Learning Journey

When I was working as a teacher, I would, from time to time, bring my class on educational trips which we call Learning Journeys.  I do enjoy those trips since it's an opportunity to get out from the confines of the classroom and to learn something new - even for me.  I hope my students would have learnt something as well too.

Now that I am a student again, I do find it boring to sit inside the classroom for hours and study.  But I never would have thought that I would have a chance to be on such a trip here.  The lessons are free, after all, so I didn't think we would be taken on such educational journeys.  So imagine my surprise when the teacher announced that we would be going on a trip to the Concert Hall.  

Yesterday morning, the clouds were dark and heavy.  It looked like it was going to rain anytime but we all still made our way to the Concert Hall.  We met outside the school and then walked to the bus stop nearby. The teacher paid for all of us with the school's bus pass and then in 15 mins, we reached our destination.  It started to drizzle but we still had some more walking to do.  So we walked on.  Luckily the rain here is usually light so we didn't get too wet.

Once there, we were met by one of the guys that work for the Concert Hall.  He gave a short intro about the place and the kinds of performances that were held there.  He also told us about the theatre that we were about to enter.  The members of the orchestra were already in there doing their individual or group practices but we were allowed to go on stage to have a closer look.  Understandably, he reminded us not to touch anything.  Simply keep our eyes and ears open and our mouths shut.

Inside the theatre, the musicians were all busy practicing their pieces.  Since they weren't playing together, it sounded like a mess.  But that's how it's like, I suppose.  After a short walkabout on the stage, we went outside again where we were taught the names of the various instruments and their families, in Swedish, of course.  The names are basically the same as in English but the spelling and pronunciations are slightly different.  

Then, we were given a pleasant treat.  We were allowed back into the theatre again.  This time, the orchestra was rehearsing their pieces, led by the conductor and the show's producers and directors.  The show was called Joystick 5.0.  The orchestra was basically playing music and theme songs from popular computer games such as Assassin's Creed, Halo and so on.  

I don't play those games so I wasn't familiar with the songs but I enjoyed them nonetheless.  And the orchestra was good.  Now that they were all playing in sync, it was beautiful.  There was even a singer who provided the vocals and made the songs even more haunting.  We were there for half an hour and in that time, we got to listen to two whole songs.  

In between, the conductor would every so often, stop the music to give some instructions to certain musicians or the singer.  He would even jump down  from the stage and run to certain corners of the hall to check on the sound.  What a treat to see an actual professional concert rehearsal!  And they were all very professional.  I see them writing notes on their score sheets whenever some changes or instructions were given.  

Once time was up, I was loathe to leave my seat but I guess I would have to just buy a ticket next time and watch a proper concert.  The orchestra will be playing for free in one of the parks this summer so I might just drop by with Pete.  

Making our way back to school was a bit eventful. My teacher lived very near the Concert Hall so she didn't want to have to bring us all back there and then she has to make the trip back home again.  Plus it was her birthday so I guess she wanted the day off since we weren't having any lesson after that.  Anyway, we were all adults so we could make our way back ourselves. 

The only thing was the school's bus pass.  She gave me the card and told me to pay for the class and to ask for the receipt. She also told me that the card contained a lot of money so I had to be careful not to lose it.  It wasn't a big deal since I've been leading countless of classes on such trips before. 

We decided to take two buses instead.  That meant that we would cut down on our walking.  So I led my classmates up the bus, spoke to the bus driver in Swedish and got the receipt.  Then, changing buses, I also talked to the bus driver in Swedish.  I got my classmates safely back and I returned the card to my teacher today.  The best things about the day was not only the beautiful music by the orchestra, it was that the teacher trusted me enough and that the bus drivers understood me.  Now that was awesome!

You can see the conductor giving instructions to the singer in the red dress in the front of the stage.

Chicken Rice

Chicken rice is arguably one of Singapore's best loved dishes.  Everywhere you go in Singapore, you can find this very aromatic dish. It's a very simple combination of rice cooked in chicken stock, ginger and other flavourful ingredients, steamed/roasted/fried chicken and a chili sauce that has punch.  Simple but with unforgettable flavours.  

