be ‘home’!  Dad has asked me earlier on to buy him a camera so I gave him our Nikon Coolpix.  Infact, he has asked me to look around for binoculars too; he has apparently developed interest in watching things upclose (bird watching I think heheh ) I haven’t looked it up yet.  He’s busy with his chores - the latest one I find quite interesting is the encroachment of villagers’ owned land by one on-going project developers to turn an 80-acre piece of land into a resort and spa,  in the area!  Can’t quite remember all the details but some chalets, spa, some entertaintment areas or parks, etc.  This new development would be good for the kampung, don’t you think?? 

As usual, Mom asked about everyone who are currently out  of sight but close at heart and I always tell her everyone’s doing fine:) It’s hard to keep up these days, with each and everyone busy getting on with life, well,  perhaps the distance adds to it too.  Since her garden is currently in bloom, she gathered she can now relax by taking out the sewing machine which she has ignored for so long and come up with another set of curtains and sofa covers! 

Dropped by at Dolly and Inik too for a chat!  Dolly works at the airport on OT most  weekends - this kind of schedule has apparently kept her quite busy. Seldom meet her boys - they are BIG boys now … Victor going on 17 and  Rayner going on 15!!

Sometime ago, Nik mentioned that Debra has refused to go to school and the pattern is still persisting til today.   It’s a worrisome of course as UPSR exams are coming up, infact next week!  I think something must have happened at school. Being a good student, she must have been pushed by her teachers to a limit whereby she cant take it anymore or even worse, got ‘reprimanded negatively’.  I’ve nothing against chinese medium schools infact Ian will be attending one next year, but I know this is happening especially the ‘pushing’ of students to perform in order to maintain the excellent passing rate (for the school!).  She’s OK with everything else but just refused to attend classes.  What happens is she would get ready, but upon reaching the school compound she would just simply freezed, and refused to get off the car. How do you explain that? 

It’s now 530am, I better stop rambling and get things ready for the day, hope your weekend was fun! 

l o v e l y    w h i t e

Visited Mom & Dad this afternoon. There are always  additions, something new in Mom’s garden.  ”Enjoying this white ones while waiting for the peach ones to re-appear”, she said.

P r e t t y    P i n k

And these pink ones?  I don’t know its name nor can Mom remember.  Aren’t they cute?  It appeared right infront of the verandah, what a perfect location! You’ll surely be entertained while sipping your cup of tea – if you enjoy nature that is

 t o d a y,    a f t e r    t h e    r a i n 

 The morning started out fine, and fine it was until 4.30pm.  Such heavy, heavy downpour with lighting and thunder!  Was at Mom & Dad’s .  What I noticed rightaway when I reached there was Mom’s garden – totally, totally blooming!!  Mom kept it neat too.  Can’t help but take pictures and blog about it.  I was there about two weeks ago! weeks ago, and it didnt quite look like in this picture.  I should come early morning next time, the time when all flowers are in full bloom!  Most of Mom’s flowers can handle  full sun, which makes is so much easier to maintain. More pictures later (hope I wont forget; I normally do. like I wite TBC at the very end of my blog entry and I never remember to come back and continue!)

 Daniel flew to Sandakan the day before with the relatives from Hong Kong. So, this morning, with just Ian, decided to have this delicious mee hun sup for breakfast, then headed to Mom and Dad.  Mom and Dad have just gotten back from the sunday mass and were sitting at the verandah when we arrived.  Dolly joined us soon after. We had a good chat about things.  Mom asked if I have heard from joan, josie and tony!?!  

Also took some pictures of old pictures which I would upload in the ‘old pictures’ page when I get the chance!!    

