New ways to use your Old stuff

Now the tenants are out (finally!) we can begin renovating in earnest. The next couple of months will be pretty hectic - house reno and moving, MagicLand and regular PV work. And then - the baby!

Here are some cool ways to give your old things a new lease of life

1. Ways to reuse old clothes
- make accessories eg. hair ties, bracelets, belts.
- make bean bag chairs out of huge old Ts
- make gift wraps

2. Ways to reuse old socks
- make sock dolls
- make rags
- use as cushioning for fragile items when housemoving
- make potpourri holders
- make ponytail bands
- make bottle covers for oily condiment bottles
- make bean bags for games

3. Ways to reuse old sheets
- make reusable shopping bags
- make pillow cases
- make aprons

4. Ways to reuse old CDs/DVDs
- make mobiles / suncatchers
- use as bike reflectors
- use as paper plate weights (glue on bottom of plates)
- make retro doorway screen/curtain
- use as mirror for back of computers
- use as carpet protectors
- use as garden markers
- use as invitation cards
- use as christmas tree decorations
- make wall art

Flowers for Teatime

This plant is so-called because the buds all burst into bloom round about 4 o'clock. I have been watching them and it's true.

My Four O'clock plants have decided it's time to showcase their lovely blooms after growing for about 2.5 months.Here is a closeup of the yellow flower.

And here is a closeup of the pink one.
And both can be found on the same plant! Yes, one plant will produce flowers of more than one colour and each flower can have splashes of more than one colour as well. After the blooms wilt, each head will produce one big black seed, which is easy to sow and germinates readily. This plant does not grow too tall (about 1.5 ft max), and is very suitable for container gardening. I am sure bringing this with me when I move to my flat!

Use your Basil!

 



Basil benefits from regular pruning, and since my Thai Basils were beginning to flower (oh no!) I chopped off most of their foliage, leaving only about 2 inches of leaves on each stalk. SO, what do I with all this crop? Two mature Basil plants can give quite a lot of "harvest", depending on what you want to do.

 Herb Garlic Butter
1 250gm block butter (mine is salted), softened
2 to 5 sprigs of basil leaves, stems removed
5 cloves garlic, finely minced
Pinch ground black pepper (optional)

Method:
Finely chop the basil leaves and mix everything together. Spoon into a container (I used a Chinese rice bowl and covered with cling wrap) and refrigerate at least half a day to let the flavours meld. Spread generously on bread and toast it. Yummy!

Pesto
At least 10 stalks of basil leaves, stems removed
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup toasted walnuts
2 cloves garlic (add more if you prefer, but beware!)
3/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil, more if necessary
Pinch of salt (optional)

Method:
Blend or process all ingredients till you get a smooth thick paste. If you have a tiny chopper like mine, process the walnuts fine first, remove and add to cheese in a separate bowl, ditto garlic, and lastly process the basil with some EVOO. Stir/mix well in the bowl.
Store in airtight glass jar in the fridge, make sure there is a thin layer of oil on the top of the paste to reduce browning.

Update 2012: In an effort to lengthen the shelf life of the pesto in the fridge, I have discovered that the cheese can be omitted from the recipe. We like it even without the cheese (boy can't taste the difference, haha!) but if preferred, it's still possible to add the grated cheese when serving.

Disclaimer: These are recipes I got off the net but adjusted to my own preferences. They're not necessarily the best. If you have your own recipes, that's great! Whatever it is, just use up your Basil. Pruning will ensure you have lots of Basil whenever you need it (it sprouts more shoots and leaves very quickly).

If only I could find more uses for Mint! I haven't even used a single leaf yet!

First Antenatal Appointment at 20 weeks

I will be seeing Paul for the first time tomorrow. Many have expressed their surprise that I haven't gone earlier. "Can meh?" they ask with raised eyebrows and eyes wide open. Why not? I counter, will the police come and haul you off to the clink?

The point is that I am comfortable with my actions, based on what I know. If there is something wrong, I will accept it. This is making an informed decision, and I have all my birthing friends (you know whom you are) to thank.

I have also decided that I WILL go for the developmental scan and bear the discomfort of lying on my back for an hour. This after talking through with HL and a close neighbour and friend, so we can prepare for any possible problems.

Other than that, I'm not thinking much about this pregnancy or the birth. I believe I have made my preparations (short of taking the appropriate bag of baby clothes from Mum!) all those years ago when I was expecting Rv and I have never really forgotten what I learnt.

