May 26 : Fave thing to do on a Sunday

For now, when the weather is still not that crazy hot, I really enjoy getting on my hands and knees to pull out those weeds! I bought a big sun hat a while ago, and never got to use it at the beach. I dusted it off and wore it for the first time, and my oh my, how I loved it! The brim is so wide it covers my face, shoulders and even my arms! If the sun is right overhead, I'm pretty sure I can curl into a ball, under my hat, and the sun can't touch me!


Here is the mother of all sun hats!


Some days I wear my hair in braids and keep it all up with a scarf!


Happy gardening and enjoy the beautiful Memorial Weekend!

May 25 : Us!

Doggy sitting Mr. Benny again! He's a rescue, and according to his owners, Benny is a chihuahua and Jack Russell mix. We call him -- A ball of "Benergy"!



This is little Benny.

Benny totally asserts his alpha male status. Even though Scuffy is twice his size, Benny usurps his place on my lap, while Scuffy looks on helplessly. When I take them out for potty time, Scuffy stays close behind Benny, never in front. Benny on the other hand, makes certain he marks his territory over Scuffy's.

I feel bad for my poor little Scuffy, so he gets extra cuddles at the end of the day when we all pile into bed together!

May 24 : Go!

The antithesis of Go!
I couldn't find anything else to interpret today's theme!

May is coming to an end, and this is good reminder picture for me to stop, catch my breath and take stock of May (where did it go???) before June arrives! Work has been crazy, and some days I want to hurl the phone across the room (when it's ringing off the hook).
But then after, I go to my yoga classes and come out recharged.

*deep breaths*

May 23 : PJs

I don't have proper PJs (whatever that means)
I love to sleep in comfy tank tops and boxer shorts
And a pair of snuggly socks to keep my feet warm.

May 22 : Change

Alright, husband.
It is HIGH TIME you trade
your dirty old Made-in-China Fei Yues
for a more decent pair of kicks.




Can you believe they sell this same pair on Urban Outfitters for USD$60?
We got it in good ol' Shanghai for less that USD$10!
I think I shall get my friend to bring a few pairs when she comes to visit,
but for now J can make do with his new Vans!

May 21 : I Care About...

I care so much about this little munchkin! I love him to bits!!

Right now he's looking a little bummed out because his Papa is out with friends. I took him for a walk in the park and enjoyed some Mama + Pup pup time. He's getting better with socializing. Before, he would freak out and bark like crazy when other people walk by. Now he takes it in his stride. My little boy all grown up! *beams with pride*

Who knew this little peanut could make me feel this way!

May 20 : Light

My Scentsy lamp casts little hearts on the wall! <3<3<3

May 19 : My favorite view

Well, I must apologise... These pictures are terrible, and totally do not do my "favorite view" any justice. But I meant it in a way that I love watching these Carolina Wrens nest right on my window sill. From building the nest to watching the parents brave our presence just to feed their hungry babies. What parents will do for their offspring. It's universal!


Finally caught a picture of the mother!



You can see two little beaks wide open, waiting to be fed.


Next year I'm getting a bird house, and setting it someplace where viewing would be easier!

May 18 : Want ...

I would love to live in the Biltmore! 250 rooms, 43 bathrooms, a swimming pool and a gym in the basement - quite advanced for the early 1900s!! If you have time to visit Asheville, NC, you need to make a trip to The Biltmore Estate. I spent a full day there, but there are trails to be explored, and you can even do a segway tour! I'm sure you can easily spend a weekend there! Check out the website for the different types of itineraries.

We had crummy weather that day, but I took some pretty photos to share! They were all taken outdoors because photography is not allowed in the house.









Hope you had a good weekend!

