>A little bit of garden

>

Tadi intai2 kat kebun after a few days neglecting them. I ni kadang2 boleh ‘terlupa’ nak belai2 manja the plants, padahal bukannya sibuk mana pun kadang2. Nasib baik hujan lebat last week kan so tak lah mati kebulur kekeringan all my pokok, hahaha.

And I found these in the garden tadi while I was watering.

Some ripe strawberries. Ni memang tak boleh nak buat hias cuppies nor choc cakes sebab rupa takde but taste dia still manis (macam I lah jugak kan, muahahaha).

Some cherry tomatoes

My pokok kesum yang half kering half segar studded with flowers.

And a girl trying to pick the strawberries for her own consumption! .

Our dinner tonight was a simple one, salmon patties (guna canned pink salmon) with salad n croutons aje. I masak fries for The Little Misses but not for us. Dalam patties tu dah ada kentang so tu yang malas nak makan banyak sgt2 kentang.

The salmon patties guna recipe from here.

Bahan2 for the salad tu I petik fresh kat kebun. Mixed lettuce leaves, cherry tomatoes and capsicum. Ingat nak letak timun but malas pulak nak petik tadi, hehehe.

>Vege basket and nasi kerabu

>

Today is another public holiday here in OZ sempena Easter Monday and Anzac Day so that’s why tomorrow is another PH. But fortunately, they government has given special trading permit to the shopping complexes to open tomorrow so dapatlah we all keluar jalan2 bershopping!

Perth ni is a bit of a hick town, the shops are closed on PH and on Sundays (except the touristy spots) so that’s why they have to have a special permit to open on public hols, hehehe.

Since we couldn’t be bothered to go out at all today, we spent the whole morning buat laundry and a bit of the afternoon gardening. What an interesting life we have kan, hahaha.

It was quite sad looking at our broccolinis tadi sebab all of the plants have been attacked by scale insects . Last week I tengok, all the plants were still so healthy and thriving and tadi I cuma dapat selamatkan 1 pokok aje. Yang lain dah jadi arwah and kena buang masuk compost bin. Berbulan2 I tanam and baru aje nak tuai hasil, tiba2 terus kena serang insects.

But I dapatlah tuai a few sayur tadi.

So, what’s in the basket?

Ada keledek, serai, 2 types of chili, cherry tomatoes, tiny strawberries, pucuk daun kunyit, cucumber, lebanese eggplants, capsicum and the last surviving broccolini.

About 4 months ago, we all saje2 cuba tanam keledek/kumara/sweet potato and tadi I suruh lah The Other Hald dug it out to see dah boleh makan ke belum.

4 bulan menanam, they were still medium size! The Other Half kata next time beli aje keledek kalau nak makan instead of tanam, hehehehe…..

Kalau buat hantaran veges dalam bakul boleh tak agaknya? hikhikhik….

And then malam ni, konon2nya I nak masak something that uses up all the stuff in the basket lah but biasalah kan I ni. Last minute terus tukar idea nak masak apa .

I masak nasi kerabu perantau recipe Yani kat MyResipi. Tapi kat recipe tu Yani tak cakap bila nak letak santan pekat dalam sambal tumis so I pun letak aje lah lepas cili tumis tu dah agak masak. I ni kan Jawa so makanan Kelantan memang tak reti nak buat .

Nasib baik jadi but authentic ke tak rasanya I tak tau lah sebab last time I makan nasi kerabu yg betul2 sedap was years and years ago so memang dah lupa rasa dia macam mana, hahaha…

But tengok The Other Half makan, laju aje so sedap lah tu kan .

(Actually I pun makan dengan sungguh berselera so sedaplah kat tekak I ni.)

My nasi kerabu set. Ada paru goreng, daging goreng, grilled ikan, keropok goreng, telur masin and mixed veges.

(there goes my low cal diet tonite, hikhikhik. But The Other Half masih sangat baik sbb dia weighed everything on his plate so he knows how much he consumes).

Memang nikmat sungguh dapat makan nasi lain dari yang lain ni . I guna daun kunyit yg muda and timun dr kebun,  sugar snap peas and alfalfa sprout untuk sayur kerabu tu. Jadi lah kan……

>The shed, the bike, the garden and the calories

>

Bila weekend aje, mesti kerja we all kemas rumah. I pun tak tau lah apasal tak sudah2 kerja kemas outdoor area ni. Rasa macam baru haritu kemas the inside of the shed and pruned the roses and pulled out the weeds.

