Bell Peppers Soon?

I've been planting bell pepper seeds whenever I have store bought peppers. You have to be very patient with growing bell peppers. It takes about 3 weeks before the seeds sprout and then you need to move it around when the weather changes.

The seeds I planted last January have started to produce flowers. I didn't expect it since it's been growing super slowly. I think it hibernated when we had extremely hot weather. I watered it everyday and consistently gave it rice water weekly. It had a growth spurt when I moved it to a sunnier area. I think the rain also helped. 

I've been so afraid to re-pot it. I bit the bullet and re-potted it the other day. I placed it in a spot that gets about 6 hours of sun. It won't get any rain though, so I'll have to observe whether I should move it. I hope the flowers get pollinated so I can harvest some bell pepper soon! 

I also have to review what kind of fertilizer it needs. I was in Singapore when I successfully grew some bell pepper. The fruit though was deformed which meant it lacked something. I would very happy if my bell pepper plants finally produce something! 

#BeKind #StaySafe

Received a Gift: Vintage Talking Yoda

I was ecstatic when a friend told me he was going to give his "talking Yoda" to me! I shared a photo of my Yoda collection and he thought it was best to give me his Yoda. Of course, I gladly accepted the gift and he sent it yesterday. 

He said his father had shrink wrapped all his toys when he worked abroad. The figure he sent was still wrapped in plastic and was attached to a part its original box. The toy traveled from another city and arrived boxed and protected by an air bubble. 

I was so excited, I quickly unwrapped it. I had to be careful removing the plastic wrap since parts of it stuck on the figure. I also freed it from being shackled to the box. My friend said he never removed it and the original batteries were still inside. After removing the wrapping, I wiped Yoda with a cotton ball. I didn't scrub him since I was afraid I might wipe off parts of the figure. I also removed his robe and washed it. 

After cleaning him up, I passed on Yoda to Sweetie. We wanted to check if it still works. Talking Yoda figures tend to have a complicated battery system. You need a screwdriver to open it up. This figure had the battery by its feet. The batteries were already corroded, but the contact points are still intact. Unfortunately, we didn't have any C batteries on hand, so I have to wait for it to be delivered. 

My friend jokingly told me that Yoda walks around at night. I told him, I'll lock him up in the display cabinet with his compatriots. Haha. I did just that. This Yoda talking doll actually looks better than the one I bought in a Disney store in San Francisco which was all plastic. This Yoda has real clothes and looks more realistic. I hope the batteries arrive soon! Crossing my fingers it still works.

Thank you again Redge, you made the collector in me so happy!

#BeKind #StaySafe

Birthdays

Celebrated Sweetie and Miggy's birthdays last June. We decided to invite a few friends for lunch. It's been my dream to eat Alba's porchetta again. Kuya sent me one for my birthday last year. One order is too much for the three of us, but perfect for a small group. I let the boys select a package from Alba's and that's what we feasted on for lunch. 

Here's what we feasted on:

For decorations, I just got a banner. I even got art paper because I thought I'd have time to cut out their names. We were so busy organizing the house I forgot to make time to cut the names. Good thing I got a happy birthday sign and some banderittas. It even came with lights! I had my friends help with the balloons. 

The lunch stretched to early evening since we had a lot of catching up to do. It was a fun and chill afternoon where we learned more about coffee, making Thai milk tea, and cheese. Note to self: don't prepare salad at home. Just order, if needed. 

Thank you to our friends who came to celebrate with us! <3 <3

#BeKind #StaySafe

3 Hour Gardening Workout

My thighs are so sore after 3 hours of gardening. I sat on bangkito (the plastic kind) for a few hours to re-pot my cacti and succulents. We heard something crash outside my sewing room the other night. I told Sweetie it was likely the cacti. We paused the video we were watching and Sweetie investigated what happened.

We think Grogu was chasing after Anakin. The kitten probably went up the planter and hit the pots. It came tumbling down, hitting the pots below. It was a huge mess. I didn't expect it would happen since we just covered the sides of the plant stand last week to keep the cats away. 

Oh well, I've been meaning to re-pot the cacti and succulents since some have outgrown their pots. It took me awhile to finish re-potting since there were a lot of pups and some had to be separated. Since I re-potted some of them in bigger pots, I asked for help from Sweetie to add support. That way they won't topple down easily if ever a cat goes up again. 

Added bamboo to support the pots

It was a good workout and I enjoy working quietly while gardening. The cats kept me company. Anakin was quite naughty. He even tried biting the cacti. So kulet. I had to separate him and Grogu to avoid having another accident. 

#BeKind #StaySafe

Re-Organized my Fabric Stash

I took a break from blogging to make time to organize our home. It's been more than two years since we moved and I decided to bite the bullet and invite friends. That meant we needed to make time to make our home presentable. Our living room still had boxes and we hadn't been using our dining room since it was hosting stuff from our basement (due to the renovations). 

The renovations finally finished in early June and that gave us two weeks to organize our home. It took me two weeks (++) to unbox all my fabric and sewing materials. Whew! I decided to wrap my stash in comic book boards. I also re-categorized the fabric, so it's easier for me to find items. 

I decided to use the vertical cabinets for the fabric. I put the rainbow colors fabric on the left side. My friends squealed when they saw how I organized it. "It's so gay!" they said. The cabinet also has my Christmas themed fabric collection. On the other cabinet I placed fabric prints. I categorized them as: floral, shapes, and characters. In the middle are the 10" squares fabric and the fabric designed by Mx. Domestic. On the bottom are backing fabric. 

I placed the jelly rolls and charm packs in the horizontal middle cabinet. I got some containers to hold them. The containers make it easier for me to find the right pack. I think I'll organize them by color when I have time. 

I would have started blogging sooner, but I used the last two weeks of June to celebrate Sweetie and Miggy's birthday. After the celebration I used the time to do some quilting! I needed to do something creative since organizing drove me crazy (haha). 

#BeKind #StaySafe

Factory Store Shopping: Uratex

We needed additional chairs for our get togethers last month. It was practical to get some monoblock chairs since it's easy to store and lasts long. I tried ordering online, but surprisingly you can only order two of the items I wanted to buy. 

We knew there was a nearby Uratex store and headed there on a Sunday. We went around three in the afternoon and traffic was light. We were in the area a few months ago to check out pre-loved musical instruments. That was how I was reminded that Uratex has a showroom. 

We were greeted by staff as we came in and was immediately assisted. We quickly found the chair I was eyeing from their website. They luckily had stock. After putting in our order we went around to look at the other items they were selling.

Of course, they had a lot of mattresses on display. They had the bigger items displayed on the second floor. You can get ideas on how to organize and decorate your bedroom from their bed displays. They also had some tables and chairs and sofas. We were really curious about the sofas since we need one for our family room. They had some really good deals and we were tempted, but we forgot to measure the area and said we'll just come back. 

Aside from chairs, they also had pillows, living room and kitchen items, on the ground floor. I decided to buy throw pillows. I had meant to make my own, but since that's taking time, I just got some since I have made a couple of throw pillow covers I could still use. I also got place mats since I only have sets of 4 (not enough if you have visitors). 

It was fun going around the shop. Staff were very helpful, though they could be more organized in the billing section. They have free soda while you wait to pay. We'll probably come back to buy some of the nicer chairs for our small family room dining table. I'm also just currently using a monoblock chair as my sewing chair. It's a cheap weaved one and not very comfortable. 

Next time we need to buy new mattresses, we'll just go back to the Uratex store. We should probably check out Mandaue Foam's store noh?

#BeKind #StaySafe