How to make a lavender wand

Spring 2014. Lavender flowers are bursting into bloom in my garden. What a shame to let them just die off on the stalk. I wish I could dry them to make some lavender powder for my cakes, but I read that you have to use the sweet lavenders for that. The varietal I have is the French or Spanish lavender unfortunately. But they do have a nice smell so here's what you can make - Lavender Wands.

Lavender wands can be used as potpurri for your wardrobe or your room. They look so pretty as a display too. 

Materials:

- 11-15 stalks of fresh lavenders, leaves removed

- rubber band

- 1cm wide satin ribbon

Method:

Step 1: Tie the bunch of lavender flowers together with a rubber band. You have to have an odd number of lavender with as long a stalk as possible. Secure one end of the ribbon under the rubber band.

Step 2: Turn the bouquet the other way so you are holding the flowers in your hand. Fold one stalk down over the flowers and bring the ribbon over the stalk. Fold another stalk down and this time bring the ribbon under it. Repeat with the next stalk with the ribbon over it. 

Step 3: Continue weaving the ribbon over and under the stalks alternatively. Wrap the ribbon as tight as you can around the stalks because as the lavender dries, it can shrink in volume.

Step 4: When you reach the end, tighten the ribbon around and cut it off. Tie a short ribbon around the base.

Bereavement

Thursday 27 March, noon. I received a What's App message from my brother-in-law in Singapore asking me to call him urgently. I was about to leave the house for a lunch appointment but something important must have happened for this kind of messages to arrive. Before the phone could dial through, the text came from sister first on the messaging system that my father has passed away suddenly that morning. 

I sat down on the floor, shocked and in disbelief, paralysed with confusion. He had just returned to Singapore after a 3-month stay with us in Australia. It was barely 3 weeks ago that I had just seen him. My last hug to him at our door as I bade him farewell as he headed off to the airport was still fresh in my memory. What happened? Why?

Details were not very clear as it had happened in Genting Highlands, Malaysia and only my poor mother and an aunt was with him there. I desperately tried to contact my mother and managed to get her through my aunt's phone. She wasn't in a good state and I can only imagine how chaotic and distressing the situation was for her.

The worst thing is, there was nothing much we can do to help her here in Australia. The only thing I could do, after all the sobbing, was to organise our flight back to Singapore urgently, which was a separate story of prayers, blessings and miracles from God. I thank Him for the many favours we found with the authorities and friends, which enabled us to get onto a flight within 48 hours. We arrived at the wake in Singapore shortly after my father's coffin arrived.

The next three days were a continuous flow of ceremonial duties and entertaining mourners. We met up and reunited with many friends and relatives during the wake, many of them I had not seen for many years. I was really happy to see them again although I wished it was under better circumstances. In between, I sneaked quiet moments to gaze and remember my father, who was such a gentle and kind man to the day he departed.

Writing this post brings back sad memories and tears to my eyes. I wished it didn't happen and sometimes I don't even want to talk about it. But denial is not going to turn back time and I do want to document this significant event in my life, for myself and for my children and for the people who cared to remember my father.

My father was a quiet and gentle soul, who never raised his voice and seldom gets angry. He is always calm, to the point of indifferent, but I know he has feelings which he did not show. He doesn't talk much and he's never imposing but surprisingly, now that he's gone, his presence is greatly missed. I realised now that these are his qualities of wisdom and kindness. Yes, he has his shortcomings, but he was a good man. The saddest part is realising you want to get to know him better only after he's dead. There will always be a part of me which regrets not spending more time with him and showing more concern. I was glad however, that he managed to spend the last 3 months with my family in Melbourne. I hope he was as well. In a way, God was graceful to allow our family to celebrate with him for once in many years Christmas, Chinese New Year and his birthday. It was the most boring Chinese New Year for him, but for his birthday, I made him a most beautiful cake, decorated with homemade macarons and handmade sugar cherry blossoms for his 70th birthday. These has become precious final memories of his time with us.

His health was deteriorating and he was frailer than before. But still, no one expected him to go so suddenly. There was no time to say our goodbyes. We are still coping with the loss, especially my mother, who has lived 42 years of her life with him. Nevertheless, despite the tragedy, there were many things in the unfortunate situation we could count our blessings for. We would like to thank all our relatives and friends, who have show your support, personally/remotely, physically/emotionally and spiritually/financially, during this period of bereavement. Thank you for your prayers and concern. We are comforted and blessed by you. God bless you all. 

Creamy Strawberry & Peach Smoothie

This is my boys' favourite smoothie. It's really simple and pretty filling....a very good snack after school or as a dessert even :) Fresh is best, but if you can't, using frozen berries or canned peaches.

