After years of love and attention they finaly bloom.

Ah, it has been 11 days since I last wrote. Not good at all in trying to keep up with blogging. Anyway, I will keep going at it..... slowly...

This morning while on my way back from morning walk at the padang, I stopped by to chat with an elderly lady who was just about to attend to her patch of vegetable and herbs by the road side. Our conversation range from usage of the different types of herb and vegetables she planted to her personal life story. Much to my amazament, she was much at ease in telling me about her family background, her current life and the hardships and blessings she is going through. She is already in her eighties and still have a surviving husband who is 102 years old. He stays in a room on the upstairs of the home and eats 7 meals a day. Although he is fairly able, she has to attend to all his needs. His medical bills are a big burden on their children and she was rather sorry for the state of affairs. I had a sad tug to my heart when she reveals that she had to sell some of the vegetables and herbs planted from that small patch to supplement the family's burden on medical bills for her husband. She sells them at the nearby morning markets and said that she was always bless in meeting kind people who were willing give space for her to display her wares. At one stage she was able to help out with the bills with her savings of RM500 from the sales of her vegetables. It almost brought me to tears hearing her plight. But her cherry and optomistic outlook made me marveled and looked at her with respect. She accepted that this is her life and fate and would willingly carry on as long as she can. She apologised and said that she should not have lamented so freely about her life to me. I assured her that I was thankful that she had so willingly shared her experiences in life with me and hope that she felt good talking to me.

Her knowledge on herbs were learned from her mother who was a nurse with the Red Cross. She also has two books on usage of herbs which she refers to. At one stage doctors have advised that her diabetic husband's leg had to be amputated. She was desperate and at a loss as it would incur thousands of ringgit which the family could hardly afford. She search her mind and remembered that her mother had used a certain herb to cure the wounds of soliders who were injured during the war. Her efforts paid off. Her husband's wound healed and the leg was saved. The herb which I could identify was "Daun Kaduk". She offered to give me some saplings of that plant and also the sugar cane from her plot. On noticing the scanty number of plants which were overgrown with grass and weeds, I declined saying that I will accept it some other time when I could find space in my garden. We parted with happy greetings and assurance that we will catch up again when we meet.

What a marvelous lady. I, for sure would have a lot to learn from her.

Thought of the day:

When you think the world has turned it's back on you, take another look.

After laying off for 18 months...

Oh! Dear me, it has been 18 months since I last posted on this blog. That's a long long time ago. What a shame and disappointment on myself for lack of vigour and discipline in continuing to do something which I had enthustically set out to do. Thanks to my daughter, who has been encouraging me to keep up with the blog.


What happened? I really have no answer. Perhaps it was because I have been rather busy with too many things. Firstly, my maid who has been with us for 14 years left for good in December 2008. Whilst we were undecided in taking in a new maid then, who else but I had to take over the job. It was only in December 2009 that we got in a new maid. Unfortunately, training a new maid is not easy, what more a Cambodian who understands very little English and comes from such remote and backward environment where where daily life without electricity and pipe water is normal. It takes loads and loads of patience, tolerance and understanding to train one. This was another full time job. The process can sometimes be hillarious and frustrating too. I shall talk about some of my experience in my future posts.



Something to think about, I quote:

"Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood."



Do you know??

Wild salmon, cocoa beans, matcha (green tea),acai berries, blueberries, coffee beans, turmeric, sage and walnuts are recommended brain food and have been proven to boost your IQ, improve your mood, be more emotionally stable, sharpen your memory and keep your mind young.



I don't know about you, but I have started with green tea and walnuts.

Training To Be A Professional Will Writer

Attended 2 days of training to become a professional Will Writer. It is mind and eye opening learning and realising the many disadvantages and difficulties to be faced by the dependants if the deceased had not made a Will. Even if he or she had made one, how effective and comprehensive is it to provide and protect the interest of the Beneficiaries. I now come to understand how useful Trusts can be. Different Trust can be created to cater for different purposes.

Two more days to go. Test is on the 4th day. Hope my slow, rusty and forgetful mind can recall all that had been imparted by Mr. Saw.

Left on the lurch

Sigh!! Chee Foong is already in Beijing.
Dear me, I am left on my own to manage this blog. Well, so far so good. I have managed to pen my second try. Not too bad eh!!!

My first try at blogging

It's through the encouragement of my son, Chee Foong, that I should be more computer savy and be in touch with the internet world that I set up this blog.
I am rather sceptical and uneasy in blogging. Nevertheless, I will try my best and hope to share and learn along the way. Look foward to receiving support and encouragement to keep me going at it.

Thank You.

Kathy Kan