Don't waste that bread bag tie

First the clock, then the sofa and now it's the TV. Slowly but surely, they are coming to the end of their life span.

In preparation for the new TV, we used bread bag ties to sort out the different cables.

Good idea, isn't it? I learnt it from Pinterest. :)

They all fall apart

After 5 years, things in the house are starting to fail us. :(



The clock
We didn't even notice it at first. After all, the clock is working well. But the calendar, whatever you call it, oh how it refuses to move. We thought the batteries had died so we tried changing them. Didn't work even though we tried several brands of new batteries. It's kaput. :(



The sofa
Oh we love our air sofa! It's called 'trunk'. I know, it's so weird right? But after 5 years, I still remember its name. I love that there is no armrest so we can seat 4 comfortably. The back of the sofa can be raised so you get a nice neck/head rest.



But the other day, my in-laws told us that the synthetic leather had cracked and there is this ugly slit right in the middle of the sofa. Actually, we had been warned that leather is not a good choice for a sofa that is to sit in a room that gets a lot of the morning sun. But when I see something pretty, logic and common sense escape me. Now, I have to pay a price for it. Boo hoo.

Rainy Saturday

We had this for breakfast today.

Sprite, vodka and fresh lychees

Refreshing!
It's a very simple drink to make, perfect for lounging around on a rainy day. :)

Shakespeare quotes coaster, part of a set of 6.

Wish I had bought more than a box. It would make a lovely gift!

This year's tree!

No prizes for guessing the theme for our Christmas tree correctly. :)



It's Angry Birds of course!



And Angry Birds ain't complete without the annoying pig. LOL!

Weather report at 10:30

I don't know what defines a crazy Monday morning better than this volatile weather.



This photo was taken about 20 minutes after the one in the previous post. See how the sunshine's gone??

Bizarre!

Bonkers

6:30, rainy
7:30, sunny
8:30, rainy
9:30, sunny
The weather is completely erratic!



The pool deck is still wet from the bi-hourly showers. I suspect the blazing sun hasn't much time to dry it. Because right now, it's approaching 10:30, I can hear thunder rumbling in the distance and the sky is starting to look overcast again!

Tis so fun living on this part of the island. :)

Boxes

Just as we were about to fall asleep, he asked, 'How many more boxes are there going to be?'

I said, 'Huh?'

I hadn't a clue what he was talking about.

Now that I am wide awake and there is light in the room, I scrutinise the height of the boxes and the space between the display cabinet and the ceiling carefully. And I think my answer is 10.

There is space for another 10 kate spade boxes. ;)

Make a guess!

What do you think this is?

A giant Canon DSLR?

Hee... no, it's a tissue box holder.

Super cute right? It's also a great conversation piece.

I so love it. :)

Going forward

For a long time I did not have a proper place for my bags and J said I should stop buying them till I have thought of a storage solution. He did not like the sight of my bags and books littering our bedroom floor and frankly I hated it too. But lazy is my middle name and I did not take him too seriously until he issued the ultimatum, 'NO MORE KATE SPADEs until you have proper storage!' Of course that left me quite shaken!

So last night, we went to Ikea to find proper shelving for my bags.

$139 poorer, we found ourselves DIY-ing.


From lugging it up into a maxi cab to assembling the pieces together with our bare hands and one miserable allen key.


After much hard work (that's J) and trying to decide if it looks better lying horizontally or vertically (that's me), we got the cabinet!

Yay! Now I can't wait to fill it up with more bags! :)

See you in Dec!

We dismantled the Christmas tree way after Christmas. In fact even after 12 days of Christmas, our tree was still there, all brightly lit every night. Seriously if I can have it my way, it will be in that same spot 365 days. But on day 13, my in-laws badgered us to take it down and being the really good children that we are, we did. ;)

So goodbye it is, tree! See you in about 11 months' time.

We spent New Year's Day

with this

and this!

In my attempt to get J to watch The Big Bang Theory, I bought 3 seasons of DVDs for us. It's hilarious I tell you, you've got to watch it!
The complete season 3 cost HKD239 which was less than SGD40. I thought that was a steal! :)
We spent the whole weekend watching all episodes from 3 seasons and by the time we were done, it felt like Sheldon Cooper actually exists.
And of course there's nothing like having some wine to ring in the new year. Rosemount O was recommended by Petals and we got Beckham to get us a bottle when he was at the airport. What can I say? It's not too shabby I guess but I'm not sure if it's worth the trouble to get another bottle in the future since it is only sold at the airport.

Anyway, here's wishing you and me a blessed new year! :)

First copy!

My magazine finally came! 6-month subscription starts this Dec. :)

Getting ready for Christmas!

Check the lights

Dig out the instruction sheet

Take out the tree from the box

Assemble the tree

Throw on the streamers

Hang the ornaments

String the lights and put up the star Don't forget to dress the base

Ding Dang all the way!

Every year we try to put up our tree by 1 Dec. 'Try' being the operative word. This year we finally did it!

This year's theme is blue and red. Next year, I'm thinking red and green. :)

Home alone

I mentioned that working from home has perks. Well, here's another.

Cups and cups of freshly brewed coffee without having to walk to a cafe!

And you can run to the toilet as often as you want after all that coffee. Nobody will wonder why you keep going in and out of your office.

Mid-Autumn Festival

中秋节快乐！

The weather's gone crazy!

Yikes! Pictures in this post are not fantastic!

This afternoon, at close to 5p.m., we experienced a squall!

Some time last year, we had experienced a similar one. That was late at night and too dark for us to see the effects of the strong winds. Today we saw how dramatic it gets.

The rain beat mercilessly on our window panes. Inside our apartment, we could hear the winds howling and rattling our windows!

The field in front of our condo was no longer visible. Clearly, you can't see the roads beyond the field either.

The wind knocked over a young tree. My heart bleeds for its premature death. :( I wonder if the occupants of that ground floor unit are pleased the tree no longer blocks their view or worried their home is now completely exposed.

As usual, the deck chairs fell into the pool for a swim! I say 'as usual' because that's exactly what happened to 2 other deck chairs last year.

The squall lasted for a good 10 - 15 minutes before the winds died down a little.

Working from home

has certain perks.

For instance, a nice cold beer in hand on a very hot day. :)

Here in northern siberia

The wooden bridge across the swimming pool is aesthetically pleasing but also quite steep.

Look up!
This is my block.


My father-in-law's bicycle. He is 70 and cycles alot a lot!

After the rain

The air is always fresher after a downpour and it has been raining a lot these days.

The leaves look cleaner and greener after a bath.

The snails come out to play.

This one is for my snail-loving friend, Ondine.