Rustic Wall Plaque - In This House

I had to, I just had to.  Everyone seemed to have made some form of this in one medium or another.  Wall decals, poster, make-shift anything.  And with variations of the words.  So I couldn't resist making my version, too.

A quick step-by-step for those who may want to make one, too:

1.  With some recycled (I've run out of these - the day has come) and some store-bought wood slats, I sawed and screwed the plaque together first.

2.  Remember, I don't have any fancy-shmancy stencil machine.  Lettering is painfully done by hand, usually chalked on, to space it out, like in the wedding photo-booth (see here). For this project, I used masking tape to tape the letters on, which took me a lonnnnnng time. But I was so looking forward to removing the tape that I spent one night up til 4am tweaking the letters.

3.  Then a quick spray of paint over the taped lettering.

4.  And the fun part - removing all the tape.

Yabadabadooooooo!!!  I love it!

Room Makeover (My Mum is Moving in - Part 2)

In my last blog post I showed you the dresser makeover I did for my Mum's room, before she moved in. This is the second and last part of the room makeover.

First, some before photos...

curtains were these...

there was a tall wardrobe in one corner (now replaced with the dresser)...


walls and doors needed a fresh coat of paint...




the single bed was at the other corner of the room...

First, I sewed new curtains for the room. I had actually bought a pale cream material for the curtains, but to my horror, they showed terrible blotches all over when held up to the sunlight. So back to the store I went with the rejected material, and this was the only alternative they could give me. Pink! hmmm...not me at all. But my daughter helped me tone it down with the Ikea lacy ones which were at a ridiculous price of RM39 (about US$10) for a pair! (she took one piece for her own room - I think that was the plan all along)


And then I was stuck! How in the world does a green dresser go with pink curtains!
This was not what I had envisioned! So I figured the only way I could pull it all together was if I bought bed linen that would somehow match everything. I searched high and low but could not find any that 'flowed'. I was in trouble.

And then I found it! The perfect, perfect, perfect colours in a quilt which could double up as a bedspread as well as a blanket, as it was the thinner version that is more suitable for our weather. But it was for a double bed, so it was more costly. How I had sat for a good half hour deliberating if I could splash so much money when all I needed was a quilt for a single bed. Finally, I decided I liked it too much, it was for my mother after all, I couldn't be looking anymore, so I splurged. And the salesgirl from China said, "you are good daughter".

Wanna see, wanna see??
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See a close-up of the floral print and the perfect colours! (pink from my curtains and green from my dresser!)

It reminded me of the tea-set I had bought and blogged about some months ago.




AND! AND! I had an idea of what I'd do with the balance material as I had to cut off one side that was too long (obviously) for the bed.
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wait
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(holding my heart)
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eeeeeeeeeeek!! And now I shalt waxeth poetic! The balance for a valance!




I'm totally cheating here. I was going to make a wooden beam for the valance (I even bought a piece of meranti wood) but Mum moved in before I could make it. So I just pinned on the balance quilt material onto the existing curtains. You couldn't tell, could you? I'll get round to making the beam. Some day. Maybe.

Also, several months ago, I had bought these two used wooden-framed mirrors, (3 feet tall!) also at a steal - RM15 each.


At first I painted the frames black. Here you can see a during photo, because I don't have a photo of the completed black ones. And they remained so, displayed in my dining room, side by side.
Then I decided to use them in the rooms. The white in me (I have noticed more and more I love white) decided to paint them white. Mum got the clean white while daughter got the distressed one.

Here's Mum's white mirror with a small table covered with vintage, lacy cloth that belongs to her. She is particular about her hair, and I knew she would need a table to sit at, to do it up. (psst...if ever you meet her, tell her how nice her hair is and she'll love you immediately...no, on second thoughts, don't. She'll get suspicious because I know how my friends are - they will ALL really do so!)



Oh, wait. Look at the cute, antique stool that came with her?


See the fresh coat of very light grey paint on the walls and a darker shade for the doors?


A pink rug for just outside the bathroom.
Her Ikea side table that moved in with her. I added a pewter jug (belongs to her) with leaves...







What did my Mum say when she walked into the room?
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"Wah, got a nice big mirror for me to do my hair!"

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New Look

Finally, I have a picture of my very own for my blog header. The earlier, gorgeous one -

was taken from Google, if I remember correctly (obviously taken by professionals). This new one up there is a photo we took while on holiday in New Zealand, in April of this year (we're not professionals but the picture is beautiful anyway).

In case you wondered why this blogspot name is tree-shades, well, I wanted a name that had something to do with trees (the actual name for the blog is Walk with Me, but we couldn't get that header in earlier on, no matter what we tried).

(New Zealand 2011)


You did wonder why my blogspot had such a strange name, didn't you?

Didn't you? (cue sound of a cow mooing in the far distance beyond the hills...)

