Back To Basics

We spent a good deal of time & brain power to green up the lawn. Several weeks ago, there was a day where the temperatures hit 35 degrees. In the days that follow, big patches of the lawn turned yellow. At the pot luck, J was sharing with me the products she use on her garden. I bought the same product (Thrive) in power form as it is cheaper than the liquid ones she uses. But after several weeks, the lawn still refuses to green up.

Sometime last week, Thursday I think, P & J came over as they wanted to drop off 2 bicycles & a pot of oregano for us. At the same time, they wanted to have a look at our lawn. They said the lawn doesn't look too bad (though I know my landlord will beg to differ) & it's normal not to have a lawn that is entirely green. It's normal to have yellow or brown patches. Then J asked if the sprinklers are reaching all areas of the lawn. She advised us to just keep watering the lawn & it will green up. So on non-reticulation days, we'll just have to do it manually.

Thinking of cheating, I set the system to water the back lawn everyday. The back is all fenced up so I think we won't be caught & it'll save me lots of time. I'll just water the smaller lawn patch out on the front by hose. Remembering what J said about the sprinklers, I stood there, watching as the stations came on 1 by 1. True enough, the massive yellow patches were not watered. The water didn't reach those areas.

I guess I think too far & complicated that I overlooked the simplest rational for it. Perhaps also becoz the landlord kept blaming us for the weeds & therefore depriving the lawn of nutrients that I kept thinking the problem is due to lack of fertilisation. In the end, it wasn't something we did to the lawn. It wasn't even the weeds. The lawn wasn't thriving simply becoz it wasn't getting the water it needs. Perhaps that's the solution to life itself. I wonder if the many problems we're facing just requires a back to basics approach as well.

Serendipity

It's a pleasant surprise to find what it is you thought you've lost forever. Even more so if it is something of sentimental value. During the pot luck session held at P & J's place 2 Saturdays ago, their "antique" wooden duck was made available for the kids to play. It was I think either thrown or dropped & a portion of its leg broke off. The duck has been with them for I think decades & hence its antique status.

The broken piece was found & placed on the table together with the duck. Sometime later, J realised that the broken piece was missing. The last couple who stayed with us till the end helped looked everywhere for it. Under the sofa, in the garden, to no avail. The piece was deemed lost forever.

Fast forward 1.5 weeks. I had just finished my morning prayers & was tidying my bag before I leave for work. My bag is 1 of those without any compartments so everything gets messed up as I move around. It was then I spotted this small brown longish thing at the bottom of my bag & I thought, "What IS that?" (I was scared to death that it might be a caterpillar or something.) I took it out for a closer examination & the bulb in my head lit up. Immediately, I texted J that I found the missing portion of the duck's leg. I think 1 of the kids must have taken it from the table & dropped it in my bag for fun's sake.

Fortunately, J hasn't thrown the duck away. It wouldn't work properly with the broken leg. Hopefully, once the broken piece is reattached, the duck will waddle like it used to.

4 Months In My Job

Today marks my completion of 4 months in my job. I've just started my AU training yesterday. I'm not exactly sure if it can be considered training since I'll be at it solo the next time I'm doing AU. My head is swimming in the amount of information I received. I've not done AU in my previous employment as the AU nurses are all ENs. RNs are solely scrub nurses. It's a challenge I hope I can excel in. My upcoming CNM (my current 1 is retiring end of the month) informed the anaesthetist that I would be doing AU with her yesterday & he told her I'm good in everything I do so AU shouldn't be a problem for me. *stress*

Work aside, it's also 5.5 months since we arrived in Perth. I was catching up on Nix's blog & he mentioned something about which country is your home, in the form of when you return to Sg for a visit, do you say "It's good to be home." or "I'm going to Sg." I'm too green in Australia to comfortably say this is home. I don't feel I belong & I don't know if I ever will. Probably not. But I guess if I stay here long enough, even Sg will feel foreign to me 1 day.

I feel alone in Perth. My 2 poly friends whom I've kept in touch with are chatting about which handphone to upgrade to, which contestant they like best in 中国好声音 in our group chat but not responding to me when I "talked" to them. I wished 1 of them happy birthday in the group chat but didn't receive a response as well. Perhaps I should have done it in FB along with everyone & see if she'll reply as she did for everyone. I feel like such a failure. Do I really mean so little to people I consider friends? I know I'm an introvert & I can be socially awkward. But with them, we were past that. 

Dolly told me not to think too much since I've tried my best & it's up to them if they want to put me in their heart. I know people come & people go in our lives. But when I let you in, I must consider you important. So it hurts. I do admire guys sometimes. They make friends who stay so even when they've not seen or talked to each other for ages. Yet when they meet, they carry on like no time has passed between them. When something comes up, they can be counted on to show support or help. I see this in hubs. I see this in Nix. I wish I can find true friends like that.

Don't get me wrong. I'm thankful for my life. Just wish that I can be better.

My Tribute To Bobby The Fake Schnauzer

I don't know at this point of writting if Bobby is still hanging on or if he's passed on. So I'll use the present tense. I saw on Enrica & Lorbert's FB that he's struggling & very likely won't last the night. I didn't leave any comments for I know nothing anyone say will ease the pain. Me not commenting doesn't mean I don't care. On the contrary, I not only know the owners but I know Bobby as well. Instead, I'm writing a tribute to him here in my blog. E & L doesn't know about the existence of this blog so they'll never read this.

Bobby's a Maltese. He's very special indeed. He's twice the size & weight of a normal Maltese. E & L adopted him many years back. I remember attending his 5th birthday celebration. Back then, we were all newbies when it comes to dogs, gotten to know each other at a dog forum.

