The contractor send me her drawing for the kitchen which is fine . She has forgotten to include the oven in the drawing but I have told her to include the oven in this . Guess , the oven can be slotted next to the fridge . The shelves will be open shelving . One advantage of open shelving is that I can see what is there in the kitchen. the disadvantage is that 1) needs to be tidy , if not it becomes unsightly 2) cicaks ( house geckos) can shit ( pardon the expression ) on utensils so needs to wash utensils before using .

The contractor is a bit busy with personal issues . She has a family bereavement and needs to go to a funeral in Alor Setar but I am in no hurry , so this is fine as in no rush really . I also need to remind her on the “open kitchen ” at the Rumah Kebun . I have to also remind her on the security safe with combination number locks for the automated gate keys at the front of the house . This enables someone to get into the keys of the automated gate without having to have me around .

She has contacted another supplier on the CC TVs and have given me the final quote for this .

4 CC TV cameras with 3 cameras at the front and 1 CC TV at the back as per picture above . There is no access from the back through the kebun as in there are no roads or anything but just other kebuns . Actually , the back of the kebun looks pretty inaccessible as overgrown with bushes so I doubt whether any thief will come from the back. If anyone wants to break into the house , it will probably be from the main road facing the house as this enables a quick getaway via the main road if necessary .

I have to think of a smoke alarm to be installed in the house and the Rumah Kebun . This is to prevent anyone lighting a cigarette in the house or Rumah Kebun as this will set off the smoke alarm . Also, this is a safety issue incase of fires due human carelessness or negligence . Gosh , installing a smoke alarm will cause more expenses and that comes with fire insurance , oh boy ! ( more and more expenses !) . I have to seriously consider this .

I have not done any restoration of furniture as I had not much time to think on this and consequently , had no time to contact restorers . Have contacted Yasmin on upholstering dad’s teak chairs in the PJ house but she has not got back to me on the fabrics for upholstering . I think she has also forgotten ha ha ha so probably need to give her a message on this . I saw a short course ( non-accredited ) on upholstering at the School of Art , Architecture and Design in London that is done every Saturday for 5 weeks for 546 pounds ( fees are affordable, the living of 5 weeks in London is not ha ha ha) but I need to bring my own chair ! ha ha ha , how on earth am I to transport one of dad’s chair to London ? These people have accredited courses right up to Diploma level for upholstery alone . Wow, these people are really serious on this type of thing . Something to consider if I got time and money as this is skilled-based. I am awful at water colors as I think it must be really nice to paint in water colors . Would like to paint tropical herbs and orchids in water colors but the introduction I had in painting water colors proved to be an extremely stressful session ! So, I think I am a dud at painting !

Been really, really busy with teaching and work lately so that has occupied my mind and time a lot .