Our rose garden

Hari ni my Other Half tu kan tersangat lah active and rajinnya. Bangun pagi aje lepas breakfast, terus ajak Miss 7 gi bike riding sambil pulangkan dvd to the video store. Lama jugak lah diaorang pergi.

Pastu, balik from that ride, terus ajak Miss 11 pulak pergi bike riding to a different route. Tapi tak lama sangat and they came home so excited because they found a new bike track along this small creek filled with fish and probably yabbies as well. Terus lah we all buat plan nak pergi bike riding to that place esok pagi.

After fikir punya fikir and kira budget, we decided to buy Miss 11 her own big bike. Tak larat weh I nak naik that electric bike anymore. So, they went to the bike shop and she was so happy to finally get her own lilac coloured bike, hehehe.

And then he spent the rest of the morning and noon cleaning both sheds and watering the garden until lunch time and zohor.

Pastu, bila dah relax2 sekejap legakan perut after lunch, we exercised on Wii for 30 minutes. I dah tak larat, but dia boleh pi sambung main Wii tennis for another 30 minutes. Camner lah I nak catch up macam ni!

I tak pergi bike riding lagsung hari ni, I cuma cabut rumput and kemas2 kan vege patch tu , mana keluar peluh kan, hehehe.

And then tadi after dinner, I ajak dia gi tengok our front garden sambil smell the roses, pruned the roses and also pulled up this ugly-looking plants yang old owner tanam. He pulled them out, I just cheered aje, wahahaha…..

The Other Half said, “I’ve showered 4 times today! I’m not showering again after I’ve pulled this plants, you know that don’t you? There’s only so much showering a guy can take!”

Muahahahahahaha………..

Anyway, layan photos of our rose ‘garden’ ye!

Ini view dari driveway, dah makin besar all the rose bushes, padahal I dah slalu jugak pruned them.

Ini pulak view dari  side fence.

Pokok rose kat bawah ni yang paling wangi and also quite prolific in flowering.

Close-up of one of its flowers.

This is another one yang banyak bunga jugak but not as wangi .

And the close-up..

This red rose looks really pretty tapi duri dia, mak ai, gedabak2 gilers. We all memang mesti guna gloves kalau nak prune the roses .

And there’s a few pink roses baru nak bud.

Some more different coloured roses.

And I nak selit a photo of the sunflowers.

And our dinner tonite, mashed potato boat with meatballs in creamy tomato sauce and sauteed cos lettuce with carrot.

Potatoes tu I baked in the oven first, whole with the skin on. Pastu bila dah sejuk, scoop out the flesh and then mash it using a fork tegether with butter, chopped spring onion, grated cheese, salt and white pepper. Then masukkan balik ke dalam the ‘potato boat’ skin and grill sekejap.

Walaupun makan potato again but lain lah sikit rasa nya .

Miss 7 helped me with the potato. I cuma baked them and scooped the flesh out and chopped the spring onion and grated the cheese. Yang lain dia buat semua. Happy sangat2 dia bila everyone puji ‘her’ potatoes sangat sedap, hehehe.

bike riding and paella

Hari ni we all pergi bike riding again.

I konon2nya nak jadi macam TTM lah terer ambik gambar sambil kayuh basikal. Tapi….

Nyaris2 I nak tersembam jatuh atas pasir and nasib baik tak melencong masuk ke dalam Sungai Canning tadi!

kalau I ter ‘dive’ masuk Canning River tadi, alamat nya lah akan kena gelak goling2 dek laki and anak2 I tadi tu.

Pastu, bila tak dapat merealisasikan impian I nak jadi photographer naik basikal, terpaksalah I suruh The Little Misses buat 2-3 kali rondaan around the bike track just so I could take their photos on the bikes, hikhikhikhikhik…..

(I cuma berani paksa The Little Misses aje buat 2-3 kali rondaan itu, I tak berani paksa The Other Half. Mau lah nanti kena jelingan menusuk kalbu kalau I suruh dia buat kerja tak berpaedah itu, hahahaha).

Miss 7 sekarang dah jadi the new owner basikal Miss 11. And Miss 11 pulak sebab basikal dia dah kena songlap dengan adik dia, ambik pulak basikal I.

And I pulak sebab basikal dah kena songlap dengan anak I, terpaksalah tadi naik basikal electric The Other Half. Walaupun dia dah siap turunkan the bike seat ke serendah yang boleh, my kaki still tak boleh mencecah tanah while sitting on the seat tanpa rasa nak tergolek!