After moving here, I've never attempted to make it.  Back home, any time I had a craving for it, I had a choice of 4 places to buy it from, and those places are just 10 minutes away from my place.  While waiting for the dish to be ready, which only takes a few minutes, I would enjoy the delectable smells wafting from the kitchen.  So heavenly and so mouth-watering.  

But here, of course, I would have to cook it myself.  I didn't attempt to at first because I wanted it to be authentic and that meant that I would need to cook the rice in lots of chicken fat and oil. I couldn't make myself use that much oil in a dish but one day, I really had a huge craving for it.  So I caved.

I looked at the recipes online and as usual, didn't follow any.  I only used them as a guide as I changed and combined the various recipes to suit my palate, waist line and of course, my pantry.  It's not easy to find ingredients like pandan leaves and even fresh red chilies but luckily I stocked up my pantry with the essentials just days ago.

I must say that although I had to make a number of different components just for one dish, it wasn't difficult and didn't take too long.  As the rice was cooking, the whole kitchen smells like a hawker centre in Singapore.  You can always find a few chicken rice stalls in hawker centres, or food courts.  So the smell of the chicken rice being cooked took me back instantly to my hometown.  Once the dish was ready, the first mouthful was not a disappointment. It was almost like those back home, except that it was less oily.  I can live with that if it meant that I could cook this healthier version more often.  Pete enjoyed it also.  He loves chicken, rice and soya sauce so it's a real hit with him.

I don't have a proper recipe for the dish I cooked.  As usual, my method of cooking is to throw stuff in and taste as I go along.  But I will write what I know and the measurements are just approximations.

First, I made the chicken stock.  I put 2 whole chicken legs and 2 thick slices of ginger into a pot and covered the legs with water.  Don't use too much water.  Once the stock is boiling, I turned down the heat and simmered it until the chicken is cooked.  I skimmed off the scum that floats to the top from time to time. I also added a bit of chicken stock cube towards the end to make it more flavourful.

While the stock is boiling, I made the chili sauce.  It's not chicken rice without this sauce.  I put 5 fresh red chillies, 4 cloves garlic, a thumb sized ginger piece, cut into smaller cubes and juice from 2 big limes into a blender and whizzed them up.  I added a few tablespoons of sugar and a teaspoon of salt.  Once the ingredients are well blended I poured the mixture into a clean jar and adjusted the seasoning.  I found the chilies to be fiery hot so I added more sugar.  I also added a bit more lime juice and a bit of the chicken stock.  The sauce should be spicy, sweet, garlicky and a bit sour too.  I love this chili sauce.  I even drizzle this sauce over my curry puffs.  Yummy! 

To make the rice, I grated half a big onion.  It's better to use shallots but I don't have them.  They are expensive here.  I also grated 3 cloves of garlic.  Then I sliced about 3 thin slices of ginger and set aside 2 pandan leaves, tied in a big knot.  I heat oil in a wok and added the grated onion and garlic.  I fried them until fragrant, only about a minute or so and then added some chicken fat.  I reserved chicken fat whenever I cleaned up whole chicken just to be used in this dish.  I think that made the dish more authentic.  Then, I added the washed and drained rice.  I made sure the rice grains are coated with oil and then poured everything into the rice cooker.  I added the ginger and pandan leaves and the chicken stock.  I also added a bit more salt and let the cooker do its thing.

When the rice is cooking, I roasted the chicken legs.  The proper roasted chicken back home is quite difficult to make, especially to get the skin dry and crispy.  My method is a short cut.  I simply added some oyster sauce, soya sauce and sweet soya sauce to the chicken pieces and then roasted them in a hot oven (200C).  Since they are already cooked, I only roasted enough to crisp up the skin.  I also brushed the skin with a bit of oil to make it extra crispy.  

The excess soya mixture I used with the chicken I poured into a small saucepan.  I added a bit more of the ingredients and a bit of chicken stock and heated it up, just until it thickens a bit.  I like mine a bit sweet so I added a bit more sweet soya sauce.  And that's all.  Once everything is ready, serve the sauces in separate sauce bowls or drizzle the soya sauce over the rice and the chili sauce on the side. Don't forget to garnish with cucumber - that's the traditional way.  I served mine with lots of salad leaves, just to lessen the guilt a bit!  

