JEWELLE TAN

I bought my first gardening book last weekend - because it has basic information (which is not so basic for a novice like me) such as how to weed and prune. Besides, I am dying to know the proper names for the plants that I currently have.

Imagine being told that the common name for 3 types of very different plants was “money plant” (or feng shui plant!).

But my book (Garden Plant : Survival Manual) is not on tropical plants so as you can guess, none of my plants in there. Still, it has some good information and even though it has none of my current plants, this book is for keeps. There is an online service where you can sell textbooks or fiction books are only applicable to the US market.

By the way, I learnt how to find the seed for this particular flower in the picture.

Spot them if you can.

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Looking at the clear blue sky, a sure sign that it will be another hot blazing day, I am thankful that it is a long weekend.

Even without any exciting plans, it’s great to be able to just stay home and let the kids enjoy whatever they want to do without rushing them. Best of all - not having to go out in the sun and avoid the need to use anti wrinkle face creams a wee bit longer.

So while the kids wreck havoc in their room, having adventures that I will soon know about (and hopefully something that will not need much cleaning after) I’ll just indulge myself in a bit of tube time - before I need to resume the job that does not stops even on a public holiday.

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Plants with no flowers are a waste of yard space in my opinion.

However, I will take any plants over having no plants at all because not many things soothes tired eyes like the lush green leaves. Plus a sprinkling of multi-colour flowers and you will then understand why there are some who are content to stay and work on the garden at any time of the day.

My daughter once asked me why I always need to check on my plants whenever we are back from outings. I once wondered the same about my mother and her garden too.

Now I know why and seeing blooms in your favorite colour is very therapeutic and is probably as effective as the best anti wrinkle cream to relax tense facial expressions and beat pre-mature wrinkles.

If only I know the secret to make my plants grow faster and bloom longer.

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A few friends are expecting their bundle of joy soon.

One has already started her maternity leave and judging from on how regular her blog is now updated, we can safely assume that she is having a little too much time in hand since she is used to the busy life of a career mom.

But I enjoyed reading her latest post on her baby wish-list. I am especially keen on the portable rocking chair although the price is a bit too steep for my liking. As for the other stuffs, as I told her we are a family of hands-me-down-and-waste-it-not so we are proud of the fact that many of our baby items have been used by my all of my kids (those that have not been destroyed by them, that is).

Baby walkers, porridge thermos, baby crib, baby blankets are handed down from my eldest and are now used by my youngest.

In fact, the most expensive spending we made so far, in regards to the kids, were their delivery as I had all of them in a private clinic although I had my regular check-ups in the government clinics where I did not have to spend on organic prenatal vitamins.

Let’s hope that the next big spending would be when we pack them off to universities.

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When I went to check on my other kids in their room at 5 am this morning, I heard the clear ringing of music playing downstairs.

I had a brief chill down my spine but even in my half-asleep state I remembered that it comes from the slightly damaged baby chair and it has been doing that for the last few days.

And besides, although it is still dark, 5 am is not an hour associated with anything scary. Sunset at the beach is probably spookier and I know some folks who won’t visit any beaches even in bright daylight!

We could probably try our hands at repairing it, nothing to do with credit repair services, but since I got it for less than $50, the best thing is probably to dismantle the musical feature and throw it out.

Or let it play continuously until the battery runs flat.

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