So tadi setiap kali berenti, terpaksalah I turunkan vontot I dari seat itu untuk nak bagi I tak tergolek!

Uwaaaaaaahhhhh!!!! I want my bike back  .

But part yg best bila naik basikal electric ni, bila naik bukit. Menderu aje I naik bila I switched on the motor .

Makan habuk basikal I basikal2 yang lain2 tadi kena tinggal jauh, muahahahaha….

Pastu, bila balik rumah and dah penat, I made seafood paella for dinner.

Senang aje nak buat paella ni, sebab boleh tinggal atas stove sampai masak, tak payah kacau .

Malam ni I ambik gambar kat atas dining table aje sebab the lightbox tak muat nak sumbat the whole pan, hehehehe….

I guna marinara mix so ada mussels, fish fillet, squid rings and prawns already in it. I used this recipe but instead of the chorizo, I guna 1 keping sausage aje and instead of the chicken, I guna about 400g marinara mix. But I letak marinara mix tu on top of the rice mixture towards the end of the cooking period.

Not a ‘luahan hati’ entry :-)

Heran lah kan, every time I buat N3 luahan hati, mesti ramai yg comment, hikhikhik .

Sebab I ‘jobless’ (hahhahaha), boleh lah I spent a few hours hari ni membalas all the comments. Penat weh jari jemari I mengetuk keyboard tadi, dah lah cuma a few fingers aje yang I guna, hehehe.

But I really appreciate all the heart warming comments about that N3. That N3 and that story was about me as a SAHM and why we did it. I can’t vouch if the other SAHMs have the same problems or become a SAHM for the same reasons as me. It’s not meant to be a sweeping statement for every SAHM out there ye.

(So, jangan lah ingat all SAHM tak boleh beli Coach or LV or Prada  or tak boleh pergi travel merata2 or tak boleh pergi makan kat fancy restaurants every week like me/us ye, hehehe).

I guess once in a while, kenalah jugak I dispel all the myths about me being married to a kaya raya Mat Saleh kan, hahaha.

And since semalam I dah buat entry panjang giler, malam ni I tulis sikit aje lah .

 

I masak sausages, makan dgn spiral potatoes and salad. But ini pinggan The Other Half.

My pinggan yang kat bawah ni

Konon2nya lagi banyak salad dari carbs . Masih giat usaha nak turunkan berat badan!

I ni memang malas nak exercise especially nak start tu. But once dah mula, ok aje, and I usually feel so good after I’ve finished the 30 minute workout. Hopefully, I’ll be good lah with the exercise routine sepanjang Summer holidays ni.

Some home truths

A guest on my chat box wrote…

“How I wish I'm jobless like you, having more time for blogging. Lucky you kahwin Mat Salleh.”

Let’s dissect it sentence by sentence ye….

1. How I wish I’m jobless like you, having more time for blogging

-Be careful what you wish for, it might just come true…

I guess the term jobless tu yang I think is a bit condescending. I know some people whe have jobs look down on us stay at home Mums. They think we haven’t got brains or not as highly educated as them, tu yang jadi stay at home Mums (SAHM) aje.

I know a lot of stay at home Mums especially kat OZ ni yang highly educated (and I’m one fo them). But yang funnynya, kat OZ ni they don’t look down on us SAHM.

The Other Half and I made the decision for me to be a SAHM. We made the sacrifice of having less money in our lives to make sure that I can be at home for The Little Misses day in day out especially when they are still at school.

How do we do it, living with less money?

-By living within our means which means no Coach or LV or Prada handbags for me . Basically we don’t buy any top brand accessories or clothes lah for me, for The Other Half or for The Little Misses. We are quite happy not having any of the stuff and I’m not envious of people who can afford to buy all these things. Walaupun tengah sale menggiler, I only buy things that I think are really cheap and that we need/will use and I know we have the money to pay for it.

(sebab tu lah kalau I balik M’sia and jalan with The Little Misses, orang ingat I maid sbb I takde baju, handbag, kasut mahal and tak bermekap lawa2, hahahaha).

-But don’t get us wrong, we do buy named brand necessities like all our white goods and the computers and what nots because we know they last a loooong time.

-We only have 1 car which is not the newest and the latest brand in the market. We’ll be using this same car until it breaks down basically. That’s why we make sure that it gets its 6-monthly service religiously so it can last us a while.

