The Fifth Anniversary

12 Jun

Five years ago on this day, I started this blog of mine and five years has gone by and it is still going strong. What a milestone. Every day except Wednesday and weekends there’d be an entry, and more often if I travel. I have been very disciplined about it.

Life is simply amazing to give me so much to write about. While mostly it’s happy and memorable experiences worthy to share, there were sad and painful moments too, even fear at some point. Such is life.

Humbly, I’d like to say “Thank you” to all my readers out there and “Happy 5th Anniversary” to me and my blog. It means a lot to me that people, friends and strangers from all over the world, have an interest in what I have to say about my children, my travels and my life.

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The Cycle Continues

11 Jun

The habanero chillies were all eaten. We had to share them with some golfing friends as it was too hot for us to handle. And boy, were they fiery hot! While some people avoided out of fear, some enjoyed the taste and kick immensely.

Mom, unaware of the habanero’s killer heat, called to say her hands were on fire immediately after cutting them. All sorts of remedy did not help to quell the pain and heat. It took some time before the agony subsided. Oh dear…

Hubby is now preparing the next batch of seeds to plant. He left a couple of chilli on the branches to ripen even more before plucking them. Then both chillies are left to dry to become like the original he still has. From here, the seeds will then be planted.

And the cycle continues… plant, harvest, consume.

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These killer habanero chillies are more potent than any killer tomatoes…

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A Sudden Burst

8 Jun

I have forgotten what it is like to carve balsa having worked on Meranti so much last month. Last night I pushed myself to go back to my Citizens on balsa instead of Meranti Gnomes. And my goodness! It’s so effortless.

So much so, the sudden burst resulted in four new Citizens – one in the morning before going to work and three in the evening after dinner. Yay. Maybe I should stop the Gnomes series for the time being and just focus on Citizens of Gigglesville. After all, their population count remained stagnant at 132 since Apr 24th.

Honestly, working with Meranti wood has aggravated the tennis elbow again. Not a good sign especially if I want to go back to playing golf. I shouldn’t allow this to flare up and if I want to also continue carving I should stick to balsa, a much softer wood. This may be the best balance to have the best of both activities.

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Unfinished and ugly for now but that’s the process

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Identity Crisis

7 Jun

Now that my Gandalf-looking Gnome is painted up, I feel it has an identity crisis! When it was all white with the gesso base, it looked like Gandalf. Now with the lavender shade, it’s looking more like a Wizard.

I was at a crossroad on the color choice. Believe me, it wasn’t easy and I even debated with M2 and hubby on the matter. In the end, I picked lavender.

While it’s a gnome and lives in Gnomie-wood, I felt it shouldn’t don the red cap and blue outfit because it’s of a different shape from the rest. And if it’s all red, it may end up looking like Santa. God forbid if it’s all green, it will look like a leprechaun!

The signature feature of my gnome series with the cone cap covering the face and eyes, and just the nose sticking out maintains the gnome allure despite the color difference.

I guess a variation is good for the gnomes of Gnomie-wood, just like the Citizens of Gigglesville with the many different species either still living in Gigglesville or have migrated to spread love and giggles.

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The Shoe Queen Strikes Again

5 Jun

Guess what? It looks like the Shoe Queen has struck again! It was only in February when I bought a new pair of Footjoy golf shoes and exactly four months later, on June 1st, I bought my umpteenth pair of golf shoes. Honestly, I have lost count but there’s a reason behind this newest purchase.

Lately, it has been raining more often than I can remember for around this time of the year. Despite such weather conditions, I have gone back to playing golf. And sadly, my shoes are a disappointment. They don’t hold up well as claimed and neither do they dry on time before the next game.

The Footjoy has held up only slightly better than both the Adidas pairs. Water still seeps in but toes are not as pruned. The same cannot be said for both the Adidas spike and spikeless pairs. They have failed me with water seeping in midway through the games. By the end of 18-holes each time, I’d end up with soaked socks and pruned toes. Not a nice feeling. Ugh.

Then again, it has been raining cats and dogs every single day and any waterproof shoes would not be able to withstand the soggy conditions on the golf course. I don’t even bother to wear the canvas Skechers golf shoes because I know they would be totally done in.

So I hope this new pair, a Nike this time – waterproof, leather and semi-spiked, will fare better under those extreme soggy conditions. We will find out when I wear it for my next game.

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Gandalf?

4 Jun

Appalled at the realization that the month of May yielded so little carvings, I stayed away from reading the news and carved up a storm two nights before the weekend came about. And thank goodness for the light breeze of both evenings, it was the perfect setting to start on a new piece. I worked on it like a person possessed.

Within two nights, Gnome #12 came around. This time, this fella is really different from the rest. Extremely different in fact. By the end of the weekend, my new carving looks more like a Gandalf than a Gnome of Gnomie-wood! Hahaha… what have I created?

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Big debate on what color should this fella be. Any suggestions?

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Moving Slowly, Part 2

1 Jun

Gnome #11 of Gnomie-wood took almost two weeks to complete. Firstly, it’s a big fella, secondly all that time when I should be working on it was diverted to reading the news instead. Oh well, better to move slowly than not at all.

At seven and three quarters inch, Gnome #11 is by far the tallest now, surpassing Gnome #9 by 3/4 of an inch.

I hope to complete Gnome #11 by the weekend (adding the gloss varnish) and most likely push myself to start on another piece.

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The process of carving a Gnome

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With a gloss still to add on, Gnome #11 is almost done!

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Moving Slowly

31 May

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…

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Green Fingers Red Chillies, Part 2

29 May

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.

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Green Fingers, Red Chillies

28 May

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.

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Looking like little Christmas ornaments!

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When they were still green…

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