My mind is turned to some other matters instead - renovation, garden, and my work. A lot to consider, and alas, I can multi-task, but not very well. It doesn't help that even at 20 weeks I have horrid nausea days (like today) about once a week. And normal life has to go on - schedules, meals, laundry, cleaning, voluntary work...

Life is full.

More Gardening Plans

As my fatigue eases off slowly and I make fewer trips to the porcelain goddess, I remind myself that I really cannot let the garden go to ruin on account of the baby. So here are a few plans for some work to be done in the next few weeks, hopefully mostly in the March holidays.

1. Build a low wall around the bed out of bricks and rubble (note to self: buy a bag of cement from the hardware store), this will make for a more effective raised bed to keep the weeds out since I only have the one bed and paths are not necessary.

2. Clear away the old dead annuals in the bed - the french marigolds, the olde spicy basil bush that already has a few offspring growing beneath it.

3. Mix in some finished compost into the soil to build up nutrients. Mulch while waiting to complete point 4.

4. Transplant in the capsicum/chilli plants that have taken a turn for the better, and any new seedlings that we manage to seed in the next week, eg. red okra, ornamental capsicum. (note to self: start seeding!)

5. Divide Mum's thyme plants and repot or transplant into bed. A few clumps would be good.

6. Fertilise all plants with liquid kelp.

Back to bed. My energy has run down.

About my breastfeeding journey

My son has self-weaned, at the grand old age of 5 years and 2 months. His elder sister stopped at 4 years and 2 months. And just when I thought it was more or less over, it seems it will begin all over again, in about 6 months' time.

I was not too thrilled at first, but with the passing of time, we have come to accept this fact (although I suspect HL is still coming to grips with the issue). I am glad that I will not be tandem nursing, because although I do believe in it, it was a really, shall I say, tough experience for both me and Ray. Not long ago, I was just checking to see if I had any milk at all (none, only a few drops of clear, colourless liquid from one side, doubt it's colostrum) and thought to ask the boy whether he would be interested in nursing again after the baby is born and I have lots of milk. "No," came the answer, so I guess that's that. My boy has left babyhood, although you wouldn't think it to look at him. Few are willing to believe that he will be in Primary One come next year, he looks as though he's only three! (His height doesn't help).

So now, I'm just hoping to live and get through this horrible period of discomfort which I've never had so bad before. Let whatever will happen, happen.

Garden fears

Every time the flash storms return, I get rather worried about my garden. Will it be too much for the plants? Will it leach all the nutrients out of the topsoil? Do I need to dig some of them up and bring them into shelter? A couple of species have definitely had to be brought in and these are my spearmint and rosemary cuttings. I didn't realise that both their troughs were flooded and now 1 of the spearmints has given up its ghost and will be joining the compost heap. The 3 rosemary cuttings still look okay, but I'm taking extra precaution because I've killed 1 previous cutting before and now that these have successfully rooted, I'm gonna do everything I can to protect them. The reason I took them out was because we had been having quite a long break from the monsoon storms and they needed some sun. Then along came these storms.

The compost bin is no longer, I decided to put the pile out in the open to reduce the smells. Got a rusty wire netting from my Mum and wrapped cardboard all around it, plus a layer of cardboard to keep the rain out (but I forgot to cover THAT with a polythene sheet so now it's wet and sagging).

I am also preparing the patch of ground between the main bed and the "watermelon plot" (although the seeds never sprouted and have been replaced with coneflower seedlings and young capsicum and chilli plants) for cultivation. After the municipal grass trimmers came, Ray and I dug up the irritating concrete slabs and broken shingles that are buried smack between the thin 4" topsoil and the clay subsoil. Our entire area is like this, so every foot of land has to be tilled. Once this is done, we get our electrical goods cardboard boxes, slit them up and cover the area to be cultivated. This forms an effective weed barrier (blocks out light). I'm hoping it won't take more than a couple of months for them to die out, although we do have some pernicious grass runners.

There's not been much harvest since we got back from our Hong Kong vacation, and I just about thought my okra had gone on strike, but today we counted quite a few new buds, which will certainly blossom into delicious pods within the next couple of weeks. I am not regretting this venture into gardening, it is satisfying and educational (for me) and the kids enjoy spending time just hanging around the back when I'm there. Now to get their father to come out and get his hands dirty.

One of my favourite words - Harvest!