Tengoklah ni! Macam nak pindah rumah aje kan. We took everything out of the shed and re arrange all the stuff and threw out so many things!

And guess what’s inside this box?

So many silicon baking pans macam2 bentuk, kid’s baking set, CC carriers, glass cake display plate, CC display sets!

Uwaaaaa!!!! I pun tak ingat bila I beli benda2 ni semua. Yang buat tak boleh belah lagi tu, setiap kali ada sale, I still teringin nak beli lagi sebab I have forgotten I’ve got all this stuff in the shed, hikhikhikhik.

Macam ni kalau I nak balik M’sia nanti, kenalah I buat GA atau lelong kat blog ni kan. Sure ramai yang nak beli kan, hehehehehe….

Pastu, bila dah habis kemas the shed, The Other Half started his next  chore on the list which was washing, cleaning and oiling his bike. He even took off the wheels so he could clean and oil the gear and the chain properly.

I asked him, “How come you don’t wash n rub me like you do the bike?”

His answer, “Because you don’t let me ride you for 2 hours everyday! Now, if you let me do that……”

Ciss!!!!! Muahahahahaha……. Padan muka I, sape suruh tanya!

Malas I nak layan orang macam tu lepas tu, I pun pergi lah ambik gambar bunga ros .

Dah tak banyak roses blooming sebab I haven’t been looking after them well and it’s also the end of the flowering season.

And our row of capsicum plants.

Buah dia banyak tapi kecik2 aje.

And I wore the heart rate monitor buat kerja tadi so let me tell you how many calories I burnt tadi and what’s its equivalent in food form.

We did 45 minutes of Maya Cardio = 211 cals burnt.

Which is the same calories we consumed if we eat 64g of Sara Lee pound cake!

You bayang kan lah, 64g of pound cake tu bukannya banyak mana pun, tak sampai pun 100g. Memang bila makan tu, tak terasa sangat kan, tapi we have to do 45 minutes of exercise to burn those calories off!

Light gardening for 81minutes (which is nearly sejam setengah)= 176 cals burnt.

Which is the same calories bila kita makan 3 1/2 keping biskut oreo.

Nak makan 3 1/2 keping biskut oreo, tak sampai pun 10 minit tapi kita kena buat gardening sejam setengah nak burn the same calories.

Cleaning the shed for 2 hours= 250 cals burnt.

Ini calories yang kita consumed bila makan 1 keping setengah roti canai kosong. Kalau breakfast nasi lemak, lagi lah banyak calories nya, hehehe. Itu belum kira kopi susu yang kita minum bersama2 dengan roti canai lagitu .

So, bayangkan lah kalau kita makan benda2 macam ni hari2 tanpa exercise on top of other food, lama2 segala calories yang terkumpul tu akan terkumpul dalam badan in the form of lemak lah kan.

It’s not just how much you eat is important, it’s what you eat is important too in determining whether we are going to gain weight or lose weight.

>The garden, the dinner and the cake

>

Semalam I masak apple cake to take to Sunday school today tapi memang bukan rezeki budak2 tu, I terlupa langsung nak angkut the container of sliced cakes bawak masuk kereta. Dah sampai masjid baru teringat. Tak kuasa I nak drive balik rumah and pergi balik semata2 nak pick up the cakes.

Now, I have a big container full of apple cake! Sape lah yang nak makan tu…… The Other Half memang tak kan sentuh langsung sebab dia bukannya suka sangat cakes ni. Kena simpan dalam freezer lah nampak gayanya kan supaya boleh tahan lama, hehehe.

I guna recipe from here. But instead of guna canned apple, I just guna peeled grated royal gala apple aje and tak letak the crumble sebab malas, hehehe.

Hari ni sama aje macam semalam, we didn’t go anywhere except hantar budak2 pergi Sunday school. We spent the afternoon kemaskan the outdoor area, the garden area, the vege patch area. Penat weh menyapu kawasan kat luar rumah tu. Memang sama penat dengan exercise, heeee…

Masa menyapu tu, I said to The Other Half, “Hey! This is exactly like the exercises we do with Maya. I’m doing bicep curls, tricep kickback, upright row, front raises. All these just by moving the broom!”

