A lady's wrath

I was randomly reading blogs on a site when one particular blog caught my eye.It was one that contained numerous expletives and four-letter words and it was written by a lady blogger.Curious,I read on to find out why she had to resort to such crude and vulgar language.After all,she was a lady and she did'nt belong to a world of dirty language.
She had just lost her pet dog.When she mentioned it to her friend,her friend told her -Yes, go get another dog as a pet-.This enraged her so.She went straight to her computer and to her blog site.There she ranted and raved.She cursed and swore at her friend.She used mean language on her friend and that included the four-letter .Every other word in a sentence was punctuated with the four-letter word.Her blog was like a battlefield except that there were no corpses on the ground ...only four-letter words.
She was so incensed because her friend had been sarcastic about her getting another dog for a pet.You see this raging bull of a lady was a Muslim by faith and keeping a dog for a pet was wrong!Obviously she did not think so.
I would have told her that if she were that angry with her friend there was no need for her to have used all the profanities and expletives.It went to show up her true character.She should have been 'refined' like her friend.She should have just been as sarcastic as her friend because sarcasm strikes deep.It hurts.
I would also have told her that God works in strange ways.Maybe he was trying to tell that it was to have another kind of pet...one that she could hug and play with.
I would suggest a macaw and I'd hope she'll refrain from teaching it profanities???
The world is ever so changing nowadays.People like our angry lady go against their religion because they want freedom.People kill because they want to get what they want.People's morals are at the lowest ebb.The Bible talks about Judgement Day and the Quran Hari Kiamat.This is the day when we the human race will be punished
and soothsayers say that day is drawing near.Who are we to blame but ourselves?

Alone @home

Have you ever experienced being left alone at home?Everyone has business to attend and you don't.The house will be very quiet and you can do whatever you like.Perhaps you might want try out those slick dance moves you saw on youtube.
Well,I'm alone at home now.I'm tired of practising on the piano and there's no line on the internet.I take my book and go sit in the garden.I cannot focus because my mind wanders.I think of my late mother and I wonder where her soul is.Is she happy where she is?I think so for I will never forget that look of peace on her face as she lay in her casket.God is great I think.When someone dies,that someone always looks so serene and beautiful.I guess its his way of helping us remember our dear departed in a happy light.
In two weeks time it will be the first anniversary of her death.How time flies and if she can see me now I want her to know that there is not a day that I do not think of her.I remember her peaceful face and the beautiful red costume that she wore.She looked as if she was smiling.I'm glad for I don't think I want her to feel sad at her own passing.I want her to know that I say a little prayer for her in my own way each night and that she is never alone.It's just that we are apart for now.Hi Mom and so long.

Little things DO mean a lot.

Today I have a grouse....not a personal one but a grouse on behalf of a good friend.She says the raconteur in me will help tell the story better.I hope I live up to her expectation(s).She married young, to someone more than a decade older than her.Married life was blissful and they had the kids who soon left the nest.So it was just the two of them and to her it was a chance to catch up on what they had missed...what with her time taken up for the kids.So she thought!!She tried to relive the times when they were young and vibrant..when they were in love but she had the greatest surprise of her life.He wanted no part of it.Too old for such things he said.And as time passed the marriage became jaded and now she has her reservations as to whether she made a mistake.
Now they are like house-mates.They don't share the same bed and life on the conjugal bed stopped a while ago.He's not interested although she's still willing.Much as she's still willing,she does not make a fuss over it.What she misses most are little cuddles,hugs,pecks on the cheek to show her or to prove to her(her own words)that the love is still alive.
She is hurt very deep that he has taken things for granted.He seems to be in a world of his own and she does not even belong in even the minutest corner in his life!She feels so left outShe can't do anything about it.She's too old to get a divorce.She's too old to get a job.She's too old to spread her wings.What a dilemma!!
Anyone listening to her lament would tell her to sit down and have a heart-to-heart talk with him.She's tried and he changed.He becomes more attentive but hey it was shortlived.So it was back to square one.
Frustrated,she tells me that if anyone were to tell her that she's getting married to a much older man,she'd flatly tell her NOT to be stupid.The early days will be fine and dandy.Its the latter part that you'll find frustrating.
As I listen to her,I see the remorse and dejection in her eyes.I ask myself how I can help her but I find no answers.It would be easy to tell her to pick up a hobby,do something she's always wanted to do but never found the time to do so.You don't need a degree in counselling to come up with that solution because it will be of utmost difficulty for the person concerned to practise it.The solution lies in the man and for the many problems that women (married and unmarried) face,the solution is ALWAYS with the man.And many a time the man does not want to do anything about it....his ego gets the better of him!
There a deep silence between us as we are both in deep thought.Then she says she's glad she's got it off her chest and she simply says that tomorrow's another day.It might be a good day insyallah God willing.We say our goodbyes and promise to keep in touch.
That heavy feeling is still in my head and I head for the kitchen for a cuppa.I see him there his head bent low over a sodoku puzzle and I wonder.Hey he might do this too then I've got to find another story teller...just joking!Igive him a peck on the cheek and ask him if he too wants a cuppa.