As usual, got stuck in between destinations looking up (watching) Ian’s favorite past time! He asked me to take a picture of this “uncle” who so happened to be taking his break!

~~~Oo~0OlO0~oO~~~

i think December is a great month with the school holidays, the holidays, lots of music, food, fun, hang-out, etc.  it is the last month of the year which basically means most if not every one will try to make the month special simply because it is the last month of the year!  while some probably just relax and watch the days of December pass by….whatever it is, it is the last month of the year!  hehe I’m beating around the bush! 

woke up at 5am today, a Monday, the very first day of December!  Not that bad:)   ian woke up early too,  as early as 5.45am!.  upon waking up, he started playing with this heavy machines thngy. i think he is waiting “after the school and work” to pick his dad up from the jetty!  

yesterday was a rather quiet day spent mostly at home and at Mom & Dad.  in the morning, we watched the movie “Madagascar 1″ for the xth times.  ian loves the movie so much, he could laugh at certain part over and over again.  after getting a lil bit bored with it, he joined me at the backyard and played ’spray’ a bit. 

 the early morning sunday weather was lovely, bright and sunny!  we headed to Mom & Dad sligthly before noon.  mom complained of some pain in her legs/joints.  she has actually put away the cryo cuff knee we got her and only remembered about it when I asked if that helped at all!  so, she’ll start the system using again, we’ll see if it helps.  if not, she may have to resume her therapy sessions.

dad mentioned that nephew Vic has started his holiday job (for a month) as a waiter at STAR!  cute!  this news came to me as a surprise!  never expected Vic would have thought about working at this stage as he’s only 16!  i hope he’ll take advantage of the opportunity though - it’s good to mingle with others,  the right crowd of course, etc.

well, hope you had fun during Thanksgiving! 

~~~Oo~0OlO0~oO~~~

Yesterday, a saturday, started out good.  Ian woke early so i took the opportnuity to bring him to Rainforest Park.   He certainly had fun with the slides, sea-saw, etc. But you know what sucks? I lost all the pictures I’ve taken … in just a matter of seconds!  I’m not exactly sure what happened. Before deleting, I thought  I have tranfered all the pics from my phonecard to the hard drive but… *sigh*   Anyway, that cant possibly be undone now! I’m just still a lil bit sore about it. 

This morning  was a pleasant start too . My second day waking up early, with Ian waking up shortly after me.  His first question upon waking up was, “no need to go to school day?”  Took advantage of the pleasant morning weather - brought Ian to see his mama and papa.  He particularly wanted to bring his bicycle along! 

one for the camera! (my all time model!!) Mom & Dad have just gotten back from the sunday mass service when we arrived   

Mom looks more confident now compared to maybe about a month ago, i mean she can walk totally unassisted which is very, very good   She has been told by her doctor that she no longer needs to attend her 3x weekly therapy but can opt to do it on her own at home. However, she must start using the cryo thingy whenever she feels pain in her joints.     

Dropped by at Dolly’s house and ’sempat’ grab some of her cookies! I should start thinking about enrolling in some baking classes too – would be nice to taste my very own cookies or cakes?? But first, i need to get an oven!!   (i just have that microwave oven to fix quick lunches and dinner!!!  hehe )  Ian loves her chicken’s soup – cooked with sweet gourd which she grabbed form mom’s garden!! 

Ian enjoying his delicious meal, and some cookies right after!

 Reluctant posers!

Rayner has lost some weight, but he looks good!  He credits the healthy weight loss to his own persistence – jogging around the house everyday.  Good job, Rayner!!

Saturday

Weekend again!  How nice! 

Went for breakfast with Ian and Daniel in the morning, again at Pete’s Corner. (Correction: the outlet is not called Uncle Pete’s Corner as previously mentioned but just Pete’s Corner).  We had the same breakfast set as last week!!

Towards noon, headed to my parents house.  Mom can already walk unassisted. She goes to QEH for the physiotherapy 3x a week – an important routine to strictly follow for a fast recovery.  She’s keeping up well.

Busy days ahead but looking forward to it! Starting weekend tutorials soon, wrapping up the writing project, starting with new subjects. A friend commented that I do too many things and asked if I have any problem?!!  She said doing too many things can be a sign of distraction! What she meant by distraction was something could be bothering me!  Hehe thanks for the comment…never thought about that!!   

~~~Oo~0OlO0~oO~~~

 It’s true, isn’t it? That “there are always flowers for those who want to see them”. 

Mom saves things for future generation – for her grandchildren. I asked what were all those stuff piled up in her room,  She said  “a lot. Some are good for Deidre, Daphne and so on”.  It’s not quite right to claim that all those stuff are cramping her style or suffocating her – maybe they don’t.  I think Mom probably sees them as “comfort”.

Location: Dad’s backyard

Update: Ian asks “Why is the wood purple?” To make story short, I replied, ” I photoshoped and the purple color looks nice!.” And he asks again, “where’s the shop”??  “Why is purple nice??