Hakhakhakhakhak…….

And bila dah kemas sikit, barulah boleh I ambik gambar kan .

Bersih aje lantai tu, hehehehe…

I and The Other Half kadang2 duduk2 kat luar ni  just by candle lit bila The Little Misses are already in bed. Nak keluar malam2 tak larat nak cari babysitter so we subs it with sitting outside sipping coffee berdua2 an aje.

Lomantik lah jugak, muahahahaha.

The view of the apple tree and the vege patch from the undercover duduk2 area.

Psst… the satellite dish tu belongs to our neighbours, not ours ye. We all ni Foxtel pun takde, lagilah satellite dish, hehehe.

The apple tree. Our apple tree is a grafted apple tree, 1 tree but 3 different varieties of apple. I dahan dah mula berbuah a few months ago and I think it’s granny smith (apple hijau) because we tried one of them and it is so sour!

Apples yang kat gambar ni, baru aje mula berbuah about a month ago and we are hoping it’s the nice sweeter variety lah.

The tomato plants and the cucumber we planted along the trellis. Tomato dah start berbuah and the cucumbers dah banyak buahnya we all makan .

Tengok lah punya tinggi the cucumber shoots naik. We all tied it to the roof of the pergola, hahaha.

Our pokok cili api. Sampai kering kat pokok buahnya sebab tak di gunakan. Takut nak makan sebab pedas, hikhikhik….

Our small basil plant and the italian parsley.

1 of the no-dig gardens we all tanam herbs and lettuce aje.

And for dinner tonite, I made potato rosti makan dengan smoked salmon and ratatouille.

Masa I tengah masak the ratatouille, I said to The Other Half, “I’m making ratatouille tonite but without the…”

Miss 7 terus menyampuk before I could finish my sentense, “The rat?”

Lerr…… hikhikhikhik…..

>Our garden update (yet again!)

>

Dah nak masuk 3 minggu in Autumn but the weather is still so hot during the day. Minggu ni aje, the temperature will be around 35°C and no rain in sight at all.

In a way, it is good sebab all the Summer veges and fruits are still in abundance. The veges yang I tanam pun still berbuah especially the chillies, terung and capsicums. And the cucumber plants and the tomato plants are fruiting and flowering as well .

Tapi yang sedihnya, banyak pokok I yang kering aje kalau malas terlupa nak siram walau sehari. Pastu ada pokok yang mengada2 tu, nak kena siram 2-3 kali sehari untuk dia kekal cantik. I pun mandi 2 kali max everyday, takkan pokok mengada2 nak kena siram lebih dari tuan nya mandi kan, hahahaha.

Meh tengok pokok I yang mengada2 ni…

Hah, padan muka kering aje. Tu lah sape suruh mengada2 nak mandi 2-3 kali, kan dah menyampah tuan tanah nak menyiram, hehehe. I think I kena alihkan the still viable kesum to another pot lah sebab the water well kat pot ni dah jampacked dengan akar kesum, tu yang takde tempat for the water to go to.

And ini pulak pokok cucumbers yang probably baru sebulan kot we all tanam.

Tadi I tengah bersih2kan the straggly bits of the plants, terjumpa these 2 growing cucumbers. But I just realised that I don’t like this type of cucumbers . I lagi suka lebanese cucumbers yang I tanam tahun lepas tu. I bought this bush variety semata2 sebab I ingat dia tak menjalar, hehehehe. Tapi tengok lah pokoknya, sampai habis trellis tu dia conquer!

And ini pulak longgokan capsicum yang I tuai from our plants tadi. Banyak kan, Alhamdulillah! I might just chargrill all of them and add them bila I masak couscous or pasta or salad nanti.

Tapi banyak jugak yang rosak from water damaged. Tak silap I, this can happen when buah yang baru nak membesar tu kena siraman air tak sekata so some parts will be a bit ‘rotten’ and tak mengembang cantik.

Tengok lah. Some parts ok, the rest kerepot sebab too much water, hehehe.

And ini pulak our dinner tonite.

