The Diary Of A Wimpy House Owner

[january 0]

such a lovely dining area! feels like a top class restaurant.

the wishbone chairs and that table are a perfect match.

[green giraffe 0]

oohhhhhh are you interested in selling some of the art pieces? serious question here.. am looking for some fun pieces to decorate the spare bedroom

love the table and the wishbone chairs!! very very classy!

Might consider when

A) we run out of space to display their art work or

B) there is a cure to Hoarder Syndrome (Hubby is unfortunately inflicted with it and finds it hard to part with anything that occupies space in the house)

Thanks. Love the table and chairs too. However still waiting for 2 more Wishbone to arrive. Not very happy with Lush's delivery service. Ordered 4 but only 2 came after waiting for 3 months. Now got to wait for another container to bring in 2 more Wishbone.

[green giraffe 0]

Do ur boy attends art lesson? very well done. The colouring and the lines.

Yes they do during the school holidays. Have been sending them to NAFA holiday art classes. However they are still very amateurish.... just bought a few packets of peanuts, will have to train the monkeys to do Matisse to Monet, Van Gogh to Warhol. When they are good enough, can sell the art pieces to patsy to earn back the cost of peanuts. hee hee..

[green giraffe 0]

such a lovely dining area! feels like a top class restaurant.

the wishbone chairs and that table are a perfect match.

Thanks beginning of the year, love your choice of dining table too. Good thing it can be extended, comes in handy for parties. Hope you can find matching dining chairs.

[green giraffe 0]

Confession of a Water Plant Murderer

I did it. I killed some water plants (so sad, dont even know the name or species) with my enthusiasm.

The water fountain at the back of the house was the last to be completed. First we waited for the tiles to dry before we could turn on the water. Next fountain filled up, pump working, water trickling down not only fountain wall but also flow into maid's room and dining floor....we have a leak!! By then we have already moved into the house. Contractor came to fix the leak, waited for a few more days, repeat the process and voila! We've got ourselves a long awaited water feature in good working order. Without haste, we went out to buy hanging plants and water plants to dress up our fountain. We went quite pleased with our (unusual) efficiency and were patting each others' back for being able to strike off another item on the mile long to-do list. Here's some proof...

Two days later...

The water plants turned pale and had white spots on them. They looked like they have been bleached. After some investigation, the verdict was out. We have killed our plants with our enthusiasm. We were told by our gardener that there was still some chemicals in the fountain. We have to wait at least 2 weeks for the chemicals to settle in the water, drain out half the water, fill it up, wait again, drain it out, repeat step 1 to 3 before we can finally introduce living things like plants and fishes into the fountain. So much for our premature effort....

Edited October 10, 2010 by green giraffe

[patsy_sg 1]

Might consider when

A) we run out of space to display their art work or

B) there is a cure to Hoarder Syndrome (Hubby is unfortunately inflicted with it and finds it hard to part with anything that occupies space in the house)

Thanks. Love the table and chairs too. However still waiting for 2 more Wishbone to arrive. Not very happy with Lush's delivery service. Ordered 4 but only 2 came after waiting for 3 months. Now got to wait for another container to bring in 2 more Wishbone.

Your kids are really quite good! I much rather buy the pieces now before they become super famous!!!! He he

But do understand hoarders disease, I have it too!

Cant wait for More pics

[january 0]

you're lucky it's just some plants and not some expensive koi that you killed!

my uncle was overenthusiastic with his first koi pond and threw a bunch of fish into the pond before the water was settled (heard it needs about a 2 week settling period...) it was pretty heartbreaking seeing all the dead fish.

are you intending to have fish in that water feature? or is it more for air flow?

[green giraffe 0]

you're lucky it's just some plants and not some expensive koi that you killed!

my uncle was overenthusiastic with his first koi pond and threw a bunch of fish into the pond before the water was settled (heard it needs about a 2 week settling period...) it was pretty heartbreaking seeing all the dead fish.

are you intending to have fish in that water feature? or is it more for air flow?

Poor fish...rip.

Will be putting some fish but not sure what kind. We are not the "koi fish" type so will most likely throw in some longkang fish. Just wanted some mosquito larva eating fish. Any suggestion?

[green giraffe 0]

Plantissimo

Our first foray into gardening. Plants at the back garden.

Bamboo plants at front garden. In the day and night.

New Heliconias intersperse between existing trees at side garden. Still look very sparse. Cant wait for it to grow...

Solitary orchid plant in a planter which we wanted to use as an outdoor dust bin at first.

[gals_mama 0]

Poor fish...rip.

Will be putting some fish but not sure what kind. We are not the "koi fish" type so will most likely throw in some longkang fish. Just wanted some mosquito larva eating fish. Any suggestion?

hw abt guppies? But it might be considered very small in such a big place.

[gals_mama 0]

Plantissimo

Our first foray into gardening. Plants at the back garden.

Like going to a spa

[green giraffe 0]

hw abt guppies? But it might be considered very small in such a big place.

Guppies sound like a wonderful idea. Have always like the small fry. Will definitely consider.

[patsy_sg 1]

yah, am in bangkok now and walked past a spa that looked just like your garden!!!!

will you have a massage bed by the side and we will all line up properly to have a back rub

[Beeblebrox000 0]

Poor fish...rip.

Will be putting some fish but not sure what kind. We are not the "koi fish" type so will most likely throw in some longkang fish. Just wanted some mosquito larva eating fish. Any suggestion?

Dear GG,

Be careful about the fishes!!

When we bought our house from the previous owners, we took over their koi pond and mini-pond too. We were not keen on having fishes but we thought we could just learn about them as we went along. The owner left behind 4 koi in the koi pond and 6 goldfish-type fishes in the mini-pond. In total, there were 10 fishes.

That was 2 months ago. We are now left with 3 fishes!! (1 koi and 2 goldfish).

It freaked me out when they started dying - one by one!! The worst was seeing one big fat koi floating dead on the pond, with another fat one lying dead at the bottom of the pond. I screamed like a banshee and the contractor's workers had to get rid of them for me. I'm "scared" of fishes!

The second worst incident was when I saw a white dead fish at the bottom of the mini-pond - it had been dead for some time and it was part-flesh, part-skeleton. Like a zombie fish!! I had to phone the fish-guy to get rid of that - not cheap (on a sunday morning). Incidentally the zombie fish was the mudsucker. They are hardy creatures and are not supposed to die easily!

There were also 2 small black fish in the mini-pond - we couldn't find them. No skeletons/no bodies. They are gone - just like that.

I then begged the fish-guy to convert the mini-pond into a fishless water feature. He did that and now i'm pleased with it. The water is chlorinated and clear. When there was fish in it, it was always green and dirty.

The koi pond remains.

So GG, please think carefully about rearing fishes. They die so easily (in my case, at least). In Chinese culture, it is good to have fish in the pond but I think i would prefer a jacuzzi or a fishless water feature.

[leechaorui 2]

Hi GG,

Congras. See that your bamboo fencing is very well done. Gives you privacy and at the same time, provide a very natural look.