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@marblely

Joined 24 June 2020 · 191 posts

Loves all things cute... be real, be true, be you.

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@marblely

The sky looked quite glorious today, I thought. A moment to behold. Have a wonderful day or night, wherever you are! #CapturedMoments

@marblely

I really like looking at ladybugs or ladybirds from the top. They are so cute and round. But not when they fly and not when I see their eyes and legs :D Here was one, resting on a chili plant. p.s. do you call them ladybug or ladybird? I am always confused with this one. #CapturedMoments

@marblely

Helpless "You'd better *educate* him or I will!" her uncle slammed the door. Gee hugged her son tightly, shedding silent tears. She came to her uncle for shelter after her husband left them both in dire straits with loan sharks at their door step almost everyday. It started with random calls in the wee hours of the mornings, and later moved to splashing red paint and diesel all around the car porch, frightening not only them but the neighbours too. They threatened to really burn the car porch some day. Gee had no choice. Her uncle, from what she understood from her late mother, was a prominent figure in the underground world. He would be the best person to help her, she thought. But now, she wasn't sure if she had made a right decision. Her uncle, seemed angry all the time, making it impossible to figure that part out. The last time she saw him was during her wedding to the scumbag husband. When she arrived, she was greeted with a courteous smile. She used to be close to this uncle of hers, her mother's younger brother. She thought she was welcomed but as the days went by, it didn't seem so. She didn't want to annoy or *frustrate* her uncle but it seemed anything and everything she or her son did, did exactly that. She needed *support* but she wasn't sure if she was going to get it from him. Gee looked at her *chubby* three year old, so unassuming of what was going on around them. He had earlier wiped his oily hands on her uncle's dining chair while having dinner, something she thought was inevitable sometimes with a three year old. But her uncle was upset. It was an expensive Italian leather seat he exclaimed, a limited edition apparently. But wouldn't oil be good for a leather seat? She couldn't understand why anyone would want to choose having white leather seats as dining chairs. She couldn't imagine how her *petite* self was able to face all this alone but she knew she had to, for her son. It was only a week that she arrived but that night, Gee packed their things ready in her backpack. Once the lights were off, she waited for a while. When it was all silent, she carefully carried her sleeping son. Slowly, she trotted across the rooms, down the stairs and out of the house. She didn't know where she was going but she knew she had to. Her son was sleeping peacefully in her arms as she carried him. She had wrapped a cloth around him and her, to make it easier for her to carry. Gee was thankful for the bright moonlight that shone the roads. The moon was surprisingly full. It gave her a slight hope for the journey. As she walked aimlessly, she noticed a piece of *pipe* by the roadside. She carefully bent and picked it up. It would make a good weapon in times of need. She slid the pipe into her bag and continued her journey. She walked for almost an hour when she spotted a diner which seemed to serve *pizza*. She looked at her *watch* - 3:56AM. She felt tired. Pushing the door, she stepped into the diner with the sleeping child. *Prompts from*: https://writingexercises.co.uk/random-words-exercises.php Mobile timer: 30 minutes *Photo sourced from Unsplash* https://unsplash.com/photos/OMD_FpLeblQ

@marblely

It may get lonely sometimes... Keep searching, keep looking, keep trying, seek and you shall find. #Reflections

@marblely

One of my pencil drawings from 2 or 3 years back - a scary fish vs a cute fish - following photos found from the internet. I have been thinking about drawing again but the hands have not been able to move toward the pencil and paper :D They need quite a hard push. #CapturedMoments

@marblely

Some things may look easy but it actually isn’t when we attempt to do it. So, don’t be too proud to declare that it is easy peasy until you have tried it yourself. At the same time, while some things may be easy for you, they may not be easy for others. Be kind. #Reflections

