Trapped

An unwanted guest came to the house before the holidays. I walked in my room and heard something dropped. Turned and saw my table calendar on the floor. When I came out of the bathroom, heard the sound again and something black/furry dashed across the room. Took a closer look and saw what resembled a squirrel. As usual, in instances like this, I go hysterical and started screaming. My knight in shining armour ran up to my rescue. He got the trap and set it in my room and closed the door. Well, this is what he trapped.....a squirrel. Jackie sniffed and barked at it. Later when KC returned from work, the squirrel was released 2km away from home.

This is his second time using the trap sucessfully. One day he decided to set it in the garden. He thought he could trap a bird. Indeed he did trap a bird. The next day, I saw this black thing in the cage, desperately trying to get out. It hit the head so much that it bled. When Dan returned he released the bird immediately. He felt bad for trapping it because there was blood at the top of the trap. Interestingly, Jackie didn't bark at the bird or bother it. The birds were his friends, they shared his water and food.


The miserable bird....silly bird for being caught in a rat trap.

Missing you

I miss seeing him galloping across the garden from the front yard to the back and sliding across the slippery back porch tiles.
I miss seeing him perched over the ledge with his two front legs; looking over the fence....looking out for his nemesis.
I miss seeing him going into a frenzy when his nemesis walk by below. He would turn round and round and up to the ledge again, barking in frustration because he couldn't go out to pick a fight.
I miss seeing his ears perk up when I call Jackie....
I miss hearing him outside the back door when I come down in the morning; waiting for me to open the door and throw him a slice of bread.
I miss seeing him rushing to the back door when he hears the microwave door opens and gets excited when he hears it goes 'ting'....dinner is ready.
I miss seeing him lying under his table and giving me the lazy look.
I miss hearing him whining to be unleashed when I get out of the car.
I miss hearing him barking in the middle of the night ... giving me assurance that he is guarding the house.
I miss him nudging my feet and tickling his tummy with my toes.
I didn't even give him a hug or check him for fleas that day....
Farewell my dearest dearest pet....I didn't expect you to leave me so soon.





My dearest Jackie...ever smiling; died on 15th March; maybe 11am...in an accident at the corner in front of the house. I'm thankful for the 6 years we had together.

condom or condor??

Son : Mum, what's the meaning of condom?
Mum: Hah? Where did you learn that word?
Son : Geronimo Stilton's book. Is it some kind of bird?
Mum: Spell it.
Son : C-O-N-D-O-R
Mum: (relieved) Ooooh, condor...yeah it's a bird like vulture.
Son : Then, what is condom?
Mum: (long pause, should I ask him to ask the dad?) Err...something that is not important; no need to know.

cny blunders

I've been maximum busy since Chinese New Year. Tonight is like a luxury...able to sit and look at my computer. Just finished the exam paper and had it printed.

Before CNY I thought I would be able to take some pictures to blog about the celebration. Unfortunately this CNY has been too too dramatic and hectic. The only pictures I have are from CNY Eve and not that many.

Anyway the two pictures below has a story to tell. I bought yee sang from Harp Key (usually I get it from restaurants where everything is ready....just mix and eat) for Reunion Dinner KHoe's house. Bought smoked salmon to add to it and also pomelo.

We were pretty excited as all of us love yeesang (except Dan). I opened up the packaging and threw everything into the container. Then we started to loww...........with all the wonderful wishes and blessings for everyone esp the kids sitting for major exams this year.

Khoe was the first to taste a mouthful of the yeesang and he went....salty salty!!!!! I was shocked....what did I do wrong? Ah yean picked up a container which had a label in chinese which said....wash something something.....

AAAArgh......being illiterate in Chinese....how would I know what the label said? When I asked...somebody just replied; it's jellyfish. I was to wash the salted jellyfish in water first!!! So we had to throw away the yeesang. So so sad.

When I was a kid, I remembered eldest sis used to remind us....don't cry/fight on CNY. We must start our CNY on the right foot; then the whole year will be smooth. She was pretty superstitious. I don't think I am superstitious....but this Rabbit year has started off with great challenges.

Anyway....I remember another CNY blunder. KC's birthday is somewhere around CNY. One CNY, I decided to get a birthday cake from Secret Recipe and celebrate his birthday with my in-laws. When I took the cake out of the fridge, the box slipped from my hands and the cake dropped to the floor. It was totally smashed up. I was so upset that I just burst into tears. That was one cake that was not served and we didn't sing him the birthday song.

The yeesang....all ready to be tossed. Smoked salmon on top.

Tossing or 'lowing' the yeesang. As we toss, we will give blessing for the coming year. Just before the New Year ended yesterday, I bought a yeesang to eat with Wen and Lyn. It was so so good.

heliconia

                    Heliconia pendula....beautiful blooms from the land across the house. It was thrown there to grow and it has grown real big and healthy. Most appropriate flower for this CNY season. We nickname it firecrackers.

    

This is what I have found about it in Wikepedia.......                

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chinese new year eve 2011

CNY eve is finally here. We woke up early in the morning because there is some cleaning to be done. The gardener came and together with KC they cleared the jungle in front. The neighbour had been throwing rubbish like two old doors which she didn't want and an old sink etc. Hopefully by keeping that part clear, she will not have the idea that she can just dump her rubbish there. Funny why she doesn't dump on her side of the jungle.


KC came back with some flowers which he planted in the jungle. It grows real well there but the ones in my garden hardly flowers.

So we have flowers in the living room to greet the new year.

Khoe came with a pot of gohhun. This is hinghwa food. It's eaten on eve's lunch. We used to go to MIL's house for lunch. Since FIL passed on, she doesn't want us to go over anymore as the house is very run down and difficult to clean. So Khoe will just bring the lunch to our house.
This dish is made of meesua (from Kajang) and beehoon. It is cooked together and will thicken and become sticky. It is symbolic as it means the family coming together to eat and stick together as a family. So every year without fail, we will drill this message into the kids that we have to stick together no matter what.
In a short while, will have to prepare for dinner which will be in Khoe's house. I will be cooking leek in redwine, sambal asparagus with prawns, brocolli and yeesang with smoked salmon (this dish is bought).

The Constant Princess

Katherine of Aragon

This is a picture of Katherine of Aragon which I googled. She was the first wife of Henry VIII. Her first husband was Arthur, Henry's older brother. She was 6 years older than Henry.

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