Building fences

One of the major problems for us at the garden is the wild rabbits.  They are either getting hungrier or there are more of them this year.  So one of the garden projects that we had to work on immediately is building a proper fence to prevent the rabbits from coming in.  What we currently have is a make shift fence using metal poles and chicken wire.  It was flimsy and even if it wasn't, the rabbits would have no problems sneaking in since we have no gate.  I guess that's why the rabbits thought that we welcome them with open arms.

To build this fence, Pete came up with a simple design which wouldn't take too many parts and too much assembly.  He calculated the amount of wood, number of screws and other details like that.  We also went to the store to check on the prices of stuff.  We made sure we planned everything well since it wouldn't do to find that we don't have enough wood or screws to complete the project. 

Planning also involved working out how much wood to buy and how to cut the wooden planks so that they would fit into the car and that we wouldn't have to saw too many times.  That's because the store sells long pieces of wood and there are sawing tables for customers to cut into size.

Working out the details feels like I'm solving a PSLE Math question.  In this case, we needed 11 pieces of 1m planks, 11 of 0.8m planks and 22 of 0.9m planks.  The planks are sold in lengths of 3.8m. So what is the minimum number of planks did we have to buy so that we wouldn't have too much extra wood.  Also the planks cost 4.98 kronor per metre so how much did we pay for the wood?  Real world problem.  My Math teacher-friends, you are welcome to use this in your tests.

Anyway, we bought the stuff on Saturday afternoon and immediately worked on it once we got home.  We already cut each long plank into two so that we didn't have too much sawing and less cleaning up at home.  It was hard work to cut the planks into size and screw the pieces together.  Although ours is a very simple fence (it's a temporary garden, so it didn't have to be perfect), it took a lot of hours of measuring, sawing, screwing and hammering.  It was evening when we finished - 11 panels altogether. 

The balcony was our temporary workshop

We wanted to put up the fence the next day but it rained the whole day.  Today, the weather wasn't looking great but it wasn't raining when I got home from school.  It was cloudy and grey but it wasn't windy nor cold, so we decided to put up the fence.  Pete's mum came along and she was a great help.

There was still a lot of work to do before we could put up the panels.  We had to attach the chicken wires from the previous fence to the panels and that took a lot of hammering.  Pete couldn't bend his knees so it was up to his mum and me to hammer the wire onto the fence panels.  His mum, though old (67), is very strong.  She knelt down with me to work on the fence, hammering away.  We had to fit the wires onto every panel including the gate, so it felt like hours passed before we were done.

After the chicken wires had been attached, Pete hammered the pieces into the ground and then attached them together using brackets.  More hard work as it wasn't easy to pound the fences into the ground.  It started raining halfway through but it helped to make the ground softer.  If not for the rain, it would have been even harder to puncture holes into the ground.

After two hours, we were all done.  The chicken wires weren't long enough so we had two panels that were bare.  The rabbits could still come in so we would need to get those done as soon as possible.  But I must say that the fence is looking good.  Simple but it should do it job.  The final thing to do after attaching the last bit of chicken wire would be to attach a latch to the gate and then our project would be completed.  A simple fence, built from scratch, lots of satisfaction.

Burst of green

Spring is in full spring here.  Just last week, there were many trees and bushes that were still brown and devoid of any sign of life.  And now, just a mere few days later, the trees and bushes have all exploded with color.  

As I walk to school, I could see all the trees in brilliant shades of green and on some, flowers have already started blooming.  Pete and I took a bus ride today and I could see just how colorful it is everywhere. Malmö is really a green city.  The city takes pride in all the green spaces spread out across the districts.  Gorgeous pine, oak and other trees line the streets, pockets of bushes and flowers of daffodils, tulips and lavender pop up all over the city and vividly colored pansies and petunias grow out if the many planters all around the residential areas.

After months of bare, brown bushes and trees, I am grateful for these fleeting beauties.  Now that I know how long it takes for nature to recover from winter, I am going to appreciate them even more. 

