Archive | April, 2018

Undecided

30 Apr

Now that I am carving bigger pieces with the Meranti wood from Aunty Dearest, I am unsure how to categorize them. As you know, there are the Citizens, Superheroes, Monuments and Friends of Gigglesville, and each piece is labeled and recorded. Those who leave Gigglesville are granted passports to enable the migration.

Then there are the Gnomes who have grown in numbers and are now in their own hamlet, Gnomie-wood. Certain pieces like the Superheroes and Monuments stay put but I am still undecided whether the Gnomes can leave, I like them too much. We shall see.

Now these pieces, the giant Citizens are putting me in a bind. They look like the Citizens of Gigglesville but they are not Citizens because of their size nor are they Monuments because they are single pieces, not stacked up. See my predicament?

Maybe I should create another new category. Besides these differences, they also have a felt cloth underneath, making them more like paper weights than anything else!

Hmm… I have to sort this out soon.

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Forever 38 Again

27 Apr

Birthdays are joyous occasions because friends and family will send you fuzzy warm birthday wishes on all social media platforms that you are active in, throw you nice dinners or gift you with surprises. Even the games you play will send you wishes, a gift and unlimited play for a week! It’s nice and truly appreciated.

However, birthdays are also annual reminders to us that we are getting older with each year going by so fast. I am a dinosaur, remember? Seriously, I think the clock needs to slow down!

But like every other year for the past several years, I am forever 38 especially in the eyes of my girls. Each year with my birthday approaching, M2 will playfully ask me, “How old are you, Mommy?”

And of course, the answer is Forever 38. Again.

Bottom line, age is just a number and I am very thankful for the life that I have, surrounded by family and friends, and showered with constant support and flowing love. With such strong pillars behind me, I am certainly ready to face the year ahead. And staying forever 38…

A call from M1 across the ocean melted my heart to begin the day, and Hubby and M2 will be treating me to a fancy dinner this evening. Looking forward to the lovely evening ahead!

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Replenishing the Supplies, Part 2

26 Apr

After much thought, I decided to repaint the two-tier Monument. From its original of being all dark brown, I thought one species being bronze might look more regal. And I think it does.

I then tested on a three-tier Monument. Compared to an earlier piece looking colourful and very playful, the brown/bronze/brown version looks more serious and monumental. At the end of the day, there is no right or wrong to paint all these up.

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A Cough and a Cold Putter

24 Apr

After almost three weeks of R&R, I actually went off to play my first golf game last Friday. Taking time off from work because it’s slow anyway, I decided to go swing my clubs despite having a cough and nasal congestion. In honesty, when the nasal congestion struck, I didn’t want to cancel because I wanted to see my golf buddies more than to actually play golf.

This aside, I saw my O&G doctor twice already, two weeks ago to remove the bandages and last week, a follow-up to ensure the wounds are healing well which they are by the way. The doctor said if I don’t feel any pain in the abdomen while turning my body, I should be okay to play golf.

Having said that, she did advised to be careful to avoid gym routines that focuses on the abdomen area. So my trainer needs to tweak the exercise program when we resume our gym session.

So how did I fare on the fairways? Well with a cough and a cold putter, let’s just say I need to recover from the cough first and then, try to play more to get back into the groove.

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Times Have Changed, Part 4

23 Apr

It used to be the norm going for birthday parties of friends’ children, little children of a year old or any age less than five. Boisterous birthday parties with noisy kids and a headache-inducing situation.

These days the norm is attending birthday dinners or parties of friends’ parents or friends who are turning 60, 70 and 80! Times have certainly change as we find ourselves in a different circle of life and celebration.

No noisy kids around but these occasions are just as boisterous as we meet up with friends, old and current and yak away noisily, making merry to celebrate the milestone.

It was indeed a fabulous Saturday night celebration as I attended a girlfriend’s mom’s 70th birthday party, and there’s more milestone birthdays to come. Life is wonderful!

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Replenishing the Supplies

20 Apr

The carving is in full swing! And the supplies need to be replenished. I was able to get these items last week during the slow work week to add to my stock – new gesso, gloss varnish, new colors and of course more balsa which I still need for the regular sized Citizens! I thought it would be a change to try several different brands of supplies from my usual.

And I think it’s exciting to see what comes out from the new colors especially the solid bronze. Stay tuned.

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A New Tracker, Part 3

19 Apr

Recently, I had to replace my activity wearable, the Xiaomi Mi Band2 with a new unit of the same model. The OLED of the old one has been very dim and I can hardly see what is showing on the screen especially under bright conditions, whether indoors or outdoors. Plus there was a couple of occasions the reading went haywire.

I guess it’s time to change. After all, I have had the old unit since Aug 2016 and the lifespan is almost up. The new unit came last Friday, courtesy of online shopping. I love online shopping!

When I put both side by side to compare, the difference is pretty obvious in its brightness. Well, goodbye old Mi Band2, you have served me well but now you need to be retired; and hello new Mi Band2, you are the way to go to continue tracking my activities, strides taken, calories burnt and all.

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The old and the new

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Biggest Challenge Ahead

17 Apr

Last week, I took a big plunge and attempted my biggest piece ever! All these while, the biggest I have done are four-inch tall carvings, Halloween Owl, Dinky and the first giant Gnome, from ready sizes of the basswood.

Now this chunk is two pieces of Meranti glued together to become a towering 7.5 inch block. An ugly block to begin with but it’s not stopping me, even with the outline drawn and redrawn for a better proportion.

Within three days, I managed to complete the piece and the biggest Gnome ever in Gnomie-wood was ‘born’. It’s seven inches tall after sanding down and towers over the rest. It’s just simply adorable. Love it.

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And So It Continues

16 Apr

Three weeks ago (before the laparoscopic surgery) on a hot Sunday morning, the carving began. This latest Monument is different from the earlier pieces in many ways, the most obvious being the choice of wood – Meranti versus balsa. Then it’s the characters on the totem pole.

Previous pieces have different species of Citizens stacked up. This piece has only one species, looking the same yet different in their expressions. And it wasn’t easy to execute because being a denser wood, it was quite a challenge to shape the smaller area of curves and crevices. Definitely different from shaping a single big Citizen.

Patience is the key I guess. And at the height of this excitement, I overlooked having a platform like the others for this new piece. Oh well. Every piece is unique in its own way.

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My First Cuppa

13 Apr

After nine and a half weeks of staying away from coffee, I was finally ready to drink it again and had my first cuppa yesterday. And… it tasted… yucky!

The aroma didn’t perk me up nor did the taste appeal to me. Bleargh… how could I drink this, this black coffee everyday prior to my health problems?

Could it be due to the lengthy abstinence, it does not appeal to me anymore? Strange considering that this was G7, the Vietnamese coffee that I used to like. Earl Grey tea tastes so much better if you ask me!

Maybe I need to drink more often to get back to appreciating the smell, flavour and taste of coffee. After all, this was my first cuppa after what seemed like an eternity.

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