Mosaic Monday: Poppy Power

Poppies are intriguing. Fabulously colourful. And never fail to make my heart smile.

What software do others use to create their lovely mosaics? I use this one, and it is giving me grief. The photos take forever to upload and I don't have that kind of patience. :) So any suggestions are most welcome!

Have a great week!

In which I ask you questions

Both Em and Hero love all the activities on the cbeebies website. Hero got the inspiration for his cotton bud creature from there. He spent more than an hour preparing and making his creation, and it now hangs from the door frame to his room.

I try to limit the children's TV and internet time. They generally watch no more than two hours of TV a day, and maybe has half an hour each of internet time daily. Some days they may watch TV more. Some days none at all. But I somehow feel that internet activities are in a way better because they require you to respond to instructions and there is little chance of simply switching off and staring at the screen without much thought - something that is very much possible with TV, I think.

Do you know of any good children's educational websites? Please do let me know in the comments, if you do.

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BTW, When Kendalee asked me how many hours ahead of GMT I am (five hours), I thought it would be good to include a clock of some sort on the blog, and after a quick search online, did put one up on the side bar. But that didnt seem to work, as that showed not MY time, but the time on the local computer ... if that makes sense to you.

My question to you is, do you know a (easy) way in which I can display MY time on the blog?


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Since I am writing random thoughts and questions here, I might as well say my piece about my followers too. As you will see from the side bar, I seem to have accumulated 31 followers. Thank you to those 31. (And thank you too to those who have not necessaily become public followers, but visit and comment regularly.) I am honoured that you have done so. But some of you have not left any comments or a link back to your site, so it is difficult for me to know who you are and how to find you on this mad blogosphere. I love getting comments (don't we all?) and getting to know the people behind the pictures and the words. So, if you have not left a comment so far, please do so. (I don't bite - promise!)

My Friday

I am a girl who makes lists. Lists of all kinds. Both Em and Hero seem to have developed my love of lists, and are always volunteering to make ones for me.

Every Friday morning we sit down after breakfast to make a shopping list, to take with us on our weekly shop. Sometimes we all make one long list. Or, Em and Hero will work on the list while I tell them the things to include. Or, like yesterday, they each made a list of their own. Em not needing any help with the writing, but Hero needing the sounds and letters spelled out to him.

He was very proud of his list, and walked along the road, reading out the words, item by item. In the shops, he walked from aisle to aisle, pointing out the things we needed, reminding me (and everyone else in the shop who had reasonable hearing) of the remaining items on the list, from time to time.

Back at home, it was time for some craft fun. In their scrapbooks, they each drew an outline of a shape they wanted. Then, being supplied with beads, stickers, feathers, shells and coloured sticks, Hero made this collage of a boat.

Em did this house, taking her time to create symmetry and pattern.

Then on to water colours. Hero's rather abstract painting.

And Em's fish. Both now taking their place on the fridge, displayed for the week or fortnight, until the next display-worthy artwork comes along.

In the morning, Em announced that she wanted (me) to make a local baked dish called a kiru boakibaa. I knew that it was made using a batter made with flour, sugar and coconut milk which was then baked in a tin and cut into squares. But I had never attempted it. Nor did I have a recipe for it. So I asked my mum. Who proceeded to tell me a recipe. But her ingredients included some items which I didn't think sounded fully authentic, so I checked with my aunt. But then, my aunt didnt have any ideas about measurements - just make a batter with flour, sugar and coconut milk, she told me. So that was no help. I referred then to my sister, who is currently working on a cookbook of traditional Maldivian home cooking. I was sure she would have the answer. But all she told me was NOT to follow my mum's recipe as it had turned into a disaster when she had tried it herself!

So, I decided to take matters into my own hands, and proceeded to make my own version of the kiru boakibaa. I made the batter with equal portions of sugar and flour, adding sufficient coconut milk to made a not-too-thick batter. I flavoured it with pandan leaves, and poured the whole thing into a cake tin and baked it in the oven. Half way through, I sprinkled on some grated nutmeg and added some caramalised onions on one side (one side because Em doesn't like onions and I do). It came out of the oven looking like this:

And cut into squares, it was rather nice with a cup of tea.

Hope you are all enjoying your weekends!

Childhood Memories: Picking Jeymu

When we were children, we had a jeymu tree in the back yard, in front of the kitchen. This tree (also known elsewhere as muntingia calabura, Jamaican cherry, Panama berry, Singapore cherry and strawberry tree) had drooping branches with serrated leaves that had a slight fuzziness on them, and bore the sweetest, juiciest fruit - which we call jeymu - deep pink, sometimes red, when ripe. Inside these delightful little berries were hundreds of tiny soft seeds (all edible). Delicious!

The branches were about the level of the kitchen roof, so it was too far for us to reach from the ground. As the branches started fairly high up in the tree, it was not possible to climb the tree. But it gave us shade; shade under which to play.

To get the fruit from the jeymu tree, we had to find other ways. I remember climbing up on top of the roof with our uncle and spending hours picking the jeymu, and collecting more in plastic bags, to bring down to enjoy later. Although, we always seemed to eat more than collect!

These days, it is rare to see jeymu trees in the backyards in Male. So it is always a treat to see some when we go to other islands, or to rural areas of South and SouthEast Asia. I've never seen them sold anywhere - in fact, I think this is one of those things that one enjoys standing by the tree, picking them and putting them straight into your mouth. I can spend quite sometime at one tree, searching for suitably ripe fruit. Inhaling the sweet fragrance of it. Enjoying their juicy sweetness. One by one. Until there are no more red ones within my reach in the tree.