@marblely

Find Something flickered from a distance, under the bright sunny sky. Owern couldn't help but notice as he walked through the field, on his way back home. His tooth ached and he had wanted to get home quick. But the flicker caught his attention. He was curious. Part of him wanted to ignore but another part was pushing him to check it out. The curious part of him won. Owern walked toward the flickering object. As he got closer, he knelt to the ground. It was just a small thing, shaped like a star. A *charm* like object, like the one his sister usually wore, hanging on her bracelet. This one had a very soft blue colour faceted stone at the center and embellished with little clear crystals all around, which was what reflected the light. Owern wanted to pick it up but decided against it. He had heard of stories of how strayed objects have "spirits" and may follow the finder home. It was beautiful looking though, reflecting the lights, just like a diamond. He thought his sister would have liked it. A nice piece to add to her collection perhaps. It was a situation that needed him to *evaluate* the cause and effect of his action if he were to pick it up. But he was drawn toward it and in the end, he decided to pick it up. Carefully, he placed it into his pocket and continued his journey back home. His earlier toothache had surprisingly toned down. The little excursion had somehow helped *soothe* the ache. With his hands in his pocket, the charm felt cooling despite being exposed to the sunny sky. Maybe because it was surrounded by grass, Owern thought to himself. He smiled thinking that his sister would be pleased with his find. When he turned the corner toward his home, he saw a *huge* van parked right in front of the driveway. He slowed down his steps and hid behind a tree at his neighbour's. There was a large, burly man walking suspiciously, to and fro the driveway. Owern did not recognize him but he was cautious. He tried to recall if he owed anyone money. He didn't think so but he was worried. Unknowingly, Owern was rubbing the charm in his pocket, hoping that the man and the van would leave. Owern was still standing behind the tree when out of nowhere, a strong *wind* came gushing through the streets, like a mini tornado. Owern found himself holding on to the tree trunk. The sky grew dark, with threats of a storm coming. Owern turned to look at his neighbour's house and noticed that the *power* was off which was odd. Usually, they would have the lights on, in and around the house, even during the day. "Phil! Lets go! It's going to storm!" Owern heard the large man shouting. Within a few seconds, another man came running out of his house, carrying something that looked like a *computer*. His computer. *Prompts from:* https://writingexercises.co.uk/random-words-exercises.php Mobile timer: 20 minutes *Photo sourced from Unsplash* https://unsplash.com/photos/sYffw0LNr7s)

@marblely

Giving always feels good... - Once upon a time in Perth, Australia. #CapturedMoments

@marblely

My heart leaps with joy whenever I see these babies bloom... not often... but whenever they do, I would take a photo or two or ten :D - Rain lilies #MyGarden

@marblely

Love and miss the blueness of the sky... - Canberra, Australia #CapturedMoments

@marblely

Things don't always work out the way we hope them to. If something doesn’t work out, we just got to keep trying or find another way to make it work for us. Don’t ever give up, for giving up will bring us closer to the end. #Reflections

