The Gardening Project

We were cultivating a variety of weeds in our garden for the last 7 months or so since we moved in. There just wasn't time to do much and getting a professional landscapist was not at the top of our "To Spend On" list either. Until one day I looked down from the upstairs window and realized we could be encouraging some varieties of wildlife to move in as well.

Hence I decided to execute the plan that had been on paper for a while now. I had sketched some landscaping ideas for our side and back garden a few months back so on a long 5-day weekend, I prepared a shopping list of pebbles, soil, concrete slabs and plants and off I went to several nurseries and hardware suppliers around Miri. All of the usual friends I spend time with were bobbing around in Sipadan for a diving trip and Fabian was in Spain (yes, it was the same trip) so I had the whole 5 days to myself.

And here it is !! Our garden, finally done. Took me four and a half days, countless mosquito bites and a few aching joints. Most people might think, what is the fuss over some wild grass.....but it was driving me crazy! But it's all over now....yippee!

The Big THREE O

I turned 30 on May 5th this year.

The last few years leading to this, I always thought it to be a big deal. I thought I would wake up and feel different, the day might be brighter (or not...), I might feel older (DUH..!), or perhaps Fabian might surprise me with a REALLY BIG present since this is THE year!. Hmm.

Instead, I woke up alone in our home and stuffed a pillow over my face because the sun was piercing through the blinds. The neighbour's dog was going phycho yet again, rattling his cage so loud our little dog was going berserk pawing at the wall that separates the 2 houses (mental note: clean the wall of paw marks-for the 2000th time). That, effectively drowned any pleasant early bird chirping-if there was any. Well, at least it was blue skies - since the rays were literally toasting me in bed.

Then my alarm went off. Eight o'clock sharp. My friend Wid was picking me up at nine-sharp, she said the day before...right....Wid.

Since Fabian was away on the morning of this so-called BIG DAY (he had been travelling around in Spain for 3 weeks....for business <-- wished you had his job, huh?), Wid and Bern had so kindly planned to take me out for breakfast this Saturday. So I got ready and dressed and Wid appeared at about XXX minutes after nine (nine SHARP, she said.... :P) with hubby and whisked me off to the fanciest breakfast place in town - Coffee Bean. It's the thought that counts... To my delight, Bern showed up with a pretty little cake, they sang me a birthday song, I blew out three seemingly HUGE candles and made a wish. Not forgetting I had been craving for waffles all week and it just happened that Coffee Bean was probably the only place in town serving that for breakfast.

In a nutshell, I had a WONDERFUL day! Look at our pictures !! We ate, we talked, we laughed...I didn't need blue skies or a red carpet to greet me on this day. It was the great company I had, that special thought to take me out for breakfast...however small and quiet that 'party' had been-I thought it made my day.

Oh, and Fabian flew back from Spain later that afternoon. It was a wonderful day indeed.

For Mommy

Today we celebrate that special person who is always dear to our hearts - Mommy.

My memories of my mother go back as far as when I was still a toddler, and there are all good childhood memories - how she carried me to my cot downstairs every morning before she went off to work, the paper sailboats she folded for me to launch into the puddles whenever it rained, and all those pinches I received for drawing on the walls (my stick people are still on the walls at home). When I was away in another state for matriculation studies or abroad at University, Mommy never failed to send me a card for each birthday and a good luck card for every single examination period for 5 years.

My brother and I, love our parents beyond anything. And today for Mother's Day, we hope Mommy knows just how much we love and cherish her (despite our bickerings, and occasional misunderstandings..). Wished we were at home with Mommy and Dad today.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY MOMMY!

An Inconvenient Truth

I just finished watching the abovementioned documentary and the immediate effect of the film was

G U I L T

I suppose that was what the producers had in mind to achieve with this short barely 120-minute length of audio visual protrayal of a fact everyone already knew anyway.
We always thought (or perhaps still think) that climate change is an article in a National Geographic magazine, or something we watch on Discovery channel. But I suppose you and I never really think of it as an issue just outside our own doorsteps.

WHEN you can, do watch this. If not for immediate action, at least watch it for the hard facts that will hit you and perhaps persuade you to make a little change.

www.climatecrisis.net