Roast chicken with potato bake and green salad.

Yang membanyakkan calories on this plate is the chicken skin tu aje but tu yang menyedapkan kan . The potato bake tak banyak sgt calorie sebab I kurangkan sgt2 the cheese in the cheese sauce.

Tak nampak gaya food orang tengah berdiet kan .

Like The Other Half cakap, he is not dieting, he is only eating enough for his daily activities and not more. He used to overeat ikut nafsu tu yang badan dia naik membelon sangat2 tu. But now dia dah berjaya kawal nafsu makan dia, he is only eating what his body needs.

>Another garden update

>

Tadi we went for a picnic dinner at Miss 11’s school for all the new parents to mingle around and get to know each other.

But we all ni kan pemalu and definitely not social creatures so we ended up just enjoying each other’s company and talking with each other aje at the picnic tadi. Sikit pun tak cakap dengan orang lain, hahahaha  .

Zaman dolu2, kalau berpicnic, I would have made a big spread with entree which is normally chips and crackers and dip, mains  like sausage rolls or meat pies and dessert yang manis2. Memang mulut tak berhenti mengunyah lah kalau berpicnic tu .

But tadi, I didn’t pack any entree and made a main meal that’s just enough for us and only fresh fruit for dessert! Sangatlah healthy and boring nya kan, hahahaha.

I made chargrilled vegetables and couscous salad makan dengan grilled chicken fillet. Untuk The Little Misses pulak, I buatkan chicken salad wrap. Pastu pack memang ngam2 untuk makan terus habis aje so we don’t overeat, hikhikhik.

(sure lepas ni kan, takde sape nak ajak we all berpicnic sama kan sebab tak larat makan our healthy food!).

But since tak ambik gambar of the picnic, layan aje lah gambar kebun we all ye.

This is our no-dig vege patch yang I dah tanam cucumbers, tomatoes, cauliflowers and cabbages.

I tanam cucumber that’s a ‘bush’ variety so I ingatkan dia akan cantik molek tak menjalar, but bentuk bush cantik aje lah kan. Hampeh betul, memang silap info lah I, menjalar jugak dia, hikhikhikhik……

So, kenalah pasang trellis there so the tomatoes and the cucumber plants can climb up it.

Pokok anggur yang we all tanam in November dah makin besar and makin menjalar naik ke atas pergola. Kena tunggu bertahun2 baru the vines will cover the pergola nicely rasanya.

Our vege patch. The whole pokok terung dah kena serang caterpillars. Some terung masih boleh makan lagi, some terung dah teruk berlubang. Nak sembur organic pesticide, tukang sembur asik busy manjang! hehehe.

This are our broccolini plants but rupanya tak sama dengan the broccolinis you can find at the shops. Cuma keluar daun aje, without the ‘flowering heads’.

Another row of tomatoes. Kalau semua berbuah nanti, mau lah pagi petang siang malam we all makan tomatoes aje, muahahahaha.

>Laporan Makcik Kebun :-D

>

Pendragon tanya I semalam, bila I nak buat laporan Makcik Kebun pulak sebab memang dah lama I tak tayang gambar kebun.

Makcik kebun sekarang still berkebun tapi dah tak serajin dulu sejak The Little Misses mula sekolah balik ni. Ye lah, sekarang tengah panas terik deng deng tu so kalau nak berkebun, kena pagi2 buta atau lepas dinner.

I tau lah I kadang2 terer buat multitasking ni tapi kadang2 tak sempat2 jugak pagi2 buta lepas bangun tidur n solat I nak tukar2 sekejap2 ‘hat’ makcik kantin ke makcik blogger tegar ke makcik cleaner ke makcik aerobics ke makcik kebun ni. Mengah weh!

Yang sempat buat pagi2 buta pun cuma menyiram pokok kat kebun aje. Nak belek2 bunga ros pun tak sempat. Bila dah siap semua kerja rumah and bershopping, dah tengah hari so memang tak kuasa lah I nak keluar beramah mesra dengan pokok when the temperature is 36°-38°C.

Dah lah memang sedia kala legam, ada lah yang makin legam karang. My forearms sekarang ni memang dah legam sebab hari2 drive in the sun. (Maybe I should start following some people pakai long white gloves in the car to avoid suntanned arms, hikhikhikh….).