@marblely

CraftWorks :: Looking back << Embroidery on shoes It was a wrong decision, driven by an obsessive compulsive behavior of wanting to wash everything and this time, it was an urge to wash my favourite pair of canvas shoes, one that had never been washed for years. The result of this decision was a pair of clean but stained canvas shoes, which no longer looked clean with the stains. When I first saw the stains, my heart was crushed that I decided to wash the pair of shoes again. I couldn't understand why the stains appeared and no matter how much I scrubbed, the stains were still there! It then dawned on me that thick canvas has this behaviour. I have not researched on why that was but at that time, I couldn't really think much. I left them for weeks, unsure what to do with them. I pretty much knocked my head several times, for making the decision to wash them, almost accepting that it was the end of the shoes. I looked at them sadly everyday, wondering, thinking, what to do or if there was anything that could be done. Then, it came a day, I had a light bulb moment. I dug out my book of embroidery stitches and started flipping the pages. I have never been a fan of embroidery because of the few times I tried, my embroidery looked quite bad. It needed patience and finesse which I didn't quite have. The few embroidery I did, they looked awful, almost like rough sketches instead of smooth lines all around. For the sake of this pair of shoes, I would attempt embroidery again. I thought that I could try embroidery on the stains to hide them. I didn't know if it would work then but I thought there was nothing much to lose because I was quite sure that I would not be wearing the shoes any time soon or maybe never again. I read through the pages to figure out the type of stitches that would work. I tried to remember what I did wrong the last time when I did embroidery and what made them look the way they did. I took the clean pair of shoes, and tried to think methodologically. I needed to conceptualize my idea first, plan my work isntead of jumping straight into it. I placed them on a piece of paper and started drawing the outline, well, just the first half of the shoes. I had in mind what I wanted to do which was colourful flowers, just to give it some funkiness and thought it would look kind of cute. Whether or not it would turn out the way I envisioned, that was something I wasn't sure of. At this point, I was quite excited. I started drawing on my pair of shoes with pencil. The petals, stems, leaves and soil should hide the stains. As I drew, I added more little flowers and grass, to cover the stained parts. At the end of it, I thought that there was quite a bit to embroider and I started to panic. Panicked but excited at the same time. When I was satisfied with my little amateurish sketch, I took my crosstitch thread, choosing the colours I wanted. Slowly, I started the embroidery, following as closely as I could the outlines with stitches that I had learnt from the embroidery book that I had. The flowers started to take shape and it was motivating to keep at it while I was in the mood. I went on and on until I got the outlines all stitched out.As I continued, I added fillers to the petals. I decided to change from colourful to shades of purple and pink. The book explained the stitches suitable for outline as well as for the petals, starting with lighter hues and moving towards darker hues. Then, it was time for the grass, smaller flowers, stems and soil. The pattern took a slight alteration from the original idea as I moved along. It was quite a tedious work but as the flowers started to form its shape and colour, I was driven to continue. When the stains were getting camouflaged, my heart leaped with joy. The flowers were turning out pretty alright and the colours seemed to work too. I was very happy with this work, the main reason being that I managed to save my pair of shoes and I successfully embroidered flowers that looked quite decent I thought :) *All photos were taken by me with my mobile phone.*

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@marblely

Life is never a bed of roses and sometimes it gets really hard to go through. But I believe there is always something good in all the bad that happens. We just got to open our minds, take a step back, reflect and learn from it. There is much to learn, only if we choose to. #Reflections

@marblely

One of my very first sewing projects when I got my sewing machine, completed within 5 hours, slowly and eagerly, as a last minute gift, following a video tutorial by pattydoo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CU6CwzfoTc I was enticed by the choice of fabrics she used and the way she explained each step. Although I didn't have similar fabrics and I didn't understand what she was saying, she added English subtitles which helped a lot in getting the steps right. #Crafting

@marblely

True, it takes effort to create genuine content but it takes just as much effort to create in-genuine content. So, why do some people still choose to go with the in-genuine path?