The first casualty

After three cloudy days, the sun came out and shone brightly. The sky was clear blue and there was not a dark cloud in sight. In other words, it was a great day to be at the garden. It has been a week since we planted the main crop. Pete and I have been dropping by the garden when we took our walks during fine weather. The seeds that we sowed haven't shown any signs of growth yet, the seedlings that we planted have been surviving and the weeds have kept out.

But today, when I caught the first glimpse of the garden, I could see weeds invading the vegetable beds. Also, dandelions have sprouted all over the garden. Not a good sign. That usually meant I would have my work cut out and that I would be spending a fair bit of time on my knees as I pull out these pesky invaders.

Then, as I inspected my pumpkin patch, I discovered one plant missing! My mother-in-law, who usually comes with us on Sundays, told us that one day when she was at her garden, she saw one of the plants dug out and tossed aside. She believed that a rabbit had dug it out and gnawed at it. She tried to plant it back again but the roots must been too damaged so it didn't survive.

Rabbits! Another unwelcome invader of our garden. I know that they would come into the garden. They've left behind lots of poo all over and I noticed that they have been nibbling on the wild chive plants that I have at the corner of the garden. I think they've been eating my lavender too. The lavender plants should be nice and tall by now. Instead they are stunted and still so small.

We have had some problems with the rabbits last year. They ate some of the pea shoots and the peas themselves. But they hadn't given us too much problems then. This year, I feel like they could be more brazen. There are more rabbit pellets this time and they have been attacking more of our plants - and they haven't even really started growing yet.

Also, our neighbor last week went over to our side to patch up some holes in his fence. He also wanted to prevent the rabbits from getting into his garden. Pete and I have planned to build a better fence with a snug gate and covered with chicken wire but we haven't managed to start yet. Looks like we would need to hurry and get this done as soon as we could before more of our plants get ruined.

my pumpkin patch

a close up of a healthy pumpkin seedling when not attacked by rabbits

Yay for spring!

Spring is here to stay. After a long and cold winter, the weather has been kinder to us. For more than a week, it has been relatively sunny and warm and the days have been getting longer as well. The sun rises at around 5am and will not set before 8pm. Because of that, there have been more activity outdoors. More kids are out playing at the playground, playing football and rollerblading along the bicycle path. More people are also cycling to get around the city. People have also started BBQ-ing as well. The city is alive again.

People are not the only active ones around. Nature has also come alive. The brown twigs and branches of trees and shrubs have started to be covered by fresh, green leaves. Some trees and bushes take longer to turn green. Some seemed to have grown a whole new crown of green leaves overnight. The trees outside my classroom, for example, are now so green and lush, when it was all brown just a few days ago.

Flowers have also sprung up all round the city. The common wild ones are the brilliant yellow dandelions. They have started sprouting first. I can also see daisies but they are still small and cute. Planters around the residential areas have also been filled with colorful pansies - yellow, purple and red. They are such cheerful flowers and they make me smile when I see them.

More and more birds are also up and about. It's really lovely to be woken up by the chirping birds outside the window. I can spot more species of birds now, though I haven't learnt their names yet. More cats are also venturing outdoors. I spot them as I walk to school or to the stores.

Because of the nice weather, Pete and I have started our walks again. It's a favorite time for me since its a time for us to chat, enjoy the scenery and have our exercise at the same time. I would put on my jacket when I start but halfway through the walk, I would have to take it off since I would get warm. Even when it's not sunny like today, we would work up a sweat. It's rather nice to feel a bit of heat and to sweat again. It's back to twice daily showers for us and best of all, no need for body lotion since my skin is not dry anymore.

I love spring!

Year One

It's been a full year since I've made the huge step of moving here. I left behind my loving family, wonderful friends, loyal cats, rewarding job and a peaceful home to join my husband here, where I start with nothing. I have to learn a whole new language, adapt to the culture and literally find my bearings here.

