A Homemaker’s Diary

Since my son has been able to walk on his own, I have been blessed with more time to spend on the garden. Now that he knows how to “main air” we spent more time during day time in the garden…while he plays around with the water hose, I get the chance to look after all the plants.

Despite the leaves which have been eaten by I-dont-know-what bugs, this particular pot of rose has been blooming every now and then. I think it is rosa centifolia or ros kampung as it has a very strong sweet scented rosy smell. I bought 2 pots of roses from Taman Warisan Pertanian Putrajaya last year, but only this one seems to be more robust than the other one.

But I won’t lose hope just yet..I have been pruning and putting fertilizer on the other pot and hopefully as time goes by, it will bloom great flowers as well. We just have to wait, be patient and remain hopeful..usually plants never let us down especially when you have put in tender loving care for them, day after day.

Rosa, you do cheer up my day!

I bought this book during the last Big Bad Wolf Sale.

The truth is I’ve never heard about the author Jen Singer until I found this book..and I have to admit, she did write a good sane practical solutions for moms of toddlers.

Oh, she also blogs – Mommasaid.net

One thing that I feel relieved when I read this book is about letting your child watching TV while you take shower or run any errand at home that you must do.

Before that I read somewhere that the American Academy of Pediatrics warned that TV is not for anyone under the age of two.

But tell me, how does a stay at home mom with no one around to help will be able to take her shower with proper soap and wash face with facial cleanser if there is a crying toddler at the bathroom door..(which is of course has been barred with safety gate)

Thank God to Tigger and Pooh, or Dibo The Gift Dragon for their company! At least I could have that 5 (although not so peaceful) minutes of ME-time with their help.

Well, if you are going through a rough phase of handling a toddler like me, go get this book – Stop Second-Guessing Yourself The Toddler Years by Jen Singer. I know you will find some useful tips in it, trust me!

Gosh! It’s like ages since I updated this blog. Of course you can expect to see an update on Monday because that’s when Nuffnang giving out RM20 for all the first 100 entries for the week..hehe..when it comes to making money, I will do whatever it takes to do a blog post..haha!

Since tomorrow is already Thursday, I have been very busy since a few days ago preparing the kit for craft class this Saturday. Alhamdulillah, if all goes well, the dip class will be full (max of 6 students). You might never know sometimes things happen like kematian or last minute emergency that make them unable to attend the class.

On family matter, I have been experimenting with new ways to make the little one fall asleep easily, be it for nap time or night time. So far the main air session every afternoon does work wonders..which gave me ample time to cook dinner. And somehow Hubby has managed to make him sleep at night around 12 – 12:30am..Alhamdulillah. He slept on Abah’s chest like he used to do when he was smaller..maybe the comforting effect makes him feel drowsy and help him fall asleep easily.

Well, with that kind of early time off for me, I should be able to update all the blogs more often, you think? Nay, the ever reliable Maxis Broadband keep on buat pasal..it took me 2 hours just to update the announcement about the upcoming craft class last night..isk!

Nampak gaya will have to get Streamyx jugak la jawabnya..huhuhu!

Err..I better grab some sleep..since if the little one sleeps early at night, he will wake up earlier than the usual 1-2pm as well..happy working people..don’t spend too much time Facebooking, OK! heh..

I am not a good baker..isk..I can bake but the outcomes sometimes are total disaster (not up to the standard that I wish for..huhu). But every now and then, I managed to bake simple dessert like cheese cake for SIL and butter cake for Hubby. For dinner and lunch, I could manage to bake fish, beef and chicken (or is it considered as roasting? I am confused between all the cooking terms and glossary)

Regardless of that I still have interest on Holiday baking recipes like cake, cupcake, tart and pie..only that I wish I have the time and chance to really practise and learn the right methods. I am really bad when it comes to bake cookies, the last festive cookies I tried to make came out all wrong. Luckily Hubby seems to have the talent for that, so he was the one baking all our Hari Raya cookies..hehe!

I am a visual person so watching baking lessons on video online or on cooking program on TV could really help me learn a thing or two. My favorite shows are Sugar by Anna Olson and Chef At Home by Chef Michael Smith. I also found a website – ivillage.com that has a very great pictures of food and video about cooking.

I am currently browsing their Easter menu – their Roasted Potatoes and Carrots with Citrus does look yummy even though it’s just vegetable. I guess with nice presentation, even the most boring food could look tasty on the screen..heh!

Oh, for those looking for ideas for their Easter basket goodies, what do you think of this “egg”?

Nice, huh? These eggs are meant to be cracked. (How else to show off the decadent chocolate insides?) The shell, yolk and white are made from solid dark and white chocolate. It is sold as set of 2 for $40 at Dean & Deluca.

Coming back to the baking story, I hope by the time my son is old enough to understand the joy of birthday celebration, I would be good enough in baking his birthday cake or cupcakes to be sent to his playschool..in the mean time I do have to practise more..few more years to go!

I was about to go to sleep when I stumbled upon a website National News Today that shares news and expert advice on all range of topics.

One interesting article that I happened to read is about farm direct organic apples.

Actually, I am a big advocate of organic products especially when it comes to fruits and vegetable. I try my best to buy organic vegetable every time I shop for my weekly supply. Yes, they are simply more expensive than the non organic products, but for the sake of my family health, I am willing to spend more.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if I am in the country where people can pick their own organic fruit of the month? One day I hope I would be able to go on a trip where I get the chance to pick my own apples from the trees..heh!

Anyway, I am not sure whether the local grocers have this Washington organic apples for me to buy and try. Local Malaysian farmers do have organic vegetable produce but not sure about fruits though, but I really want to taste the difference.