Jibber Jabber, Simplify

Rags To Bags

This afternoon, I used the sewing machine to turned some rags into vacuum bags. These vacuum bags will be used, and then disposed of as garbage. The garbage will then go into the city’s waste management furnace, to be turned into energy. This energy enters a system (warmtenet), which in turn provides warm water and heating to a local network of homes and organizations.

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Belgium, Food & Drinks, Travels

Asper & Gavere

D and I went to Asper to buy our last batch of geutelingen for the year. However, because of popular demand, we might not have to wait till next February to get our hands on them again. According the the lady at the butcher shop, geutelingen were available since last October! Oh yeah, and since we were at a really nice butcher shop, we ended up buying weeks worth of meat, on top of the special pancakes. 😛

We then proceeded to Gavere, so that I may do some ATM transactions. The entire city square was dug up and was undergoing some serious renovations and changes. Now that I think about it, I hardly ever come across a Flemish city which is not under some kind of construction…

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Food & Drinks, Simplify

Pearl Couscous Salad

While going through the pantry this morning, I found a box of pearl couscous I forgot I have. Although the expiry date is two months from now, I decided that it will be best that I use it up now, so that I will not forget about it again. Subsequently, I cooked the couscous according to the instructions on the box, let that cool and then made a simple couscous salad with whatever I have at hand. Whatever I had at hand were shredded carrots, shredded Chinese cabbage, olive oil, ras el hanout (expired), salt, pepper and miscellaneous this and that. The end result looks good, and tastes good.

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Jibber Jabber

Grass Patch Completed

This afternoon, I completed filling up the grass patch between the shed and the raised vegetable bed. I have to trim and transfer pieces of turf that I gathered elsewhere in the backyard.

It may now rain so that the grass will take root and grow.

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Food & Drinks, Simplify

Pizza Crust

Look at that pizza crust. It was made from scratch using bread flour. The texture is totally different from store-bought pizzas, which crusts are usually thinner. Nothing wrong with cracker-like pizza crusts, but if I must be honest, nothing beats a freshly-baked home-made pizza with a crunchy bread crust.

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Jibber Jabber, Travels

Globe-trotting Skirt

This skirt was given to me by my mother when I went back for holidays in Malaysia many years ago. She has worn it when she was a student in teacher’s college and when she taught school in later years.

The cloth was from a textile store in the United Kingdom. It was a gift from my uncle to my mother when he returned home after his studies in England. My late grandmother promptly turned the cloth into this lovely skirt.

A few years ago, I removed the elastic waistband that grandma put in, and sewed a zipper onto the side of the skirt. The addition of the zipper and my occasional wearing of the skirt are my contributions to the tales of this globe-trotting piece of clothing.

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Business & Being Creative, Simplify

Long Emails

Mom and I are good in keeping up with each other. Thanks to technology and the internet, we have successfully maintained close contact throughout the decades, despite the distance.

Lately, I have noticed that text messages via Signal tend to get overlooked and neglected, whereas our weekly chats are often filled with many distractions.

So in order to get my messages and information across to my busy and sometimes distracted mom, I have resorted to typing long emails when necessary. So far so good, I think. 😉

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Jibber Jabber

Productive Morning

In a few hours this Thursday morning, D and I did a beer run, purchased bulk grocery for the month, returned some beer bottles for cash deposits, recycled, and went to the bank. D being a night owl, that says a lot!

By half past one in the afternoon, we were eating the pizza which was heated up nicely in the oven. Our purchases put away in the pantry, fridge and freezer.

This has to be one of the most productive Thursday mornings ever…

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