Put on that gloves, love

It has always been my interest to grow my own vegetable. This new hobby buds out here, in UK. Never, in my mind that I would be into gardening. Back home in Malaysia, I asked my hubby to covered any soil available around our house with concrete cement. I just don't bother to weed out the invasive grasses, let alone growing any vegetables or having a flower bed.

But people do change, right? And here I am.....sitting in the cold, mixing the soil with compost, while my other half putting his strength to test by digging out as many hole as possible to grow our vegetables. We had brocolli, broad beans, mangetout, sugar snap, several varieties of tomatoes and a selection of green bell peppers, red ones and cayenne.

I only managed to grow one single plant of tomato last year so it is kind of massive improvement this year. I got the 'green finger-man' on my side this year so hopefully all will ends well.

Sadly, we had to dig out all of them 2 days later since it was forecasted for snow and frost in the next few days. So my hubby spent his day digging out the seedlings and small plants (while I was in York, attending a conference) and bring them indoor, safe and warm.

Well...let me introduce you to our very own vegetable patches. Will keep you updated of the progress. Hopefully will be able to show you the harvest, at the end of the season...

See you, soon!

It's not just snow, it's the heaviest snow in 18 years!!

Fancy skiing in Swiss Alps? No worries, Swiss is here in your backyard! Just get the tudung periuk out of your kitchen and yarrribaaa!!!!! Snow is here...and it is here to last (at least for a few more days). Saksikan aksi2 bebudak ni main snow.

Time ni lebat, nak bukak mata pun susah. Keta aku sangkut time ni la.

Rombongan Cik Kiah nak gi main snow

Dua rakan sekelas, Alia dan Asha

Dari petang semalam snow turun dan semakin lebat menjelang tengahari. Aku cam biasa la pagi2 nak hantar Alia ke umah Maswa. Punyer la tebal salji kat atas keta aku. Naik kebas tangan aku dibuatnya, membuang snow yang bertapa kat atas keta. Sampai je umah Maswa dia kata sekolah tutup. Aku lak berkejar balik Silwood sebab ada appoinment ngan sv pagi ni. Sesampai je kat opis baru aku perasan takde satu keta pon kat tempat parking. Kuketuk bilk sv, tak berjawab. Sah dia tak datang. Penat je aku stay-up semalam dan terkejar2 gi hantar Alia ke Egham.

Dah sv takde, aku gi umah Maswa balik, nak amik Alia. Sebelum tu kitorang gi Royal Holloway University dulu, lepak2 amik gambar. Sue yg baru sampai dari Msia beberapa minggu lepas pon ikut gak. Budak2 ni suka giler. Berguling-guling kat atas salji tuh. Memang lebat sungguh! Masa kitorang nak balik, salji tu turun makin lebat. Kat London dan kebanyakan tempat di UK, pengangkutan awam lumpuh. A ku bawak keta pun kadang2 tehuyung-hayang. Ngeri dibuatnya. Nasib baik keta aku ada ciri2 keselamatan, so yakin la jugak sikit. Kalau bawak keta lama Ford aku tu, sure aku tak kuar mana2 sebab keta tu ringan semacam je. Silap hari bulan menggelincir macam roller skates lak. Dalam radio sibuk cakap "Do not travel at all". "This weather is nightmare". Alamak, kalu snow camni 5-6 hari, caner aku nak gi beli stok makanan nih? Ayam, telur semo dah abis dalam fridge tuh. Alamak, kebulur le aku camni. Tidakkkkkkkk!

Freezzzing

It was bitterly cold these days. The temperature was almost -17C in some places (the worst was -27C many many years ago). I didn't realize how bad it was until I saw the news. Imagine the fountain at Trafalgar Square stopped functioning because the water was frozen, ducks and swans missed their happy times in the water 'coz it all turned to ice (kesian itik takde tempat nak berenang-takde arah tujuan dah) and it was reported that AA and RAC received almost 40,000 calls reporting motor accidents, minor and major everyday. Furthermore, kerajaan siap tawarkan bayaran insentif utk org2 tua dan org miskin bagi meringankan beban bil pemanas.

There are many non-profit organisations offering free hot food/sdrinks for the elderly and homeless people in London. I cannot imagine how terrible they must have felt, to put up a brave face and braven the cold to get somewhere warm and cosy. And I just sit there on my sofa with a plate of hot curry and watched the telly 24/7 while others are struggling to survive. I am so lucky since the gas and electricity bills are included in my house rent. And God...the bill is really expensive. No wonder many of us choose to cut on gas bill and bear with the deathly temperature. They cannot even cook hot food/drink since this requires gas as well. Alhamdulillah aku tak terjejas kat sini. Sentiasa panas dan sentiasa ada makanan. Bila lihat kesusahan org lain baru sedar nikmat yang selama ini kita ambil ringan. I just cannot imagine life without heater during winter (seperti yg berlaku sekarang di Sarajevo and many countries in central Europe). Dreadful, I think.

Another thing that thug my heart is the tragic situation in Gaza. It was so heartbreaking seeing little childrens, fathers and mothers, silently crying or screaming their heart out as the life of their loved ones were snapped before their very eyes. I feel useless not be able to do anything but be witness to their agony. The best thing I could do is to pray for their safety and security. Marilah kita sama2 berdoa untuk mereka. No matter who they are, they are our brothers and sisters. Let us hope for peace all over the world.