I won! I won! Talking about nature.

I just won myself a Codd bottle. It is a bottle for fizzy drinks designed and patented in 1876 by Hiram Codd, a British soft drink maker. I learned from Karl Moore's Friday Factoid that alcohol drinkers who disparaged Codd's invention called it "Codd's Wallop". Eventually, the term "codswallop" is used to refer to anything of low-quality or rubbish.

So, how did I win my Codd bottle? I joined Karl's competition and emailed him this little ditty:

"I love reading Karl's Blog because nature cannot put that smile on my face as naturally as he does it".

Is there truth in this statement? Yes, if you agree with me that smiling is the most natural thing one tend to do with a nod of the head in approval. It does not matter that the smile will leave crow's feet around the eyes or smile lines around your lips. You will smile naturally whenever someone is in total agreement with you.

As I write on this blogspot instead of wondering if anyone cares about keeping the environment green with my ideas, I remember Karl's Friday Factoid that may or may not interest anyone either.

Like Karl said, we do not have to seek approval to do things that we believe in. So, he happily shares his "Random Act of Kindness" while I find my joy writing about creating "Abundance from Abandoned" in "Amazing Ways". Now and then, I get an energy boost when I read his postings and smile in agreement as they go with the flow of my nature.

So, if you are facing some turbulences in your life, maybe it is time to ask yourself if you are living in line with nature.

An Inspiration and A Gift. See what I have received.

These are some ideas by Ernestina on how she sells her stone art.



Thank you, Ernestina, for allowing me to post a picture of your creations. What an inspiration! Using painted stone for my handmade jewellery ala eco friendly will be something that I will be looking into.

Also, I am now the proud owner of the following piece of stone art.




It was given to me by Suzi Chua of Universal Stones and Arts Paintings, all because she appreciates what I am doing on this blog. If you would like to meet up with this very friendly lady, try looking her out at Lim Art Handicraft N Souvenir Trading located at Sunway Pyramid where she conducts her stone painting classes.

So, I am not lying when I said that there is wealth from giving.

It Pays To Help

One of my friends requested me to accompany her to a free talk meant for single mothers as she was not keen to go on her own. She past me a newspaper article, written by Chong Sheau Ching, and requested that I call the number there to see if I could request the organiser to allow me to attend, as I am not a single mother.

I called and was told to write in which I did and that was how I met Frankie Ang, who conducted the talk “A Self-Discovery & Self-Advancement”. I was so inspired by what he said that I wrote an article about it and forwarded it to the organizer and thanked them for allowing me to attend it.

That was how I became involved with "eHomemakers". I did not know it then, but I first came to know of "eHomemakers", a network of homemakers, when they were still known as "Mothers for Mothers". A parent of one of the students from the school, my children were attending, informed me about it and my interest in their website started as they have some useful information on keeping the environment green under "Green Living".

Subsequently, "eHomemakers" requested me to conduct a talk on "Forgive and Live Again" and later, another on "Control Our Lives with Trust". I was glad that I took up the challenge as that started another round of research and my interest in helping others, especially, single parents, grew. I started writing articles on issues related to love, marriage and family and became very active on their forum. In my efforts to response to forum members who have requested for help or information I managed to source many information that I found useful personally.

So, what do I gained for all these efforts? It was a realization of strengths that I did not know existed in me and an opportunity to participate in "Science of Innovation" a programme for Malaysian home-based businesses organised in support of eHomemakers' members. Through this programme, I decided to set up my home-based business, SOYO Chic Enterprise.

So what do I hope to achieve through SOYO Chic Enterprise?

I read from the forum, that most women, like me, have given up their careers to become stay at home moms for their children. I know that by the time our children are old enough for us to join the workforce, we will be deemed “too old” for the workforce. Even if we are able to get the jobs we want, we will not be able to enjoy the pay we deserved based on our training and experience.

SOYO stands for “Stand On Your Own". I know of many women who leave it to their spouses for source of income. Should misfortune strike these sole wage earners, their spouses are going to be at a lost as to how they will be able to sustain their livelihood financially. With the mentorship I have gained from Global Innovation Research Center (GIRC) and eHomemakers by participating in the "Science of Innovation’ programme, I would like to generate an interest in women to learn a craft and create money making ideas that will enable them to become financially independent.

I hope that one day, “Let’s SOYO" will be a publicly known catch phrase to mean “Stand On Your Own, Together. My motto is, "My Success Hinges on Your Success". Will you stand with me?

It Pays To Think Green

While I was living in Singapore I stayed in a four room flat with nary a space for gardening. I did not know what I have missed until I returned to my home in Malaysia. With that two little patches of land, my love for gardening developed. Being new to the hobby, I started to surf the net and discovered a world full of free gardening tips. As I did not want to loose all the useful tips I have dredged from the web, I started my website, "GreenBeings Invasion". Google "greenbeings invasion" or "greenbeings nancy" and you can read what I have been up to.

Little did I know that this website, will one day become my resume and enable me to acquire my first "job" gardening for the kindergarten my children were then attending. That, I think is a great achievement, in light of my "green horn" status as a gardener.

The principal of the school liked what she saw in my garden, my idea of running it as a recycling project and after reading my "resume", the job's mine. I have a confession to make though; I was not paid for the job but my husband regained his peace of mind as I stopped nagging him to move to a place with a bigger garden as I now have three huge gardens from the school to experiment with.

I helped the school set up recycling bins from Alam Flora and managed to generate interest in parents of students studying there and my neighbors to give me plants they have in abundance in their gardens or their cuttings. While going for walks with my children, I also managed to pick lots of pruning and cuttings discarded in our neighborhood park. With these, I successfully propagated some and was able to plant a large variety of greens for the school.

I did more research about recycling and started giving talks to the children and their parents about doing their 3Rs, that is, "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle". That is how my interest for creating stuff out of waste material started. If you would like to view some of my creations using waste material, click on the following link:

Cashable Trash

As news of my "Think Green, Let's Recycle Greens" project spread, I started receiving free pots and plants that are no longer wanted. The principal was very happy with the cost effective ways that I manged the gardens that she offered to allow my children to attend her school and other activities at special rates or at no charge till they both graduated.

So, it pays to think green.