A room of her own

A room of her own is exactly the kind of inspiration I need.

A room of her own symbolicly means somewhere whether real or imaginary a place that I can be with my thoughts and not just playing 'mum' or wife. I suspect that I do not have the luxury of being with my own thoughts much.

'Happiness is of our own making'

This is much easier said than done but at the end of the day one can choose to be depressed (I am guilty of this most of the time) or one can remind oneself that one is much more fortunate than most and hence count ones blessings.

Life throws many hands at us some unhappy and sad and utterly tragic events but it is the contrast that ultimately plays out and show us that happiness is a state of mind and a transient state that one need to savour in the moment because fleetingly it will pass just like everything else.

I do not aspire for exaltation, greatness or even recognition. Fame and fortune smiles and chances upon some talented and determined souls but it can also be shone upon the most pathetic individuals. To leave an indelible mark upon those who matter to us and to impress upon them and affect/influence them in some way is really how ones legacy will live on. The latter is what I aspire to as it lasts long after I am gone.

Nutting is free

Free things come at a price sometime dearer than one would like to attribute to gratuity.
Free things always without exception bring out the worst in human nature. People will step on others without any regard for whomever is in their way and be utterly bitchy just to get their part of the cake(figuratively speaking).

Susceptibility to laziness

As human beings we are all and without exception prone to laziness. We are motivated by material gain, survival instincts and desire to attain credibility and relevance.

If left to our own devices and if we could afford to pay someone else or depend on others to support us financially and otherwise we all would.

Life unfortunately is cruel and hence we have to work in order to survive. My philosophy is that we are all born lazy and in order to overcome inertia one has to make an effort. Shrek's inertia and tendency to procrastinate needs lots of nudging and nagging. Shrek would happily sleep, eat and fulfil his pleasure if things were left up to him. He is more than capable of simply lazing around, fortunately I am there to push Shrek and my children into action. Allez hop allez hop.

We have a saying in our household : Get up you lazy lump of lard and hop to it !

Important lesson for people prone to maniacal behaviour

A house is only a home if it is lived in and incidentally will have messes, dirt and dust.

A home is not a museum to be admired or an altar to be worshipped.

Incidentally if a home is lived in it will contain objects, junk and in general will be occupied, i.e. it will not have a whole lot of empty spaces, given that it is best if a home is not too cluttered but nevertheless it needs to be reiterated that I do not consider a house that is empty save for a few essentials a home. If the kitchen is always spotless one must wonder if it is ever used for cooking at all, if a living room is spotless then is it ever 'lived in', if a bed is perfectly made and it is covered with plastic to prevent dust from settling is it ever 'slept in'. If no dust ever settles then is it a home where people are living or is it dead space that is perfectly calm, perfectly devoid of all traces of life.

Life is not about having no clutter, spotlessness, cleanliness and emptiness. It is about spending quality time with others and interacting with your wife or spouse or companion and kids or by extension family and friends while one still can.A house that is orderly, tidy and neat without a single hair out of place is not a celebration of life but a celebration of stillness. Once we are gone it is already way too late. Time waits for no man. If we waste our time worrying about inessentials like how we can better improve our homes or surroundings but not our relationships with people around us then is all that fretting and worrying over trivial and trite things really worth it ???

If you insist on having a perfectly clean, spotless house then consider living in a museum. I challenge anyone who is game to try it. I am directing this at a certain somebody who shall remain unnamed. They know who they are...

Murphy's laws bis

No matter the price paid for pairs of stockings I will always invariably end up with ladders in them.

Kids never waste your hard earned dough on buying expensive pairs of stockings that will end up ripping no matter how careful you are in handling them and caring for them. I have resolved to buy the cheapest brand and not regret the fact that it's only after the first use and I already have ladders.

Rotten chestnuts

It might sound trite and conceited but I have not learnt my lesson and so committed the faux pas of buying marrons when it is not in season as yet. It was a horrendous batch with more than half rotten and inedible and the rest barely passable. Most of all the skin did not peel off easily eventhough it has been roasted in a skillet. It was a waste of time, money spent and waste of stomach space. Petit Suisse who is a keen roasted chestnut fiend (aka marrons chauds) and self proclaimed avid fan told me to finish consuming the chestnuts because he could not swallow the awful batch. He usually wolfs down faster than I can peel them so if he turns away in disgust it means that the marrons were beyond repair.
The end of the season of anything also spells disaster beyond reprimand.

It is one lesson to always buy seasonal produce : taste wise it is better and more cost effective.

This general rule of thumb applies to all fresh fruits, vegetables and produce in general.

No exceptions to this rule whatsoever.

TB The photo displays what successful marrons chauds should look like,

Cost of things

Murphy's law dictates that whatever I buy 'en action' or at reduced price will be cheaper the day after. It encompasses myriad genres including but not limited to fresh produce, foodstuff, baby items and household articles...etc.


No matter when so I think I have scored a bargain only to find out the day or two after that it's sold at an even cheaper price. It irks me to no end.

The only exceptions are when fresh produce and food are sold at half price, it cannot get any lower.

Murphy's laws are full of anger and stress inducing self-evidence and yet much of it is paradoxical truism.

Hard sell

Shrek has to be praised for having courageously fought off the insistent door to door salesman trying to weasel his way into selling us a security system we do not need thus helping a damsel (Princess Fi aka moi) in distress from committing a fatal, fatal mistake.

I was silly beyond belief and fell into the trap of leaving my contact details on a 'supposed competition' and led the security system salesman to my house. Luckily Shrek was there to save the day!!!

Nein zager aka nay sayer + hard sell = NO DEAL

Amen to that...

Sometime it does pay to be cautious and to be 'Sviss', after all it might save one from falling into the trappings of 'empty or misleading' promises and signing a dead end contract.

Murphy's laws

One of Murphy's laws that I have learnt the hard way is that

'When you go on an outting or simply leave the house, you will generally not need whatever it is you are bringing such as change of clothes, raincoats, snacks etc etc but the one or few times you forget because you were running late or simply did not want to be encumbered you will need the very things you did not bring.'

Shrek's maxim

Shrek has undeniable wisdom and rife life experiences which leads to him formulating gems such as the following

'One drop of black ink is all you need to render any other colour black (or shades of black)'

I wonder whether I should be proud for having such a smart hubby or worried he is capable of being a potty mouth.
He is definitely unique and I'll give him ccredit for that.