Ramadhan

Next week will be the Ramadhan month . The fasting month. My parents will be breaking fast at home this year. Usually my mother likes to break fast in the mosque. I'd like to have more sweet porridge. Well the fasting month is not about food. My husband will be working late as usual .Comel likes to stay in the house. She looks skinny and I could feel her bones. She loves chicken . Both my cats love to eat chicken . My husband said that I feed them everything. I give them prawns too.

Hitam is getting fat . I think he has a new place to eat. He calls out when he is hungry. Comel stays nearer to the house. In the past two weeks , I have allowed her to come into my room and she loves it there. She likes to be close to me. Whenever I watch the television , she would come up to me. She looks sad. One thing about cats that I observe is that they are sometimes sad looking. I had 18 cats 2 years ago . 9 died. I am very sad when my cats die.Usually it was the kittens. My father complained that he could not feed 9 cats and kittens. I know it was hard .

I went for my brother's convocation last Sunday with my parents, sister , brothers and their family. I feel old ,not that 43 is such an old age. I coloured my hair burgundy yesterday. I do have white hair . I love the colour.

My mother is into Tupperware again. Tupperware is forever she says. My sisters too have been buying from her .Today I went window shopping , I saw some metal measuring cups in Tesco and a double -boiler pan for melting bee's wax or chocolate .

Apple Pie

I have succeeded baking an apple pie . Why a pie , you might ask . Perhaps it's a personal choice. I have not tried baking a cake although I have helped my brother baked a cheese cake . In the past years , I have collected pie recipes but never tried to make one. I have wanted to bake a pie because I personally like to eat chicken pies . I have tried baking a pie once using a frozen pastry dough without any success a few years ago. Baking a pie looks daunting especially making the pastry but now I am happy to report that I did succeed. My sisters are here with my niece and nephew. All my sisters are lecturers. They said the pie is tasty. I think I am a late bloomer. Maybe , I could bake nice things after all. If I did not try I would never have known .

Usually when my sisters are here, all my family members would gather . Usually we will cook for dinner. Tomorrow , I am not sure what menu will be . The 'kampong' menu or the 'Nasi Tomato ' menu with dalca , chicken and lamb . I have not uploaded any photos . This will come later.

My husband had taught me how to cook a simple lamb dish. It's made of lamb shoulder cut into cubes, ripe tomatoes and Bird's Eye Chili Pepper, which is also known as Chili padi.

First add the cubed lamb into hot oil and let it cook. Add the chili and some curry powder.When the lamb is cooked add the cubed tomatoes and cook the tomatoes which will become like a sauce. Then add some salt . Usually I will add more tomatoes to this dish . It's a simple tasty dish which is great to have with the tomato rice.

Sometimes , I will make a yogurt chutney . Just blend some chili padi with fresh mint and add to the yogurt. Then add the salt accordingly. Sometimes the nicest dish are the ones with simple ingredients.

Cucumber and Milk Cleanser

I am out of a suitable facial cleanser. Although I have bought a cleanser a few days ago, I still wanted to make a cleanser. After browsing the net for the easiest recipe, I had found one last night. The materials are easily available. I have yet to find the vegetable glycerin or bee's wax. In the morning ,I went to the supermarket nearby. I have juiced the cucumber and added the milk. So this will be my cleansing milk for the next couple of weeks. I have gathered a few more recipes if I do get bored with this one.The recipe is from the net :

This is a gentle cleanser for dry skin.
Ingredients:
1 Cucumber
1/2 Cup Whole Milk
Directions:
Peel cucumber and liquefy it in a blender or food processor. Use some cheese cloth to strain the seeds out of the cucumber. Then put the cucumber and milk into a bottle or jar. Dub a little amount of the mix using a clean cotton balls and gently wipe your face. Then wash your face with lukewarm water. You will need to refrigerate this solution in between uses. It will keep for 5 to 7 days. Don't use it if it smells like it has turned and pretest it on your arm if you have not used this cleanser before.

A week ago , I had started applying lemon juice at night around my eyes and on some of the pigmentation on my cheeks. I was supposed to do it in the morning and at night. I did not do so in the morning as I usually hang my clothes under the sun and lemon juice has sun sensitivity and would cause the skin to darken.

Since I am all alone most of the time. I watch the television and surf the net . I have yet to buy a book to read. As the fasting month approaches , I thought of baking some biscuits . I remember years ago when my mother and sisters would bake a lot of biscuits into the late nights but now my mother buys biscuits.

Home Made Skin Care

I was glued to the computer searching for home made facial cream recipes. I wanted to make my own simple face cream. I dabbled in aromatherapy, making body oil and face oil. Sometimes I make my own oil perfume. I first started buying essential oils when I thought buying perfume was more expensive. Then I bought some books on aromatherapy.

I have not tried making face cream before because I did not know where to buy bee's wax . This year however , I found some local shops in the net which sells bee's wax. The shop is called Multifilla in Balakong. I would go there perhaps at the end of the month. There is another shop named Ajensi Ria in Bandar Tun Razak but it deals in book binding items however it does sell bee's wax. If all fails, I would just buy an unscented cream where I would just add the the essential oils in it. It would be fun though , to make a face cream from scratch.

