101 posts from June 2008

The Front Yard Project

 Week One:

• The in laws arrived precisely on time at 10.00am
• We went straight to business with my dad in law cutting off the bushes that has been covering my front house.
• While mom in law and me cutting them up into small bits so they can be put into the waste bag.
• I can now see the small gate that was hidden before.
• Sadly there are only 4 bags available so we had to stop the work and had lunch
• My dad in law said that we need at least another 8 bags before we continue on the next project which is the Back Garden.
• I can't wait till it's finished and I can start gardening.
• Stopped by a shop for my MIL to buy some fruits before they continued their journey by BUS

The shop

Out of anyone in your address book, with whom would you most like to have lunch today?

Mr and Mrs B

Well that would be my in laws, my MIL phoned me up last night asking if I still needed help with the front yard, so I said yes and they came here this morning and did some of the work done , we had sandwiches for lunch.

Thanks for Coming Over!

Show us a puppy.

Well, I dont have a pet yet much less a puppy but this picture was taken when my husband came to visit me in Jakarta and we met with Connie and Vivi at Hard Rock Cafe for dinner, Connie of course brought her cute dog and Vivi brought her son which was next to my husband in the picture.

Hard Rock Cafe

Scrumptious sunday

Beef - Spaghetti Bolognese

Spaghetti bolognese

Ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil or sun-dried tomato oil from the jar
6 rashers of smoked streaky bacon, chopped
2 large onions, chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1kg/2¼lb lean minced beef
2 large glasses of red wine
2x400g cans chopped tomatoes
1x290g jar antipasti marinated mushrooms, drained
2 fresh or dried bay leaves
1 tsp dried oregano or a small handful of fresh leaves, chopped
1 tsp dried thyme or a small handful of fresh leaves, chopped
drizzle balsamic vinegar
12-14 sun-dried tomato halves, in oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
a good handful of fresh basil leaves, torn into small pieces
800g-1kg/1¾-2¼lb dried spaghetti
lots of freshly grated parmesan cheese, to serve

Method
1. Heat the oil in a large, heavy-based saucepan and fry the bacon until golden over a medium heat. Add the onions and garlic, frying until softened. Increase the heat and add the minced beef. Fry it until it has browned, breaking down any chunks of meat with a wooden spoon. Pour in the wine and boil until it has reduced in volume by about a third. Reduce the temperature and stir in the tomatoes, drained mushrooms, bay leaves, oregano, thyme and balsamic vinegar.
2. Either blitz the sun-dried tomatoes in a small blender with a little of the oil to loosen, or just finely chop before adding to the pan. Season well with salt and pepper. Cover with a lid and simmer the Bolognese sauce over a gentle heat for 1-1½ hours until it's rich and thickened, stirring occasionally. At the end of the cooking time, stir in the basil and add any extra seasoning if necessary.
3. Remove from the heat to 'settle' while you cook the spaghetti in plenty of boiling salted water (for the time stated on the packet). Drain and divide between warmed plates. Scatter a little parmesan over the spaghetti before adding a good ladleful of the Bolognese sauce, finishing with a scattering of more cheese and a twist of black pepper.

Show us something in your house from the 1970s.

1970s

I had to ask my husband for this coz I wasnt even born yet until 1978  and my husband said these 2 books he got when he was 12 years old, the year was 1977.

What have you been putting off all weekend?

Filling up the darn visa forms for my extension stay in England, My hubby hasnt got around to collect all the documents that are required in the form and we had to pay £395 by Post or £595 for application made in person, Jeez!

Saturday market

I had a nice walk with my husband to the Street Market near town, we passed down a street name called Shakespeare Road and I've been itching to take out my camera and just snap whatever was taking my fancy, but there were so many people there so I got abit dizzy and with my husband worrying that I was on people's way and took my elbow in doing so interrupting me taking a shot (sigh). I did have fun, I enjoyed hearing the street performers, the lady who sang on above picture has a very nice jazzy voice, and the below picture showed a group of green t-shirt performers who played "Tequila" song made me want to dance, but before I could shake my booty, again my husband is dragging me back to his side and I guess he was embarassed by me haha, we stopped by The Body Shop to buy my moisturiser and bought a cheese sticks for snacks while we're walking home.

Show us something cold.

Your Ice Cream Personality:

You are an incredibly modest person. You don't feel comfortable bragging about yourself... or even receiving complements. You have a wild reputation, but you're not as wild as you seem. You take risks, but only measured risks. You are a somewhat open minded person, but deep down you're fairly conservative. You don't like trying new things very much. And if you do find something new you like, you stick with it. You are a natural multitasker. You feel alive when you're doing more than one thing at a time. You can be a big dramatic and over the top sometimes. You are bold in every way

The Ice Cream Personality Test

What would make you question a friendship?
Submitted by stueykins.

Friendship

Let's see....I have friends but only one that I call Best friend, pathetic? nope coz then I can give all my undivided attention and my love to that person, listen and give my help when needed. Friendship is something that I value most and it's precious. I am a person who tends to observe and reserve my judgement first before I can call a person my best friend, I dont need many friends but I dont know them very well, what they like or dislike etc,  so the one I have now is the most precious friend I've ever have and that's all i ever need.