He has gone a little fatter and bigger…but even more handsome than when I first got him.

And he feeds from my hand too…and lets me rub his chin.

Cute no?

Note: All examples are based on real life incidences.

I haven’t exactly ranted in ages (work excluded) so allow me some little moments of shitty, ranty behaviour, will ya? I’m no angel. Friends, including and especially Le Lapin, can testify to that.

Arrogance, not to mention all this show-offishness, really does come in all shapes and sizes…plus ages too, y’know. Granted I have my snobby days too but these three incidents are overkill (the last one is a constant repetition!!!!!!!!!!!!)

…

Example 1
A nearly 60 year old woman calls up after months of not keeping in touch and goes:

I’m going to Sydney but I can’t take anything to *insertrandomname* here for you.

Dad’s response to this was a gentle, almost humorous tiu – of course, not to the woman directly but as he was relating the tale to Mum. I just happened to eavesdrop on the conversation and couldn’t help but wonder about the point of it all.

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Kalanchoe Blossfeldiana
* Requires full sunlight
* Keep the soil moderately moist. Ensure it to dry slightly between watering
* Water twice a day

Say hello to Diana! She’s a new addition to my workstation – I already have Umbrella Jane (my umbrella plant who somehow has stopped growing; I ought to transplant her into a bigger pot!) and Sweet Unknowns (another plant – Nil’s gift; don’t really know what she is but o’well… ). I know, my plants are all somehow girls! ^.^

Yes, I do have a lot to take care of at the office, Le Lapin, with Tortue and all but I reckon I’ll need some new positive chi sometime soon! Besides, the pinkish flowers are just great for CNY, no?

I usually don’t talk abut housechores because it’s boring and almost everyone I know hates it. But this bout…this bout started with a little naggy thought in my mind about shoes. Yes, all women ever seem to gush about are shoes.

Now Chinese New Year is fast approaching and I thought I had better get a headstart to clearing out the junk in my room. No, no pictures. I’m still very shy when it comes to taking a full 180 degree plus picture of my room. Say, don’t you notice that after 21, time seems to fly by awfully fast?

Anyway, like I said earlier, it all started with a little push to clear my shoe corner; y’know where one dumps their shoes the moment they enter the room/house? Well, I went from at least six visible pairs to two visible pairs and one (my running shoes) in its good old box. But the moment the shoes disappeared, the shoe mat became rather visible. Gack! I had no idea that I shed hair like a cat!!!!!!!!!!!! The shoe mat definitely had to go but once it did (and before a new one could come in), I realized that my book shelf that laid just in front of the shoe corner need some serious sprucing up.

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I can never be like her though…so don’t complain, Le Lapin!

Pic by Estelle Broyer

I know I said I was going to send down seven hats and all that but suddenly I just can’t bring myself to knit anymore hats, having gotten myself busy with Baby Apple and a host of another projects that will be gifts to fiance’s family.

Instead I’ll be sending down some Montelimar nougats and half a bag of les papillottes (French chocolates that can be found only during Christmas and New Year) – two items which I got during my trip to France last December.

Of course there will be other goodies which some people have decided to put together for some of the editors…

My only hope is that the chocolates and nougats will get pass the sniffer without any problems. Maybe I ought to put a note that says…

Dear doggie,

Thanks for a great job done but unfortunately, these are not for doggie consumption.

Please refrain from chowing down on them. They are for a few very lovely people I work with. If they don’t get it, working with them will be a pain.

Thank you for your kind consideration.

Cheers,
The sender.

ps: When I visit Australia and run into you, can I pet you and rub your tummy? You’re just so adorable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

A Skinny Sandy Shifty
Pattern | Shifting Sands by Grumperina
Yarn | Manos Del Uruguay in Wildflowers
Needles | 5mm straight

First FO (Finished Object) of the year! :dance:

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Initially I was thinking of making ginger snaps for Chinese New Year but somewhere, somehow along the way, I ended up with dough that was too soft to be rolled out and cut into shapes. After analyzing the recipe, I realised that I was making ginger cookies with a somewhat gingerbread-like recipe/consistency instead. Oh woe to me for failing to decide on the “right” recipe before starting it.

Ginger snaps are somewhat harder when cool and are to be rolled out and cut whereas the recipe I used called for rolling the dough into balls and then flattening them out on the pan – molded cookies, if you will.

(Nutmeg) Ginger cookies snaps
Makes 36 (actually more!)

2 1/4 cups flour (all-purpose flour will do)
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup butter, room temp
1/2 cup margarine, room temp
1 egg
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/3 cup molasses (or dark treacle)
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 – 1/3 teaspoons ground nutmeg
1 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt

What to do:

1. Cream 1/2 cup of granulated sugar, brown sugar, butter and margarine until light and fluffy. Add egg and continue beating until blended well. Add molasses.
2. Sift the dry ingredients three times and stir in butter mixture. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3. Preheat over to 160-180 C. Line pans with wax paper/baking paper.
4. Place the remaining sugar in a shallow dish. Roll tablespoons of dough into balls and roll balls in the sugar to coat.
5. Place the balls two inches apart on the prepared sheets and flatten slightly.
6. Bake till golden around the edges but soft in the middle, 12-15 minutes. Let cookies stand for 5 minutes before transferring to a rake to cool.

I totally botched the last step, choosing instead to bake cookies for 15 minutes and NOT letting them stand – just took them out to cool.

Since it has been ages since I last made anything from scratch, I fumbled around and made a few errors changes, namely added 1 to 1/3 teaspoons of nutmeg instead of 1/2 teaspoon as called for in the recipe (hence the weird title) AND dumping in 1 cup of sugar instead of 1/2 cup first (I did scoop up the additional 1/2 cup before creaming it with the butter). Well, I should get used to this since I’ll be making orange-strawberry shortbread checks as well.

Frankly, I was a little nervous. It’s my first time making cookies with anything else but fruit and flavouring. All sorts of things ran through my mind – would it have enough of that gingery taste? Would the overkill of nutmeg totally ruin my dough? Will it be too sweet? Would the treacle make it taste awfully weird?

It turned out to be just fine; a little chewy when warm but oh-so-snappish when cool. The additional nutmeg added a unique touch to an otherwise gingery snap so no complaints there. Thank goodness my experimentations (mistake or otherwise) never fail me! While the aroma is fantastic for the house, I found the cookies a little too sweet for my liking because of the amount of sugar required for rolling those sticky little balls around even though I nearly replaced all white sugar with light brown sugar which is less sweeter. So will definitely have to make a note somewhere to cut out that bit that says “roll balls in sugar”.

I’m still wondering if I should ship off some to Nil – need to find a sturdy-enough yet airtight container that won’t break. We’ll see how it goes. Now it’s off to finish off some knitting!