Another item I was looking for was vegetable glycerin which can be obtained from baking supplies shop. It seems that glycerin is good for the skin. I find it soothing to make these things. It is not an inexpensive past time but I will know what exactly goes into the cream. I would think initially I would have to buy some oils . Grape seed oil,almond oil, Castor oil, sesame oil, bee's wax , vegetable glycerin , castille soap ,honey and some rosewater .Throw in some lemon or lime. I have bought a few bottles of facial turmeric powder the last time went to town so all of these would keep me occupied for the next month.

Sunday

Today my parents had gone to see my youngest brother in Klang. He plans to go to Madinah after he gets his diploma. He will be interviewed tomorrow . He is one of the candidates chosen . I deeply hope and pray that he will be selected. My other younger brother had gone out so has my husband. So , I'm left with my cats. I bought a chicken today. So I made chicken soup and fried spicy tofu. Comel had wanted to come in , so I fed her and Hitam with enough chicken. She always wants to be petted while she sleeps . Like a baby, and then she pees on the sofa. Hitam however does not want to be in the house whenever she is around. Now he is sleeping on the carpet. They know when to come back home when they are hungry.

Yesterday , my sister came for a visit. She will be coming again next week with my other sisters. I am the eldest of eight siblings. Last year my father had grown egg plant. I think my father has green fingers. I remembered when we were young my parents had grown corn , papaya and and banana. I don't remember vegetable though . The mango tree in front of house has only bear fruit once but it does provide shade for the car. My parents had cleared the tiny bush in front of the house . Now my father had planted a papaya tree. There is a screw pine bush . I have never tried gardening. I think maybe now, with a lot of free time , I should give it a try. I'd like to grow some vegetables.

Sago Gula Melaka

Today I had fasted . It was raining in the afternoon. Usually my father would fast every Monday and Thursday but today as he had to take his medication he did do so . So , I have no companion.

Yesterday I had looked in the net for something , a cleanser. I came across Pond's cold cream . It had good reviews. I used to use it about 10 years ago . So today , I went to search for the cream . I went to about 3 pharmacies near the house and then , I walked all the way to the mall in a walking distance. To my disappointment , there is no more Pond's cold cream . So I settled for another cleansing foam. I think I can find the cold cream somewhere KL. Maybe if I follow my husband to work I might find the cream .

In the past 3 days my mother had cooked sweet porridge in the rice -cooker. My father liked it but my mother was against eating anything sweet especially with sugar. She said that at their age , people do not eat that much. I have another 20 years to go. Since I am without any income, I am searching for inexpensive desserts . I have some sago in the shelves, I had just brought palm sugar and there is some coconut . The first time I made the sago , I had boiled too much water and I did not stir the sago, in the end it was watery . So , I bought two packs of sago and look up for a sago recipe . I still could not get perfectly cooked sago. I must have done something wrong but I did get the coconut milk and palm sugar right. So , I break fast with the sago gula melaka and my mother's chicken soup.

Today

After thinking things through, I decided to become a house wife , a home maker in the true sense. I do not want to think about finding work. Or perhaps at this time , I'd better forget about working for some one else . I browse the net in the afternoons and the evenings. My mother is going to see an eye-specialist tomorrow. My grandfather had an operation last 10 years. It could be genetic.

I saw a home page about an eye toner. My mother said that she will go to see the doctor tomorrow and will buy the product when she gets the results. I am short sighted. My younger brother wears glasses. We are the two people in the who wear glasses. I remembered my friend Nor, back when I was in a hostel said that she hated wearing glasses. I like to wear glasses. I didn't mind it so much . Now I cannot see the letters on the books and I have to remove the glasses . The sign of age. I might also try the eye toner. I was reading about raisins juice , I will try that too. Maybe, next month. My husband gave me some allowance last time before I went to work with him. Perhaps he will give me but then he won't . So , I have to be frugal and make do with what I have.

Last Day

I resigned yesterday. I don't think I can work in that office again. Maybe it is too soon but there are things to consider. My boss said I am very slow . There's one thing about experience but since he said that I do not have the capability and criticised my every move , I think that I don't want to work with this kind of boss at all. I've worked in many offices but this is the first time an employer had asked me whether I wanted to quit . After 3 days , he was not happy at all with my work . Besides there is nobody in the whole building for 3 days in a week. It's creepy to work there . Next time I will be careful and note the person the first day I work.

My cats stayed under the bed and I just let them out. I have brought a bottle of honey with nigella sativa or black seed oil. I have been coughing and my athsma is getting worse. The taste is sweet and a bit bitter. I used to take the nigella oil a few months ago . So I am used to the taste.

The black seed oil has rich nutritional, energy-giving value and immune system strengthening properties. It is useful in soothing bronchitis and coughs, increase body tone, stimulates menstrual periods, increases the flow of breast milk, provides quick energy, increases sperm count, calms the nervous system, encourages hair growth and retards hair fall out, and prevents skin wrinkling. My husband is selling the honey .

My father had repaired his car. The first car he bought in 1978. A Russian Lada. Nothing fancy but a nice reliable car. My father used it to teach qur'an our area. My husband had gone to work . He will be back late at night. So I am back to staying at home and surfing the net . Perhaps, I don't want to go back to work.