Perhaps Love video

This song is for all who are in love,all who have loved and all who will love soon.Enjoy the song.

Unconditional Love

What is this thing called unconditional love?No conditions set?Just love?It is difficult.Married couples expect each other to stay committed to the marriage and to be faithful to each other.Parents would surely like their children to be around or at least take care of them when they grow old and grey.It is hard to practise this kind of love nowadays.The rat race makes people want to chase their dreams and all they want is money,money ,money!!They forget their committments to the people to whom they owe these committments.
Take the case of the Indian man who literally 'dumped' his Alzeimher-stricken mother in the public rubbish dump.He was caught and sent to jail.Nearer home,there is story about this lady who managed to inveigle her old parents to sign over their house and land to her.She promised them that they could move in with her in their house and they could live with her.She would take care of all her parents' needs.The parents were fine with the plans.There would be someone to take care of them.But a few weeks after the papers were signed,the daughter kicked the old couple out of the house.And so they were homeless.This case is still ongoing as the couple were picked up by a good Samaritan and sent to a home temporarily.
Some of us practise unconditional love.The conditions are already there...not in black and white but somewhere in the recesses of our hearts.Its whether we remember them or not.

Just the two of us

This is just the two of having a quiet moment.Wel, I've done enough reminiscing for the day.It has been a quiet birthday as the boys are away.It's just the two of us again like the old days.There I go again!!!!

Is'nt she beautiful?

Here's H at 2.It was taken during her birthday

H and I

This is me with H at 1.Now she's a blooming teenager and pretty too.She's been doing very well academically scoring straight A's in public examinations.

My 3 sons

My three sons.

Me at 40

Me at 40

The Mexican hat Dance

I hope you noticed starting from SAB the pictures are in colour.With the school sports coming soon ,I was tasked with training two classes for a mass dance.I had never done this before but then who was I to refuse .Not one to complain I set about planning the choreography.Then there was the buying of material for the costumes.It turned out well and I consider that as one of my triumphs as a teacher.The next dance was a Malay dance for the end-of -year concert.I managed to clinch it mostly because of my photographic mind.

Thespian or teacher or both?

We moved again.This time I taught in an all-girls school-a premier school.This was the school I where I spent my happiest days as an educator.The girls were smart ,polite and ever willing to learn.One trait among the girls was to snap pictures.This is a candid shot of me just before the dance rehearsals for sports day.I want to reminisce on one incident which revealed to me one of my callings as predicted by the stars.We were doing Eng. lit.The story was Mill on the Floss a very sad tale.I was reading to the class when suddenly I heard a sob,and another and another.Looking up,I saw that the whole class was in tears.I stopped the class immediately for fear the headmistress would chance to pass by.Her first impression would be that I had caned them.It was later that I found out that I had read so well that the tears fell!Back to what the stars predicted about my choice of career...thespian teacher or a counsellor.

Si Rusa Inn

After I got married I stayed in many places.Each time he was promoted,we moved.But wherever we moved to Si Rusa Inn in Port Dickson was our choice for a holiday.It was run by a bespectacled Indian man with a Japanese wife.They had two sons who helped at the resort and a spastic daughter.We loved SRI because we had a choice of different types of rooms.They had houses,rooms and even caravans.We once stayed in the caravan and we did not feel unsafe at all.It was because the beach front was a private one.The restaurant was the place to go to after a swim.The cooks were all Hainanese and they are known for their Chicken chop dish.WE never tired of this place.Another attraction were the Malay ladies who would without fail arrive at SRI each morning.They would sit under the angsana tree and weave away.They weaved anything and everything that could be woven.Here you see me in a huge beach hat which I borrowed for the pic.Sad to say SRI is a ramshackle place now and everytime we pass by there is that tinge of regret that it is no more.