@marblely

Hope "Looks like she is responding well to this treatment. Let us see how it goes the next few days to determine if we need to change the dosage." The research doctor smiled, patted her friend's shoulder and walked to the next bed. It was just a week ago when she started her treatment. Her friend, her happiest, chirpiest friend, was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer of the stomach. It all started 2 months ago when she had trouble urinating. At first, she thought it was just UTI, and so did the doctor at the clinic she went to. She was given medication but when it became worse, she was rushed to the hospital. A scan showed there were some growth around her urinary tracts and she was referred to an urologist and a surgeon, who recommended surgery immediately. They didn't say much then and all of us hoped for the best. The surgery took a long while, 5 excruciating hours for us who were waiting outside, anxiously. We were all taking turns to pace around the waiting area when the doctors stepped out of the operating theater. Both had worried looks and gave as detailed summary as they could. The gist of it was that they removed all the parts of the organs which they thought was the source of the cancer as well as all around the kidneys and urinary tracts. But the tumor, said to be aggressive, had spread to parts that could not be removed and there was too much to be removed. The bottom line, there were still cancer cells in her. The surgeon was not hopeful, gave her a month, at max 3 months to live and asked her family to prepare themselves. We were all shocked, too shocked for words. Nobody, I meant nobody, would have seen this coming. Her friend, was one full of positivity. She led an active lifestyle, went to the gym almost everyday, she was always baking and would give away her most delicious cookies, dumplings to her family and friends. She was a friend to many. She was always full of positivity and kind thoughts for those around her. She was heavily sedated and by the time she snapped out of it, we didn't know how to break it to her but she could see it in our eyes and asked that we told her the truth. As she listened, she kept silent. Her eyes welled up and we could see hope slowly diminished from her eyes. It crushed us to see her this way but we still had hope, because as long as she was breathing, there was a chance we could turn it around. Her family consulted the urologist who looked kinder than the surgeon. He gave an option, a new hope, to what was almost lost earlier. He recommended his acquaintance, an oncologist research doctor at another hospital, a university hospital, who may help. The research doctor, a professor, was trying out new treatments and the urologist had helped to make an appointment. When we heard that, we were almost overjoyed but we knew the fight has just begun. We needed her to be positive, to have hope and to fight. We were doing our own research too and it was written somewhere that cancer cells feed on negativity and depression. We could not and would not let that happen but we needed to be positive ourselves. She stayed at the hospital, while her surgery wounds heal and the family made arrangements to transfer her to the other hospital. I visited her every week, whenever I could. I could see pain in her eyes but I tried to keep her mind of things. I would joke with her, remembering happy memories. I would massage her legs, her hands and helped her in any way I could. She needed as much support as she could get. While the medical part of things was beyond my capability and skills to help but one thing was for sure, I could give her gifts of positivity and words of encouragement. Happy thoughts, happy cells. Happy cells, hopefully would take over and heal her. It didn't matter how they started, most importantly was that they end. Now, here we were, at the university hospital, looking at her, as she underwent her new treatment. It was a form of chemotherapy, but a different kind, as we were told. I wasn't sure how different it was with a standard chemotherapy but it was a new hope for all of us. *Photo source: Unsplash* https://unsplash.com/photos/7URiS9J_Rh8

@marblely

I missed making these... maybe sometime soon. One that we can release stress by beating the butter and sugar until smooth and pale :) #Food

@marblely

Origami - the art of paper folding to create things of all sorts, therapeutic and calming - when you get the instructions :) #Crafting

@marblely

Fried egg on toast with a slice of cheese, some slices of onion, lettuce and a dash of hot sauce, all I need for brunch today. #Food

@marblely

One my few surviving succulents. Love the droplets hanging at the bottom of some leaves. Though, when I got it, it was quite flat. Somehow it grew taller and was quite spread out. I hope this one survives. I think I should change its pot but am afraid I might kill it too :( #MyGarden

@marblely

Crocheting with fishing line is interesting and tricky but manageable after several tries :D #Crafting

@marblely

Tumeric plant is growing a new leaf! Excited because it has not given up on me. #MyGarden

@marblely

The new age They didn't believe her. She didn't mind. It was unknown to them and because it wasn't something tangible, they could not comprehend. She didn't blame them. But when she thought about it, it was not much different from a stock market, was it? She tried explaining but she wasn't doing a good job at it because they still didn't understand. She lost her job and could not find a new one. She spent months applying for jobs but it was proven to be hard, especially now. Nothing much enticed her but she just applied nonetheless. She didn't want to do the same thing she was doing for years and she wanted to try something new. She didn't put much hope, knowing that times were tough. In her days of explorations, she browsed and saw there were websites that can help earn through writing. She decided to give them a try. She wasn't sure what to expect but she felt there was nothing to lose. She got to indulge in a new venture, one that she has been thinking about, one that she has been wanting to try for a long time. It was fun although she didn't earn much or none at all. She wasn't sure if she could earn but she enjoyed writing, she realised. She could share about anything and everything in the world. She could write about anything, however way she liked and she really like her keyboard. She browsed around but could not understand how some articles earn a whole lot for a whole lot of nothing. But it was in the system of the unknowns and beggers can't be choosers. But there were days when she couldn't think of anything to write, especially on days when she had too much chores to do or on days when she felt down. Self motivation was not easy and it took quite a bit to self motivate. She was human after all. She couldn't be chirpy all the time, could she? She can be chirpy when she was with them but those were all to mask her actual feelings. She wrote stories of all sorts, she shared about her hobbies, she posted random photos and wrote about them. After a few months into it, she got to know more people. Although it was all virtual but she felt connected. She joined communities and contests, all in the name of fun and passion. Most times, it felt real, though she had to admit, there were some that felt artificial. But it felt much better than spending her time browsing through people's lives on social media. People whom didn't really matter. She could never understand the purpose of that. It was such a waste of time, wasn't it? There were times, it felt as though it was boasting, more than sharing sincerely. They still didn't believe her but after writing for a year, she started to earn a little from her articles. She tried to share with them that it was possible to earn but they still asked her to find a job. They didn't want to listen but she was happy. True, she had to find more ways to earn a living before her funds deplete but she was happy. Doesn't that matter? Perseverance and working smart was what she needed now. There were many possibilities out there. Traditional jobs were yesteryears. It was now the new age. Perhaps to mix and to get the best of both worlds. Think!

