Karen Cheng

A Perth Fashion and Lifestyle Blog

Home & Garden

My Little Green Thumbs

A while ago, I was landscaping my garden and digging out some OLD plants to make room for some NEW plants. I had a few mysterious plants (left by our tenants) which were unidentifiable to me and surplus to requirements… so I asked my 7year old son to drag them over to the compost heap.

Instead he asked if he could make his own garden.

In fact, he announced that he was going to make a ZEN GARDEN.

He got this idea from the computer game, Plants Vs. Zombies (where you have to build a garden to keep out the zombies from attacking your house!) . I thought it was very clever and intuitive of him.

Both my kids set to work and… look at what they came up with!!

Zen Garden

How cute is that?!?

My kids are gardening!

They collected various rocks, pebbles, shells and bricks from all around the yard and spent HOURS arranging everything into a cute little landscape for themselves.

They asked me for more plants.

Then they harassed me for even MORE plants.

They found a few statues (or junk that could be used as statues) and decorated their garden.

Then they harassed me for more statues.

Zen Garden

My mother came over to visit later that day. She’s a hardcore gardener.

She was *so tickled* by what she saw that she went out – straight away – and bought some extra gnomes and garden ornaments for them. A reading ant with a solar panel, which lights up a little light at night.

Zen Garden

During the whole process, they asked so many questions about… what were the best plants to grow, which plants can grow from cuttings, how to consider the size of the plant in 5 years, which ones needed a lot of water and which were high maintenance…

It was all very cool.

Despite the “Plants vs Zombie” irony, I love it that my kids are so excited about something that’s not a computer game.

My White Table

My White Table

I found this little white table about 3 years ago.

Someone was throwing it out and left it next to their driveway. I picked it up, carried it home, got rid of all the spiders and gave it a good clean.

It’s my favourite little table now, and one of my extra-special corners in my home. Filled with objects that only I’m allowed to place there.

I love the mix of white-washed neutral colours and natural textures.

I love the objects filled with memories – the little bird nest, the beautiful piece of driftwood, the special candle holder.

It makes me smile – every day.

When To Throw Away Your Old Makeup and Skincare Products

When we moved house, I didn’t have time to *slowly and carefully* sort through all my stuff, and pack it all up in an efficient manner. I literally had to grab my bathroom drawers, tip all the contents into a box, seal and label it, and pile the boxes into the back of a truck!

So I approach this subject with much embarrassment… 8 months later, I still have many unopened boxes of shit stacked up in my shed.

The other day however, I managed to sort through all my makeup and skin care products.

Makeup Toss
There was actually a lot more stuff that I didn’t photograph, because they went straight into a rubbish bag.

I did a Google search on when to throw away your makeup and skin care products and created a summary to share. Behold!

Moisturisers : 6 months
Face creams: 1 year
Gel Cleansers: 1 year
Cream cleansers: 6 months
Serums: 6 months
Fragrance: 2 years

Foundation: 6 to 12 months
Concealer: 3 months
Loose Powder: 2 years
Pressed Powder: 18 months
Blush (powder): 2 years

Eye Liner (pencils): 3 years (if sharpened regularly)
Eye Liner (cream or liquid): 6 months
Eye shadow (powder): 2 years
Mascara: 3 months

Lipstick: 1 -2 years
Lip gloss: 18 months
Lip liner: 3 years (if sharpened regularly)

Nail polish: One year
Makeup sponges: Wash after each use, and throw away after 2 weeks
Body sponges: 6-8 weeks

Makeup Expiry DateAll makeup and skincare products have this little symbol that tells you how long it will keep, with 3M, 6M, 12M, 18M etc. (M being months).

Needless to say, I was a little shocked, and a little grumpy. Firstly, because I tend to use my expensive products very sparingly (especially the stupidly expensive stuff!!). And secondly, the expiry dates all make sense and I always *knew* that you shouldn’t keep your products for too long.

I also discovered some interesting points…
– Products that have fatty acids go off quicker, dry products can last several years.
– Wet products (like lip gloss, mascara, liquid foundations) can harbour a LOT of bacteria!
– You shouldn’t mix water with your products (like shampoo) because it messes with the balance of preservatives
– 3-in-1 products for (lips, face and eyes) are a great way to spread bacteria all over your face. Clean the tips before using on different areas.
– Wash cloths and sponges can harbour bacteria and mould, you can microwave them for 3 minutes to disinfect it.

Wife-1, Husband-100

Ever since we moved into our new house, my list of JOBS FOR MY HUSBAND TO DO has been growing and growing.

Drill some holes in the wall. Change a few door knobs. Fix the lock in the bathroom. Fix the floorboards. Change a door clasp. Put new window locks in. Mend some broken drawers. Build an extra shelf. Get rid of the rats in the ceiling. That’s just the tip of the ice berg!