Each time I do see these red fruit hanging by their single stems on the tree, I am reminded of those days when we spent lazy afternoons on the kitchen roof, under the branches of the jeymu tree.

Market Stalls and Women

Whether it was a roadside fruit stall,
Or a fishmonger,
Or the bustling markets,
women seemed to dominate the area.

Women were the sellers.

Always.

And also the most frequent buyers.

Always clad in conservative muslim clothing.

A ready smile on their faces.

Made me wonder where all the men were.

Midsummer Picnic

I am off to join Kendalee and friends for a Midsummer picnic. I'll be glad to be away from this rain and enjoy some nice warm weather and green grass under my feet for the day.

I'll be wearing this pink and green striped tunic, with these earrings. And little butterfly hair clips - in honour of the painted lady :)

I shall take with me some fragrant pink roses.

And to add to the picnic spread, I'll take along some homemade hummus and some of my own flat bread and crudités.

What fun we shall have!

Quiet Reflections

In the midst of rushing around, trying to get a million and one things done in the limited time that there always is (can't someone invent more hours in the day, somehow???), there's often no time for quiet reflections.

It's always rush, rush, rush.

Today, let me pause.

Let me take time out.

Let me breathe.

Let me be.

Follow effective action with quiet reflection. From the quiet reflection will come even more effective action.

Peter Drucker

Peace is not something you wish for; It's something you make, Something you do, Something you are, And something you give away.

Robert Fulghum

Earth and sky, woods and fields, lakes and rivers, the mountain and the sea, are excellent schoolmasters, and teach some of us more than we can ever learn from books.

John Lubbock

The more tranquil a man becomes, the greater is his success, his influence, his power for good. Calmness of mind is one of the beautiful jewels of wisdom.

James Allen

Mosaic Monday: Flower Power

Finally did my first mosaic! Love the parade of mosaics over at Mary's.

Circles

We often seem to be enclosed in our own cocoons, unaware of what happens outside our little worlds. Be it our own personal lives, our neighbourhoods, our nations, or something else - we often tend to focus on what concerns us, and are ignorant (either by choice or by chance) of what does not directly affect us.

Yet, step outside that circle, and you might be pleasantly surprised to find a whole new world that you never new existed.

My professional life began with a focus on language education at school level. For several years, that remained my little cocoon. I was happy doing my own thing, not bothering about what lay outside that circle of knowledge and experience. Later I got involved in the development of language teaching-learning materials. Then made a transition from teaching children to teaching adults. And later to language teacher education.

When circumstances dictated that my work focus not only on language teacher education, but teacher education more generally, it was an eye opener of sorts. But I was still enclosed within the bubble of teacher education that made me feel quite comfortable. Then, more recently, I had to step back further, including yet another ring - that of educational planning and development at a more macro level, taking into account new areas such as sustainable development and disaster management. It helped me to see a bigger picture. But without losing sight of the things at the other levels. I realised how all the rings outside that circle in the school environment also contributed to how effectively children learn.

A couple of weeks ago, I was asked by a colleague to proofread a document on financial management. Now, anything remotely related to business and finance usually completely bores me and I was dreading reading the document. But it turned out to be a pleasant surprise. I actually learned quite a lot of new things, and realised how little I knew about the topic.

Last week I had to prepare a presentation for a project, incorporating completely alien things such as boat building and meteorology, because these were aspects that fed into the project I was handling. In alien territory, I find myself sometimes lost, but often I come out happy in the knowledge that I have learned something new.

The last few days I have been reading up on criminology and forensic psychology - another drastically different area of work to mine. And I have to say, it totally fascinates me. I am totally hooked on this, this time!

Dreams and Prayers

Dreaming

of better tomorrows

of cooler temperaments

of fulfilled aspirations.

Praying

for more time together

for strength

for success in this venture.

Driving to the border

Bridges over calm rivers

(Although I'm told crocodile sized monitor lizards live in and around these rivers - not so calm when you take that into account!)

Lush paddy fields.

Pomelos hanging from a tree by the roadside.

Green bananas, with maroon flower still attached.
(The banana flower is actually rather delicious when cooked properly.)

Pretty in purple.

A palm tree bearing bunches of fruit, ripening into a delightful red.

Signposted in three languages - English, Malay and Thai.
Not a more subtle indication of where the restrooms are - but a very conspicuous
arched entrance, surrounded by hibiscus and bouganvillae bushes - and a vendor's stall set up just inside the gates (not visible here).

Should we go left? Or right? Very tempted by the left... maybe next time!

In and Around Kota Bharu, Malaysia

Charming little fishing villages.
Families enjoying a day out at the beach.
Skewered snacks sold by a hawker.
Chicken being cooked in a tandoor oven in a Pakistani eatery.

Unidentifiable meat(?) being barbecued in a beach side cafe.

A huge pot of rice waiting to be served.

Coloured lights.

Ripening pineapples.

Cats everywhere!

Beautiful blooms.

Children in a playground.

Magnificient mosques.

The spray of a fountain providing much needed relief on a scorching hot day.

Red Blossoms and Feathered Friends

Red. Blue. Green.
All in a row.

Taking shade from the heat under the canopy of branches.

Making my heart soar.

Bidding adieu.