May 17 : Season

What kind of season, you may ask. Why, tis the season for ticks! Grrrr... I hate them. They get onto Scuffy, and because he sleeps with us, they get onto J and I. And that's the reason we gave him a buzz cut today! Kept his white chest hair though, we thought he looked pretty regal with that puffy chest... *giggles*

May 16 : Mailbox - The Doggie Barber

This mailbox belongs to a dog groomer, just two doors down from our house. I had to walk by to take a picture of it today! Which reminds me, I gotta get Scuffy a haircut!

News from the garden : FMSPhoto a Day entry for May 15 - 7 O'Clock

Every evening we water or weed. I got a tan just from working in the garden!
Here are some pictures of what's going on in the garden so far!




This is our first strawberry of the season. It wasn't easy keeping an eye on it every day, watching it ripen, making sure the bugs or animals don't get to it first. Finally when we picked it, it was so sweet! Or maybe I was just tasting happiness!






We picked some green onions for dinner tonight. So fresh, so crisp, and a little spicy!
I used it as a garnish in a sauce made out of vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, minced ginger and chilli.
It was so tasty!






And a whole bunch of radishes! What to do with them???



I hope your garden is doing good too!

May 14 : Need ...

A haircut! That's for sure!

How do you wear your hair in the summer? I'm thinking temperatures are gonna soar pretty soon! Keeping it short should be the way to go, but I would like to let it grow out and really curl my hair for a change. It's been awhile and my hair is black, wavy, (crazy) and boring. And I'm at that awkward in-between stage - not too short but not quite long enough to do anything fancy! Pffft! Very frustrating!

May 13 : Sunrise / Sunset

This was my entry for the May Photo a Day challenge but it's not my best. I didn't wake up in time for sunrise, and I always feel I get a better sunrise view.



This is my favorite sunrise!


Then this one shows off the beautiful colors of Mother Nature.


Finally, this was when we got snow in February.


I hope you had the chance to watch a sunrise / sunset today!

May 12 : Mother (Happy Mother's Day)

Waiting for breakfast from their mama!


To my dearest mother, thank you for all that you've done for me these 30 years. You have given, and will never stop giving your love and strength and help in every possible. I know it's tough having to deal with the distance between us and I thank you for your patience and understanding. Thank goodness for technological advances, I see you and talk to you every week. Now that you're on the iPhone, all the various apps make it possible for us communicate within a matter of seconds. I still appreciate the times when I can come home to visit. I love you, even though words cannot adequately convey my love for you.

Happy Mother's Day, 妈妈我爱你！

May 11 : A Smile

Just one of my many elephant paraphernalia in the house. This elephant helps us keep hands clean. It holds the hand towel and says with a smile, "Dry your hands!" Takes 'service with a smile' to the next level.

May 10 : Stars

Star- shaped almond jelly with longans! My mother always made these on special occasions. This morning, she made it as a dessert to take to my sister's boyfriend's house. Our two families are celebrating Mother's Day together. Too bad I wasn't able to join them. What are your special Mother's Day celebrations! I hope you have a good one!

May 9 : A Snack

I ruined J's diet today.

J is working on his raw foods diet, and he did so well all day, eating salads, drinking juice. Then after dinner, I announced that I was craving something sweet -- a milkshake to be more specific. J tried all kinds of ways to dissuade me - he offered to cut up some fruits, and even to make me some juice. But once I got that milkshake stuck in my head, it was very hard to move me. And I knew exactly what milkshake I wanted, where I want it from.

So we drove to the Cookout (it's like a grill out diner) drive thru' and ordered me a good ol' strawberry cheesecake milkshake. And i even swayed J's will - he caved and got himself a Reese's cups milkshake! Oh dear... I feel terrible...NOT! It was worth every last drop!!

May 8 : Shape

Can you guess what this is? I was inspired by one of my Instabuddies @adamsdrespling who takes close ups of objects. The point is to look at commonplace items in a different light. Who knew ordinary objects could look so extraordinary?! Have you taken a closer look at something today, that you would normally have walked past without a second glance? If you haven't, do it! It's so fun, and amazing!