-Our house is not filled with expensive furniture or trimmings. Our sofa set and dining table is nearly 10 years old and we’ve only got 1 sofa set. Tak percaya, you can ask people who’ve come to our house .

-We don’t buy the newest and latest handphones or electronic gadgets. As long as we can talk, sms and occasionally surf the net on the phone, we are happy .

-No overseas or interstate holidays sewenang2 nya. We don’t have that much money to spend on travels. But we make up for it by taking The Little Misses camping, picnicking, bike riding, visiting all the playgrounds . The Little Misses do wish that they can go to all the fun places interstate/overseas but they know that it takes a lot of money to go there so they know they have to wait a long time for it.

-No eating out every night or going to fancy restaurants every week or even every month. Heck, even The Little Misses and The Other Half take packed lunches every day to school and work to cut down on eating out cost. That’s why I try my best to cook really good food and a lot of varieties so we don’t feel like we are missing out.  And so far, they are happy with my cooking and taking lunches .

Bayangkan lah, I and The Other Half got married when we were students so we know what living on a budget is like. I guess that’s why it’s easy for us to adapt to the cheapskate lifestyle again, hehehe.

And I think we are both lucky to have each other who think the same way about money and all the material things. And we are so lucky as well that The Little Misses are the way they are, satisfied with what they have. Alhamdulillah….

Why do you need more time to blog anyway?

Blogging doesn’t take that much time (unless lah you buat entry luahan perasaan like I’m doing tonight. Hah, memang lah makan masa berjela2, hahahaha). I do it when there’s a free time at night after dinner’s done and finished, The Little Misses are reading to themselves and The Other Half tengah lepak2 main games.

Kalau dia kata dia wish to have more time to cook wonderful food every night, takpe lah kan, I can understand, hahaha.

2. Lucky you kahwin Mat Saleh

-Hmmm…. this one memang I tak paham sgt2 apa maksudnya…

Kalau dia maksudkan lucky sebab most Mat Saleh kaya…

Man! I must have married the wrong Mat Saleh then! Muahahahahaha. Kalau laki I kaya raya, takdelah I tulis all of the above right!

Ramai sangat2 lagi weh orang kat M’sia tu yang kaya raya dari we all.

Alhamdulillah, our rezeki is enough for us to live comfortably (by our standards) but definitely not excessively.

Hah, tu lah, sape suruh tulis yang bukan2 kat my chat box, kan I dah tulis entry yang sikit nya panjang.

Jenuh you all nak baca! Hakhakhakhakhak……

Ok lah, I’ll tayang our dinner tonite…

Beef nachos. Makan dengan pickled chilli, sour cream, salsa and shredded lettuce.

One of the things I cook so my family doesn’t feel left out by not eating out .

Is ‘nothing’ the right answer?

I saw Miss 7 busy searching and looking for something in Miss 11’s wardrobe….

Mum: What are you looking for?

Miss 7: Oh, nothing….. (while still busy with the search)

Mum: right……

Should Mum

1. feign ignorance and just walk away (this is The Other Half’s standard response!). Yelah kan, ignorance is bliss, hehehe.

2. Straight away ask again, “what have you lost?” (Sambil bersiap sedia nak membebel kalau the lost thing is important )

3. Have full confidence in Miss 7 that she can find it eventually (Muahahaha, if you lose something, Miss 7 would be the last person you ask to help you search for it )

4. Help her find it (Lagi lah muahahaha, tak kuasa I, banyak lagi kerja lain yang I boleh buat).

So, what did I do?

Terima hakikat yang adalah tu benda yang hilang but most probably nothing important so tak perlulah I pening2 fikir cari jawapan apa yang hilang.

Pandailah diaorang cari I nanti kalau dah memang betul2 tak jumpa kan! .

Dinner malam ni I masak nasi lemak sebab The Other Half requested it. Hari ni still Public Holiday kat OZ ni so dia nak makan nasi lemak sebelum kena masuk kerja balik esok.

(Kalau kat M’sia, I suruh aje dia gi beli nasi lemak kat gerai mana2 esok pagi for breakfast, muahahhaha).

My nasi lemak siap ada paru goreng!

Uish, memang I savour betul2 lah kenikmatan paru goreng itu! Bekal frozen cooked paru yg Mak I masakkan dulu tu ada lagi, nak makan kena catu, hahahaha…

Sedapnya meratah paru goreng .

Random stories….