However, whichever name Tammy my daughter, tried to register my blog with, like "Under the Shade of a Tree", "Sitting Under a Tree" etc, it was somehow taken up...so I had to settle for tree-shades (planted a hyphen right in the middle so nobody could possibly have a similar name). And , that, dear folks, is how this odd name came about.

See? I knew you'd find that interesting....(above mentioned cow in the far distance beyond the hills just mooooved away)

I loooove trees...we just kinda blend together. Can you see?

(NZ 2011)


I think it has a lot to do with the fact that my growing up years were spent
- climbing trees
- building tree houses
- picking pink water jambu, bananas, papayas, mangosteens and rambutans from trees in our backyard or in the neighbourhood.

The house we grew up in was a humongous government house, with a very large garden in front, and another at the back.
And a lot of our time (I have two sisters and three brothers)...

(Freeman Road, Kuala Lumpur, maybe 1967)


....was spent outdoors
- using nets to catch butterflies from the hedges around our house
- scooping up tadpoles and colourful guppies from the drains
- trapping birds with a propped up cardboard box, long string trailing up to our hand, awaiting our victim
- collecting grasshoppers in glass jars with holes pierced through the lid
- playing 'rounders' with a broken wooden beam
- catching and making spiders 'fight' each other on top of matchboxes...

(what? you didn't do all that when you were young?)


So I think being among trees calms me. See how calm I am (in the middle) leaning against a tree?

Oh, wait...that's not a tree. That's my husband.
Ok, but you get my point...
- strong
- stalwart
- dependable
(yes, yes, our anniversary is coming and yes, yes, I'll be happy with just chocolateS, dear. Muak! and don't think I don't know you are reading all my blog posts. And do read this one carefully. I did not say I wanted a tree..) Why do I get the feeling I'm barking up the wrong tree? Tsk.

Really, I love trees so much that if you ever discover an unnamed tree, name it after me! Maybe Pithecellobium Valerenia.


(NZ, 2011)

I came across a beautiful quote on trees:

We can learn a lot from trees: they're always grounded but never stop reaching heavenward. - Everett Mamor

Why wouldn't they? It's natural instinct for Creation (including you and me) to reach heavenward towards the Creator. I can't imagine otherwise!

And I found beautiful trees posing with my daughters.
I mean, my beautiful daughters posing with trees.
My beautiful daughters posing with beautiful trees.
Ok, it's correct now.

(Joni, Singapore 2010)


(Tammy, NZ 2011)





Ummm...
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Got a caption for my Hero up there? I mean, in there? sighhhhhh....

I might share my much-anticipated chocolates (Cadburybarwithhazelnutsoralmondsplease thankyou) with you.
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Nehhhhhhh. Not likely.

So Who's Comin' with Us?

I love this place. My husband Paul, my daughter Tammy, and I took my mother and mother-in-law here, a couple of months ago. I really want to make another trip! Who's coming with us this time?

This is just one of the several public hotspring pools in this one spot. The water in this one is so hot you can only dip your feet in. There's also a much larger pool with milder heat, where you can swim around. That was glorious! Sorry, enjoyed myself so much I forgot to take a photo.

That's my Mum in the black floral outfit, ever the social butterfly, chatting up a group that was there. She just plonked herself among them and made herself at home! The group was playing that Murder-with-a-Wink game, you know? the one where the appointed Murderer has to be identified as he winks at the others. You have to wink at someone else if you're winked at, so there's a lot of winking going on...the aim is to catch the Murderer who is the one who initiates the first wink....or something like that. Well, my mother was so amused with them winking at each other, I bet if she was included she would SO be taking part in this game. And what a massacre that would be! Cos my mother is cute like that (wink wink).



And, that's my mother-in-law (! ) thoroughly enjoying herself in the COLD mountain spring pool, also located here! See how it's ideal for people who wouldn't want to be seen in swimsuits? Heck, I bet they'll even let you in, saree and all. Isn't my mother-in-law cute? (wink wink). And no, I am not saying this with a murderous tone, though I know some people have Mother-Out-Laws.

And yes, now I know where my husband gets his signature pose....








As you can tell by now, I love teasing my hubbie (wink wink). And he loves it whenever I feature him on my blog. pfft.

Mother-in-law, thoroughly enjoying herself! Oh, I already said that?



This is the super-hot pool where you lower down eggs in a basket and have them hard-boiled. Some say the eggs taste different but it's actually the thrill of boiling them this way that is the novelty, if you ask me. You can buy the eggs there (not too expensive), as you're not allowed to bring your own in. Whatever you do, DO NOT fall in here! Cos I have a terribly vivid imagination and all kinds of things come to my mind....
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Place: Felda Hotspring, Sungei Klah

Location: About halfway to Ipoh (from Kuala Lumpur, about 70km)

Directions: Take the North-South Expressway (PLUS), exit at Sungkai toll exit. Sungkai is between Slim River and Bidor. Look for the TRAP signboards (Taman Rekreasi Air Panas), Sungai Klah, or Felda Residence Hot Springs. It's about 20 minutes from the toll exit. The roads may look very rural but don't worry, you'll get there.