By the way, the photo above is a close up of the one of our door knobs. How many of you guessed it? It looks like glass, but it's actually plastic. I felt like I was looking through a kaleidoscope!!

May 7 : Something beginning with F

This one is easy! F for a Field of wild Flowers. I was walking Scuffy this morning and saw these flowers at the edge of the field. So I picked some for my mini vase and they sit in my room looking pretty! Thank you Mother Nature for the simple pleasures in life! Hope something small made you smile today!

May 6 : Broken

I was working on a jigsaw puzzle over the weekend. It's a picture of a frog in mosaic. And since the theme is Broken, I thought it apt to present my picture in a mosaic form as well. This puzzle was pretty tough, I must have gone cross-eyed several times, but I do love the challenge! This is the third in a row that I've completed. Now I should get back to reading!!

May 5 : Paper

Oops, I was so busy yesterday I missed May 5! Here's my post on "paper". She insisted on showing me her brother's art work. To infinity and beyond!

May 4 : In my Cup

Well, it's technically a glass.

But it was so nice to have a glass of wine at the end of my backbreaking day. It was a sun-less, windy day and I was out in my garden clearing the weeds. We got a lot of rain in the past week, which is good for the plants -- they grew so tall! Except, the weeds popped out all over the place too. I want to believe that no plant is ever a weed, but this doesn't really apply when we're trying to grow a whole bunch of vegetables and have the grasses/dandelions/clover choke them out! I spent four hours bent over the garden, but I hardly made a dent!

I'll continue tomorrow. Hopefully, the sun comes out. It was too cold today! I'll post pictures of the garden soon, but it's not doing too well this year. The crazy weather is killing the little saplings! I hope your garden is doing better than ours!

May 3 : This is really good!!

Now, THIS is really good! I asked for a strawberry frosted donut this morning at the Dunkin' Donuts drive-thru (best invention E-VAH!- the drive thru, i mean). Normally, they give me a plain strawberry frosted one. Today, I got a rainbow surprise! What a great start to my morning. I decided to pass on the good vibes throughout the day - taking phone calls patiently, and killing people with extra, extra, EXtra kindness. Needless to say, today was a happy Friday.

May 2 : Morning Ritual

Scuffy's morning ritual is my morning ritual. I take him out at dawn to go potty. He and I have an established routine. We walk in the fields near our house, he sniffs out a good poo-poo spot and after he does his #2, we RUN back home!


After my yoga class this evening, my teacher revealed that her family had to put their 17 year old dog down because it was suffering from illness and pain. As she was speaking, tears welled up in my eyes. Before we got Scuffy, I never understood how anyone could be so attached to their pets. Now, I know. Scuffy is not just a pet, he is part of our family, our baby. I cannot imagine anything untoward happening to him, especially if i had to put him down. I'd probably bawl my eyes out.

As I type this out, he lays calmly with his head in my lap. I love his puppy smell, his ears twitching when my arm brushes against him. When I look into his puppy eyes, I know that all is right and well in my world.

May Photo-A-Day Challenge

Happy Labour Day (to some parts of the world)!

It's MAY!

And i'm back. Whenever i'm away on a long hiatus, there's always lots of fun stuff to report. I don't know how I managed to stay away that long, but I have a suspicion it's because of my faulty battery that makes using my laptop for long periods of time daunting.






Anyhoos,

It's May and my friend and I are taking on this photo a day challenge. (It's the ONE New Year's Resolution I've been keeping up with!) I've been enjoying my time offline waaaaayyy too much. But I think I've found a way to get back into the groove of blogging.

I'll post one photo a day, plus a short write up of the photo. Crossing my fingers that will help me blog more regularly.

So this is May 1st! If you're on Instagram, use the hashtag #fmsphotoaday to join in the fun!



So for my May 1st entry I got some wine to ring in the new month! I'm not too much of a wino, but I sure love some champagne if I can get my hands on any. Otherwise, good ol' merlot and rieslings usually do the trick!