I've harvested (and eaten) about 20 okra pods so far, but this is certainly my first batch of Kailan (Chinese Kale) grown as organically as possible in long troughs with compost-mixed soil.

I'm wondering why they don't look anything like the Kailan we get from the markets, stems are thinner and leaves are, well, rounder. But a tip from some elders last night - Kailan can be eaten whether big or small, if you don't harvest them soon, the worms will be feasting on them next. So I'm taking them and we will feast on them before we leave for Hong Kong (for a long-awaited holiday) this weekend.

Image captured by Rayzel Lim

Any Progress is better than none

We now have 3 areas that constitute our "home vegetable garden". The first is a Germinating station we set up in a corner of our back porch, where seeds are sown and left to germinate under slightly controlled conditions. The second is the Seedling Toughening Up station for our Basil and and Capsicum plants before they are either transplanted into the open garden or given away. And the third is the little plot of land up the slope behind the house that I sprained my waist to hoe up. This is currently housing some garlic, okra, tarragon, ginger, capsicum, sunflower seeds and our old nursery basil.

There's really a lot to learn. Thankfully, "with the Internet the information is all at my fingertips". I take my hat off to all the home gardeners before the Information Age who got so expert at organic home gardening, through experience and hearing from others. I never thought in my whole life that I'd borrow FIVE books on gardening in one go from the library (and I had to limit myself!).

Some of the most important things I've learnt so far include:
1. Grow your garden on raised beds - Singapore is built on red clay, so beneath the topsoil of a few inches it's just hard clay, which although can be improved over time, is really not good for most plants. Raised beds give your plants more "legroom" to grow.
2. Interplant some ornamental plants with the crop plants - these will help to attract the beneficial birds and insects that will help pollinate the crop plants. Certain species, given the honorific Companion Plants, help to keep pests away as well.
3. Avoid chemical fertilisers and pesticides except as a last resort, and even then, sparingly - using these commercial chemicals will send your plants and soil into a vicious cycle of pests and diseases and degrading quality of soil. Search for organic, natural ways of improving your soil, which will ultimately keep your plants healthier with less effort required on your part. And other ways of repelling pests and extermination.
4. Compost - This is the singularly most effective thing you can do for your plants in terms of nutrition, AND it's very pro-conservation by reducing the amount of waste that goes to landfills. Even in Singapore where I am told ALL household waste gets burnt, there must be SOMETHING left over that the government needs to dump somewhere. Composting also recycles nutrients from organic waste back to Mother Earth, so as we take from the garden, we can give something back.
5. Gardening is a family affair - Kids can garden too! They love sowing seeds, remembering to water each day (too many times in fact), checking on the seeds for germination / plants for flowers, transplanting and getting their hands covered with soil. Plus it's a wonderful, hands on way to teach them about conservation and life. Oooh, so profound.

Tomorrow we will, if the weather permits, begin hoeing up another patch of what passes for a lawn, in preparation for planting watermelons. This is because I've read that watermelon plants are
very aggressive and will take over the entire plot of soil. Same goes for Fennel, so I wonder what would happen if I put the two together in the same plot? *evil grin*
Make hay while the sun shines!

A New Journey Into Unchartered Territory

I've never had green thumbs.

Most plants I tried to grow died out on me and the survivors were usually ragged, as if they had been through a blizzard and were not expecting to see the spring.

However, in my search for organic fruits and vegetables for my family, I've decided to put in a little more work into setting up a mini vegetable garden, which, hopefully, can be truly organic (certification by USDA is not necessary).

There's a lot of research to be done, the first part of it online. I envy those who don't need to read up at all and just DO. Like the Moms of two of my neighbours - they just know how to get started and keep growing. I need to go and read up all I can and hopefully, glean some insight into roots and leaves and all. Perhaps I should go dig up my O and A levels texts (yes, I still have them!).

Raised beds, compost, mulch, fertiliser, tilling, drainage, compaction - too many terms jostling in my mind for attention. I'm thankful to have supportive people around me, but I'll be counting on HL to give me the greatest physical support - chunko out the horrid shingle- and rubble-filled strip of land behind our house! I've actually asked the nursery nearby - Greenology - for a quote to till the area and sort it out. But it's "at least $150, excluding soil", so I guess we have some hard exercise planned for this weekend instead.

I am overjoyed that the okra seeds that were sown in a tiny pot last week have germinated, but they do need to be transplanted SOON so we must get the ground ready for it.

To arms!

