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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A New Test Piece

12 Apr

When I was recuperating at home last week, the itch to carve got the better of me. As I couldn’t push myself to read and painting up the little Citizens and Baby Whale was very quick, I started carving on Friday when I felt I was strong enough to handle my tools.

This piece is another test piece and took three days to complete. A little different from my other original pieces, this is a copied character. I borrowed M2’s plushie, Apeach, a Kakao Friends Muzi series character and thought that it would be a good challenge test piece.

I wanted to see if I can emulate an existing 3D character with my carving ability. From an initial 2D outline on the wood to carving the real thing into a shapely 3D character, it’s not as easy as I thought! A lot of visualising and planning despite having the plushie in front of me.

I take heart that I was able to shape the body and carve away as much wood as possible without breaking any limbs. Unlike Dinky the Dinosaur who had chopstick limbs added on, Apeach has its limbs intact. Although there were some kinks and unevenness, the wood filler was able to fix these.

I am pleased with my effort.

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Readjusting the Diet

10 Apr

Now that my health problems have been resolved, I don’t see a need to avoid a whole list of food as I had been doing earlier. Although I have lost 4kgs/8.8lbs up until today, I like the way I feel and weigh now. So when readjusting the diet, I hope I won’t be putting back the pounds again.

Last week, while recuperating at home, I reintroduced hot chocolate and wheat cereal and it was okay but I somehow stayed away from coffee, I don’t know why. Maybe because I have gotten used to drinking the decaf Earl Grey which is nice.

Although the Endometriosis diagnose was mild, I shouldn’t totally avoid but just consume in moderation in case there could still be some reaction to certain food. I am still a little paranoid and should learn to get rid of this; life should be meaningful and goes on smoothly.

Hmm… Maybe I can go back to eating onions again? Or have a nice cold beer? That will be so nice!

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Staying Home

9 Apr

For the first time in a very long time, I didn’t go into the office the whole of last week and just stayed home to recuperate. The laparoscopy was successful in diagnosing and resolving the Cyst, Endometriosis and Adhesions issues.

I must admit it was nice for a change to be home the first two days, doing nothing and enjoying the peace (official pet number one was very quiet), napping, resting and focusing on gaining my strength.

By the third day, I contemplated reading the Genghis Khan novel that’s been collecting dust but just can’t seem to push myself to do it. So I ended up painting some Citizens of Gigglesville and a new baby whale that were waiting to be completed. It was good quality me time.

I am back at work today.

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