What Happens When You Ignore Your Cacti

I got very busy with other plants and it's been almost a year since I properly tended to my cacti. It started with just a few pieces Ate Rose gave me back in July 2022. They looked like this by August 2023 -

And how they looked in November 2024 -

I re-pot them once a year. I moved them to a sunnier spot almost a year ago and water them once a week. One thing about cacti and succulents is they're very low maintenance. They're best left alone. Just top it up with some perlite once a quarter and they'll be fine. 

I was so busy re-potting Mom's other plants, so this is what happened in a year -

Looks like this will be my year-end project!

#BeKind #StaySafe

Tried the Taco Bell Mix

We chanced upon a pack of Taco Bell taco mix at a grocery store and just had to try it. The nearest Taco Bell store is at least 45 minutes away, so this was a good opportunity to have it at home. 

It was very easy to make. Just saute some beef with minced onion and then add the Taco Bell mix. I let the boys do the slicing and grating of the other ingredients. To be honest, we found it easier to use the taco cups than the regular taco shells. Either way, you can just break it and eat it as a salad. 

Here's how we made it at home:

One thing we added to the taco is homemade pickled onions. My friend makes it, but she lives far from us and rarely delivers in our area, so we just made some. I even got some powdered red beets to complete the pickles. 

Now I want to have this again, soon!

#BeKind #StaySafe

Throwback Thursday: Mom's Last Birthday with Dad

We celebrated Mom's birthday the other day. We did her favorite things to do: go to the bank, eat comfort food and did groceries. I took a look back at how she celebrated it 15 years ago. I realized it was the last time she celebrated when Dad was still around. Little did we know, we'd lose him a month after. 

Mom always loved having friends around. She had a gazillion friends from our neighborhood. I was looking at our photos and realized we also lost some of her friends the past few years. It's sad to also lose the extended titos and titas you grew up with. 

It was also the last Christmas we were complete. Both Ate and Kuya came home to celebrate Christmas together. We were never complete after that and had fragmented Christmas celebrations. Kuya and I would even have Mom celebrate Christmas with me in Singapore and she'd do New Year in Jakarta. Mom always complained she didn't want to leave her plants alone, haha. 

Mom wouldn't want us to mope around especially for celebrations, so we made it a point to celebrate. Aside from eating a good meal, we also did her favorite things. We went to the bank and did groceries. Mom took care of the plants for the day and it rained enough to hydrate the plants properly. Ahh, she would have been pleased. 

Happy birthday Mom! We miss you! Today we'll also celebrate Sweetie's Mom's birthday! We have another excuse to celebrate!

#BeKind #StaySafe

Leg is Healing

I had my seventh physiotherapy session yesterday. I can now really feel that my knee and ankle are healing faster.

Two-thirds of my PT time is spent on machines. The physiotherapist used electricity in my knee and ankle twice, then she does ultrasound therapy, and I'm not sure what the other machine is called. It compresses my whole leg with air.

A third of my time is allotted for exercise and icing. I was a bit cold yesterday and fell asleep while the physiotherapist was working on my leg. LOL! Next time I'll bring a jacket and not just a shawl. 

Anyway, I'm glad my leg is improving. I'm able to use my right foot now to lift the foot rest of my wheelchair. It used to be so painful before. Now, I'm able to do it. I also tried to walk around the grocery by holding onto my wheelchair. I had to take breaks in between, but I think the issue for that is now my stamina and my listless lung power. I'll go back to pulmo rehab once I'm done with physiotherapy.

Happy healing 🤗

#BeKind #StaySafe

Making a Snowman

Moving in now to make a new cover for my food processor. I found a cute snowman design on Pinterest and after figuring out the measurements I thought it would be a perfect fit for my food processor.

I like the "autumn" colors used on the Pinterest. It took me awhile to find the perfect fabric for it. I hope I get it right. Gotta improve on my quilting skills!

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My Forever Iron

If I remember correctly, Sweetie and I received on our wedding day about 4 or 5 irons. I remember I gave Mom one and shared the others with relatives. We just kept two.

There's one I've been using since I moved to Singapore. I think I got it in late 2011 while I was still in the service apartment. It was heavily used from 2016 onwards when Sweetie and Miggy moved to Singapore. 

And, it moved back with us and I still use it for ironing. Sometimes I wonder if it's time to upgrade. The practical side of me says no since I haven't had any issues. I only had to change the foam on my ironing board when we moved back because it had degraded already.

What's your forever gadget?

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Happy Harvest Day

It's my fourth try at growing bell peppers at home. I planted the seeds from a salad I made a few months ago. My other trials failed due to pests. One batch grew big and was suddenly overcome by fungus. Another batch was overtaken by aphids. Ugh.

Since I got some plant stands from my childhood home, I decided to put the pots of bell peppers on it. I also surrounded it with companion plants that help ward off pests. 

It so far worked and a couple of bell peppers have been growing. They're small since the pots are small. I'll have to re-pot them and see if I can get bigger peppers. 

I'm happy this batch is so far successful. Let's see if I could grow more!

#BeKind #StaySafe