Helen Plus Three

Joy, hope and wonder A blessed Christmas and a peaceful and fruitful New Year to all .

Isn't this just gorgeous... at my balcony window... sometimes the only thing to do is sit and admire God's creation and let him take care of you.

Making that list already and getting down to making Xmas cards... Reindeer and Santa on the inside....the Xmas paper is lovely.. a month away.... .. time for the Christmas tree to come out...

A thanksgiving trip.  And some shopping of course...with enjoyable dining along the way ... A theme park within a mall, a roller coaster within the mall above the 7th storey....  and for the first time despite my numerous trips into Malaysia, I am seeing parts of KL. National Monuments The Sultan's new Palace   :)  .. slow with my camera.. ..

Jogging or cycling has never been more rewarding. I recently decided it's time to begin to rebuild fitness and stamina in a moderate way.Nothing ambitious really, something like 30min to an hour either brisk walking or cycling. About 10 min away from the house, we are able to get on the park connector to Punggol End. There's a lovely track, along the river and currently very peaceful surroundings. Still trying to get the name of the river .. either Serangoon, Sengkang or Punggol ..not sure. It's less stressful than having to jog alongside traffic on the pavements amid the noise whilst keeping one ear and eye out for caution sake, not to mention the carbon monoxide. It's about 7km of track, but 2km + t the Sengkang Riverside Park.. that's as far as I got . I'm aiming to go further and back of course. It's been a month and a half, sigh.. I have not shed any pounds ..I don't think. Keeping at it.

Bought a couple of books on houseplants from Amazon, can't wait for them to arrive. Been busy with kids' stuff, time to get back to my blogging, my reading ...and my scrapbooking... but first my gardening... Lipstick. surviving and flowering after a break... These hang outside my home where some of the morning sun can catch them. This variety of money plant (pothos) is doing well but the Song of India sitting just behind it as wilted away rapidly recently.  The green non-flowering plants are surviving better. But there are elements of the humidity and wind factor that have a sad impact on my houseplants. Mostly a whole plant can go from healthy to sudden decline very fast and there's nothing I can seem to do to slow or stop it from dying eventually.

I needed to make a card for a farewell. I didn't have stamps that actually said bon voyage, so I made it up.. as in 'leaving the coop ' with my birdie stamp... of course  I had some help from my sizzix Big Shot dies.   Then came the guy card, which I say is really challenging when you don't have those real  'macho' design stamps (if stamps can be macho !!) so IMPROVISE.. this are 2x2 embossing dies which I then punched out using my circle punch....  ..a little fun, colour .. it's for a 13 year old.. so it'll do.. I decided to leave off the leaves... . ...

It's irritating to get pushed and nagged into signing for packages. You just want to relax after your hair styling or after a manicure or a massage instead you get stressed at the end of it. I'm not sure if it's done in the US and other places but here in Singapore this happens very often almost everywhere. Thank goodness they haven't started doing it at McDonalds. Unfortunately we're women.. we need more accessories, we need more beauty and skincare services and such to keep us going..... and take away the blues  or we could live like drabs! I understand it's business, there's savings for you... but there is a limit. If I have already committed something to the establishment, then leave me in peace to complete it at least and then start the sales push. Sometimes you just want to indulge ONCE...but you get weary knowing what's waiting at the end of the session. But now, before I can even get to the last round, you've got 3-4 more vis

It's tough to make non-girlie looking cards for the guys.. I think I need to stock up on some suitable like stamps or I'll end up with the same few ... This was what I made for Dad using my Hero Arts owl and Sizzix Flip its.. The embossed words are from "Just Because Phrases Embossing Folder Borders from Darice ' '

Everyday, I can't help but fiddle with a leaf or two or three...  Watching nature is not supposed to be stressful but sometimes I find myself wishing they would grow faster !!! .. ..oh well... I'll learn to switch to nature's time soon. My jasmine plant  (either the Arabian or Indian variety) is finally blooming. After trimming and moving it to the morning sun area.. ..I'm doing the happy dance cos it means I'm doing something right.  If you read my previous post you'll know there's a lot of adjustment given wind, sun, facing, heat and space. Jasmine  Kind of small, I hope you can see the buds. ...Jasmine flower pix here.. Added two more sweet flowering plants to the collection..While they are termed 'wild' by some, I don't have wide open spaces so they are not going to be able to grow wild, I'll be happy if they grow and continue to flower in whatever space they are.  I may try a trough if they work out ... For now I

Call it birthday blues.., I started to think about maturing. I don’t feel mature or old for my age. Of course you are only as old as you feel.  And anyway you are only old if you are 70 and above these days. (sorry dad don’t take offence if you read this). I have to act it because of the kids but inside I don’t always feel 'adult', except when the bones and joints remind me otherwise. Feels more like a cloak of responsibility not so much as my skin. I wear it more often than I would like to, it comes with duty and having kids. So what does that mean Dr Freud,...  perhaps I didn’t sufficiently experience my immaturity in the immature phase of life and therefore long for it. !!! I do have the urge to stick my tongue out at persons who seem lame and annoyingly ‘dumb’ , I have the urge to eat fries for lunch out of the blue or gobble down a pack of M&Ms and at times I dream about dropping the cares and worries and dropping out of the rat race to enjoy doing nothi

I finished reading Kate Morton's 'Secret Keeper' a while back and then I thought I should not have started reading it at the time I did. Certain types of writing require more restfulness than others to be able to enjoy all of the book. The story that unfolds is the type that one should read in the right frame of mind - when you are less harried by other pressing stuff of daily routines.  I find myself going over many parts of the book again at different times. The story was intriguing, so much so that I wanted to know how it ended instead of also enjoying( reflecting on)  the prose and the many sentiments of life as was depicted of the young and old. The story essentially spans almost 70 years from the war to recent 2011.  I wanted to share one of the parts that had me reflecting. A passage that gave me pause was about the sick, aging mother, and the daughter's(Laurel) thoughts about why her mother did not feel  surprise...."Her mother didn't ask why, an

I can't help it, it's forced on me literally. These loud conversations are distractions when all I want to do is read my book When I take public transport whether it's the bus or the MRT somebody is always on their phone not too far (worse next to) from me,  and doling out their problems or lifestory or gossip and NOT in a SOFT TONE. If'it's packed you cannot move away. I think these people don't care who hears them. The worse one I remember was one I could not understand throughout my entire 1/2 hour journey. She spoke in really harsh Chinese dialect, I couldn't tell if she was angry or scolding someone or it was just the way of the language she used ! You can imagine my ears were ringing when I got off and continued to do so for some time. Another conversation I recall was a mother (I presume) complaining about going home to cook for a son who was fussy, doesn't want to eat and always complaining about whatever was put before him. In my mind I