Lately the carving stalled because I got side-tracked keeping up with the news on the elections every single night. Citizens of Gigglesville is stagnant at a population count of 132 as of April 24th and the last three citizens, born in April were not even painted up. And since then, there’s no new Citizen. Zilch. Nada.
Sure there were some whales, Apeach, Giant Gnomes and Monuments but that’s about it. Not a single new Citizen this whole month of May. Sigh…
So we harvested the habanero chillies. I must say they are kinda cute and do look like Christmas ornaments. I gave some to Mom and a couple of friends to try, and saved the rest for ourselves.
Hubby said the green one which he had tried previously had a nice oomph and gave me the impression that these red ones would taste the same.
Dang, they don’t! These red ones don’t just give a nice oomph but a fiery burn when we ate them last night. Phew…. hot, hot, hot!
Or could it be my tastebuds have mellowed because of the restrictive diet I was on given my health condition the last few months? I used to be able to eat spicy but sadly, this ability has deserted me. Sigh…
Hubby saved the seeds from the harvested batch to prep them to be planted again. It will be several months from now before we have another batch of hot fiery habanero chillies.
It’s a known fact that hubby is the green fingers person at home. The little herbs and vegetable patch in the garden is thriving. The habanero seeds that he threw into the soil several months ago have finally yielded some beautiful plump chillies.
Within a day when he showed me the green chillies, they ripened to become a beautiful red, hanging on the branches like little Christmas ornaments. This species is pretty spicy and although they look like miniature capsicums, they don’t taste like capsicum at all but gives a nice oomph to the tastebud.
Looking like little Christmas ornaments!
When they were still green…
These few days I feel very disoriented as a result of time zipping by so fast. Wasn’t it just yesterday when I, along with the rest of the nation, was gripped by the 14th General Elections? Since then, I haven’t been keeping track of time as I have become so engrossed daily with news and headlines that followed. Strange what a post-General Elections outcome can do to a person.
Last night I thought it was already Friday and was dreaming of sleeping in the next morning, thinking it to be Saturday. But no, today’s only Friday. Then only the weekend will kick in, and before you know it, another week comes along. And what? It’s Friday again… I think I need to get away for a break…
I must confess I do have a sweet tooth. Yes, I cannot resist chocolate every now and then or even dessert after meals. And occasional I’d like to have a lollipop to have a sugar rush.
The lolly of choice is of course Chupa Chups.
Recently, I went to the grocery store, not my regular store and discovered to my delight, Chupa Chups now comes in a can! A sparkling drink in various flavours. Wow, I never knew. Then again my regular store does not carry this.
But that day, I didn’t feel like having anything sweet so I gave it a miss. Maybe next time when I revisit that particular store, the range will still be there and I may pick one flavour up, just to try.
Which one should I try? Hmm…
Of late, I find myself craving for chocolate. So for the past several evenings, I’d have a little piece or two or three but not more. Hopefully this won’t go to the waistline.
I must say I am holding up okay in terms of my weight after the weight loss due to the recent health issues. In other words, I have not gained what I have lost which is good. Although I have gone back to eating normal, in moderate portions, and even having an occasional glass of alcohol, I cannot eat much. I think the tummy has shrunk and unable to stomach big portions which probably explains the zero weight gain.
The one thing I find I can’t get used to now is coffee! I don’t need it and I can function without it, so it’s okay if I don’t drink it at all. There’s no urge and the Earl Grey tea, decaf mind you, suits me fine.
I even went back to having onions, again in moderation and no reactions. As for the other food items that I avoided before – wheat, cheese, dairy, eggs, tuna and white bread, somehow I just don’t eat them anymore. There’s no sense of missing any of it. But if I do eat, there’s no reactions. Thank goodness.
Now, chocolate… it’s a totally different thing because resistance is futile.
The carving seems to have taken a toll on me. Lately with all these bigger pieces that I am working on with Meranti wood which is harder than balsa, I could feel a slight pain especially on the right elbow when I exert some strength. The tennis elbow problem! And this is evident when I try to play golf. Sigh…
When an injury hits, one never truly recovers. The body is weakened, the game suffers and the confidence drops, a vicious cycle. Add in the lack of playing because of my other problems (the Infectious Colitis and the laparoscopic surgery recently), I simply have not had much opportunity to go onto the fairways.
I need to find the right balance to carve and play golf without one activity suffering at the expense of the other.
It looks like the flavor of the month has changed. In April, I was carving up Gnomes, this May it’s Monuments that I am doing. And they are getting bigger in size too.
Excited with the result of the 3-Citizen Meranti Monument without a platform, I went on to carve another Meranti piece but with four Citizens. And in between painting it up, I started an even bigger 3-Citizen piece. Soon the house will be full of Monuments!
The latest and biggest Monument
Comparing the height of all the Monuments
A week has passed since the 14th General Elections and the index finger that was marked with indelible ink still has some leftover stain. Initially, the finger was a light lavender shade when I left the polling station after voting. Then as time passed that day, it became darker to the point of looking grotesque and gangrenous.
I tried cleaning off the stain by combining two drops of Clorox with some laundry detergent because a girlfriend said this worked, and it did but not the whole lot came off.
So I let it be, ignored the color and just used my hands normally the next few days. I must say the friction of my daily actions did most of the work. There’s no need then to Clorox my finger further.
However until today, the stain on the fingernail is still there. It’s okay, I am proud of the stain, a reminder of that historic day when the course of Malaysia has been changed for the better.
Towards the evening on 9 May after the cleaning attempt
I think enough of elections and politics after the five-day euphoria, life resumes.
Last night we were back at the gym again now that I have almost recovered from the laparoscopy. Why I say almost and not totally because I find my strength lacking. Yes I lost weight but I seem to have lost my strength too; so I need to build it back.
The gym session was not too gruelling and I even managed to use the ten-pound weights instead of my usual four-pounder. I need to be more disciplined if I hope to gain my strength as soon as possible.
Angieneering 
Remarks