Anyway, recently, I’ve felt a bit sorry for him.

Thus I enthusiastically agreed to do all the simple “handyman jobs” around the house.

I was keen as a kid with a new science project!

Bring it on!

So on the weekend my husband gave me my first task:

To find out why an outside drain was flooding.

Just outside our house, along a side wall, there is a kind of flow-off drain, which seemed to fill up with water and flood every so often, and it had an awful smell.

I lifted the little plastic grill lid and peered in.

Blocked Drain

I had to reach deep inside the drain hole… and lift out these objects one at a time.

A plastic soccer ball, a spade, a tennis ball, a plastic container, and a dinosaur.

Obviously my 2.5 year old son had thrown them in.

They were all covered in a thick slime, so I couldn’t get a grip on them while wearing gloves. I tried using tongs, a fork, a spoon. In the end I had to use my bare hands.

And there were also 3 rotten oranges (I spared you the photographic evidence), that were so decomposed they fell apart in my hands and I had to scoop them out like jelly. Eeew.

Blocked Drain

The drain was so deep, that I was lying on the ground, with my cheek pressed on the paving, reaching DEEEEEP into this slimy hole.

It was surreal, disgusting, humbling, and necessary.

How was your weekend?

A weekend catch-up in the garden

In the Garden: Karen and Oranges

We had a fantastic weekend! The weather was lovely and cool, and I was in such a happy and relaxed mood.

In the Garden: Vegetable Bed

I was busy doing some planting and potting during the day.

I have 4 very large vegetable beds, which I have tended and filled up with mixed lettuce, rocket lettuce, spinach, sugar snaps, broccoli, capsicums – all the things my family eats a lot of.

It makes me so happy to see baby vegetables :)

The rest of the weekend was filled with family lunches, dinner parties, soccer,  a cocktail party, a birthday party, sleep overs, and an outing with the kids to Fremantle.

I am blessed with a very rich and busy life!

Oranges

Our orange tree is producing a lot of good looking fruit!

Oranges from the Garden

There are probably 6 more loads like this still hanging on the tree.

As for their taste, they are a quite sour with a hint of sweetness. And unfortunately they’re not nice enough to eat or give away.

Oranges from the Garden

So the kids helped me juice them up. We squeezed them until the skin on our hands turned funny.

Orange Juice

Served with a bit of sugar, mint and ice… they turned out very yummy!

Bad luck? Depends how you look at it.

(A long story made short)

My husband loves to collect objects with a bit of history attached to them.

A few months ago he “found” an old dressing table by the side of the road and brought it home.

I have no idea which era it was from, but it was definitely in a retro style – 1960s or 1970s maybe.

Everyone who saw it… baulked and recoiled in horror.

I didn’t hate it. I just wasn’t too pleased that it was *suddenly* a part of our home.

But my husband saw some charm in it, and yes, even I had to agree, that it was “amazing” – in that it was in PRISTINE CONDITION.

We weren’t sure what to do with it, so in the meantime it sat on one side of our living room.

Now I love my husband.

He puts up with my overflowing wardrobe, my mountain of shoes, my need to glue-tack “pretty stuff” on the walls and my stash of Asian snacks in the pantry.

He puts up with my shit. And I put up with his.

With a smile of course.

However.

While he was overseas for 4 weeks… I tried to move his beloved dressing table to make room for some shelves.

Broken Mirror

I knew I couldn’t lift it, so my plan was to slide it. I lifted up a front leg the *tiniest bit*, so I could slip a towel under it (so it wouldn’t scratch the floor). But I mis-judged the weight of the mirror.

The mirror was so heavy that the whole thing tipped over. In. Slow. Motion. In. Front. Of. My. Eyes.

I was crouched down low, in front of the table, so I didn’t have time, or the strength to catch it as it fell.

I don’t know which scared my toddler the most. The crash. Or my swearing.

I just stood there dumbly for a very long time.

Just looking at the broken bits of glass on the floor.

@#$%^&*@#$&%*$&%#$

Then the guilt kicked in.

I felt soooooooooooooooooooo bad.

Broken Mirror

The more I looked at it, the more I felt like laughing and crying at the same time.

Sigh.

My husband was in Scotland, I was in Australia, and there was an 8 hours time difference. I tried to call him, but he was probably still asleep. So I texted him instead, to tell him the bad news.

When he replied, he was very gracious.

He was very concerned that no one was hurt. He reminded me to be careful while cleaning it all up. He wasn’t angry or upset.

I cleaned it up.

(After taking photos, as evidence)

A week later he came home. I said sorry. He didn’t seem to mind. And it was all a non-event after that.

But the craziest thing is… whenever we retell the story to people… no one believes that it was an accident! Everyone thinks that I did it on purpose!

Hmph.

My husband believes me. I think :)