Wanted: Fairy Godmother or Elves

What I love most about Brunei is the sun that we get. Especially more so since I've discovered baking in the car. There is also the ever lovely and feel of laundry drying in the sun. I normally do laundry once every week or 2 weeks, depending on how busy we are. This helps save water and detergent due to the big loads. And we have the rollies clothes line, so its fairly easy to just roll them in for the night and roll them out for the day

Another Eco project that I'm slowly starting is my indoor/outdoor edible plants/garden. I'm starting slowly and one pot at a time. This is due to the fact that the first time we tried to have a plant, it decided it didnt like us very much and died.

This is my rosemary. My friends Harold and Mathilde gave it to me as a present. Lovely couple. It seems that rosemary requires little water, lots of sun and is perfect for me.

This was our first plant. Yes I still keep it as a reminder that i killed it and also because i like the pot it came in. Hopefully the sight of it is enough to scare the rosemary to thrive.

And as promised. This is why I have been sewing by hand instead of my sewing machine. This is my crafting table/dining table which we only used twice. We prefer having out meals in front of the telly in the family room. more comfortable. Its a mess I know. It looks easy enough to sort and clean, however I assure you it is not.

This is my little corner, where I am the google princess and where I spend 80% of my time when I'm home.

Hemming by hand

My yo-yo maker :) I love my yo-yo maker. Remember I'm the short cut queen. So this was how I made them yo-yos. It only took me 5 minutes.

What I learned through this post; Short cuts will make your life easier for you to spend that extra time to do other stuff

Chap Goh Meh

Mr Bear and I went home to Seria for family dinner. Now for those of you who don't know it, Chap Goh Meh is the 15th day of chinese new year and marks the end of festivities and life gets back to being normal, and its usually a nice big dinner with families, lots of fireworks and firecrackers.

I always enjoy these trips, its a nice hour drive and you get to see lots of green jungle, new development being built etc. These drives always mean we get to talk in the car and have really great discussions, watch a movie (yes we're one of those people who has a tv in their car) or deep in thought and just enjoying the silence.

This is Alex (1yr) Our only nephew. He doesnt like being touched by other people

Alex and his mummy (my sister-in-law)

Alex and YeYe (translate: Grandfather, my father-in-law)

The dinner that Mother-in-law cooks

Its a feast! My favourite; satay, kailan, chicken feet, sweet sour fish, tomato chicken, peking duck, fried chicken nom nom nom nom. As there is always leftovers, mummy happily puts them in tupperware for me to bring home. yes! this weeks shopping budget is saved. leftovers for lunch and dinner for a week.

I was a happy sleepy duck when we went back home. I so can't wait for new year again.

The Perfect Supergirl Dress

They're here! They're here! My books have finally arrived. I've waited for a whole month for them. 2 weeks delivery my ass. Nevertheless I'm a happy duck (see pic). I've picked them up bright and early this morning and will drool over them tonight. Will post pictures next post.

Friday is always the day to look forward to as its a day off for me. However instead of doing laundry, vacuuming and such, I went into the jungle for a recce with my hash mate Squeak. Had a great 1hr walk in the jungle of diplo. Usually by lunch, Im off to my cousin's Rozi to spend the afternoon in her studio and spend some quality time with Rozi, Sab (my sister) and Dyanna (my niece-Rozi's baby). And I have come with a gift!

She wouldn't let it go

We did a before photo. Now for a little background story. The "dress" is actually a boys singlet for 6yrs old (Rozi checked tonight and it says 8-9yrs old. my bad). Since Daddy is very into superman, this was the perfect gift for baby. I bought it when she was 2 weeks old (it'll come in handy in the future I said), it came in a pack of 2 for $10. Good bargain. A few weeks ago we were hanging out in the dining room and Sab found it among the piles of everything that we tend to pile with the intention of putting them in their proper place. And Rozi said, hey how about turning it into a dress? Great idea. had the baby try it on to see where it needs to be adjusted. And here is the result. She's almost 2yrs old now.

Posing for the camera.

Cheeky face!

My sister diverting attention to the birds outside the window so I can get a close up of the yo-yo and flowers.

And did I spend a single cent on this?

Absolutely not. I used up everything I had in my sewing stash and scrap box.

Did I use my sewing machine?

Absolutely not. I sewed everything by hand. Everything is hemmed by hand. Ruffles made by running stitch and pinned on one layer at a time and sewed by hand by backstitch using embroidery threads.

Why didn't I use my sewing machine?

Will post photos of why

How long did this take me to sew?

2 weeks, sewn a little bit at a time each night while I watch project runway and masterchef australia.

Would I do this again?

Definitely!