Was it easy? I have to say "Yes" and "No". The first few weeks I took it easy. I left everything to Pete. He brought me around. I simply followed, opening my eyes wide to take in everything - the people, the places, the culture. Observing. That was the easy part. What made it easy was Pete. We are so lucky that we both speak a common language ( English, of course) very well and so it was easy to understand each other. He was always with me, explaining in detail every question that I had.

Also, since we established our relationship while we both were 9,000km apart for most of the time, being able to finally live together was wonderful. We stayed close to each other all the time and we held hands everywhere we go. We still do, so I guess the honeymoon period is still not over for us.

But after awhile, it started getting harder for me. From sharing a home with my parents, siblings and cats, I now share it with just one other person. The quiet was a bit hard to adjust to. I only have him to talk to when previously I would chat with my sister, be nagged at by my mum and fend off some attention seeking cats. But on the up side, the remote's all mine! I can watch whatever I wanted but the problem is the programs are all different. I missed all my food shows and they kept showing reruns of programs from way back in 2005. I missed MY cable tv!

I would listen to the radio in the kitchen as I cook. That's another big difference. Pete helped me set it to the Gold channel. Just like back home, they would play the oldies from the 60s - 90s. However, again here, they kept playing the same songs several times a day! I miss the radio channels back home.

Apart from having to adjust to this country, I also had an added stress - adjusting to married life. We had to adjust to living together. Just as how I had to adjust to living with just one other person, Pete had to adjust to sharing his apartment with me. He has been living alone for many years so it wasn't easy for him either. It was a bit rough in the beginning, but we have a lot of respect, patience and understanding for each other, not to mention that we love each other to bits. Whenever we faced issues, we would talk about them calmly. Sometimes we would talk about it over a couple of days until we finally work things out. That makes us understand and love each other even more.

Also, back home, I have lots of friends and I would hang out with them very often. Sometimes we would hang out until late, even. Ad no matter which of my friends I hang out with, we would have a lot of laughs. I'm not saying that Pete isn't fun. On the contrary. We share the same kind of humor and we would make each other laugh all the time. But it's not the same here since it's costly to go out to eat or watch movies. Pete is also the kind of guy who is happier staying at home than being out and he hates crowd. He does bring me out sometimes so that's fun but I have become more used to staying home now. It's fine by me since it is very comfortable at home. The weather outside could be too cold.

The weather! Another thing to adjust to. It was spring when I first moved here. I found it a bit chilly sometimes but I enjoyed spring and summer immensely. I also enjoyed the fall since I got to layer my clothes. Winter was awesome when it snowed but when the low temperatures felt like it was going on and on and I kept falling sick, I wished for the warmer weather back home.

On the whole though, it hasn't been too bad. Sometimes I would have bouts of homesickness. Then, I would either chat with my family or friends or just send them messages. I also enjoy meeting up with Pete's sisters and friends so we have been relatively social here. I also enjoy learning Swedish. My eyes light up when I learn new words and I feel a sense of satisfaction whenever I speak proper Swedish and am understood. That always surprises me since I think my accent prevents people of understanding me.

All in all, it has been a great first year. As I sit here and think about what I had gone through, I think about what was it that made me do it. How could I have simply left my old life? What was I thinking? Well, for me, the answer is simple - nothing. Just as how I worked out in the gym for hours everyday when I wanted to lose weight, or how I would wake up at 4am every weekend to train for a marathon. I would not think about it because the more I think, the more the doubts would creep in. I didn't allow the what-ifs to sneak into my head. After I decided that this would be the best thing for me, I summoned every ounce of courage I had and said goodbye to my old life.

Courage and faith. I had faith that things would be ok. And they are. I love it here and best of all, I am loved here too.

Ayam Masak Lemak - the smell of home

Whenever I start to feel like I'm missing my home and family, I would cook something that my mum would cook for us, something traditionally Malay. I had a whole chicken, fresh chillies and a can of coconut milk so I decided to make something that the whole family loves - my mum's ayam masak lemak. It's chicken cooked in a spicy coconut gravy. We have some fussy eaters in the family but everybody loves this.