Ingredients:

• 1 whole fresh peach, pit removed, cut into wedges (I left the skin on).
• 12-15 fresh strawberries, leaves removed.
• A dollop of cream
• A dash of milk (if you want it more creamy, omit this)
• 2-3 ice cubes

 Method:

• Chop everything up and throw it into the blender.
• Add the ice, milk and cream.
• Blend until smooth!
• Enjoy!

Makes 2 glasses.

Smoothie Mom

This term "Smoothie Mom" was coined by KK today. Aptly. For this was what I have been doing for them every afternoon this week for after-school snack - SMOOTHIES!

Of course, at the same time, I'll make a cup for myself too. Hmmm....the smooth, creamy & fruity blend just feels so good sliding down your throat. Not to mention it's very filling and nutritious too. 

It's really easy to make and I have fun mixing up different flavours using different fruits, both canned and fresh.

The basic ingredients are: yoghurt (plain or vanilla flavour), ice cubes and some milk.
Add whatever fruits you fancy and blend! I've tried mixing different combinations of bananas, raspberries, peaches, passionfruit and chocolate. All taste good. I'm going to blend in some canned beetroot tomorrow....can't wait :)

To Market To Market

One month ago, I accidentally ventured into the world of business. A friend of mine from China imported a batch of polar fleece bed linen and asked if I could help her to sell them. I will get a small percentage of commission on every item sold. 

I have been making cake orders on a part-time basis since last year. People come to me to ask me to make their cakes. I don't push my cakes to them. They ask, I give them a price, deal or no deal. Simple. But but this is different. This is direct selling, SALES!! Something I dread terribly and decided since very long ago never to make this my career. So why I said yes to her that fateful day at the children's playground, I have no idea. Anyway, I reckoned there will be no harm trying since I have some time to myself everyday after the kids go to school.

Besides starting an online web page and promoting it to all of my friends in Melbourne, I decided to also participate in "market day" stalls. In Melbourne it seems, weekend markets are very popular shopping destinations. Some markets are permanently open every weekend while others pop up regularly here and there. Anybody can rent a stall and sell basically anything, old, new, used or handmade. I have been to a few but am not a fan of them actually, especially those that charge an entry fee. Nevertheless, these markets are great opportunities for people who don't want to invest in a long term lease or to get rid of old stuff and earn a few extra bucks on the weekends. For me, it was an opportunity to test the market and gauge the response to the products which I'm considering merchandising.

This first market I participated in was in a church. I thought it was a good start as the rental fee was not very high but I later realised that the timing of the market was only 4 hours (8am till 12 noon), compared to others which end at 3pm. On the day of the market, the weather forecast was gloomy - rain, rain and more rain, from morning till evening. Even though I was indoors, I had no doubt many people would not bother to wake up in the morning, in this kind of weather, to attend a flea market.

We all woke up at 6.30am that Saturday, husband and kids as well, to load the car and make our way to set up stall. It was kind of exciting, although carrying almost 50 bags of fleece blankets up and down the car was not very fun. This aspect of business, the delivery, logistics and set up, is something customers don't see. What we see are nicely displayed items, positioned strategically to catch our eyes and make us pause to admire. Have we wondered how much time and effort has gone into packing, unpacking and bringing those items there?

The stall got off to a jittery start when the organisers could not find my booking and did not allocate me a space. Last minute, they tried to find a suitable corner for me, which was not ideal as all the good positions in the main hall were taken up. Another lesson in business: Location, location, location. Certain positions have got no traffic or no visibility. In the end, I managed to take over a table that was no-show in the main hall, that was not in some obsure corner, so we settled happily.

The 4 hours sales window passed quickly. Some people came, looked and walked away. Others came to say some nice things about your stuff, but did not end up in any sales. A few of my friends turned up and most of them bought something from me. Thanks to them for their supoort :) Some items which I thought would sell fast did not move. Others did alright despite the poor turnout of the crowd. I was surprised, disappointed, bored and thankful all at the same time.

In the end, I made enough to cover my expense for the day though not enough to cover our wages of all our man hours combined. But I gained a whole lot of insight into market days, not to mention a few new friends (neighbour stall owners). It was also a good opportunity to teach a life lesson on earning a living for my son. 

KK was complaining how little we made after a 'whole day', which was really only 4 hours. We explained to him that this is how difficult it is to earn money. I believed my 10 yr old is under this impression that when he grows up, money will be automatically deposited every 2 weeks into his bank account, like his father. He did not see what his dad had to do and how he did it everyday to earn those money. But he saw how we took out all our fleece blankets from its bag and then put most of them back again at the end of the day. I hope he realised sometimes people can spend 4 hours or more outside and earn not a dollar. If after that day he learnt not to spend his money so thoughtlessly because it is not easily earned, than that would be the biggest profit of my market stall.
  

