Polly the Terrarium Terror

Pushy and I are on another terrarium mission for Christmas. This time we're working on a gift project for a grown-up and therefore do glass encased ones and also experiment with different plant varieties.

My first idea was to work on an orchid terrarium. But it's a more difficult plant to care for than the last ones we had and I was very afraid it would wilt away, so I suggested to get a backup plant. Pushy saw that the African Violet came in a lovely shade of white with blue edges and therefore we made that our backup plant.

At home, I began repotting the orchid and saw that I made a grave mistake. In selecting our orchid we chose a vanda with the smallest flowers. However I made no mental note of the height of the spikes and ended up with an orchid taller than it's container. Amateur! 

I ended up having to pick out the shorter spikes and split the plant into 2 categories - shorter and taller. Taller ones went back into its original pot, shorter ones were shoved into a cleaned out mineral water base which I cut out, together with some dried spagheum moss and charcoal bits.

The entire bottle base with the shorter spikes were still too tall for its intended container, so I went to Youtube and looked up how to trim orchid stems. Finally I ended up with an orchid plant with no flowering spikes, only leaves. It doesn't seem like an exciting Christmas gift, so I think Pushy will be keeping it for his own and while waiting for the new flowering spikes to grow out.

Having disappointed myself with a poorly thought out orchid terrarium, it took me another couple of days to gather courage and make a second attempt with the backup plant - our sweet little African violet.

I went home, whipped out the paraphernalia and began filling out the second jar with charcoal, moss and coloured beads.I eased out the African violet from it's original pot and tried to stuff the soil and roots to for the next layer. Height-wise the plant was appropriate for the new jar, but lo and behold, the width was way too much. Another amateur mistake. 

Very unfortunately, the jar was tall and it was a chore to extract the plant out to  downsize it. Numerous of the its delicate leaves broke in halves and some in entirety. After peeling away all the broken leaves, I got myself a nice size of the plant to fit into the jar. Finally.. something worked!

Now the African violet fits snugly in the jar, but it looks dirty with bits of soil stuck to the top and bottom side of its leaves. I'm still working out a safe way to clean away the soil without breaking more leaves. 

Poor plants. I feel so apologetic to them. Now I will have to monitor their colour and poise to make sure they recover from my unintended mutilation. 

No, my thumbs are not green and I suck at gardening!

Can they survive the Terrarium Terror?

♥

Cosy December Dreams..

December will be magic again.
It's time to update my ringtone with that evergreen by Kate Bush. I would be quite surprised if I met someone else having the same ringtone.

Have had some minor shuffles in my work environment and I'm having mixed feelings. Yet I'm hopeful that I'd get what I want in this new space!

Feeling hopeful, I've gathered motivation to get back in line with my fitness routine.  If only I hadn't busted my ankle from the over-zealousness. I'm thinking I should get it checked, together with my ever aching intercostal muscle, and that sharp pain in my molar.

It's time to give myself a little bit more attention and R&R.

Have a good December dream my cyber folks.

❤

Fabric Fanatic

Oh dear. I have an incurable insane obsession with silk fabric.

<3

Paws-to-Ponder: Don't Obsess, If You Digress Don't Stress!

It's one thing to be engrossed in something. 
It's another thing when you are obsessed.

Personally I experience weird fluctuations in energy levels and concentration. My energy levels tend to vary daily. On Mondays I'm usually in tip-top form and can do lots of things, no matter whether work or non-work related. On Tuesdays I'll feel really tired through the day so at night I'll fall asleep quickly and get a rested sleep. On Wednesdays being well rested, my energy is up again and I can do lots of things. The cycle goes on until the week-end when I get more time to rest so my body resets.

With all these weird symptoms going on with my body, I have learnt that I have a preference for doing different categories of work on different days. For instance challenging issues to be dealt with on Monday, and on Tuesday I do routine work that doesn't require that much creativity.

Also through the day my energy level changes. Lots of studies have been done on this. Energy changes during the day can be caused by caffeine or blood-sugar crashes accompanied with prolonged sitting and not getting your behind moving. 

This is a little harder for me but I'm consciously making efforts to move my hiney every half to one hour. Getting a drink, standing around to gossip, bathroom break.. tiny little breaks help. 