It's a very simple recipe but the result is a very delicious dish that goes so well with freshly cooked rice. The first step to making this dish is frying the chicken pieces. While the chicken, which had been marinated with turmeric powder and salt, were frying, the smell was heavenly and it really took me back home. That's the smell of my kitchen whenever my mum cooked for us. My mum is such a great cook and whenever we smell chicken being fried, that meant that we were going to be in for a treat.

That smell also reminded me of all the times my mum got me to help her fry chicken while she prepared the rest of the ingredients or finished cooking other dishes. Funny how I didn't think to learn the recipes while she was cooking. All I knew was my usual tasks of frying the chicken or cutting up vegetables or something menial like that. Now that I'm away from home, I always have to rely on calling her to ask her for her recipes.

That reminds me too, of the time I asked for one of her recipes and the recipe I got was "$0.50 of cumin, $0.50 of coriander..." She's so cute! But I guess that's how it is with the older, experienced cooks. They don't really measure ingredients accurately. They go by feel and straight-forward eyeballing. Such experts.

But her recipes work for me, though I might have to adjust the quantities a bit. I'm only cooking for two while my mum is used to cooking big batches to feed all of us at home. Anyway, this recipe is quite foolproof, I think. I'll share the recipe here both as a way for me to remember it and also for some of my foodie friends to give it a go. Do try this. When the rice was cooking and the gravy was gently bubbling away, the smell in the kitchen was divine. It drew Pete into the kitchen several times to check on the dish, just as how my siblings and I would sneak into the kitchen to nick pieces of the chicken before the dish was done. We both couldn't wait to tuck in and with clean, empty plates after, you can bet it was a good dish.

Ayam Masak Lemak

1 whole chicken cut into 8 pieces
1 tbsp turmeric powder
1 tsp salt
Oil for deep frying

Marinate the chicken pieces in the turmeric powder and salt and fry them in batches just until the skin browns a bit and the chicken is half-cooked.

5 - 8 fresh red chillies
1 large onion
3 large cloves of garlic
3 tbsp oil
1 lemongrass
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 big can of coconut milk
1 cup water
1/2 a small cabbage, cut into smaller pieces
1 chicken stock cube
Salt to taste

Blend the chillies, onion and garlic. In a pot, heat the oil and fry the chili mixture, lemongrass and the turmeric powder until the mixture is dry (about 8 mins). Add the fried chicken, coconut milk, water and cabbage. Stir well and allow the mixture to boil. Add the chicken cube. Once the chicken is fully cooked, taste the gravy and adjust the seasoning by either adding more salt or water. Serve with rice.

I added carrots to mine 

Let the planting begin!

By the time we both felt healthier, the days have gotten warmer and sunnier. Temperatures have been hovering between 8 - 15C daily and there have been more sunny than windy and cloudy days. After many many months, we finally started planting in our garden.

Last Sunday was warm and sunny and so we went to the garden with my mother-in-law. She has been putting more work into her garden. She has already started planting a week before. She planted potatoes, onions and strawberries. This time, she planted carrots and beets. We only planted potatoes, onions and carrots. I was supposed to plant the first batch of seedlings but they died so I have to wait maybe one or two more weeks before the next batch is ready for transplanting.

We have already plotted out our potato, carrot and onion beds. Pete helped to dig out deep trenches for the potatoes while I worked on a row of carrots next to him. After planting the carrot seeds, I carefully placed the potatoes into the trenches and filled them up with soil. At the same time, Pete planted the onions. The beds are side by side and they are quite close together, so we kept on stepping on the newly planted beds by accident. It was then that I knew I had to put some markers on the ground so we know where the beds are and what were planted.

After all the planting, I looked around the garden and found that the strawberries I planted last year have survived. I thought I lost them since they looked so dead at the end of last summer. Luckily I didn't pull them out to throw them out. When I checked them out, the leaves looked healthy and green. My mother-in-law had lots of wild strawberries in her plot. The previous owner grew lots of them and the garden was overtaken by the hardy plants. She dug up some and gave them to me so I could plant them in my garden. I planted them next to the existing plants.

Again, the strawberry bed looks inconspicuous so I made a mental note to remember to either buy or make markers for the plants. We both, again, accidentally kept on stepping on the strawberry bed. I better remember the markers or there'll be no plants left after we stomp all over them!