I used to board Bobby & Belle (a female schnauzer belonging to E & L as well) when they were away on holidays. There was once, I went to their place instead. That was back when I was still living in Yew Tee. I had lived in Bukit Panjang for 5 years after moving out from Yew Tee. So you can see how long it's been.

Bobby's the 1st dog I put diapers on for. He'll mark everywhere hence E & L gave me some baby diapers. I wasn't sure if I should cut a hole so I could stick his tail through or tuck his tail out the leg hole.

Bobby is known as the fake schnauzer becoz they gave him the schnauzer cut. The only marked difference is his tail which is long. Bobby & Ton Ton were at 1 time called the brothers. They're both white & both sporting schnauzer cuts.

Bobby's health hasn't been too good. He is diagnosed with heart murmur several years back. Recently, he was passing out blood & had an abdominal tap done due to ascites. He got better, started eating again. Then this. All within a week.

I said a prayer for dear Bobby. Just NMHRGK. I feel so sad that he's leaving this world. I'm so bad at expressing my feelings so I can only write it here. Bobby, I love you. May your heart & soul be filled with my prayers.

Day Excursion To Freo

This is an excursion I thought of just recently. I was looking at hub's FB (I do that all the time coz his friends always post interesting stuff & I play Criminal Case using his account) & saw a few of his friends visiting Perth for a holiday. It occurred to me that we've been here for a while now. But we haven't done any of the tourist things. In fact, his friends probably went to more places in 1 week than we had in 5 months. So that prompted me to do this day excursion.

We got off on a bad start. Shortly after parking the car, we passed by a group of 3 aboriginal women. 1 of them said, "Hello." My natural reaction was to turn to see who was talking. She followed with, "Aussie wannabe." Of course, I've been warned about them. Still, it stung. Immediately, my buddhist teaching came into my mind. People who respond with biting & bitter words lead a life that is filled with negativity. What is on the inside inevitably spills outside. We all have been dealt shit & will continue to be dealt shit in our lives. What makes a difference is that we turn the negativity into positive actions.

It reminded me of how negative I was with my landlord issue & how I struggled to overcome it. What we give away we receive back. I wish I can exude only positivity. But I guess that's what we're here for. To learn the ways of life & overcome our negative tendencies & lead a purpose filled life in gratitude.

Whether it's with other people or with hubs, I keep quiet becoz even though I'm angry inside. You may think I'm a hypocrite but all I really want is to keep the peace & avoid a confrontation. I know my feelings will not be reciprocated all the time. But sometimes I wonder if I'm the one of the very few who has this mindset. Hubs is my complete opposite. He will not hesitate to give it to you if he feels he's not in the wrong.

We started with Fremantle Market which sadly to say, had nothing much. It was the same with Malaga Market which we visited 3 months back. Perhaps it just feels different when you're visiting as a tourist rather than a resident. But at least we've seen it in person. We took a stroll in the vicinity & came upon the Esplanade. From my "research", the Fishing Harbour is just on the other side of the Esplanade.

Despite it being only 10.30 am, I suggested to hubs that we have Fish N Chips at Kaili's since it was on our itinenary anyway. I always believe that the quality of the food decline sharply when there's a huge demand, like during lunch or dinner hour. We chose to sit outside where it was cooler (yeah, it was warm indoors) & we had a view of the harbour. 2 ladies came after us & sat outside as well. For some reason, the seagulls kept attacking them & managed to flip a box of Fish N Chips onto the floor. They moved further in but the seagulls were relentless & made off with their scallops. They finally moved indoors. We were sitting just next to them but the seagulls didn't even made any attempts on us. I joked that it must be becoz hubs has a 杀气 & therefore they avoided us.

We made our way back to the car & drove to our next destination: Fremantle Prison. I had a voucher so we got huge discount off our tickets. We did the package that included the Doing Time & Great Escapes tours, originally $28 per pax. We paid $36 for 2. The prison was still in use up to 1991. The conditions prisoners had to put up with were appalling. We were told that some of the prisoners who finished serving their time frequently come back on the tour. That concludes our day in Freo.

Checking Visitation

Landlord gave short notice that they're coming over this afternoon. But it doesn't matter. As long as they come on a weekday, we won't be at home. How long has it been since their last visit? 3 weeks? Can't remember.

We've been working on it but I'm pretty sure they won't even see the efforts we put in. They'll probably just see that the garden is less than perfect. Well, we can't create a miracle in a few weeks.

Funny that they ask if we require them to mow the lawn. I've already told them before that we bought a lawn mower. Did it slip their mind or are they trying to call my bluff, hoping that by asking the same question in different ways will produce inconsistent answers? Sorry to disappoint but we really did buy 1 & we really did mow the lawn. What we didn't do is follow their instructions to apply Roundup Gel to each & every single winter grass & pull them up manually.

Oh well. Let's see what they say after this check. We'll continue to work on the lawn as & when.

Seemingly Meaningless

You know my drill now. Days on, I go to work. Days off, I work on the garden. I read the novels from the library, we watch the DVDs also from the library. This kind of existence feels so shallow & devoid of meaning. I know that's not what I'm here for. I just need to find the "thing" to bring meaning back into my life.

While I know I should get out of my comfort zone, interactions drain me like crazy. Having to come up with responses, trying my best not to scare people off with my awkwardness. Too draining. So I know for me to do my part for kosen rufu, it'll have to be something solitary & behind the scene. I'll need to discuss this further with my WD leader.

I'm working on a short story based on my nightmare. Hur hur. Well, those that I can remember that is. My nightmares don't come with an ending. I'm usually awaken by my alarm or some noise in the neighbourhood before the dream can run itself out. It requires me to use my imagination to fill in the blanks & I'm really rusty, having not written stories since Secondary School. I'll just practice till I get good at it, working on my story 1 paragraph at a time.