40th Birthday Message

Dear Family & Friends,

This year I will turn 40. When I was a kid, I never visualised myself beyond the 30s. That’s as far as it goes for all the exciting things to happen. Your education, romances, beauty, career, marriage and babies all happened within these first 30 odd years. What happens beyond this point, I’ve never really thought about it. My impression is things start to go either plateau or downhill from here.

By 40, the number of your children is more or less fixed. Your career, if you still have one, will be stable and it is likely the one you will have to stick with for the rest of your life. The only think you look forward to growing is your bank account and children. Hopefully your waistline does not follow the trend...;p Is this what life after 40 is all about? I really don’t know. If we are lucky, we’ll probably have another 40 more years on this earth. What do we do with it?

Currently as a housewife, I have not much care or worries beyond what is the next meal to cook and my children’s welfare. The working people would say that we are lucky, we can stay at home and “do nothing”. Yes, many a times, when I looked at the morning peak hour traffic, I thank God that I don’t have to beat that to report to work. But other days, I wondered how I should gainfully occupy my time when the children are in school, besides grocery shopping, housework, PPS.TV and Facebook?

Still, comparing other women who are 40 around the world, I guess I’m lucky to be 40 and in Australia. It was a choice I made 5 years ago, to leave my career, my family and friends in homeland and come to Australia. I must keep reminding myself why I made that decision. Sacrifices were made but I gained a lot as well. I just cannot measure it in monetary terms that’s all.

With this coming birthday, I hope to rejuvenate my life again. It is the beginning of a new chapter. I’m going to write it as best as I could. Even though I won’t grow prettier or younger, I want to live life with a purpose and with energy. I believe my future is still to be crafted and if I am determined, I will make something good for myself and my family.

To commemorate this milestone, I've had a few celebrations with close friends and my family. Fun and food we had but it was the feeling of friendship and love that I most appreciated. Birthdays are really a time to give thanks. I thank God first of all, for His mercies and grace everyday. I do not take for granted the blessings I have each day, just being alive and being together with my loved ones. And to all the people, over the past 40 years, especially my parents, family, siblings, relatives and including ex-classmates, ex-colleagues, my friends in Singapore and Melbourne, who have left your kindness in my life. You have accepted me, accompanied me, helped me and guided me. Without you all my life would be less interesting and meaningful. This birthday, I want to say “Thank you folks for being part of my 40 years of memories!” I wish all of you blessings and good health always!

With Sincerity, Love & Affection

E

Last Weeks of 2012

My little Baby X turned 6 last week and my elder reached double digit age 4 months ago. Congratulations to you both!! I can't believe (for the nth time) how fast you have grown.

There has been not been much time to pause and reflect on how they have changed though. The last week leading up to XX's birthday has been extremely busy. We decided to indulge in a birthday party for him this year and invited 8 of his friends to a 2-hour session of Laser Tag games. This is a fun game using laser guns and tagging opponents with laser beams. The participants wear special vests that records how many times you hit someone and have been hit. On top of making the birthday cake, which has become a tradition since we moved to Oz, I also decided to self-cater the party food as I don't think the party food provided outside are of value and nutrition. The kids had a great time, even the girls, whom I was worried initially may not like the predominantly boys game. 

The kids checking their "hit" scores after the game on the tv screen.

The partying did not end there. In the middle of the week, on the eve of his birthday, it was XX's Tae Kwon Do grading day. He went after a full day of school for the grading session. It was a hot day that day and I was pretty exhausted myself just driving them around. I expected him to pass but it seemed he did very well as well. When the results were out this week, XX came in 2nd overall best score amongst all the Orange belt gradings. Well done my little one! The next day, on the actual day of his birthday, I decided on impulse to bake a batch of cupcakes for his class. Although he didn't ask for it, I know he was really happy to have his class sing him a birthday song. 

On the weekend, KK also got to go for his grading this time round. After having missed the last 2 rounds because he wasn't ready, we were very relieved when he performed well to pass and get his Blue belt 2nd stripe. In fact, he got the 2nd best score amongst the blue belt 2nd stripe gradings as well and the instructors said he performed beyond expectations. I'm very proud of you too, KK!

A very exhausted 6 year old on his birthday

Soon the year will be coming to an end. The children has begun taking back the pieces of work they've done over the past year as the teachers started clearing up the classrooms for the next year. Reports and portfolios are back. The summer holidays will begin next week and we are getting ready for our planned break in the country with friends. What an exciting and fantastic way to wrap up the year! Like I said, there's no time to pause and reflect, we're well and truly aging rapidly!! 

My birthday wish is.....

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to everyone!!