Sometimes we forgot how big Australia is. Ye lah kan, it’s only an island .

But the weather for the past few weeks memang betul2 tunjuk how big it is. It’s been flooding in Queensland, rain and cold Autumn weather in Sydney, scorching temperature here in Perth up to 41°C with bushfires but snowing on the mountains in Tasmania . And it all happened masa Summer. Kalau lah boleh syphon the flooded water kat Queensland tu ke Perth yang dah kering sangat2 kan ke best. Baru lah takde water restrictions anymore because all the dams have been filled. Boleh lah I siram pokok bunga and kebun tu dengan sewenang2 nya, hehehe….

Bayangkan lah, jarak from Perth (kalau naik kereta) to Eucla which is the town bordering Western Australia and its neighbour, South Australia tu pun dah 1500kms. And itu baru nak cross 1 state! hehehe. Jarak from JB ke Bukit Kayu Hitam pun baru 880kms and dah crossed so many states .

Itu sebabnya, Gold Coast yang kat Queensland tu pun we all tak pernah pergi lagi but balik bercuti kat M’sia dah berkali2 . It’s cheaper to fly to Bali from Perth than fly to Gold Coast! Especially bila you kira ongkos accomodation and food lah kan.

Kalau pergi bercuti ke Bali, we all jadi millionaire, kalau bercuti ke Gold Coast, memang opposite of millionaire lah, hahahaha.

Tapi apakan daya, The Other Half busy Summer ni so takdelah we all akan bercuti ke mana2. Duk melepak kat Perth ajelah nampak gayanya, hehehehe.

2 weeks gone, 4 more weeks of holidays to go……sigh……..

(Unbelievably, The Little Misses have been playing together so nicely and without any tiffs for the past few days! Gelak2 bertepuk tampar tanpa ada yg menangis or mengamuk!)

Malam ni for dinner, I made smoked salmon pasta again but since dah banyak kali tayang, I tayang what we had for dinner a few nights ago lah ye.

I kan sekarang tgh nak menurunkan berat badan sikit sambil nak stay fit. So I made crumbed chicken schnitzel salad for dinner for everyone.

Tapi pinggan I, I letak lebih2 salad lah and pinggan orang lain I letak lebih2 baked potato wedges and chicken .

So far, I’m doing great, with daily 30 min exercise (well, 5-6 days a week) and reducing my junk food, my sweet drink intakes and increasing my vege portion, I’ve been losing about 100-200g/day.

So, if I terus buat macam ni sebulan ni, maulah I turun 3kg kan!

Yabedabedoooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(But it’s a BIG if……..The temptation to eat all those sweet stuff is too great sometimes, hehehehe)

chicken and couscous in the new year

Apa lah we all ni, we welcomed the New Year by waking up at 8.30 pagi! After subuh, selalunya memang tidur balik sebab subuh is so early but I slalunya akan terjaga again around 7 o’clock (kalau weekend). But pagi tadi celik mata tengok jam, dah pukul 8.30, hehehe.

I said to The Other Half, sure heran The Little Misses sebab dah 8.30 tapi takde orang langsung kat dapur. Bila we all keluar, senyap sunyi rumah sebab both of them were still asleep . Ini mesti sebab penat celebrate New Year sakan2 malam tadi kan, hahahaha .

How did our first day of the year go?

Macam biasa aje….

Kat Perth ni kan mana ada shopping malls yang bukak during PH so memang takde lah we all melepak kat the shops. Nak keluar pergi playground, malas sangat2 sebab panas.

So, we ended up melepak kat rumah sambil berkebun and The Little Misses terperuk in Miss 11’s room the whole day playing Lego.

What a blissful day .

And since it’s the first day of the year, I konon2nya nak makan something special lah for dinner.

I made roast chicken.

Ish, the tie terbukak dalam oven tu, terus terkangkang aje the legs. Memang tak cun sungguh lah!

And makan the roast chicken with moroccan-style couscous and corn.

I tak boleh telan plain couscous so everytime I masak couscous, memang kena letak segala mcm perisa and spices to bring flavour to the couscous.

I added cooked onion, garlic, diced carrot, diced capsicum, diced zucchini and dried fig to the couscous. And I used coriander n cumin n powdered chicken stock to flavour it. If you want a similar recipe, you can go here. But I tokok tambah the sayur2an ikut my taste lah.

The couscous tasted fantastic with all the flavours infused in it and makan pulak dengan roast chicken and gravy, lagi lah yumm .