All from different rose bushes. All in different shades of red.

Ini pulak memang kaler dia yellow with a tinge of pink. Bila dia in full bloom, memang kembang semangkuk.

Our no-dig vege patch with cucumber plants and tomatoes. Still kecik lagi .

A capsicum plants yang tersesat kat vege patch but doing wonderful, hehehe.

My kangkung yang setiap masa cuba menakluki the lawn. And The Other Half pun asik nag me to trim my kangkung so tak kacau his lawn, hahahahaha….

Some broccolinis.

The last 2 surviving apples on the tree selepas the ribut hari tu that made all the apples fall onto the ground.

And now, gambar makcik kebun tengah ‘siang’ kangkung, kahkahkahkah…..

Psst…ada yang nak pinjam topi I tu ke?

>When all his pants are loose :-)

>

The Other Half has lost 12kg so far which is really good for him. He looks leaner and his love handle pun dah makin mengecut .

But yang tak best nya, segala seluar dan baju dia dah sangat2 longgar! I have been buying him new t-shirts and pants for the past few weeks tapi tak banyak lah and yang murah2 aje. Sebab rugi lah kan kalau beli yang mahal sekarang ni sebab he is still losing weight.

I have also selongkar balik all the old clothes in the vacuum bags to look for his old clothes masa kurus2 dulu .

Sape nak pakai nanti t-shirt2 yang dah longgar2 but still baru2 lagi tu. (Adalah yang I cilok and bega2 utk buat The Little Misses nightgowns nanti tu, hikhikhik).

But pagi tadi masa dia nak pergi painting class with Miss 11, berlakulah perkara yang sangat tragis….

I saw him kept on hitching his pants up. I pun tanyalah kenapa. Dia jawab, “my pants are so loose and I’ve used the last hole in my belt but they are still so loose.”

(dia nak tayang dia dah kurus sangat2 lah tu, hakhakhakhak).

Pastu, dia tunjuk lah kat I his pants and belt. Memang lah sangat2 nak terlondehnya seluar itu!

I tanyalah dia, awat tak pakai his other belts. Dia jawab, belt yang lain lagi lah besar nya, memang dah takde holes, hehehehe.

Pastu, (nasib baik lah bini dia ni quick thinking), I pun carikan my belt yang pakai buckle aje for him to try.

Muahahahahahahaha…..

Nasib baik lah ada belt yang boleh dia pakai so seluar dia tak terlondeh.

He said, “Oh man! this is so much better. I don’t have to keep on hitching my pants up anymore!”

Pastu sebagai isteri mithali, I pun pi lah tulis ‘BELT’ on the shopping list I gave him, hikhikhikhik…..

But satu pun dia tak berkenan and came home empty handed. Nampak gayanya, next week ni, I jugak lah yang kena pergi meronda2 cari belt yang I think he might berkenan.

Sementara itu, I’ll be losing 1 belt lah sebab dah dijadikan rete dia.

2 hari ni I malas nak tayang gambar food sebab balik2 benda masakan yg sama aje (ala2 makanan kegemaran kambing and arnab, hikhikhik).

So, I tayang gambar yang I ambik masa tgh bosan gilers tadi .

selalunya I biarkan aje bunga2 ros tu kembang and layu di pokok.

Tapi hari ni I terajin pulak letak dia dalam pasu, hehehe

Segala warna ada kecuali the purple ones and the deep red ones. They are not in bloom presently .

And ini pulak rupa ‘sarang burung’ kat atas kepala Miss 7, hikhikhik…

Nasib baik the magpies tak nak hinggap menumpang bersarang .

>Perth and the storm

>

Yeay, we finally got a thunderstorm here in Perth after so many thunderstorm warnings over the past few months. Actually, budak2 tu yang excited lebih sebab kat sini tak banyak storms unlike M’sia . But the storm today is unlike the usual storms you find during Winter where it’s cold and freezing. Storm tadi memang betul2 tropical because it was still so hot and muggy but pouring with rain!

Pagi tadi it was so hot, it got to 41.8°C at 2pm about an hour before the storm started. Pastu, tiba2 gelap and terus hujan lebat gilers.