Too young

I started school young, that is,a year earlier than the others.M was running the canteen in the school and she managed to wrangle a place for me in year one.When I finished my "O" s,I was hardly 15.The trend those days was to temp as a teacher bit nobody wanted me!Too young they said.It was only a year later that I finally got the chance to temp at the Convent school mainly because mother knew someone there!!A year later I finally trained as a teacher.Tht's me in front of my brother's volkswagen.No,I did'nt drive....just posing,just posing.That suit was sewn by yours truly.At that time the bookshops were full of dress-making Japanese books.Though they were all explained in the Japanese language,I managed to figure out what it was all about and hey presto there was I with new clothes every now and then.My favourite book was SOEN ..Until today I do not know what SOEN means.I should find out!

My first formal portrait

This wasthe first portrait taken of me at the photo studio.Iwas 12.I remember that frock.M made it and it was the one that always in the wash....my favourite dress.It was a combination of pink and black.Those days we were the ones who set the trend.Mother was a very good seamstress and she had lots of ideas.Each year on festive days we'd each get at least 4 new dresses to wear.Neighbours used to come to take a peek at them and voila the next day they would come traipsing to the house to show us their newly copied ones.Enough was enough so we hid our new clothes until the day we were to wear them.All of us ..four girls take after our mother as we can all sew pretty well.Thanks M!

At 11

This ole me at the age of 11.Iwas tall for my age and my shoes were...NO not number 9..were the same size as my second sister.So I had double the choice of shoes to wear and it was a pleasure.This extra bonus has had an effect on me till today because I'm a shoe freak.I remember that skirt.It was checked and yellow and white.It was the first skirt that I made myself but the blouse was the compliments of my mother a great seamstress.I am standing tall on a rock at the only seaside in my hometown.

Toni model

See the cutie pie on the left?That's me and I just had my hair 'done'.It was the fashion those days to have home-done perms and TONI was the most famous brand then.My big sister MM was the expert in this and we were her guinea pigs.But we were always happy little guinea pigs because she never failed us.MM is gone now.She died of cancer many years ago and she was a good sister(Half-sister like they say for we shared the same father).Ihope you're happy where ever you are.Be rest assured your girls are doing well and so are the grand children.

Two friends

This pic was taken when I was about 4.The girl next to me was a neighbours's daughter.Icannot for the life of me remember her name but I know we were constant playmates.We played as often as we fought.But it was an unspoken understanding between us that we would make up before bedtime.So we always started the next morning friends.Ps.I don't why this pic is positioned this way and I don't know how to reposition it.Pps.I'm the shorter one in the pic.

Happy birthday to ME

Its my birthday today.Which one you ask..65.Yay and boo hoo.Yay because I'm another year older and more experienced.So you can call an old hand???Boo hoo because this birthday tells me age is catching or has it caught up???Note the number of question marks .This pic was taken as I was reading an sms from M.Thanks M ,for remembering my day.

You know, people often say that seniors like to reminisce and I find it particularly true now that I'm qualified enough!So today,indulge me.Pamper me,oblige me,spoil me and humor me.Allow me the pleasure of reminiscing about the old days.

Flowers,flowers,flowers 10

The lily family-this is the crinum lily or the spider lily.The petals that extend into long ,thin finger-like strings reminds one of the spider's legs.Again it is a fragrant flower and this is one of the flowers I painted for the mural outside the school art-room.Also an easy plant to care for,it has never-ending flowers.

Flowers,flowers,flowers9

Its called Thai Melor and all melor flowers are superbly fragrant!However this melor has NO scent at all....not even the faintest!Still it is a beautiful plant especially if you let it grow tall and plant them in a clump.When the wind blows they sort of sway sensually from left to right and is indeed a sight to behold.

Flowers,flowers,flowers 8

This is the most prized flower in my garden--the phalenopsis.I bought it at the farmers' market at the handsome price of Rm 15.That's the lowest price one should pay for a good orchid plant...I read this in the orchid manual.It used to have only one spray each time it bloomed but this time around there were 2 sprays!!You cannot see the beauty of the colour (purple) because the picture was taken with a camera phone.The blooms are the size of my palm and they have lasted for more than 3 months.

Flowers,flowers,flowers7

The heliconia plant is a very special kind because the flowers come in numerous colours and shapes.I forget the number ..apologies.It is considered an exotic plant and in great demand in countries that experience the 4 seasons.This is one plant that can be left alone after you 've planted it.It needs no fertilizer except for the occcasional trim.However after the flowers fade they have to be cut.You should cut it about 3 inches from the ground so that new shoots will grow.A mass of them in a tall vase makes a great difference to your home decor.

Flowers,flowers,flowers 6

This is actually a cactus plant without thorns though.Its called Desert Lady.This pink one is an ordinary specie and easy to grow.It is the yellow one that's special and all special ones are difficult to care for.I'm happy with my pink one because it never fails me.