I also switch around the tasks when I want to 'reward' myself for tackling something difficult. For instance when I investigate an issue I make a few mental notes on the steps I would take. Where the task is tedious, I let myself take a break from it after a certain milestone, and flick out my Outlook to look through the new emails. Then I go back to the tedious task part deux.

These are all the little things I find helpful in dealing with my daily grind which I think may already seem like common sense to you. I hope I have planted a reminder in your head and mine, that it's ok to give yourself a break if you really need one. Don't get obsessed with fixing the next break, investigating the next issue until your bladder's gonna burst or your eyes glaze over from staring so hard at the computer monitor and begin to see stars.

Ultimately it's about understanding yourself and how you work best. So how can you be efficient and effective?
♥

Once Upon a.. Getting my Brain Fried

"There is good in you. I can see it."

"Rumpelstiltskin!"

"I will get my son. And I will have vengeance."

I think I have been getting an overdose of Once Upon A Time.

So sleepy.. yet so addicted.

And I'll sleep happily ever after this brog entry for the next 7 hours.

♥

New Year is Coming...

Egad.

Just 2 months to go!

Pulse check.
In this year.. Have you been Naughty or Nice?
♥

Paws-to-Ponder: Be Useful, Be Yourself

My Dream is not to win against anybody.
I only want to be a Useful Person.

These are the words I have always believed, but sometimes lose sight of.

I will live by my beliefs, day on day, year on year. And I'll be most happy doing so.

Be happy today too, my cyber peers.
<3

Cheesecake had a Bad Day

"Alone I face this world of dangers. 
No one to trust, every face a stranger's.

The demon who hovers above wants me for his meal. 
I attempt escape and subsequently keel.

Now at the edge of my world I have arrived to meet. 
The Great Baker in the sky I will eventually greet."

-- Last words from Cheesecake, left sitting exposed to Jimmy Johnny the Fly.
♥

Doggie-bag It: Rather Lovin' OCBC iBanking

I've been playing with my OCBC ibbanking page today. Being a girl who's really bad with managing my dollars and cents, the features on the ibanking portal are really helpful for me.

No doubt about it, OCBC's ibanking portal has the best 'human touch' to it. This is in comparison with previous ibanking accounts that I held with DBS and UOB. 

I don't get paid for this article.

All the regular features (fund transfer, bill payment, account opening) aside, my favourite feature would be the one on Goal Setting. You start by categorizing your goal, naming it and defining the amount required, then you go into details like whether you have a deadline for it. If you do, then the system calculates your minimum required savings per month to your cause. If you don't, you can play around with the amount of savings you can actually afford and the system derives the date that you will meet your goal.

Personally I've always had a few goals that I know I need to save up for. But because I'm not the disciplined sort, I tend to set aside whatevers I have remaining at the end of the pay-cycle month as general savings, and then I lose sight of how the individual causes should be carved out from this sum.

With OCBC's Goal Setting feature I've now added my individual goals as pockets of funds on to my homepage. I've set rules to direct my monthly pay to the different pockets so no goal gets forgotten. 

Also when I login to my homepage I get to see my total pool of money, split by savings that I carved out against my free cash. This is a very good summary because I can easily know my splurge limits. It is also helpful that credit card transactions that I've chalked up on my OCBC cards are displayed on the same page so I can monitor in case of over-spend.

All in all, you can tell that OCBC had put a lot of thought into making their ibanking portal useful and user friendly, all in the customer's perspective. With the relevant information displayed upfront, it makes people reminded of their saving and spending habits. 

I think the portal worked for me. That's why it deserves a shoutout!
For those out there (like me) who are bad at managing your money, you can probably give OCBC a go. :)
♥

Very Pensive

An emotional stirrup from reading recent social news. 

As I am resting here in my air-con room on my comfy bed and soaking up the relief, there are others on this same land living day-to-day without hope for tomorrow. Bad living conditions, no dignity, no skills and energy to make things better.

Not knowing what to do today, not knowing if tomorrow will be any different. Everyday sitting and watching the lifeless walls. Watching the sun rise up and go down again. 
"What can I do? Nothing I do even matters anymore."

Life without hope, without love, is really not a life at all.
Having no passion to live, whiling away today and tomorrow, is a dreadful waste of life.

I wish everyone could see that there is always hope, there is always something you can do.
Life is so precious, we must make it worthwhile.
Be strong, get a grip, and hang in there!

