For Sale

i like them all, cantik kan kalau letak kat kitchen. they are made of  laminated chipboard, each measuring 12cm x 22cm.

cuti2 dikampong - Barnsdale Gardens

on Wednesday we went to Barnsdale Garden, nestled in the quiet corner of Rutland countryside, located in Exton near Oakham.

the garden was made famous by Geoff Hamilton, popular BBC Gardeners' World presenter from 1983-1996, he was voted 'Britain's Favourite TV Gardener'.

just when you thot this place is tucked away in the kampong, the place was quite busy; a tour coach was about to leave when we got there. it is Britain's largest collection of individually designed gardens - with 39 gardens on 8 acre site. read http://www.barnsdalegardens.co.uk/welcome-to-barnsdale-gardens for more info

we got there at 12.30pm, just nice for lunch.

Artisan's Cottage Garden

 Apple Arch

all the different types of apples and pears

 Plantsman Garden

  

 The Land's End Garden; depicting the seaside retreat. Land's End is in Cornwall

A Cottage Garden with rose covered archway and homemade shed & greenhouse

  Artisan's Cottage Garden

 Allotment

 The Children's Garden

 Versailles, named such due to formality & layout of Louis XIV's famous garden at Palais de Versailles

 The Formal Pond & Knot Garden

 The Courtyard Garden

 The Orchard

 Penstemon Bed

Memorial Garden, featuring the bronze bust of Geoff Hamilton; beds filled with 'Geoff Hamilton' Rose in the summer and snowdrops & daffodils in spring

kids had fun with treasure hunt - looking for elves just like Ben Elf and Princess Holly on tv.

 Town Paradise Garden

 Elizabethan Vegetable Garden

 Mediterranean Garden

summer graduation 2011

yesterday was our little missy's preschool graduation day. it actually took us by surprise, never thot it would be so eventful. i would be lying if i say i wasnt proud or excited even if its just at preschool level. its still a long way to go but what the heck!

pic below:
Right : Aisyah age  5 1/2  at  Yamaha music school  graduation in 2005
Left : Aliyah age  4 1/2   at Busybees Preschool graduation in 2011

the itinerary: 

10.30am : individual photo shoot
1.30pm : we were at the school for the group photo. macam2 kerenah budak2, i admire the photographer who's really patient with the children's antic. after the photo session, we walked to the next door scout centre
2.00pm : ceremony started - nothing fancy, ada slide presentation of the kids activities during their preschool year; then the kids walked to the front one by one to get a scroll from their teacher/carer.
2.45pm : walked back to the nursery for fun & games and tea party and we left at around 3.30pm.

BB Class of 2011 with their teachers/carers L to R : Jas, Jacqualine, Sarah, Jill and Amber

Aliyah & her best friend Anais

Tea party and Aliyah & Anais  

i finally got to meet aliyah's best friend, Anais' mum and exchanged tel no. she really wanted Anais to come over for her 5th birthday party. Anais isnt going to the same school as her.

Bye Bye Preschool..

The sisters - Aisyah & Aliyah and Niasha & Chi Chi.. Aisyah & Niasha are schoolmates.

berbeza betul dengan graduation preschool/kindergarten  kakak masa kat malaya, siap sewa hall (combine graduation with another branch), ada performance by all the children in the kindy aged 4-6 y.o. tu tak kira dengan parents yang kiasu, sibok nak ke depan nak ambik gambar anak2, blocking people's view.

compare group photo kakak & adik..kakak punya classmates look serious, bak kata orang 'control macho'..adik's preschoolers macam2 pesen - ada yang berlunjur (photographer suruh bersila, sekejap aja depa buat), ada yang berbisik sambil melekek lekek, yang korek telinga, menggaru  hidung, hisap  jari...kids are kids; they are in their natural self.  

we are pleased with the simple ceremony yesterday, what matters most - our little one was well cared for,

enjoyed preschool, made friends, learned about manners, whats good & bad and basic reading, writing  and counting. time flies and as my friend Oya said "fast forward 15 years and she'll be graduating from university".

she'll be remembered for her 'lovely smile' (as circled) and of course, the generous hugs and kisses..