Hainanese Chicken Rice

A little vague but it's just for my own reference.

1. Wash and drain rice. Leave to stand for 1/2 hr.

2. Boil water

3. Rub chicken cavity with salt. Stuff in ginger, garlic, scallions.

4. Immerse chook in water in pot. Turn to low heat. Leave 20 min.

5. Take chicken out and plunge into ice water bath for 5-10 min.

6. Pound ginger and garlic. 

7. Fry chook fat/skin. Add rempah, fry till fragrant. Add rice, salt and fry for about 1 min.

8. Add chicken stock to cover and cook. Add pandan leaves.

9. Drain chicken and chop into pieces.

10. Dilute sesame oil and soy sauce with some chicken stock and drizzle over chopped chicken.

On blogging

It's getting hard for me to maintain my blog, partly because I spend a lot of time on Facebook (in addition to my other usual online activities), and partly because I realise I am always lacking in inspiration to blog.

Hence encouraging Rayzel to update HER blog is rather ineffectual on my part. But recently she's learnt that she can make it a nature blog as well. She is interested in biology, and knows how to google for things. So all that's left for her to master is how to sift the important bits from the pages and pages of information that is out there, to arrange and edit them into something sensible and flowing. And, to upload images. Now this has kept her going for a bit, we'll see how things turn out. It helps that she writes everything out in her notebook before actually blogging. Gives her an idea of how long the post is, and whether she needs more info to put in.

She badly needs to improve on her typing skills, but it's nothing that more practice (and not computer games) will not help. I don't believe in going for typing classes really.

Facebook

Upon egging from a couple of good friends, I finally got myself onto Facebook.

The best thing is, I found a lot of old friends, from Secondary school even. Even if we don't message each other much, at least it's easy to see what they're up to.

Originally I thought there was no point in getting a Facebook account because I never login to my Friendster. But now I see the difference - Friendster's dead.

And I am absolutely hooked on Parking Wars! Gotta go check on my cars...

Our Tiger crashed!!!

I never thought this would happen, but it did. Thankfully I seemed to have a premonition about a week before, and backed up most of my important files. However, after the crash, I realised that I'd forgotten quite a number of OTHER important files, argh!

After consulting a few people, we decided to just let it go and reformat the thing. So here I am, trying to catch up on quite a lot of stuff. I was toying with getting a MacBook, but since the eMac is up again, that'll just have to wait (no excuse lah).

HDB 1st appointment

So we have finally reached this stage. Our dream of moving out of here and into our own place (again) is just around the corner!

We expect things to be completed by mid-Oct, after which we will do VERY minor renovations and begin shifting our stuff over before the grand move.

Christmas in the new home, YAY!

Teachers' Day Celebration Performance

The Parent Volunteers of Temasek Primary put up 3 items for this - Line Dance, Skit and Bhangra. I was in the dance items, and it was FUN! I didn't realize how much I missed dancing, from my experiences in church last time and also in uni days. Glad to know I still have my sense of rhythm and ability to remember steps. Figure is a sore spot though.

And this is my first touch with Bhangra, I must say I like it very much. Wearing a Punjabi costume was also a first, very classy! Big thanks to Gina who lent me her $300 suit, I was real afraid I'd tear it or something. Photo coming soon...

They are asking for participation in another Bhangra dance item for the Children's Day celeb, I'm very tempted.

Another baby!

I was awfully glad to hear that Sam, my ex-boss and benefactor, has birthed her fourth child. Time to rejoice my dear! We are all rejoicing with you! Congratulations!

Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply...(attenuated)"
~Genesis 1:28

End of Swimming lessons

We are stopping lessons for Ray. She starts crying whenever she thinks about them, although she was fine at the start, during the earliest phases of breathing, kicking drills. Now that the coach is making her swim in water that is slightly out of her depth, she's very afraid and cries. She cried practically all through her last lesson.

So after talking with her about it, we have decided to stop temporarily and wait till she's either a little taller or has built up her confidence. I'm at my wits' end for now.

House-hunting update

We've found a 5-room flat in Pasir Ris between Loyang Pt and the police station, street 21. Now waiting for the HDB appointment.

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes

It's the Lunar Seventh Month, the 4 weeks of the year when there will be a persistent smell of burning in the air... Thanks to my asthma, this is also the month when I train myself for the Olympic Games event - Breath-holding Till You Get Out Of Range.

This is a hilarious instrumental version by the Muppets (how I miss that show).