How can I save the world? How can I make myself useful?
Time to reflect.

♥

Achievement.. (cough) Unlocked!

"The pain in Sprain stays mainly in the strain."

Ow I think I sprained my rib from all that incessant coughing.
Cooties.. They're still here!

♥

Paws-to-Ponder: Remember to Love Yourself

Remember to love yourself.
Because there is only one of You.

Don't be so hard on yourself.
It's never easy being You.

All the money in the world
Couldn't buy You.

♥

I've Got The Cooties

I had cooties and I didn't even know it..
But now I do. Sigh.

An itchy cough, a sore throat, a stuffed up nostril, an achy shoulder and tonnes of phhhhlegm. Not sure why but I think my phlegm tastes like flesh from a durian fruit. Did I disgust you? Sorry. But it does...

I share a room and my roomie swears by air-conditioning. For me in my current state, air-con is a torture. My other nostril gets dried out and hurts. My throat gets irritated with the cold, dry air and itches and then I cough. And my throat gets more injured and more itchy and I cough more. On days like this, I really wish I had my own room.

The environment's not letting me have it easy too. The #Sghaze is back. Smoke-filled air floating across the Singapore Strait shared by our kind neighbours in Sumatra.

My cooties' back. And this time with powerful friends. All ready to kick my ass.

♥

A fulfilling weekend

A fulfilling weekend.
Worked through cough and cold. 
Persistence paid off. 
New creations, affirmations.
Rested, recovered.
It was fun, fun, fun. =)

Loving Life.
♥

Ang Bao Box Adventures

I've been spending some of my spare time on crafting an all new ang bao box for one of my besties who's getting hitched. I've done another one earlier this year for Hooch and feel its kinda addictive for me. It's really an exciting thing to participate in the wedding prep work for someone close to you.

These are the 2 designs I've completed in the year. 

This one lights up from its tiny windows!

Because Love grows..

Are they any good? Would you buy them? Please Poll for Polly!

Would you pay real money for my ang bao boxes?

In the meantime.. I'm wishing there are more sweethearts within my social circle who can quickly tie the knot, so I can have more projects to practise on. Alas, none others.. yet!

♥

Home is a Good Feeling

My humble home, my shabby abode.
I sometimes feel overwhelmed with your cluttered spaces. 
It doesn't deter me from returning to you.
I love you and the neighbourhood which you sit in.
Every family around here seems to purposefully placed.
So comfortably living and making a living.
Enjoying the park and public facilities.
I feel relaxed when I see you.
You hold all my good and bad memories.
I am protected when I live and breathe within you.
It is here that my favourite people congregate at the end of every harsh day,
Every delightful day, and every uneventful day.
In here I rest and recover, grow up and learn to be me.
I am thankful for this home.
My humble home, I will always cherish you.
I wish you will always be here for me.

♥ 

The Defiant Night Guy

Jerry's got THAT right.

The defiant Night guy over here is really exhausted right now, but is refusing to give up on scanning the last 2 pages of Poppadum's crafty posters. Night guy has been Poppadum's secretary over the last 3 days, digitizing all his artwork from hardcopies. 

How does Poppadum churn out these masterpieces at such a super-human pace?
...........Is what Night guy needs to know.

Now there are just 2 sheets to go... And the rebellious dual purpose HP scanner decided to go on strike so Night guy had to go reset it. Night guy is scanning the pages of artwork in high resos and therefore it takes gazillion minutes to do a single scanned sheet.

Night guy is a little cranky right now... Morning guy is SCREWED by Night guy.. Once again.

♥

Doggie-bag It: Passiton.Org.Sg

I think the disposal of something, or indeed anything, is an important consideration. It is a topic that most people neglect. 

Disposal of everyday items that are produced as a by-product of frequent consumption is a real waste of resources. Things like extra plastic bags, plastic drink bottles, disposable food packaging, advertisement leaflets or brochures are just examples of how we produce a lot of waste that, to a large extent, can be avoided. 

Disposal of larger household items is equally bad. In Singapore unwanted household objects are often left at lift lobbies or at the ground floor of high rise apartments. It gets in the way and is unsightly. Although there are proper avenues to dispose household items, people simply cannot be bothered to bring their items to the rubbish dump facilities. This is really a deep-rooted behavioral problem. 