The Other Half kata, teringat dia masa duduk kat M’sia, hehehehe.

Why I ambik gambar the hujan? Sebab kat sini kan negara kering and jarang hujan, so tu yg macam jakun aje ambik gambar, hahahaha…….

And this is our apple tree. Kesian dia sebab this is probably the 3rd heavy rain it’s endured. All our apples yg masih kecik2 memang gugur semua because of the heavy rain . Baru aje nak membesar dah kena hujan so gugur lah dia. Tak dapat nak merasa buah apple this season, sob sob……

Esok, the BOM kata Cyclone Bianca nak mai Perth but they don’t know how strong it will be. Habislah pokok apple I ni, memang tak tinggal sebiji pun buah lah nampak gayanya…..

The Other Half wanted to fire on the barbie for dinner tonite tapi sebab hujan, tak jadi lah dia nak berBBQ, terpaksalah dia masak kat atas dapur aje, hehehe.

This was what he cooked tonite.

Grilled bronze whaler shark steak in cajun spice rub, makan dengan tomato and avocado salsa and seasoned roast potato.

Sharks ni tak boleh makan selalu because as the norm in big fish, they usually have high levels of mercury in them which is not good for us. Tu yg I lagi suka makan ikan bilis, sure takde mercury, hahahaha……

Ikan bilis masak sambal, ikan bilis goreng dengan kacang, ikan bilis makan dengan nasi goreng… Fulamak sedapnya, hikhikhikhik…..

>kopi susu pekat or macchiato?

>

If you can describe the colour of your skin using a drink, what would yours be?

I berborak2 kosong dengang The Other Half tadi about the colours of our skin. (jarang weh we all borak2 kosong ni )

I said to him yang my skin colour will be kaler kopi susu pekat kalau kat kedai Mamak, bukan nescafe susu tau, real kopi .

He said, kalau pergi posh nya coffee house, my skin will be the colour of macchiato. Kalau you all pergi kedai mamak and mintak macchiato, ada lah yang nak kena sedas dua penumbuk dengan mamak buat air tu!(hikhikhikhik)

Pastu I tanya lah The Other Half, what will be his skin colour. Dia kata maybe horlicks but with loads of susu. (alamak, terus terasa nak minum horlicks ais kaw kaw pulak tiba2! Nyampah betul kah kalau borak2 pasal food ni, hakhakhak).

Kalau kat posh coffee house, you all mintak horlicks, sampai tutup that coffee house pun you takkan dapat air horlicks.

And then he said, Miss 11 pulak will be the colour of caffe latte and he said if he goes to a coffee house and asks for a caffe latte and it comes exactly like the colour of Miss 11’s skin, he would be happy. Hikhikhikhik……

Then I tanya dia, what about Miss 7. What would be the equivalent drink?

He said, sampai sekarang dia tak tau whether Miss 7 tu tanned ke cerah sebab her skin colour changes with the season, hahahaha…..

Sejak lepas balik from Adventureworld hari tu, kulit dia dah ala2 kopi susu cair. Tapi bila masuk Winter, kulit dia macam sirap bandung mixed with a bit of teh, heeeeeee……..

Pastu The Other Half cakap, “I know! It’s like that drink in M’sia where you ask for teh susu and then the bring it to you unmixed and the condensed milk at the bottom and the tea on top. She’s like that, the bottom layer in Winter and the top layer in Summer .”

Muahahahahahaha…… ada pulak kulit anak I kaler teh c peng!

Ini lah jadinya bila a dark-skinned Javanese kahwin dengan light-skinned Mat Saleh kan!

Malam ni I masak oven-baked beef curry (takde santan nor yoghurt, I cuma letak 1 can of diced tomatoes), steamed eggplants with sambal ikan bilis and jasmine rice.

eggplants ni dari kebun we all. Sekarang tengah lebat berbuah so memang kiranya hari2 lah makan terung, hehehe.

Ada 5-6 pokok tak silap and semua tengah lebat berbuah. Nasib baik lah terung ni ok aje masak dgn apa2 pun. I masak pizza, letak finely diced terung on it, masak bolognese sauce, letak finely diced terung in it jugak. The girls makan aje, they didn’t realise ada terung in them . Kalau buat salad pun, I akan letak grilled eggplants in it.