@marblely

Tried crocheting with beads the other day. Loving the world of stones 😍 #Crafting

@marblely

Think good, do good and lets make this world a better place. Year 2000. The millennium. The year when computer experts were tasked to standby in banks and organizations to ensure all mission critical systems and programs glided seamlessly from year 1999 into year 2000. It was also the year when "Pay It Forward" was released which starred the very versatile and Academy Award winners/nominees, Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt and Haley Joel Osment. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pay_It_Forward_(film) I enjoy watching movies that inspire and that are thought provoking because we all need a little inspiration and positivity, and this one hit all the right notes for me. The movie revolves around a teacher who challenged his class of seventh graders to think of an idea to change our world and putting it into action as an assignment. One of his students came up with the idea helping three individuals whom he thought were in need of help, something they were not able to do themselves; and then getting them to continue the action of doing good to three other individuals with a hope that the little deeds will create a domino or butterfly effect of changing the world. When we sincerely do good to others, mindsets can be changed for the better and hopefully others will do good to others, just like the concept of paying it forward. We do not expect anything in return and we may not even meet the person again. A good deed, no matter how small, is a good deed and sometimes, without us knowing or realizing, it changes the lives of others. We all need a whole lot of good in this world and we can start here today, spreading goodness altogether in this platform. Back then, it was the first time I "saw" the concept of paying it forward being put into action, although I realised that it is not a new concept. It has existed a long while (*source*) and paying forward is really beautiful. It was also the first thing I thought of when I read @gertu13's article "Do good without seeing who". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pay_it_forward https://read.cash/@gertu13/do-good-without-seeing-who-2c1180df I was inspired and motivated to read from that there is community that exists here, one that promotes doing good to others called the Good Karma Army, founded by @TruSuccessXpert . Echoing his call to spread good karma around, @gertu13 has introduced me to this call with her article. A call to *give 50% of whatever we receive from* @TruSuccessXpert *to another random person*. https://read.cash/c/good-karma-army-62ac https://read.cash/@TruSuccessXpert/the-good-karma-army-community-i-paying-it-forward-d4cdf928 I am very happy and humbled to participate in this good cause. Karma is about action, and for some, a principle of cause and effect. Good karma is about good action and good effect. Today, I have been given a tip of $0.50 by @TruSuccessXpert and I am paying it forward by giving 50% of the tip to @cactaceasml whom I just read today through one of my exploration here, who is passionate about cactus and succulents, and has a community called "Cactus & succulents". Pssst, to all your cactus and succulents enthusiasts, this is a community for you! :) https://read.cash/c/cactus-succulents-0be7 Let us each do our part to make this world a better place. And I leave you with this song, one of my favourites from Michael Jackson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWf-eARnf6U Will you join us?

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@marblely

Enjoying a glass of milky avocado juice on a hot, sunny day :)

@marblely

I am happy and amused at the same time with this baby :) #MyGarden