Flowers,flowers,flowers 5

The Frangipani was in the old days considered taboo in gardens.It was a plant found only in Muslim cemeteries because theflowers have a very subtle fragrance.So the connection was if the flower is fragrant,spirits head for it!But not now...the belief that spirits love this plant.Why,they are all over gardens in Indonesia!Because the rage was gardens fashioned after Balinese ones,almost eveyone has a pot of this plant.Mine was a cutting from the neighbour.From a little sapling it has grown to a height of 4 feet and more.

Flowers,flowers,flowers 4

This orchid comes from the cattleya family.He bought it for me even though orchids are not really my cup of tea.Still,I appreciate the gesture.The only fertilizer that I've sprayed on it is the soluble type and so far it has worked.Its also a frequent bloomer.The only shortcoming is that it has VERY short stems...the blooms

Flowers,flowers,flowers 3

This is called the Hoya plant.It comes from South America and is considered a difficult plant to have..but it was its beauty and shape that made me buy it.Luck was with me and it flowered quite soon after that.It is still going strong with several blooms every now and then.The blooms sprout from the stem and it has a gentle scent-a nice one.

Flowers,flowers,flowers1

I want to show you some of the flowers that bloom in my garden.The first will be the Bauhinia,a creeper that tested my patience to the fullest.It refused to bloom even after a year and after all the plant food lovingly fed.I changed and it worked!Now there is no need to peek at it every now and then to see if there are any buds at all.

Next was this cactus plant that I had for years.Like they say cactii take some time to bloom and it did in the end.The blooms were a very light pink and the petals indeed delicate.

Gardening woes

The air in the garden is cool,fresh and crisp.As I walk around I feel a great sense of despair as the garden is not what it used to be.S-i-g-h!I guess its the piano ,this laptop and other sad thoughts that have caused me to neglect it.It was at its height of glory a few years ago and thank God I have photographs of them.The garden still has its share of blooms but not as many as before.The flower above belongs to the Lily family...crinum lily and it has a beautiful scent.The scent has been used in perfumes.It is one of the faithful plants in the garden that still blooms no

matter how long it has not been given food!

The piano has taken up a lot of my time for I am so-o-o determined to master it.I guess you can say I'm on my way so meanwhile it's practice,practice and practice!!

This laptop was originally bought for the purpose of learning computer music.Since it is at my disposal I should take advantage of it.So now it is a battle to me to learn the intricacies of this oblong piece of metal they call a 'laptop'.Some times words and phraseology used sound so foreign to me and sometimes when bravado takes over the reins, I click I lose all!Ha ha ha!That was what I went throughduring the teething stage.I was told to be 'brave' and told to go for it..click click click.I think this click clicking has done me a whole lot of good.I've learnt quite a lot of things and its also thanks to S,H and ML.

Sad thoughts?....recent sad thoughts.It is amazing how a person's life can change in the blink of an eye and how the changes affect relationship(s).I am going through this and even if it does not affect me directly,it affects those I love.What can I say except pray for a better tomorrow.AMIN

Password Happiness

Yay! after a few days of having my password (Google) being bounced around,I finally got through without any "user name and password don't match".So I won't rant tonight.I'll write something nice.In a few days time ,I'll be celebrating my birthday.This birthday will be a special one to me because it will mark my tenth year as a woman of leisure!I retired at 55 and since then life has been free and easy.Free because I can pack and go on a holiday without having to worry if my leave will be approved.Easy because my life won't be dictated by that bell.Life is treating me fine ..except for the occasional sniffle.When I was still teaching the only reason why I went on medical leave was because of a cold.These colds were caused by chalk dust that teachers had and still have to breathe in day in and out!
Another reason why this birthday is special is because I like the number 65.It's a nice number..curvy and rounded (like the writer????).Its not angular and sharp like the number 4 or 7.Silly reason though but like I said I got through!
I hope that that extra number added to my age will see a wiser and more patient me.That extra number added will also see my fingers become more supple and deft when dealing with ebonies and ivories.Good night and don't let the bed bugs bite.Selamat malam.

Passwords and passwords!

Grant me a rant today!Its about these things called passwords.Sometimes they work and sometimes (which is NOW) it does not.I am a meticulous sort of person who jots down important things and something like a password is top priority.So why does my gooogle password always get bounced off?If I ask the HELP assistance side,they don't give personal replies.This is sheer frustration especially when I have something to rant about.Being able to rant now is because they(who-o-o????) decided to accept my password....this time around.I wonder if it will work again!!!#^**!!!