Travelling time: 1 hr 15mins if you're a mad driver, 1 hr 45mins if you're a careful driver - and if you don't get lost

Operating hours: 8am - 10pm

Cost: Entrance fee 10 ringgit per person, for free use of hot pools with varying degrees of heat, and large cold mountain spring pool with man-made waterfalls and slides, clean bathroom facilities, parking area

When: Saturday, 20th August, 2011.

Meeting time: 9am

What to bring: A change of clothes, towel, toiletry, some money to buy food and eggs for boiling, drinking water (I think it will be allowed). Swimwear unnecessary (shorts and tee-shirt will do - sarees, too)

What is a hotspring? Here's what the Felda website says:
Natural hot springs are a common occurrence in Peninsular Malaysia. This phenomenon occurs when water that seeps into the Earth is heated by magma; molten rock located beneath the surface of the Earth.The Earth’s pressure then causes the water to again rise above the surface, forming a natural hot spring.

If you don't know, hotspring water is supposed to have therapeutic qualities.

The water flowing from the hot springs has several therapeutic healing effects. Since ancient times hot springs have been claimed to have positive effects on ailments such as:

• Stiff joints and stress related ailments
• Rheumatism
• Arthritis
• Insomnia
• Derma related complaints
• Respiratory concerns
• Spinal injuries and fractures

Other facilities:

1. villas (for families staying in)- Fully booked now, as it is half-price during this Muslim Fasting month

2. hotel rooms - still available, on offer RM110 (for 2 persons in one room).

3. private family bath (this is a hot pool to yourselves, no need to share) - 75 ringgit
per hour, 6 - 8 persons

4. larger private family bath - 150 per hr, 6 - 8 persons

5. large private family pool - 15ringgit per person, total 3 hours

If you plan to stay the night, we'd have to book early so please respond quickly. In any case, we'll be going for a day-trip if we don't manage to get a reservation.

Here's the website for more information:

http://www.feldatravel.com.my/Residences/HotSprings/hotspring_rna.shtml

It's a great way to bond!

So who's coming? Please send me a message here, in the comments section.

My baby does things behind my back!

She's turning 17 today! WHA-??

Quick, sound the alarm! Call the Fire Brigade! Call the Ambulance! Call the Police! Somebody has to stop this!

Growing up so quickly should not be allowed!

It should be.. it should be...made illegal if you ask me!

She was just sweet 16, just! Now it seems like she is vrooming into adulthood. What's the hurry I'm askin' you, what's the hurry, huh? Speed kills!

I don't wanna think about it, I don't wanna talk about it, I don't wanna blog about it.

Oh, waydeminit, I have to blog about it cos my memory is going and sometimes I'm not even sure who is who in the photos. Tammy (Tamara Jayne) sometimes looks SO like her older sister, Joni..
(Tammy on left, Joni on right)
(Joni on left, Tammy on..no, Tammy on left...wait.....Jo...)


One day you're a weelittlecutiechickenpie (like the one Sin Yee's aunt makes)...


and the next, you've suddenly blossomed!


One day you're just a little pig-tailed girlie...



And the next you've suddenly shot up!



Even overtaking your sister, 9 years your senior!

(sister, Joni, is sitting on Tammy's lap)



At 17, you've already been to Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore and India

And soon you'll be going to New Zealand...

aaaah....New Zealand.......
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(Ok, so Tony Willis isn't exactly New Zealand but gimme a break man, he's all I got. It was either him or a bunch o' sheep. And who'd rather have a picture of a bunch o' sheep? Ok, don't answer that. I don't know why I invite trouble like this)


At 17 you can speak Thai, you can sing well, you can write poetry...


As a Malaysian Chindian* (*a coined word meaning Chinese+Indian - of mixed parental heritage) you've sometimes gone Chinese...
sometimes Indian...

and sometimes (just thrown in for good measure) even Punjabi...
(I hope it isn't any indication of an identity crisis)


At 17, you've just been an MC for a wedding dinner with 700 guests!

At 17, you've just been a Maid of Honour...


Someday you're gonna meet your own Prince (and I'm gonna come to pieces) who may not look like anything you envisage now...
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wait..
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coming...
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hold your heart..
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but you know how the story can go....


On this your 17th birthday, I, your Mommy, want you to know that regardless of your roots

meaning, regardless of the fact that sometimes your Dad is a little...umm...strange


and your Mom doesn't always show you the kind of affection you may want


if ever you find yourself all alone..
abandoned..
drowning....


your family will always be there for you.

Even if you find it difficult to believe it sometimes.


Cos blood runs thicker than water.

Love you heaps, Tam.