Conscious of the issue of proper disposal, I've been searching for a way to meaningfully dispose of my spare mattress which I've used over the last 10 years because I got myself a new one from Maliland that helps me with my bad back. I thought perhaps I could do donation or I could break it down into parts that could be upcycled, recycled or reused. 

What showed up was an interesting online donation portal known as Pass It On.org.

How-tos:
To donate an item, simply fill out a form with your contact details and pictures with a description of your item. Your item will then be listed on the database of donated objects. Representatives of local registered Voluntary Welfare Organisations can login to the portal and search the database for suitable objects needed by families whom they look after. Where there is a suitable match, the VWO Reps will then contact you to confirm item availability and subsequently arrange for pick-up.

To date I've listed my mattress and a spare table-top fan on the portal, and already managed to rehouse my fan with a new family. My fan is now being put to good use instead of sitting lonesomely in a corner of my storage room collecting dust. My mattress doesn't appear to be popular but I will still keep it listed for a few weeks before I go on to Plan B.

If you guys out there need a meaningful way to de-clutter your living space, do give the portal a go. If your items are still in working and reasonably clean condition, there should be no reason to let them go to waste in the rubbish dump!

And you will also receive a personal thank you note for your kind donation!

♥

Me Need Workstation. Need Bad!

I am, rather frequently, an impulsive animal. I mentioned previously I have a multitude of hobbies. Well I am the Jane-of-All-Trades and Mistress-of-None. I still go back to each one of them from time to time and each of my hobbies have begun vying for space to be present at my makeshift work table so I can pick them up and continue working on them from where I last took off. 

De-clutter, de-clutter, de-cluttttter!

Scene from my make shift work table from my last major project. It's an old mahjong table! Huat ah..

I am wistfully wishing for a new work table. Wouldn't mind this baby from Ikea.

Love the idea that this work station can be closed up to keep out the dust. For craft work however, this table may be a little narrow so I'm still browsing. Still it doesn't resolve the issue of my cluttered-ness. I wonder if there really is a cure?

In the meantime, the mahjong table and my bedroom floor are my best resources. Can you tell I'm bravely defying the thought of procrastinating creative work through the excuse of having no proper work table?

Here's an example of how I am scanning Poppadum's craft work for administrative purposes. He's recently into lettering and borders. Isn't it neat?

♥

Paws-to-Ponder: Living without Regrets

This is the youngest that you would ever be for the rest of your life.

Recently there had been several of my friends and co-workers having new babies. New life is so naturally exciting and full of promises. Congratoos the new mommies and daddies. Special mention going out to Shinn, my fro-worker (friend and co-worker) who's always living life to the max - Little Janie is just so perfect. Well done ol' gal, well done.

And on TV this weekend, I sat through the entire National Day Parade. It was Singapore's 'birthday', or so they call it. Personally I feel it was just a waste of a sh*tload of taxpayers' money in doing the event. Since my teenage years I found the event highly repetitive, cheesy, and really boring. The only part that interests me was the first hour of the show when we see families, young and old, gathered at the stands to watch the parachute performance, and up till the part where the contingents march in. Everything from the inspection procedure and onwards is just crap. Instead of all this, we should just make the 'Parade' into some sort of a 'Remembrance Day', to give thanks to our pioneers. A wholehearted show of respect would be most appropriate. And then save the rest of the money that is spent on setup and costumes, and use it on more meaningful ways.

On TV the nation saw a very old Lee Kuan Yew. I saw a very old man. What exactly went on in his mind when the people in silly costumes sang and dance in front of him? Have people become so frivolous since the last he remembered? This man has devoted his life to the nation. Did he think he did a good job? Does he wish there was more he could have done? Maybe constituted a law to banish those dreadful costumes from National Day celebrations? Hero or zero, I would give him a pat on the back for his effort and wish he could stay around to celebrate Singapore's 50th National Day.

The thing I've noted for myself is that some day I am going to be old like him. What are the things I want to do between now and then? What are the things which I tell myself now that I'm way too old to attempt? There are so many, so I'd better get started. Better now than later. Better now than regret.

If I want to learn a new skill, it better be now.
If I need to keep fit, I'd have to start now.
Because now will soon be 50 years later.

♥