Yesterday was a holiday and it was another great day to be at the garden. In the morning, I made sure I have the markers ready. Instead of buying them, I made my own using bamboo sticks and washi tape that I use in scrap booking. I also used a label machine since I don't have water-proof markers.

When Pete and I got to the garden, we used garden string and bamboo sticks to mark out the individual vegetable beds. Then I stuck the markers into the ground. The garden looks better now and it made it easier to find our way around the beds.

When I was about to mark out the strawberry bed, I found two healthy looking rhubarb leaves peeking out from the ground. Again, I thought I lost them! I planted them last year but they didn't look like they were growing well and shriveled up. But they proved me wrong. Wonderful! I planted another rhubarb plant at another location but it has been buried under the compost heap. Hopefully we would find another pleasant surprise after we've cleared the compost off it.

'morot' is Swedish for carrots...no points for guessing what 'potatis' mean

Second batch

Since my first batch of seedlings died on me, I started again last Sunday. I still have lots of toilet rolls left and so I made more pots. I planted more cabbage and broccoli seeds. I didn't plant cucumber seeds in these pots. In the first batch, the cucumbers were the only ones that didn't grow seedlings at all, so this time I planted some in proper plastic pots.

I put them on a tray and placed the tray in a clear plastic bag. I poked small holes and then tied the bag up. It is to be a sort of a mini greenhouse. I left them in the balcony but then I moved them into a dark, warm corner in the living room. My seedlings in the first batch had thin, spindly stems and my mother-in-law said it could be because I put them in the sun. That made them grow towards the sun and made them grow long but thin. So let's see if this works better.

I haven't actually lost all of my seedlings. I planted some pumpkin and butternut squash seeds in a cardboard container. The container used to hold tomato purée which I emptied and washed. They were bigger than the toilet roll pots and I figured would fit the bigger seeds better. It took a long while before I found any sign of growth there. Day by day, I would peek into the plastic bag to see if anything was happening. I even opened up the bag to check but...nothing.

Last week, though, I thought I found something green in the soil and true enough, when I opened the bag, I found two strong leaves finding their way out of the soil. I planted two varieties of pumpkin but only one had seedlings. I thought the other one wasn't going to grow but a few days later, I found seedlings there as well. The butternut squash seeds haven't grown yet. They might grow, or not. So a few days ago, I planted more seeds. Just in case. We'll see how this batch will turn out.

Sick of being sick

I haven't quit this blog. The main reason I haven't been writing much here is because I have been rather under the weather these past two weeks. Pete and I have been falling ill these last couple of weeks. Actually we have been taking turns to get sick. When one of us fell ill, the other would be ok at first but will succumb to the same illness within a couple of days.

That was what happened two weeks ago. Pete was very ill with fever, clogged nose, sore throat - all the symptoms of a very bad cold. I thought I would be ok since we have been eating healthily and exercising regularly, but I fell sick as well. This time, I felt really, really horrible. I felt like cutting off my head or just my nose. Both my nostrils were clogged and it was so difficult to breathe. It was impossible to sleep so I was sleep deprived as well. So it wasn't surprising that I had terrible headaches.

I think we took two weeks to feel good enough to get back into our daily routine. I didn't go to school nor did I do any reading or studying. I also didn't really take care of my seedlings. I left them in the balcony and maybe it was too cold for them and they started to wither. By the time I remembered about them and tried to save them, they were gone.

I don't know why I have been getting colds very often. I wasn't sick at all during winter but the last two months, Pete and I have not been in the best of health. Maybe my body needs to adjust to the weather here. These last few weeks, the weather has been quite unpredictable. It could be a chilly 3C in the morning as I walk to school and then when school is over in the afternoon, it could be a sunny and warm 15C. Maybe the fluctuations in the temperature makes it easier for me to get sick. Pete is also puzzled that he has been sick quite often this year. Maybe he's been getting sick because of me.

Anyway, I hope the weather will be better soon. We really don't want to fall ill again. Both of us have quite important stuff to do ahead of us and we would like to be as alert and healthy as we can be.