  

the other royal wedding

Zara Philips got married to Mike  Tindall, England's rugby player today. this is Scotland's first royal wedding in almost 20 years, the last one was her mom, Princess Anne's second marriage  to Timothy Laurence in 1992.

the wedding is held at Canongate Kirk on Royal Mile in Edinburgh, attended by the bride's grandparents, parents, siblings and cousins. this is dubbed as "the other"royal wedding, a world away from April wedding of William & Kate.

pic taken from bbc online news. more stories here http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-14344093

why am i writing about Zara's wedding? one, because she's an amazing sportswoman & equestrian (big missy is a fan) and two, we were at Canongate Kirk during the last easter break in scotland. the church is not far from Holyroodhouse Palace (Queen's official residence in Scotland) where the reception is taking place. 

 see the glimpse of red door in the centre picture.

 Holyroodhouse Palace at the end of Royal Mile

 lunch-ing  at the Cafe at the Palace

cuti2 dikampong - shopping

summer holidays kali ni is a bit different - i just wanted to spend few days with my friend ina & her family who live in a small kampong called Langham in Rutland County. encik suami couldnt stay on with us sebab kena bertungkus lumus prepare for audit next week. so he just drove us to the kampong on Sunday afternoon and back to notts after dinner. coincidently i caught a bad cold on sunday nite, so just nice lah kan. dah kata nak relax, so we decided to take it easy, kalau keluar jalan2 pun just within 1/2 hour drive away.

on Monday, we went shopping in Leicester - pergi chinese shop, with the original intention to look for  buka puasa dessert but ended up buying lots of jajan such as haw flakes, japanese rice crackers, wafer biscuits. bought few cans of rambutan in syrup, satu tin sudah habis dimakan oleh the 2 girls yesterday. little missy never had fresh rambutan before & kakak pulak memang loves rambutan dari kecik. i also found Kaya chap Kipas Udang to spread on  toast. all these while memang we only buy kicap chap kipas udang, tak tau pulak dah buat Kaya jugak sekarang.

after shopping kat kedai cina, we went to High Cross shopping centre; it is big with lots of high street names under one roof. memang tak boleh lawan dengan Vic Centre or Broadmarsh kat kampong we all lah. bought few daily wear for the kids from H&M and Zara; bukan nya beli baju raya..

kakak wore her her new Zara red jacket  & skinny jeans the day after. surprisingly they are reasonably priced & within my 'affordability' range. adik's pink jacket tu her Aunty Ina yang belikan from John Lewis and she loves it.

lepas shopping  we had lunch at Nandos - its halal and ramai muslims yang makan kat situ.

after makan, we made our way home sebab budak2 pun dah penat and my kids dont really like shopping...pergi shopping pun kes terpaksa sebab dah outgrow baju & kasut yang sedia ada. and they want to choose their own stuff, even the little missy.

cuti2 dikampong - Rutland Water

on Tuesday we took the kids out for a picnic at Sykes Lane. weather wasnt so great tapi kalau nak tunggu good weather baru nak keluar, alamatnya tak kemana mana lah jawab nya.

we've been to Rutland Water lots of times. Rutland Water ni besar, infact it is UK's largest man made lake, same size as  Lake Windermere in Lake District but its not as commercialised. its well known for angling/fishing, cycling, watersports, bird watching.  this is the map of rutland water.
http://www.discover-rutland.co.uk/xsdbimgs/PDF's/Leaflets/Attractions%20April11(1).pdf. 

matahari malu nak keluar so i have to add it on

 Rutland Belle cruising on the lake

ini kah yang di panggil Sebatang Kara??

antara juadah piknik - biskut cornflakes Bengawan Solo yang rangup & lazat. looks like hariraya came early

balik from picnic, i had a bit of temperature and runny nose,  makan ubat and took a (long) nap while the kids went out to the stable.